Late at night, the room was silent.
The moment Shangguan Jing stepped into the bedroom and saw the cornered Su Xuan, he froze in place, unable to speak for a long while.
“Su… Su… Fellow Daoist Su, why is it you?”
After a long pause, he swallowed hard and forced out those few words, his heart feeling as if it had been struck by five bolts of lightning.
‘I’m finished!’
‘I already offended the Eldest Young Miss.’
‘And now I’ve offended Lin Zhiwei’s master too?’
‘I even made an appointment with the Market Master to visit Su Xuan personally in two days. Have I completely offended him now?’
His vision darkened, and he nearly lost his breath.
Offending the Eldest Young Miss would’ve been one thing—the Market Master was never on good terms with her anyway.
But offending a guest the Market Master valued so highly?
With the Market Master’s temper, he might literally skin him alive.
“You are…?”
Su Xuan frowned as he looked at Shangguan Jing.
He vaguely remembered him.
When Wu Renyou had brought a team to recruit him, Shangguan Jing had been among them and had even given him a token.
Su Xuan just hadn’t had the chance to use it yet.
‘Since he’s someone I know, this shouldn’t turn into trouble… right?’
He relaxed slightly, only then noticing a sharp pain in his hand.
Looking down, he realized Su Yunjin was gripping his hand tightly, her strength increasing unconsciously.
“Yunjin, take it easy,” he said softly, looking at the woman standing protectively in front of him like an enraged hen.
His heart warmed.
“Master Steward, I can testify that Su Xuan is absolutely not a Demonic Cultivator. Could there have been some misunderstanding?” Su Yunjin ignored Su Xuan and spoke directly to Shangguan Jing. “Yu’er, say something!”
Her voice carried clear anxiety as she called out to Shangguan Yu, who was standing to the side with a cold expression.
Hearing the plea, Shangguan Yu’s expression shifted slightly.
Her lips moved, as if she wanted to stop what was happening.
“The innocent have nothing to fear. If he’s not a Demonic Cultivator, then he shouldn’t mind being investigated.”
In the end, she hardened her heart, turned her head aside, and spoke out of sheer stubbornness.
Shangguan Jing seemed not to hear them at all.
No emotion showed on his aged face as he slowly walked toward Su Xuan one step at a time.
Seeing him approach, Su Xuan assumed the man was still determined to seize him and immediately tensed as if facing a great enemy.
“You—”
He was about to speak when the scene before him made him choke on his words.
Shangguan Jing’s legs suddenly gave out.
With a loud thud, he dropped to his knees.
Then his gray-haired head slammed against the ground three times in succession.
When he finally raised it again, his forehead was already bloodied.
“Fellow Daoist Su… my son was blind and foolish. I beg you to be magnanimous and spare his life! Spare his life!”
Shangguan Jing cried out in grief, tears streaming down his dust-covered face.
‘What the hell?’
‘What is going on?’
‘Has this old man gone insane?’
Su Xuan’s expression remained calm, but inside, his mind was in complete chaos.
He had absolutely no idea what was happening.
It wasn’t his fault.
After all, he had no idea about the earth-shattering sword strike Lin Zhiwei had unleashed before, and after saving her later, he had left immediately without hearing the conversation that followed.
He had no clue that, in the eyes of Shangguan Jing and the Market Master, he was already seen as an unfathomable hidden expert.
“If only you’ll put in a good word for me with the Market Master, I… I will offer you my entire fortune!”
Seeing no reaction from Su Xuan, Shangguan Jing quickly raised a Storage Bag with both hands and respectfully presented it.
“Ah…”
Su Yunjin let out a soft gasp.
She turned to stare at Su Xuan, her alluring face filled with shock.
She had been worried sick about what might happen to him, but she had never expected the Steward himself to beg Su Xuan for mercy.
And judging from the way things looked, this young man seemed to hold extraordinary importance in the eyes of the Market Master.
She had long felt that Su Xuan didn’t seem like an ordinary disciple of her sect.
Now he appeared even more mysterious, making her all the more curious about the young man before her.
While Su Yunjin felt relief, shock, and curiosity, Shangguan Yu looked as if she had been struck by lightning.
For a long while, she couldn’t react.
A dignified Steward was actually kneeling and begging before a loose cultivator?
Where was the prestige of the Shangguan family?
And just moments ago, he hadn’t shown her this level of fear at all.
He had even dared to collude with his son to give her the runaround.
Why did he instantly kneel the moment he saw this man?
“Shangguan Jing, what are you doing?!”
Her voice rose sharply, filled with alarm and anger.
“Fellow Daoist Su, once I return, I will cripple my son’s cultivation and send him to the mortal world. He will never appear before you again in this lifetime. I beg you to leave us a way out!”
Shangguan Jing ignored her completely and continued pleading bitterly.
His white beard was covered in dust, making him look pitiful beyond words.
Su Xuan finally managed to piece together part of the truth from his words.
He must carry significant weight in the eyes of the Market Master—so much so that even the Steward didn’t dare offend him.
But why?
Cultivation? Talent?
‘It can’t possibly be because I’m handsome… right?’
He thought it over for a while but still couldn’t figure it out.
He was utterly baffled.
Still, Shangguan Jing had already gone this far.
The man had shown enough sincerity.
“Fine. Take your things back. Just make sure you do exactly as you said.”
Su Xuan nodded.
Until he figured out the reason behind all this, he decided it wasn’t wise to be too ruthless.
So he chose not to accept the man’s life savings.
“Thank you, Fellow Daoist Su! Thank you, Fellow Daoist Su!”
Shangguan Jing looked as if he had been granted divine mercy.
He stood up and thanked him over and over.
“Let’s go. Everyone, we’re leaving. Quickly!”
After giving Su Xuan another respectful bow, he didn’t even bother fixing his disheveled appearance before turning and hurrying outside.
“Dad… where are the people… ahhh!”
Outside, Shangguan Zheng’s confused voice rang out.
Before he could finish speaking, a series of dull thuds sounded, followed by a scream like a pig being slaughtered.
The cries quickly faded into the distance.
Clearly, Shangguan Jing had kept his word and truly crippled him.
Once the courtyard was cleared, only Su Xuan and the two women remained.
“You…”
Shangguan Yu finally snapped out of her shock.
She looked at Su Xuan with eyes full of disbelief.
A loose cultivator who didn’t even seem to be at Foundation Establishment—how could he command such fear and respect from her Second Uncle?
Enough for Shangguan Jing to go to such lengths?
A trace of regret rose in her heart.
She had apparently offended him beyond repair.
If she truly ended up clashing with her Second Uncle in the future, this would only add yet another enemy.
But…
She always dealt with him while disguised as a man.
He shouldn’t know her true identity yet.
At that thought, she relaxed slightly.
“Yu’er, I need to rest. You should go back first.”
Su Yunjin’s voice rang out, carrying an unmistakable coldness.
Clearly, Shangguan Yu’s behavior earlier had displeased her deeply, perhaps even wounded her heart.
“Sister Su, I…”
Shangguan Yu instantly grew anxious.
Hearing that distance in Su Yunjin’s tone, she hurriedly tried to explain herself.
“Huan’er, see our guest out.”
Su Yunjin didn’t give her the chance.
She turned her back, clearly still furious.
“I’ll come see you again in two days, Sister Su.”
Seeing that her friend was still angry, Shangguan Yu found it difficult to say more.
She could only turn and follow Huan’er outside.
When she reached the main gate, she suddenly turned back and shot Su Xuan a vicious glare.
‘I was the one who knew Su Yunjin first, so why am I the one being driven out in disgrace?’
‘I’m the future master of the Marketplace, yet even my own subordinates care more about him?’
As Shangguan Yu recalled everything that had happened that night, the string of setbacks made her feel as if she were on the verge of losing her mind.
Her heart filled with resentment.
For the first time in her life, she began to lose confidence in herself.
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