After killing the two guards, Jiang Chen raised his head towards the sky and realized it was late. He walked out of the compound only to see that he was surrounded by a deserted place, the air full of a musty smell.
According to his memory, this was the most remote and deserted place in Fragrant Sky city. It had been abandoned for more than 10 years. On a normal day, no one would ever come here. The Yong brothers truly did a fine job in finding this place and imprisoning him here.
"I was a strong person in my previous life, so I won't be a weakling in this life. My past life is gone, let bygones be bygones. Since I now occupy this body, from now on I am you, the new Jiang Chen. Your family will be my family, your enemy will be my enemy. The path towards the future, we shall walk it together!"
With glowing eyes, he left this deserted place.
The mayor's mansion had been in chaos the last 3 days while Jiang Chen had been missing. Although the previous Jiang Chen would always do something cruel or nasty, he had never been gone for more than 3 days.
He was the only son of the mayor. Although the mayor never missed a day in scolding him, in his heart he adored Jiang Chen the most. One could easily tell this from all of the precious medicines he fed Jiang Chen.
All the guards in the mayor's mansion went out in search of their young master. They overturned every single brick available, but there was still no sign of him. Finally, the mayor gave an order that if the young master still couldn't be found by sunset, all the guards would not need to return.
At the deserted place where Jiang Cheng was imprisoned, a team of guards approached. After searching through all other locations, they finally arrived to this abandoned area.
"Ai, this young master will never give us a break. He must be enjoying his day somewhere, but we are the ones suffering. I've not eaten anything all day."
"Stop complaining, he is the only son of the Mayor. Tomorrow is the marriage engagement date with the Mu Rong family. If we can't find the young master by then… don't expect anything good waiting for us."
"Young master would never come to a remote place like this, we are just wasting our time here… Wait, there's someone up ahead!"
While all of the guards complained, the guard who led them saw a human figure clad in white clothes walking towards them.
"Young master!"
The guard shouted with a hint of surprise in his eyes. He rubbed his eyes and looked again towards that human figure. Who else could that be except for the young master?
"Captain, it's young master. We've found young master, haha."
The guard jumped up from where he stood, his face filled with excitement. Tears were almost flowing out of his eyes, as if the person that appeared in front of him was not the young master, and instead, his own father.
"It is the young master! It really is the young master, thank god!"
A few of the guards started running towards Jiang Chen. Even though they didn't know why their young master would come to a deserted place like this, it didn't matter. What mattered the most was that they had found their young master, alive and kicking, without looking like he was missing an arm or leg.
"Jiang Cheng, why are all of you here?"
[TL: Yes, the guard's name is Jiang Cheng. Not Jiang Chen]
Jiang Chen looked towards the captain. He knew this guy; his name was Jiang Cheng!
"Young master, we finally found you! If you didn't appear, the mayor would've killed us all!"
Jiang Cheng said with a face filled with excitement. It looked like he was about to cry from joy!
Jiang Chen had a puzzled expression on his face. But, due to his intelligence, it didn't take him more than a split second to understand everything. He had been missing for the last 3 days, so his dad must have been worried to death. He could easily imagine that these guards had not slept well.
Thinking about his father, whom he had yet to meet, Jiang Chen could feel some warmth in his heart. Although he was the greatest Saint in his past life, he never had a friend who was willing to care for him in his previous life. Being an orphan, he never had a chance to know what familial love was.
"Does it look like I'm in bad shape? You don't have to die. Come, let's go home."
Jiang Chen said with a smile.
"Young master, please ride this horse."
Jiang Cheng hurriedly led his own horse over to Jiang Chen.
"I don't need it, I will just walk. All of you have worked hard. When we arrive home, everyone can go claim 10 gold coins from the treasury."
Jiang Chen spoke like nothing had happened.
What? 10… gold coins?
Jiang Cheng almost bit the dust when he heard that. He wasn't the only one! All the other guards were stunned. 10 gold coins, their wages were only 10 silver coins a month!
Jiang Chen was once the greatest Saint, so he didn't really need to care too much about money, but for these guards, 10 gold coins was a huge fortune!
What happened to young master? This was not his style at all!
Since when did the young master become so generous?
He was not riding the horse, and since they met up with the young master some moments ago, he had not scolded them like he would always do.
After disappearing for 3 days, the young master had totally changed into another person.
"Let's go, hurry up and follow young master."
Jiang Cheng was the first to recover from this huge surprise. All of the other guards sped up and started following their young master. They didn't even ride on their horses. Who would dare to ride on a horse when their young master walked in front?
......
-In the main hall of the Mayor's mansion-
A middle aged man paced back and forth with an anxious look on his face. The man, wearing loose silk clothes, was muscular and 7 feet tall.
He was the mayor of Fragrant Sky city, Jiang Zhen Hai!
"Don't worry, dad, I'm sure they will find Jiang Chen."
Beside the mayor stood a good looking young man in white clothes. It looked like he was 17-18 years old, and at first glance anyone would know he was no ordinary person. A look of grief could be seen on his face, but internally, he was happy.
"This spoiled kid will never let me have peace of mind. If he had half of your ability, I would be laughing in my dreams."
Jiang Zhen Hai said helplessly.
"Young master is back!"
A guard came in, his face filled with excitement.
'What!'
Jiang Ru Long almost shouted out loud; the expression on his face changed dramatically.
"He is back?"
Jiang Zhen Hai felt relieved and shouted immediately, "Ask him to come here right now!"
Sensing that the Mayor was going to lose his temper, the guard carefully said, "Mayor, young master said he was tired, so he went to his room in order to rest. He will greet you tomorrow."
"What the?! Where's the manners of this kid?"
Jiang Zhen Hai stared at the guard as he spoke.
"Dad, maybe Jiang Chen is really tired. Furthermore, tomorrow will be the marriage engagement day with the Mu Rong family, just let him rest."
Jiang Ru Long told his foster father.
"Ru Long, don't always side with him. This little bastard has become more and more disobedient."
Jiang Zhen Hai said angrily.
"Don't get mad, dad, let me talk to him."
Jiang Ru Long said.
"That's better. Find someone to monitor him, and don't let him walk out of his room. I don't want anything bad to happen at tomorrow's marriage engagement event."
Jiang Zhen Hai threw his sleeves and walked away.
The Mayor's mansion occupied a huge area. So it was only natural that Jiang Chen also possessed his own large mansion.
Standing in his yard with both hands behind his back and the moonlight shining down upon him, he stood there waiting for someone he knew. He knew that person would come to him.
Outside the door to his mansion, a figure appeared out of nowhere. It was Jiang Ru Long. When he saw Jiang Chen standing unharmed in his yard, a cruel look emerged on his face.
"Useless peasants, how dare they let this bastard come back alive?"
With a frown on his face, Jiang Ru Long's face shifted to a more normal one as he walked into Jiang Chen's mansion.
"My brother, where have you been for the last 3 days? Don't you know how much I have been worrying?"
Jiang Ru Long said with a worrisome tone and a hint of 'happiness' from being able to see his brother again.
"Brother."
All of a sudden, Jiang Chen jumped towards his brother, hugging him and saying, "Brother, you almost lost your younger brother for good!"
Pretending to be sad, Jiang Chen's tears dripped all over Jiang Ru Long's shoulder. A frown emerged on Jiang Chen's face as he hugged Jiang Ru Long.
"What happened, my brother? Who dares to bully you? Tell me, I will take revenge for you!" Replied Jiang Ru Long.
"It's the two peasants, Yang Yong and Yang Shuang, they wanted to kill me."
Jiang Chen said angrily as he moved his head away from Jiang Ru Long's shoulder.
Feeling shocked when he heard the name of the Yang's brother, yet with an indifferent face, Jiang Ru Long said, "What? How dare they do this to you? I will not let them go easily!"
"Brother, they are dead now."
While speaking with an angry voice, Jiang Chen kept looking at Jiang Ru Long's facial expression, trying to discover his true colors. But Jiang Ru Long was good at hiding his feelings. Being the greatest Saint, however, Jiang Chen had eagle eyes. He could notice the smallest of changes on Jiang Ru Long's face.
"They are dead? Both of them were at the 6th level of the Qi Jing realm. How did you kill them?"
Jiang Ru Long asked suspiciously, eagerly awaiting a response.
"Don't joke around, brother. I am a dumb cultivator, and I am barely at the first level of the Qi Jing Realm! I am no match for the Yang brothers, but thank god there was a skilled person at the 8th level of the Qi Jing realm who helped me kill the Yang brothers! Too bad this benefactor did not want any rewards. He left right after killing the Yang brothers… I don't even know his name, such a pity."
Jiang Chen said with relief and regret.
'Fuck, what luck he has.'
Swearing in his mind, he had no doubts about what Jiang Chen said because only this could explain how Jiang Chen was able to return unharmed.
At the same time, Jiang Ru Long felt relief too. The Yang brothers were dead, so no one would know his secret now. There would be plenty of opportunities to kill Jiang Chen in the future.
"It's not a bad thing that they are dead now. Most importantly, you've come back unharmed! If you didn't, I would've spent the rest of my life regretting not being able to protect you!"
The concerned look on Jiang Ru Long's face made Jiang Chen feel like throwing up.
"My brother is the best!"
Jiang Chen pretended to be thankful towards this 'brother.'
"Don't say that, we are brothers. Tomorrow will be the marriage engagement day with the Mu Rong family. You have to be prepared, my brother. For you, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. If you can marry the Mu Rong family's daughter, you will have done a good deed for our family!"
Jiang Ru Long exclaimed as he placed his hand on Jiang Chen's shoulder. There were two big families in Fragrant Sky city: one was the Mayor's family and the other one was the Mu Rong family. The Mu Rong family was a huge power in the business industry, and the relationship between the two families was not particularly great. There was a lot of competition between them. If they could somehow marry into each other, then their relationship would naturally improve, reaping huge benefits for both sides.
"Marry their daughter? Count me out."
Jiang Chen shook his head and said firmly.
"Brother, it's not up to you to decide. Father has prepared a lot for this marriage, you can't ruin all of it now."
Jiang Ru Long was trying to persuade Jiang Chen.
"I'm serious, I don't even know what the Mu Rong family's daughter looks like. What a joke if you ask me to marry her. And I am still young. If you all want a marriage between two families, I think you will be the best candidate. You are Mayor family's son, too, and you are older than me. I can't get married before you, my brother, no way! I won't do it, do it yourself if you want."
Jiang Chen was very firm with his decision.
After listening to Jiang Chen's explanation, Jiang Ru Long felt for the first time that this 'brother' of his was doing something useful for once. Especially since his true motive was to kill Jiang Chen so that he could marry the daughter of the Mu Rong family, raising his own status in both families!