Chapter Fifty-Seven: Making a Friend

“I advise you to think carefully before you speak. If you offend me here, you can forget about ever seeing those two again!” Ji Chunyan’s face was etched with fury; their words had utterly humiliated her in front of Yan Yuanqing. Especially since she had just been berating Yan Yuanqing moments ago, and now his importance seemed to eclipse her own—a reversal she simply could not accept.

“We must sincerely apologize to you, madam. We only follow our master’s instructions; commands from anyone else mean nothing to us,” the two replied, turning their attention away from Ji Chunyan.

“If you two have any requests, please let us know. Or perhaps we could take a look around ourselves; should we find anything amiss, we’ll report it back to our master,” they said, still exceedingly respectful.

At that moment, Yan Yuanqing spoke up, his interest piqued. “Did your master tell you why you should treat me with such deference? Is there anything else he intends for you to do after this? For example, what is the next objective?”

Yan Yuanqing was clearly curious, and Shi Yurou was equally perplexed. This sudden gesture of goodwill was simply too suspicious—especially when it came from Shi Chengren. It was utterly incongruous; it was impossible to imagine that man doing something like this.

“Haha, Mr. Yan, you jest. We have no ulterior motives whatsoever. It’s simply because we all belong to the same family, and after experiencing his last failure, our master reflected deeply and recognized his own mistakes. He sincerely hopes to make friends with you both and promises never to repeat those errors.”

That’s more like it, Yan Yuanqing thought silently. That man truly had no obvious ulterior motives, but he simply wanted to cultivate a good relationship with him—that was his goal. Since someone was offering warmth without asking anything in return, how could he refuse such a fortunate turn? Perhaps there was a hidden plot behind it, but so long as he remained vigilant and did not blindly trust Shi Chengren’s words or promises, he would be safe.

Ji Chunyan remained withdrawn at the side, but she no longer clamored to drive Yan Yuanqing away. In the end, she could only throw a cold glance and retreat to her own room.

Yan Yuanqing left the staff to inspect the rooms, and he returned to the study. Ever since learning news of his father from Shi Chengren a few days earlier, Yan Yuanqing had spent almost all his time in that study. It was stocked with an abundance of books and all manner of documents, but most crucially, the Shi family mansion had been built long ago, so these buildings often housed books of considerable age—some veritable antiques among them. This was a trait common to great families with deep roots.

Such enduring heritage and depth were things that the nouveau riche and sudden upstarts simply could not possess.

Just this morning, Yan Yuanqing had uncovered a book related to Kunlun, detailing everything about Kunlun—not only its culture and nature, but also numerous secrets and rumors widely circulated outside, though never confirmed. One of these, astonishingly, seemed to be closely connected to his father.

“In Kunlun, ancient relics and primordial seeds roam freely. If one is fortunate enough to reach the deepest part of Kunlun, one may behold the rarest treasure in the world. It can revive the dead and restore flesh to bones, and may even transform an ordinary person into a legendary being endowed with extraordinary powers. In the past eighty million years, only three have obtained it: first, the ancient Da Chun; second and third, the two emperors Yan and Huang.”

Reading this, Yan Yuanqing was utterly stunned by the book’s revelations. If what it recorded was true, then perhaps his understanding of the world was still riddled with vast blind spots.