169: Chapter 169 The Visitor is Not Friendly

Dreams always come at the most inopportune times.

He saw that peach blossom forest again, the petals falling in a flurry like a warm rain that would never stop.

Tu Shan Xiaoxiao stood under a tree, wearing a water-green dress, her hair snow-white, shining dazzlingly amidst the pink and white rain of flowers.

She turned her head and smiled at him, her eyes curving into crescents as she called out crisply:

“Senior Brother!”

His Master, Liu Mei, was gracefully brewing tea nearby.

Eldest Senior Sister Ye Qingxi and Jin Mei were arguing about something, their cheeks flushed rosy red.

Lu Bingyun still had that cold and aloof appearance.

But when she looked at him, there was an undissolvable soft light in her eyes.

Li Chenger, Ding Shuyao, and Ye Bingli were frolicking in the distance, their silver bell-like laughter drifting over with the wind.

There was no desert, no space storms, and no ten years of dormancy and calculation.

Everyone was fine; Xiaoxiao was lively and bouncing around, getting jealous, acting spoiled, and pestering him to tell stories of the outside world.

The sunlight shone warmly on his body, and the air was filled with the fragrance of peach blossoms and tea.

He walked over, wanting to take Xiaoxiao's hand.

That hand was small and soft, with a familiar warmth...

“Brother Chen! Little Chen! Wake up! Stop sleeping!”

A violent shaking, mixed with Zhou Ao's coarse and anxious voice, was like a stone smashing the surface of a calm lake.

All the warm images instantly cracked and dissipated.

Chen Zilong snapped his eyes open, his heart still throbbing from the lingering sweetness of the dream, but his cheeks were icy cold—

It was tears!

He didn't know when they had started falling.

He stared blankly at Zhou Ao's dark, anxious face looming before him.

For a moment, he couldn't even tell what day or year it was.

“Big Brother Zhou?”

His voice was somewhat raspy, carrying the confusion of just waking up. “What are you doing?”

The warmth from the dream still lingered on his fingertips, and in contrast to the coldness of the real room, the gap was so large it left his heart feeling empty.

“What am I doing? Something big has happened!”

Zhou Ao was so anxious he was stomping his feet; disregarding etiquette, he yanked him up from the bed. “The Wang Family! People from the Wang Family have come to our door!”

“They're in the front hall right now, and the atmosphere is wrong. I'm afraid they're about to drop all pretenses! The Young Mistress told me to get you over there immediately!”

Chen Zilong was pulled into a stumble, and only then did his mind fully clear.

The Wang Family?

Wang Bufan?

His brows furrowed.

Wasn't it said there was still some time? Why did they come so suddenly?

“The Wang Family's arrival, what does it have to do with me?”

He asked while putting on the outer robe Zhou Ao had tossed over.

His tone was calm, but his mind was racing with calculations.

Zhou Xiao called for him?

In what capacity?

As a Guard whose contract was about to expire?

“Oh, my Brother Chen!”

Zhou Ao was so anxious he was sweating. “You are the Young Mistress's personal Guard!”

“The front hall is a powder keg right now, and the Young Mistress specifically named you to be by her side!”

“Stop dawdling!”

Chen Zilong tied his belt, his gaze turning steady.

Zhou Xiao specifically named him...

Does she think he can fight?

Impossible.

A martial artist cannot possibly defeat a cultivator.

This Zhou Xiao has no idea that Chen Zilong is actually a cultivator.

Chen Zilong has hidden it very well over the years.

Or...

Does she simply need someone by her side, even if just as a silent background presence?

He remembered her desolate figure when she left, and that phrase, 'Forget it.'

“Let's go.”

He didn't ask anything else, straightened his collar, and followed Zhou Ao out the door with large strides.

The night was thick, yet the Zhou Residence was brightly lit.

The servants were moving in a hurry, their faces filled with fear.

The closer they got to the front hall, the thicker the tense, 'calm before the storm' atmosphere became.

Before even reaching the door, a slightly shrill and utterly arrogant voice could be heard from inside; it was exactly Wang Bufan:

“...Uncle Zhou, my sincerity can be witnessed by Heaven and Earth.”

“I will increase the betrothal gifts by another thirty percent!”

“As long as Sister Xiaoxiao nods her head, my Wang Family and the Zhou Family will be joined in marriage, and from then on, only our two families will reign supreme in Qingyan City!”

“My Master has also given his approval and will even personally preside over the grand ceremony. What an honor is that?”

“Why must you... persist in your own way, Uncle?”

Then came Zhou Yi's response, suppressed by coughing and clearly lacking strength, tinged with anger:

“Nephew Wang... *cough*... *cough cough*... there is no need to mention the betrothal gifts again.”

“Xiaoxiao's marriage is for her to decide for herself.”

“My Zhou Family... has not yet reached the point of selling a daughter for glory!”

“Decide for herself?”

Another somber old man's voice rang out, likely an Elder of the Wang Family. “Zhou Yi, calling you 'Elder Brother' is giving you face.”

“The Young Mistress's Ice Marrow Spirit Body and my nephew Bufan's Xuan Yin True Fire are a match made in heaven!”

“This is a marriage ordained by fate; how can it be treated as a joke?”

“Do not refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit!”

“Don't forget, Bufan is now a personal disciple of the Xuan Yin Sect's 'Elder Yin Sha'!”

“I'm sure you've heard of his Master's temperament!”

The threat in his words was almost undisguised.

Chen Zilong and Zhou Ao reached the corridor outside the hall; through the open doors, they could see the situation inside.

Zhou Xiao stood beside her father, Zhou Yi, her face pale, her lips pressed tightly together, and her fingers clutching her sleeves so hard her knuckles were white.

Opposite her, Wang Bufan was dressed in a brocade robe, shaking a folding fan, with a smile of certain victory on his face.

His gaze, however, was like a venomous snake, patrolling over Zhou Xiao's body.

Behind him stood several old men with heavy, condensed auras.

There was also a group of fierce Guards, faintly surrounding the Zhou Family members in the center.

Zhou Ao wanted to go in, but Chen Zilong lightly held his arm.

Chen Zilong shook his head at him, signaling to watch from outside the door first.

His gaze fell on Zhou Xiao's tense profile, then swept over Wang Bufan's nauseating smile.

Finally, it rested on Zhou Xiao's slightly trembling fingers.

Just then, Wang Bufan seemed to lose his patience; he snapped his fan shut, his smile vanished, and his tone turned cold:

“Uncle Zhou, my patience is limited.”

“My Master will be taking me back to the main sect for secluded cultivation in a few days, and I will be gone for years.”

“This marriage must be settled before I leave!”

“Today, give me a definitive answer.”

“Will you marry off your daughter with honor and form an alliance, or...”

He intentionally dragged out his words, his gaze becoming sinister:

“Shall I have my Master personally come to the Zhou Residence to ask you, Uncle...”

“...just how much he looks down on the Xuan Yin Sect, and how much he looks down on the personal disciple of Elder Yin Sha?!”

As his voice fell, a Wang Family Elder behind him suddenly took a step forward.

The pressure of the Nascent Soul Early Stage was released without reservation, like an invisible mountain crashing down upon the pale-faced Zhou Yi in the head seat and the swaying Zhou Xiao!

The faces of the several Zhou Family Guards in the hall changed drastically; they wanted to step forward but were pinned down by the opponent's stronger momentum, unable to move.

Zhou Yi spat out a mouthful of blood, his aura instantly withering away.

Zhou Xiao cried out in alarm:

“Father!”

She wanted to support her father, but she herself was buffeted by the pressure until her blood surged and her vision went dark.

At this critical moment—

“Young Master Wang.”

A calm, even somewhat flat voice rang out at the hall entrance.

The voice wasn't loud, but it strangely penetrated the stagnant air caused by the Nascent Soul pressure, reaching everyone's ears clearly.

Everyone, including Wang Bufan and the Elder behind him who was releasing the pressure, subconsciously turned to look.

They saw a burly man wearing ordinary Guard attire, who had stood inside the hall door at some unknown time.

There was no expression on his face, and his gaze was very calm.

He just looked at Wang Bufan as if the pressure, which was enough to make a Golden Core Cultivator kneel, was merely a gentle breeze on his face.

It was Chen Zilong.

Meeting Wang Bufan's suddenly narrowed, scrutinizing, and displeased gaze, he slowly cupped his fists in a salute, his tone still steady without a ripple:

“I am Chen Zilong, Young Mistress Zhou's Guard.”

“The Wang Family members are guests from afar; let us speak reasonably.”

“Using power to oppress others is likely not the conduct of a gentleman and would also damage the reputation of the Xuan Yin Sect's Elders.”

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the Wang Family Nascent Soul Elder whose face was now somewhat uncertain, and finally landed back on Wang Bufan's face, saying faintly:

“Moreover, a forced melon is not sweet.”

“Young Master Wang, what do you say?”