170: Chapter 17 Wang Bufan

"Hahahaha!!!!!"

Wang Bufan's cold laugh was like a blade dipped in ice, scraping through the hall.

He sized Chen Zilong up and down, the condescending contempt in his eyes almost overflowing.

It was as if he weren't looking at a person, but at a pebble in the middle of the road getting in his way.

"Heh, a mere mortal actually dares to meddle in the affairs of cultivators?"

He snapped his folding fan shut with a 'pa' and pointed the ribs of the fan toward Chen Zilong, his tone full of playfulness and impatience. "This young master is in a good mood today because of my marriage proposal. I can't be bothered to lower myself to the level of an ant like you."

"How about this: kneel down, give me a hundred kowtows, call me 'Grandpa' a hundred times, and this young master will show great mercy and act as if I never saw you."

"What do you say?"

The way he said it, with that natural air of arrogance, was enough to give anyone a headache.

Wang Bufan held his chin high, his nostrils practically pointing to the sky, completely disregarding this fellow in ordinary Guard attire with a 'weak' aura.

In his mind, this was just the Zhou Family's deathbed struggle, pushing out a reckless youth who didn't know the height of the heavens.

Hearing this, Chen Zilong simply rolled his eyes.

It wasn't a large movement, but in this tense atmosphere where everyone held their breath, it seemed exceptionally abrupt and...

Disdainful.

In his life, aside from that 'child of destiny' Ye Wushuang—who was destined for greatness and caused explosions wherever he went—he had truly never seen someone so boastful and asking for a beating.

In his heart, he really didn't want to get involved in this mess.

In a few months, once the ten-year promise was up, he would just pat his buttocks and leave, find a place with beautiful scenery to go into secluded cultivation to break through to the Soul Transformation stage, and then head straight for the Pill Mansion.

Did the survival of the Zhou Family or Wang Bufan's overbearing attitude have anything to do with him, Chen Zilong?

But...

For some reason, out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed Zhou Xiao's eyes. They were still red and swollen, yet they were currently staring fixedly at Wang Bufan, burning with the flames of anger and despair.

A string in his heart was inexplicably plucked.

Ten years, not ten days.

Even if you raised a cat or a dog, after ten years of being together day and night, watching it grow from the size of a palm to being able to frolic around the yard, if someone suddenly said they were going to stew it, your heart would skip a beat, wouldn't it?

Though he truly didn't have those kinds of romantic feelings for Zhou Xiao.

His heart and eyes were full of that sleeping white figure in the ice coffin and his obsession with becoming an Eighth-Grade Alchemist to refine the nirvana blood fusion pill.

But humans are not plants; who can be completely devoid of emotion?

Moreover, the Wang Family's attitude—acting as if they had the Zhou Family in their grasp and even bringing up the name of the Xuan Yin Sect to pressure people—was truly nauseating to watch.

Before he had even fully sorted out the chaotic thoughts in his head, his body had already moved first—

Involuntarily stepping between Zhou Xiao and Wang Bufan.

It seemed that while his logic thought one way, his body and that inexplicable 'spirit' in his heart had decided to meddle in this business after all.

Seeing that this 'mortal Guard' was not only not paralyzed with fear but actually rolled his eyes with a speechless 'is there a hole in your brain' expression, a surge of sinister anger flared up in Wang Bufan's heart.

He was just worrying about not having a reason to establish his dominance over the Zhou Family by making an example of someone, and this death-seeking fellow had delivered himself right to his door!

His gaze sharpened, and the spiritual pressure belonging to a Nascent Soul Early Stage cultivator began to ripple faintly around him, like an undercurrent brewing beneath a calm lake surface, locking onto Chen Zilong with cold killing intent.

Today, he would use this mortal named Chen Zilong to set an example.

He would let everyone in the Zhou Family see clearly what the consequences were for defying him, Wang Bufan, and defying the Xuan Yin Sect!

Just then, a slender but firm figure suddenly lunged forward, once again blocking the way in front of Chen Zilong and shielding him completely behind her.

It was Zhou Xiao.

Her face was pale, but her back was ramrod straight, like a thin bamboo stalk refusing to bend in the cold wind.

She glared at Wang Bufan, her voice trembling slightly from excitement and anger, yet it was exceptionally clear:

"Wang Bufan! Have you no shame?!"

"A cultivator who has formed a Nascent Soul, using your cultivation to make things difficult for a mortal Guard?"

"Does your Xuan Yin Sect want to openly violate the great taboo of the cultivation world: 'the distinction between immortals and mortals, and that high-level cultivators must not slaughter low-level ones or mortals without cause'?!"

These words were spoken with force, carrying a sense of desperate determination.

Although the cultivation world followed the law of the jungle, there were still some superficial rules.

Large sects, in particular, often placed more importance on 'face'.

Slaughtering mortals or bullying low-level cultivators without cause would always result in a bad reputation if word got out.

Wang Bufan acted as if he had heard the world's biggest joke. He let out a sneer and tapped his folding fan against his palm.

"A great taboo? Hahahaha!"

"Zhou Xiao, oh Zhou Xiao, you are still so naive."

"Rules are dead, but people are alive."

"As long as the people here today... don't speak of it, then won't it be as if this matter never happened?"

His cold gaze swept over every member of the Zhou Family in the hall, the threat in his eyes self-evident.

Zhou Xiao was so angry she was trembling all over. "Do you think the people here are all blind and mute?!"

"Not exactly,"

Wang Bufan leisurely brushed off non-existent dust and said slowly, "So, the best way is..."

"...to have your Zhou Family merge into my Wang Family."

"From now on, we will be one family."

"When a family talks behind closed doors, what secrets are there?"

"Naturally, it will be as if nothing ever happened."

"Tell me, isn't that a sound logic?"

"You... are utterly shameless!" Zhou Xiao was so enraged by this bandit logic that she could barely speak a full sentence, only able to squeeze these words through her teeth.

Wang Bufan lost the last bit of his patience. The hypocritical smile on his face vanished completely, leaving only cold killing intent.

He slowly raised his right hand, and a dark point of light that seemed capable of swallowing light began to condense at his fingertip.

That was the signature Yin Fiend Power of the Xuan Yin Sect. Against a mortal, a single touch meant death!

Seeing this, Zhou Xiao's pupils shrank.

But she did not step away. Instead, she used even more strength to block the way in front of Chen Zilong, even slightly spreading her arms in a clumsy but firm protective posture.

She closed her eyes, her long eyelashes trembling violently.

Her face was as white as paper, and her lips were pressed tightly together.

It was a posture of resignation, yet it carried the courage of a desperate gamble.

Standing behind her, Chen Zilong looked at her slightly trembling, thin shoulders and at her back—which refused to move an inch despite her obvious fear. The mixed feelings in his heart grew even stronger.

This girl...

Is she stupid?

She could barely save herself, and her family was in a precarious situation, yet she was still risking her life to protect a 'mortal' Guard?

Was it because of that meager master-servant bond from the past ten years?

Or was it because of...

...that punch at Hugang Mountain?

Just as that dark light at Wang Bufan's fingertip was about to shoot out, and the air in the hall had frozen to the extreme—with even Zhou Yi closing his eyes in despair and the Zhou Family Guards clutching their weapons but not daring to step forward—

"Stop!"

An old, low, yet undeniably majestic voice suddenly rang out, like a giant boulder crashing into a stagnant pond, breaking the suffocating deadlock.

The voice came from behind Wang Bufan, from that Nascent Soul elder of the Xuan Yin Sect who had remained taciturn and almost invisible until now.

Wang Bufan's movements suddenly stalled. The dark light at his fingertip flickered and was narrowly withdrawn.

He turned back in shock to look at his family's elder, his face full of confusion and a hint of displeasure at being stopped.

"Elder? What is the meaning of..."

Not just him, but everyone in the hall.

The Zhou Family, the Wang Family—they were all stunned.

They all turned their gazes toward the old man who had suddenly spoken.

No one expected that at this critical juncture, the one to speak up and stop Wang Bufan would actually be the Wang Family's greatest reliance—

Someone from the Xuan Yin Sect!

Chen Zilong's right hand behind his back, which had already quietly formed half of the 'Vajra Demon-Subduing Seal' incantation and was ready to strike, also relaxed slightly as his spiritual power quietly dissipated.

He lifted his eyelids and calmly looked at the Xuan Yin Sect elder.

The elder paid no heed to Wang Bufan's question, nor did he even glance at Zhou Xiao.

His cloudy yet internally sharp eyes had seemingly been resting on Chen Zilong, albeit faintly, from the moment he stepped out.

Now, they were locked onto Chen Zilong without any concealment, filled with a sense of scrutiny and investigation.

The hall was deathly silent, so quiet that a dropped needle could be heard.

There were only the various heavy or shallow breaths of the crowd and the 'thump-thump' of racing hearts.

Zhou Xiao also opened her eyes, looking at this sudden turn of events in a daze.

Zhou Yi clutched his chest, looking between the elder and Chen Zilong with uncertainty and alarm.

The attendants Wang Bufan brought looked at each other, not knowing what tricks the elder had up his sleeve.

This silence lasted for a full dozen breaths, feeling as long as several hours.