Chapter 73: Thinking of a Way to Become Poor

Volume One: Entering a New World

Chu Tiesheng gasped, "If a fifth-grade cultivator truly intended to kill him, how could he still be alive?"

This was not only his doubt but also the doubt of everyone in the room. Seeing their gazes fall upon him, Zu An calmly said, "It seems she suddenly suffered a severe stomach ache midway; otherwise, I would have died."

"Stomach ache?"

Everyone was stunned. This reason seemed too childish. For a dignified fifth-grade expert to suddenly get a stomach ache, preventing her from killing an ordinary person—no, someone even weaker than an ordinary person—was simply beyond anyone's imagination.

Just as everyone was about to question him, Chu Chuyan spoke, "He should not be lying."

Upon hearing her, everyone looked at Chu Chuyan, their minds full of questions.

Qin Wanru subtly frowned, wondering if her daughter was intentionally speaking up for Zu An merely because they were husband and wife.

"I had actually sensed something was off with Xue'er for a while. Although she hid it well, living with her day in and day out, there were always unconscious slip-ups. I never spoke up because I wanted to find out who was behind her. But I truly don't understand why she would target you."

Chu Chuyan looked at Zu An as she spoke. She possessed a serene demeanor, never rushing her words, which not only prevented annoyance but instilled a sense that things were exactly as they should be.

"I don't understand either," Zu An said with a helpless expression. "If I had known the mastermind wasn't you, I would have exposed Xue'er from the start. It caused me to worry needlessly for so long."

Hearing Chu Chuyan's words, the group was taken aback, marveling at how deeply Xue'er had hidden her true nature, while discussing who might have orchestrated her actions. No one questioned Zu An's earlier statements anymore.

Chu Zhongtian lightly coughed and said to Zu An, "First, focus on recovering from your injuries. From now on, I will assign several close guards to protect you, to prevent a situation like today from happening again."

"Close guards? How close?" Zu An wondered if this meant female bodyguards.

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

Chu Zhongtian offered a few words of comfort before leaving with his people. Chu Huanzhao, however, was reluctant to go, pestering Zu An about winning money at the gambling house today and complaining about why he didn't take her along for such an exciting event.

Qin Wanru had already started to leave but turned back when she didn't see her second daughter. Noticing her closeness to Zu An, she instantly frowned. "Xiao Zhao, let's go!"

Rage points from Qin Wanru: 333...

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

Only then did Chu Huanzhao reluctantly leave. Chu Chuyan also looked pensive as she departed, seemingly lost in thought.

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

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

Besides, he had just drawn once before. He firmly believed in the law of conservation of luck, and since he had just acquired a skill, he felt certain another draw wouldn't yield anything.

Thinking of this, he felt a pang of regret. The 'Stare-to-Impregnate' skill had been used once immediately after he acquired it, all thanks to that little brat Xue'er. He vowed to give her a good thrashing if he ever got the chance.

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

What did 7.5 million silver taels even mean? Forget Mingyue City; even across the entire world, few people would be richer than him.

Ultimately, it was because Silver Hook Gambling House, aiming to fleece him, had intentionally removed betting limits. Otherwise, for any other customer, the gambling house would never have dared to accept such a large wager at those odds. In the end, Zu An's previous image as a good-for-nothing was too deeply ingrained, making the gambling house eager to trick him out of 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 about a serious consequence: the 'Wealthy Woman's Delight Orb' was unusable!

The prerequisite for the Wealthy Woman's Delight Orb to activate was a woman richer than him. But now, with a promissory note for 7.5 million taels, this condition was simply impossible to meet.

With this item unusable, it 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 easily hired a group of top experts to protect himself. But since he only held a promissory note, things were difficult.

He needed to find a way to become a little 'poorer'!

Although the promissory note was somewhat of a hindrance, it wasn't entirely useless. Throwing it away would be a great waste, so he had to find a way to spend it.

Zu An couldn't help but fall into deep thought. Was he now going down the path of "Hello Mr. Billionaire"? Trying every possible way to lose money?

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

As he was pondering, his vision suddenly darkened. A hunched figure had appeared by his bedside. Zu An jumped in surprise, then looked up and sighed in relief when he saw it was Old Man Mi. "Senior, your sudden appearances almost scare me to death."

As he spoke, he secretly glanced outside. Hadn't Chu Zhongtian arranged several guards to protect him? Why was there no sound?

"No need to look," Old Man Mi said with a hint of pride. "Those youngsters can't detect this old man."

Zu An immediately wore a troubled expression. "This Duke's residence is quite useless. The Chu family even claimed they were carefully selected."

Old Man 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 within Mingyue City isn't difficult for them, and 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 after hearing the commotion."

Only then did Zu An breathe a sigh of relief. This was the first time he felt like he was 'leaning on a big leg.' This was how it should be! As the Duke's son-in-law, having to fight personally every day was simply outrageous.

Just then, Old Man Mi cautioned, "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 Man Mi to be so concerned about his safety. "Thank you for your concern, Senior. I'll be more careful from now on."

Old Man Mi hummed in acknowledgment, then came to his bedside to examine him, feeling his pulse. "Although your injuries are severe, after treatment by the Chu couple, your life is no longer in danger. Furthermore, your cultivation has improved after this incident."

Zu An hadn't had a chance to check before. Hearing this, he went into introspection and found that the second formation of his third rank was now full, and the third formation also had about one-third more golden substance. This meant he had already reached the third tier of the third rank.

He knew that previously, even after consuming 58 Vitality Fruits, he had only filled about two-thirds of the second formation. The third formation required even more Vitality Fruits, a total of 144, which would translate to at least 150,000 rage points.

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

The cultivation he gained from the injuries sustained in this struggle with Xue'er, transformed through the Phoenix Nirvana Scripture, was roughly equivalent to 70 or 80 Vitality Fruits. This was already more than he had ever gained from rage points before.

However, this was like walking a tightrope over a chasm thousands of feet deep. It was far too risky; a slight misstep would mean true death.

Unlike a game where he could restart after dying, relying on this method for advancement was too dangerous. 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 rely on the Wealthy Woman's Delight Orb for an extra life.

Old Man Mi gave a few more instructions, then left with his hunched figure. Zu An didn't even clearly see how he exited.

Secretly marveling at the old man's unfathomable depth, Zu An also began to ponder how to deal with this sudden windfall.

Meanwhile, several miles outside the Chu residence, in a courtyard, there was a crisp crash as a teacup was thrown to the ground and shattered.

On a bed, a delicate figure thrashed under the covers, tightly clutching the blanket. Her beautiful hair was soaked with sweat, and her refined face was contorted in pain. "Zu An, I will definitely kill you!"

This person was, of course, Xue'er. At the time, having alerted the Chu family, and combined with the severe pain in her lower abdomen, she dared not return. She fled and arrived at this pre-arranged residence.

She had been confident that personally taking action today would be foolproof, but she never expected to fall into that scoundrel's hands. She didn't know what method he used to inflict such intense pain upon her.

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

Regardless, her failure this time was a foregone conclusion. Moreover, it was foreseeable that her identity as a mole within the Chu family had been exposed. The thought of all the effort she put into infiltrating the Chu family, only for her mission to fail because of an 'ant,' made her seethe with hatred.

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

One moment Xue'er was writhing on the bed, and the next, she found the pain had vanished without a trace.

At first, she thought it was a hallucination, but after some time, when the pain didn't return, she finally believed she was truly well.

What exactly happened just now?

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

She quickly found a set of clothes and changed. She planned to see a doctor when she had time, just in case she truly had some hidden ailment.

However, she didn't have the energy to think about that right 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 shocked. "What? You failed even after personally taking action?"

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