Chapter 96: What Words Are the Most Poisonous to a Woman?
Chapter 96: What Words Wound a Woman Most
Regret crept over Zheng Jian as he thought of failing to exploit Crow. Yet, no matter—if he could reap so much resentment value in the world of Smiling Proud Wanderer, then surely he could do the same here, perhaps even more!
At this point, you, dear readers, might ask: why would there be even more in this world?
Let’s highlight the key point! What defines the people of classical martial arts worlds?
The answer is simple: cold, aloof, and a congregation of those who love to posture. Each one is a legendary master of pretense! Take Ximen Chuixue, who treasures his words as gold—need I say more? Even here, Yan Shisan, the Third Young Master, and even the Crow he’d met earlier were all peerless paragons of pretension.
Now, with Zheng Jian among them, he was like a husky mingling with a pack of brooding, dazzling wolves. Just a few words from him could raise the blood pressure of these sword-wielding poseurs—wouldn’t resentment pour in like a flood?
…
Night deepened. By rights, since Zheng Jian had taken over this unwanted tavern, he should have closed up for the night. Yet he didn’t—he was waiting.
Waiting for those who had driven Gao Tong into a panicked flight with a single sword strike.
If he’d resolved to shear sheep, Zheng Jian wasn’t afraid of trouble anymore—he almost wished someone would come seeking it right away.
In the late hours, a carriage rolled into the small town, its movement neither loud nor quiet, neither rushed nor slow.
It halted in front of the tavern. The driver, an old man with a face mapped by wrinkles, sat at the reins.
A voice called from inside the carriage, “Innkeeper, bring a jug of wine to warm me!”
Hearing this, Zheng Jian glanced at the coachman and smiled. “Of course, just a moment.”
He casually took out a jug of wine and placed it on the table. “That’ll be five taels of silver.”
Don’t ask why—expensive is the only answer!
The old coachman said nothing. The carriage door opened, and out stepped a figure entirely shrouded in black, from the broad robe to the headscarf and even a black veil covering the face—only a pair of eyes was left exposed.
Seeing this attire, Zheng Jian couldn’t help but shake his head. “Damn, do people in this world really love black so much?”
Crow had been dressed in black during the day, and now, in the dead of night, here came another—blacker still.
The black-clad figure took a seat. From the depths of those eyes, a hand emerged from a black sleeve—smooth, pale as jade.
It was a truly beautiful hand. Even after Zheng Jian’s own body had been refined and transformed, his hands didn’t look so exquisite. In fact, no matter how delicate a man, none had hands as lovely as this.
The masked figure gripped the wine jug and drank. Even while drinking, the wine had to be delivered beneath the veil.
In a word: meticulous!
“I didn’t expect the tavern keeper to be so young. Wasn’t there an old man here before?” The voice was strange, muffled.
Zheng Jian paused before replying, “There are plenty of things you can’t imagine. This is just one of them.”
The black-clad stranger was momentarily taken aback. That was an interesting answer.
“Resentment value from Xue Keran: +100.”
Zheng Jian was also surprised by the system prompt. Judging by the name, this was a woman?
Xue Keran shook her head and poured another cup, sliding it towards Zheng Jian. “Care for a drink?”
He said nothing, still pondering who Xue Keran could be.
She grew slightly annoyed. “Will you drink or not?”
Zheng Jian retorted casually, “Why should I?”
“If you refuse, it means you look down on me!” Xue Keran’s voice shifted, becoming unconsciously delicate and melodious.
Zheng Jian mused again, then answered, “Nonsense! Even if I drink, I still look down on you. And if I get drunk, I won’t even see you!”
Xue Keran: “…”
“Resentment value from Xue Keran: +999.”
Zheng Jian’s heart leapt with joy. Business had begun! A mere hundred points was nothing for a heroine—directly getting nine hundred ninety-nine was more in line with the women of the classic martial world.
Xue Keran paused, truly flustered by his words. She was stunned for a long while, but then suddenly laughed—soft and clear. “You’re quite an interesting person.”
Zheng Jian mused again, “Oh? Interesting? How interesting? How much?”
A major client had arrived. He wouldn’t let go so easily, especially one whose mood was so easily stirred!
Zheng Jian loved these big clients. The last such generous one had been Ren Woxing.
As expected, Xue Keran was caught off guard again, her mood jarred.
“Resentment value from Xue Keran: +666.”
Unwilling to accept defeat, Xue Keran thought for a moment and asked, “Then do you want to see what I look like?”
This time, Zheng Jian didn’t hesitate, replying flatly, “No.”
“Resentment value from Xue Keran: +666.”
Zheng Jian grinned inwardly. This woman was incredible—a veritable boss for harvesting resentment points!
“Why?” she pressed. “What if… I’m a great beauty?”
“You already said, ‘what if’—so why ask why?” Zheng Jian replied.
This time, no more resentment points appeared. Instead, Xue Keran sighed. “A beautiful woman always hopes to be looked at. If she’s refused, she’ll be hurt and may even feel insulted.”
“And when she’s hurt, she might do strange things. For example, smash up this tavern!”
Zheng Jian was unfazed. “Smash it if you like. I picked this tavern up for free. It doesn’t matter.”
Xue Keran: “…”
Resentment value from Xue Keran: +666.
However, she did not smash anything. Instead, she rose, and with a flick of her right hand behind her head, the veil and scarf fell away. Her left hand moved at her waist, and the entire black robe slipped to the floor.
In an instant, she stood there, not a scrap of cloth upon her.
Her skin was as creamy as the finest porcelain, as smooth as silk, soft and alluring.
“Well? Am I beautiful?” Xue Keran slowly turned in place.
Outside, the old coachman sat on the carriage like a statue, deaf to all that transpired within, his eyes averted.
Zheng Jian glanced at her long legs, then looked further up—well, let’s not write any more or the censors will come...
In any case, Zheng Jian said, “Miss, your chest isn’t even as big as my eyes!” He’d said it on purpose.
Sure enough, in the next moment: “Resentment value from Xue Keran: +1999!”
There was no helping it—the blow from that remark was devastating!
Just look, a single round of resentment points broke all his previous records. Until now, the highest he’d ever received in one go was 999, but with that one sentence, it shot up to 1999. Clearly, Xue Keran was on the verge of becoming a bitter woman…
Zheng Jian was secretly delighted. In just this short while, Xue Keran had provided over five thousand resentment points—and, of course, a couple of bonus rewards to go with them, the trembling kind.
…
(End of chapter)