"Qiye, really... are you really going to take it back? Qiye, maybe just let it go?"
Chen Qiang looked at his son, feeling as though enormous changes had taken place in Chen Qiye over the span of just a few seconds. Yet upon closer inspection, he couldn't quite pinpoint what was different.
Most importantly, faced with the goddess of his affections arriving at their doorstep and his son stepping up to handle it, Chen Qiang stuttered, keeping his head down, filled with awkwardness and self-loathing. As a veteran simpering devotee, he didn't even dare to look Zhao Rongfei straight in the eye at this moment.
"What—what did you say?"
"Sword? What sword? This sword was a gift from your father. Once a gift is given, you want it back?"
Zhao Rongfei had still been looking down on Chen Qiye and Chen Qiang from a position of superiority, but the moment Chen Qiye's words fell, she froze.
Take it back?
Can a gift that's already been given away be taken back?
The sword in her hand was a genuine Heaven-grade Profound Ice Sword! Heaven-grade spirit artifacts were few and far between in the entire Weicheng, and this was her primary source of pride and the prop she relied on to show off all these years. Now, he was actually saying he wanted it back? This completely caught Zhao Rongfei off guard.
In truth, Zhao Rongfei wasn't surprised by Chen Qiye's return. She had caught wind in advance that Chen Qiye had offended people from the Yuhua Dynasty, and that agents of the Yuhua Dynasty were about to arrive and annihilate Chen Qiye with a single gesture. That was why she had come ahead of time to sever ties with Chen Qiang!
Over the years, Chen Qiang had given her far too many things. Last year, half-reluctantly, she had even agreed to marry Chen Qiang. Back then, from her perspective, Chen Qiang was the head of a wealthy household. More importantly, Chen Qiang's son, Chen Qiye, was the pinnacle genius of the Qingxuan Sect; the Chen family was bound to rise against the odds in the future. Within twenty years, barring any accidents, the Chen family would undoubtedly become the premier wealthy clan in Weicheng. She had been quite satisfied with Chen Qiang, this devoted simp.
But now, people from the Yuhua Dynasty were about to strike in Weicheng, and the Chen family was on the verge of ruin. How could she, Zhao Rongfei, possibly marry a simp from a declining family! Furthermore, over the past two years, she had met someone else outside—someone she considered to be her destined soulmate!
"Why? You're the one severing ties with my father, so shouldn't you return the things my father gave you?"
Chen Qiye's mind was now completely clear. When he raised his head, his eyes were calm and composed. Toward a gold-digger like this, Chen Qiye had been filled with utter contempt even before his transmigration! The poison of Pan Jinlian, the deceitful smile of Yan Dongping—perhaps now he could add the arrogance of the Zhao Rongfei before him! Did she really hold her own father in such disdain and contempt?
"You, I..." A tightness gripped Zhao Rongfei's chest; for a moment, she couldn't think of a single retort.
"When your Zhao family was nearly ruined and on the verge of total destruction back then, you were almost sold into a brothel. It was my father who exhausted everything to rescue you from that fire pit! For these past twelve years, he has given you nearly all of his most precious treasures to aid your cultivation and help you progress!"
"What have you done all these years? My father poured his heart and soul out for you, yet all you ever did was play scheming little mind games with him! Did you treat my father as nothing more than a simp from start to finish? Without my father, what on earth are you?! What gives you the right to come here and sever ties with my father from such a high and mighty stance?"
"Fine! Since you want to cut ties, I'll grant your wish! Third Brother, aside from giving this woman that Heaven-grade spirit sword, what else did our father give away?"
Seeing Zhao Rongfei at a loss for words, Chen Qiye saw right through the gold-digger's mindset: she had no intention of returning anything at all! One gold-digger succeeds, a million simps are left as skeletons!
"Ah, Second Brother... Our father also gave her the Heaven-king-grade defense ring you sent back last year, plus the Grade-Four spirit artifact Mountain-River Seal, the Grade-Five spirit artifact State-Preserving Long Spear... and the spirit herbs and elixirs from nearly half our family's treasury..."
Third Master Chen was stunned by Chen Qiye's actions. Seeing Chen Qiye suddenly look his way, he spoke up instinctively.
"What?! Dad, you practically hollowed out our family's foundation like this?" Hearing Third Master speak up nervously, even Chen Qiye was taken aback.
When it came to being a simp, his own old man had reached that kind of tier? Damn it, didn't anyone in the family try to stop him? And despite all this, this gold-digger actually had the audacity to show up directly at the Chen family's doorstep during their hour of crisis to sever ties? Where on earth did she get the face and the courage? She even wore a grievance-filled expression, looking on the verge of tears as if she had suffered a terrible injustice!
"Chen Qiye? You're that genius youth of the Chen family?"
"Hmph! What are you shouting for! You're about to die anyway, everyone in Weicheng knows it. The people from the Yuhua Dynasty are arriving any minute now. Instead of running for your life, how dare you stand here trying to beg for things back?"
"Besides, there's no reason to take back a gift once it's given! That stuff was something your father insisted on giving; he begged our Rongfei to accept it, he..."
Standing beside Zhao Rongfei was a girl who played the role of her best friend. Wearing a golden hairpin and an angry expression, she shielded Zhao Rongfei and stepped forward directly to berate Chen Qiye!
"Shut your trap!"
"Playing the whore while wanting to set up a monument to your own chastity? You people are nothing but gold-diggers! My Chen family treated you with absolute sincerity and practically emptied our family treasury. Now that my Chen family is in trouble, you kick us while we're down and refuse to return our family's property? Do you really take me, Chen Qiye, for someone easy to bully?"
Chen Qiye took a direct step forward and lashed out with a phantom slap toward Zhao Rongfei's friend. The woman who had just tried to turn black into white felt a sudden, searing agony across her face. Her body shook violently, and she staggered back three full steps!
"You—how dare you hit me? You... are you even a man, hitting a woman?" Zhao Rongfei's friend retreated while covering her face, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth!
"Not only am I going to hit you, but if you dare twist the truth again, I'll make sure you don't live to see tomorrow! I, Chen Qiye, killing a young lady of Weicheng—I doubt anyone would dare go to the Qingxuan Sect to seek revenge for it!"
As his voice fell, the aura around Chen Qiye surged dramatically once more! Three days ago, Chen Qiye had broken through from the Tianxuan Realm into the Shenxuan Realm. In Weicheng, this remote little city in Jiang Country, he was now truly considered an expert.
As Chen Qiye's oppressive pressure erupted, many of the onlookers instantly felt a massive weight bearing down on them.
"So this is Chen Qiang's genius son? Truly formidable!"
"That slap he just landed was satisfying as hell, though! Exactly—she wants to play the whore and still set up a chastity arch! If you're going to break ties, why not return the things? Even if you talk until the heavens crack, there's no such thing as behaving like that!"
"That's right, if you look down on someone, why take their stuff in the first place? I know about the time the Zhao family was nearly wiped out years ago—it was indeed the Chen family risking their lives to fight and save them! And afterward, the Chen family spared no expense showering this woman with gifts..."
"Is he really Chen Qiye? How does he dare return to Weicheng? Aren't the people from the Yuhua Dynasty supposed to arrive? Weren't they coming to kill him..."
With Chen Qiye's outburst, many of the onlookers gathered in front of the Chen family residence began to murmur. Some discussed the Yuhua Dynasty, but more and more gazes shifted toward Zhao Rongfei!
Especially among the onlookers, quite a few knew some of the truth from back then. The way they looked at Zhao Rongfei clearly changed. In particular, many of the men in the crowd who had also acted as simps in the past felt a sympathetic sting; looking at Zhao Rongfei, their eyes were filled with rage and contempt!
Trapped within the maze without knowing it, acting as a simp without self-awareness—those caught in the thick of it are blind! Chen Qiye's words woke up many others who had played the role of the simp and laid bare the true nature of these old gold-diggers! Damn it, they really were gold-diggers!
"You, you... I'll return the sword to you, alright? I'll return it!"
Seeing the drastic shift in the situation before her, Zhao Rongfei suddenly panicked! She had deliberately used certain methods to lure these people here to watch the spectacle; she had wanted everyone to know publicly that she was severing ties with the Chen family. Yet she never dreamed in her wildest dreams that Chen Qiye would return and, with just a few words, strip her bare before everyone's eyes!
As she hurled the Heaven-grade spirit sword back, her heart ached as if it were bleeding!
"That Heaven-grade spirit artifact on your neck—the Divine Sea Defense Necklace—that was a gift from my father too, wasn't it?"
"And that Earth-grade defensive treasured robe you're wearing is likewise from our Chen family! Not to mention the storage ring on your thumb!"
The moment she threw out the long sword, Chen Qiye took yet another step forward!
"Chen Qiye, don't push your luck, you..."
"Slap!"
Seeing this, the blue-dressed best friend standing beside Zhao Rongfei couldn't help speaking up again. But this time, her words didn't even finish before Chen Qiye waved his hand casually, sending her body flying backward like a kite with a snapped string!