Chapter 176

Putting on Yu Zi Qian's mask again, Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe sent Xia Yubing to the Taoyuan West Branch of the Qinzhou Medical College, where the scheduled medical staff immediately began a full-body checkup for her.

After receiving the checkup results, Xia Chan's expression was not very good.

Xia Yubing's physical condition was still considered good; apart from a minor skin wound on her abdomen where she was hit by a rubber bullet, as well as muscle strain and ligament injury caused by overexertion, everything else was normal.

However, what Xia Chan cared about most was not her health condition, but: "She was violated."

Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe thought to himself, you should stop there; with Xia Yubing's physique, she's the only one who could violate others, there's no way it was the other way around.

Despite his inner thoughts, Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe still acted with professional spirit, selectively picking out a portion of what happened in Zanju Town and explaining it all to Xia Chan.

"... In summary, your niece actually already died in Zanju Town. The reason she is still alive now is because I bribed her Three Corpses and used the ability of the ghost in the town to anchor the false fact that she is 'alive'."

Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe frankly confessed what had happened between him and Xia Yubing without any avoidance; in fact, there was nothing to avoid.

Xia Chan was an old client of Ji Bochang. Although she was not an Ascender, she had some understanding of the situation in the Strange World, so it wasn't troublesome to explain.

After hearing Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe's explanation, Xia Chan fell silent. A pair of sharp phoenix eyes looked at the demon mask on his face, sizing him up, and finally, she sighed helplessly:

"I remember the commission I posted was to bring her back alive."

This current state could hardly be considered alive.

Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe was noncommittal: "If you want to use this reason to discount my payment, I suggest you'd better not think about it."

Ascenders don't work for cheap.

"... I will pay your reward in full." Xia Chan frowned and gave a look to a man in a suit waiting beside her.

The man immediately stepped forward and handed a string of copper coins tied with a red rope to Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe.

A string of life-buying money—this was his reward for this trip. It was thanks to Xia Chan being an old client of Ji Bochang that she could afford such a huge sum.

Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe took the string of copper coins, confirmed it was correct, and tucked it into his clothes: "A wise choice. So, in return for your prompt payment, I'll provide you with a bit of information as a favor."

"Please speak." Xia Chan's expression immediately became serious; information provided by an Ascender was never cheap.

A polite smile appeared on Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe's face, hidden behind the ghost mask, as he said:

"Three guards of Gengshen, the Three Corpses tremble in fear; seven guards of Gengshen, the Three Corpses are cut off forever. A person's Three Corpses cannot be dismissed with a single bribe. What I did only temporarily delayed her death. When the next Gengshen day arrives, your niece's Three Corpses will still attempt to leave her body and wander, reporting her death to Heaven."

"So I suggest you prepare for the next bribery of the Three Corpses in advance, otherwise the precious niece you spent a fortune to save will die again," Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe continued: "The offerings to bribe the Three Corpses are: wealth, food, and men."

Xia Chan's expression immediately turned ugly.

At this moment, she understood that what this Ascender said was true. An Ascender of Yeyao's level was not short of women, and besides, there was indeed nothing about Xia Yubing's appearance that could make Yeyao's heart flutter. She had specifically learned from Lan Shiwen that Yu Zi Qian liked slim girls who were car model types; Xia Yubing's type could only be said to be acceptable to him, not in his strike zone.

This meant that him having relations with Xia Yubing was indeed not because of lust, but because bribing the Three Corpses truly required sex as an offering. And for every Gengshen day in the future, offerings would have to be presented, otherwise, she would die.

This was troublesome...

Xia Chan knew that her family had lacked male heirs for the past two generations, and it was only by recruiting matrilocal sons-in-law and winning over talents like Zhang Yangxu that they could barely maintain their current foundation. This was also the reason why she spared no expense to hire an Ascender to save her niece who had gone missing in a bizarre event.

Now the money was spent, and the person was saved, but not only was the marriage value of the niece who had lost her virginity greatly reduced, but she was also tied to a ticking time bomb that required regular countdown resets... and the process of resetting the countdown would continue to devalue her.

"... I haven't done such a disastrously losing business in a long time." Finally, Xia Chan let out a long sigh, looking quite resigned.

Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe smiled: "In the business world, there are no undefeated generals. You didn't lose on one deal; do you think you're the God of Stocks?"

Even the God of Stocks only has an annual return rate of around 20%.

"If you're sure there's no problem, I should go." Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe waved his hand lightly and turned to leave.

"Wait." Xia Chan suddenly called out to him. "Is there anything else?"

"Um... about Yubing's current state..." Xia Chan hesitated for a moment before asking the question she had been wanting to ask: "Is her current state what your Ascension Network defines as a 'Grantee'?"

"You could say that." Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe nodded.

A Grantee is another classification system independent of Ascenders.

Specifically defined as:

【Those who control the rules are Ascenders; those who utilize the rules are Grantees】

Any form of utilization counts.

For example, a mortal who has never come into contact with bizarre events happens to obtain a life-buying copper coin by chance, and thus can borrow the God of Wealth's rules to buy their own life to a certain extent.

They haven't truly controlled the rules, but they can utilize them through some means; such people are classified by the Ascension Network as—Grantees.

Their 'rank' is not obtained through self-elevation, but is an external object 'granted' through other channels, which ultimately does not belong to them, hence the name 'Grantee'.

According to this classification method, any mortal holding Wealth Wu Tong copper coins can be collectively called 'Grantees'; all of Ji Bochang's clients are.

Xia Yubing, who obtained an alternative immortality through the rules of the Four-Faced Buddha, naturally counts as one too.

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There are also some top-tier Grantees who have mastered multiple rules; their danger level is not inferior to Ascenders at all, and in some scenarios, they can be even more terrifying than Ascenders... but that is another topic.

"Once you become a Grantee, you are no longer a mortal."

Xia Chan sighed and said gloomily: "Mr. Yeyao, I presume you also know that our family has lacked male heirs for the past two generations. My husband and Yubing's father are both outsiders who married into the family. But Yubing's current situation... it's already not easy to recruit a husband."

Young talents aren't cabbages on the street that you can just pick up. People like Zhang Yangxu, who have ability and ambition, even if they come from humble backgrounds, still have their own pride and won't be a backup.

The Xia family knows this, so the upbringing of the two generations of daughters in the clan has been exceptionally strict. When Xia Chan and her sister were married, they were both virgins; otherwise, with Zhang Yangxu's ability, it wouldn't have been as simple as just finding mistresses outside.

A normal matrilocal son-in-law who reached his level would have started transferring assets long ago. Zhang Yangxu didn't do so only out of a sense of responsibility instilled in him later.

Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe's evaluation of the Xia family is: a typical Qinzhou feudal family.

Recently, there have been many rumors online about Qinzhou's conservative atmosphere and feudal customs, saying that there are still many women in Qinzhou suffering from the Three Obediences and Four Virtues. As a native of Qinzhou, I want to clarify: this is not a rumor. Our Qinzhou is just like this.

"I know about your family's situation, so what do you want to say?" Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe asked, puzzled.

Xia Chan folded her hands in front of her lower abdomen, her brows smoothed out, revealing a calm smile: "Although Yubing's personality is a bit reckless, she is, after all, a girl of our Xia family. Her upbringing from childhood to adulthood has not been neglected, and she was still an unmarried virgin until she went missing in Zanju Town. Who would have thought she would encounter such a thing...

... Ah, I mean, if Mr. Yeyao is willing to marry our Yubing, that would be even better, and you wouldn't be at a loss, would you?

Of course, you don't need to be a matrilocal son-in-law like my husband; as long as you can maintain such a good relationship with our family in the future, that will be enough."

Xia Chan's words were measured, leaving plenty of room for Yeyao in every word.

"Oh, clearance sale of expiring goods." Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe immediately understood her meaning, without even needing to think.

Cutting losses in time—a very rational merchant mindset.

To some extent, an Ascender is indeed a young talent worth winning over. Marrying off a daughter who already has a flaw is not a loss at all, and he can also dump the matter of bribing the Three Corpses onto her husband. Given Yu Zi Qian's personality, he wouldn't refuse such a clean woman with a decent family background; it is indeed the optimal solution for the current situation.

But should this cold, commercial mindset be applied to one's own niece?

Well, who let Xia Chan's parents treat her the same way back then.

Our Qinzhou is just like this.

(End of chapter)