Chapter 74: Finding Ways to Become Poor

Chu Tiesheng exclaimed in surprise, "If a fifth-grade cultivator really wanted to kill him, how could he still be alive?"

This was not only his doubt but everyone else's in the room. Seeing all eyes on him, Zu An calmly replied, "It seems she suddenly had a terrible stomachache halfway through, otherwise I would have died."

"A stomachache?"

Everyone was stunned. This reason seemed too childish. For a dignified fifth-grade expert to suddenly have a stomachache and be unable to kill an ordinary person – no, someone even weaker than an ordinary person – was simply beyond everyone's imagination.

Just as people were about to question him, Chu Chuyan spoke up, "He shouldn't be lying."

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

Qin Wanru frowned slightly, wondering if her daughter was intentionally helping Zu An because they were married.

"I actually noticed something was wrong with Xue'er a long time ago. Although she hid it well, living with her day in and day out, there were always unconscious slips. I kept quiet because I wanted to find out who was behind her, but I really don't understand why she would target you." Chu Chuyan looked at Zu An as she spoke. She had a calm demeanor, speaking unhurriedly about anything, which, instead of irritating people, gave them a sense that it was only natural.

"I don't understand either," Zu An said with a helpless expression. "If I had known you weren't the mastermind, I should have exposed Xue'er from the start. I've been on edge for so long because of this."

Hearing Chu Chuyan's words, the group was inexplicably astonished. While lamenting how deeply Xue'er had hidden herself, they began discussing who might have instructed her. No one questioned Zu An's words anymore.

Chu Zhongtian lightly coughed and said to Zu An, "You should rest and recover from your injuries. From now on, I will assign several close guards to protect you, preventing a situation like today from happening again."

"Close guards? How close?" Zu An wondered if it was going to be beautiful bodyguards.

However, when he saw several burly guards standing at the doorway, he immediately abandoned those unrealistic thoughts.

Chu Zhongtian offered a few words of comfort before leaving with his people. Chu Hanzhao, 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 to such fun events.

Qin Wanru had already started to leave, but when she turned back and didn't see her second daughter, noticing her affectionately clinging to Zu An, she instantly frowned. "Xiaozhao, let's go!"

Rage points from Qin Wanru +333...

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

Only then did Chu Hanzhao reluctantly depart. Chu Chuyan also looked thoughtful as she left, wondering what she was contemplating.

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

He wasn't in a hurry to draw a prize this time. Based on past experience, this amount of rage points was too small to get anything good. It was better to accumulate more and draw them all at once, perhaps with better luck.

Furthermore, he had just drawn a prize earlier. He firmly believed in the law of conservation of luck, and since he had just acquired a skill, he felt certain that another draw would yield nothing.

Thinking of this, he felt a pang of regret. The skill "Stare at anyone and they get pregnant" 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 problem: he was now rich – no, he was *too* rich!

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

Ultimately, it was because the Silverhook Casino, wanting to swindle him, intentionally removed the betting limits. Otherwise, for any other customer, the casino would never have dared to accept such a large bet at those odds. In the end, Zu An's long-established image as a good-for-nothing was so deeply ingrained that the casino was eager to cheat him 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 a severe consequence: the "Rich Woman's Happiness Orb" could no longer be used!

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

Being unable to use this item meant he had one less life. While money was important, life was even more so!

If he had 7.5 million taels in cash, he could easily hire a group of top experts to protect himself. But unfortunately, he only had a promissory note, which made things difficult.

He needed to find a way to make himself a little "poorer"!

However, while the promissory note was somewhat of a white elephant, it wasn't entirely useless. It would be a waste to throw it away, so he had to find a way to spend it.

Zu An couldn't help but fall into deep thought. Was he going to follow the path of the "Richest Man in Xihong City" next, trying every possible way to lose money?

Many ideas instantly flashed through his mind, but they were all rejected one by one. Those methods would be difficult to apply in this world.

Just as he was pondering this problem, his vision suddenly darkened. A stooped figure had appeared by his bed. Zu An was startled but then breathed a sigh of relief when he looked up and saw it was Old Man Mi. "Senior, your sudden appearances nearly scare me to death."

As he spoke, he subtly glanced outside. Hadn't Chu Zhongtian arranged several guards to protect him? How was there no sound at all?

"No need to look, those youngsters can't detect me," Old Man Mi said with a hint of pride.

Zu An immediately looked crestfallen. "This Duke's Manor is really 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 Brightmoon City isn't difficult, 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 upon hearing the commotion."

Zu An finally breathed a sigh of relief. This was the first time he felt like he was truly leaning on a powerful figure. This was how it should be! As the Duke's son-in-law, having to personally fight every day was truly scandalous.

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

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

Zu An hadn't had a chance to check before. Hearing this, he went into internal vision and found that the second array of his third-grade cultivation was already full, and the third array also had about one-third more golden substance. By his calculations, he had reached the third stage of the third-grade.

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

The most rage points he had ever accumulated at once before was around 60,000 to 70,000, and that was by harvesting the rage of many onlookers. Such opportunities were rare, and he wasn't confident he could earn that much again.

The cultivation improvement gained from the injuries sustained during his fight with Xue'er, transformed by the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra, 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 ten-thousand-foot cliff – far too risky. Even a slight misstep could lead to actual death.

This wasn't like a game where you could respawn after dying. So, relying on this method for leveling up was too dangerous; he shouldn't use it unless absolutely necessary. Additionally, he needed to find a way to spend the money so that if he encountered such a situation again, he could rely on the Rich Woman's Happiness Orb for an extra life.

After offering a few more pieces of advice, Old Man Mi departed with his stooped posture. Zu An didn't even see how he left.

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

At this time, several miles outside the Chu Manor, in a certain residence, there was a crisp crash as a teacup was thrown to the ground and shattered.

On the bed, a delicate figure was rolling around under the covers, clutching the blanket tightly. Her beautiful hair was drenched with sweat, and her pretty 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 suffering from unbearable abdominal pain, she dared not return. She fled and arrived at this pre-arranged residence.

She had believed 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 had used to inflict such intense pain on her.

She even suspected she had some hidden illness; she simply didn't believe Zu An possessed such ability.

Regardless, her failure was now a foregone conclusion. Moreover, it was predictable that her identity as a spy within the Chu family had been exposed. The thought of all the effort she had put into infiltrating the Chu family, only for the mission to fail because of an ant, made her gnash her teeth in hatred.

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

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

At first, she thought it was an illusion, but after some time, the pain never returned, and she finally believed she was truly well.

What on earth had happened just now?

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

She quickly found a set of clothes to change into, thinking she should see a doctor when she had time, just in case she truly had some hidden ailment.

However, she didn't have the energy to dwell on that now. After changing, she hurried out the door.

At the Plum Blossom Gang's headquarters, after hearing her account, Mei Chaofeng was completely shocked. "What?! You personally took action and still failed?"