Grasping Evil

No matter how hard An Ran tried to figure things out, she could not get the slightest clue of how special the young man was before her. He seemed to be very weak, and he was even not as fit as herself. 

“There is no need to be so polite, village chief… Just now, I have heard everything when you were scolding your daughter. Actually, I am Ning Gu’s brother. Since the fur coat was already gifted to my brother, it’s not right to get it back. Besides, I do not have any money to compensate for that coat…”

Even though the young man spoke those words with a smile on his face, the village chief sweated more profusely. Upon seeing his smile, the village chief’s smile became broader. 

So, it turned out that the young man is the brother of Ning Gu. He seemed to be stronger than Ning Gu by a lot.

It was already terrifying that Ning Gu could kill the tiger spirit with just a single arrow. Therefore, Ning Gu’s brother must be a ruthless person who was much stronger and cruel. 

Moreover, there was a faint bloody smell on his body. The smell had terrified the village chief even more.

Undoubtedly, this young man must be a devil who killed people like flies. It didn’t matter if he was an immortal or an ordinary man, the village chief could not bear to offend him.

If the village chief had known that Ning Gu had such a strong brother, he would have never scolded his daughter. He wouldn’t even have the idea of getting the fur coat back.

Although the young man had stopped him from teaching his daughter a lesson, he would never dare to accuse the young man of being a busybody. 

As the village chief, he at least know how to be a sleek person. In front of the simple villagers, he could act like a tyrant. However, in front of this young man, he would surely face a big trouble if he dared to act ruthlessly.

“Hehe, so you are Ning Gu’s brother. Excellent…” the village chief said with an apologetic smile. He actually did not understand why he said “excellent”. That was completely irrelevant. 

On the contrary, the lady’s eyes brightened. She gave a softer look to the young man.

So, he is the brother of that Ning Gu who is as dull as a wood. Ning Gu had never given me a happy look before no matter how kind I was to him. His brother was the complete opposite. He was quite easygoing. 

Since he is Ning Gu’s brother, I must be more courteous to him.

“Brother Ning, do you want to rest for a while in our humble house? I am going to make some tea for you…”

The village chief felt that his daughter’s friendliness had gotten him into troubles. However, he could not say it in front of the young man.

The person before us is malefic. It is hard to ask him to leave. Why did you still make him stay?

Such a stupid, foolish and idiotic girl!

The young man gave a wee smile and shook his head. He rejected the girl’s good intention as if he had felt the fear of the village chief.

“It’s fine. I am not thirsty… Is your daughter called An Ran?” the young man said firmly. 

“Yes. It was a name given by her mother. It was not a good name as it does not carry any culture…” the village chief said with a bitter smile. 

“No, it is a good name.’ 

“Yes, you are correct. Although this name seemed to be bad, it is good after all...” the chief village said without understanding what he had just spoken. To him, whatever came out from the young man’s mouth was right. 

“An Ran and Ning Gu. It’s a good match, isn’t it?” the young man said to himself.

When the village chief heard this, he was stunned speechless as though thunder had clapped above the sky.

It’s over. This young devil had come to conduct a match-making. Is he going to rob my daughter to be the wife of his brother? 

It’s bad. If my daughter is to be wed to his brother, she would be in grave danger.

Although he was snobbish and stingy and loved to display his wealth, he was quite concerned for the safety of his daughter. He was not willing to put his daughter in danger.

However, he did not have the guts to speak his mind before the young man.

At that moment, the lady put down the firewood and went into the house with her glittering eyes.

“Brother Ning, do you really think that Ning Gu and I are a good match?” the girl asked after understanding the young man’s implication.

“Yes. Both of you are indeed a good match. Are you willing to be Ning Gu’s wife?” the young man said with a smile.

“Yes, I do!” the girl replied with a huge smile. But almost immediately, she let out a soft sigh and said, “I think he would not agree…”

“No, in fact, Ning Gu likes you too. Based on my understanding of him, he will never glance at something that he does not like at all. He only lacks the knowledge of how to make you happy. From youth, he had never learnt how to speak to girls and he never appeared to be likeable in front of others. He also got himself into troubles,” the young man answered while recalling old memories.

After that, he opened his pouch and took out a crystal hairpin and a bottle of jadeite pill bottle.

The village chief had never seen a storage pouch like this in his entire life. His face was full of astonishment when he saw the young man took those two things just like watching a magic trick. 

This young man must be an immortal! Other than that, no one could take out a treasure in that manner without any tricks!

The crystal hairpin was very fine and was glittering. It was something that the village chief had never seen before too. 

As for the pill bottle, there was a whiff of fragrance wafting in the air. The village chief smelled it and felt energetic instantly. He could never guess that the bottle contained the Immortal Dan! Moreover, the jade bottle which was used to store the Dan could be sold for thousands of *striped silver in any ordinary human world!

Treasure, all of them were treasures!

“This hairpin is a gift for you. If you wear this all your life, you will be prosperous and safe. These pills are called ‘Good Fortune Pills’. Any ordinary human who consumes this pill, his or her life will be prolonged by ten years without any sickness or calamity… These pills are yours now. It is your choice whoever you favour to consume this pill… You also do not need to worry about others stealing these treasures. Whoever dares to steal those will die.”

The young man’s eyes shone. When his sword qi was stirred, several sword sensesubmerged into the crystal hairpin.

“These gifts are the rewards for your kind intentions towards Ning Gu… Also, I will be leaving for a period of time. Please take good care of Ning Gu…”

“Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of him even if he doesn’t like me…” the girl said determinedly.

“It’s good then,” the young man replied with a smile. He seemed to be very satisfied with the girl’s answer. At this moment, he gazed outside of the house as though he felt something was coming. 

Then, he smiled broadly and looked at the girl, “Look, he is here now. He really cares about you.”

After that, a black light flashed around the young man. With just a wave of Spiritual Energy of the heavens and earth, the young man vanished out of thin air before the village chief and the girl!

After witnessing this, the girl was dumbfounded. Now, she finally understood that Ning Gu’s brother was not an ordinary human, but a God.

As for her father, he let out a long and deep breath of relief after the young man had left. 

Tiring, it was indeed very tiring! Just staying in front of that young man had made the village chief feel that his life was shortened.

However, when he recalled the treasures, his eyes glowed again and he was as energetic as before. 

He was not interested about the crystal hairpin. But, he was interested in the pills because based on the young man’s description, one’s lifespan could be increased by 10 years just by consuming a single pill.

Lifespan was the most precious thing for mortals! Even if the person was an emperor, he, too, could not escape death! 

The pills were really priceless treasures! 

After receiving all the gifts, he sighed with a certain feeling. He knew that these gifts were too precious. It was enough to take these gifts as payment for the wolf fur coat. It was enough to accept these gifts as Ning Gu’s betrothal gifts for An Ran! 

Besides, the way the young man gave these presents did not leave the village chief any choice to refuse, although he did not have the intention to do so…

It looked like he had to stop meddling in the affair between Ning Gu and An Ran. He should let his daughter try it out herself…

…

The girl was in a daze while holding the crystal hairpin and the bottle of pills. While she was staring blankly into the air, a familiar sound was heard outside the door. It was Ning Gu’s indifferent voice. This time, however, his voice carried a particular concern for the girl.

In a quick manner, he barged into the house. While entering, he did not even give the chief village a glance. His cold eyes relaxed when he saw An Ran was safe and sound. 

“Are you okay?” he said and let out a sigh of relief.

“*Puff*, what could happen to me? Since you are asking about that, are you worried about me?” An Ran smiled while speaking. The happiness in her heart was beyond description. As for Ning Gu, his face turned emotionless again and he almost wanted to leave immediately.

He did not like to see the proud face of the girl. However, deep down in his heart, he was very worried about the girl.

The aura from a cultivator just now was just too strong. What had actually happened?

When he was leaving, his sight fell upon the crystal hairpin and the pill bottle.

To his surprise, it was a high grade magical treasure. Besides, it contained a few streams of strong spirit sense. Every stream of it could kill Gold Core experts with ease!

On the other hand, a whiff of fragrance from the pill emanated from the bottle. This fragrance was even thicker than Second Revolution pills. It was the smell of Third Revolution pills. In fact, the quality of the pills was at peak of Third Revolution!

The most important reason that made Ning Gu stop his footsteps was the familiar aura on the crystal hairpin and the pill bottle.

“This, this is…” Ning Gu muttered to himself. He was very familiar to this aura but he could not recall anything about it. The inability to remember stressed him out.

“These things are given to me by your brother…” said the girl. It was her first time seeing Ning Gu losing his calm. Her pride pushed her to brag about the treasures in her arms.

“Let me see!” Ning Gu said hurriedly.

“No way. Unless, you can catch me!” said the sly girl, blinking her eyes. The moment she closed her mouth, she slipped away from the house. As for Ning Gu, who was usually dumb, chased after her without a second thought.

“Don’t think that I can’t catch you. I will still be able to see it even if you don’t give it to me!”

Both of them started a chase amongst each other in the village.

This scene warmed the hearts of the old folks in the village. Their lips curled upwards, forming beautiful smiles on their faces.

“Hedgehog is the perfect analogy for this kid, Ning Gu. The ‘thorns’ are the means for protecting himself. In contrary to the ‘thorns’, he likes camellia plants. He likes peace. He likes the girl. However, aren’t they too noisy today?”

*Striped silver = a type of currency