“Wicked… simply wicked! You called me here just for this?!”
The old man was none other than Shangguan Jing. At this moment, he looked at his son with a face full of disappointment and frustration.
“Father! My heart already belongs to that woman. Isn’t doing this just so I can have an heir sooner?”
Shangguan Zheng spoke as if it were only natural. His eyes darted around before he added, “At most, we’ll just give that man a little lesson later. We just need to make sure he doesn’t harass my beloved anymore.”
“Sigh… what a sin. My lifetime of reputation is going to be ruined by you!”
Shangguan Jing let out a long sigh, feeling utterly helpless. This child had been completely spoiled by him since he was young, and now he actually dared to do something like this!
But…
Looking at his pathetic son who had already lost one hand, he truly couldn’t find the heart to refuse. He could only let the boy have his way. With a helpless nod, he stepped to the side, trying to put the matter out of his mind.
“Get out here, now!”
With his father’s silent permission, Shangguan Zheng knocked even louder.
“What do you think you’re doing? How could there possibly be a Demonic Cultivator here?!”
Huan’er opened the door. Seeing Shangguan Zheng, his father, and the Marketplace thugs standing outside, she instantly understood what was happening. She gritted her teeth in anger.
“Whether there is or isn’t isn’t for you to say. Let me in to search. Move!”
Shangguan Zheng shoved the door open, pushing Huan’er to the side as he barged in with his head held high.
“Miss!”
Huan’er called out anxiously, her small face turning pale and helpless.
“Don’t disturb the mistress. If you see a man, seize him. Search everything!”
Shangguan Zheng waved his hand with an air of authority, walking toward the bedroom as he spoke.
Thinking that he would soon possess the beautiful woman he had been longing for, his heart warmed, and he pushed the door open directly.
However, contrary to his expectations, when the bedroom door opened, he saw a tall, indifferent, and noble ice beauty. Her beautiful face was cold and filled with Sha Energy as she stared at him. She looked nothing like the woman he had seen before.
“A Marketplace Steward? Capturing a Demonic Cultivator?”
Shangguan Yu looked at the arrogant middle-aged man before her, forcing the words out through clenched teeth.
She was already feeling anxious and angry because of Su Xuan’s situation. Now, seeing the Steward of her own family’s Marketplace blatantly bullying people, her fury reached its breaking point.
“Y-Yes! Tell everyone inside to come out. Otherwise… otherwise, we’ll treat you all as Demonic Cultivators!”
Shangguan Zheng was momentarily suppressed by her aura. It took him a moment to recover, and emboldened by his father’s presence behind him, he barked out in embarrassed rage.
“Right, that’s him! Take him down! And this woman too, I suspect she’s one as well. Take them both out!”
He spotted Su Xuan inside and immediately pointed at him, ordering the men behind him.
‘What the hell? Brother, are you trying to get yourself killed?’
Su Xuan recognized Shangguan Zheng as the man who had been rude to him at the entrance earlier. He had assumed they were coming for him and was already contemplating his next move.
He never expected the man wouldn’t even spare Shangguan Yu. This guy was truly courting death.
He looked at Shangguan Zheng with a hint of pity, silently mourning for him.
“Good, good, very good!”
Shangguan Yu was furious to the extreme. She laughed instead of raging, her eyes already flickering with a few hints of killing intent.
She walked straight up to Shangguan Zheng, her powerful cultivation exploding outward. An invisible wave of Spiritual Power suppressed him instantly. Then, with a wave of her jade-like hand, it was as if Shangguan Zheng had been struck across the face. His left cheek swelled up immediately, and he let out a wail as he was sent flying.
“You…”
He was dazed for a moment before rolling up from the ground in the courtyard. Ignoring the dirt and leaves on his clothes, he pointed at Shangguan Yu in disbelief.
“You bit—”
Before he could finish, Shangguan Yu moved again. Her backhand slap was even harder than the first. This time, his right cheek swelled up as well, making his face look like a pig’s head.
“You just wait! Don’t you run if you have the guts! Don’t run!”
He was both terrified and enraged. This woman’s cultivation was several levels higher than his own, leaving him with no way to fight back. But currently, he represented the face of the Market Master. How could he let someone hit him?
“Father! There’s a female demon here! She’s acting completely lawless!”
Shangguan Zheng wailed, running out to call for reinforcements.
Not long after his voice fell, Shangguan Jing rushed over with a pained expression. Even though he knew they were in the wrong, as a father, he couldn’t accept his son being beaten like this.
“Zheng’er, who did this?”
Shangguan Jing carried a hint of Sha Energy as he glared fiercely into the room.
“I-It’sh her. She’sh the one who did it.”
The swelling on Shangguan Zheng’s face had worsened, making it difficult for him to speak clearly. He pointed tremblingly at the woman inside.
“You dare to hit a Steward? Are you trying to start a rebel—”
Shangguan Jing roared, his momentum rising. He was just about to explode with rage, but when he saw the woman’s face clearly, he froze like a chicken being strangled by the neck.
“E-Eldest Young Miss? Why are you here?”
As a senior Steward, he had naturally seen Shangguan Yu before and knew she was the Eldest Young Miss of the family.
“Not only am I here, but I’m also a female demon who wants to start a rebellion.”
Shangguan Yu sat leisurely in the room, staring coldly at the father and son while mocking them.
“Fat-her, you know her?”
Shangguan Zheng rubbed his swollen face and asked subconsciously.
*Slap!*
Before he could react, his father delivered another heavy slap to his left cheek, sending him to the ground in pain.
“You rebellious son! I’ll beat you to death!”
Shangguan Jing followed up with two vicious kicks.
“Eldest Young Miss, my son… he was misled by someone and disturbed you. I’ll take him back and deal with him right now.”
He showed no mercy with his kicks, making Shangguan Zheng scream, but his words were an attempt to find an excuse to get his son out of trouble.
“Right! I was… I was deceived! That man is the Demonic Cultivator!”
Shangguan Zheng wasn’t stupid. He immediately reacted and followed his father’s lead.
“Eldest Young Miss, you see, this is all just a misunderstanding. My son didn’t do it intentionally. Please, be magnanimous.”
Shangguan Jing breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t actually care that much; after all, he was the Market Master’s man. Although the Eldest Young Miss held a high status, she couldn’t easily do anything to him as long as he insisted it was a misunderstanding.
Shangguan Yu watched the two of them playing off each other. She suppressed her anger and didn’t lash out further.
Currently, her father was still the Market Master, not her. She would deal with them properly in the future.
However…
“Speaking of that man, there is indeed one here. It wouldn’t hurt for you to take him back for investigation.”
She looked at Su Xuan, an idea forming in her mind. She spoke coldly.
‘I’ll let this brat suffer a bit. Then, when he comes to beg me for mercy, he’ll realize that not everyone is someone he can afford to provoke. Maybe then he’ll stay far away from Su Yunjin.’
Thinking of this, she crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. She adopted an air of indifference.
“Someone, go inside and bring him out!”
Shangguan Jing and his son exchanged a glance. Although they didn’t understand why she was doing this, they waved the thugs inside. Since they were putting on a show, they might as well go all the way.
“Yu’er, how could you…?”
Su Yunjin had just changed into thicker clothes. When she stepped out and heard her best friend’s words, her mouth fell open in disbelief. Didn’t she know whether Su Xuan was a Demonic Cultivator or not?
“He is definitely not a Demonic Cultivator! How could you frame an innocent person!”
She instinctively grabbed Su Xuan, shielding him behind her. For the first time, her best friend felt like a stranger.
“I…”
Shangguan Yu’s logic was clouded by her concern for her friend. Only now did she realize she had acted without thinking, and she felt a bit guilty.
‘We’ve known each other for so long, and how long have you known him? You’re actually yelling at me for his sake?’
Seeing Su Yunjin’s face full of worry and tension, another surge of nameless anger rose in her heart.
“Whether he’s a Demonic Cultivator or not will be clear after an investigation. I’m just afraid you’re being deceived.”
Frustrated, Shangguan Yu glared at Su Xuan, determined to let him suffer.
‘What the…?’
Su Xuan’s eyes widened. He hadn’t expected Shangguan Yu to be this malicious, turning around and selling him out like that!
‘What should I do?’
Falling into their hands would surely end badly. But fighting his way out? That seemed like a dead end as well.
Looking at Su Yunjin, who was standing in front of him and confronting the thugs, he felt as if he had been backed into a corner.
“Eldest Young Miss, I’ll do it personally!”
Seeing that his men were hesitating, Shangguan Jing hardened his heart, intending to end this quickly. He stepped forward, reaching out to drag the man inside the room out.