After Liu Yongzhi finished speaking, he prepared to leave the hall.
Ye Xuan suddenly spoke up. "If you’re truly unwilling, don’t force it. Otherwise, let’s just call off this marriage. I don’t want to get married anyway. I have no interest in women."
Having been hurt by the person he loved most, Ye Xuan genuinely had no interest in women for the foreseeable future. Without even a spark of interest, marriage was completely out of the question. Absolutely impossible.
Liu Yongzhi, however, was resolute. "It cannot be canceled! A City Lord’s word is absolute, and a single promise is worth a thousand pieces of gold. What would a country bumpkin like you understand? Zheng Yuan, let’s go."
"Yongzhi, are you really leaving? Won’t you stay for a couple more days?" Gongsun Wenjin asked, standing up to see them off.
"We won’t stay. In a few days, I will send you a letter to inform you of the Liu Family’s decision. Rest assured, we will definitely give the Gongsun Family a satisfactory answer," Liu Yongzhi replied.
Liu Yongzhi stepped into the courtyard and whistled at the sky. A massive bird descended, appearing as if it had plummeted from above the clouds. The creature was gigantic, measuring a full twenty meters across, and could easily carry hundreds of people on its back.
This was a Rank-Six Beast, a Flying Cloud Eagle. A single eagle of this caliber could obliterate an entire town. A Flying Cloud Eagle could not simply be trained as a mount; it could only be tamed by being beaten into submission by a formidable expert. This had to be City Lord Zhiyue’s personal beast pet.
Ye Xuan watched as the group flew away, his brow furrowed in thought. "Why is that old man so stubborn? Since he doesn’t want to marry off his granddaughter, and I don’t want to marry her, why is he holding onto his pride as if his life depends on it? How on earth can this marriage be canceled?"
As Ye Xuan pondered this, Gongsun Wenjin closed the hall doors and looked at him with a solemn expression. "Ye Xuan, I have something to ask you."
"What is it?" Ye Xuan asked, his expression calm.
"What is inside the Forbidden Area? And how did you get out?!"
At these words, both Gongsun Yanran and Gongsun Xin perked up. They were both eager to know the answer.
"I wanted to ask you the same thing. Didn’t you say that entering the Forbidden Area meant near-certain death? Why didn’t I encounter anything at all when I went inside?" Ye Xuan replied.
"You didn’t encounter anything? No danger?" Gongsun Wenjin furrowed his brow instantly.
Ye Xuan nodded, not blushing in the slightest as he lied. There was no way he would tell the Gongsun Family that he had accidentally obtained a supreme treasure of the Buddhist Sect, the Demon Subduing Scripture, and subsequently subdued a Spirit Corpse.
"Impossible! How could there be no danger?! What kind of world is it inside? And how did you manage to get out?"
"Inside, it’s like a Secret Realm. But there’s absolutely nothing—no birds, no Beasts, not even a breeze. The isolation was overwhelming, and I nearly couldn’t bear it. Fortunately, my luck was good, and I found the exit to the Secret Realm."
Upon hearing Ye Xuan’s words, Gongsun Xin and Gongsun Wenjin fell silent. They exchanged a glance, clearly unconvinced.
Ye Xuan continued, "If you don’t believe me, you can send more people inside. There is absolutely nothing in there. It’s just that finding the exit is a bit difficult. However, I can tell them that the exit is a Big Mountain with three colors: gray, white, and black. If you smash directly into a specific point on the Big Mountain, you can get out. If you hit the wrong spot, you’ll only end up knocking yourself dizzy."
"Are you certain you didn’t encounter any danger?"
"If I had encountered danger, would I still be standing here?"
"Impossible! For all these years, not a single person has emerged from there in one piece. Even those who did come out turned into blood-drinking monsters. Could it be... has some sort of change occurred within the Forbidden Area?" Gongsun Wenjin’s brow was tightly knit, entirely baffled.
Ye Xuan shrugged. "I wouldn’t know about that. Maybe I just got lucky and happened to avoid any danger this time."
Gongsun Wenjin stared into Ye Xuan’s eyes as if trying to peer straight through to his soul. After a long moment, he finally asked, "Could you draw a detailed map of the exit’s location for me? It might be useful the next time we draw lots."
"Sure."
Ye Xuan picked up a pen and paper and began to sketch out a map. The map was only a rough outline, but anyone who went inside, no matter how terrible their luck, would definitely be able to find the exit after a year or a half of searching.
"Father, since Xuan’Er has made it out of the Forbidden Area alive, does this mean you won’t make things difficult for him anymore?" Gongsun Yanran’s voice carried a clear note of joy.
Gongsun Wenjin remained silent for a long time before finally nodding. "From today onward, Ye Xuan is permitted to enter and leave the Gongsun Family estate freely. You may bestow upon him the Golden-Winged Roc Robe."
"Thank you, Father!" Gongsun Yanran finally smiled. Being granted the Clan Uniform meant his identity had been officially recognized. Her smile was radiant, brimming with elegance. This was the unique charm of a mature woman.
"Father, if there is nothing else, we’ll be heading back now."
"Wait a moment. There is one more thing."
"What is it, Father?"
"It’s about the marriage arrangement with the Liu Family, of course. Ye Xuan, I am asking you—do you want to marry a woman from the Liu Family? I want the truth."
Ye Xuan immediately shook his head. "No."
Gongsun Wenjin frowned. "Tell the truth!"
Ye Xuan replied with absolute certainty, "That is the truth. I don’t want to."
"Hm? You really don’t want to?" Gongsun Wenjin was deeply astonished. He had assumed Ye Xuan was merely playing hard to get, retreating in order to advance. "Ye Xuan, you are an illegitimate child. But if you marry the young lady of the Liu Family, your status will rise with the tide because of her. Even if your uncles and aunts look down on you in their hearts, they will give face to the young lady of the Liu Family and refrain from giving you trouble."
Once he finished speaking, Gongsun Yanran chimed in with agreement. "He’s right, Xuan’Er. This marriage arrangement brings no harm to you. Are you worried that the Liu Family’s young lady might be unattractive? From what I know, both the eldest and second young ladies of the Liu Family possess extraordinary beauty. Marrying either of them would not be a slight against you."
Ye Xuan’s eyes were cold as he replied, "No matter how beautiful a woman is, in my eyes, she is nothing more than a painted skeleton."
Ye Xuan’s words held an icy detachment that ordinary people lacked. It was as though he had long since seen through the mortal world and transcended the illusions of love. Gongsun Yanran, and even Gongsun Wenjin, were momentarily dumbfounded.
Suddenly, Gongsun Xin asked tentatively, "Ye Xuan, since you have no interest in women... could it be that you like men?"
Ye Xuan’s previously stoic expression immediately cracked. Caught between tears and laughter, he replied, "Uncle Xin, my orientation is perfectly normal."
"Oh, then I can rest easy. I thought your personality was twisted and you had a preference for men."
Ye Xuan’s face twitched as he explained, "I have simply been hurt by a woman before, and I temporarily have no interest in them."
"So you’ve been hurt. But as someone who has been there, let your Uncle Xin quietly share a piece of wisdom with you," Gongsun Xin said, suddenly leaning close to Ye Xuan’s ear and transmitting his voice. "When it comes to women, you don’t need romantic interest. Sexual interest is more than enough."
With that, Gongsun Xin patted Ye Xuan on the shoulder and gave him a look that only men understood. Ye Xuan was taken aback at first, but quickly realized what he meant. He wondered what kind of wild, inappropriate nonsense his Uncle Xin was spouting.
Ye Xuan replied in a low voice, "Uncle Xin, if it were merely a physical transaction, I could actually accept it. But taking one as a wife is out of the question. To be honest, I have very high standards for my future wife. If we cannot support each other through thick and thin and weather the storms together, what is the point of marriage?"