There was a twinkle in Shen Wu's clear eyes. "Are you worried that I'll have a fickle heart? Relax, I'm not like other men. If one day after I marry you and end up getting involved with other women, you may get involved with just as many men too. I value fairness more than anything, and I hereby make a solemn oath to uphold my promise. "
It was not a small matter for a cultivator to make an oath.
His concept of 'fairness' made Wen Ran's eyelids twitch.
"You don't need to think about breaking off the engagement with me. After all, I saved you not long ago, and yuo have to bear the torture of your conscience because of it. I think that any reasonable person would find it quite disgraceful that you'd want to break off the engagement with me and just abandon me like that."
Wen Ran's expression froze when she heard that and she felt certain that she had been threatened.
"Ranran." He smiled and raised his hand to touch the top of her head. Then, he said with the most gentlemanly, warm, and elegant smile, "Let's get along well in the future."
He had already retracted his hand before Wen Ran could slap it away. She watched as he produced a handkerchief, seemingly from thin air, and wiped the hand that touched her head.
Wen Ran nearly laughed in anger.
She had known this eldest senior brother for more than ten years, but this was the first time she found out about his terrible personality.
She could not stand it.
She had to call off the engagement!
"You haven't eaten or drank anything for days, Ranran. Do you want me to die worrying about you?" Wen Xun stood outside his daughter's room and knocked on the door anxiously. Ever since the mansion master was in seclusion, every single issue—be it big or small—had fallen on the elder's shoulders. It exhausted him both mentally and physically, since he was busy all the time and still had to worry about whether his daughter ate anything.
The young girl's voice came from the room. "I won't eat until you let me break off my engagement with Shen Wu!"
"It's already been decided! How can it be be broken off on a whim? Besides, Shen Wu looks like a person who will dote on his wife. Didn't you get along well with him before? Why do you insist on breaking off the engagement with him?" Wen Xun really could not understand what his daughter was thinking.
Qin Wanwan reveled in the schadenfreude from beside for some time. What she could not stand the most was how much Wen Xun pampered Wen Ran, because that pampering was the cause of her Wen Ran's willfulness!
Qin Wanwan walked over and held the hand that Wen Xun used to knock on the door. Her heart ached as she said, "Darling, you're being overly worried. Ranran has long passed the fasting period, and it won't harm her if she doesn't eat or drink. There's no need for you to be so anxious."
"What do you know? Ranran loves eating. She'll be in a bad mood if she doesn't eat, and her bad mood will affect her body. Do you think she's as thick-skinned as you?"
'Thick-skinned?'
The gentle expression on Qin Wanwan's face immediately crumbled. How things have changed! He was the one who said that she was pretty and adored her youthful personality, yet he called her 'thick-skinned' even after only a dozen or so years!
Wen Xun might still consider coaxing his alluring wife when Wen Ran was not around, but no amount of allure could sway the man to devote his time to her when Wen Ran was around! Worried, he asked his daughter from the outside, "Ranran, even if you want to break off the engagement with Shen Wu, you should at least have a reason for that, right?"
Inside the room, Wen Ran was eating the beef jerky she had secretly copped. She cooked up an excuse and said, "I realized that I don't like him, so marrying him is naturally out of the question."
"Feelings can slowly be developed."
"Then why didn't I see you and my mother developing any feelings for each other back then?"
Wen Ran's words made Wen Xun feel like there was a fishbone stuck in his throat.
Back then, Wen Xun and Wen Ran's mother had an arranged marriage in which Wen Xun had done lots of foolish things.
"Or do you think that it's better for me to be like you? Would you prefer me to fool around with another young man after I get married to him?" Wen Ran asked sarcastically.
Wen Xun pondered for a moment and then nodded. "That's not entirely impossible."
Wen Ran was speechless.
What other word can she describe the old man with other than 'scumbag'?
For Wen Xun, it was permissible for his daughter to seek excitement elsewhere, but he would not accept it if his daughter's husband wanted the same thing!
"Darling, can't you tell that she's making an indirect accusation toward me?" Qin Wanwan stomped her foot and said coquettishly.
"It's because there's a reason for her to make that accusation!" Wen Xun said impatiently. "Don't interrupt when I'm talking to her. You're getting more and more insensible!"
Qin Wanwan gritted her teeth so hard that she almost broke them. The man who once said that he liked her for being innocent and naive was now despising her due to her insensibility!
Wen Ran finally opened the door, stood there, and reiterated to Wen Xun, "I don't want to marry him!"
Wen Xun advised her earnestly, "You're still young. You don't know good from bad. Think about it. Hasn't Shen Wu been very kind to you since you were young? It shows that he's been concerned about you from a young age. You'd definitely live a blessed life if you marry him!"
More importantly, if his daughter wanted to seek pleasure elsewhere, Shen Wu was the kind of person who would not go so far as to exterminate everyone.
"Shen Wu is insincere! Everything he did was fake. I can sense that he has a motive for being good to me!"
In a situation where everyone was praising Shen Wu for being a good person, Wen Ran's words were—simply put—absurd.
"Bad news, Master!" The second disciple, Yan Qing, ran over all of a sudden. "Eldest Senior Brother went to the forbidden area!"
Wen Xun was shocked. "What! His body hasn't recovered yet! What is he even doing there?"
There were many demons imprisoned in the forbidden area, and even Wen Xun would not dare enter without being fully prepared.
Yan Qing looked at Wen Ran.
Wen Ran was just as clueless.
Yan Qing said, "Eldest Senior Brother said that Junior Sister wanted a devil pet when she was six. He made her really unhappy recently, so he wants to find a suitable devil pet for her just to cheer her up."
Wen Xun wanted to point his finger at Wen Ran, but could not bear to do so when he saw Wen Ran's beautiful face. He slapped his thigh and said resentfully, "See? He's willingly putting himself in danger for you! How can you still call him insincere?"
Wen Ran's face darkened.
She did not even remember saying that she wanted a devil pet when she was six!
There were other priorities, and Wen Xun did not have the luxury of coaxing his daughter anymore. Shen Wu was a disciple that he was proudest of, not to mention the pride of Immortal Ascension Mansion. Nothing should be allowed to happen to him!
Wen Xun hurriedly organized a group of people to split up and look for Shen Wu. He also repeatedly instructed them not to use force in the forbidden area so as not to anger those demons.
With all her fellow disciples staring at her, Wen Ran had no choice but to join the search team.