Clan Building System: I'm not the Protagonist?!-Chapter 50: Surprise [1]

Fang Lian stepped forward hesitantly, the tips of her shoes just brushing the edge of the carpet. Her fingers clenched the fabric of her sleeve tightly, and her voice trembled as she tried to speak.

"Family Head..." she stammered. "I... I wish to be of help to the family."

Fang Yuan gave her a soft, patient look. "You already are," he said calmly. "You’ve been taking care of Doctor Mu all this time."

She lowered her head, voice barely more than a whisper. "I... I wish to do more."

Fang Yuan’s expression didn’t change. He set aside the scroll in his hand and leaned forward, resting his arms on the desk.

"And?" he asked quietly.

Fang Lian bit her lip. Then, after a long moment, she said the words she had been holding back.

"I... I want to make amends. For what my adopted father did."

The room fell into silence.

Fang Yuan’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Fang Guo.

The man who had led the charge to impeach him as Patriarch. Who had tried to fracture the clan’s unity during its most vulnerable hour.

And now here stood the daughter he left behind—soft-spoken, fragile in frame, yet braver than half the elders.

Fang Yuan didn’t answer immediately. But inside, something softened.

He didn’t believe in punishing the younger generation for the sins of the old. The world already did that enough.

"I’ll allow you to cultivate," he said finally, "but not for that reason."

Fang Lian’s head snapped up, eyes wide with confusion.

"Not... for that reason?" she repeated.

"You’ll need a better one."

She blinked, startled.

Then, almost reflexively, she looked down again, biting her lip harder. She seemed lost for a moment, and then the words spilled out before she could stop them.

"Then... can I be a cultivator so I can become a doctor?"

Fang Yuan raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

She quickly explained, her voice tumbling over itself with sudden urgency.

"Doctor Mu always said... if he’d been a cultivator, he could’ve sensed inner qi better. Could’ve saved more people, healed them faster. He always told me—don’t be like him. Don’t settle. So I... I want to learn. I want to be better than he ever was. I want to be a healer people can rely on."

Her words came fast now, her sincerity tripping over her nervousness like stones in a river.

"I don’t want to just watch people suffer—I want to do something about it!"

Fang Yuan’s lips slowly curled into a smile.

He stood up, hands brushing his robes down.

"What a beautiful goal," he said warmly. "That’s a good reason. A very good reason."

She blinked up at him in surprise.

"Now then," Fang Yuan added as he began walking toward the door, "follow me."

"Huh?" Fang Lian looked up, confused.

But Fang Yuan was already gone from behind the desk, stepping into the hallway.

Still clutching her sleeves, she hurried after him.

Down the corridor they went, light footsteps echoing behind the calm, steady stride of the Patriarch.

She had no idea where they were going.

Fang Yuan led her silently through the winding halls of the main estate. His pace was steady, unhurried—but to Fang Lian, every step felt like a death march.

She followed him with hesitant steps, her cheeks burning. Each glance at his back stirred another wave of chaotic thoughts.

"W-We’re heading to his chambers... right? No way, no way... right?"

Her heart pounded in her chest. The halls felt hotter with every turn. "No! Fang Yuan isn’t like that... right?"

But the direction was unmistakable.

They passed the guest wing.

Then the elder’s quarters.

Straight toward the secluded part of the manor.

"...This is bad. This is really, really bad."

Her fingers trembled as she clutched the sleeves of her robe. "I’m already seventeen... I suppose... if it comes to that... maybe I should... be ready?"

Each step seemed to stretch eternity. Her mind continued to spiral.

"Fine. If this is what I have to sacrifice to cultivate, then so be it."

By the time they reached the door to his chambers, she had mentally prepared herself for death, shame, or worse.

Fang Yuan opened the door and stepped inside. She followed—her eyes closed in submission to her imagined fate.

He turned around.

"Alright," Fang Yuan said, rolling up his sleeves. "Let’s get started."

With trembling fingers, Fang Lian began to untie her sash.

Fang Yuan blinked.

His brow twitched.

"...What are you doing?" he asked flatly.

Fang Lian paused, half-shouldered robe slipping.

She blinked up at him in confusion. "I-I’m... preparing?"

Fang Yuan looked at her like she’d grown a second head.

"...Preparing to check your spirit roots?"

"...My what?"

Without another word, he pulled out a polished, translucent stone and held it between his fingers.

A glimmering spirit stone.

"Spirit root assessment stone," Fang Yuan said calmly. "What else did you think we were doing?"

Fang Lian stared.

Then her face turned red. Not pink. Not rose.

Full, explosive crimson.

Every trace of imagined nobility, sacrifice, and tragic resolve exploded in a puff of embarrassment.

"I—I—I—!"

"You—?" Fang Yuan arched a brow, lips twitching. "I can’t believe you actually thought—?"

"I’m sorry!" she squeaked, dropping to her knees and slamming her forehead against the floor.

"I misunderstood everything!! Please forget everything I thought! No—wait! I mean—forget everything I didn’t say! No—I mean—!"

Fang Yuan sighed and dropped the spirit stone into her palm. "Just hold this and circulate your breathing. Let’s see what we’re working with."

Fang Lian didn’t dare look up and instead tried to circulate her breathing as she grabbed the spirit stone.

Fang Yuan watched closely as the spirit stone in Fang Lian’s hand began to glow.

It started with a dull yellow, common enough.

Then, faint wisps of black crept in along the edges.

Fang Yuan’s brows drew together. He expected it to stop there.

But it didn’t.

The glow deepened into a warm, muddy brown.

Then came the surprise.

The brown gave way to a soft, glimmering white—pure, radiant, and exceedingly rare.

The light pulsed faintly, holding for a breath.

And then, impossibly, the color shifted once more...

To his growing astonishment, it pulsed and deepened into a vivid blue.

The stone stilled. The blue light remained.

Fang Yuan’s mouth slowly fell open.

"...Blue?" he muttered, his voice almost a whisper.

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