Chapter 47: Chapter 47: Countermeasures
Who attacked Lu Wan?
Besides the Wu Family, there seems to be no one else, but the method... it’s dirty, so dirty it’s somewhat nauseating.
To put it bluntly, since the Wu Family thinks Lu Wan is not good, it’s better to just kill her than to humiliate and torture her like this.
In the past, making things difficult for her at the stall was already bad enough.
Now, seeing that she is about to participate in the Water Dragon Sect selection, they still went ahead and injured her, preventing her from participating.
Watching her chance to change her fate vanish right before her eyes, such a blow is truly unbearable for most people.
Sitting on the Black Wind Boat heading home, Ji Yuan couldn’t help but recall the contemptible faces of the Wu Family’s father and son.
Wu Yan is still young, unable to hide things, so he showed a bit of his real intentions on the spot.
But Wu Wenbin is different. Whenever Ji Yuan thinks of him, it’s always his smiling, squinting face that comes to mind.
There’s a very fitting adjective for such a person.
A smiling tiger.
Whenever Ji Yuan thought of Lu Wan’s recent appearance, he couldn’t help but sigh.
He wanted to help, but more so, felt helpless.
If he had already reached the later stages of Qi Cultivation, or the stage known as the Peak of Qi Refining, then there would be no question about it, even if Lu Wan didn’t ask, he would have stormed into the Wu Family and demanded an explanation.
Unfortunately, he himself was only at the sixth level of Qi Cultivation.
Offering half a tael of Blood Essence for protection was about all he could give.
Anything else, Ji Yuan couldn’t afford to give, or couldn’t protect even if he did.
"I don’t know what choice she’ll make."
Ji Yuan didn’t know, and neither did the couple sitting behind him, Lin Hu and Wu Qin. They remained silent all the way home.
Until they returned to their lakeside cottage and bid each other farewell, Lin Hu and Wu Qin went home and sat in silence for a while. Finally, it was Lin Hu who spoke.
"How about... we have a child?"
Wu Qin hesitated for a moment, but eventually nodded.
"Alright."
They had previously discussed this issue, but at the time their thought was to wait a few more years; it was still too early.
But after seeing that Celestial Spirit Root in Zengtou City today, their thoughts changed a bit...
Our own Spirit root is not good, our talents are lacking.
But what about our next generation?
If we also gave birth to a Celestial Spirit Root like today’s, wouldn’t we ascend ourselves?
And this is also the mindset of most fishermen in Zengtou City and even Cloud Rain Marsh, if they themselves can’t make it, then they gamble on the next generation!
...
Wu Family hall.
Wu Wenbin and Wu Yan sat facing each other, both frowning somewhat.
"Dad, are we really not going to do anything about that Ji Yuan boy?"
Wu Yan was a bit regretful at this moment. Had he known earlier... he would have found a chance to kill him, instead of leaving him to grow into his own.
"Do something?"
When Wu Wenbin heard this, he seemed to be amused by anger.
"You saw the situation at the Fish Cage today too, Ji Yuan’s talent in talismans isn’t just better than yours and mine, even Lu Wan can’t match it."
"First time handling it, he could consecutively succeed with two Celestial Light Talismans... even Hong Siuwen, a formal disciple of the Water Dragon Sect, has developed a fondness for talent, willing to protect him, treating him like a junior brother."
"Did you hear his last sentence clearly? It was a direct jab at me, your father!"
Wu Wenbin sneered, "In Zengtou City, our Wu Family may have some face, but in front of the Water Dragon Sect, we are nothing!"
"Not just the Water Dragon Sect, even if Hong Siuwen wanted to crush us, it would be an easy task."
Wu Wenbin’s words caused cold sweat to drip down Wu Yan’s back, and his face even went a bit pale.
"If something happened to Ji Yuan, three years later, at the next Water Dragon Sect selection, Hong Siuwen will definitely come for our Wu Family."
Wu Wenbin sighed deeply as he spoke.
"So within these three years, we not only must not lay a hand on Ji Yuan, but we must also, at critical moments, stand behind him."
"And moreover..."
"Moreover, what?"
Wu Yan was almost resigned to his fate.
"See for yourself."
Wu Wenbin took out a letter from his Storage Bag and tossed it over. Wu Yan caught it, opened it, and glanced at it. It was still about Ji Yuan.
"Why... why does he deserve this?!"
Wu Yan looked at the letter in his hand, somewhat speechless.
Because recorded above is the matter on New Year’s Day when Ji Yuan was advised on magic by a cultivator from the Water Dragon Sect in front of the Hundred Treasures Tower.
And that Water Dragon Sect cultivator was definitely not Hong Siuwen.
Which means, Ji Yuan has gained the favor of two cultivators from the Water Dragon Sect...
With this, who in Zengtou City would dare to touch him?
"Why?!"
Wu Wenbin sneered, "You, Wu Yan, are now thirty-two years old, still relying entirely on me, your father, to reach the sixth level of Qi Cultivation, plus a first-tier middle-grade talisman master status."
"But what about Ji Yuan?"
"Just turned nineteen after the New Year, and you probably don’t know, but he is also at the sixth level of Qi Cultivation, and his talisman skills are even higher than yours, why, you ask why?!"
Wu Wenbin nearly shouted the last sentence.
Veins popped out on Wu Yan’s forehead, and he clenched his fists tightly, trying several times to speak but failing to do so, leaving Wu Wenbin to determine the nature of the matter in the end.
"From the look of it, Ji Yuan knows how to advance and retreat, so do this: in the name of the Wu Family, send him a generous gift."
After a brief silence, Wu Yan said:
"What if he doesn’t accept it?"
"Whether or not he accepts it is his business. In any case, our Wu Family’s attitude is already clear. Even if we don’t form a good relationship, at least we won’t become enemies."
Though Wu Yan was reluctant, he had to admit that Wu Wenbin’s handling of the situation was the most correct at the moment.
"Then... what about Lu Wan?" Wu Yan asked.
Wu Wenbin lightly tapped his fingers on the table, "Blind Qin from the Qin Family has stepped in, willing to protect her for three years, so she can participate in the Water Dragon Sect selection next time and enter the Water Dragon Sect."
"The condition is that she paints talismans for the Qin Family for free for three years."
Upon hearing this, Wu Yan leaped to his feet, "No, Dad, if Lu Wan really joins the Water Dragon Sect, we’ll be in big trouble!"
Wu Wenbin cast a cold glance at him.
"Why do I say your mind isn’t sound... Think with your useless head, how likely is it that Blind Qin will really send her to the Water Dragon Sect?"
"Just getting a talisman master with no background to use for free for three years, and then settling the account with a knife, who would waste their breath like this?"
"Oh, that’s more like it..."
Wu Yan let out a long breath and sat back down.
In his mind, he thought to himself, fortunately, no Water Dragon Sect practitioner took an interest in Lu Wan like that.
"Having taken so many benefits from our Wu Family, then turning around to betray us, well, torture her a bit more. After all, Blind Qin only agreed to protect Lu Wan, not her family."
Wu Wenbin said with an unchanged expression.
"Alright, I’ll take care of it!"
Whenever Wu Yan thought of Lu Wan’s expression and demeanor when she rejected him that time, a fierce determination ignited in his heart.
...
After arriving home, Ji Yuan first checked over the condition of various buildings.
Then he went into the storage... Enlightenment Room. After today’s experience, he increasingly felt the importance of power.
Since he couldn’t break through his cultivation just yet, he decided to try to complete the Yin Ghost Array first.
With this array in hand, Ji Yuan would dare to speak confidently even in the face of late-stage Qi Cultivation.
For this reason, he bought quite a few introductory books on arrays in Zengtou City.