58: Arrival at Chenliu Village

Chu Qinhui froze for a moment, his mouth opening slightly as he didn't know what to say.

Chu Jingyu stopped in his tracks, turned to Face Chu Qinhui, and said, "You take Xiao Han back first and protect her while she forms her contract."

Hearing that his father intended to part ways, Chu Qinhui hurriedly asked, "Father, where are you going?"

"It is time for the matters regarding Chenliu Village to be resolved." A dangerous light shone in Chu Jingyu's eyes.

A guest arrived at Jinbao Carriage Firm, the only carriage firm in Heyu Town.

The old man had graying hair and wore very simple clothing, but his bearing was extraordinary, causing a sense of awe to arise spontaneously in those at the carriage firm who looked at him.

The guest spent ten taels of silver to rent the most premium carriage, yet he only provided the name of a village under Heyu Town.

"Take me to Chenliu Village."

After saying this, the guest entered the carriage and did not appear again.

The guest was generous, so the people at the carriage firm naturally followed all his arrangements. Although it was already nearing noon, the coachman only grabbed two dry pancakes and hurriedly set off with the carriage.

Chenliu Village could be considered one of the villages relatively close to the town, only a dozen or so miles away. The coachman estimated that he could arrive in half an hour, and even faster if he hurried.

However, the guest did not urge him, so the coachman did not rush. The journey was not long, and it was more important for the guest to have a comfortable ride.

The strange thing was that although there was no wind on the road, a continuous stream of air kept flowing into the carriage, as if something inside was attracting the surrounding air.

Furthermore, the coachman could hear a "thump, thump, thump" sound, like powerful drumbeats, or perhaps some kind of amplified heartbeat.

Following the road, a village backed by a valley appeared in the distance. Under the gaze of the villagers at the entrance, the coachman slowly stopped the carriage.

He dared not look into the carriage, and with a stiff body, he called out, "Honored guest, we have arrived at Chenliu Village."

The air flowing into the carriage slowly stopped at this moment, and the air around the carriage returned to calm. A steady voice came from inside the carriage,

"Go straight to the village chief's house."

"Yes." The coachman dared not question it and immediately drove the carriage into the village.

Only after passing through the entire village, at the very end where the entrance to the valley was, did they reach the honored guest's destination.

It was an extremely large residence with green bricks and red tiles. Stone lions guarded the four-meter-wide gate; judging by its specifications, it did not look like a residence a village chief could live in at all.

Moreover, there were two guards standing at the entrance. Although they were just ordinary people, to some extent, this place seemed even more like a Contract Master Family than the Chu Family's main residence.

Seeing the carriage from the town stop at the entrance, the guards stationed there immediately stepped forward and shouted to the coachman, "Which lord is visiting?"

The coachman looked blank; he did not know which big shot was inside the carriage, but blocking the entrance to the Chenliu Village chief's house like this was not good.

After all, people in town knew that the village chiefs of the few villages left behind by the Liu Family were all Contract Masters of the Uncommon Rank. In the eyes of ordinary people like them, their status was noble, and they were absolutely not to be offended.

"Tell your village chief to come out and see me."

The guard's expression changed slightly, and many guesses flashed through his eyes. "I do not know which lord you are; could you please state your name so I may inform my master?"

Referring to him only as master, not village chief—perhaps this guard was not a villager of Chenliu Village.

"I come from the Main Family of Chenliu Village, the Chu Family." The person in the carriage did not appear, and only a calm, unquestionable voice drifted out.

A mocking smile flashed in the guard's eyes. So it was that Chu Family; he had thought it was one of the big shots from town.

"Please drive the carriage to one side; don't block the gate. I will go in and report."

The coachman raised the reins and was about to urge the horse to move to the side, but the next moment, a large golden pincer reached out from behind the curtain.

"Wait here."

The coachman looked at the large pincer beside him, swallowed nervously, and dared not move.

The guard also looked nervously at the golden pincer exposed outside the curtain, hurriedly stepped back a few paces, opened the mahogany gate, and rushed off to report.

In the study of the Chenliu Village chief, upon hearing the guard's report at the entrance, a thin-faced man with slanted eyes waved his hand dismissively.

"He won't even get off his carriage, yet he wants me to welcome him? This Chu Family certainly has a lot of Face. They are merely a newly promoted Ninth-Rank Humble Family; even their Family head is only at my Realm. Since he wants to wait, let him wait outside."

After saying this, he threw the book in his hand onto the table, stood up, and walked toward the garden in the courtyard.

The guard in charge of reporting bit his finger; as an ordinary person, he did not want to go out and Face that Contract Master on the carriage. Since his master had said so, he might as well just stay in the courtyard for now.

Outside the mahogany gate, seeing that the guard had not returned for a long time, Chu Jingyu, sitting in the carriage, understood perfectly well what the Chenliu Village chief meant.

The coachman sitting outside the carriage heard a soft laugh from inside. "Since this village chief won't come out to welcome me, we shall go in and make him welcome us. Golden Jade, clear the way."

As soon as the words fell, a golden and jade-colored Source Beast jumped down from the carriage. Its pincers were slightly raised, supporting the walls on both sides of the mahogany gate. Under a covering of golden light, they slowly turned into a pile of golden sand.

Then, it re-condensed into solid, level ground on the path in front of the carriage.

With the gate no longer supported, it fell to the ground with a loud crash.

The screen wall inside the courtyard was instantly exposed in front of the carriage.

"Continue on."

This sentence was spoken both to the coachman and to the [Golden Armored Jade Pupil Beast] in front of the carriage.

The other guard seemed to be stunned by the scene before him, standing there blankly.

The coachman's reaction was slightly better, but his uncontrollably trembling hands indicated that he was also extremely panicked by the situation before him.

However, the voice of the honored guest inside the carriage brought him back to his senses, causing him to continue driving the horses as calmly as possible toward the interior of the courtyard, where the path was now exposed.

Just like that, with the [Golden Armored Jade Pupil Beast] clearing the way in front and the carriage slowly following behind, they arrived at the Central Hall of the entire courtyard.

When the owner of this courtyard, that thin middle-aged man, felt the commotion and walked to the Central Hall, what he saw was:

A Source Beast with golden armor and jade patterns, waving its pincers and shaking its head, and a carriage with the mark of the Jinbao Carriage Firm waiting quietly in the courtyard.

Chen Chengwen raised one of his arms, glaring angrily at the path that could lead directly to the road.

He was just about to say something, but after sensing the Realm of that [Golden Armored Jade Pupil Beast], the words that had reached his lips were swallowed back down.

"So, only when I have arrived here is the village chief willing to come out and welcome me personally?"