Chapter 30: Trash, Cripple

“Damned bastard!”

Wei Quji’s face was so dark it seemed water could drip from it.

Almost right beneath his eyes, that unknown enemy had used the living beings of Little Forest Town as sacrifices, then consumed the undispersed souls throughout Maple Forest City’s territory that should have rested in peace across generations, condensing the phantom of the Gate of Ghosts in one stroke. Finally, they had even calmly escaped right in front of him.

And he, Wei Quji, a dignified fifth-grade expert, had rushed here with all his strength, yet failed to catch even a fart!

As city lord, he had failed in his duty. As a powerhouse, his face had been slapped.

When had he ever suffered such humiliation?

So…

“Trash!”

Wei Quji slapped backhandedly, sending Wei Yan’s entire body flying several meters!

Among the dozens of people present, not a single one dared make a sound. Even though almost every one of them felt indignant.

Even Wei Yan himself only silently climbed back up without saying a word.

Of course he had more than enough reasons to defend himself, and more than enough reasons to be angry. Before the fog, he had charged forward without fear. Facing the Nine Palaces formation, he had personally broken through it first. Seeing the Gate of Ghosts, he had risked everything and burned the only red signal incense on him at the first moment.

It could be said that from any angle, he had already done the best possible at this stage and was beyond reproach.

But success was success, and failure was failure. The army did not speak of those meaningless excuses.

Wei Quji had given him authority and let him go to the Dao Academy to organize manpower to investigate Little Forest Town, yet he had failed to stop the matter from happening. That was dereliction of duty.

Wei Quji could even kill him on the spot.

But what meaning would that have?

Wei Quji had come in a storm of fury, and he left in a storm of rage.

The young people carried the wounded on their backs, supported each other, and some carried corpses.

Just like that, they dispersed.

These young disciples of the Dao Academy had just experienced a difficult battle with heavy casualties.

A very difficult battle that ultimately proved to have had no effect at all.

From beginning to end, they did not even know who their enemy was, yet that enemy had already achieved their goal and left at ease.

They were called—

Trash.

…

“So damn… hard to accept.”

Du Yehu lay spread-eagled on the dormitory bed, like an iron tower toppled over.

He did not have any serious injuries on his body, and the foundation he had damaged had already been repaired by the Solid Origin Pill Zhao Rucheng sent over. He only needed a period of quiet recuperation.

The Solid Origin Pill was certainly precious, but there was nothing difficult to accept about it. It just so happened that Du Yehu needed it, and it just so happened that Zhao Rucheng had it, so that was that. They were people who could entrust their lives to one another, let alone anything else.

But the battle of Little Forest Town, speaking honestly, was a blow to every Dao Academy disciple who had participated.

For anyone who aspired to transcendence and longed for strength, helplessness was probably the worst thing of all.

Perhaps only Zhao Rucheng was an exception.

He had already gone to Three Parts Fragrance House to “recuperate.” It was said that he wanted to use the state of a warrior who had narrowly escaped death to seize the beauty’s heart in one stroke.

Du Yehu was not someone who could stay lying down, but right now he could only lie there. He wanted to drink, but no one was willing to indulge him. As a result, unusually, he became somewhat melancholy.

Ling He did not speak. He had closed his eyes and was cultivating.

As for Jiang Wang…

At this moment, he was eating with Jiang An’an.

Cai’s Mutton Shop, a century-old establishment.

Two bowls of rich, fragrant mutton soup, and ten jin of neatly sliced plain-cut mutton.

Jiang An’an held a flatbread in her left hand and chopsticks in her right… the chopsticks holding mutton. The reason “held” had to be used was because her way of gripping chopsticks was indeed different—probably because no one had corrected her before. She simply wrapped all five fingers around them and grabbed the chopsticks.

After living with Jiang Wang for some time, she was no longer as introverted and timid as she had been at first.

She bit once on the left, then once on the right. As she ate, she would occasionally lower her head toward the bowl in front of her and happily sip a mouthful of meat soup. Two shallow dimples appeared on her face, and she looked utterly satisfied.

Cai’s Mutton Shop was not cheap. If it were only Jiang Wang himself, he might not have been willing to eat here.

In the Little Forest Town mission, although Wei Yan himself had taken the blame, he had still kept his promise and fought for twenty dao merit points as a reward for each of them, along with some silver compensation. To cultivators, the silver was the least important part. But to Jiang An’an, being able to eat something delicious was very important.

“Do you like it?” Jiang Wang asked with a smile.

“Mm… mm!”

Little An’an nodded hard.

“From now on, every month…” Jiang Wang silently calculated his savings. “No, every ten days, we can come eat here once. How about that?”

Jiang An’an kept nodding.

She chatted with her brother on and off—mostly using nods or shakes of the head in place of answers—but her little hands did not stay idle. As she nodded, she grabbed another piece of mutton, carefully rolled it in the dipping sauce, then stuffed it fully into her mouth.

“An’an, how have your studies been lately?”

Perhaps when chatting with children, all adults eventually settled the topic on this point. Jiang Wang considered himself an adult now, so he spoke very naturally.

Although he was only a seventeen-year-old youth.

Jiang An’an’s meat-eating motion paused. Her little mouth bulged full, and only with difficulty did she squeeze out a sentence.

“Still… still okay.”

Jiang Wang nodded in satisfaction.

He looked at his younger sister, and in his heart there was a slow-flowing, happy calm.

The hardships of battle, the sorrow of seeing senior and junior brothers killed and wounded, the helplessness of failing to stop what had happened…

All of it seemed to fade.

Some things were indeed very painful.

But before his eyes, the life before his eyes was so happy.

It made one want to keep it forever.

…

Walking through the Wang clan grounds, Wang Changxiang occasionally nodded in response to clan members who greeted him. He was calm and peaceful, no different from usual.

Even the pickiest clan members could not find a single flaw in him.

Among Maple Forest City’s three great surnames, the Zhang, Fang, and Wang clans were roughly equal in strength in all areas, making it difficult to determine who ranked above the others. But because Zhang Linchuan now stood high at third on the Dao Merit Ranking, the Zhang clan faintly surpassed the rest. Wang Changxiang of the Wang clan ranked seventh, so they did not fall far behind.

Only the Fang clan was different. Their genius from the previous class had died in a trial, and the most outstanding member of this class, Fang Pengju, had been killed. Now only Fang Heling remained, barely squeezing into the inner academy with a Meridian Opening Pill bought at great cost. In the hearts of those who understood things clearly, the Fang clan had already been left behind by the other two.

Leaving these matters aside, Wang Changxiang had never liked becoming involved in worldly affairs. Although with his wisdom, he could see through the filth and greed behind those warm smiles, he remained calm and detached from beginning to end.

The farther he walked, the more remote the path became.

Finally, he stopped before a somewhat old courtyard. This was a secluded corner of the Wang clan grounds. Almost no one lived nearby, and the courtyard’s owner was like a lonely bird living apart from the flock.

Wang Changxiang reached out and pushed the gate open. The wooden door let out a sharp creak, disturbing the peace inside the courtyard.

Unlike the mottled and half-worn outer walls, the courtyard inside was unexpectedly neat and delicate. On the left, a grapevine trellis had been built high, and beneath it was a reclining chair that had been polished smooth by constant use.

There was no person lying on the chair, but there was a fat orange cat.

It was not startled by the arrival of a person. It merely half-opened its sleepy eyes and glanced weakly over.

“Little Orange.”

Wang Changxiang greeted it after hearing the sound.

The fat orange cat turned its head away and closed its eyes again, actually showing complete disdain.

Wang Changxiang did not get angry and continued walking forward. To the front right was a large water vat, with lotus leaves floating inside. Occasionally, bubbles could be seen, so there were probably fish being kept within.

At that moment, his steps stopped because he smelled the aroma of food.

Almost at the same time, Little Orange on the reclining chair suddenly rose and turned its head, the motion smooth and complete.

In front of the main hall, beneath the eaves, stood a low table.

At that moment, a young man walked out from behind the door, and the fragrance came from the food tray he held.

His face could not be called handsome, but it could not be called ugly either. For some inexplicable reason, he gave people a feeling of “distance.”

Perhaps it was because of those overly calm eyes.

The young man with an aloof temperament half-crouched and placed the food from the tray onto the low table one dish at a time. There were two bowls of snowy white and full rice, two plates of emerald-green vegetables, and two plates of stewed pig trotters cooked until soft and glutinous.

The man sat down on the threshold, pulled out chopsticks, tapped the table with their ends, and said:

“Eat.”

Wang Changxiang did not move, because he knew those words were not meant for him, even though he very much wanted to walk over and eat this meal together.

With a whoosh, that orange cat dashed to the low table at a speed completely inconsistent with its size. It first lowered its head and sniffed the plate of pig trotters, then finally seemed somewhat satisfied. It placed its front paws on the low table and began eating.

Wang Changxiang opened his mouth.

“Brother.”

Perhaps only a very small number of people still remembered.

Wang Changxiang, the current pride of the Wang clan, had an elder brother.

In fact, he was the true eldest legitimate son of the Wang clan’s main branch, the most reasonable heir to the clan head position according to clan law.

But unfortunately, he was also a cripple who had wasted a precious Meridian Opening Pill for nothing and still failed to manifest his dao vein. He had made the Wang clan suffer ridicule and fall below the other two great surnames for no reason.

The shame of the Wang clan.

Wang Changji.

(End of Chapter)