The Author's Draft-Chapter 50: Peaceful threat I

Long Chen studied the five men for a moment. They’d positioned themselves strategically—two on his left, two on his right, and the leader in the center. Classic encirclement. Amateur, but effective against someone who panicked.

He wasn’t panicking.

"I’m listening," Long Chen said.

The leader seemed surprised that Long Chen hadn’t immediately gotten defensive or aggressive. His grin faltered slightly before he recovered.

"Good. That’s... good." He tried his best to sound civil, reasonable even. But the disdain in his eyes was impossible to hide. Every time he looked at Long Chen, his lip curled slightly, like he was looking at something distasteful. "Let me start by saying that you’re quite the enigma, little brother Chen. The only Qi Acquisition Realm cultivator in the entire Inner Disciple Domain. That’s... impressive, in its own way."

The words were complimentary, but the tone made them sound like an insult.

One of the men to Long Chen’s left snickered. "Yeah, real impressive."

Long Chen’s expression didn’t change, he just waited.

The leader continued, clearly trying to maintain his civil facade. "You’ve made quite a name for yourself in a very short time. Sword Aura at your age, direct entry to inner disciples, surviving the mountain range alone. People are talking about you."

"Is there a point to this?" Long Chen asked, his tone flat. "Because if you just came here to recite my achievements, I already know them."

The man on his right bristled immediately. "Watch your tone! You’re speaking to Senior Brother Nie!"

Another one stepped forward, hand on his sword hilt. "Show some respect!"

"Brother Nie is being polite to you! Don’t push it!"

Nie Hao—so that was the leader’s name—raised his hand, and his lackeys immediately fell silent.

"It’s fine," Nie Hao said, his voice still trying to sound reasonable. "Long Chen is new to the sect. He doesn’t understand the social hierarchy yet. That’s... understandable."

The condescension was so thick Long Chen could practically taste it.

Nie Hao took a step closer, his hands still relaxed at his sides, his posture non-threatening but his eyes told a different story.

"I’m here because of Senior Sister Qinglan," he said.

Long Chen’s expression didn’t change, but internally, confusion bloomed.

’Qinglan?’

"Someone of her stature would find it beneath her to personally make things difficult for you," Nie Hao continued. "So I’m here on her behalf to make things easier for everyone involved. Especially you."

Long Chen stared at him. "I still don’t know what you’re talking about."

Nie Hao’s eyes twitched. "Your engagement."

The word hit Long Chen like cold water.

Engagement. He’d completely forgotten about that.

Before Elder Dugu Wei had died on that mission three years ago, he’d arranged an engagement between Long Chen and his daughter. A promise made between them—that if Long Chen awakened properly and proved himself worthy, the engagement would be honored.

But Long Chen had failed his awakening. The engagement had become a joke after that. Something people whispered about with mockery, the trash servant engaged to the genius daughter.

The memories surfaced immediately. Elder Dugu Wei’s daughter. They’d grown up together in the Dugu Clan after the elder had taken Long Chen in as an infant. She’d always been kind to him—bringing him food when he was forgotten, defending him when other clan members mocked him, treating him like an actual person instead of a charity case.

The original Long Chen had been embarrassed by her kindness. Every time she’d shown him warmth, he’d felt the gap between them even more acutely. She was talented, beautiful, destined for greatness and he’d been... nothing.

Then she’d gotten early admission to the Immortal Sword Sect three years ago, and he hadn’t seen her since.

There had never been animosity between them. If anything, she was one of the few people in the clan who’d genuinely cared about him.

Long Chen had been so focused on surviving—on reaching Body Refining Stage 8, on gaining Sword Aura, on not dying in the mountains—that the engagement had completely slipped his mind.

’Right. That was a thing.’

But something didn’t add up. Qinglan had never been cruel to him or mocked him. If she wanted the engagement broken, wouldn’t she have done it herself years ago? Why wait until now? Why send lackeys?

Nie Hao must have mistaken Long Chen’s silence for realization because his smile widened. "Ah, so you do remember. Good. Then this will be simple."

Long Chen decided to play along. "What exactly do you want from me?"

"Break off the engagement," Nie Hao said simply. "Publicly. Go to the elders, dissolve the contract, and free Senior Sister Qinglan from this... unfortunate arrangement."

"Unfortunate," Long Chen repeated.

"Yes." Nie Hao’s civil mask was slipping now, irritation bleeding through. "A toad lusting after a swan’s flesh—surely even you can see how inappropriate this match is. Senior Sister Qinglan is a genius, a beauty, a core disciple with an unfathomable cultivation at eighteen years old. And you are..."

He gestured at Long Chen dismissively.

"You."

The four lackeys snickered.

Long Chen looked at Nie Hao for a long moment. Then he looked at the four others, then back at Nie Hao.

Something about this whole situation felt wrong. Qinglan wouldn’t send people like this and even if she’d changed from the person in the memories, Long Chen didn’t really care.

"Is that all?" Long Chen asked.

Nie Hao blinked. "What?"

"Is that all you came here to say?" Long Chen’s tone was completely calm. "Because if it is, you’ve wasted my time."

"Wasted your—" Nie Hao’s face darkened. "Do you understand the situation you’re in?"

"I understand perfectly," Long Chen said. "You want me to break off an engagement that I didn’t ask for in the first place. And you think threatening me will make me comply."

"I’m not threatening you," Nie Hao said, though his hand was now resting on his sword hilt. "I’m offering you a way out, a peaceful solution."

"Here’s my solution," Long Chen said. "I’ll do what I want, whenever I want to. If I decide to break off the engagement, I’ll do it on my terms. Not because some lackey showed up to intimidate me."

The courtyard went dead silent.

One of the lackeys looked like he’d been slapped. "Lackey!?"