Chapter 10: A Big Loss!

This was Lu Xuan's first time killing a man.

There was no fear... no nausea... no trembling. His whole body was filled with nothing but relief, more than a decade of repression... finally released.

Lu Xuan didn't linger. He wiped the blood off his arm with the servant's own clothes, then quickly searched the body.

Two silver pieces, a few dozen copper coins, and a dagger.

He pocketed the silver, took back the embroidery, folded it carefully, and tucked it into his sleeve.

Then he looked at the corpse on the ground. He knew there was a dry well deeper in the alley, so he dragged the body over, threw it in, and covered it with the stone lid.

He dusted off his hands and walked out of the alley without looking back.

Back at the entrance of the escort agency, the escort warrior who had delivered the news was waiting for him.

"Is your wife alright?"

"She's fine," Lu Xuan said. "She went home."

The escort warrior nodded and didn't ask further.

Lu Xuan sat in the gatehouse and took out the embroidery, placing it on the table.

Two cranes by the water... the piece Shen Yuyan had been working on for days. He looked at it for a long time.

Evening.

Lu Xuan closed the gate and walked home.

Shen Yuyan was in front of the stove, cooking. When she heard the door, she turned her head.

Her veil was already off... the moonlight catching her face, her eyes still a little red from earlier.

"Husband, you're back."

She tried to smile. It almost worked... if he hadn't known better.

"Mm."

Lu Xuan walked over, took the embroidery from his sleeve, and placed it gently on the table.

Shen Yuyan froze.

"This... how is it in your hands?"

Lu Xuan didn't answer.

Shen Yuyan lowered her head and was silent for a while.

She hadn't wanted Lu Xuan to know about what happened at the market.

She was used to being bullied... had been since she was a child, and she was terrified that if Lu Xuan found out, he would do something reckless and get himself hurt.

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Whatever she could endure, she tried her best to swallow.

She just hadn't expected that he would find out anyway.

Shen Yuyan looked up and forced a smile. "Dinner is almost ready. Go wash your hands."

Lu Xuan looked at her without speaking.

The redness around her eyes and the smile that didn't quite reach them, the way she held herself together like she'd been doing it her entire life.

He turned and went to the well to wash his hands.

When he sat back down, he placed two silver pieces and a handful of copper coins on the table.

Shen Yuyan stared at them, confused.

"This..."

"I went to the Lu Family estate and demanded it. Lu Tianhe compensated me for the trouble."

Shen Yuyan opened her mouth.

She was clearly thinking... How is that possible?

But seeing that Lu Xuan had already picked up his bowl and started eating with his head down, clearly not wanting to say more... she swallowed her questions back.

Perhaps he had suffered too many insults while standing up for her, or perhaps he didn't want to relive it.

She didn't press.

Instead, she picked up a piece of egg with her hands and, after peeling it for him, placed it gently into Lu Xuan's bowl.

"Husband... eat the egg."

Lu Xuan looked at the egg in his bowl, then at her.

Under the lamplight, her face was soft and warm... and her eyes, though still red, were looking at him with something he had never received from another soul in either of his lifetimes.

He ate the egg.

It was the best thing he had ever tasted. He had a feeling that he would need a lot of energy for tonight.

Early morning.

Lu Xuan opened his eyes. Sunlight filtered through the window and fell in front of the bed.

Shen Yuyan was still sleeping, not waking up early as usual. Her eyelashes trembled slightly, her breathing was even, and one hand rested on his chest.

Lu Xuan didn't move, afraid to wake her. These past few days had truly exhausted her.

Last night... three times. He looked at the ceiling. If this continued, even he wouldn't be able to handle it.

It wasn't that his body couldn't take it... in the Martial Apprentice Realm, with True Energy protecting his body, he could go for three days and three nights without issue. Don't doubt it.

It was the time that he couldn't afford to waste. Tossing and turning all night meant less sleep, and less sleep meant slower growth in his cultivation. A simple logic, but such a difficult decision when you had a wife like a fairy.

Lu Xuan sighed and did some silent calculations in his heart. Three times a night, each time half an hour, meant an hour and a half gone.

Sleeping for four hours could increase a year's worth of cultivation. An hour and a half gone, just like that, was equivalent to someone else's half a year of hard cultivation.

A loss, a big loss.

No, he had to control it!

Shen Yuyan moved slightly and opened her eyes to see him staring blankly at the ceiling, lost in thought.

"Husband, what are you thinking about?"

"Nothing."

Lu Xuan's frown softened into a smile as he slowly sat up and put on his clothes. Shen Yuyan also got up and went to the stove to light a fire and cook.

Lu Xuan walked into the courtyard and took a deep breath, looking at the invisible screen in front of him.

[Ding! Sleep Cultivation complete.]

[Five Animals Transformation Art progress: 50%.]

[Mastered forms: Deer Form (Perfection), Tiger Form (90%), Bear Form (40%), Crane Form (30%), Ape Form (5%).]

[Current Realm: Martial Apprentice Realm: Level Two.]

Five Animals Transformation Art... all five animals had been initiated.

Deer Form was at Perfection, movement like the wind.

Tiger Form was at Minor Achievement, pouncing at enemies like thunder.

Bear Form had just touched the threshold, body as heavy as a mountain.

Ape Form and Crane Form still had a long way to go, but at least there was a direction.

Rotating through the five forms was equivalent to cultivating five techniques simultaneously, with an efficiency five times that of others.

Coupled with automatic cultivation while sleeping...

Lu Xuan clenched his fists. Martial Apprentice Realm, Level Two.

A few more days of sleep, and he could reach the third, fourth, fifth level...

By then, the disciples of the Lu Family would be no match for him.