Chapter 20: Unexpected Complications

Seeing Cai Jinjian's spirits dampened, Fu Nanhua took her for a casual stroll. Walking side-by-side, they tried to relax, interspersed with anecdotes about the wonders of southern Eastern Treasure Bottle Continent. Cai Jinjian still forced a smile, but compared to her restlessness after leaving Mud Bottle Lane, her mood had indeed improved.

Her impression of this young master from Old Dragon City was gradually improving. Old Dragon City, although deeply rooted and brimming with talent, was only a step away from the top sects. Logically, it should be much higher than the second-rate Cloud Glow Mountain. However, Cloud Glow Mountain, as a traditional immortal family with an orderly lineage and orthodox roots, possessed an innate sense of superiority over Old Dragon City, a remote southern barbarian territory. In the past, it would have been considered good manners if they hadn't muttered "southern barbarian" behind their backs.

Cai Jinjian said bitterly, "Brother Fu, although the Cloud Root Stones are the lifeblood of our Cloud Glow Mountain, since we agreed beforehand, I won't go back on my word. Even if it means selling everything I own, I will repay Brother Fu."

Fu Nanhua comforted her, "It's still too early to say whether Gu Can's opportunity is a certainty."

Cai Jinjian's face darkened, and she shook her head. "Intercepting River True Lord Liu Zhimao may have a tarnished reputation, but his methods are not weak. Otherwise, he wouldn't have a place in Book Scroll Lake. This opportunity cannot be forced. If I anger Liu Zhimao, how can I withstand the power of a rogue Great True Lord? I fear I'm already marked by Liu Zhimao. Once I leave this small town, without the presence of a Saint and the constraints of rules, who knows what extreme actions Liu Zhimao might take? I'm sure Brother Fu saw some clues on the border. The retainers from my sect who came with me to find treasure are too weak and no match for him at all."

Fu Nanhua smiled, "Rest assured. Even for the sake of those ten Cloud Root Stones, my Old Dragon City will escort you safely back to Cloud Glow Mountain."

Cai Jinjian turned to him with a sweet smile, her limpid eyes filled with affection.

Fu Nanhua was quite pleased with himself. He habitually wanted to touch his jade pendant, but found it was missing. He remembered he had given his Old Dragon Rain-Making Pendant to that boy named Song Jixin.

Cai Jinjian breathed a sigh of relief. While walking, she tilted her steps slightly to the left, so her shoulder gently brushed against Fu Nanhua.

The trip to Mud Bottle Lane was an unplanned gamble for Cai Jinjian, a spur-of-the-moment decision, but also carefully considered. However, it proved that she had lost. The price was ten priceless Cloud Root Stones, which filled her with anxiety about the upcoming trip to the small town. She unconsciously developed a sense of dependence on Fu Nanhua, or rather, a gambler's mentality. Ten Cloud Root Stones were a gamble, why not fifty? If she won, she would make a killing. If she lost... Cai Jinjian didn't think she would lose, absolutely not. She was Cai Jinjian, the most talented cultivator of Cloud Glow Mountain! Her cultivation path had been smooth sailing, her realm rising rapidly. Cai Jinjian didn't believe she would capsize in this stinky ditch.

As Cai Jinjian's mood improved, Fu Nanhua, feeling that the overall situation was under control, also had the leisure to truly appreciate the beauty of Cai Jinjian's face and figure. It was undeniable that she was a woman with innate charm. Once one became her Dao companion, living together day and night, both cultivation and intimate relations would gradually improve.

Cai Jinjian had once been praised by a highly respected senior as "Cloud Root Mountain Wind, Flying Celestial Posture." The implication was that she was an extremely rare candidate for a Dao companion. The Cloud Glow ancestors, who relied on the mountain for their livelihood and were used to doing business, had cultivated Cai Jinjian at all costs over the years, not without the selfish motive of putting her up for sale. Immortal family alliances were more cautious and looked further ahead than the marriages of secular dynasties and powerful clans.

However, Fu Nanhua didn't have a good impression of Cloud Glow Mountain. It was inappropriate to place the fate of the sect on the shoulders of a single woman. This was also why Fu Nanhua had a poor opinion of Cloud Glow Mountain.

Fu Nanhua reminded her, "If the boy next to Song Jixin is also someone chosen by an outside force and still has that original porcelain object, then your actions this time will cause trouble. It will be easy for someone to follow the clues back to Cloud Glow Mountain and you. Moreover, Song Jixin and his servant, as well as Intercepting River True Lord Liu Zhimao, may have noticed this."

Cai Jinjian laughed, "Brother Fu may be focused on the clues to the opportunity and not noticed some of the unwritten rules here. Boys born in this town, if they are not taken away by the 'porcelain buyer,' who has waited for nearly ten years, when they are nine years old, it means that their natural aptitude is not good and they are no longer worth much. As they get older, they become even cheaper. It is obviously much more cost-effective for those sects and gangs to spend a fortune on cultivating their own disciples than to be taken for a ride by paying an astronomical 'adoption fee.'"

Cai Jinjian was filled with disgust whenever she mentioned that straw sandal boy. "Mortals should have the awareness of mortals!"

Fu Nanhua tried to choose his words carefully and persuaded, "That makes sense, but that boy has limited knowledge. How would he know the dignity of Cloud Glow Mountain's Cai Immortal? Even if he was offensive, a lesson would be enough. Why take action twice?"

Fu Nanhua felt that Cai Jinjian's sudden actions were abnormal and must have a hidden reason related to the opportunity. Therefore, he hoped to elicit some information to see if he could find any clues, lest he be the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Old Dragon City had gone through many hardships and offered prices far more exaggerated than those of True Yang Mountain and Cloud Glow Mountain, only to obtain some fragmented secret rumors. Fu Nanhua only learned that the so-called opportunities in the small town for the past three thousand years, after that magnificent and tragic battle, were indeed just magical treasures left behind by previous ancestors, except for that group of exceptionally talented children. However, when this blessed land faced complete collapse, it was not so simple.

At the end of a dynasty, when the country was broken, divine weapons would inevitably be born to welcome the new dynasty.

Cai Jinjian was a little depressed, "Don't mention him. It's disgusting to even think about him."

Then, a rare hint of malice flashed in her autumn eyes. However, unwilling to spoil her image as a celestial being in Fu Nanhua's mind, she did not voice her thoughts.

If she encountered that lowly boy outside the small town in the future, she would make sure he died a quick death, instead of just dragging out his sickly body and continuing to eke out a living for ten or twenty years.

The tall woman especially hated the boy's eyes. Deep down, she had an obsession that she had never deeply considered.

She had never seen such clean eyes more than a few times in Cloud Glow Mountain, which was known for its "immaculate clarity," after cultivating for so many years. What right did a poor boy growing up in a slum have to possess this beauty day after day, year after year?

Cai Jinjian tilted her head and rubbed her eyelids, a gesture that made her distant mountain eyebrows even more slender.

Fu Nanhua, who had been looking around, casually joked, "In our Old Dragon City's well lanes, there's a widespread saying: 'Left eye jumps for wealth, right eye jumps for disaster.' Is your left eye jumping or your right eye jumping?"

Cai Jinjian quickly retracted her hand as if it had been burned, and glared at him. Her right eyelid was clearly jumping.

Fu Nanhua, who had asked for trouble, quickly tried to remedy the situation, smiling, "Nonsense from ordinary people, don't take it seriously."

Cai Jinjian's lips curled up, and she turned sideways, gazing at Fu Nanhua's profile, triumphantly saying, "Fooled you, right?"

Fu Nanhua was stunned, looking at Cai Jinjian acting like a spoiled little girl, and he felt a pang of emotion for no reason.

He suddenly hesitated, his intention to kill her wavering. Would it be more beneficial to Old Dragon City's plan to move north if he became a celestial couple with her? Once Cai Jinjian successfully obtained the opportunity here and returned to the sect, her status would inevitably rise. If properly managed, she might even have a chance to become the mistress of Cloud Glow Mountain. In the long history of Cloud Glow Mountain, there were precedents of women running the family. In this way, Old Dragon City would have a springboard to legitimately infiltrate the heartland of Eastern Treasure Bottle Continent, echoing from north to south, allowing them to advance or retreat. It would be a foundation for a hegemonic empire, allowing Old Dragon City to escape its awkward situation of having strength but only being able to occupy a corner, suffering from exclusion for centuries.

Not far ahead, a few steps away, was the crossroads of two intersecting alleys.

Fu Nanhua saw the fork in the road and suddenly woke up, seemingly understanding something. His eyes became firm again.

Fu Nanhua, wearing a tall crown, instantly broke out in a fine sweat on his forehead.

Those who disturb my mind must be killed to strengthen my Dao heart!

At this moment, when Fu Nanhua looked at Cai Jinjian again, his eyes, demeanor, and state of mind returned to their previous unrestrained state, purely like appreciating a painting. Beauty and scenery could both please the eye. He should look at her a few more times now, because she was destined to perish in his hands after leaving the small town.

Kill and set fires, wear a golden belt; build roads and bridges, no remains.

Listen, some famous sayings from the bottom of society are truly universally applicable.

Fu Nanhua's heart suddenly opened up.

Cai Jinjian leaned sideways, her voice soft and charming, and asked with a smile, "Nanhua, what are you thinking about? You look so happy?"

She secretly changed to a more intimate form of address.

Fu Nanhua shook his head and smiled, just about to speak when he caught a glimpse of a black shadow.

A thin boy seemed to have crossed from the horizontal alley to in front of Cai Jinjian in just one step. His left hand quickly flicked upward, and at the same time, his right fist had already smashed into the Cloud Glow Mountain Immortal's abdomen with great force. The sudden burst of power within inches even had a faint whistling sound, forcing the woman to bend over and lower her head.

Although the boy's right fist was already far stronger than his peers, he was actually left-handed. So the sharp weapon held in the boy's left hand completely pierced Cai Jinjian's throat, directly through her lower mouth.

The boy didn't stop there. His right fist smashed into the woman's chest, and his left hand still lifted upward.

Ensuring that this sneak attack would not have the slightest accident.

At that moment, blood gushed from the woman's originally slender and fair neck.

Next, the boy exerted force from his waist and ankles, using his shoulder to slam into the tall woman's chest, smashing her whole body into the horizontal alley.

Fu Nanhua stood rooted to the ground, unmoving.

The young master of Old Dragon City was blank.