Chapter 58: Lies

At this moment, a fierce and piercing whistling sound came from ahead, with layer upon layer of air shockwaves spreading outward. The dust and smoke were blown away, revealing a ring-shaped crater on the ground.

Not far from the blacksmith's shop, where the ground was originally composed of hard rock, a crater with a diameter of fully one hundred meters had suddenly appeared, its edges covered in dense fractures.

Even a large tree in the distance had its thick trunk pierced by flying debris from the impact, and its crown was now left in a precarious state.

"Who goes there!"

Ruan Xiu's expression was grave. Because the giant crater was so vast that the interior was obscured, she maintained a defensive stance, ready for battle.

"..."

Hearing Ruan Xiu's rather serious voice echoing from the bottom of the deep pit, Su Ling was just about to offer an explanation when his peripheral vision swept across his shirtless torso.

Su Ling's eyelids twitched violently. If he were to emerge in this completely shirtless state, Ruan Xiu would likely mistake him for a scoundrel, landing him in deep trouble.

After all, though this ancient society possessed mighty figures capable of plucking stars and capturing the moon, its worldview remained largely similar to the ancient eras of his past life.

In ancient times, for a man to see an unmarried young woman's body was treated as a grave offense, akin to facing an enemy.

Of course, if the roles were reversed and a woman saw a man's shirtless body, the woman might remain unscathed, but the man would be branded a rogue and subjected to drowning in a pig cage...

Especially since this particular young woman was a powerful goddess with a pristine moral compass and the breathtaking features of an peerless beauty.

To put it bluntly, if Su Ling were to walk out right now completely bare-chested and exposed to Ruan Xiu's unobstructed view, his future would undergo a drastic and severe change.

Su Ling might well be beaten to death by Ruan Xiu under the assumption that he was a scoundrel, an outcome he wished to avoid at all costs.

"Senior Sister Ruan..."

Su Ling was just about to call out to Ruan Xiu and ask her to toss him a piece of clothing when, the next instant, Ruan Xiu's well-proportioned figure suddenly appeared at the edge of the giant crater, peering down curiously into the pit...

"Su Ling! Oh, thank goodness, it's you! You're safe..."

Realizing that the person who had fallen from the sky was none other than Su Ling, Ruan Xiu's pretty face flushed slightly and she beamed with irrepressible joy. However, the moment she clearly saw the figure at the bottom of the pit...

Ruan Xiu's lovely eyes widened, her pupils contracting rapidly in continuous shock. Within the porcelain-white of her eyes, Su Ling's helpless expression was vividly reflected.

At that moment, Ruan Xiu felt her heart skip a beat.

Immediately afterward, an inexplicable surge of excitement coursed through her entire body, her pulse pounding like a war drum as if it would burst through her chest, beating wildly.

"Ah~~!"

Ruan Xiu let out a terrified shriek, spun around instantly, covered her deeply blushed face with her hands, and fled in a panic, blindly rushing into a side room of the blacksmith's shop.

Back inside the shop, Ruan Qingyuan heard his daughter's terrified scream, which sounded remarkably like a pig being slaughtered. His expression changed drastically; unable to sit still a moment longer, his figure flickered and he instantly appeared ten meters away from the edge of the giant crater.

"Daughter, what happened!"

Ruan Qingyuan's expression was somewhat panicked as his gaze swept across the surroundings, clearly deeply concerned for Ruan Xiu's safety.

Yet just as Ruan Qingyuan cast his gaze toward the giant crater before him, a dark figure suddenly surged up from the bottom of the pit and appeared right at the edge.

Su Ling: "..."

Ruan Qingyuan: "..."

Boom!

At that moment, the large tree in the distance that had been standing near the crater finally collapsed; its trunk snapped with a loud crack, and its leafy canopy slammed heavily onto the ground, kicking up a massive cloud of dust and smoke.

"...This is a misunderstanding..."

Su Ling pressed his lips together, struggling with his expression for a moment before spreading his hands and offering an awkward smile to his master, Ruan Qingyuan, who stood before him, head lowered in silence, casting a dark, gloomy shadow over his face.

Ruan Qingyuan's emotions at this moment could be described as a roller coaster. First, he had been shaken by his daughter's terrified shriek, only to immediately see his most valued closing disciple standing right in front of him completely stripped of any clothing.

He didn't even need to guess to know that the reason his daughter had shrieked in such horror was undoubtedly because she had seen Su Ling's shirtless physique, causing her to lose her usual composure.

"You brat... very well."

"You actually dare to hit on my precious daughter!"

"..."

Hearing this, Su Ling's face gradually twisted into a mask of pure agony. He could easily imagine that he had stepped into a monumental disaster—and worse yet, would it be a joint beating from both father and daughter?

---

A short while later, Su Ling, dressed in a plain cloth tunic provided by his master, sat upright and stiffly a few paces in front of Ruan Qingyuan.

Inside the blacksmith shop, Ruan Qingyuan's expression was currently so gloomy that ink seemed ready to drip from it. His eyes burned with fury, and he looked as though he longed to beat Su Ling to a pulp right then and there.

Yet Ruan Qingyuan knew in his heart that no matter how powerful his own strength was, he couldn't break through Su Ling's freakish physical defense, and he might even end up injuring himself on the rebound.

Ruan Qingyuan's face darkened as he raised his arm, only to lower it again a moment later. This baffling cycle had already repeated more than a dozen times, a testament to the internal torment he was suffering.

"Marry my daughter, or let me cast a spell to erase that memory just now. Choose one."

"..."

Hearing this, Su Ling widened his eyes, staring at his master Ruan Qingyuan in utter shock, wearing an expression that asked if he was being serious.

Having a matchmaker thrust upon him so out of the blue left Su Ling's brain struggling to process the situation, and he even wondered briefly if his master was simply playing a prank on him.

Yet upon second thought, based on his past understanding of his master's temperament, a chilling realization dawned on him: what if his master was actually being serious?

In the past, Ruan Qingyuan rarely spoke idly in his presence, and even uttering falsehoods could be counted on one's fingers. Right now, Ruan Qingyuan's tone could hardly be more serious, and his expression was deadly solemn.

"Hmph, you saw my daughter's body... and my precious daughter saw your physical form. If you don't marry my daughter, just wait for me to wipe your memory clean!"

At that moment, seeing that Su Ling still wore a bewildered and indecisive expression, Ruan Qingyuan finally lost his patience. With an authoritative and uncompromising cold snort, he delivered his ultimatum.

Hearing his master's coercive and intimidating words, Su Ling could no longer remain calm. His eyelid twitched, utterly at a loss for how to handle the master before him.

Inside the blacksmith shop, the atmosphere grew heavy and oppressive. Neither spoke; Ruan Qingyuan merely watched his disciple with a look of lingering amusement.

On the other side, Su Ling was racking his brain, desperately trying to figure out how to decline politely without having his skull smashed in by his master and suffering physical amnesia.

After all, he knew his master's personality all too well. If there was a way to clear his memory using spells, his master wouldn't bother; he would simply roll up his sleeves and treat him to a physical blackout session reminiscent of a heavy hangover...

"..."

"Forget it, I won't force you, lest you go outside and complain that your master is narrow-minded."

Hearing these words, which sounded like sweet music to his ears, Su Ling's tense expression finally relaxed. He couldn't help letting out a long sigh of relief and looking up at his master.

"Thank you for understanding..."

"Don't get ahead of yourself. I haven't finished speaking yet. As for the matter concerning my daughter, you can go and explain it to her yourself."

Seeing the triumphant, taking-advantage-of-the-situation look on Su Ling's face, Ruan Qingyuan let out a cold huff, waved his large hand dismissively, and signaled that Su Ling was on his own when it came to dealing with Ruan Xiu.