บท 731: Intricacies of the Qu Clan (II)
Qu Jing and Qu Rong had the same last name. They were both members of the Qu Clan. However, the truth was that they were only distantly related. The Qu Clan existed long before Qu Shen ascended to the immortal realms and it only grew in size from there. With a history that spanned over seven hundred years, there were well over fifty thousand residents of the city with Qu in their last name. As a result, Qu Jing and Qu Rong were only distantly related.
Qu Jing was a direct descendant of the eagle lord but that didn't mean much in the beginning. Thousands of people surnamed Qu could also consider themselves direct descendants. Qu Jing's family was ordinary to the extreme. They lived in a tiny house on the outskirts. His father was a member of the city guard and his mother came from the countryside.
This was a sharp contrast to Qu Rong who was the princess of one of the original branch families of the Qu Clan. They had developed well through the years. They owned multiple businesses and several large buildings in the central districts. Apart from her average looks, she was top-tier in everything from her cultivation to her family situation.
"Rong'er," Qu Jing said.
His voice was strange. For a cultivation freak who had usually had little patience for Qu Rong's clinginess, he was showing far more tenderness and consideration than anyone thought possible. Qu Rong felt exactly so and stared up at Qu Jing as if she had met him for the first time.
However, this change was easy to explain as Chen Wentian inserted his personality into Qu Jing's soul at this moment. Although Qu Jing was already Chen Wentian after the merging of souls, he had used the original's personality in public to not elicit any suspicion. This was the first time he had shown this true side of him to Qu Rong.
"Rong'er," He repeated, even softer.
He rested an elbow against the wall above her head and leaned down. They were staring eye to eye, their soft breaths mingling together.
The situation was so intimate and unexpected that Qu Rong momentarily lost all coherent thoughts. The only things drifting in her mind were her past fantasies about Qu Jing, which all seemed to be springing to life before her eyes.
"Thank you." He said sincerely.
"Wha… for what?" She asked in a trembling voice.
"You've always been there for me. From when we were young, you always helped me, even when your parents were against it."
"I…" She blushed and looked away.
The two knew each other from a young age. It could be said that Qu Rong fell in love with Qu Jing at first sight. He was poor but he was tall and handsome.
Her parents were obviously against such a relationship but Qu Rong didn't care. She secretly passed spare cultivation resources such as spiritual crystals, medicinal pills, and even practice manuals to Qu Jing. This assistance, along with his natural talent, allowed him to blossom into a genius and finally become the senior brother of the Qu Clan.
Qu Rong also wasn't useless. She cultivated with equal fervor as she didn't want to be left behind. As a result, the scenes of Qu Rong chasing after Qu Jing repeated throughout the years. However, until today, Qu Jing hardly bothered to return her attention, often treating her like air. She didn't care and followed him wherever he went, becoming the butt of many jokes throughout the city.
The ugly girl who lusts after prince charming.
The catfish that dreams of being eaten up by the brother eagle.
A lovestruck idiot who didn't know they were being taken advantage of…
"Rong'er," Chen Wentian said.
"Hmm?" She replied, hiding her red face.
He reached up with his free hand and gently stroked her chin, drawing her to face him again. Having experienced many women now, there was one thing that he found more attractive than anything else. More than a soul-stealing face or heart-throbbing physique, it was loyalty, the kind of loyalty that defied common sense.
"How long have we known each other?" He asked. "Twenty years?"
"Twenty-three years, three months, and…" She abruptly pressed her lips together and didn't say anymore.
He chuckled. He found her quite cute at that moment, like an older version of Lin Qingcheng. A competent cultivator and princess of a large family who suddenly turned into a silly girl in front of her beloved, he could read her like an open book and that was refreshing in itself.
But of course, he wasn't doing this just because he wanted to reward a silly girl's devotion. Everything he did in this city had a purpose. Every action led to the ultimate goal.
Qu Rong's family was not only large and rich, they also bore the dangerous sentiments that Qu Jing had just mentioned in front of Zhou Ziyun and Li Yuechan. This was not public information but something Chen Wentian had unearthed through painstaking effort. Qu Rong's father, Qu Shi, was very unsatisfied with the recent developments of the Beast God Sanctum. Although he felt powerless to do anything or change things for the better, he and other members of the branch family felt strongly that the eagle lord's recent actions were dangerous and destabilizing.
"Rong'er, I would like to see your father. Can you arrange a meeting?" Chen Wentian asked.
"My father? What for?" She asked in confusion.
"Shh." He placed a finger to her lips with a teasing smile, "It's a secret."
The ambiguous answer only served to make her imagination run wild. At the very top of the pile of fantasies was the scene of her dashing senior brother speaking to her father to propose marriage.
Her mind shouted yes, yes, and ten thousand more yeses. But she managed to keep from blurting that out and instead said, "Ahem… of course, senior brother. I will arrange it."
"It has to be a secret meeting, okay? Nobody but us can know about it."
She nodded eagerly, already dreaming of red wedding dresses and a wedding night.
Chen Wentian grinned, though he was oblivious to the thoughts of the silly girl. He was simply happy that his plan was moving along. The so-called secret movement to reestablish the snake lord's faction had merely been a figment of his imagination a few days ago. But since he was able to convince Wei Peng, it was as real as anything. His next target was Qu Rong, her father Qu Shi, and her branch family.
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