Protect Our Patriarch

……

"Miss, please wait."

Wang Shihai instinctively called out.

"?" The woman stopped in her tracks, her pretty eyes under the veiled hat looking at Wang Shihai with a hint of confusion. From the attire and demeanor of these clan soldiers, as well as their weapons and equipment, she could tell that this was one of the Wang Clan's clearing squads.

However, the young man leading them seemed to have a strong presence. But she had never seen him before, and he certainly wasn't her brother or nephew...

"Miss, this is outside the territory. Although most areas have been cleared, there are still some dangerous spots," Wang Shihai said, deeply moved by the mysterious woman. He cupped his hands and continued, "If you have no urgent matters, please don't wander around. Our camp is not far ahead, you can..."

"Who are you? A newly recruited guard of the Wang Clan?" The woman's tone turned slightly cold, interrupting him. She was puzzled; given her fourth brother's character, he never trusted rogue cultivators and wouldn't casually recruit a Lingtai Realm rogue cultivator as a guard.

Moreover, this young man had already reached the Lingtai Realm at such a young age, which was no small feat. Could he be a rising star from an allied family?

"Greetings, Miss. I am Wang Shihai. May I know your name?" Wang Shihai's eyes were fixed on the mysterious woman. Her elegant demeanor and the faintly domineering aura she exuded deeply attracted him.

"How dare you, you impudent rogue, pretending to be a member of the Wang Clan!" Suddenly, the woman's expression changed. With a furious reprimand, she took a light step forward, and in an instant, her graceful figure turned into a wisp of smoke, drifting towards Wang Shihai.

"Such speed!"

Facing the sudden killing intent, Wang Shihai was startled. In a flash, he grasped the hilt of his sword, and with a "clang," the spirit sword was unsheathed. The white sword light scattered like stars, enveloping the wisp of smoke.

The sword stance was calm and steady, yet it exuded a grand and majestic aura.

No matter how adolescent Wang Shihai might be, he was ultimately a young prodigy meticulously nurtured by a fifth-rank family. His overall abilities were still top-notch, and his reaction to danger was extremely swift.

"Huh, the Wang Clan's Xuanyuan Sword Technique?"

The woman murmured in slight surprise, but then her brows furrowed coldly again. "Something's not quite right. Who are you really? Why are you pretending to be a member of the Wang Clan?" As she spoke, her smoke-like figure flickered, effortlessly dodging all the sword lights.

"I don't change my name or my surname. I'm your Grandpa Shihai." Wang Shihai, spoiled since childhood and akin to a little devil, felt a sudden infatuation with the woman before him.

But being called a rogue and accused of impersonating a member of the Wang Clan left him in no mood for niceties.

With a loud shout, Wang Shihai's profound sword technique erupted once more. Each move carried the essence of a dragon's journey, exuding an extraordinary sword intent.

The heavy white sword lights sealed off all the woman's escape routes.

Such sword moves had already transcended the original "Wang Clan's Xuanyuan Sword Technique," reaching a new level that pointed directly to the true essence of swordsmanship.

It was no wonder.

Wang Clan disciples first learned the "Wang Clan's Basic Sword Technique," then practiced the mid-grade "Wang Clan's Xuanyuan Sword Technique." Once their foundation was solid, they could then train in the Wang Clan's inherited high-grade sword technique, the "Wang Clan's Tianyuan Sword Art."

However, the Changning Wang Clan only inherited the "Wang Clan's Xuanyuan Sword Technique" and did not possess the advanced sword art. Even the Longzuo Wang Clan did not have the inheritance of this high-grade sword art.

This was why the woman's sword technique looked like the Xuanyuan Sword Technique but also seemed somewhat different.

Even the woman couldn't help but be slightly impressed, murmuring, "Interesting."

"Well done, Young Master Shihai!" The clan soldiers and guards cheered for him. "This girl is too domineering. Capture her and teach her a lesson. Women like men who are stronger than them."

"Once Young Master Shihai shows his might, she'll know her place."

These clan soldiers and guards had been with Wang Shihai for several months. In this dangerous place outside the territory, Wang Shihai's strength and care for everyone had long earned their deep respect.

With their encouragement, Wang Shihai felt even more invigorated, filled with energy.

The "Tianyuan Sword Art" was continuously displayed, and his aura kept growing. He laughed heartily, "Little girl, I advise you to surrender honestly and apologize sincerely. Considering your extraordinary temperament and beauty, I'll forgive you this once. Otherwise... hehehe~~"

Despite spending some time with Fourth Uncle and gradually maturing, Wang Shihai's inherent nature as a spoiled young master still lingered. Once he felt a bit proud, his true nature inevitably showed.

"You, courting death!"

The woman's eyes turned cold, and her figure swiftly flickered. She moved like a butterfly dancing among flowers, agile and unpredictable. All the white sword lights missed their mark.

Suddenly!

The "butterfly" paused, unable to dodge an incoming sword light.

"Miss, be careful!" Wang Shihai's heart tightened. He had only intended to resist and show the girl his strength, not to actually harm her.

Unexpectedly.

When the sword light passed through the "woman's figure," it seemed to pass through nothing. At the same time, the graceful figure rippled like a stone thrown into still water, instantly transforming into dozens of elegant shadows, dancing like a swarm of butterflies.

A single dancing shadow was quite beautiful, but dozens of them moving simultaneously were terrifying and unsettling, making one's scalp tingle.

"Illusion? How is that possible!" Wang Shihai's face changed drastically, realizing he was in trouble today. He quickly prepared to retreat.

"Thinking of escaping now? It's too late." The woman's cold voice sounded behind him. A small butterfly, unnoticed by anyone, had already appeared behind Wang Shihai. As the butterfly twisted, it transformed into the veiled woman.

A jade flute, which had appeared at some point, was now pressed against the back of Wang Shihai's head. If she unleashed her profound energy, Wang Shihai's head would explode like a watermelon.

This was one of the illusion techniques inherited from the Myriad Butterfly Valley lineage of the Purple Mansion Academy of Longzuo Commandery, the "Illusory Butterfly Divine Art," which had made Lady Huandie famous. Once unleashed, the sky would be filled with dancing butterflies. As long as one butterfly remained alive, Lady Huandie would survive.

When her true form appeared, the battle was usually already decided.

As Lady Huandie's proud disciple, how could she not have deeply studied this divine art?

However, she had only grasped the basics of the "Illusory Butterfly Divine Art." At Lady Huandie's level, its use was akin to a minor divine ability.

"Miss, please show mercy." Wang Shihai, feeling the coldness of death, quickly pleaded, "We have no enmity. Please don't..."

"Hmph!"

The woman snorted coldly, "If I hadn't sensed you had no killing intent, you wouldn't have survived. But you can escape death, not punishment."

As she finished speaking.

Several black ants, the size of a pinky finger, had already crawled onto Wang Shihai. Their sharp mandibles easily tore through his clothes and bit into his shoulder, injecting venom into his body.

"Ah!"

Wang Shihai screamed in agony, writhing on the ground, "It hurts, it hurts so much. Miss, please just kill me."

In his entire life, he had never experienced such pain.

The clan soldiers and guards turned pale, ready to rush forward to save him, but the woman's glare stopped them in their tracks, making their legs tremble with fear.

"Don't worry, he won't die." The woman recalled the black ants with a wave of her delicate hand, her voice calm. "These are sawtooth venom ants from the wilds of the Barbarian Lands. They can't kill a Lingtai Realm cultivator but can cause twelve hours of excruciating pain. And the pain will only intensify over time."

Hearing this, Wang Shihai almost fainted.

The current pain was already unbearable. If it continued to worsen, wouldn't it be like enduring the eighteen levels of hell? This girl was too ruthless, too terrifying. I want to go home, Fourth Uncle, save me.

"Miss, I was wrong." Wang Shihai cried, "Please, be magnanimous and let me go. If anything happens to me, my Fourth Uncle won't let you off. Let's both take a step back and pretend nothing happened."

"Your Fourth Uncle?" The woman's pretty brows furrowed, and she snorted coldly, "Your Fourth Uncle? Tell me who he is, and let's see if he can scare me."

"My Fourth Uncle is the Clan Leader of the Changning Wang Clan—Wang Shouzhe." Wang Shihai groaned in pain, "The cement road you're standing on was built by my Fourth Uncle. Miss, I advise you..."

"Nonsense!"

The woman was furious. With a flick of her hand, several fist-sized spiders appeared from nowhere, crawling onto Wang Shihai's face. She scolded, "How dare you pretend to be my Fourth Brother's grandson! Tell me your true identity, or don't blame me for being ruthless."

"What? Fourth Brother? Ouch, ouch, Miss, please take the spiders away, take them away." Wang Shihai screamed in pain and terror, "We're family, we're really family. I really am Wang Shihai, and Wang Shouzhe is really my Fourth Uncle~"

"Nonsense, if you're my Fourth Brother's grandson, then I'm your grandaunt..."

"Yes, yes. You should be my grandaunt. Grandaunt... please take the spiders away first. They're too scary. I want to go home~~" Wang Shihai was on the verge of collapse. In Monan Commandery, fights were fights, but they never involved spiders and ants.

He had heard of spirit insect masters, but Monan was not a suitable place for them to thrive.

"?" The woman looked suspiciously at the clan soldiers and guards, "Are you really a patrol team of the Wang Clan? Do you have identification badges?"

"Yes, yes." A guard quickly took out an identification badge and respectfully handed it over, trembling, "Grandaunt, you must be the Wang Clan's academy prodigy—Grandaunt Wang Luojing, who excels in controlling spirit insects?"

The guard was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, at the sixth level of the Qi Refining Realm. Wang Luojing had been at the academy for sixteen or seventeen years. Given the distance, she rarely returned to the clan, and even when she did, she mostly spent time with her family and didn't show herself much.

Therefore, it was normal for some young guards and soldiers not to recognize her. However, Wang Luojing was one of the legendary women of the Wang Clan and a source of pride for the clan.

Even though she rarely returned, her fame within the clan was immense.

Even Wang Shihai, who had only been staying with the Changning Wang Clan for a few months, had heard of the academy prodigy Wang Luojing. Upon hearing this, he quickly shouted, "So you're Wang Luojing. It's like a flood washing over the Dragon King Temple; family not recognizing family."

Wang Luojing glanced at Wang Shihai and then checked the guard's identification badge.

It was a thin purple card, soft yet elastic, marked with the guard's identity and position.

She immediately confirmed the guard's identity.

One of the main materials for making these identification badges was insect resin extracted from rubber trees by insects she personally trained. The production process was complex and difficult to counterfeit.

After confirming the guard's identity, Wang Luojing recalled the spiders and used a few silver needles to detoxify Wang Shihai.

Wang Shihai groaned as he got up from the ground, still fearful of Wang Luojing. He complained, "Wang Luojing, you're too ruthless, I..."

"Call me Fifth Grandaunt," Wang Luojing said coldly.

"Fine, Fifth Grandaunt!" Wang Shihai's heart trembled, and he quickly called out sweetly. At this point, he had no romantic thoughts about her, only fear.

Wang Luojing looked him up and down suspiciously, "How old are you?"

"I'm twenty-three..." Wang Shihai answered honestly.

"A fine young prodigy, but your age..." Wang Luojing frowned, thinking that perhaps her eldest brother Wang Shouxin had fathered an illegitimate child in his younger days, and now the child was seeking to recognize his roots.

She pondered, and only her eldest brother Wang Shouxin, who was in his sixties or seventies, seemed to fit. But her sister-in-law from the Xu Clan had a bad temper... Sigh, this child might suffer upon returning to the clan.

"Forget it, I was impulsive earlier." Wang Luojing's tone softened, "If you ever feel wronged, you can tell me, and I'll stand up for you."

Wronged?

Wang Shihai's eyes widened. What could be more wrong than being "rewarded" by you, Fifth Grandaunt? Being bitten by ants and scared by spiders...

Father, Changning Garrison is so dangerous, I want to go home.

……

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