Chapter 227: Two Families’ Feud
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Su Yu frowned indifferently. Yuxin highly valued esteem. In addition, she was cold and heartless. Su Yu did not like this kind of girl.
"What do you have to offer me?" Su Yu said indifferently. After resting for more than half a month, his throat had recovered slightly. His voice was no longer hoarse and unpleasant to listen to like it had been in the past. Although, at the moment, it was a bit low and cold.
Combined with Su Yu's mysterious appearance, Su Yu's words were a bit unfathomable.
Ouyang Yuxin's beautiful eyes looked at him up and down. No matter how she looked at Su Yu, Su Yu gave her an impression that he was a handsome, free, and fine gentleman in the corrupted world. It was difficult for her to not have a good impression of him.
"Mister Yin Yu, do you have plans to go somewhere else?" Ouyang Yuxin said with a sincere expression. "If you don't mind, do you wish to come to my Ouyang family for a chat? We will treat you nicely."
Su Yu rejected her firmly. "I'm sorry. I have something that I have to attend to, and I cannot accompany you."
Ouyang Yuxin felt slightly resentful. This Mister Yin Yu was a bit cold. He did not spare a thought for her feelings and rejected her on the spot. At that moment, Ouyang Yuxin wondered if the looks she was so proud of were really so outstanding. Why was Yin Yu completely not moved by her?
"Wait!" she said. "Mister Yin Yu, are you here for the Alliance Meet?"
"You have investigated me?" Su Yu said, turning his head and his gaze gradually toward her.
Ouyang Yuxin said hurriedly, "Mister Yin Yu, keep calm. I have an opportunity that I wish to extend to you. It is an opportunity to take a look at the abilities of the strong martial artists participating in the Alliance Meet beforehand."
Su Yu perked up at this. "What opportunity?" he asked.
"Yunxiang Cabinet Master's birthday celebration!" Ouyang Yuxin said offhandedly.
Yunxiang Cabinet? thought Su Yu. A thread of murderous intent burned deep inside Su Yu. That was the place where An Yurou was imprisoned—the place where Lu Jun practiced his irregular cultivation techniques!
"The Yunxiang Cabinet Master is 18 years old," said Ouyang Yuxin, "and she is one of the Hundred Territories' Three Great Legends. She has invited many of the geniuses of the current generation in the Hundred Territories City to celebrate her birthday. On the surface, it is to celebrate her birthday. In reality, she wants to take a look at the abilities of the geniuses before the Alliance Meet." She paused, flashing a thin grin. "If Mister Yin Yu is interested, you can accompany me and participate in the birthday celebration."
Interested? Of course, Su Yu was interested!
Even if they did not test out the abilities of the geniuses, Su Yu wanted to know what kind of divine being was the Yunxiang Cabinet Master! As he wanted to rescue An Yurou, he would have to go the Yunxiang Cabinet eventually. Hence, even if he wished not to interact much with Ouyang Yuxin, he would have to make do with it.
"Lead the way," he said.
Ouyang Yuxin revealed a delighted expression. She smiled triumphantly; she had gotten her way.
Ouyang Yuxin brought Su Yu to the Ouyang family. In terms of influence, Ouyang family was not even one-tenth of the Lin family. However, its influence was more than three times that of the Liuxian Faction. There were more than thirty strong martial artists who were at Dragon Realm Level Three and above.
Su Yu stood at the entrance of the mansion and was about to enter. At that moment, a group of Ouyang family bodyguards filled with murderous intent returned hurriedly. The person leading the group was Ouyang Yuxin's brother, Ouyang Taiyi, who had suffered losses at the hands of Su Yu before.
"Sister! We have not found it yet!" said Ouyang Taiyi. He felt dejected, and his eyes were filled with a bit of hatred: "That damned bastard. He injured me and snatched the snakeskin of the Ice Dragon Snake away, causing us to pay a heavy price to finally prepare a present for Yunxiang Cabinet Master's birthday celebration. He committed a heinous crime!"
Su Yu's eyebrows twitched slightly, and he asked, "Miss Ouyang, who are they looking for?"
Ouyang Yuxin gave a helpless expression. "The Yunxiang Cabinet Master loves icy cold items. The snakeskin of the Ice Dragon Snake is quite a rare material. However, we did not expect a beggar to snatch the snakeskin of the Ice Dragon Snake away from us. To date, we still have not found him."
When Ouyang Yuxin mentioned the beggar, her beautiful eyes filled with detest.
At that moment, Ouyang Taiyi noticed the mysterious gentleman standing beside his sister. This strange man was mysterious, unpredictable, and had a magnanimous temperament.
"Sister, who is he?" Ouyang Taiyi frowned slightly, wearing an unsatisfied expression.
Ouyang Yuxin smiled gently. "He is a distinguished guest. Mister Yin Yu."
Ouyang Taiyi disliked other young men interacting with his sister alone. "Sister," he said with a frown. "Mister Feng Yue has taken a liking to you. You had better not mingle with a man of dubious background like this for long. What if Mister Feng Yue misunderstands and starts giving you the cold shoulder? The Ouyang family has finally gotten acquainted with the Feng family."
"Little child! What nonsense are you saying?" Ouyang Yuxin snapped, glaring at her brother.
However, it was not difficult to notice the pride etched on her beautiful face—a sense of pride at the idea that a young man who stood at the top had taken a fancy to her. She was ambitious and proud and certainly willing to join forces with her enemy. It could be seen that that young man's position was extraordinary.
"The Feng family is one of the Three Great Ancient Regions of the Hundred Territories," Ouyang Yuxin explained with a sense of pride. "Mister Feng Yue is one of the Three Great Legends!"
The Three Great Legends, though Su Yu. Lin Aojue, the Yunxiang Cabinet Master, and Mister Feng Yue!
Su Yu nodded his head indifferently. He was not very interested in Ouyang Yuxin's private life. It was difficult for him to have a good impression of a girl who placed such a high value on material gains.
Later, Su Yu paid an official visit to Ouyang family grandmaster—Ouyang Yuxin's father—in his private home. He had an old-fashioned look with a solemn expression. Almost at once, Su Yu concluded it would not be a good idea to have any dealings with him. Still, Su Yu was polite and respectful.
"Greetings to Ouyang family grandmaster," said Su Yu. "Junior Yin Yu has taken the liberty to come and visit you."
The Ouyang family grandmaster nodded his head slightly. He was expressionless: "Since you are Yuxin's friend, there is no need to stand on ceremony. For the next few days, stay at the Ouyang family as our guest. Taiyi, take him to the best room."
After waiting for Su Yu to leave, Ouyang family grandmaster looked at his daughter in an old-fashioned manner. "You have investigated his family's background; how is it?"
Ouyang Yuxin frowned slightly: "I am unable to find any information. I only know that his origin is mysterious, and his relationship with Master Lin… looks as if it is not as firm as I at first expected. They seem to be strangers who only met by chance, which is disappointing. His worth has decreased more than I expected. However, for Master Lin to see him off politely as he did, there must be something unique about him. Hence, it is not a bad idea to do our best and win him over."
After hearing Ouyang Yuxin's plot, the Ouyang family grandmaster's old-fashioned face turned strict. "Yuxin! In this world, you cannot put your own interests first in every matter!" he reprimanded. "You must be unbiased!"
Ouyang Yuxin was stunned. She had managed to solicit a talent that her family could use, and instead of being praised, she was scolded.
Dissatisfied, Ouyang Yuxin shot back, "The competition in the Hundred Territories is very intense. Only by fighting for benefits everywhere can our Ouyang family have opportunities endure and linger on. If we did that, we would not have fallen from being one of the Four Great Ancient Regions, and we would not be in such dire straits!"
"Are you saying I am incompetent?" the Ouyang family grandmaster said, glaring at her.
Ouyang Yuxin realized she had said too much. Seeing that she had enraged her father, she did not dare talk back to him anymore. However, stubbornness could be still seen deep in her beautiful eyes.
100 years ago, the Ouyang family had been an ancient force handed down from ages past. Although the Ouyang family was incomparable to the Lin family, it was roughly half as powerful as the Lin family and maintained a favorable reputation within the Hundred Territories.
However, the Ouyang family met with a disaster where they were attacked by a horde of beasts. More than half of the family's strongest martial artists died, and the family's influence plummeted.
In addition, her father had concerned himself with the well-being of others. During the disaster, he had helped all the weaker and smaller forces around him. In the end, the Ouyang family suffered heavy losses as a result. By chance, the influence of some of those small forces grew rapidly, and they became more influential than the Ouyang family.
Now, some of those forces had become very influential. They tried in vain to swallow up the inside information left behind by the Ouyang family, thus creating significant trouble and instability within the Ouyang family. Although the family members would never have said as much, they secretly blamed the grandmaster.
After receiving her daughter's message, the Ouyang family grandmaster became stupefied for some time. He then gestured in admonition and said, disappointedly, "You can leave now."
Ouyang Yuxin felt remorseful. As she was leaving, she said, "Father, with my hands, I will undoubtedly restore the Ouyang family to its former glory… even if I have to use… underhanded means!"
Yes, underhanded means! Gain the favors of as many forces as possible and use all the benefits she could find! Through her scheming, she had already managed to win over the Yunxiang Cabinet, Mister Feng Yue, and Mister Yin Yu.
After waiting for her to leave, the Ouyang family grandmaster's old-fashioned face changed. He wore an ashamed expression.
"Yuxin," he muttered, "your father who has let you down!"
As a parent, he had implicated his daughter, inadvertently forcing her to take on the heavy responsibility of the family. Even though she was at an age when she was supposed to be innocent and adventurous, she was full of schemes and plots.
Meanwhile, Ouyang Taiyi was quite hostile toward Su Yu. When he brought Su Yu to the room, he said angrily, "Humph! I'll warn you now: Don't even think of laying your hands on my sister! You are undeserving of her!"
Su Yu wore a dull expression. He was not interested in Ouyang Yuxin.
"She is fated to be Mister Feng Yue's woman," Ouyang Taiyi went on. "Mister Feng Yue's abilities, talents, and identity are not something that a person like you can compare to!"
Ouyang Taiyi took on an extremely eager look when he spoke of Mister Feng Yue. He seemed quite proud that his sister had gained his favor.
"I don't understand," he went on. "How could a person who needs to lodge here with my Ouyang family be of any use to us?"
Su Yu smiled but did not explain anything. It was true; his identity and talent were indeed ordinary and could not be compared to a nobleman of the ancient region. However, Su Yu had faith in himself. The Nine-Dragon Cauldron and Yun Yazi… Su Yu's future accomplishment would not be bested by Mister Feng Yue.
At that moment, there was a ruckus outside. Su Yu could hear faint sounds of fighting.
Ouyang Taiyi was filled with anger at once. "It's the Zeng family bastards again! Behave yourself and wait here. After I deal with these bastards, I will come back for you again!"
Ouyang Taiyi left hurriedly. As soon as he did, Su Yu leaped onto the roof, revolved his crystalline pupils, and observed the situation with his hands clasped behind his back.
Su Yu squinted. It was actually a group of strong martial artists, smashing everything along the way and trespassing onto Ouyang family's land. A middle-aged man with a cultivation base of Immortal Realm led the group. There were four other attendants of Dragon Realm Level Seven and an 18-year-old young man with an extremely frivolous expression.
The Ouyang family grandmaster had already led strong martial artists over to meet them. There were three Dragon Realm Level Sevens in addition to the Ouyang family grandmaster himself, who had a cultivation base of the Immortal Realm. At face value, the Ouyang family was inferior to the Zeng family.
"Zeng Nantian, you are presumptuous!" the Ouyang family grandmaster called out. He was filled with anger and berated the trespassers as he swept his eyes across the area. Several decorations along the way were in tatters and numerous attendants of other families were injured.
The middle-aged man, Zeng Nantian, spoke up. "Greetings, Ouyang Long. You haven't changed a bit. Apart from barking like a dog, there are no improvements… Oh, no. Your barking is louder now!"
Zeng Nantian was extremely arrogant, stooping so low as to humiliate the Ouyang family grandmaster in front of everyone.
Ouyang Long was so furious that his face turned red. However, he restrained himself and did not make a move. "Zeng Nantian," he said, "this is the Hundred Territories City. If you wish to instigate a war between two families, you are risking that I will report you to the Alliance's Master!"
He was, however, no match for Zeng Nantian. Zeng Nantian had nothing to fear because of strong backing.
"Humph!" scoffed Zeng Nantian. "What's the harm of you reporting up all the way to Alliance's Master? It is only right and proper that you return the money you owe! Unless I sow discord unreasonably, the Alliance's Master will not concern himself with this matter!"
"Shameless!" a loud and charming voice called out.
Ouyang Yuxin walked over quickly. Her beautiful face was filled with anger.
"Since when does our Ouyang family owe you money?" she demanded.
Zeng Nantian laughed loudly. "Do you need me to repeat myself? 100 years ago, when your Ouyang family was attacked by the horde of beasts, our Zeng family helped your family by lending you 100,000 alliance coins. 100 years later, with compounded interest, your Ouyang family owes us 1 million alliance coins!"
Ouyang Yuxin laughed sardonically. "You are utterly shameless!" she replied. "100 years ago, it was our Ouyang family that offered your family 100,000 alliance coins—for free—to help your family get out of your difficult situation. Later, when your family managed to get back up on its feet, they returned us the 100,000 alliance coins. Where did this tall tale come from that we owe your family alliance coins?"