Clan Building System: I'm not the Protagonist?!-Chapter 76: Lin Zhaoyue [4]

Why was she angry?

Fang Yuan stared at her for a long moment, his gaze searching her expression trying to decipher whether this was another one of her absurd games... or something real.

But there was no teasing glint this time.

No smug smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

Only a tight jaw, a coiled tension in her stance, and eyes fixed with open hostility, not at him, but at the shadows emerging ahead.

He followed her gaze then stiffened as a dozen men stepped out from between the trees, dressed in matching armor engraved with a delicate orchid motif, emblem of the Gu family.

Each one radiated Golden Core realm cultivation, steady but unremarkable.

The man at the center stood just a step higher, peak of the realm, the clear leader.

He wore robes a little too refined for someone skulking through a swamp and waved an ornate fan lazily, despite the damp chill in the air.

Purely for flair as the forest was damp enough to freeze water....

"Lady Zhaoyue," he called with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

Lin Zhaoyue’s voice rang out sharp and clear, her posture rigid.

"Did my brother send you? Or was it my father?"

The man chuckled, ignoring her question.

Around him, the others began drawing weapons and talismans with practiced ease. Quiet clicks. The soft hum of Qi gathering.

"Come now," the leader said, voice silky. "Why run off like this? You were supposed to warm my bed tonight, remember?"

He tilted his fan coyly, as if expecting her to blush.

She didn’t.

She clicked her tongue and stepped forward instead.

"Heh. You dare covet another man’s wife?"

That one sentence hit Fang Yuan like a bolt of lightning.

He felt it.

That creeping chill up his spine.

Wait—what?

Before he could even blink, Lin Zhaoyue turned her head sharply toward him.

And just like that... the Gu family’s leader finally noticed him.

Fang Yuan stiffened.

Up until now, he had been ignored. Blessedly, beautifully ignored. Like a rock, or worse, a mortal.

And now, thanks to this lunatic he was in the spotlight!

His expression stayed composed. His spiritual aura remained contained.

But inwardly, he cursed every god who had ever lived.

"This girl really brought their attention to me..."

Still, Fang Yuan didn’t lose his calm.

He cleared his throat and gave a light, almost indifferent cough.

"I don’t know who you are."

His tone was flat and dismissive.

He even took a step back, as if putting distance between himself and a passing stranger.

But Lin Zhaoyue didn’t flinch.

She just raised her hand and pointed directly at him at the hairpin glittering in his grasp.

"Oh, husband~" she sang sweetly, eyes glowing with mock affection. "You’re holding my hairpin and my dowry in your hands. Don’t be shy~ Let’s show them how much we love each other."

When she mentioned the hairpin, the young master from the Gu family suddenly paused mid-step.

His gaze sharpened.

And sure enough, there it was.

The spatial ring and the hairpin of Lady Lin Zhaoyue, glinting faintly in the hands of this unknown stranger.

One of his close confidants leaned in, whispering with growing urgency.

"Young Master... isn’t that the hairpin Lady Lin Zhaoyue always wears?"

A beat passed.

More whispers followed from the group behind him.

"Didn’t the Oracle say..."

"That the one fated for her, the man blessed by the heavens would be the only one aside from herself to hold her hairpin?"

"Wasn’t that supposed to be our young master?"

A ripple spread through the group, murmurs rising like wind before a storm, all of it converging on Fang Yuan.

Every single gaze turned to him.

Especially the Gu family’s young master, whose features twisted with fury, his expression like stone cracking under heat.

Fang Yuan, however, simply sighed internally.

It was already a nuisance before, but now? This had spiraled completely out of hand...

He clenched his jaw.

A dozen Golden Core cultivators. One peak among them.

Not even worth breaking a sweat.

He was a peak Nascent Soul. A realm above. A world apart.

Even Lin Zhaoyue, the only one present who could pose even a remote threat, didn’t seem inclined to fight him at all.

And so, he decided to end this farce swiftly.

Fang Yuan took a step forward, his expression unreadable, and then he spoke.

His voice dropped, deepened with a touch of spiritual resonance.

Easy enough. Changing voices was child’s play.

What came out was no longer the smooth, youthful voice of a wandering cultivator but the cold, aged tone of a seasoned powerhouse.

"Young boy," Fang Yuan said, his voice rolling through the trees like distant thunder.

"Leave this place. I have no time for fools like you. It’s dangerous here."

A hush fell.

The Gu family disciples instinctively tightened their grips on their weapons.

And then—

"Ah~ my hubby~" Lin Zhaoyue moaned, the words drawn out like honeyed poison.

The young master’s face contorted, a vein popping visibly at his temple.

He clenched his fan so hard it bent slightly.

And in the middle of this slow-burning disaster, Fang Yuan swore...

He swore he definitely saw Lin Zhaoyue giggle.

She definitely giggled.

With a twinkle in her eye, she then turned her head ever so slightly toward him... and winked.

The young master from the Gu family took a step forward, ignoring Fang Yuan’s warning entirely.

He raised his chin arrogantly, fan snapping open again despite the biting chill in the air.

"I am Gu Zhen, first son of the Gu family! My father and grandfather are both Nascent Soul realm masters!" 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

His voice boomed with pride, as if the very trees should bow in acknowledgment.

"Hand over the hairpin, the spatial ring, and whatever wealth you carry. Do that... and I’ll let you crawl out of here alive."

Behind him, the twelve cultivators shifted.

Subtle, but deadly, ready to strike at a moments.

Fang Yuan’s gaze swept over them, calm, unbothered, already calculating ten different ways to flatten them before they could blink.

He opened his mouth to respond when—

[ Ding! 🎉 Congratulations! 🎉🎉 ]

[ Your family descendants have won the Championship in the Coldwind City Tournament! ]

[ Rewards: +100,000 SP

+1 Saint-Grade Cultivation Manual ]

A chime echoed in his mind, bright and festive.

For the briefest moment, Fang Yuan blinked.

Then, silence.

Not because of the tension.

But because of a single, deeply perplexed thought in his head:

"...Why the hell isn’t it Divine Grade?!"