Chapter 965 The Marriage Mouse
The rabbit-like demonic beast jumped onto Qin Haodong’s shoulder. Its furry little head kept rubbing against his cheek.
Qin Haodong felt that the little thing was very cute, so he held it in his arms.
At this time, countless black shadows rushed over from the distance. Instantly, these people surrounded him.
Qin Haodong glanced at them. These people were all cultivation artists whose cultivations were not low. Most of them were at the early stage of the Combination Realm. The leader was an old man who had reached the middle stage of the Combination Realm.
He had never been to Flame City, so he had never seen these people before. He did not know why they were surrounding him.
Just as he was running his Genuine Qi and preparing for it, the old man stepped forward and said, “I am He Zhong, the Chief of He Family. Congratulations to you; you are the destined one of our Young Miss!”
“He Family? The destined one?”
Qin Haodong was confused.
Although he had just heard from the old man that the He Family was choosing the destined one for their Young Miss, he hadn’t participated at all and hadn’t signed up either. How had he become her destined one?
He asked in surprise, “Uncle, have you mistaken me for someone else? This is the first time I’ve come to Flame City. I’ve never seen you or been to the He Family.”
“I didn’t get the wrong person.” He Zhong said with a smile, “We are choosing the destined one for our Young Miss today. You just happened to be the one we chose.”
“Chose me? How is that possible?” Qin Haodong said in confusion, “I haven’t seen the Young Miss of your family or received any embroidered ball. How can I be the one you chose?”
He was now eager to go back to earth and had no intention of looking for a wife at all.
He Zhong said, “It’s the first time you’ve come to Flame City, so it’s not surprising that you don’t know the customs here. Now I’ll explain it to you.
“Here, every Young Miss of a noble family will raise a marriage mouse. When these Young Misses grow up and begin to choose their destined ones, they will release their marriage mice.
“The marriage mouse is very intelligent. The person it chooses is the one that the Young Miss will be betrothed to.
“As for this marriage mouse in your arms, it just so happens to be raised by our Young Miss of our He Family, He Ziwei. It chose you, so you’re the destined one of our Young Miss.”
“Oh, my God! Is there such a way to look for a husband?”
This strange method really surprised Qin Haodong. He didn’t expect that the little fellow in his arms was here to choose the destined one for the Young Miss of the He Family.
The marriage mouse seemed to sense his feeling. It stretched out its little head and rubbed it on his chin as if it was saying that “I had chosen you.”
Qin Haodong said, “Aren’t you being too reckless? What if the marriage mouse chooses a married man or a man in his seventies or eighties for you?”
He Zhong patiently explained, “It doesn’t matter. Polygamy is a common occurrence in the Lingwu Continent. Even if the chosen man is already married, it’s still fine.
“The marriage mouse has another name, the fate mouse. This little fellow is quite intelligent. Its choice represents fate, so the one it chooses will be the best husband.
“Thus, Young Master, please come back to the mansion with us!”
“This…”
Qin Haodong felt a headache for no reason. He was just walking around and had no interest in looking for a wife.
Furthermore, he hadn’t even seen what He Ziwei looked like. He didn’t even know if she was ugly or beautiful, thin or fat. How could he possibly have been selected for that strange reason?
Just as he was about to rack his wits about rejecting, a voice sounded from the side. “Chief He, it’s a little too early for you to make your decision. The marriage mouse might not have chosen this person.”
Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw a young man dressed in white walking in from the crowd.
The man was about 180 centimeters tall. He was holding a black folding fan in his hand and looked like a gentle and elegant scholar.
However, Qin Haodong clearly saw his cultivation. This guy had reached the early stage of the Combination Realm.
The He Family was the number one family in Flame City. He Zhong naturally recognized this young man. He was Zhuo Wengong, the son of the Lord Zhuo Wangsun, whom everyone doted on.
If anyone else had stepped forward to question him, He Zhong would have kicked him out already. However, the person in front of him had a special identity, so he could only patiently ask, “Young Master Zhuo, what do you think I did wrong?
“He was chosen by our Young Miss’s marriage mouse.”
Zhuo Wengong waved the folding fan in his hand and said, “Although the marriage mouse raised by Ziwei is in the arms of that person, it doesn’t mean anything. It’s very likely that the marriage mouse was caught by him.
“He’s still holding the marriage mouse. The marriage mouse will definitely run away after he lets it go.”
Qin Haodong couldn’t find an excuse to refuse this marriage. When he heard what this man said, he immediately said, “You’re right, this brother. This little thing was indeed caught by me. I’ll let it go now.”
After that, he put the marriage mouse in his arms on the ground. “Go! Go away! Quickly! There’s nothing delicious here.”
Unexpectedly, this little fellow didn’t intend to leave at all. On the contrary, it jumped back onto his shoulder again and stuck close to his cheek. It looked extremely intimate!
Qin Haodong complained in his heart. “What do you want to do? I already have a bunch of wives. Why don’t you choose someone else?”
He Zhong was well aware of Zhuo Wengong’s thoughts. This guy had taken a fancy to the Young Miss, but the He Family didn’t agree to this marriage.
“Young Master, as you can see, the stance of the marriage mouse is very clear. It was not captured by him.”
“Why are you in such a hurry? It hasn’t been long. Maybe it will come to me soon.”
Zhuo Wengong took out a small fiery-red fruit. As soon as he took it out, it emanated a strong fragrance.
“Little thing, come over here. This Bloodstripe Vermillion Fruit will be yours if you come here!”
He Zhong’s expression changed. He was very clear about what the Bloodstripe Vermillion Fruit was. This fruit possessed a dense fragrance that was extremely attractive to any demonic beast.
According to the customs of Flame City, choosing a husband entirely depended on fate. Now Zhuo Wengong used the Bloodstripe Vermillion Fruit to lure the marriage mouse. It was obvious that he was cheating.
However, he was only a servant of the He Family, while the other party was the son of the Lord. There was a huge disparity between their statuses, so it wasn’t appropriate for him to say anything.
Just as he was wondering if he should invite his master over, he saw that the marriage mouse only glanced at the Bloodstripe Vermillion Fruit and didn’t show much interest. It was still jumping around on Qin Haodong’s shoulder.
“This…”
The complacency on Zhuo Wengong’s face disappeared. This Bloodstripe Vermillion Fruit was extremely hard to come by. He had spent tens of thousands of top-level Spirit Stones just to lure this little thing in front of him.
He had conducted many experiments before. When other demonic beasts saw the fruit, they immediately licked their chops. He didn’t know why the marriage mouse didn’t care about it. Or, was there something more attractive on that person to the marriage mouse?
When He Zhong saw the scene in front of him, he breathed a sigh of relief.
This was the best outcome and saved him a lot of trouble. Unless it was absolutely necessary, their He Family didn’t want to have any conflict with the Lord.
Zhuo Wengong slammed the Bloodstripe Vermillion Fruit onto the ground and angrily said, “It’s not right. There must be something on the body of this boy. Otherwise, the marriage mouse wouldn’t be like this.”
Qin Haodong was speechless. If he could cheat, he would really find a way to drive this little thing away.
“You treat that so-called Young Miss who is choosing her destined one as a treasure, while I only regard her as a big problem.”
He Zhong said, “Young Master, what you said is wrong. According to the rules of Flame City, marriage only depends on the choice of the marriage mouse and has nothing to do with anything else.
“The person chosen by the marriage mouse will be the husband of our Young Miss.”
“You…”
Zhuo Wengong’s face reddened in anger. He shouted, “Following the rules, right? Then, I challenge this boy!”
“Challenge?” The expression of He Zhong suddenly changed as he said, “Young Master, please think it over. Even though our ancestors have the rules for the challenge, no one has used them for many years. Have you thought about the consequences?”
Zhuo Wengong replied, “Don’t even think about it. I don’t believe that I can’t be better than a bumpkin!”
“Well, since you have decided, I will send someone to invite our Young Miss to preside over the challenge now.”
After that, he waved his hand. A servant next to him quickly flew away.
Qin Haodong said, “Uncle, what’s with this challenge?”
He Zhong explained, “According to the rules of our ancestors, although the marriage mouse has chosen you, anyone can directly issue a challenge if he is dissatisfied with the result.
“For example, the Young Master Zhuo is dissatisfied with the result now. As long as he wins the challenge, he will become the husband of our Young Miss.
“The rules of the challenge are agreed upon by both parties. The final judgment is handed over to our Young Miss.
“Of course, the judgment of our Young Miss must be fair. Otherwise, she will not be able to live in Flame City in the future.”
Qin Haodong was happy to hear that. “There’s no need to judge. I’ll directly admit defeat, okay?”
“Uh…”
He Zhong was speechless. Everyone else was fighting to be the husband of their Young Miss. However, this person in front of him seemed to be trying to decline the marriage. How strange!
He said, “The reason why this kind of challenge hasn’t been used for decades is that the result is too harsh.
“If you fail in the challenge, you will be killed on the spot in order to protect the chastity of our Young Miss!”
“Damn it! Who set this rule?!”
Hearing that he would lose his life if he lost, Qin Haodong waved his hand and said, “Forget it.”
Although he did not want to accept this marriage, it was better than losing his life.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to find an opportunity to escape. However, He Zhong and the servants had surrounded him tightly as if they were only guarding against this move. It wouldn’t be easy for him to escape. It seemed that he could only wait for an opportunity in the future.
He asked again, “What if I win? What price will the opponent pay? There will be no punishment? If so, anyone will challenge me and I won’t have time to do anything else.”
“Of course not,” He Zhong said. “According to the ancestral rules, the loser will be a slave for the rest of his life.”
Qin Haodong clicked his tongue. The price was quite high. No wonder no one wanted to issue any challenges for so many years.
The problem now was that Zhuo Wengong had paid such a high price to challenge him. Did Qin Haodong look like a pushover?
As they were discussing the situation, a few figures rushed over from afar. The one in the lead was a woman dressed in a bright red wedding robe, the Young Miss of the He Family, He Ziwei.
Although he had seen many beautiful women, Qin Haodong was still amazed the moment he saw He Ziwei.
Not only was the face of the woman extremely exquisite, with no flaws, but her figure was also curvy. She could not be more perfect.
Especially her long and straight legs, which were even more perfect than those altered through photoshop.
After seeing her, he understood why Zhuo Wengong would challenge him even at the risk of lifelong servitude. This woman was too tempting.
“Young Miss, you’re here?”
He Zhong immediately went forward to welcome her.
He Ziwei nodded and then asked, “What’s going on? Why did you call me over?”
“Here’s the thing. This Young Master Qin received the favor of the marriage mouse and became your destined one,” He Zhong pointed to Qin Haodong and said. “But Young Master Zhuo was unconvinced, so he issued a challenge. That’s why I invited you to preside over it.”
He Ziwei followed the direction of He Zhong’s finger and saw a handsome and imposing young man standing there. She couldn’t help but sigh inwardly in relief.