Chapter 280 - 145: Xie Yiren, Your Saintess, My (Su Ran’s) Girlfriend

Chapter 280: Chapter 145: Xie Yiren, Your Saintess, My (Su Ran’s) Girlfriend

The firelight illuminated the entire courtyard. Bloodlust filled the crimson night sky.

"I’ll go drag him out!"

"Wait!"

Ah Hu grabbed his hunting rifle and was about to charge in when an old man stopped him. This was the same man who, during dinner, had told Su Ran, ’The Saintess is inviolable.’ He was the Second Elder of this village, Wang Cangsong.

The courtyard was filled with indignant villagers, all shouting curses. The Second Elder’s frown deepened. He glanced at the young man beside him, Gao Bing. It was Gao Bing who had first wondered if the Saintess’s house was being robbed. Thinking something was off, he had crept to the door, eavesdropped on the conversation inside, and then reported to the Second Elder that ’the Saintess and Boss Su were engaged in illicit acts in the room.’

The Second Elder scanned the crowd but didn’t see the Grand Elder, Xie Song—Yiren’s grandfather. A strange expression flickered across his deeply wrinkled face. Leaning on his cane, he pushed through the crowd to the front and stared at the house.

"Boss Su, of all the windows to climb, you just had to climb the Saintess’s! We told you, the Saintess is the most sacred and inviolable person in our village! We treated you like one of our own, yet you wanted to sleep with her! I knew something was wrong with you two! If you’re a man, get out here! Otherwise, we’ll set this house on fire and burn you both to death!"

The Second Elder’s furious, anguished voice, mingled with the villagers’ curses, penetrated the walls of the house.

Su Ran savored the lingering sweetness on his lips as he looked at the damp and disheveled Xie Yiren.

’Such feudal-minded relics,’ he thought. ’And so damn aggressive.’

’Can’t even have a little fun in peace. This is a first for me.’

Su Ran grabbed her nightgown, wrapped it around her delicate body, and reached out to stroke her face.

"Are you scared?"

"No."

"Then wait in the room. I’ll go out and handle this."

Su Ran swung his legs off the bed, but Xie Yiren reached out and pulled him back.

"Don’t go out! If you do, they’ll kill you! Climb out the window and run. With... with Ah Weng around, they... they wouldn’t dare do anything to me."

"Don’t go out."

The firelight flickered on her face. Two crystalline tears streamed down her cheeks and fell onto Su Ran’s arm.

She knew all too well how the previous Saintess and the man she loved had died.

She didn’t want Su Ran to go out and get himself killed. She hoped he would be ruthless, even if it meant being a heartless jerk who abandoned her. As long as he was safe, that’s all that mattered. She had made her mistake, and she would bear the consequences herself.

Su Ran was furious now. He flung Xie Yiren’s hand off and said sternly, "There’s a perfectly good door. Why should I climb out a window? Let me tell you something, Xie Yiren, you can’t hide a fire with paper. Even if we hadn’t been discovered tonight, they would have found out about us sooner or later. I, Su Ran, don’t do things like a common thief. Since everyone knows, I’ll settle this once and for all tonight! That way, we won’t have to be so damn nervous every time we’re together."

"..."

Xie Yiren was speechless. ’He’s still thinking about *that* at a time like this?’

’Truly, the unflappable Young Master Su, facing death without a care.’

His words were crude, but his reasoning was sound. Doing it while on pins and needles was indeed nerve-wracking. You can’t relax, and it could easily lead to... performance issues. For instance, that sudden gunshot had really set Su Ran off.

’What the hell is this?’

’Can’t a man just enjoy a quiet moment with his girlfriend? Is there no justice in this world? Are there no laws?’

Su Ran picked up the clothes and draped them over Xie Yiren again. He gripped her shoulders, looking into her reddened eyes. "What’s there to be afraid of? Relax. As long as I, Su Ran, am here, nothing terrible will happen!"

"But..."

"No buts. Stay in here and get dressed!"

After speaking, he gave Xie Yiren a quick kiss on the lips and patted her shoulder reassuringly. Then he turned and strode resolutely toward the door.

DING—

At a critical moment like this, with the host’s life in danger, the system naturally wouldn’t sit idly by.

’Agility +50’

’Speed +60’

’Strength +70’

’Burst Power +80’

’Emergency Override: Finger Technique Fragrance changed to Wing Chun Mastery’

’All System Emergency Response Skills: Activated’

You live on the edge; the system keeps you steady.

The Divine Rich only needs to enjoy life; the system is his escort.

"Turn them off! Turn off all emergency functions! I don’t need any of this to walk out of here safely!"

He was furious.

He yanked the door open and strode out, stopping under the eaves. His pupils reflected countless pairs of furious eyes and the towering flames.

’You animal! You bastard! We treated you like one of us, and you defile the Saintess! I’ll kill you!’

Ah Hu raised his hunting rifle and aimed it at Su Ran, but the Second Elder covered the muzzle and barked, "Stand down!" Leaning on his cane, he took another step forward, looking at the fearless Su Ran. He looked like a gentle scholar; the Elder hadn’t expected him to walk out alone.

"Boss Su, what were you doing in the Saintess’s room?"

Su Ran glanced at the furious Ah Hu, then took a step down from the doorway, his eyes fixed on the Second Elder at the head of the crowd.

"It’s the middle of the night. What do you think I was doing in the Saintess’s room?"

"So you and the Saintess really are having an affair, right?"

The Second Elder thumped his cane on the ground, his deeply wrinkled face etched with boundless fury. Behind him, the villagers looked like wild beasts, ready to charge at any moment.

"Having an affair? Don’t make it sound so sordid." Su Ran took another step down. "Since things have come to this, I won’t hide it any longer. Xie Yiren! Your Saintess! Is my girlfriend!"

His voice rang out, powerful and fearless.

"Since Boss Su is being so honest, we’ll give you a proper send-off. Men! Seize Boss Su and Xie Yiren! Build the pyre!"

With a wave of the Second Elder’s hand, Ah Hu and the others charged at Su Ran, shouting curses.

But Su Ran wasn’t panicking. Because Su Ran was a man who used his head, and he understood one simple principle: the weakness of human nature.

Attacking the mind is the only true strategy.

Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.

Su Ran possessed one power that could fell even the strongest martial artist: Cash-Ability!

There’s nothing money can’t solve. If it can’t, you just aren’t using enough.

Time for some psychological warfare.

"What century are you living in? You still want to carry out a lynching? Even if you do, let me tell you, Ah Hu, you’ve picked the wrong target. Do this to a nobody and maybe no one finds out. But do you really think no one will find out if you kill a rich man? How long have you been married? You don’t want to become a murderer, get sentenced to death, and leave your wife all alone in the world, do you?"

Su Ran couldn’t reason with the old hardliners, but he had ways to deal with these young men in their twenties and thirties.

Seeing him hesitate, Su Ran continued: "Choose whether you want to go to jail or live a good life. Think it over carefully! And you—Liu He!"

Su Ran turned to another hulking man holding a machete.

"I heard your father fell and was seriously injured while gathering dendrobium orchids up on the mountain. With no money for proper treatment, he’s just been applying herbal poultices every day. His condition is getting worse. Yiren even had someone at a hospital in Shanghai look up the surgery costs for you. It’s hundreds of thousands. You don’t have the money. You’re a good son; you hate that you can’t save your father. But have you thought about this? If you kill me, you’ll go to prison. What will happen to your dad then?"

Su Ran didn’t give him a moment to think, driving the point home. "You don’t know what to do because you’re about to become a murderer and be thrown in prison! Go home and ask your bedridden father! Ask him if he wants his son to be a murderer!"

"And you, Liu Qiang. Don’t you dream of owning your own BYD car? You don’t want to end up in prison before you’ve even gotten your hands on a steering wheel, do you?"

"This is a society of laws, not some primitive tribe! You think you can commit murder and arson and no one will come after you? HUH?"

Su Ran’s roar made the young men flinch. They were cowed by his sheer presence, but they also began to hesitate. ’He’s right... Su Ran is super rich. The death of someone like that wouldn’t be a small matter. There would definitely be an investigation. We’d really become murderers.’

Their resolve began to waver.

Su Ran seized the opportunity to deliver the final psychological blow.

Su Ran was going to teach these people a lesson they wouldn’t forget.

All he had to do was drill it into their heads that murder meant prison or execution, and not one of them would dare make a move.

*Sigh...*

Su Ran shook his head, feigning disappointment.

Ah Hu and the others were genuinely wavering. They might not be well-educated—kindergarten level on average—but as young men, they’d seen a glimpse of the outside world and yearned for its glitz and glamour. After Su Ran’s "brainwashing," they had to admit he had a point.

Ah Hu gave Liu He a look: "You go."

Liu He: "Why don’t you go?"

Ah Hu: "Liu Qiang, you do it. Kill Su Ran, and you’ll be an elder of the village."

Liu Qiang: "Don’t you want to be an elder the most? You go."

Terrified of being labeled ’murderers,’ none of them dared to step forward. Wasn’t a good life more appealing? Besides, being the Ninth Elder didn’t even pay.

"Hngh!" The Second Elder was fuming, his whiskers trembling with rage. He turned to his son beside him. "Wang Yue, go kill Su Ran! We can’t let him keep spewing his poison, or our village is done for!"

"Fine, I’ll do it!"

Wang Yue stepped out from the crowd, shoved Liu He aside, and snatched the hunting rifle from Ah Hu’s hands.

’This...’

Su Ran’s brow twitched. ’So clever all my life, yet so stupid for one moment.’ He had accurately predicted everyone’s weakness but had failed to account for the Second Elder being this ruthless!

"Su Ran, our village may have been poor since ancient times, but our people are simple and honest. They all treated you with the utmost respect, and were even planning to erect a statue for you!"

KLIK-KLAK. He chambered a round and aimed the gun at Su Ran.

’DING! All emergency skills have been forcibly activated.’

This was a mandatory measure the system took when it sensed the host was in mortal danger.

"Die, Su Ran!"

Wang Yue’s eyes, filled with killing intent, locked onto the outsider as he was about to squeeze the trigger.

"Wang Yue..."

At that moment, a soft voice drifted from inside the house.

Xie Yiren rose from her dressing table and walked toward the door. With every step of her embroidered shoes, the silver ornaments on her clothes chimed with a clear, tinkling sound. She walked toward the firelight. Her pale hands emerged from the cuffs of her Miaojiang dress, pulled the heavy doors open, and she stepped across the threshold.

Su Ran turned his head, his eyes widening. She was dressed in a white Miaojiang ceremonial outfit, heavily adorned with silver. A magnificent Phoenix was embroidered on it with golden thread. This was the raiment of the Saintess, worn only on the most sacred festival days.

Upon seeing this attire, all the villagers placed their left hands over their right breasts and bowed deeply in reverence.