Refining the Mountains and Rivers

The Li Family was a high-ranking and well-known family in East Pole County. However, the Yang Family was stronger.

Simply put, when the County Lord held a banquet, the Li Family would definitely be invited.

However, no one would dare to start eating until the Yang Family arrived.

The difference was as such.

The Fire Dragon tattoo on one’s chest was something that was passed down the bloodline of the Yang Family. Everyone in East Pole County was aware of this.

When an unknown member of the Yang Family suddenly appeared, Li Yuantai immediately admitted defeat in this conflict. He could no longer continue.

It was like the surge of a tide coming to an abrupt stop!

The boss of the restaurant, who had been scared of offending the Li Family, was wiping his sweat and begging for mercy. He knelt and kowtowed continuously, his face filled with fear and despair.

A member of the Yang Family had been beaten by Li Yuantai, till he vomited blood, in his restaurant. Ignoring how the Li Family would pay for this, he would undoubtedly be implicated as the owner of this place.

The East Family backing him would definitely not beg for mercy from the Yang Family for him. They would rather he died and resolved the issue.

“Interesting.” Rourou’s mouth curled up in a sneer. Qin Yu did not know what she thought was interesting.

There was nothing left to see and Qin Yu did not know what she was going to do next. He was going to take this chance to close his eyes and cultivate. Pretending to sleep was not the same as truly sleeping, but it was better than nothing.

When he opened his eyes again, an unknown amount of time had passed. Qin Yu turned to look around.

He could hear something. The Yang Family had arrived, but they were not too overbearing about what happened. It looked like they even tried to console the restaurant’s boss who was crying and looking extremely dejected. They said that it was okay since he did not know.

It might have been said because lots of people were there, or maybe they were really that magnanimous. Or perhaps, the Yang Family could not be bothered with this. After all, a descendant of the Yang Family had appeared out of nowhere and this was their priority.

As the Yang Family left, Li Yuantai lowered his head and followed an elder from the Li Family out. Coincidentally, as he left, he looked up and caught sight of the three of them sitting by the window.

He did not give anything away as he lowered his head after seeing them. However, Qin Yu could sense the outrage from Li Yuantai.

With the main cast leaving, the bystanders also dispersed. As for Xu Xianglin, who had been beaten until he vomited blood, no one cared about him. The County Lord remained silent on what happened during the night of the Lantern Festival. From some angles, this was the right decision.

It was not important whether some people might lose faith in the County Lord. After all, none of these people were important.

Xu Zhiruo bit her lip, “Brother, let’s go see a doctor.”

Xu Xianglin waved his hand and forced a smile, “There is no need, my life is very hardy. I don’t need to see a doctor. I just need to sleep.”

“Brother, I earned money today. Listen to me, you have to go and see a doctor!”

Xu Xianglin hesitated before nodding.

Before the siblings could go far, they were stopped.

Xu Xianglin’s expression changed and he gritted his teeth as he stood in front of his younger sister. Very soon, he heard his sister’s surprised voice, “Dear customers, what are…”

They were his sister’s customers.

With how he tensed and then relaxed, on top of his injuries which were not as simple as they seemed on the surface, Xu Xianglin blacked out.

“Brother!”

Xu Zhiruo shouted.

“Don’t be anxious, he is not dead yet.” Rourou then paused before saying, “But if nothing else happens, he will die soon.”

“Don’t talk nonsense, my brother has only been beaten. He has been in multiple fights since he was young and has looked worse than this. He will soon recover.”

Xu Zhiruo rebutted quickly.

Rourou smiled slightly, “Then why don’t we make a bet. If he does not die within the next hour, I will give the red skirt to you.”

Xu Zhiruo’s expression changed and sorrow filled her heart. She probably knew the value of the red skirt that the shopkeeper had been sad to give away.

Since Rourou was betting on this, she must be certain. If something happened to her brother, she would be left alone in this world!

Tears started streaming down her face and she wiped them. She struggled to help Xu Xianglin up and bring him to see a doctor.

“If you continue to put pressure on him, he won’t last more than a quarter of an hour.”

Xu Zhiruo’s body stiffened as she placed her brother on the ground and knelt down, “Please save my brother…if you can save him, I will do anything!”

Qin Yu had a strange look and he could not help but rub his nose. Why are you looking at me when you talk?

Rourou’s lips curled, “Let us stay in your house for a few days…as payment for our effort.”

She blinked, “Don’t reject us. Weren’t you all talking about this when we entered Surplus Store earlier?”

Xu Zhiruo’s face turned pale as she looked at her unconscious brother. She then looked at the three of them before nodding stiffly, “Okay!”

Allowing the wolf in….hadn’t she seen this multiple times? She never thought that it would be her this time. Even though she knew it, she had no other choice.

Qin Yu coughed lightly. But before he could speak, Rourou cut him off, “Lead the way.”

Xu Zhiruo bit her lip and looked at Xu Xianglin.

Rourou said slowly, “Don’t worry. Since I am here, he won’t die.”

Xu Zhiruo then took a deep breath before picking up her brother and staggered as she led the way.

White Iris stepped forward to help Xu Xianglin and Rourou’s eyes flashed. This fool was finally useful.

The Xu Family had a small, broken and old residence in the county. It did not seem like much, but it was a different story when they stepped in. The residence was actually quite big and there was even an old scholartree in the yard with luscious foliage.

There were many rooms and the siblings used one each, leaving the rest empty. Though they did not have much furniture, everything was neat and it seemed like the siblings tidied the area often.

After settling Xu Xianglin, Xu Zhiruo rushed to say, “This is my house, you all can make yourself comfortable. Can you save my brother now?”

Rourou looked at White Iris, who rushed to bow, “My Lady, I can kill, but I don’t know how to save someone.”

Qin Yu waved his hand, “Don’t look at me. My power is not stable now and any fluctuation may cause me to end up kiling him.”

“Hmph!” Rourou snorted and she did not look happy as she walked to the bedside. She lifted her hand and very quickly touched Xu Xianglin’s forehead.

She turned and started walking. She took out a white handkerchief and kept wiping her finger, “Done. He will wake up after sleeping for a few days.”

This scene caused Xu Zhiruo’s eyes to widen as fear grew in her – had she been tricked? How could this save someone? It seemed too easy!

Though Xu Xianglin did not wake up, his breathing seemed more peaceful and color returned to his pale face.

Xu Zhiruo only breathed a sigh of relief after seeing this. As she thought about the things she had to face now, she could not avoid feeling helpless.

But what was bound to happen would always happen. She could not avoid it. But she could not understand. This man had a beautiful wife and servant. Why was he still like this? Or was it that all men were like this?

Exactly like her playful father, who eventually caused trouble and ruined the entire family.

Rourou glanced at her and said blandly, “We have saved him and we are tired. Let’s rest early.”

Xu Zhiruo’s face paled even more as her body trembled, “I…I will go and wash up…”

She left miserably.

Qin Yu let out a long sigh as he rubbed his brows, “Rourou, I don’t think this is a good idea.”

Rourou raised her brow, “I think it is good. Do you have something against it?”

Qin Yu nodded seriously.

Rourou sneered, “Bear with it!”

At this moment, White Iris felt that her lady was formidable and that all women in this world should be like her.

Of course, she did not dare to make it obvious and merely kept it in her heart. She did not want to anger her master.

It was fine if she got slapped or kicked. But she would be at fault if her master got angry and ruined her health.

That night, Xu Zhiruo felt extremely tormented as she lay on the bed alone, hands grasping tightly on her blanket. She stared at the door to her room as if a large grey wolf would come in at any moment and eat her.

Feeling frightened and wronged, Xu Zhiruo cried for a while before eventually drifting off to sleep.

The next day, there was a shriek and Xu Zhiruo shot out of bed. She then realized that her door was still closed, though it had not been locked.

Her clothes were still neat, and after checking herself, she did not feel anything different. She eventually let out a long breath.

In a room far away, Qin Yu opened his eyes. There was a bitter smile on his face before he shook his head and closed his eyes.

What should he do? Was he supposed to go over and tell her that she was dreaming and he was not in the slightest bit interested in her?

If she became angry from embarrassment, Rourou would be angry at him for ruining her show.

It was rare for Rourou to fool around, and since this was nothing major, he would let her be.

From that day, there were three more people in the Xu Family who did not pay rent.

Xu Xianglin was still unconscious and had yet to wake, but Xu Zhiruo was no longer worried. She could tell that her brother’s condition had improved.

That lady was reliable.

But what did that man want? Xu Zhiruo’s face flushed slightly. She had to pinch herself just thinking about it. She was an unmarried girl; it was shameless to think about things like this.

But everything was ready for him, so why did he not take action? Had she been wrong from the start? If this was the case, it was too embarrassing!

She hesitated. The three of them did not seem scary or fierce. Xu Zhiruo went to look for Rourou, who enjoyed sitting under the scholartree, drinking wine and looking at the sky. She carefully tested the waters.

Alas, the lady immediately knew what she was referring to and scared her with just a single sentence, “Oh, that thing. It is no rush, he needs to wait for a special time before he can do anything to you.”

Xu Zhiruo did not know how she eventually made her way back to her room. Her expectations had fallen and she had heard something even scarier.

What is a special time?

This made Xu Zhiruo subconsciously recall numerous scary stories. In those stories, the female leads always ended up in a miserable state…in general, it was like depleting yin to replenish yang and refining a sacrificial yin yang combination. The more she thought about it, the scarier it sounded and she could not help but burst into tears.

In the garden, Rourou smiled as she thought that this girl was really tough. She could endure even things like this. She had to think of ways to agitate her and heighten her emotions. Only in this manner could she take the chance to check if what she saw before was right or not.

Hehe, this brat Qin Yu was pretty useful!

But thinking about it, all this was because of him. Otherwise she would not have needed to go through all this trouble as she would have been able to sense this girl’s depth instantly. Her face fell and she was pleased that he was at least uncomfortable.