Chapter 168: What an Undutiful Grandson

His expression and tone made Yan Shu acutely sense that this might be a fatal question.

It was the kind of question where a girlfriend asks her boyfriend something like, "Is your ex-girlfriend pretty?"

If you answer that she is pretty, she will get jealous and think you still have feelings for your ex; if you answer that she is not pretty, she will think not only that you are blind, but also that you are a jerk who badmouths his ex after a breakup.

As a thoroughly modern girl well-versed in internet culture, Yan Shu declared that she totally understood this routine!

She deliberated for a long time, determined to come up with a foolproof, win-win solution.

Xiao Jihan withdrew the smile from his face and looked at her deeply: "It seems you really are happy about going to see the second wife."

Yan Shu: ......

What the hell kind of "second wife"? She hadn't even touched the lips of a single man, yet inexplicably she now had a first wife, a second wife, and a third wife!

She could let the third wife slide, seeing as spirit stones were actually spent on him, but what on earth were this first wife and second wife? Had role-playing really gotten this out of hand?!

"You—"

"Hmph!"

Xiao Jihan flicked his sleeve and strode into the room.

Favorability: 65 (Love)

Yan Shu: ......

He was just completely spoiled!

Following today's battle, both Yan Shu and Xiao Jihan had depleted a significant amount of spiritual power. After cultivating for the entire night, they packed their things the next day and set off for Central Province.

Yan Shu felt a twinge of regret. She should have bought some Earth-Escaping Talismans at the black market yesterday; a journey of several days could have been solved with just a few talismans. After all, she was a wealthy person now and wouldn't have cared about that little bit of money.

However, when she was browsing the black market yesterday, she hadn't yet achieved overnight wealth, so now she had no choice but to travel by sword flight.

Actually, it couldn't really be called rushing. Flying on swords and stopping along the way, Yan Shu simply treated it as sightseeing. It would have been even better if Xiao Jihan hadn't been emitting sourness the entire journey, exuding an aroma of jealousy that could be smelled from far away.

Yan Shu looked at the favorability rating of 65 (Love) floating above his head, inhaled the scent of vinegar radiating from him, narrowed her eyes, and said nothing.

Some things she dared not delve into, nor was she willing to. The current situation was something she had traded her life for several times over through arduous effort, and subconsciously she somewhat resisted probing too deeply. Blundering along and maintaining the status quo was quite nice.

Call her foolish, call her an ostrich—she neither wanted nor was willing to shatter this kind of situation.

She was quite satisfied with things as they were.

Come to think of it, her wish from her past life—"the world is so big, I want to go see it"—had been so easily realized in this lifetime. All things considered, she was still the one who came out ahead.

As they neared the borders of Central Province, at Xiao Jihan's signal, Yan Shu sent a communication message to Yuwen Che.

Yuwen Che still maintained his bright, clear-as-moonlight appearance. Even upon seeing that Yan Shu was wearing an unfamiliar face, he still smiled very gently: "Junior Sister Yan."

Xiao Jihan's gaze from the side was a bit too scorching, making Yan Shu's scalp tingle slightly. She quickly stated the purpose of their visit: "It's like this, Senior Brother Yuwen. Xiao Jihan and I are planning to go to Han Province to pay respects to his mother, and since we happen to be passing through Central Province, we thought we'd drop by to visit you."

Hearing this, Yuwen Che showed a trace of slight surprise, but quickly returned to normal. With a gentle smile hanging on his lips, he softly asked, "Is Shu'er coming to see me, or is Xiao Jihan coming to see me?"

Changing his address from "Junior Sister Yan" to "Shu'er," Yan Shu distinctly felt the temperature nearby drop by a few degrees. She braced herself and said, "It was Xiao Jihan's suggestion."

Hearing this, Yuwen Che's eyes flickered slightly, then he smiled and nodded, saying, "It's only right for him to come and see me. Come to think of it, he's actually of my grandson's generation. Passing through Central Province to visit an elder like me is indeed proper."

"Heh!"

Xiao Jihan let out a cold laugh that carried over clearly.

Yan Shu was filled with awkwardness, but Yuwen Che's smile did not diminish at all. He looked at Yan Shu and asked, "Are you coming this time with your true identity, or with this face you currently wear?"

Yan Shu had no idea. She felt like she was the filling in the middle of an Oreo, the slice of meat in a sandwich, serving only a connecting and flavoring role, so she cast her gaze toward Xiao Jihan.

Xiao Jihan glanced at her, stepped forward, took the Profound Spirit Mirror directly from her hand, and then said to her, "Keep an eye on the rabbit meat, make sure it doesn't get burnt."

This was clearly an attempt to send her away. Yan Shu very sensibly gave an acknowledgement and walked off to tend to the rabbit meat.

Xiao Jihan turned his gaze to the Profound Spirit Mirror, set up a soundproofing barrier, and only then spoke: "Someone is offering a thousand supreme-grade spirit stones for Yan Shu's life—to be precise, for the life of Yuwen Che's fiancée."

Hearing this, the warm smile on Yuwen Che's face instantly vanished completely. He frowned and asked, "You suspect this was done by people from the Primeval Sect?"

Xiao Jihan gave a low hum and said indifferently, "This bounty order was issued about two months ago, which was not long after Shu'er and I emerged from the Brahma Secret Realm. At that time, both Shu'er and I were using our true identities. Don't you think that's a bit too much of a coincidence?"

Yuwen Che understood the point he was trying to convey. If the person who issued the bounty hadn't known Yan Shu's true identity, the bounty targeting Yuwen Che's fiancée should have been issued as early as ten years ago.

Yet the timing of this bounty order's release happened after Yan Shu came out of the Brahma Secret Realm. Clearly, this person knew that Yan Shu was Yan Tong, the fiancée he had publicly announced.

And the only ones who knew about this were those people from the Primeval Sect who had been in the cave ten years ago.

Among these people, the ones who could afford such spirit stones...

Yuwen Che narrowed his eyes: "Who do you suspect?"

Xiao Jihan did not answer, but instead said indifferently: "There is another matter. Someone is instigating discord in the relationship between the Eastern Imperial Clan of Yun Province and the Profound Sky Sect. We can discuss the specific details after we meet, but there is one point: the person instigating the discord is able to enter and exit the Eastern Clan's imperial palace as if no one were there."

At this point, he paused, glanced at Yuwen Che's expression, and then said coldly: "If I am not mistaken, Shan Changfeng has always treated and cultivated you as his son-in-law."

Yuwen Che did not reply, but his expression grew visibly cold.

The two men looked at each other. What needed to be said had been said; what remained unsaid was already clear to both of them.

Xiao Jihan flashed a mocking smile, looked at the cold-faced Yuwen Che, and said, "I only ask you this: if everything turns out to be just as I expect, what will you do?"

"What do you think I will do?"

Hearing this, Yuwen Che chuckled softly: "Before I joined the sect, the Primeval Sect was nothing more than a third-rate sect. That it can have what it has today entirely relies on the support of the Yuwen clan. Even Shan Changfeng's current cultivation level was hammered out using all sorts of heavenly treasures provided by the Yuwen clan."

"Without the Primeval Sect, I am still myself. And even though the Primeval Sect is currently the number one sect, without the Yuwen clan, it is nothing at all. I am not you; behind me stands the entire Yuwen clan, and within the Yuwen clan, there are more than a dozen cultivators in the Nascent Soul stage alone, and even four in the Deity Transformation stage."

The meaning behind these words was abundantly clear. Although he had been mocked as a loner without roots, Xiao Jihan showed no trace of anger.

He merely said indifferently: "I finally understand why Shan Changfeng has been racking his brains trying to control the Eastern clan. Get the greeting tea ready, Second Wife."

Hearing this, Yuwen Che lightly curved his lips into a smile: "There's plenty of tea, I just worry you can't afford to drink it."

The only response he received was the dimming of the Profound Spirit Mirror.

Yuwen Che looked at the disconnected Profound Spirit Mirror and slightly raised an eyebrow: "This grandson really isn't well-behaved."