After ninety-nine online romances, I finally met my ex in person when school started.

Qu Feiyan's cheeks were burning hot as she buried her face in the crook of his neck, completely satisfied.

The next morning.

There is a natural hot spring behind the inn, with steam rising from the pool.

Zhu Xunchuan leaned against the bluestone slab washed by the flowing water, closing his eyes to rest.

The sound of water could be heard.

Xia Wanying, wearing a wine-red bikini with very little fabric, stepped onto the white jade-like stairs and entered the hot spring.

She swam to Zhu Xunchuan's side, picked up a warm towel, and placed it on his broad back.

"It was too chilly in the mountains last night," Xia Wanying said lazily, her fingers circling his spine through a towel. "Let me rub your back to warm you up."

The mature woman's charm and imposing presence are displayed to the fullest.

"Splash." A wet towel was thrown directly onto the water's surface.

Qu Feiyan was wearing a two-piece swimsuit with distinctive Miao ethnic characteristics, revealing her flat, firm abdomen and delicate navel. She waded through the water and squeezed between the two of them.

"There's no need for Mr. Xia to do such physically demanding work as rubbing his back." Qu Feiyan snatched the towel and pressed it onto Zhu Xunchuan's shoulder without saying a word. "Your nails are so long, what if you scratch him?"

Xia Wanying did not back down. She leaned directly on Zhu Xunchuan's arm.

"What's it to you if Brother Chuan likes my technique?" Xia Wanying's eyes flickered. "Little girl, you're so clumsy, don't hurt him."

The two women chatted amongst themselves in the hot spring. Water splashed everywhere, and the scents of shower gel mingled together.

Zhu Xun Chuan let them pull him around, enjoying this rare morning.

Not long after, the sound of light footsteps came from outside the bamboo grove on the shore.

Pei Yanrou, dressed in a relatively conservative pure white one-piece swimsuit, carefully walked to the edge of the pool.

Her face showed obvious anxiety, yet she dared not look directly at the erotic scene in the pool.

"Brother Chuan," Pei Yanrou reported with her head down, "I just received intelligence. Uncle Qu contacted the seven powerful elders of the Thirty-Six Villages overnight. They plan to formally revoke Qu Feiyan's inheritance rights at tomorrow's clan meeting on the grounds of 'the young master's defection and the loss of the sacred artifact.' Then, the elders' council will elect Uncle Qu to take over as the head of the family."

Qu Feiyan paused, her hand holding the towel stiffening, and her face instantly darkened.

She bit her lip, her eyes flashing with anger.

"He bribed all seven elders. My third uncle controlled the medicine fields and the Gu workshop. He knew I wouldn't dare go back tomorrow."

Zhu Xunchuan opened his eyes.

He reached out with his left and right hands, respectively wrapping his arms around Xia Wanying's slender waist and Qu Feiyan's strong shoulders.

The water rippled. Zhu Xun Chuan rested his chin on Xia Wan Ying's rounded shoulder.

"Just seven elders." Zhu Xun Chuan turned his head, looking at Xia Wan Ying's exquisite profile, his tone lazy and casual. "President Xia, what market share does Dinghe hold in the medicinal herb supply chain in Southwest China?"

Xia Wanying understood immediately. Her slender fingers traced a ripple on the water's surface.

"Eighty percent." Xia Wanying's red lips curled into a breathtaking smile, her aura as a tycoon queen instantly overwhelming everything. "With just one word from me, all the medicinal herbs in Miao territory this year will rot in the mountains, not a single blade of grass can be transported out. Hundreds of thousands of people in the thirty-six villages won't receive a single penny of dividends. What kind of family rules can a starving clan talk about?"

Zhu Xun Chuan smiled with satisfaction.

He pinched Qu Feiyan's cheek. "Did you hear that? Times have changed. Tomorrow's clan meeting won't need your Gu."

Zhu Xunchuan turned his head and met Xia Wanting's meaningful gaze.

"Tomorrow, it'll be time for your checkbook to come into play."

Xia Wanying giggled and pressed her body even closer.

On the first floor of the stilted house inn, several dishes of Miao specialties are laid out on a wooden table.

Zhu Xunchuan held a bowl of white porridge. Xia Wanying sat to his left, dressed in a wine-red haute couture business suit, resting her chin on her hand, her slender fingers holding a spoon, scooping up a spoonful of porridge and bringing it to his lips.

"It's humid in the mountains, have a sip of something hot first." Xia Wanying's voice was languid, her phoenix eyes full of tenderness.

Qu Feiyan sat on the right. She was wearing a traditional Miao-style short shirt with a silver bell tied around her waist. Upon seeing this, she directly picked up a fried black scorpion with her chopsticks and threw it into Zhu Xunchuan's bowl.

"Why eat plain porridge?" Qu Feiyan raised her chin, speaking with an air of self-righteousness. "Eat this, it's a specialty of Miao territory. You've just been cured of the poison, eating this will help you fight poison with poison."

Zhu Xun Chuan looked at the black scorpion in the bowl, then glanced at Xia Wan Ying, who was holding a spoon on his left.

Pei Yanrou sat quietly opposite, pouring tea silently with her head down. She had completely lost the imposing manner she used to display when she played Pei Yanyu, and instead acted like a little girl.

Without hesitation, Zhu Xun Chuan opened his mouth and ate the spoonful of white porridge. Then, he picked up his chopsticks, put the black scorpion in his mouth, chewed it, and swallowed it. He didn't neglect either side.

"Let's go." Zhu Xun Chuan pulled out a tissue to wipe his mouth. "Go take care of that little mess at your house."

The Qu Family Ancestral Hall, which has stood for a century.

Hundreds of ancestral tablets stood on the incense table. The dim candlelight flickered.

Qu Lianhai, the third uncle of the Qu family, sat imposingly on a tiger-skin chair. He held two highly poisonous walnuts in his hands, and dozens of shirtless Gu masters stood behind him. Seven clan elders sat on either side.

The heavy wooden door of the ancestral hall was pushed open.

Zhu Xun Chuan led Qu Fei Yan by the hand as they crossed the high threshold. Today, he was wearing a dark gray bespoke casual suit, which seemed out of place in this ancient ancestral hall.

"Traitorous daughter, Qu Feiyan!" The First Elder abruptly stood up, slamming his cane heavily on the ground. "You dare bring an outsider back! Stealing the bone ring is tantamount to patricide, and you should be punished according to family law with the torture of having your heart devoured by ten thousand insects!"

The elders all rose up against him. The accusations drowned out the entire ancestral hall.

Qu Feiyan's fingers tightened, and cold sweat seeped from her palms. Even though she was the young master of Miao territory, she instinctively felt a sense of fear when facing these powerful clan elders who had held sway since childhood.

Zhu Xun Chuan grasped her hand in his own, gently stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.

"Don't be afraid, your husband is here." Zhu Xun Chuan lowered his voice and spoke calmly.

Qu Feiyan's heart skipped a beat, her panic instantly subsiding. She straightened her back, raised her left hand, revealing the jet-black bone ring.

"With the bone ring here, I am the rightful head of the Qu family! You followed him in treason and are the ones who deserve to be punished according to family law!"

Qu Lianhai burst out laughing. He stood up and casually tossed the walnuts in his hand onto the ground.

"Little girl, you think you can command the Miao region just because you have a bone ring?" Qu Lianhai stared at Zhu Xunchuan. "The Ten Thousand Mountains are not a place for you young masters from the capital to run wild. Blood Fiend Gu, activate!"

Qu Lianhai clapped his hands violently.

From the cracks in the wooden pillars on all sides, thousands upon thousands of blood-red flying insects instantly emerged. The swarm emitted a chilling buzzing sound, coalescing into a red cloud that swept towards Zhu Xun Chuan and Qu Fei Yan in a massive, overwhelming attack.

The elders watched coldly, waiting to see the two men turn into a pool of blood.

Zhu Xun Chuan stood still, raised his right hand, and snapped his fingers crisply.

A dark shadow flashed above the beam. Little White fell like a ghost, landing silently.

She knelt on one knee and handed Zhu Xun Chuan a specially made, portable flamethrower with an exaggerated design.

Zhu Xunchuan took the flamethrower and pulled the trigger.

"boom--"

A thick, high-temperature blue flame erupted from the sky. The flame, carrying destructive heat, crashed directly into the red cloud.

It made a crackling sound.

The flying insects didn't even have a chance to struggle before they were instantly burned to charcoal and fell onto the bluestone slab with a crackling sound.

The entire ancestral hall was filled with the aroma of roasted meat, a perfect source of protein! A wide vacuum was torn open in the swarm of insects.

Zhu Xun Chuan casually tossed the flamethrower to Xiao Bai. He walked to the left, pulled over a grand chair with one hand, and sat down with an air of authority. He reached out and pulled Qu Feiyan onto his lap, wrapping his arm around her slender waist.

"Playing with insects?" Zhu Xun Chuan looked up at Qu Lian Hai, a mocking smile playing on his lips. "My lord, times have changed."