Chapter 10: The Furious Fiancée

The night at the Baiyang Inn was thick with a nauseatingly strong stench of blood.

Counting the bodies cruelly torn apart in the backyard, this small roadside inn now held no fewer than ten corpses, plus the severed heads of three large pig demons—altogether a truly ghastly scene.

Any normal person wouldn’t stay in such a place for long.

But at this moment, Nangong Shi had no other choice.

“What exactly is going on with this person?”

In a guest room on the second floor, staring at the unconscious Chu Li, the pride of the Nangong family was deeply puzzled.

Chu Li had collapsed suddenly—so abruptly it was like knocking over a mountain or toppling a jade pillar.

Just moments ago, he was a master who could fell a postnatal realm demon with a single sword strike, yet now he had fainted without warning. Any normal person would be suspicious.

At first, Nangong Shi thought exactly that—that this mysterious Chu family man was feigning unconsciousness to cover up a lie she had exposed.

Such a fake act made her furious.

But she soon realized something was wrong.

As he fell, the aura of the mysterious man wearing the straw hat rapidly wilted; he no longer had the strength of a warrior, and even seemed weaker than an ordinary person.

“Could it be… he really is sick?”

Half doubting, Nangong Shi stepped forward to lift the straw hat, and the next moment, she couldn’t help but widen her eyes in shock.

Underneath was a handsome young man so strikingly beautiful that even women would feel inferior—arched brows, sparkling eyes, graceful and elegant—but his face was sickly pale, as if he suffered from a serious illness.

“This person is about my age!?”

“And his body looks extremely weak.”

“In this condition, he actually managed to cut off that pig demon’s head with a single sword strike?”

Looking at the unconscious Chu Li, Nangong Shi was stunned.

After the accompanying medic examined him, he confirmed her suspicions.

“Miss, although this man is a postnatal realm warrior, his body is weak and his destiny flawed. He probably exhausted all his energy in that single sword strike earlier, and must rest now.”

Hearing this, Nangong Shi could only let Chu Li rest temporarily at the Baiyang Inn, but her mind was already in turmoil.

Because after searching him, Nangong Shi had already learned his identity—it was none other than Chu family’s young master, Chu Li!

Which meant he was, in name, her fiancé!

Glancing at the sickly young man lying on the bed, Nangong Shi couldn’t help but look away, feeling her face suddenly grow hot.

Although she had long heard that this Chu family young master had a handsome face, she didn’t expect him to be this good-looking.

But that wasn’t the main point!

The key was that this Chu Li seemed quite different from the rumors.

The Chu family’s eldest son, Chu Li, had mysteriously disappeared years ago—something that many had already noticed, sparking countless rumors.

Some said Chu Li was of poor character, with mediocre martial talent, and had finally been cast aside by the Chu family.

But now, it seemed those rumors were utter nonsense!

If Nangong Shi remembered correctly, Chu Li should be the same age as her—but he was already a late Postnatal Realm warrior, even with his body in such a frail state.

“Although I suppressed my cultivation with a family secret technique, to reach the late Postnatal Realm at this age absolutely can’t be done without martial talent.”

Frowning as she looked at the sickly Chu Li, Nangong Shi felt puzzled. Beside her, the maid Xiao Tao couldn’t help but say:

“Miss, if it isn’t a matter of martial talent, then it must be a matter of character. With such a face, and being a Chu family member, he might well be a libertine!”

As she spoke, Xiao Tao seemed quite sure of herself, and looked at Chu Li with wary eyes.

In the imperial capital, every noble family had a few young men like that: highly talented in martial arts, yet utterly dissolute.

They bullied the weak, relied on family power to commit crimes, and even kidnapped women—basically doing all manner of evil.

Although Emperor Wuzong had cracked down on many such people after ascending the throne, plenty had still escaped punishment; Chu Li might well be one of them.

Yet upon hearing this, Nangong Shi gently shook her head.

“No, his character probably isn’t so bad.”

“Huh? Miss, why do you say that?”

Surprised, Xiao Tao asked, and Nangong Shi replied:

“One can see a person’s character, at least partly, from the sword technique they use.”

“The Chu family’s Demon-Repelling Sword Technique looks easy to learn, but my father once said: it is a sword of righteousness. Only someone with a noble character and concern for the world can truly master it.”

“Earlier, when he struck, his sword aura was like a rainbow, carrying a natural air of uprightness that cut down the demon. He’s probably reached the minor mastery stage.”

“A person like that—how could his character possibly be poor?”

Hearing these words, Xiao Tao felt deeply shocked.

It was the first time she had ever heard her young miss praise someone like this.

Turning to look at her young miss beside her, Xiao Tao noticed that Nangong Shi’s gaze toward the boy lying on the bed had softened—something rarely seen.

“Miss, do you think those rumors are untrue?”

“Mm, but it’s probably true that Chu Li is being ostracized in the Chu family. Otherwise… why else would no one from the Chu family show up until now?”

Opening the window and looking out at the deserted official road under the night sky, Nangong Shi couldn’t help but feel a surge of anger in her heart.

“Even if Chu Li is disliked by his own family, he’s still a member of the Chu family—still the son of Chu Lingtian, still the younger brother of Chu Wanling and her two sisters, isn’t he?”

“They know his body is frail, yet they couldn’t even send a single attendant. How could they still call themselves family?”

“Even though I refused the marriage, in name he is still my fiancé. How could the Chu family treat him like this!”

As she spoke, Nangong Shi clenched her fists, a hard-to-describe mix of anger and guilt welling up inside her.

Part of it, of course, came from having misunderstood Chu Li—but more than that, it was anger directed at the Chu family.

As the saying goes, husband and wife are as one. In these large family alliances, it was often the case that what happened to one side would affect the standing of the other within their family.

From that perspective, the Chu family’s treatment of Chu Li—what did that make of the Nangong family?

“Wait! Could it be… they’re targeting Chu Li because of me?”

The more Nangong Shi thought about it, the more it seemed possible.

After all, she hadn’t just rejected the marriage; afterward, she had joined the hardliners within the Nangong family who openly opposed the Chu family on many occasions.

How could her fiancé still have had a good position within the Chu family after that?

And since the Chu family already tended to marginalize Chu Li, everything now seemed to make sense.

Now, throwing this sickly Chu Li in front of her might have been the Chu family’s way of sending a message—deliberately making her see how pitiful her oppressed fiancé was!

Otherwise, what family in the world would treat one of their own like this?

At this thought, Nangong Shi felt her anger boil over, mixed with growing guilt toward Chu Li.

Just then, a voice came from the bed.

Chu Li had woken up.