51: Chapter 51 This bastard is greedy for money

Faced with everyone's admiration, shock, and disbelief, Kang Dalei merely toyed with Leng Yanshuang's braid indifferently, looking as if this was a trivial matter not worth mentioning.

One must know that to marry a direct descendant of a Venerable's family, one had to be a Venerable themselves. Now, he had even helped Leng Yanshuang reach the Undying Realm. The old man could no longer find the words to express the shock in his heart; it was simply hard to believe.

"Husband, Sister Lin Wen'er hasn't woken up yet, but I can feel her aura has already reached the Danyun Realm."

Leng Yanshuang, who was letting Kang Dalei play with her beautiful hair, suddenly brought up business.

As for Commander Lin Wen, Kang Dalei still held the same view—he valued her quite highly. Thus, he nodded and said:

"It's fine. She consumed too much of her lifespan in the Yuyang Grotto-Heaven earlier, so it will still take some time for her to recover. There's no rush."

"Mhm," Leng Yanshuang nodded obediently. Seeing this, the twelve people on the side, who kept stealing glances at them, almost had their eyes pop out.

When they were in Xining Prefecture, they had never seen such a gentle Leng Yanshuang.

Seemingly sensing that someone was peeping at them, Leng Yanshuang swept a freezing glare over them. Everyone instantly retracted their gazes, cold sweat drenching their foreheads.

"Husband, you go ahead with your work then. Shuanger will go prepare some food for you."

Once Leng Yanshuang left, heavy sighs of relief immediately echoed inside the wooden cabin.

"Congratulations, young friend! Heartiest congratulations!"

Kang Dalei waved his hand and said with a modest face:

"This business of mine actually doesn't make money. It really doesn't make any money."

"You misunderstand, young friend. This old man is not congratulating you on your business, but rather congratulating you because the day you marry the daughter of the Leng family is the moment you take control of Xining Prefecture."

"What do you mean?" Kang Dalei was full of suspicion.

Seeing that he knew nothing, the old man shook his head helplessly.

"It really is a case of planting a willow unintentionally only for it to grow into shade. So many people wanted to marry this lady of the Leng family, not hesitating to spend a fortune, even ten thousand gold. Who would have thought it would end up benefiting you, young friend, in the end?"

"What on earth are you talking about?" Kang Dalei rolled his eyes. Did all elderly people like to play mysterious like this?

Seeing that Kang Dalei seemed a bit impatient, the old man finally spoke in an unhurried manner:

"Leng Yanshuang possesses the Ice Constitution, a talent seen only once in a thousand years. The Leng family has a clan rule: whoever marries her can inherit Xining Prefecture and become its supreme commander."

"And?"

Kang Dalei curled his lip indifferently, showing absolutely none of the excitement one would expect upon hearing he could inherit Xining Prefecture.

Kang Dalei's reaction also caught the old man off guard. But on second thought, he immediately smiled in realization and said:

"True. Since you can help others break through to the Venerable realm, how could a mere position of City Lord catch your eye?"

Speaking of which, another wave of disappointment welled up in the old man's heart.

If he didn't even care about the position of City Lord, then their Twelve Camps of the Twelve Generals probably wouldn't catch Kang Dalei's eye either.

"Alas, it seems it is all fate."

After sighing, the old man began to talk about business.

"Young friend, about those one thousand xuanpin stars..."

Kang Dalei smiled and said, "Don't worry. Once the demon cores arrive, the xuanpin stars will be traded immediately."

"Good." The old man gave a look to the few people behind him. Understanding his intent, they began to take out an object from their bosoms.

As a cloth bag appeared, a strange light emanated from within. Then, countless demon cores began to pour out, instantly piling up into a small mountain.

"It's actually a Cosmos Bag," Leng Yanshuang said in surprise as she walked in from outside carrying tea.

"I didn't expect that the twelve of you would still possess such a treasure."

"Miss Leng must be joking. No matter how down and out we are, we were once Venerables after all. A mere Cosmos Bag is not something we'd be unable to produce."

"Is that so?" Leng Yanshuang's gaze suddenly turned cold.

"Since you know you are Venerables, why did you betray the Great Zhou Dynasty, causing hundreds to lose their lives and dozens of Venerables to fall in the Battle of Yaoguan Canyon back then?"

"Miss Leng, we have already said that during the battle back then, our Chief Twelve Camps were ambushed by demon kings, and we simply couldn't spare any hands to reinforce you."

The middle-aged man holding a spear also had an unfriendly look in his eyes.

As for what happened back then, the fall of Yaoguan Canyon led to the tragic deaths of over a dozen Venerables who fought at the fortress, the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of residents, and the massacre of tens of thousands of participating cultivators.

The tragic scale of this battle was almost unprecedented.

But the Twelve Camps had received orders to reinforce Yaoguan Canyon at the time. However, while passing through Luoshen Ravine, they were ambushed and attacked by several demon kings.

The Chief Twelve Camps fought back desperately, but unfortunately, there was a Third-tier Demon King commanding the enemy, while the strongest Venerable of their Chief Camp was only in the Undying Realm.

That battle was equally tragic; the Chief Camp was completely wiped out, and the Twelve Generals barely survived thanks to their combined attack technique. In the end, however, they were hunted nationwide by the Great Zhou Dynasty on charges of colluding with the enemy and treason.

Later, they were suppressed by Leng Yanshuang's adoptive father, Prefect Leng Feng, together with the Venerables of Yuanchu Mountain. Prefect Leng Feng was also heavily injured in that battle, his cultivation plummeting from the Great Sun Realm to the Undying Realm.

Therefore, Leng Yanshuang's hatred for the twelve traitorous generals had never ceased over the years.

"If you encountered demon kings, why were only the twelve of you safe and sound while all the soldiers under your command died in battle? You aren't trying to tell me that the demon kings deliberately let you go, are you?"

The spear-wielding middle-aged man wanted to speak further—back then, the demon kings really had let them go—but before the words could leave his mouth, he was cut off by a glare from the old man beside him.

"In any case, whether the twelve of us are good or bad, the facts will prove it."

"Hmph, more like proving it to the demon race, I suppose."

"You!"

"Enough." Seeing their argument getting more and more out of hand, the old man suddenly spoke up to stop them, saying:

"Old Seven, do not be rude."

He then cast an apologetic look at Leng Yanshuang and said:

"Apologies, Miss Leng. Old Seven is immature. However, we came here today to do business with young friend Kang. You wouldn't mind, would you?"

Leng Yanshuang glanced at the old man, her face full of pride.

"If not for my husband's sake, I would have killed you all long ago."

After saying that, Leng Yanshuang set down the tea set for Kang Dalei, turned, and left the wooden cabin.

It was as if, in her eyes, dealing with the twelve of them was just a matter of a single word from Kang Dalei.

The other eleven glared angrily at the departing Leng Yanshuang, while only the old man stroked his beard and shook his head.

Whether their Twelve Generals were traitors or not, someone would know in the future.

"Young friend, let's trade."

Kang Dalei exchanged two thousand high-grade demon cores, gaining over twelve thousand points, and exchanged one thousand xuanpin stars to hand over to the old man.

As for the remaining eight thousand demon cores, those were naturally pure profit.

"Take care, bosses. Please come again next time!"

After seeing the twelve off, Kang Dalei turned around and let out a sudden cry.

"Ah!"

"What, you seem surprised to see me?"

"N-No." Kang Dalei calmed his mind, looked at the two women in front of him, and asked in confusion:

"By the way, it would have been fine if you came back alone. Why did you bring a burden with you?"

"You!" Liu Qiyue raised her head and glared at Kang Dalei.

She hadn't expected him to really be so shameless.

Ruan Mi patted Liu Qiyue's shoulder, signaling her not to be anxious, then turned to look at Kang Dalei and said:

"To discuss a big business deal with you, of course."

A big business deal? Hearing these words, Kang Dalei spat directly.

"You still owe me over a hundred demon cores. Pay me back first!"

"I don't have them," Ruan Mi said, indeed acting decisively. Her current shameless appearance was practically identical to Kang Dalei's.

Seeing that she wanted to renege on her debt again, Kang Dalei walked straight into the village and shut the door.

"Goodbye, I won't see you out."

"Is he always this pragmatic?" Liu Qiyue asked curiously from the side.

Ruan Mi nodded, looking utterly hopeless.

"Yes. This bastard only cares about money. As long as you give him demon cores, he'll do anything you want."