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Chapter 74: Thinking of Ways to Become Poor

Chu Tiesheng exclaimed, "If it truly was a fifth-rank cultivator trying to kill him, how could he still be alive?"

This wasn't just his question, but everyone else's in the room as well. Seeing all eyes on him, Zu'an calmly replied, "It seems she suddenly suffered a terrible stomach ache midway through, otherwise I would have died."

"A stomach ache?"

Everyone was stunned. That excuse seemed too childish. For a dignified fifth-rank master to suddenly suffer a stomach ache so severe that she couldn't kill an ordinary person—no, someone even weaker than an ordinary person—was beyond anyone's imagination.

Just as people were about to question him, Chu Chuyan spoke up: "He should not be lying."

Hearing her, everyone looked at Chu Chuyan, their minds filled with questions.

Qin Wanru frowned slightly, wondering if her daughter was only speaking up for Zu'an because they were married.

"I actually noticed something was off with Xue'er a long time ago. Although she hid it well, living with me day in and day out, there were always unconscious slips. I kept quiet because I wanted to find out who was behind her, but I truly don't understand why she would attack you."

As Chu Chuyan spoke, she looked at Zu'an. She possessed a serene composure, speaking unhurriedly, which not only prevented annoyance but also gave one the impression that this was how things ought to be.

"I don't understand either," Zu'an said with a helpless expression. "If I had known you weren't the one behind it, I would have exposed Xue'er from the start. I've been on edge for so long because of this."

Hearing Chu Chuyan's explanation, the group was inexplicably astonished. While marveling at how well Xue'er had concealed her true nature, they began discussing who might have orchestrated her actions. No one questioned Zu'an's words anymore.

Chu Zhongtian cleared his throat and said to Zu'an, "You should rest and recover from your injuries. From now on, I will assign several personal guards to protect you closely, to prevent a situation like today from happening again."

"Personal guards? How personal?" Zu'an wondered if he was getting beautiful bodyguards.

However, when he saw several burly guards standing at the door, he immediately abandoned those unrealistic notions.

Chu Zhongtian offered a few comforting words and then left with his people. Chu Hanzhao, however, was reluctant to leave. She pestered Zu'an about winning money at the casino earlier that day and complained about why he didn't take her to such a fun event.

Qin Wanru had already started to leave, but turned back when she didn't see her second daughter. Noticing her closeness with Zu'an, she immediately frowned and called out, "Xiaozhao, let's go!"

Rage points from Qin Wanru +3+3+3...

Zu'an was amused. His mother-in-law certainly had a temper. Was she worried he'd run off with her second daughter too? Was it a lack of confidence on her part, or was he simply too handsome?

Chu Hanzhao then reluctantly departed. Chu Chuyan also looked thoughtful as she left, lost in her own thoughts.

After everyone had left, Zu'an tallied the rage points he had just received, totaling 6929 points, most of which came from Xue'er.

This time, he wasn't in a hurry to draw a prize. From his past lottery experiences, this amount of rage points was too small; he wouldn't get anything good. It was better to wait until he accumulated more and draw them all at once, hoping for better luck.

Besides, he had just drawn once before and firmly believed in the law of conservation of luck. Since he had just obtained a skill, he felt sure that another draw wouldn't yield anything.

Thinking of this, he felt a pang of regret. The "Gaze of Conception" skill had been used once immediately after he acquired it, all thanks to that little wretch, Xue'er. He vowed to teach her a good lesson if he ever got the chance.

At the same time, he began to ponder a serious problem: he was rich now. No, he was too rich!

What did 7.5 million taels of silver even mean? Forget Brightmoon City; across the entire land, few people were richer than him.

Ultimately, Silverhook Casino had deliberately removed betting limits to entrap him. With any other customer, the casino would never have dared to accept such a large bet at those odds. It was Zu'an's long-standing image as a good-for-nothing that was so deeply ingrained, making the casino eager to fleece him as much as possible, only to end up shooting themselves in the foot.

Because of his recent life-or-death struggle with Xue'er, Zu'an realized this brought a severe consequence: the "Rich Woman's Pleasure Orb" could no longer be used!

The Rich Woman's Pleasure Orb's prerequisite was a woman richer than him, but now, with an IOU for 7.5 million taels, this condition was simply impossible to meet.

This unusable item meant he had one less life. While money was important, life was even more so!

If it had been 7.5 million taels in physical silver, he could have hired a group of top experts to protect himself. But he only had an IOU, which made things difficult.

He had to find a way to become "poorer"!

Although this IOU was a bit of a burden, it wasn't entirely useless. It would be a waste to simply discard it; he needed to find a way to spend it.

Zu'an couldn't help but fall into deep thought. Was he going to follow the path of the "Richest Man in Xihong City" next? Trying every possible way to lose money?

Many ideas instantly flashed through his mind, but each was dismissed. Those methods would be difficult to apply in this world.

Just as he was racking his brain, the room suddenly darkened, and a hunched figure appeared by his bedside. Zu'an gasped in surprise, then looked up and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it was Old Mi. "Senior, your appearing and disappearing acts nearly scare me to death."

As he spoke, he subtly glanced outside. Hadn't Chu Zhongtian assigned him several guards for protection? Why was there no sound at all?

"No need to look. Those youngsters won't detect this old man," Old Mi said with a touch of pride in his expression.

Zu'an immediately frowned. "This Duke's Mansion is quite useless. The Chu family claims they were carefully selected."

Old Mi snorted. "What do you know? Not being able to stop me doesn't mean they can't stop others. Those guards are quite capable. Protecting you in Brightmoon City isn't difficult. Even if that girl Xue'er were to return, she wouldn't be able to harm you under their protection—at least not before others arrive."

Only then did Zu'an breathe a sigh of relief. This was the first time he truly felt like he had a powerful backer. That's more like it! As the Duke's son-in-law, it was simply improper to have to constantly take matters into his own hands.

Just then, Old Mi cautioned him, "I didn't expect something to happen so soon after I left. In the future, you still need to be careful and avoid stirring up trouble everywhere."

Zu'an felt a warmth in his heart. He hadn't expected Old Mi to be so concerned about his safety. "Thank you for your concern, Senior. I'll be more careful from now on."

Old Mi then hummed in acknowledgment and came to his bedside to examine him. He felt his pulse. "Though your injuries are severe, after the Chu couple's treatment, your life is no longer in danger. Furthermore, your cultivation has improved through this experience."

Zu'an hadn't had time to check before. Hearing this, he went into introspection and found that the second magic array of his third rank was full, and the third magic array also had about one-third more golden substance. By calculation, he had already reached the third stage of the third rank.

It was worth noting that previously, even after consuming 58 Vitality Fruits, he had only filled about two-thirds of the second magic array. The third magic array required even more Vitality Fruits, a full 144 of them, which would translate to at least 150,000 rage points.

The most rage points he had ever earned at once before was around 60,000 to 70,000, and that was by harvesting the anger of many onlookers. Such opportunities were rare and hard to come by; he wasn't confident he could earn that much again.

The injuries sustained from his fight with Xue'er, transformed into cultivation by the Phoenix Nirvana Scripture, were roughly equivalent to seventy or eighty Vitality Fruits. This amount was already higher than any rage points he had earned before.

However, this was like walking a tightrope over a chasm; it was far too dangerous. The slightest slip, and he would truly die.

This wasn't a game where death meant a restart, so relying on this method for leveling up was too risky. He shouldn't use it unless absolutely necessary. Additionally, he needed to find a way to spend his money so that if he encountered such a situation again, he could still rely on the Rich Woman's Pleasure Orb for an extra life.

Old Mi gave a few more instructions, then, hunched over, he departed. Zu'an didn't even see how he left.

Silently marveling at the old man's unfathomable abilities, Zu'an began to ponder how to deal with this sudden windfall.

At a manor several miles outside the Chu estate, there was a sharp *clatter* as a teacup was thrown to the ground and shattered.

In the bed, a delicate figure was thrashing about under the covers, clutching the blanket tightly. Her beautiful hair was soaked with sweat, and her fair face was contorted in pain. "Zu'an, I will definitely kill you!"

This person was, of course, Xue'er. Having alarmed the Chu family and suffering from extreme abdominal pain, she dared not return. Instead, she fled and came to this pre-arranged manor.

She had thought her personal intervention today would be a sure success, but she never expected to fall into that scoundrel's hands. She didn't know what method he used to inflict such intense pain on her.

She even suspected she had some hidden illness, as she simply couldn't believe Zu'an possessed such ability.

However, regardless of the cause, her failure was now a foregone conclusion. Moreover, it was predictable that her identity as a mole in the Chu family was exposed. The thought of all the effort she put into infiltrating the Chu family, only for her mission to fail because of an insignificant ant, made her gnash her teeth in hatred.

After a while, the unbearable pain suddenly vanished. It wasn't a gradual improvement, but an instantaneous disappearance.

One moment, Xue'er was still writhing on the bed, and the next, she found the pain had completely disappeared.

At first, she thought it was a delusion, but after a period with no return of the pain, she finally believed she was truly well.

What had happened just now?

Xue'er climbed out of bed, wiping the cold sweat from her forehead. She felt utterly weak, and her clothes were soaked with perspiration.

She quickly found a set of clothes and changed, thinking she should see a doctor when she had time, just in case she really had some hidden ailment.

However, she had no energy to think about that now. After changing, she hurried out the door.

At the Plum Blossom Gang's main headquarters, after listening to her account, Mei Chaofeng was utterly astonished. "What? You personally intervened and still failed?"

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