Chapter 94 Hidden Strengths Tested

With a cold snort, she walked down the steps in a few strides and pointed at Chen Mu.

"Him? A hero? Don't make me laugh."

"Look at him, all dressed up, but once he gets home and takes off his shoes, the smell is enough to suffocate someone. He never likes to wash his feet."

"And another thing, he's a grown man who's incredibly stingy. He tries to stretch every copper coin as far as it can go; asking him to buy some meat is like asking for his life. His room is as messy as a pigsty."

Jiang Huoyu's words were less of a revelation of the truth and more of a complaint with the temperament of a little girl; her intentions were quite obvious.

On one hand, she wanted to tear him down, pulling Chen Mu off his pedestal as a hero, while also taking a dig at him to avenge the time he extorted the scroll from her.

However, before she could finish speaking, the surrounding crowd let out a burst of good-natured laughter. Far from being discouraged, they began to defend Chen Mu one after another.

"Oh my, young lady, that's quite a thing to say."

An old man with a white beard nearby shook his head and laughed.

"Young Hero Chen is a man who does big things. He toils day and night, ridding us common folk of demons and monsters. It's only natural that he might be too tired to wash his feet when he gets home."

"Besides, a man should prioritize his career. A little scent? That's just the smell of a man."

A middle-aged woman carrying a vegetable basket nearby chimed in.

"Stingy? Young lady, that's not called stingy; that's called being frugal and managing a household well. How many young people today know how to be thrifty? This Hero Chen is clearly a reliable person."

"Right, right, right. So, Hero Chen's home just happens to lack a woman to help tidy things up. Speaking of which, my daughter..."

With everyone chiming in, they completely refuted Jiang Huoyu's slanders, instead praising Chen Mu as a perfect young man who was frugal, reliable, and possessed a manly scent.

Jiang Huoyu listened in astonishment, her pretty face flushing red and then pale, her chest heaving as she didn't know what to do.

Just then, a teasing voice rang out from the crowd.

"Hey, hasn't everyone figured it out yet? Why is this young lady blocking the door? Why does she only speak ill of Hero Chen? It's because she's jealous and afraid that we'll snatch Hero Chen away."

As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd fell silent for a moment, and then someone immediately caught on and burst into laughter.

"I was wondering about that. So Hero Chen already has a beauty by his side."

"Hey! A talented man and a beautiful woman—they really are a perfect match."

"Hahaha, I'm afraid the marriage proposal from Shopkeeper Li's family is a step too late."

"Let's disperse, let's disperse! Don't bother the young couple."

Listening to everyone's teasing, Jiang Huoyu's face turned bright red, and her head was buzzing.

A talented man and a beautiful woman? A young couple? Jealous?

Filled with shame and anger, she couldn't care about anything else and stepped forward to push the neighbors who were still laughing and joking.

"You... you people... what are you talking nonsense about?!"

"Who is his wife?! I... I'm just staying here! Get out, all of you, leave!"

Seeing her lose her temper and assuming she was Hero Chen's family, the neighbors didn't want to push back too hard, so they retreated while laughing and joking.

Before leaving, they didn't forget to place their gifts on the stone steps, calling out "Hero Chen, rest well" and "We'll visit another day" before dispersing in twos and threes.

Before long, the alley entrance, which had just been noisy and chaotic, returned to its usual quiet, leaving only the furious and embarrassed Jiang Huoyu and Chen Mu, whose expression hadn't changed from start to finish.

Jiang Huoyu glared fiercely at Chen Mu and turned around, slamming the courtyard gate shut with a bang.

Chen Mu was silent for a moment before slowly stepping forward and pushing the gate open to enter the courtyard.

In the courtyard, Jiang Huoyu stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at him, her shoulders heaving slightly—evidently, her anger had not yet subsided.

Chen Mu didn't say a word either. He walked to the well in the courtyard, drew a ladle of cold water, and drank it slowly, only speaking calmly after a long while.

"Calling me stingy, I'll barely grant you that point."

"Calling my room messy, I'll also barely grant you that point."

"But..."

His gaze landed on Jiang Huoyu's face, his tone flat but carrying a hint of questioning.

"Saying I don't like to wash my feet? Miss Jiang, isn't this slander a bit too absurd?"

Jiang Huoyu was already angry, and being asked this so calmly only added fuel to the fire. Without thinking, she blurted out.

"Just because I've never seen you wash them! If I haven't seen it, it means you haven't washed them!"

"What about it? Is that not allowed?!"

This twisted logic was stated so matter-of-factly, bordering on being completely unreasonable.

Chen Mu looked at her quietly, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly. After two seconds of silence, he slowly nodded, as if accepting this logic, and then said slowly.

"Fine. Since you say I haven't washed them, then you go and pour the foot-washing water for me."

Jiang Huoyu reacted as if her tail had been stepped on, nearly jumping up.

"What? Chen Mu, you're dreaming!"

"Make me pour your foot-washing water? Do you take me for your family's servant girl!"

Chen Mu remained completely unmoved and continued to speak on his own.

"That scroll from last time will serve as compensation for your Tiger Fangs, and this time you spoke ill of me in public, ruining my reputation."

"Although I don't really have much of a reputation to speak of, it still messed things up for me. Pouring the foot-washing water will cover the rent and food expenses for these past few days. We'll be even—it's very fair."

Jiang Huoyu immediately stomped her feet in anger.

Fair? Fair my foot!

Jiang Huoyu finally understood. So this guy had been waiting for her here—using foot-washing water to pay the rent? What kind of twisted logic was this?

She, the Young Miss of the Jiang Family, born into the Jiang Family of the North, had never in her life poured foot-washing water for anyone! And for a stinky man she had only known for a few days at that!

"Fair my foot! That scroll was mine to begin with; you tricked me out of it!"

"Rent and food expenses? I'm sleeping on a woodpile and eating clear noodle soup, and you have the nerve to ask for money? To make me pour foot-washing water to pay off a debt?!"

"Chen Mu, don't go too far!"

Chen Mu didn't argue with her; he just glanced at her quietly and then moved without warning.

He didn't go to get a basin, nor did he go to the well to fetch water.

His figure flickered, and he activated the Divine Void Step beneath his feet, his speed so fast that only a blurred afterimage remained.

No warning, no buildup of power.

His right hand formed a sword-finger, with Protective Aura faintly visible at his fingertips, and with the momentum of piercing through the air, he struck at Jiang Huoyu's Jianjing acupoint.

The turn of events was too sudden, and the distance was too close. Jiang Huoyu had not expected that he would suddenly attack in his own courtyard over a basin of foot-washing water, and his speed was significantly faster than when they had clashed before.

Alarm bells rang in Jiang Huoyu's heart. She let out a sharp cry, her footwork equally profound, and it was not much slower than the Divine Void Step.

Chen Mu missed his strike, but his expression remained unchanged. He struck back with his palm, quietly activating the Soul-Loss Art at the same time.

He did not use his full strength to activate this secret technique specifically designed to attack the Divine Soul; he only separated a trace of extremely weak Soul Power, mixed it into his palm wind, and attacked Jiang Huoyu's Yintang acupoint.

This was the real test; he wanted to see exactly how deep Jiang Huoyu's foundation was.

With the Soul-Loss Art at the Perfection stage and his cultivation at the Late Stage of the Dao Entry Realm, even a single trace would be enough to make an ordinary Dao Entry Realm Martial Artist's mind dazed and their movements sluggish.

However, the scene he had anticipated—Jiang Huoyu's movements stiffening and her face showing pain—did not occur.

Jiang Huoyu frowned and let out a soft grunt. The hands she had used to protect herself did indeed experience an extremely brief pause.

But that was all.