Extortion, arriving at Shen's house
Chen Yuan reached out and pinched Shen Ling's chin, frowning.
"I don't have time to waste with you. My time is very precious. If you throw another tantrum, I'll immediately strip off your clothes and throw you onto the street."
Chen Yuan's voice was chilling, scaring the young girl so much that tears welled up in her eyes.
A crystal tear slid from the corner of her eye. Shen Ling stubbornly glared at him, "Go ahead and strip me! I'm still not leaving."
Chen Yuan was stunned. He had only said that to scare the young girl, never expecting it to be ineffective.
Who spoiled her like this? Has she not yet understood her current situation?
If she had fallen into someone else's hands today instead of Chen Yuan's, she would have long been stripped and thrown onto the street.
Chen Yuan let go of her. If she wouldn't lead the way, so be it. Was the Shen Family hard to find? He could just grab anyone to lead him there.
Chen Yuan stopped a middle-aged man, cupped his hands, and asked, "Fellow Daoist, this is my first time in Baizhou City. May I ask where the Shen Family is? Could you possibly lead the way for me?"
As he spoke, he took out a Low-Grade Spirit Stone and slipped it into the middle-aged man's hand.
The middle-aged man, who had initially looked displeased, immediately changed his expression upon seeing that the man in front of him was quite sensible.
He tucked the Spirit Stone into his sleeve, then walked ahead, pointing towards the South Street: "Fellow Daoist, the Shen Family is over there. I'll take you."
Chen Yuan led his Fire Cloud Steed, not sparing Shen Ling a glance, and followed the middle-aged man.
Shen Ling stomped her foot in anger, then quickly hurried to catch up.
The city occupied an extremely vast area, as large as two first-tier cities from his previous life combined.
After walking for about half an hour, Chen Yuan's brows furrowed more deeply. This area was already near the southern corner of the city. The buildings around this alley were old and dilapidated, some roofs had large holes, and it was sparsely populated.
Was the Shen Family really living here?
At this moment, the middle-aged man had already led Chen Yuan and Shen Ling into an alley.
Shen Ling suppressed a laugh by his side, triumphantly transmitting her voice: "Hehe~ Big bad guy, you've been tricked. How could the Shen Family possibly be here?"
Chen Yuan didn't need Shen Ling's voice transmission to figure it out. He stopped, glaring at her with a displeased expression, "Why didn't you say so earlier? Haven't I told you my time is very precious?"
Shen Ling stuck out her pink tongue at Chen Yuan, "Nyah nyah nyah!"
Chen Yuan was still very much a gentleman; he never hit women.
Originally, it was only 35,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones, but now Chen Yuan had changed his mind. The Shen Family would have to compensate him an additional five thousand for emotional damages.
The middle-aged man in front turned to look at Chen Yuan, chuckling, "Fellow Daoist, why have you stopped? The Shen Family is just ahead."
Shen Ling took a step forward, pointed at the middle-aged man's nose, and cursed, "Still pretending? Do you know who this Young Miss is?"
The middle-aged man sneered, no longer pretending. With a wave of his hand, several black-clad figures emerged from the walls on both sides of the alley, surrounding Chen Yuan and Shen Ling.
"Of course I know! A money-bringing boy!" The middle-aged man sneered, his eyes turning fierce:
"Hand over your storage ring, and perhaps this Revered Master will let you leave alive."
The middle-aged man's face was filled with greed. The Fire Cloud Steed could probably be sold for a lot of Spirit Stones, right?
Then, an invisible pressure erupted from his body, pressing down on Chen Yuan and Shen Ling.
Golden Core Eighth Layer, interesting! He must have quite a few treasures on him.
Those who could Cultivate to the Golden Core Realm would more or less have some treasures on them.
In the middle-aged man's eyes, Chen Yuan was a fat lamb from out of town, but in Chen Yuan's eyes, wasn't the middle-aged man also Chen Yuan's fat lamb?
The other black-clad figures also released their Realm auras. Two of them were Golden Core First and Second Level, while the rest were Foundation Establishment Ninth Level.
They were bandits who had recently risen up ten miles outside Baizhou City, usually roaming various cities to rob outsiders.
Shen Ling remained still, took out a token, and threw it at the middle-aged man's feet: "Do you recognize this?"
The middle-aged man was startled. He picked up the token at his feet, which was engraved with the character 'Shen'.
Although the middle-aged man hadn't been in Baizhou City for long, he recognized the Shen Family token. He knew he had stirred up big trouble today.
If they were outside the city, he wouldn't fear the Shen Family, but now that they were inside the city, if the Shen Family caught them, they would be unable to escape?
"I am the Shen Family's Eldest Young Miss, Shen Ling! You blind dogs, how dare you kidnap me? Threaten me?!"
Just as Shen Ling was babbling on, Chen Yuan shot out like an arrow from a bowstring.
The nine-inch Golden Core within his body circulated, his right Fist Intent materialized, and a fiery Dragon instantly slammed into the leading middle-aged man's forehead.
"Boom!"
The fiery Dragon engulfed the middle-aged man's head, his skull exploded, and blood splattered.
"Thud!" The middle-aged man's corpse heavily hit the ground, the token falling from his hand.
Treading Snow Without a Trace condensed beneath his feet. Chen Yuan's figure was ghostly. In an instant, a black-clad figure fell to the ground, completely devoid of life.
In less than three breaths, all eight black-clad figures lay neatly on the ground.
Chen Yuan clapped his hands and began to clear the battlefield—looting the bodies.
Shen Ling hadn't even reacted before Chen Yuan had dealt with all the black-clad figures.
"You... you killed them all?" Shen Ling's tone was shocked. Chen Yuan's actions were too decisive, weren't they?
"Otherwise?"
"You're making me look useless!"
Chen Yuan put the last Storage Pouch into his storage ring.
He harvested a total of four thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones, three Profound Rank longswords, and the other six weapons were Yellow Rank. Yellow Rank Magical Artifacts were only worth a hundred or so Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
These bandits were clearly not wealthy; any resources they had were probably used for Cultivation. These four thousand were likely just extorted.
Unlike Wang Tian and Song Cheng, who had Family backing.
After tallying, Chen Yuan stood up, led his Fire Cloud Steed, and walked out of the alley.
"Aren't you going to split the black-clad figures' storage rings with me? I also contributed. Didn't you see how scared that middle-aged man was by my token?"
Shen Ling followed, chattering incessantly in Chen Yuan's ear.
"I killed them all. You still want storage pouches and storage rings? Are you worthy?" Chen Yuan said coldly.
"Why are you being so fierce! If you don't want to give, then don't!"
Shen Ling pouted. She had already figured out Chen Yuan's temper; he wasn't a bad person, otherwise, he would have long since stripped her and thrown her onto the street.
She also understood the principle of knowing when to stop. She snatched the reins from Chen Yuan's hand, smiled sweetly, with a hint of flattery: "I'll take you back to the Shen Family."
Chen Yuan wanted to see what she was up to, so he followed closely behind her.
Along the way, Shen Ling introduced Chen Yuan to the customs and local products of Baizhou City.
Sometimes, Chen Yuan would stop to buy some small trinkets to bring back for his Revered Master and the others.
Shen Ling made small talk, and during their casual conversation, Shen Ling also learned Chen Yuan's name.
After walking for half an hour, they had reached the central part of Baizhou City. A solemn mansion came into Chen Yuan's sight, with a high plaque above its gate, bearing the gilded characters "Shen Manor" that shone brightly under the sunlight.
Chen Yuan's mood greatly improved, and he looked at Shen Ling with much more favor.
"Young Master Chen, this is this Young Miss's home," Shen Ling introduced. She hadn't returned for a long time, but the Family gate was still the same.
"Eh, why are there so many carriages outside the gate? Are there distinguished guests visiting my Shen Family today?" Shen Ling wondered.
A group of servants was moving boxes of betrothal gifts into the Shen Manor.