This scoundrel is a bit of a swordsman.

Chapter 117 Gossip about the Sword Immortal being crippled

The chaos at the ancestral temple last night was still reeling in Yong'an City, but then another piece of gossip emerged, overshadowing even the events at the ancestral temple.

That was the story of the young sword immortal who spent the night at the Flower Language Pavilion, where his sword immortal power was drained from him, leaving him a cripple.

The spread of this gossip caused a greater sensation than the incident at the ancestral temple. Although the incident at the ancestral temple had shaken many important figures, and even Emperor Wu himself had to intervene, for ordinary people, those figures were too high and mighty and too far removed from their lives. Gossip about them was not as interesting as this.

The young swordsman was already quite popular in Yong'an, but now, things have taken a turn for the worse – he slept with a woman and turned himself into a useless cripple.

The trope of watching a genius fall from grace has always been popular, especially since it often includes keywords like "beautiful woman" and "useless person."

The gossip spread like wildfire, instantly sweeping through Yong'an. Everywhere you looked, people were discussing it.

Teahouses, restaurants, even storytellers—short stories were already being arranged even before Xiao Xingchen left Huayu Tower.

Of course, it's obvious who's behind all this. Xiao Xingchen himself doesn't care, but if Wu Xie, with his sharp eyes, couldn't see that something was wrong with his body, he'd be a complete waste.

Now that he's come out, he's not afraid of what people will say.

Furthermore, the fact that he walked out of the Flower Language Pavilion arm in arm with Ruoxue in public further confirmed the claim that he had been drained of his sword immortal power by a beautiful woman.

"The young swordsman slept with eight women in one night, leaking his vital essence, and became a cripple from then on."

"The young sword immortal passed through the Crown Gate, but who knew that the price for passing through the Crown Gate would be the power of a sword immortal,"

"The poor, promising young man, bent over in his flowery skirt, has become a cripple."

"There was once a young man of unparalleled talent, who was seduced by the Flower Language Pavilion and fell from the heavens to the mortal realm overnight..."

. .

Walking down the street, everyone was talking about Xiao Xingchen, which left everyone, including the eldest princess, with puzzled expressions.

"You're such a loser. There are plenty of times when you can sleep with a woman, why do you have to trade your own sword immortal for her? Are you stupid?"

The fourth prince was furious, utterly disappointed in his son's lack of progress.

Even Zheng Youqian felt disappointed in Xiao Xingchen. A young sword immortal—that was something many people could only dream of, but now it was gone just because he loosened his belt a little?

This is absolutely infuriating! And looking at Xiao Xingchen, staring at that courtesan with such doting eyes, completely disregarding her own health, it's enough to make anyone want to punch him!

A person like that is utterly useless.

Among the upper echelons of society, vices like wine, women, wealth, and power are merely for amusement, not for indulgence. However, it seems Xiao Xingchen has been completely captivated by Ruoxue's beauty, utterly infatuated with her, much to the disappointment of many.

Even the eldest princess shook her head helplessly. As a ghost swordsman, she knew the sword energy within Xiao Xingchen's body better than anyone else. The fact that she couldn't sense any sword energy surging from him meant only two things: either his spiritual platform was destroyed, or his vital essence was exhausted.

Even if Huayulou had the greatest courage, he wouldn't destroy a sword immortal's spiritual platform. Moreover, judging from Xiaoxingchen's appearance, if his spiritual platform were destroyed, it would be a serious injury. He doesn't look seriously injured at all.

A young swordsman whose life essence had been exhausted was of no value whatsoever. This made her swallow back the words she was about to say. She shook her head helplessly and left, feeling not only disappointed but also somewhat dejected. After all, they all wanted to recruit a young swordsman into their ranks, and Xiao Xingchen's relationship with her mother was her most advantageous factor.

This undoubtedly cost her a talented individual.

Xiao Xingchen only felt relieved after noticing the Eldest Princess leave out of the corner of his eye. Huangfu Lingxue's gaze had been constantly on him, putting him under great pressure. He had even suppressed the three missing points in his spiritual platform, afraid of revealing even the slightest trace of his aura.

Since he had promised Consort Xian to keep a low profile, he might as well blend into the background. With the protection of Huayu Tower, even if he was as weak as dust, he wouldn't have to worry about losing his life.

As long as he doesn't threaten others, those secretly watching him probably won't bother arguing with a useless person.

This was his most immediate thought, and what he was doing. Facing the pointing fingers and whispers of countless people on both sides of the street, his only regret was perhaps towards Ruoxue.

His appearance shattered the girl's peace. If it weren't for him, Ruoxue would still be enjoying a comfortable life at Huayu Tower, and wouldn't be being gossiped about behind her back.

"What? You feel sorry for me?"

Ruoxue seemed to sense something, wrapped her arms around his chest, nestled her head affectionately against his, and whispered, "..."

This made those who witnessed it even more certain that it was this vixen who seduced the young swordsman, ultimately causing him to lose all his vital essence and become a cripple.

"That's enough, that's enough."

"Tch, I don't mind, why would you? I heard you have a mute wife? Shall we go find her now?"

Ruoxue, always eager for drama, showed none of the resentment one would expect from a woman being gossiped about; instead, she started making jokes.

"Hey, what a sin."

Xiao Xingchen was at a loss for words. He didn't know how Daji would react. Would she believe him? Would she slap him to death?

Thinking that Daji was currently at the Chen family's house with the little tiger, he suddenly felt that this might not be so bad; not seeing her meant he'd get fewer beatings.

"You seem to have gained another title: heartless lover, hehe."

Xiao Xingchen's face darkened. Sure enough, he was being insulted in all sorts of ways. Lecherous scoundrel and shameless were the standard terms. Now that someone had already written down his story with his mute wife, the label of "heartless bastard" was naturally being used to hurl insults at him.

"Are you sure we can get out of here alive if things continue like this?"

Xiao Xingchen looked at the crowd of onlookers around him, a dense throng that made it impossible to move. Behind him, he didn't know when the Fourth Prince and Zheng Youqian had slipped away, and now he was the only one left with Ruoxue, surrounded by the people of Yong'an.

He even saw that rotten eggs and cabbage were on their way. This was ridiculous. He had only entered a brothel. Was it really necessary to do this?

Even when he was caught soliciting prostitutes in his past life, there wasn't this kind of commotion. He was a little worried about making a scene like this, fearing it might get out of hand.

"Should... be okay?"

Ruoxue was also unsure; the situation had indeed become quite complicated.

"It must have been deliberately stirred up by someone. Can you guess who?"

"Hmph, who else could it be? I only have a few enemies in Yong'an, nothing more than those people from the Northern Region,"

Xiao Xingchen was helpless. What kind of deep-seated hatred was this? Instead of investigating the failure at the ancestral temple, Wu Xie and the Zhan family actually had the mind to care about a useless person like him. No wonder they couldn't beat the Martial Emperor; this was just too absurd.

To everyone's surprise, Ruoxue shook her head and denied it.

"No, you're wrong. This time it really has nothing to do with Wu Xie. At most, he was just extorted by you and left a message. The person who spread that message is the one who really wants to see you make a fool of yourself."

"Hmm? I don't remember offending anyone else. The Crown Prince should be under house arrest, and with Consort Xian here, she can't possibly fail to warn him. Apart from these few people, I don't think I've offended anyone else, right?"

These words confused Xiao Xingchen as well. Only half an hour had passed since he left Huayu Tower, yet in that short time, the matter of the young swordsman being crippled at Huayu Tower had escalated to this extent—a feat few could accomplish.

Emperor Wu? Impossible! He immediately denied it. He was now Emperor Wu's pawn. Pawns were only meant to live and die, not to be disgusted. Because a pawn was just a pawn; Emperor Wu wouldn't bother to disgust him.

The Crown Prince's confinement was something Wu Xie and Zhan Jia couldn't have imagined was the work of.