Old Steward’s eyes flashed with a faint light, and he said in a low voice, “Besides that, I also ask Young Master Carter to propose marriage at the birthday celebration.”

“What?” Henry Carter was slightly startled.

The two servants behind him showed mocking expressions, thinking to themselves, how could such a down-and-out youth be worthy of the young lady?

That Old Steward smiled and said, “Although there is an engagement, the proper rituals shouldn’t be omitted. After all, for such a joyous occasion, it’s best to seek good fortune.”

Henry Carter frowned and said, “What exactly does your Shangguan family want?”

When Old Steward first spoke, he had thought the Shangguan family was unwilling to dissolve the engagement privately, but instead wanted to break off the engagement at the birthday celebration, preserving the Shangguan family’s reputation while utterly ruining the Qin family’s, since the Qin family only had this one destitute youth and there was no need to worry about them. But hearing the latter part, it turned out they wanted him to propose marriage, which was utterly baffling.

“What the Shangguan family wants is not something a mere servant like me can understand.” That Old Steward bent slightly and said, “I am just a messenger. Now that I’ve delivered the message, I should be going.”

“You can leave,” Henry Carter looked at him and said coldly, “but make things clear first.”

“Well…” That Old Steward seemed a bit uneasy, shook his head, and said with a wry smile, “Strictly speaking, as a servant, I should leave after delivering the message. But since you are the future son-in-law, I’ll break the rules and tell you…”

He leaned in slightly and whispered, “According to the Shangguan family’s wishes, you will have no worries about food and clothing in the future.”

After saying this, that Old Steward chuckled again and said, “To put it another way, even if Young Master Carter truly wants to dissolve the engagement, it should be done at the birthday celebration, so that everyone knows. Otherwise, if you just tear up that thin piece of paper and the world doesn’t know the engagement is over, what’s the point? Besides, the Shangguan family wouldn’t agree to this. If word got out, people would think the Shangguan family forced you to give up the engagement, which would damage their reputation.”

Henry Carter frowned deeply.

However, that Old Steward had already bowed and turned to leave.

Before leaving, one of the servants turned his head and glared fiercely at Henry Carter, his eyes full of menace. He made a slashing gesture with his hand, as if issuing a warning.

Henry Carter had just poisoned several martial artists. Although he hadn’t seen any blood, he had still taken lives, and his heart was heavy. He immediately raised his eyebrows, a cold glint appearing in his eyes.

He had just killed, and now his eyes were not without murderous intent.

With that raised eyebrow, his originally delicate face seemed to take on a frosty edge.

The servant felt a chill in his heart and suddenly took a step back, secretly shocked. He gritted his teeth slightly but didn’t dare meet Henry Carter’s gaze again, finally turning and leaving in a hurry.

“A servant, acting even more arrogant than the steward?” Henry Carter frowned and thought to himself, “That servant seemed to be warning me about something, but didn’t dare show it in front of the steward. Could there be some hidden agenda behind all this?”

“Forget him!”

Henry Carter shook his head, his mind already in turmoil. He snorted, turned to pick up the treasured sword by the grass, and returned to the Daoist temple.

Once inside, he felt utterly exhausted. The wound on his shoulder throbbed with pain. He gritted his teeth, took off his Daoist robe, revealing a large area of bruising on his shoulder, blue and purple intermingled, with blood streaks everywhere—a shocking sight.

He was just thinking of applying medicine to his shoulder when he suddenly stumbled and fell to the ground, flinging his robe aside.

“Really…”

Henry Carter gave a bitter smile, feeling extremely dizzy, and soon fell into a deep sleep.

But he didn’t see that the book “Introduction to Swordsmanship” in his robe had fallen to the ground, and the bead had rolled out as well, landing right in the water vat.

……

When Henry Carter woke up groggily, the moonlight streaming in by the window was exceptionally bright.

“So it’s already night.”

He thought to himself, then suddenly realized his mouth was parched. He propped himself up, scooped some water from the vat, and drank it down.

“Many people suffer internal injuries without knowing it and never wake up from sleep. I thought that after being struck by that Zhao fellow, I wouldn’t wake up this time. Looks like I’m still lucky.”

He gave a bitter smile, but suddenly felt extremely dizzy again.

The pure white moonlight on the ground seemed to ripple outward like waves.

“This is bad, I’m going to faint…”

Henry Carter rubbed his head and barely made it to the bed, collapsing onto it and falling into a deep sleep.

As the night deepened, the moonlight gradually shifted, landing right on the water vat.

Inside the vat, the pale golden bead lay quietly at the bottom, now a bit smaller, while the vat of clear water glowed with a faint golden hue.

Henry Carter slept deeply, when suddenly his shoulder began to itch intensely, as if countless ants were crawling out from his bones. He reached out to scratch it. But as soon as he touched his shoulder, he felt excruciating pain. Yet the itch was unbearable, so he kept scratching.

Intense itching, intense pain.

Suddenly, he started banging his shoulder against the bed board—once, twice, again and again.

He didn’t know how long it lasted, but soon he was drenched in sweat, and the night wind made him shiver all over.

Henry Carter curled up tightly, trembling uncontrollably.

The intense itching seemed to disappear… the pain seemed to fade as well…

Though his body was soaked with sweat and the night was freezing cold, for some reason, he gradually stopped trembling.

His breathing became steady.

Henry Carter slept soundly, utterly peaceful.

Moonlight shone on his delicate, fair face, casting a faint glow.