The pair of teenagers in scarlet embroidered robes were quite handsome. They stood before Ning Xiaochuan and the younger teenager stared at him with a smile. It was Wang Yunchong of Marquis Tianxiang’s Residence.

Wang Yunchong and Ning Xiaochuan were the same age, both sixteen.

Ning Xiaochuan furrowed his eyebrows slightly as he stared at Wang Yunchong before asking, “Do I know you?”

“Haha! Sicken Ning, do you not recognize me after your brief stint with death? Then I’m sure you remember the Maiden Yu Yan, the third-rate hostess of Guanyu Tower, yes?” Wang Yunchong had not expected to meet Sicken Ning here, he immediately suspected that a clash between enemies was inevitable. This Sicken Ning was out of luck! Haha!

Three days ago at Guanyu Tower, Ning Xiaochuan and Wang Yunchong had both sought Maiden Yu Yan’s attention and had ended up getting into a fight over her. Ning Xiaochuan was physically quite weak, so a light push from Wang Yunchong was enough to cause him to fall to the ground. This triggered his inborn fetal disease and his heart stopped immediately.

Wang Yunchong was practically scared to death because of what happened. Fortunately, Marquis Jiange Residence’s Ning Han was there so the pair of good-for-nothings decided to bury the matter altogether. They insisted that Ning Xiaochuan had died of anger because he had lost in a fight over a hostess.

However, neither had expected that Ning Xiaochuan would come back to life and crawl out of his coffin. This resurrection had shocked Wang Yunchong so much he barely got a wink of sleep the entire night, worried that Ning Xiaochuan would reveal the truth about what happened and he would run out of luck.

Ning Han had later told him that the entire matter had been completely buried, so even if Ning Xiaochuan wanted to rat them out, nothing would come out of it. It was only after hearing this that Wang Yunchong truly relaxed.

This was also the reason why he decided to greet Ning Xiaochuan first today for he wanted to see the crazed look on Ning Xiaochuan’s face once he was seen.

Wang Yunchong was not scared of Ning Xiaochuan going crazy, he was nothing more than a sick man that would fall to the ground with a light push using the palm of Wang Yunchong’s hand. All Wang Yunchong needed to be worried about was him dying because he had put a bit too much force into the push.

As if finally understanding something, a name mentioned by Ning Xiner before appeared in Ning Xiaochuan’s mind—Wang Yunchong. This person was the good-for-nothing that had angered this body’s previous host to death.

“You’re…Wang Yunchong?” Ning Xiaochuan asked as if trying to confirm the other person’s identity.

Wang Yunchong saw that Ning Xiaochuan had finally recognized him and immediately fell over with laughter. “Yes! You finally remember me, Sicken Ning. Honestly speaking, I can’t help but chide you a little. How could a Noble’s descendant be such a bad sport? Isn’t she nothing more than a brothel girl? You actually died out of anger! I won’t say anything about your weak body, but a man’s tolerance should be much higher!”

Wang Yunchong knew he had essentially killed Ning Xiaochuan with a single push, but he still wanted to say what was on his mind with deliberate mockery so that he could see Ning Xiaochuan go crazy.

However, what disappointed him was that Ning Xiaochuan barely reacted. It was as if he had heard something that had never happened before for he merely said a soft “oh” before moving to leave.

Only a soft “oh”?

This was an outcome Wang Yunchong in no way accepted. He quickly stopped Ning Xiaochuan and said with a dry laugh, “Sicken Ning, I’m sure Ning Han has already told you what became of that third-rate hostess, right?”

Wang Yunchong knew Ning Xiaochuan favored that third-rate hostess quite a bit but he also knew Ning Han wanted to kill anyone that could be a witness against them, which was why he had purposely asked the question. He stared at Ning Xiaochuan’s face in anticipation once more.

‘I wonder just how long you can tolerate me?’

Although Ning Xiaochuan had a kind personality, there was still only so much provocation he could take from Wang Yunchong. He furrowed his eyebrows and replied, “Ning Han, you say! He died yesterday, didn’t you hear?”

“What? Ning Han’s dead?” Wang Yunchong’s expression immediately fell. He quickly took two steps back, his legs almost giving out under him.

A moment later, Wang Yunchong regained his composure, the color in his face coming back as he laughed. “You wanted to scare me? You did! Haha! Sicken Ning, I’m not a person that scares easily. Who would dare kill a descendant of Marquis Jiange’s Residence? You should come up with another way to scare me, I beg you to scare me! Haha!”

Attendant Hua, who was standing to the side, could no longer take this exchange any more as his expression darkened. Somebody actually dared to provoke a Heart-nourishing Master of Jinpeng Heart-nourishing Hall while he was still here. It was obvious this person thought lightly of him completely!

This person was practically pulling a tiger’s fur and peeing on the head of a dragon!

“B*stard!” Attendant Hua’s voice was heavy with Combat Qi, which caused the air before him to form a circle of faint ripples. It shook Wang Shi and Wang Yunchong to their cores, causing them to shake as if a sledgehammer had hit them.

Wang Shi had a Cultivation of Stage Nine Qi, so the color had all but drained from his face as cold sweat coated his entire body.

Wang Yunchong, on the other hand, was a Good-for-nothing Descendant of only Stage Four Qi, so a trail of blood trickled from the edge of his mouth as shivers wrecked his entire body. If he were not being supported by Wang Shi, he would have fallen to the ground.

“Master!” Ning Xiaochuan stood beside Attendant Hua, so he had felt the powerful Qi fluctuations. It felt like a great mountain stood high beside him; the pressure was so great it knocked his breath out of him.

He truly deserved to be the sixth Attendant of Jinpeng Heart-nourishing Hall. His Cultivation was beyond comprehension and he had definitely surpassed the peak of Stage Nine Qi.

Attendant Hua’s eyes burned with rage as he stared at Wang Yunchong before he spat, “This is Jinpeng Heart-nourishing Hall and this man before you is a Junior Heart-nourishing Master belonging to Jinpeng Heart-nourishing Hall. Who are you to insult him as you please? Somebody drag this person out, break his legs and cut his tongue.”

Two guards dressed in red-scale armor trudged over, the intent to kill emanating heavily from them. Whish whish! Their bright red sabers were unsheathed, the blades bent like two crescent moons that emitted a faint red glow.

Wang Yunchong immediately knelt on the floor in fear as he stammered, “This…this…this is a misunderstanding, it’s sure…sure…sure to be a misunderstanding. He…he’s just a useless good-for-nothing…from Marquis…Marquis Jiange’s Residence. It’s…it’s impossible for him to be a Heart-nourishing Master. Attendant…Attendant, you’ve been lied to. I killed him with a slap two days ago. He can’t even cultivate Combat Qi, how can he be a Heart-nourishing Master?”

Ning Xiaochuan’s ears perked up. Was the previous host of this body not killed because of anger? Why did he say that he killed him with a slap?

There must be something sinister going on here!

Attendant Hua’s expression darkened even further as he said, “You’re rambling nonsense. Do you think this Attendant’s eyes are blind? You can’t even differentiate between a peerless genius and a sickly man? There’s no need to let him talk anymore. Since he dared to come to Jinpeng Heart-nourishing Hall for business, even a Noble’s descendant won’t be forgiven. Drag him away!”

Wang Yunchong’s legs shook with fear as liquid started trickling down his thighs. His scarlet robe was soaked through and a terrible smell filled the air.

Wang Shi never expected for the entire matter to grow into such big proportions. He immediately knelt down to beg for mercy. Jinpeng Heart-nourishing Hall had a scary background, and even Marquis Tianxiang’s Residence could not afford to anger them. They had truly landed themselves in deep trouble this time.

“Wait!” Ning Xiaochuan asked with a polite smile, “Attendant Hua, could you let me handle this person instead? I believe that this is all a misunderstanding and I want to speak with him properly.”

Wang Yunchong, who was already being dragged away by the pair of ferocious guards, immediately knelt before Ning Xiaochuan as he knocked his head against the floor repeatedly. His forehead was already bleeding as he cried, “It is a misunderstanding, a definite misunderstanding! Sicken…Brother Ning, Great Brother Ning, save me, please, I’m completely innocent, save me please!”

Wang Yunchong was bawling his eyes out. He had almost called him “Godfather Ning” and “Grandpa Ning” too.

Since even the person involved had said that it was all a misunderstanding, then there was no point in Attendant Hua saying anything more on the matter. Therefore, he handed Wang Yunchong over to Ning Xiaochuan.

Ning Xiaochuan and Wang Yunchong stood inside one of the quieter rooms in Jinpeng Heart-nourishing Hall. An incense cauldron burned away as well.

Ning Xiaochuan, who was in his Junior Heart-nourishing Master robes, sat on a rattan chair with a cup of his tea in his hand, which he sipped at slowly.

Wang Yunchong, who had just been scared out of his wits, had recovered himself a bit. He fell kneeling to the ground with a loud “thump!”. “Brother Ning, I’m wrong, I’ve made a mistake, a really bad mistake. I shouldn’t have fought over Maiden Yu Yan with you, she belongs to you and I should have understood that early on. Please forgive me just this once!”

Ning Xiaochuan set his jade teacup upon the table and said, “Answer this question of mine first, and maybe I’ll let you go this one time.”

“I’ll answer a hundred questions if I have to, I’ll answer them all if I can,” replied Wang Yunchong fearfully.

Ning Xiaochuan then said, “Everybody thinks I died out of anger in Guanyu Tower because I failed to win the favor of a hostess. Just now, why did you say you actually killed me with a slap? Who’s hiding the truth?”

Ning Xiaochuan did not think that a person like Wang Yunchong would be able to calmly handle the aftermath of killing a person.

Wang Yunchong hastily replied, “It was Ning Han, all Ning Han. He persuaded me to fight over the hostess with you so that conflict would happen between us. Then, I killed you with a slap in a fit of anger… I didn’t mean to do it, I truly didn’t mean to do it, I didn’t know you were actually so weak… I… I…”

Ning Xiaochuan spoke up then, “Okay, okay, I know you were set up by Ning Han, I know you didn’t do it on purpose.”

Wang Yunchong’s eyes shone with hot tears for he felt that Ning Xiaochuan was so kind and understanding. He said, “Actually, Ning Han has the support of a big shot. If he wasn’t instructed to do so by that person, he never would’ve set up a plan for your death.”

“Oh! Who is it?” asked Ning Xiaochuan.

“Ning Han’s father and the Fourth Master of Marquis Jiange’s Residence, Ning Qianwu.” Wang Yunchong hoped that Ning Xiaochuan would have mercy on him, so he continued in a righteous tone, “This Ning Qianwu is a wolf with an ambitious heart. He knew Marquis Jiange cared deeply for you and might pass the title of Marquis to you in the future, so he got rid of you.”

Ning Xiaochuan squinted his eyes as Ning Qianwu appeared in his mind. It was no wonder every time he saw this fourth uncle of his, he could feel a faint bloodlust.

‘So the person behind my death was him! Ning Qianwu is a powerhouse in Marquis Jiange’s Residence, even Ning Xiner’s Cultivation could not compare to him. If it wasn’t because he was worried about the Marquis, who was in seclusion at the moment, he would’ve killed me himself long ago.

‘It seems I can’t stay any longer in Marquis Jiange’s Residence. There is no difference between staying there and staying in a wolf’s den. Once Ning Qianwu finds out I can cultivate Combat Qi, he’ll definitely stop at nothing to eliminate me completely.’

Ning Xiaochuan knew the fact that he could practice martial arts would not be hidden for long. Once this matter was brought to light, Ning Qianwu would not be the only person from Marquis Jiange’s Residence that would want him dead.

If he wanted to continue keeping it a secret, he needed to leave Marquis Jiange’s Residence.

Ning Xiaochuan regretted using his real identity at Jinpeng Heart-nourishing Hall now; he should have used a pseudonym instead. In short, he was still too inexperienced and the knowledge he had of this sinister world was still too shallow.