Bab 34: Petty Tricks and Gossip

'Wild man?' Zhen Yuan was shocked.

He didn't expect that he could also be referred to as a wild man.

Thinking of Shen Xu's reaction to this, his lips twitched and a trace of gleam flashed in his eyes.

However, he forcibly suppressed his amusement and took a sip of wine.

At the same time, thousands of thoughts crossed his mind.

He and Shen Xu had been married for less than three months.

During that time, they travelled from Blue Deer village to Blue Spring town, Two Reeds town, ..., and eventually arrived in Dragon City.

Although they had met many people, they hadn't shared their secrets with anyone. Excluding the two of them, no one knew Shen Xu was a member of the Shi family.

'How did the news spread?' Zhen Yuan wondered and subconsciously frowned.

'Did we accidentally reveal XiaoXu's identity? The most likely…'

However, his thoughts were interrupted because a shadow fell on his table, causing him to raise his head.

When he did, Zhen Yuan sighed and sipped his wine.

"Young master Xiao." He called with a bored look in his eyes.

"Young master Zhen." Xiao Weimin nodded and intentionally looked to Zhen Yuan's side.

Unfortunately, Zhen Yuan was not an accommodating person.

Although he understood the man's unasked question, he didn't intend to volunteer the answer.

Seeing this, Xiao Weimin frowned but soon regained his composure.

"I don't see young master Shen." He stated.

"Yes, he is not here." Zhen Yuan also stated.

"May I ask where young master Shen is?"

"It's improper for young master Xiao to keep looking for my wife."

When he heard that, Xiao Weimin clenched his hands and a hint of anger flashed in his eyes.

However, he hid his discomfort and smiled at his nemesis.

"May I sit?" He asked.

"Please." Zhen Yuan immediately agreed and pointed at the seat across from him.

Although Xiao Weimin could affect other people's luck, Zhen Yuan was not worried. This was because he always felt immune to the main protagonist's halo.

Now that Shen Xu was not around, Zhen Yuan could interact with Xiao Weimin without worrying his wife would be affected.

Most importantly, Zhen Yuan wanted to know more about Xiao Weimin.

After all, they were destined to be enemies.

The more they interacted, the more he would understand his opponent.

"Does young master Xiao have something on his mind?" Zhen Yuan asked.

"Young master Zhen, have you heard about young master Shen?" Xiao Weimin suddenly asked.

'So he was waiting for us here?' Zhen Yuan almost sneered.

In the second half of the journey to Dragon City, Xiao Weimin didn't bother them.

At that time, he and Shen Xu were relieved and happily enjoyed the rare peace.

Unexpectedly, the man hadn't given up.

Instead, he was playing a long game and had secretly investigated Shen Xu's identity.

"I have heard." Zhen Yuan didn't deny it.

"What does young master Zhen think?"

"What can I think?"

"Young master Shen is the adopted double of the Shi family. How can you marry him in such an inexplicable way? You should break the Taoist contract and apologise to the Shi family." Xiao Weimin said in a self-righteous voice.

Hearing this, Zhen Yuan smiled and unconcealed mockery flashed in his eyes.

"Is young master Xiao a member of the Shi family?"

"Although I am not, I…"

"You are what?" Zhen Yuan sneered and continued before Xiao Weimin could say anything.

"As the dignified young master of the Xiao family, you should have the courage to admit you are coveting my wife and can't stand that he doesn't like you. Why use so many tricks to justify your greed?"

When Xiao Weimin heard that, an uncontrollable anger filled his chest and a hint of coercion leaked from his body.

In his twenty years, Xiao Weimin had lived an extraordinary life.

On his sixth birthday, he went into seclusion to draw qi into his body.

One day later, he successfully drew qi and became a first-level qi refining realm cultivator. In comparison, others of similar age drew qi after weeks or months of retreat.

When Xiao Weimin came out of seclusion, his achievement spread around Dragon City and his reputation as a rare genius was confirmed.

Since then, his cultivation was smooth sailing.

At fourteen, he advanced to the foundation establishment realm and even built a purple-grade foundation.

Six years later, he was on the verge of advancing to the mid-stage of the foundation establishment realm.

Compared to others, Xiao Weimin was the best.

He had the best talent, appearance, and background.

In the same realm, he was invincible.

When he thought of everything he had achieved, Xiao Weimin felt very wronged.

He couldn't understand why Shen Xu chose Zhen Yuan over him.

At a loss, he resorted to petty tricks to separate Shen Xu and Zhen Yuan.

However, Zhen Yuan didn't seem rattled.

Rather, he looked unconcerned as if the Shi family had no hold over him.

'I am not wrong.' Xiao Weimin convinced himself.

For as long as he could remember, he had always had the knack to find treasures.

When he went to the market, he was guaranteed to find a treasure or a rare resource.

Because of this, he had learned to trust his instincts even when others thought he was being foolish.

This time, his instincts told him that Shen Xu was supposed to be his.

Unfortunately, the instincts didn't come with a detailed explanation of the situation.

If they did, he would know why the person who was supposed to be his was the wife of someone else.

Thinking of this, Xiao Weimin glared at Zhen Yuan.

"Did I say something wrong?" Zhen Yuan asked with a mocking smile.

However, Xiao Weimin didn't say anything.

Instead, he sneered, stood up, and walked away with a cold expression.

After the man left the restaurant, Zhen Yuan sighed and refilled his wine cup.

'How troublesome.' He thought and continued to drink.

However, he didn't regret marrying Shen Xu.

In his heart, Shen Xu was an unexpected but precious destiny.

Now that the person was his, Zhen Yuan would not give the protagonist or any other person an opportunity to snatch him away.

"Xiaoxu is mine." He muttered and continued to listen to gossip.

At this point, the previous group had stopped talking about the Shi family and were discussing Xiao Weimin, who had just left the restaurant.

Unfortunately, their discussion was not productive so Zhen Yuan moved on to another table.

"The young master of the Song family will also enter the Divine Rainbow Academy during this year's registration." Someone said.

"Young Master Song is at the peak of the twelfth level. It's only right for him to enter the academy."

"Speaking of young master Song, he has a good cultivation talent but is too focused on business. If he was more diligent, he would have already advanced to the foundation establishment realm."

Hearing this, several people sighed.

"The Song family owns the Myriad Treasures Pavillion. It's natural for young master Song to divide his attention."

"Other than young master Song, there is the young master of the Qi family."

"The weapon refining family?"

"Mmmmh." The speaker nodded and Zhen Yuan listened more attentively.

"Young master Qi is only sixteen but can refine more than thirty types of level-one and ten types of level-two weapons. He is the most talented weapon refiner of our generation."

"I have also heard about a talisman genius called Lin Xiang."

"Lin Xiang? I haven't heard of her. Where is she from?"

"She is engaged to the third young master of the Rong family. The Rong family has been spreading the news. I heard she just arrived in the capital with young master Rong."

"There is also the young lady of the Ye family…."

After listening for a while, Zhen Yuan shifted his attention to another table.

Unfortunately, the next few tables were also talking about the talents who had just arrived in Dragon City.

Since he had already heard most of what everyone was discussing, Zhen Yuan decided to leave.

However, before he could, he heard something that made him stop.

"The talisman association seems to be looking for someone." Someone was saying.

"Who is it? I haven't seen the reward post."

"It hasn't offered a reward."

"How come?" Someone asked in a curious voice.

After all, the Talisman Association was a powerful faction.

If it needed to find someone, it only had to give a reward and many cultivators would actively search for the people.

"I don't know the details but the masters from the talisman association seem to be secretly searching for two people."

"Two people…, who are they?"

"One is a man named Yuan Shen, and the other is his double wife called Xu Zhen. I don't know why the talisman association is looking for them but it must be an important matter."

"Speaking of the talisman association, hasn't it recently released an improved qi gathering talisman? Could the two people be involved in this matter?"

"Who knows?" Someone shrugged but there was a knowing light in his eyes.

"Do you know something?"

"My throat is a little parched…"

"Say no more." One of his friends said and called the waiter to order a pot of wine.

"Fellow Daoist Chu always knows what to do." The man said and quickly continued his reveal.

"It's not just the talisman association that is looking for Yuan Shen and Xu Zhen. I heard the Rong and Su families are also looking for those two people."

"Is it so exciting?"

"These two people are so amazing." Someone said and his companions nodded in admiration.

"It would be easier to find people if the talisman association and several families issued rewards. However, these powerful families do not dare to offer a reward. What does this mean? It means those two people are not easy to deal with."

"I also think so."