Du Shaofu revealed a smile when he felt the flush of xuanqi in his shenque*. He was hoping to achieve a breakthrough faster. There would be a big leap in his strength if he broke through to the Maidong realm.

However, he didn’t forget what Zhen Qingchun had said about the disadvantages of rushing his advancement. The most important thing was the foundation of one’s cultivation. The posterity of those super large clans with ancient inheritance would never pursue high speed advancement so as to avoid a shallow foundation.

Otherwise, the resources that these super large clans had, would not be enough to train another generation of youngsters. Some of the members of these clans who had reached a high cultivation, had already found it very hard to progress any further.

In the backyard of Lan Ling Prefecture, Du Shaofu was asked by a female servant to go have breakfast. His eyes glittered as soon as he entered the dining hall.

He saw a twenty one or two year old girl standing there. She was wearing a long green skirt. Her long hair was worn in an Asian-style-chignon. Two strands of hair fell down at the side of her temples, acting as a foil for her unmatched beauty. Her nicely arched eyebrows exuded delicateness, but there were some crinkles at the corner of her eyes that showed how unyielding she was. Her calm eyes weren’t influenced by anything. She was without a doubt, a very beautiful lady.

“She looks very familiar.”

Du Shaofu was looking at her steadily, sizing her up. He somehow felt that he had already met her before.

Suddenly, Du Shaofu saw the indistinct marks of teeth below her lower lip. He said in surprise. “I didn’t know that you could also disguise as a woman so well.”

Ou Yangshuang’s pretty face didn’t show any signs of emotions. There was no movement on her red and tender lips. There was only coldness on her face. It implicated that a stranger shouldn’t go near her. She ignored Du Shaofu and acted as if she didn’t know him at all.

“Shaofu, what happened to your nose?”

Yuan Shanshan arrived in the hall. When she saw Du Shaofu’s injured nose, she quickly asked worriedly.

“Aunt Shan, I bumped into something with my nose.” Du Shaofu looked at Ou Yang Shuang who was sitting at one side before replying to Yuan Shanshan.

“You careless child, you have hurt your nose quite badly. Your elder sister hurt herself too, she accidentally bit her lips yesterday. You two are...”

Yuan Shanshan let out a light sigh, then she introduce Ou Yangshuang to Du Shaofu lovingly. “Come, let me introduce you to your elder sister. I have already told you about her yesterday. She’s three years older than you. Your mom was by my side when your elder sister was born, but I wasn’t by her side when you and your sister were born.”

“Sister Shuang.” Du Shaofu put up a polite and warm face as he came beside Ou Yangshuang.

“En.”

Ou Yangshuang had no choice but to nod and reply. She had known about the identity of this young man from her mother. She was surprised to know that this young man was actually the son of his father’s sworn brother, who was awe-inspiring.

“Sister Shuang, do you dislike me? Why are you so frigid towards me?”

historical

Du Shaofu looked at Ou Yangshuang grimly and continued. “Is there something that you don’t like about me? Can you please let me know and I’ll promise you that I would do my best to change them, okay?”

As soon as his voice faded, Yuan Shanshan looked at Ou Yangshuang and said in a gentle tone. “My girl, how could you treat your little brother so coldly? He had just arrived in Lan Ling City. You are not allowed to bully your little brother, okay?”

Ou Yangshuang stood up. She showed a smile on her beautiful face. This smile was enough to fascinate plenty of men in the city. She then said to her mum. “Mom, I wasn’t being frigid towards little brother. I was just contemplating about the matters of cultivation. I feel more than happy that little brother Shaofu has come.”

“Good. You have to take care of your little brother more. You must make sure that he doesn’t get hurt.” Yuan Shanshan said to Ou Yangshuang in a serious tone before smiling back at her.

“I will.”

Ou Yangshuang nodded and turned, facing her back to her mum. Her expression turned heavy, she gave Du Shaofu a fierce look before she said in an unusually gentle tone. “Little brother Shaofu, I will take good care of you from now on.”

It was too obvious to Du Shaofu that she was nursing a grudge against him. He turned his eyes and said. “Sister Shuang, does that mean that you won’t beat me anymore from now on?”

“Silly boy, why would sister beat you up? If your sister really bullies you, you have to let me know so that I can punish her.” Yuan Shanshan said affectionately.

“Sister Shuang, did you hear that? If you bully me, I would certainly tell aunt Shan about it.” Du Shaofu said to Ou Yangshuang with a faint smile.

“You...” Ou Yangshuang stamped her foot. She could do nothing about the situation when her mum was present.

The maids had already prepared the breakfast for them early in the morning. There were a variety of dim sum and porridge. Du Shaofu pushed those food into his mouth like a hungry wolf.

As one’s cultivation becomes higher, their hunger would also decrease. Some said that when one had achieved a certain level of cultivation, that person could survive without eating any food.

As for Du Shaofu, he could survive without eating for a day, but he couldn’t help himself when he saw food in front of his table.

Ou Yangshuang simply sat there and tasted some of the food, she didn’t seem particularly interested in her food.

As Yuan Shanshan saw Du Shaofu’s condition, she asked him to eat as much as possible, worrying that he wouldn’t be full.

A while later, Ou Yangshuang left the hall with an excuse.

Du Shaofu also left, after having a short chat with aunt Shan. He met Huang San on his way back. Huang San told him that Han Xin had come to the prefecture, he was looking for him.

“He has come to find me but not the lord?” Du Shaofu found it strange. This wasn’t his house, but the prefecture of Lan Ling.

“Young master Shaofu. That was how he said to me. I have already brought him to the lobby. He didn’t come alone though, he had brought the young man with the surname Lin with him.” Huang San continued. “He was being carried on a stretcher. I’m afraid that he was beaten up again by Han Xin after being beaten by us. He seems very pitiful, and not very far away from death.”

Du Shaofu pondered for a moment and said to Huang San. “Go tell that Han Xin that I’m too busy to meet him.”

“Young master Shaofu, Han Xin must be here to offer an explanation about the matter regarding the city guards last night.” Huang San said.

“I know, but it’s none of my business. I’m not from Lan Ling City anyway. I will no longer interfere in the matters of Lan Ling City.” Du Shaofu nodded. He knew Han Xin’s motive for visiting him.

He had spent so much effort to get his hands out of the matter, he no longer wanted to be involved in it again.

His actual intention yesterday was to ensure the safety of Murong Youruo and Dai Xingyu. He just went to Story Garden to find Murong Youruo when he heard her message. Now, he no longer have any worries seeing that Murong Youruo was protected by Ou Yangshuang.

“If that Han Xin insisted on staying here, there is a high chance that he would really meet the lord...”

Huang San was worried that the matter yesterday would be spread to the lord because it was not a proud thing to go to Story Garden.

Du Shaofu interjected with a smile. “The lord is in seclusion right now. He won’t be able to meet him even if he insisted to. Besides, what right does he have to find the lord? Just ignore him.”

Huang San nodded and replied despite not understanding it fully. “Young master Shaofu, what about the captain of the city guards?”

“Was he not sent to the private army? I am sure that Captain Zhang would know what to do.” Du Shaofu said.

........

Du Shaofu wanted to begin his cultivation training but there was no proper place for him to cultivate here. He only wished that the lord of prefecture would come out of his seclusion soon, so that he could leave the city.

In the midday, Du Shaofu left Lan Ling City and headed to the old house where Dai Xingyu and the Demonic Scale Tiger were.

When Du Shaofu reached there, he was stunned to see Ou Yangshuang there. She stood beside Murong Youruo. She was still wearing the dress that she wore this morning, it caught Du Shaofu’s eyes.

*Roar*

The Demonic Scale Tiger let out a low roar and quickly came beside Du Shaofu, as if it had found his savior after being imprisoned.

“Brother Shaofu.” Dai Xingyu approached Du Shaofu.

Ou Yangshuang’s eye expression became slightly unpleasant, it was as though Du Shaofu had owed her a few hundred thousand xuanbi. She said. “Why have you come here?”

“I am here to see Dai Xingyu.” Du Shaofu darted her a glance. ‘Why are you so angry at me? I just gave you a bite and grabbed a few parts that I shouldn’t grab. Besides, you have also bitten me.’

“I am surprised to know that you two are from the same family. If I knew that the both of you are from the same family, the incident last night wouldn’t have happened.” Murong Youruo minced over and stopped in between Du Shaofu and Ou Yangshuang. She then smiled apologetically.

“It’s fine.” Du Shaofu replied generously but Ou Yang Shuang was still staring at Du Shaofu violently.

Murong Youruo looked at Du Shaofu and said. “Shaofu, you have arrived at the right time. We are going for a walk on the street, why not join us?”

“Great. We don’t need to fear any bad guys now that brother Shaofu is with us.” Dai Xingyu said happily.

Shenque* - An area of lower abdomen above dantian.

Note:

Certain name of skills will not be capitalized but italicized. Some terms are subject to change when better suggestions are selected.