Protect Our Patriarch

……

Two hours later.

The raging waves and storm gradually subsided.

Peace returned to the Shuiyue Pavilion.

On the waterside terrace, the sunset was a deep red. Wang Shouzhe, draped in a robe, lounged comfortably in a chair, his eyes half-closed as if resting, playing with an ancient jade pendant in his hand.

Moments later.

Liu Ruolan brought over a pot of "Snow Crystal Rice and Red Blood Eel Congee," her voice gentle and tender. "This is a blood-nourishing congee I personally made for you, my husband. You've been working hard these past few months."

The rice was top-quality Snow Crystal Spiritual Rice, which only grew in rare ice-element spiritual veins. From planting to harvest, it took a full three years, making it extremely nutritious and beneficial for the body and spirit.

The eel was the finest Red Blood Spiritual Eel from An River. Its flesh was firm, tender, and smooth, with properties that replenished qi and blood. Combined with some special spiritual herbs, this congee was highly nourishing.

At this moment, Liu Ruolan's cheeks were slightly flushed, her complexion radiant and charming. Though she had already borne Wang Shouzhe two sons and two daughters, she was nearly forty years old. Yet her skin was even more delicate and smooth than when she first married, soft and flawless.

The most noticeable change was that she had shed the shyness of her youth and become more mature and alluring.

Wang Shouzhe's heart skipped a beat. He set the congee aside and grasped Liu Ruolan's delicate hand. "My dear wife, you are the matriarch of our household. You manage all the affairs of the inner courtyard and take care of Liyue and Zongrui. Such small tasks should be left to the cooks."

"How could that be?" Liu Ruolan raised her delicate eyebrows, her voice soft and gentle. "Before I got married, Mother told me that no matter how busy I am, I must always find time to cook some delicious food for my husband."

"Yes, yes, you're right." Wang Shouzhe quickly changed the subject, shaking the jade pendant in his hand. "Look, my dear, do you know what this is?"

"This jade pendant, is it the ancient jade pendant you mentioned earlier? Does it really contain a remnant soul?" Liu Ruolan picked up the jade pendant with curiosity. "I've never seen a remnant soul before."

"Be careful, my dear. Old Jiang's methods are very cunning," Wang Shouzhe warned.

However, before Liu Ruolan could respond, the remnant soul of Old Jiang, which had been dormant in the jade pendant for a long time, sprang into action.

The jade pendant suddenly emitted a dazzling light, and the remnant soul of Old Jiang shot out like lightning, clawing towards Liu Ruolan.

Accompanied by his voice, which shook the air with his soul power.

"Hahaha~~~ Wang, you were too careless. Just because you had the upper hand once, you think you can ignore me? Do you really think I'm a pushover? Once I take over her Lingtai, let's see what you can do to me!"

To be honest, Old Jiang didn't want to possess a woman, but since falling into Wang Shouzhe's hands, he had been trapped in the storage ring, never seeing the light of day. This opportunity was too rare to pass up.

If he missed it, he might be thrown back into the storage ring. Even if it meant living as a woman for the rest of his life, it was better than having his soul obliterated.

This...

Wang Shouzhe found the scene very familiar.

Wasn't this just like when Old Jiang tried to parasitize his Lingtai?

With Old Jiang's weak soul power, he couldn't even handle Wang Shouzhe, yet he was trying to parasitize Liu Ruolan... truly the ignorance of the fearless.

Sure enough.

Just as Old Jiang's soul was about to invade Liu Ruolan's Lingtai, a flash of blue light appeared in her clear eyes. Under the gathering of her powerful divine sense, a Dharma Aspect materialized behind her.

It was a figure resembling the goddess Xiangfei, graceful and surrounded by pure water-element power. The pressure it exuded was vast and overwhelming, like the ocean.

With just a glance, the powerful divine sense pressure firmly suppressed Old Jiang's remnant soul.

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Old Jiang felt as if a mountain was pressing down on him. Not only could his remnant soul not move an inch, but the terrifying divine sense power seemed to tear his weak soul apart.

"How, how is this possible?" His remnant soul consciousness fell into endless fear, almost screaming in rage. "How can your divine sense be so powerful? How can it be even more terrifying than that Wang kid?!"

In that instant, he felt like he was going mad.

What kind of freakish family is this Wang family?

The previous great prodigy who wielded ice power had already exceeded Old Jiang's expectations.

Even in the Han Yue Immortal Dynasty, great prodigies were extremely rare and highly esteemed.

Yet in this remote little family, he had seen not one, not two, but three great prodigies!

Damn it... could they be the royal family of the Great Qian?

No, no, impossible. He had once parasitized Zuoqiu Qingyun's Lingtai and understood this world. Even within the Great Qian royal family, great prodigies were few and far between.

Where the hell did this freakish family come from?!

Little did he know.

While Old Jiang's mind was in chaos, Liu Ruolan was equally shocked that such an ugly remnant soul dared to attempt soul parasitism on her.

Realizing what was happening, she instantly flared up. Her slightly startled eyes turned sharp, and a cold, icy aura emanated from her.

Oh no, Wang Shouzhe's heart skipped a beat!

Ruoling was coming out!

Ruoling's temper was not something Ruolan could compare to.

Sure enough.

Ruoling's cold eyes swept over Old Jiang's remnant soul, her voice icy as she said, "You seek death." With that, her powerful divine sense condensed into a blade, slashing towards Old Jiang.

The blade-like killing intent made Old Jiang feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar. His soul consciousness had only one final thought: It's over, it's over. I, Jiang Yuchen, who once dominated the world, will die here!

"Ruoling, show mercy," Wang Shouzhe hurriedly shouted. "This old ghost still has a manual he hasn't handed over."

"Yes, yes, that's right, I still have the Golden Toad Manual. You can't kill me!" Old Jiang clung to his last hope, using his soul power to shake the air. "If you kill me, you'll get nothing."

"Foolish." Ruoling's eyes remained cold, her divine sense blade grinding down on Old Jiang's remnant soul.

Old Jiang's remnant soul was continuously crushed, and although there was no physical pain, the gradual disintegration of his soul was a terrifying torment to his consciousness.

This was far more painful than having his soul directly shredded.

"Spare me, please spare me," Old Jiang, who had lived for so long, was deeply attached to life and begged for mercy in terror.

Ruoling ignored his pleas and continued to grind his soul bit by bit.

Her decisiveness and coldness made even Wang Shouzhe feel a chill, involuntarily sympathizing with Old Jiang.

Why couldn't you just stay quietly in the jade pendant? Why did you have to provoke Liu Ruolan and end up provoking Ruoling as well...

"Young Master Wang, please say something. I can hand over the manual unconditionally. I can guide you in your cultivation... After all, I once reached the peak of the Divine Realm..." Seeing that Ruoling was unmoved, Old Jiang turned his pleas to Wang Shouzhe. "Young Master Wang, control your wife!"

"Uh..." Wang Shouzhe rolled his eyes. Old ghost, do you think I don't want to control her? I can somewhat control the other wife, at least we can reason with each other... But how do I control this one?

You try controlling her, let me see.

Wang Shouzhe picked up the "Snow Crystal Rice and Red Blood Eel Congee" and slowly drank it, suppressing the urge to vomit, and praised, "My dear wife's cooking skills are getting better and better. No rush, Ruoling, take your time. I'm not in a hurry."

Half an hour later.

Old Jiang had been thoroughly subdued... He swore an oath to unconditionally submit to Wang Shouzhe and revealed all the contents of the Golden Toad Manual.

Ruoling's efficiency left Wang Shouzhe "shocked" and he praised, "My dear wife, your methods are indeed impressive. I was worried about this old ghost."

Unexpectedly, Ruoling was unmoved by the flattery. She coldly glanced at the empty congee bowl and said, "Come in, let's try the things in the Golden Toad Manual." Then she turned and walked towards the Shuiyue Pavilion.

Wang Shouzhe shivered and quickly followed, "My dear, don't joke around. We already..."

"That was with her..." Ruoling turned back, her cold eyes sweeping over him. "In the future, whatever she has, I must have too."

"How is that possible?" Wang Shouzhe felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, trembling with fear. "My dear, you only come out once every month or two."

"I don't care! If you can't handle this, how can you think of taking concubines? Wang Shouzhe, get in here!"

"..." Wang Shouzhe.

……

The next day.

In Wang Shouzhe's courtyard.

Early in the morning, Wang Zongchang came to visit Wang Shouzhe.

This time, he had gone to the outer regions with Ancestor Xiaohan and others, not primarily to clear out the fierce beasts, but to continue gathering intelligence and mapping out detailed topography and beast distribution, to provide data for the next phase of their plan.

The outer regions were vast, and not all areas were suitable for human habitation.

Moreover, pioneering the outer regions was not like hunting there. It was a time-consuming and labor-intensive project that required systematically exterminating fierce beasts and poisonous insects, and building fortifications like Zhouxuan Pass to separate developed areas from undeveloped ones.

Only in this way could they minimize the risk of dangerous creatures entering future human settlements.

Subsequently, they would need to cultivate land, establish villages and towns, and relocate populations... The challenges were numerous and complex.

Given the time, effort, and danger involved, pioneering the outer regions couldn't be done haphazardly.

Decisions about where to develop, where dangerous creatures were located, which terrains were unsuitable for human habitation, how large an area to develop, and where to build fortifications had to be carefully considered and discussed in family meetings before finalizing.

This time, Wang Zongchang had only explored a small part of the predetermined area.

However, there were many other gains during the exploration.

The spoils he brought back included the prey he and Ancestor Xiaohan had hunted, as well as other valuable items like tanned hides, bones, dried spiritual beast meat, processed spiritual herbs, and even some young spiritual beasts, birds, and fish fry with potential for domestication.

This was also Wang Shouzhe's requirement.

Besides the top-tier cultivation method "Red Dragon True Technique," the Wang Clan had obtained some basic beast-taming techniques from the Changning Huangfu Clan. Although crude, they were sufficient for taming low-level spiritual beasts and birds.

Human history of taming wild spiritual creatures was long. The spiritual meat cattle, poultry, and fish commonly consumed today were all selectively bred over many years, vastly different from their wild counterparts.

Even so, there were still many wild species with breeding potential. Given the opportunity, Wang Shouzhe wouldn't miss it.

Having experienced the information explosion of modern society, Wang Shouzhe understood that the value of spiritual beasts extended beyond consumption.

Although breeding spiritual species was troublesome, successful breeding would yield money trees in the future.

Wang Zongchang needed to report all these findings to Wang Shouzhe and seek instructions for the next steps.

However, when Wang Zongchang arrived at Wang Shouzhe's courtyard, Liu Ruolan first arranged for him to drink tea in the pavilion, saying that his Fourth Uncle had not yet risen. This puzzled him. Wasn't Fourth Uncle already in the late stage of the Lingtai Realm?

Logically, even after several days and nights without rest, he should still be energetic. Why was he still sleeping now that the sun had risen?

Moreover, Fourth Uncle had excused himself from last night's welcome banquet for Wang Shihai... What was going on with Fourth Uncle?

"Your Fourth Uncle might really be tired," Liu Ruolan personally served Wang Zongchang some fruit. "He accomplished a lot on this trip to Monan. He slept soundly all night."

Wang Zongchang immediately felt a deep respect and said solemnly, "It's because we juniors are incompetent. Fourth Uncle has been worrying himself sick for the family all these years. The burden on his shoulders is too heavy."

"Fortunately, the family is now full of talent, and there are people to handle various aspects, so he has become much more relaxed." Liu Ruolan said, "You came early, so you probably haven't had breakfast yet. It's just as well, Liyue and Zongrui have just finished their morning lessons. I'll go make some fish congee I recently learned from the cook. Your Fourth Uncle drank a whole pot yesterday and said it was delicious. You should try it too."

As soon as she finished speaking.

Wang Liyue and Wang Zongrui, who had just gotten up and walked out of their rooms, turned pale with fright. How could Mother do this? Hearing such terrible news early in the morning, how could they get through the day?

"Fourth Aunt!!!" Wang Zongchang stood up in fear and said, "Feifei has already prepared breakfast this morning, so there's no need to trouble you."

What a joke. Fourth Aunt was perfect in every way, except for her cooking skills, which were... well, let's just say it was better if Fourth Uncle took the blame. He praised his wife's cooking too much, so everyone else had to follow suit and praise it too...

Over time, Fourth Aunt came to believe her cooking skills were superior to those of the third-rate chefs at Hundred Flavors Residence.

Although she sometimes tasted her own cooking and found it strange, the constant praise from her husband and all the Wang Clan members, as well as guests, made her doubt her own taste buds.

"Feifei's cooking... well, never mind." Liu Ruolan showed an expression of indescribable complexity. "Since that's the case, I won't bother. These two little ones will just have to make do with something from the cook."

Wang Liyue and Wang Zongrui breathed a sigh of relief, deeply grateful for their mother's mercy.

"Zongchang, you sit here. I'll go wake up my husband." With that, Liu Ruolan hurried off.

Wang Zongchang and the two little ones exchanged glances, silently celebrating their narrow escape.

Wang Liyue and Wang Zongrui approached and bowed. "Greetings, Second Brother."

Wang Zongchang returned the gesture. "Eighth Sister, Tenth Brother, good morning."

In Wang Shouzhe's small household, Wang Liyue was the second daughter, but in the larger family, she was the eighth of her generation. Therefore, Wang Zongrui called her Second Sister in the small household but referred to her as Eighth Sister in the larger family.

Meanwhile, in Wang Shouzhe's room.

He stared blankly at the ceiling, recalling the events of the previous night. He felt as if he had just crawled back from hell, grateful to have survived.

He knew it was Ruoling's jealousy and outburst.

Although Ruolan also got jealous and angry, compared to Ruoling, it was like comparing a small witch to a great witch.

What left Wang Shouzhe speechless was that he had only one wife, but he had to endure two rounds of jealousy and outbursts... Worse still, from now on, he had to pay "taxes" twice, and the most terrifying part was that Ruoling's appearances were too unpredictable.

"Why is my husband so downcast?" Liu Ruolan, completely unaware of what had happened, entered the room.

Wang Shouzhe instinctively shrank back. "Nothing, I just want some time alone."

Seeing Wang Shouzhe in such a state, Liu Ruolan felt something was wrong and, with concern, self-reflected. "Husband, is it because of me? Your future is limitless; you shouldn't be tied to just me... If you really want to take concubines, we can discuss it."

"My dear, don't say such things."

Wang Shouzhe could no longer lie down. He sat up abruptly, covering Liu Ruolan's mouth, and said passionately, "Having you is enough for me."

"Husband, you are so good."

"No, my dear, you are the one who is truly good."

……