Perhaps because his eye twitched too violently, Pei Lengxue, who was walking beside Ye Anping, momentarily thought he was about to make a move, so without a second thought, she drew her sword.

“Husband, do you know him?” she asked.

“Yes,” Ye Anping nodded and introduced with a smile, “Wife, this is Zhuang Hu. We became sworn brothers back when we were in the Profound Star Sect.”

?

Pei Lengxue raised an eyebrow, tilted her head slightly, and found her senior brother’s words to be somewhat playful but not entirely joking.

Zhuang Hu took a glance at her hand, which was gripping a sword, furrowed his brow, exhaled lightly, and said while saluting, “I’ve heard Young Master Ye mention you before. Now that I see you in person, you truly are extraordinary, with an aura of immortality, and your sword technique is exceptionally sharp.”

Extraordinary… Pei Lengxue’s eyes lit up at being addressed this way. She thought it was a pretty good title.

After hesitating for a moment, she looked at Ye Anping and asked, “Um… do you want me to cut him?”

“Not for now,” Ye Anping replied.

“Oh…”

“Not for now…” Zhuang Hu twitched his mouth slightly, then let out a sigh and said, “Junior Brother, I’ll be leaving shortly. I won’t disturb you.”

“Leaving shortly?”

Why would he be leaving shortly?

In fact, when Ye Anping first saw Zhuang Hu, he had some doubts. He felt that Zhuang Hu should have fled immediately after the incident, rather than waiting here…

Was there a reason for his delayed departure?

Ye Anping hesitated for a moment, then saw a pavilion by the pond and invited, “Big Brother Zhuang, how about sitting down for a while and chatting? It won’t hurt.”

“Chatting? After chatting with you, will I be unable to leave?”

“It depends on you,” Ye Anping replied with a smile and took the lead, heading towards the pavilion with Pei Lengxue.

Zhuang Hu initially had no intention of following them. He didn’t want to get involved in the affairs of the important figure behind Ye Anping. However, seeing Ye Anping’s demeanor, he inexplicably felt a sense of wariness and decided to follow.

After they were all seated, Ye Anping cleared his throat and called out, “Someone, please bring us some tea and pastries.”

Two or three maids from the Jiang residence responded with acknowledgment and quickly fetched tea and pastries from the kitchen.

Ye Anping motioned for Pei Lengxue to start eating and then asked, “Big Brother Zhuang, did you sell that sword from last time?”

“No.”

“Why didn’t you sell it? Selling it would have solved your problem with spirit stones in the future, wouldn’t it?”

“Heh.”

Zhuang Hu gave him a disdainful look. Speaking of this matter, he was quite frustrated.

When he had obtained the sword from Xiao Yunluo on Profound Star Sect’s back mountain, Ye Anping had told him it was worth 10,000 spirit stones, and he had believed it at the time. However, after investigating Ye Anping’s identity and asking an old sword cultivator he knew in the Seven Killers Sect, he found out that the sword was made from a millennium-old mystic stone, worth at least a million spirit stones. That revelation had frightened him so much that he had immediately buried the sword.

In the Four Regions, anyone who could make a sword from a millennium-old mystic stone was absolutely not someone he could afford to provoke.

Seeing that Zhuang Hu’s expression had turned extremely dark, Ye Anping knew that this topic had been exhausted. He quickly changed the subject and asked, “Well, let’s talk about something else. Big Brother Zhuang, why did you come to Du Chun City?”

Zhuang Hu’s expression grew even darker as he replied, “Thanks to you and that important figure behind you, I’m here to make a living.”

“Hmm? What do you mean?” Ye Anping asked.

“Just like what I said, I came here to earn a living.”

Ye Anping felt like laughing, as he now understood Zhuang Hu’s experiences over the past few months. To put it in perspective, the “Fortune 500 company” where Zhuang Hu had worked had collapsed due to his actions. Consequently, he had to leave and apply for various positions at other “companies.” However, due to his prior experience at the company, all his job applications had gone unanswered. In the end, he had reluctantly settled for a position as a “security guard” at a small company, which felt like a considerable compromise for someone of his abilities.

“Working as a security guard? You willingly chose that?” Ye Anping inquired.

Zhuang Hu hesitated for a moment, then nodded, saying, “…Yes, it was a last resort.”

Ye Anping contemplated for a moment and said, “Big Brother Zhuang, let’s be frank as brothers. What’s the real story?”

“What do you mean by the real story?”

“Are you trying to help Hua Qinyu take control of the Dragon-Slaying Society, then find an opportunity to eliminate her and become the leader of the Dragon-Slaying Society yourself?”

“…”

Zhuang Hu did not respond, but his silence seemed to confirm it.

Ye Anping smiled and although he hadn’t originally planned for Zhuang Hu to be involved, he couldn’t ignore this unexpected opportunity. Since he was now the Dragon-Slaying Society’s Young Master, he would have to handle various matters for the guild. While he could do it himself, hiring someone to handle these minor tasks and save him some time to spend with Pei Lengxue in Du Chun City seemed like a good idea.

“Big Brother Zhuang, since you’re here to make a living, how about I hire you?”

Zhuang Hu smiled politely and replied, “Thank you for your kind offer, but I must decline.”

“Why?”

“I can’t afford to take your spirit stones, Junior Brother.”

“Don’t you trust me?”

Zhuang Hu tilted his head slightly, raised his left eyebrow high, as if saying, “We’re not even blood-related, and you want me to trust you?”

Ye Anping chuckled, sighed, and said, “Big Brother Zhuang, do you want to know why I came here?”

“No.”

“I’m here for the Chi Dragon Conference…”

“I said no!”

“Two months from now, the Master of Chi Dragon Mansion, Li Feng…”

Zhuang Hu covered his ears with his hands and started walking away from the pavilion.

“…”

Seeing his unwillingness, Ye Anping decided not to force the issue further. After all, it was like trying to squeeze water from a stone.

However, just as Zhuang Hu had taken a couple of steps away from the pavilion, a young girl’s voice came from above the courtyard wall.

“Father! I’m back!”

Ye Anping turned to look and saw a mischievous-looking girl, around twelve or thirteen years old, who had scaled the wall rather than using the gate.

When the young girl spotted Ye Anping in the pavilion, she raised an eyebrow and, without saying a word, dashed into the pavilion, seemingly intent on grabbing some pastries from the table.

But Zhuang Hu, who had witnessed her actions, swiftly returned to the pavilion, grabbed the back of her collar, and lifted her up.

“Eh?! Father?!”

“I’ll buy it for you when I go out later.”

Saying this, Zhuang Hu attempted to carry her away.

Seeing this, Ye Anping smiled and quickly engaged in the conversation. “You are Zhuang Hu’s adopted daughter, right? He mentioned you before, and now that I’ve met you, I can see that you’re truly lively and cute.”

The young girl, however, seemed a bit puzzled and asked, “Who are you?”

“I’m your uncle. I’m Zhuang Hu’s Junior Brother, so you can call me Uncle,” Ye Anping replied.

Hearing this, Zhuang Hu ground his teeth audibly and glared angrily at Ye Anping, warning, “Don’t you dare involve her, or you’ll regret it.”

Ye Anping remained calm and quickly stopped his apprentice from stepping forward. “Big Brother Zhuang, am I really that bad? I was just offering her some food.”

With that, Ye Anping picked up a piece of year cake from the table and flicked it lightly with his fingers, causing it to fly towards the girl that Zhuang Hu was holding.

Upon seeing the incoming cake, the young girl effortlessly wriggled out of Zhuang Hu’s grip and, like a dog catching a frisbee, leaped up to catch the cake in her mouth.