Chapter 417 417 Research Three



The commotion outside continued, leaving both Li Cheng颐 and Wang Zhijun puzzled.



Especially Li Cheng颐. He had repeatedly confirmed that he didn't have any deep-seated hatred with the Ouyang family. He had only rejected Miss Qing Er once, and it shouldn't be enough to warrant them coming to his door looking for trouble.



After all, a large clan, especially one with a long history, wouldn't come looking for trouble over such a small matter. They wouldn't have lasted this long if they did.



But if it wasn't because of that matter, what other reason could there be for the Ouyang family to come looking for trouble?



Li Cheng颐 was confused and looked at Wang Zhijun, who was equally puzzled.



"Xiaojun, do you know anything about Miss Qing Er of the Ouyang family?"



"I know a little. That Miss Qing Er is considered a rather famous genius in recent years. But her reputation might not be so good."



"Not so good?" Li Cheng颐 frowned. "How so?"



"How should I put it? Miss Qing Er is very beautiful and talented. She possesses a rare superior bloodline within the Ouyang family's blood essence lineage. Hmm, many blood essence clans internally classify their members to distinguish between the main family and branch families. The distinction isn't based on lineage but on bloodline purity, generally divided into upper, middle, and lower grades, simple and clear. Ouyang Qing is of the upper grade, the best bloodline warrior."



"Isn't that good? Then why is her reputation not so good?" Li Cheng颐 asked, listening to the chaotic noise outside.



"Actually, Miss Qing Er has been engaged before, more than once. Counting this year, it's already been five times," Wang Zhijun said helplessly. "Unfortunately, perhaps due to her bloodline being too strong or her talent being too high, this Miss Qing Er is quite… hard on her fiancés."



"..." Li Cheng颐 understood the situation somewhat after hearing this.



"It's just… um… her bloodline is too strong, causing her to be easily agitated. With the slightest agitation, she enters a frenzied state. Even taking the imperial court's Lock Heart Pill is useless; it can't suppress it. So, her previous fiancés were all torn to shreds within half a year," Wang Zhijun explained. "Later, they probably saw you come here alone, without any backing, and wanted to take advantage of you. But I suspect this Miss Qing Er's bloodline might have mutated, requiring someone for her to practice her cultivation…"



"What makes you say that?" Li Cheng颐's heart stirred slightly, but his expression remained unchanged.



"The reasoning is simple. Every time a fiancé dies, Miss Qing Er's strength increases significantly. She has already cultivated her family's Scarlet Blaze Art to the fifth level. You should know that this technique should merge with the True Imprint at the sixth level. The rest of the Ouyang family members need at least fifty years to reach this level, and she achieved it at only twenty years old. It's not something that can be explained by talent alone," Wang Zhijun shook his head.



As the two spoke inside, the Ouyang family's men outside became increasingly unreasonable, and the servants they brought began to push and shove.



In the dark alley outside the clinic, a group of strong men and women dressed in gray and white short outfits, wearing brown headbands, surrounded a cold youth riding a black steed.



The youth wore luxurious clothes, a green outer robe over a white close-fitting suit, and a black blade nearly two meters long strapped to his back.



Looking at the small Wang's Clinic in front of him, impatience was evident in his eyes.



"Forget it. This clinic doesn't meet the city's safety regulations. Seal it up first. It can reopen when it complies."



As soon as these words were spoken, the Wang family's servants who were blocking the entrance became agitated. However, none of them were martial artists. Faced with the strong martial artists of the Ouyang family who rushed in, they helplessly watched the clinic being forcibly closed.



This domineering behavior caused the people in the surrounding shops to frown.



But no one dared to say anything.



In a peaceful environment, such actions would definitely severely impact the business environment, deterring people from wanting to do business here.



But here, danger lurked everywhere outside.



Natural disasters, bandits, insane wild martial artists, and bloodline maniacs who were countless times stronger than wild beasts roamed the vast black earth every moment, keeping people as livestock and enslaving them.



Because of this stark contrast, places like Qu Ling Prefecture had become an unimaginable paradise.



Before long, the clinic was sealed off.



The youth sneered. He didn't care much about these lower-class True Qi martial artists. If it wasn't for his sister's urgent need for materials, he wouldn't have bothered to come here to capture someone.



These days, the potential geniuses among the young True Qi martial artists around here had all been taken. Others had either run away or had backgrounds that made them untouchable. It was only after a lot of effort that the Ouyang family found a new and decent prospect and transferred him to Qu Ling Prefecture, precisely for this purpose.



Otherwise, did they really think that a genius who had performed well in an ordinary county could be transferred to a good place like Qu Ling Prefecture in one go?



Without the support of his Ouyang family, he might have been transferred to some remote and dangerous prefecture city.



The youth had already made up his mind to bring the person back today. His informant had personally seen Wang Yichen enter this place.



If he couldn't bring the person back, he would find an excuse to arrest everyone in this clinic. Then he would see if Wang Yichen would submit.



Anyway, the area his Ouyang family was currently in charge of was precisely the city's commercial operations. Finding a reason to seal off the clinic and arrest some people was too easy. He could just find some excuse to kill a few of them, and Wang Yichen would have to accept his fate.



The youth sneered inwardly.



'You enjoyed the benefits of my family, and now you want to go back on your word? There's no such thing in this world.'



In the eyes of bloodline martial arts families like his, True Qi martial artists were materials for slaves, and ordinary civilians were livestock, not even considered people.



The enormous difference in strength created an almost closed-off circle between bloodline martial artists.



So, as long as he didn't engage in mass slaughter, the other bloodline families wouldn't care.



In the backyard.



At this moment, Li Cheng颐, persuaded by Wang Zhijun, had decided to quietly leave through the back door.



They were looking for him. As long as he didn't show up, the problem wouldn't be too big.



"Hurry up and go. Try to come here less often in the future. The Ouyang family has obviously placed spies here," Wang Zhijun sighed. "As long as we abide by the law and have a good attitude, they won't do anything to us."



"Take care. Try to distance yourself from me as much as possible. Don't suffer unnecessary losses," Li Cheng颐 instructed.



After all, the Wang family's main branch was facing this pressure because of him, so he was somewhat embarrassed.



"Go quickly, lest you be discovered again. That's the Ouyang family, a large bloodline clan, not someone we can afford to offend," Wang Zhijun urged as he led him to the hidden exit at the back door.



"Alright, we'll keep in touch by letter," Li Cheng颐 clasped his fist and turned to quickly return to his residence.



Watching him leave, Wang Zhijun sighed and turned back.



He was the backbone of this clinic. If he didn't show up at this time, the people in the clinic would probably scatter.



To expect the employees to confront the Ouyang family's servants? That was unrealistic.



Therefore, he had to step forward and mediate.



As for the danger... Wasn't this what the future head of the Wang family was supposed to do?



If he was afraid of danger, then he shouldn't be the young head of the family.



Grasping his trembling hand, a hint of determination flashed in Wang Zhijun's eyes as he strode towards the front hall.
    
He was well aware of how dangerous the Ouyang family was, but this was his responsibility.



Crossing the courtyard, he leaped into the air, landed lightly, stood in front of the clinic's signboard, and clasped his fist towards the Ouyang family's youth on horseback.



"I am Wang Zhijun, the person in charge of this clinic. Greetings, young master of the Ouyang family."



"I am Ouyang Shenyan. Where is Wang Yichen?" the youth on horseback said impatiently.



"Are you referring to Vice Commander Wang Yichen? We haven't seen him enter the clinic," Wang Zhijun replied respectfully, his expression unchanged.



"My men saw him enter. So, are you lying to me, or is he lying to me?" Ouyang Shenyan glanced at a servant beside him.



The man quickly stepped forward, looking flustered, and knelt down on the ground, kowtowing.



"Young master, I would never deceive you! I personally saw that Wang Yichen enter this clinic!!"



"What do you say?" Ouyang Shenyan looked at Wang Zhijun. "Think carefully before you speak."



Wang Zhijun immediately felt numb all over, his hair standing on end, as if a defenseless commoner was being stared at by a wild beast.



This was the body's instinctive warning, appearing only when the difference in strength between two individuals was too great.



"I really..."



Before he could finish speaking, he saw the obvious murderous intent flashing in the other party's eyes, and his alarm bells rang loudly.



"What does the Ouyang family want with me?"



Suddenly, a familiar voice came from the right side of the crowd.



The watching commoners and martial artists parted to make way, and a figure walked out.



This person was well-proportioned and muscular, with black hair and black eyes, wearing a black robe with white trim and a silver official saber at his waist. It was Li Cheng颐, who had clearly left just moments ago.



He frowned and looked at Wang Zhijun. He had clearly sensed Ouyang Shenyan's murderous intent just now. The other party really dared to kill someone in the street.



This made him somewhat underestimate the extent to which bloodline martial artists disregarded ordinary people.



They really treated human lives like grass.



Therefore, he decisively stood out. From this incident, he could see that Wang Zhijun had courage and responsibility, which was good.



"You're Wang Yichen?" Ouyang Shenyan tilted his head slightly and looked at Li Cheng颐.



"What do you want to say?" Li Cheng颐 looked at him.



"Hehe... you have guts." Ouyang Shenyan sneered and suddenly raised his hand.



A flash of cold light shot forward and arrived in front of Li Cheng颐 in the blink of an eye.



*Pa.*



He caught it with one hand.



It was a silver envelope with the words "Personally written by Ouyang Qing" on it.



"This is my sister's personal letter. Your engagement ceremony is set for the first day of next month. Don't run around then. We'll send someone to pick you up," Ouyang Shenyan instructed.



Seeing that Li Cheng颐 was about to speak, he quickly glanced at Wang Zhijun and the others, the meaning of his threat was self-evident.



Li Cheng颐 frowned and said nothing.



This wasn't Cangshi County, with the Four Yin Gods and even Yin Yue Zhenren guarding it. The martial power here was much higher.



Many big moves weren't suitable to be made here. After all, even without fighting, he could be sure that this place definitely had experts who were stronger than his full-power outburst.



So, he had to act cautiously.



Watching Ouyang Shenyan and his party turn around and leave, putting on a big show but ultimately failing, Li Cheng颐 understood the other party's intention.



By personally delivering the letter to his hand in front of so many onlookers, they had essentially forced the engagement. If he dared to go back on his word, he would completely offend the Ouyang family and ruin their entire family's reputation.



At that time, they could rightfully retaliate against him.



'Interesting.'



Li Cheng颐 tore open the envelope. The letter inside was blank, with nothing written on it.



Clearly, the other party didn't even bother to feign politeness.



"Brother Chen! Why did you come out like that!?" Wang Zhijun quickly approached, looking anxious.



"Now that the engagement is set, what are we going to do!?"



Wang Yichen was the Wang family's hope for future development. The family had invested a lot of effort in him.



They had even mobilized a large amount of various medicinal materials for Wang Yichen's future cultivation, and they didn't even intend to charge him for them.



He never expected that they would be targeted by the Ouyang family right at the beginning.



"It's okay, I'll handle it. Besides, Miss Qing Er is beautiful, talented, and a bloodline martial artist. In the end I'm the one profiting," Li Cheng颐 narrowed his eyes and smiled.



"Brother Chen, you!" Wang Zhijun didn't know what to say and his mind was in a mess.



The Wang family's strength was too far behind the Ouyang family's. No matter what schemes they used or what connections they made, they were useless in the face of such a huge difference in power.



"Don't worry. Sometimes, bad things can be good things, and good things can be bad things. At least you should think that we have some time to prepare before next month, right?"



He patted Wang Zhijun on the shoulder. Such a close and intimate gesture showed that he truly recognized him.



"But..."



"No buts. Go back and rest, and reassure the people in the clinic. I'll take care of the rest," Li Cheng颐 interrupted him.