novelOne Step Too Late
| ← Ch.026 | Ch.028 → |
Hu Po and Ah Bai looked at each other. Hu Po originally had his own misigivings about Lin Xuanzhi, if it wasn't because Lin Xuanzhi was so unreliable, he wouldn't have been sold off by Yan Tianhen. At first, Hu Po wanted to throw a tantrum by jumping off the carriage and showing Lin Xuanzhi his butt, but, he didn't expect Lin Xuanzhi to throw a demonic delight fruit at him!
Hu Po pounced forward with an ao and ate the demonic delight fruit in one bite.
Afterwards, Hu Po looked like he had just climaxed and happily jumped onto the coachman position, then properly squatted down and howled at the horse that was so frightened its legs had turned into jelly.
Ah Bai couldn't look straight at Hu Po as he wiped his brother's face.
Useless brother, to actually have been bribed by just one demonic delight fruit, you're so vexing!
But Ah Bai had completely overlooked how he himself had been bribed before by just one demonic delight fruit!
The carriage slowly made its way through the streets towards the Lin residence.
Lin Xuanzhi and Yan Tianhen sat in the carriage, and neither of them spoke for awhile.
Yan Tianhen appeared to be immersed in agony over his Daddy's death and couldn't free himself from it, so much so that Lin Xuanzhi could clearly see the regret and self-reproach on his face.
Lin Xuanzhi gave him a moment to settle his emotions before opening his mouth to speak, "Ah Hen, do you still remember what happened that day?"
Yan Tianhen shook his head, bit his lower lip and said, "I can't remember very well, I only remember that Daddy was killed by cultivators while he was trying to protect me, yet I can't recall what time we had left the house, why we left the house, where we had met our pursuers, or how our pursuers looked like...... but Daddy had blocked a blow for me and sent me back to the Lin family with a formation he had set up."
Lin Xuanzhi furrowed his brows as he thought, Ah Hen's memory regarding that event is so blurry, but all his other memories appear to be okay. That patch of his memory was obviously sealed off by an expert.
But— Yan Tianhen was sent back by his Dad's formation, the cultivators who were pursuing them couldn't have had the chance to tamper with his memory. Then that would mean that Yan Tianhen's memory was probably erased by someone after he returned.
When he thought of this, Lin Xuanzhi narrowed his eyes; his fair, jade fingers lightly tapped on the mat a few times.
"It's okay even if you don't remember." Lin Xuanzhi lightly patted Yan Tianhen's hand, then said, "Those cultivators probably had their reasons for attacking you and Dad, since there was a first time, then there will be a second time. We will eventually find out who they are someday, and it wouldn't be too late to take our revenge then.
Yan Tianhen abruptly looked up and stared at Lin Xuanzhi, then asked in disbelief, "Dage doesn't blame or hate me anymore?"
Lin Xuanzhi shook his head and said, "I've said this before, you're my only family left. I treat you like how I would my own younger brother, and you treat me like your biological elder brother. What happened to Daddy was purely an accident, it's not your fault, so Ah Hen can't think that you are to blame for it from now on, okay?"
Yan Tianhen pursed his lips, then dived headlong into Lin Xuanzhi's arms and started wailing in anguish.
No one knew how scared, how helpless and how guilty he felt after Lin Zhan died. He had always blamed himself for Lin Zhan's death, if it wasn't because someone as useless as him was holding Lin Zhan back, Lin Zhan could have definitely escaped by himself without harm.
Dage had treated him coldly, the Lin family always tried to make things difficult for him and bully him, then Yan Tianhen was forced to sell Hu Po and Ah Bai...... even though he wasn't smart enough, he's not a fool. During this period, he had almost fallen apart.
But to think, to think that a day would come when everything would change.
No matter the reason why Lin Xuanzhi suddenly treated him so well within a day, as long as his brother didn't hate him and didn't want to chase him out of the house, then he would be able to continue living on courageously. He wouldn't even mind being Lin Xuanzhi's cow or horse ~sup~1~/sup~!
The difference in atmosphere between the interior and exterior of the carriage was drastically different.
Hu Po and Ah Bai were driving the carriage outside and were extremely excited. Even though the horse was so terrified by these two spirit beasts' natural pressure that it peed itself, it didn't dare to stop moving; thus, it could only trudge on and pull the carriage towards the Lin residence with its trembling hooves.
Two people, two tigers and one horse.
This combination had become the most eye-catching scene in Qing city.
............
Not long after Lin Xuanzhi and Yan Tianhen left, Han Yuran and Han Yanran leisurely strolled towards the demonic beast market.
When they were in the vicinity of the market, Han Yanran pinched her nose and furrowed her exquisite eyebrows and said with a face full of disgust, "This place reeks - the stench of demonic beasts is horrible. Dage, are you sure that ugly idiot sold those demonic beasts here?"
"I'm certain." Han Yuran said with confidence, "I had already dispatched some people to scout around for information ahead of us. Yesterday, that ugly idiot did bring those two tiger cubs here and sold them off to a cultivator who was dressed in a teal gown and carried a fan around with him."
Most of the demonic beasts sold here were of low caliber. The market was small, but there were many demonic beasts cramped in this small space, so naturally there would be an unpleasant odour wafting about the market.
Usually, Han Yuran would only visit high-end demonic beast trading companies to pick demonic beasts, so he absolutely wouldn't spare this kind of roadside stalls a second glance — just by being near them made him feel like he was lowering his status.
In any case, he was the eldest young master of the Han family, and was even the Han family's best craftsman, so naturally he had a highly regarded status.
Han Yanran pursed her lips unhappily, then said, "Dage, isn't it ok to just send some servants to go find them, there isn't a need for us to follow them right."
Han Yuran thought about it and agreed, if it wasn't because he really wanted those rare and precious tiger cubs, he wouldn't have made this trip down himself.
So Han Yuran stopped in his tracks and said to the chamberlains following behind them, "Go and find the one who bought those tiger cubs, once you've found him, bring him and those tiger cubs to me."
After the two chamberlains left, a flippant young man adorned in a glamorous attire equipped with magic treasures from head to toe walked over.
When Han Yuran saw him, his face immediately turned black.
" Yo, Han young master, what a rare guest." Duan Yuyang stood in front of Han Yuran with a devil-may-care attitude, then looked towards Han Yanran and began to size her up. His eyes lingered at her uplifted chest, then smirked and said, "Didn't Han young master always think that this kind of place would stain your eyes with just one glance, why did you personally come down here today? Don't tell me you're here to pick up that good-for-nothing fiance of yours, Lin Xuanzhi? Orh, that's not right, you should be here to see if that fiance of yours was beaten to death right?"
Han Yanran quickly hid behind Han Yuran.
Even though Duan Yuyang looked handsome, his reputation is as dirty as a piece of tattered rag. The rumours surrounding him are bad enough to scare kids into crying and women into staying at home.
Qing city is overseen by three big cultivation families - the Lin family, Han family and Duan family. The eldest successors of the Lin and Han families were outstandingly talented and refined; the only exception was the eldest son of the Duan family who's just a useless bum.
Duan Yuyang is an idiot good-for-nothing who barely sees any progress in his cultivation, so he needs to rely on medicinal pills to raise his level and magic treasures to help him fight. Not only that, he's extremely perverted. Usually, bolstered by the support of his father, the master of the Duan family, and his mother, a primary level cultivator, he would bully everyone in sight and commit all kinds of misdeeds; teasing people on the streets was commonplace for him.
Even though he had restrained himself a little because of a public outcry, he had just changed from doing his deeds brazenly out in the open to doing it in the dark. Rumours has it that he had already tarnished many young women, and even kept them by his side as his concubines.
Han Yuran furrowed his brows slightly and said, "Duan Yuyang, what are you trying to say?"
"Shouldn't Han young master know best what I'm trying to say?" Duan Yuyang smiled maliciously, then said, "Good ol' me thought that the reason Han young master kept encouraging Lin Xuanzhi to go to Tyrant Martial Hall to compete was because you hoped that one day, that trash would be killed in one hit by the fighters you employed?"
"What kind of nonsense are you spouting." Han Yuran waved his sleeves and stared at Duan Yuyang angrily, "Stop trying to sow discord here, it's more than enough for you to just mind your own business. Don't provoke me."
"Can't afford to, can't afford to." Duan Yuyang laughed, then indecently made eyes at the Han Yanran who was hiding behind Han Yuran before he turned around and left with huge fanfare.
After Duan Yuyang had walked far away, Han Yanran's face blackened and said, "Dage, can we think of some way to kill that guy? He actually dared to stare at my chest, and even asked father for my hand in marriage! He's too disgusting, too shameless!"
Han Yuran's face turned solemn as he said, "Father has already rejected the Duan family's proposal. This Duan Yuyang, he might look a bit crazy, but he definitely isn't a fool."
Even till now, Han Yuran's heart hadn't stopped beating crazily. Most of what Duan Yuyang had said just now was the truth — it really was him who had intentionally encouraged the Lin Xuanzhi who was anxious to find a sense of purpose in life to go to Tyrant Martial Hall to compete, and everyone that Lin Xuanzhi had fought did so under his orders.
On the one hand, Han Yuran wanted to squeeze Lin Xuanzhi of all his assets, and on the other hand, why wouldn't he want Lin Xuanzhi to die in the martial hall?
Even though breaking off their engagement would be considered reasonable, people's words can be dreadful. There will definitely be people who would criticize him for being selfish and unkind behind his back.
But if Lin Xuanzhi courted his own death and killed himself in the process, then he, Han Yuran, wouldn't just have a good reputation, he would also be able to get rid of that good-for-nothing who kept pestering him.
The thing is, Han Yuran had always been very secretive when he handled these matters. Even when it came to selecting the fighters, Han Yuran had never appeared personally, so he never expected that this Duan Yuyang who had nothing to do with him would suddenly jump out and expose him!
Of course Han Yuran would feel unsettled and be on the verge of panicking.
If their conversation had been heard by someone else, his reputation would have been torn to shreds! 9mjyvu
"Dage, what should we do?" Han Yanran furrowed her brows, and said worriedly, "It looks like he knows that we're the masterminds behind that good-for-nothing's competition results. If he were to spread it around......"
"He won't spread it." Han Yuran narrowed his eyes, then said, "If he wanted to say anything, he would've done so a long time ago. For him to privately warn us today, he probably wants something from us. If so, he would definitely come find me again."
1. To be someone's cow or horse is to be their slave
| ← Ch. 026 | Ch. 028 → |