Chapter 0003: This Young Man Lacks Integrity

Jiang Kongqing looked at the confrontation between Zheng Shaowen and Zhang Xiao, feeling somewhat troubled. She didn't want to owe Zheng Shaowen a favor. If she hadn't known that the Jiang Consortium was merely a façade of prosperity, hollow within, she would never have agreed to her father's proposal to enter into this marriage contract with the Zheng family. As for Zheng Shaowen himself, Jiang Kongqing disliked him from the bottom of her heart—bordering on aversion.

Zheng Shaowen had brought Master Zhang along, clearly intending to make her indebted to him. But if she didn't rely on Master Zhang, could she possibly trust Zhang Xiao—the man who had bizarrely called her his wife? Judging by the means Zhang Xiao had just displayed, he was certainly no ordinary person. Nonetheless, Jiang Kongqing simply couldn’t trust a stranger she’d met only once, especially one who had immediately demanded the Goddess’ Tear her mother left her, and shamelessly declared he would marry her. Compared to Zheng Shaowen, she felt little favor for Zhang Xiao.

As Jiang Kongqing was still weighing her options, Zhang Xiao ignored Zheng Shaowen’s provocation and simply took her hand, leading her out of the ward.

Jiang Kongqing was stunned and, unable to react, followed Zhang Xiao out.

Seeing this, Zheng Shaowen could no longer restrain himself. This guy had first inexplicably called Jiang Kongqing his wife, ignoring Zheng Shaowen’s position as her legitimate fiancé. Now he was stealing away the rare opportunity for Zheng Shaowen to prove himself in front of her, and was about to walk off with her, unbothered by his questioning?

A man’s tolerance has its limits!

“Stop!” Zheng Shaowen shouted in fury, then threw a punch at the back of Zhang Xiao’s head—a complete sneak attack with no grace whatsoever.

Zhang Xiao didn’t even turn around. His lips curled in a knowing smile, as if he’d anticipated Zheng Shaowen’s move.

At that moment, Master Zhang’s brow furrowed and he muttered inwardly that things were not good. He swiftly pulled Zheng Shaowen behind him. Instantly, a gust of force swept through, stirring Master Zhang’s silver hair. When the force met him, it was as though it hit a wall, gradually dispersing.

In a cold tone, Master Zhang said, “I hadn’t expected you to be a martial arts expert, young man. To be able to project your inner energy, you must have reached the Third Realm of Martial Arts. No wonder you act with such impunity.”

Zhang Xiao suddenly stopped and, turning back, looked at Master Zhang as if he were an idiot. Then, glancing at Jiang Kongqing, he said, “Counting our family’s steward Zhao, why are all your people so ignorant?”

Everyone was baffled by his words, but Zheng Shaowen and Jiang Kongqing distinctly heard him mention “our family’s steward Zhao.”

Who does he think he is, acting as if he belongs here?

Master Zhang, not grasping Zhang Xiao’s meaning, sneered, “So arrogant at such a young age. If you don’t suffer a little, you’ll think you’re above the heavens!”

“My name is Zhang Xiao. Arrogance is my nickname,” Zhang Xiao replied with a mischievous smile.

Master Zhang narrowed his eyes, murderous intent surging. “You’re just a Third Realm martial artist, brat. You should know the world is vast. Martial artists are nothing but ants before cultivators like us. If I, Zhang Tianshu, don’t put you in your place today, you’ll never learn humility! Now witness the might of a Qi Condensation stage cultivator!”

Jiang Kongqing couldn’t understand any of this. She knew powerful martial artists existed—after all, she’d seen martial arts with her own eyes and heard things from steward Zhao. But as for this “Qi Condensation stage cultivator” Master Zhang spoke of, she had no clue—wasn’t that something out of those fantasy novels, those immortal beings who could soar through the clouds? Did such things really exist?

Master Zhang pressed his two fingers together, chanting under his breath, and suddenly the air in the ward seemed to stir with wind.

For some reason, Jiang Kongqing began to feel nervous, and beside her, Zheng Shaowen swallowed hard.

Master Zhang was about to speak with a cold smile, but a shadow flashed before his eyes, and in the next instant, Zhang Xiao landed a punch that sent him flying.

“Ouch! You’re playing dirty, boy!” Master Zhang cried out as he hit the ground, clutching his bleeding nose.

Zhang Xiao said impatiently, “A mere First Realm cultivator, and you dare show off? Have you wasted these decades of your life?”

Without further ado, Zhang Xiao dragged the dumbfounded Jiang Kongqing out of the ward.

Zheng Shaowen stood there, completely stunned.

What the—Master Zhang, are you kidding me? You were just showing off, you had me fired up, and now you get knocked out with a single punch?

Master Zhang staggered to his feet, looking embarrassed under Zheng Shaowen’s gaze. “That boy was underhanded, relying on his martial artist’s physique and attacking before I could finish my incantation. I was caught off guard, that’s all…”

Zheng Shaowen’s expression said, “Keep making things up—I’d believe you’re my own son before I buy that.”

Master Zhang, knowing what Zheng Shaowen thought, remained patient. “Young Master Zheng, I’m not lying. Firstly, the boy is indeed a martial artist, and compared to us cultivators, martial artists have much stronger physiques. While our methods are more advanced, if they get close, we’re at a disadvantage. Secondly, my specialty is formations and talismans, not combat. If you’d brought a cultivator skilled in fighting, that boy would be begging for mercy by now.”

Zheng Shaowen had no interest in his explanations. He suddenly realized Jiang Kongqing had already been taken away and hurried after them.

He ran all the way outside the hospital, but there was no sign of them.

Zheng Shaowen was furious. If he didn’t have to consider his image, he would have cursed out loud right then.

Master Zhang caught up and tried to comfort him: “Don’t worry, Young Master Zheng. I observed that boy carefully—he’s just a common martial artist. With his skills, he won’t be able to wake Jiang Yan. When Miss Jiang realizes she’s been duped, she’ll come back to you for help. Then we’ll have plenty of chances to deal with him.”

Zheng Shaowen took a deep breath and said coldly, “You’d better hope he fails to wake up Jiang Yan!”

...

Zhang Xiao and Jiang Kongqing sat in the Jiang family’s private car. Jiang Kongqing asked, “Why are you taking me to my father’s office?”

As soon as they’d left the hospital, Zhang Xiao had asked her to take him to Jiang Yan’s office at the Jiang Consortium.

With his eyes closed in rest, Zhang Xiao replied, “Your father passed out in his office, right? Good, you’ll see why when we get there.”

Jiang Kongqing had no idea what he was up to. Since she’d already been dragged along, she might as well let him try and hope for the best.

Suddenly, she glared at Zhang Xiao. “Who are you calling father-in-law? Don’t talk nonsense!”

Zhang Xiao just smiled, unfazed. “It’s only a matter of time.”

She didn’t bother arguing with the rascal. Then she remembered something. “That Master Zhang—what did he mean by cultivator? Just before you punched him, I really did feel a breeze rising in the ward. It’s all a bit much for me to process.”

Zhang Xiao scratched his head, thinking for a moment before explaining, “Well, you know Taoist priests, right? Just think of him as a priest with a few cheap tricks up his sleeve.”

Jiang Kongqing pondered this, and felt she understood a little. She continued, “You said my father’s three souls and seven spirits are trapped. Is that true? Do people really have those? Are there really such extraordinary things in this world?”

Zhang Xiao, apparently unwilling to explain further, said, “Just think of it as another trick like Master Zhang’s illusions. Too many details and you wouldn’t understand anyway.”

Seeing that Zhang Xiao didn’t want to say more, Jiang Kongqing dropped her questions.

When they arrived at the Jiang Consortium’s office building, Jiang Kongqing led Zhang Xiao straight to her father’s office floor. Throughout the journey, every employee they passed bowed respectfully and greeted her as “Miss Jiang.” Once she brought Zhang Xiao into the office, the rest clustered together outside, speculating about his identity.

Inside the office, Jiang Kongqing finally asked, “Now that we’re here, can you tell me what’s really going on?”

Zhang Xiao nodded, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, and spoke without looking back, “I checked your father’s body and pulse earlier. His pulse was steady, there were no injuries, but he remained unconscious. Just like the doctors said, his vital signs were normal. It made no sense. So I examined his consciousness and found his spiritual light dimmed—a sign that his three souls and seven spirits had left his body.”

Jiang Kongqing was baffled by the terms “consciousness” and “spiritual light”; she didn’t understand a word.

Before she could ask, Zhang Xiao continued, “The three souls and seven spirits make up a person’s soul. In simple terms, your father’s body is here, but his soul is gone.”

With this explanation, she finally grasped the gravity of the situation. “Then what should we do?” she asked anxiously.

Zhang Xiao glanced at her as if she were slow-witted. “What do you think? Of course, we have to bring his soul back. Since he collapsed in his office, it means his soul was still here at the time. This is the scene of the incident, which is why we needed to come back.”

He suddenly stopped, closed his eyes.

Seeing him pause, Jiang Kongqing grew impatient. “Now that we’re here, what do we do?”

Zhang Xiao gestured for silence, and she quickly covered her mouth.

After a moment, he opened his eyes and smiled. “Found it.”

With that, he strode purposefully out of the office, and Jiang Kongqing hurried after him.

They left the office and went straight to the rooftop of the building, stopping finally in a corner.