"Some people are broad-hearted enough to hold the whole world inside them. Some are so narrow-minded they can only hold themselves."
Xu Yuan had never thought he belonged to the first kind, nor did he think he was the second. His heart was neither especially big nor especially small. It was just large enough to hold the people around him who actually mattered.
He was only an ordinary person. If someone showed him kindness, he would repay it. If someone wronged him, he would settle the score. As long as he did not repay kindness with hatred, that was good enough. If he set aside that godlike perspective of knowing the world was doomed to fall into chaos, then maybe he could understand Xu Xinyao’s actions.
What she said had never been empty talk. She had always lived by those words, and worked hard for them. But her final choice really did amount to repaying kindness with betrayal.
If, at the end of the story, after her father and brothers had all died, Xu Xinyao had chosen to end her own life cleanly and decisively to repay the debt of being raised, then all the indifference, even disgust, Xu Yuan had built up toward her over the course of the plot would probably have vanished.
But she did not. She carried her guilt on one side, and on the other went on to live happily ever after with the story’s protagonist. That was why he felt nothing for her.
“Third Young Master? Third Young Master? Third Young Master!”
The voice at his side slowly pulled Xu Yuan out of his thoughts. Turning his eyes, he saw Zhou Chen smiling at him. “Your complexion doesn’t look too good. Are you still thinking about what happened just now?”
Before leaving, the Eldest Young Master had specifically told them to keep an eye on the Third Young Master.
The Third Young Master had always been known for a violent temper, yet now he looked troubled after having someone killed for offending him. That was the sort of news that gave people something to think about.
“What happened just now?” Xu Yuan glanced at him, only to see several guards carrying a stretcher draped in white cloth out of the private room from earlier. Even as they walked, they still stole fearful glances in his direction. So, Xue Yong’s dead…
Even though Xu Yuan had not explicitly ordered them to kill him, the man’s death had always been the most likely outcome. It was his first time giving the order to kill someone. Of course it left him feeling a little unsettled.
Still, Xu Yuan only shook his head lightly. “Something like that. Mentioning that bitch made me remember a few things from the past.”
After saying that, he gave no further explanation and shifted his gaze toward the young women on the stage in the main hall. While he had been distracted, the dancers above had already changed.
Now it was a pair of beautiful twin girls, their faces strikingly alike. Maybe it was because of Azure Point’s art design, but the ancient clothing in this world carried a distinct flavor from his previous life. Both women wore pink chest wraps and long slit skirts. Slender waists, pale legs, and flowing sleeves drifted through the air. The sight was just enough to stir the soul.
Seeing where Xu Yuan’s gaze had landed, Zhou Chen suddenly gave a sly little laugh. “Third Young Master, your body’s all patched up now?”
“Mhm.” Xu Yuan did not deny it.
Judging from how serious those hidden problems in his organs had felt before, Xu Yuan had originally thought it would take at least half a year, maybe a full year, of slow recovery. In the end, though, it had taken less than a month. Maybe it was because of the Blood Origin Heartfall Art. Maybe it was because of the body he had now.
Hearing that, Zhou Chen grinned, lifted his wine gourd, leaned a little closer, and lowered his voice. “Third Young Master, those two sisters, Ziye and Zihua, really know what they’re doing. I watch them dance here every day. The older sister’s waist, the younger sister’s legs… Tsk, tsk, a little expensive, sure, but absolutely worth the money. How about it, Third Young Master? Want me to have them called up here?”
Xu Yuan frowned and stared at Zhou Chen, speechless. Being overly familiar was one thing, but for a top-tier expert, this man had remarkably little shame.
Once someone booked the top floor of Drunken Immortal Tower, it already came with plenty of pretty, delicate-faced serving girls. On top of that, they could also summon the courtesans from the private rooms downstairs. Of course, calling those courtesans up cost extra.
And just like in all those cliche novels, the women who had their own rooms on the ninth through eleventh floors did have a certain amount of freedom to choose their patrons. The Drunken Immortal Tower would generally respect their wishes first.
But because of Xu Yuan’s status, their wishes became somewhat beside the point. Ordinary young lords and noble heirs could do the same, but most chose not to. It was bad for the reputation.
Then again, did Xu Yuan and Xu Changtian’s reputation still have any room left to ruin? Forget the courtesans. Even the untouched entertainers living on the 12th floor, or even that still-charismatic madam herself, could be brought up to warm his bed without much room for discussion.
At the end of the day, it was just a matter of paying more. If money ran short, he could always sneak a few paintings and antiques out of the house to sell. And if that failed, the study still had stacks of practice calligraphy left behind by his dirt-cheap old father.
The Chancellor’s handwritten drafts were solid hard currency in calligraphy circles. Those pretentious rich merchants and officials loved that sort of thing.
Xu Yuan smiled and let out a quiet snort. “I already told you. I have no interest in becoming a kindred spirit with you.”
Zhou Chen looked genuinely disappointed. He smacked his lips and muttered under his breath, “If you won’t walk the same road as me, then can’t I at least take the back door...”
Xu Yuan fell silent.
Seeing the slight twitch at the corner of Xu Yuan’s eye, Zhou Chen gave a dry cough. His gaze turned teasing, and he grinned again. “Ahem. Third Young Master, don’t tell me you’re swearing off women from now on and planning to become some bitter ascetic. No way. That doesn’t sound like you at all.”
“An ascetic?” Xu Yuan murmured the words softly to himself. Then he lowered his eyes to his own palm. Instead of answering, he quietly asked, “May I ask about your talent for cultivation?”
“Huh?” Zhou Chen clearly had not expected Xu Yuan to suddenly ask him that. He paused, then answered anyway. “There are 127 meridians in total. I was born with 96 of them open, and my soul strength is above average too.”
As he spoke, he rubbed at his stubble and bared his teeth in a grin. “So I’d count as a genius, I guess.”
“In that case, you really do qualify as a genius.”
“Heh, right, right? I’m not bad at all..” Zhou Chen waved a hand with a chuckle.
But Xu Yuan did not smile. After that quiet word of praise, he looked straight at Zhou Chen’s smiling face and suddenly asked, “Since you dare call yourself a genius, then tell me, has your cultivation advanced at all lately?”
If Zhou Chen really had hit a bottleneck and could no longer make any progress, then Xu Yuan’s question was nothing less than naked mockery.
And, just as expected, Xu Yuan’s words made the smile on Zhou Chen’s face stiffen, then slowly disappear.
Obviously, Zhou Chen really had been stuck at a bottleneck, and had been troubled by it for a long time. The lazy look in his eyes gradually turned deep and unreadable under the Third Young Master’s ridicule.
Xu Yuan’s gaze, meanwhile, cooled little by little as he met it head-on.
After a long moment of silence, he finally said, “Zhou Chen, don’t look at me like that. To have reached your current level, you obviously cannot be someone lazy by nature. But now you spend your days indulging yourself however you please. It isn’t hard to guess that you’ve run into a bottleneck you can’t break through.”
It was the first time Xu Yuan had called Zhou Chen by name. And as he spoke, his eyes slowly began to narrow further.
“I spent more than two months with Ran Qingmo. She cultivated every waking moment. Zhou Chen, I’m curious…” A faint trace of mockery, dressed up neatly as curiosity, appeared in Xu Yuan’s eyes. “If you could cultivate like Ran Qingmo, without ever running into a bottleneck, would you still be living as recklessly as you are now?”
When the words fell, Zhou Chen understood what Xu Yuan meant and sank into silence.
Xu Yuan stared into Zhou Chen’s eyes and said, word by word, “Answer me.”
Zhou Chen’s eyes flickered for a moment. Then he lowered them, bowed slightly, and cupped his fist in salute. “Third Young Master, I overstepped just now.”