To Love & To Hold

Yulan City is a small city in the fiefdom of the Ning Kingdom, adjacent to the Demon Beast Mountains. The most dangerous mountain range in Yulan City. The morning sun rose as a cold morning breeze blew through the city, signaling that the day had just begun. Even though it was still early in the morning, everyone in the small town had already begun their normal activities.

There was only one place in Yulan City that was different. That was the mansion of the Long family, one of the three great families in Yulan City that wielded great power there. A group of young people could be seen practicing in the family's gym under the guidance of the elders of the Long family.

"Long Chen!"

A middle-aged man with an angry face shouted, startling the young people who were busy practicing and listening to the advice of the Long Family elders. The young people knew whose voice it was and who the middle-aged man was angry at.

"Again? Don't you two ever get bored?"

The Long Family Elder who heard the cry was no longer surprised. Every morning, he heard the same scream and the same thing happened in the morning. In front of Elder Long, the young people sitting in front of him were whispering to each other, and some people were mocking Long Chen's name.

"This trash is always making trouble!"

"Sttttt! Shut up, after all he used to be the genius of the Long Family. It's not good to insult him, after all, Long Chen is still our family."

Some young people defended Long Chen, and some insulted him because he could only cause trouble in the Long family every day. Elder Long, who saw and heard the disdainful whispers of the young people of his family was speechless. What they said was true, but he also knew that everything that happened to the young person named Long Chen was also the fault of the elders of the Long family themselves.

"Uncle, why do you keep following me? What did I do wrong?"

A young man who was only 16 years old was seen running away from a middle-aged man who was chasing him. The young man was Long Chen, the genius and scum of the Long Family, and the middle-aged man chasing him was the head of the Long Family, Long Hu.

"Damn it, don't make excuses! Stop and accept your punishment."

Long Hu, whose hair was still disheveled, was furious at the words that Long Chen threw at him. The reason he was chasing after the boy was also because he had stolen his things while he was still sleeping.

"Come on, Uncle, I didn't steal anything! And I also didn't do anything to harm our family."

"Damn it! You didn't do anything harmful, but you committed a theft that is harmful to me and the other elders."

Long Hu was very angry with his only nephew because three years ago, Long Chen's character had completely changed from being a hardworking, obedient, and quiet child to a brat who liked to cause trouble in the Long family. Although he knew the reason why Long Chen had changed, it was something that happened three years ago.

"All right, Uncle, here is what belongs to you."

Long Chen stopped and turned around, casually throwing a large sack at Long Hu and then running back when Long Hu caught it.

"Huh... I finally got my precious thing back, th..."

Long Hu's words were interrupted when he saw that the contents of the large bag were just the remaining bones of the demonic beast that Long Chen had eaten. Long Hu's face flushed with anger, and he didn't expect that Long Chen had managed to trick him for the umpteenth time.

"Long Chen!"

Long Chen, who had already moved away from Long Hu, smiled as he ran out of the gate of the Long family residence. He entered the bustling neighborhood before leaving Yulan City in disguise, covering his face from the city gate guards.

"Hehehe, Uncle is indeed easy to fool." Long Chen had left the city. And now he was in the forest near the Demonic Beast Mountain, or the people called Sina Mountain.

Long Chen looked at the huge mountain in front of him with a complicated face. This was the place that changed his life, and this was the place where he realized that not everyone was easy to trust. The human heart was not something that could be easily seen and understood by others. Long Chen realized that in this world he lived in, there was no one he could trust except his uncle, who had taken good care of him.

If it was three years ago, Long Chen might still believe in his family, but three years ago, he no longer trusted the Long family, even though he knew that they were still kind to him, even though he was the scum of the Long family.

......

Three years ago, in front of Demon Beast Mountain.

"Why?" Long Chen, who had been severely wounded in the abdomen by a sword thrust, knelt in pain. But his heart hurt even more when he saw the figure that was secretly stabbing him from behind.

"Why did you say that? Do you still not know, or are you just stupid? Hahahaha, the genius of the Long family that was respected and even proud has now completely become garbage."

The beautiful woman holding the sword looked at Long Chen with contempt. She was Long Chen's fiancée, and he and his fiancée were planning to hunt demonic beasts beyond the mountain's borders. But what, he didn't expect was that the woman who had been a childhood friend and fiancée of the Long family would betray him from behind when he was caught off guard.

"Why? Why are you doing this? Don't you love me?" Long Chen asked desperately, looking at the woman in front of him.

"Love you? I never loved you! I want to disable you so that you can't cultivate anymore. That way, I will have more chances to enter the sect on my own." Her fiancé's answer immediately made Long Chen even more desperate.

"If that's what you wanted, why didn't you tell me? I would have gladly let you win the recruitment. You don't have to do all this, do you?"

Long Chen's words were true in his heart if this woman wanted to join the sect. He would certainly give in and help her get in.

"That's not necessary! I've already found someone stronger than you in the sect. Of course, my reason is that I want to break off our engagement, but if I break it off right now, my family will not approve. Only if you are handicapped, my family agree to break this engagement." The beautiful woman looked at Long Chen with a playful smile, clearly insulting Long Chen himself for still being stupid and not understanding her purpose.