"...." Looking at he cup that was slid towards him, Yang Ze just shook his head in refusal.

"Thanks, but I don't drink."

"Huh!?" Xiao Ruolan wasn't expecting him to refuse a toast. From her childhood, her entire focus was on cultivation. And this made her social skills extremely poor. Because of this, she never made any friends. She tried making new friends a long time ago, but due to her awkwardness and not wanting to say more than a few words, it ended in failure.

Over time, living in isolation like this and focusing solely on cultivation turned her personality into what Yang Ze was currently seeing.

A cold and emotionless woman.

Her hand stayed in the air awkwardly for a while before she just placed the cup to her lips and gulped down the wine.

~Hic

With a smile, she filled the cup once again before looking at the man sitting beside her.

Yang Ze felt her eyes all over his body, as if she was observing him carefully.

'Did she discover something?' Yang Ze's heart tensed for a moment. He knew the mask on his face wasn't perfect. When the shopkeeper sold it to him, she specifically told him that high-level cultivators could see through it if they paid attention. But thankfully, no one bothered to give a second glance to someone like him. In their eyes, he was a mere insignificant ant.

But now that Xiao Ruolan was looking at him so intently, he couldn't help but tense. He didn't know if she was strong enough to see through his disguise, but he didn't want to take a risk.

He was about to head back to his room when Xiao Ruolan opened her cherry lips and spoke a few words that froze him in place.

"Why..." Xiao Ruolan tilted her head in confusion.

"Why are you so short?"

"..." Yang Ze's mind almost stopped working for a moment before he almost flew in rage.

He could tolerate anything. Anything... but people making fun of his height.

In his previous life, his height was similar to what he had now due to malnourishment.

But in this life... Till now, he believed that it was because of his age and a similar case of malnutrition. He believed that as long as he cultivated, his height would grow before reaching its normal height.

Earlier, he never thought too much about it, not because he didn't want to, but because he never had a chance to worry about it. After all, he was constantly in danger of his life, and his short height was the least of his worries.

But now that he was safe and his life was peaceful, he couldn't help but grit his teeth in anger. Now he was a Foundation forging expert... someone who would be well respected in cities and towns.

But forget about respect. He was being mocked for his height.

"I..." Gritting his teeth in anger, Yang Ze spoke further. "I don't know."

If not for the fact that the woman was much stronger than he, he would have definitely taught her a lesson. The word 'shorty' was a thorn in his heart. Even back on Earth, people used to make fun of him because of his height. And this remained the case even in this new world.

"Heh." Xiao Ruolan gulped another cup of wine before speaking in a hazy voice. "I know a method to increase height. Do you want to learn it?"

Before she could even finish speaking, Yang Ze immediately jumped in response. "Absolutely."

"Hehe..." Lin Wan let out a soft chuckle, filled the cup once again and pushed it towards Yang Ze.

"If you drink this cup, I will tell you."

"....." Yang Ze first looked at her, then at the cup, before gritting his teeth in anger and reaching out to pick it up. But halfway through, his hand just paused in mid-air. He struggled for a long time before shaking his head and shaking his head.

"I... I can't." He spoke in a defeated tone.

"Can't, or won't?" Xiao Ruolan just raised an eyebrow. She didn't expect him to refuse the drink once again, even when she offered a way to increase his height.

"Won't." Yang Ze replied in a flat tone.

"Interesting." Xiao Ruolan let out an alluring smile before placing the cup to her lips and pouring it all into her mouth.

"Why?" When she first met this man, she didn't pay any attention to him. In her eyes, he was a mere slave who would die sooner or later. She just thought that Lin Yue grabbed him randomly so he could take care of their needs and work as a servant for the two of them.

But over time, she realises that he was more than just a mere slave.

And when she came to know the relationship between him and Lin Wan, she was in disbelief. She couldn't understand why Lin Wan would like someone so ordinary.

But the day she saw that monstrosity when he took off his pants...

"Hisss..." Perhaps it was under the influence of alcohol, but she could feel the image of his monstrous penis becoming clear in her head.

She hurriedly poured herself another cup of wine before gulping it down.

Feeling the spicy sensation in her abdomen, she let out a hot breath as her gaze towards him became complicated before she came back to their previous conversation.

"Why wouldn't you drink it?" She tilted her head in confusion.

Her wine wasn't ordinary. It was made from countless precious resources. For mortals, it was a nectar of life. She just thought that the man didn't know about it and considered it to be an ordinary wine. But even if it was an ordinary wine, why refuse a toast? God knows how many people in Yuyang City would die to drink with her.

"I have my reasons." Yang Ze didn't want to talk about it. He just took a deep breath of fresh air mixed with the scent of wine before shaking his head. By now, he was already regretting coming to this place.

'I should have gone to sleep.' Just when he was considering whether to head back to his room, Xiao Ruolan spoke in a soft voice.

"Go on... Share with me." Afraid that he would reject her once again, Xiao Ruolan hurriedly added, "It's just the two of us, and perhaps by tomorrow, I will forget everything. Besides... you know me. I don't like to talk to people. So, your secret will stay safe with me."

Listening to her coquettish voice, Yang Ze was stunned for a long time.

He once again looked at the enchanting woman sitting beside her. The silky, long black hair, those red eyes that glowed like beautiful rubies, a flushed face that was red due to drinking and her cherry lips that had a glossy layer because of drinking wine.

And if her appearance was not devastating enough, then her large breasts, which were twice the size of both Lin Yue and Lin Wan, were adding further charm to her beauty.

For a while, Yang Ze truly couldn't connect her to the usual cold, arrogant and emotionless woman who never liked to talk.

Even when she was going through so much humiliation in the Duality Sect, her face didn't have that many expressions.

But now... Just a few cups of wine and she was already a different person.

'Perhaps this is the true her.' Yang Ze couldn't help but mutter under his breath.

"Go on... ~Hic~"

She didn't stop but raised her hand and poked Yang Ze's left cheek, almost making him jump in fright.

"...." Yang Ze thought for a while before letting out a heavy sigh.

'Forget it.' Even though he didn't want to admit it, he truly wanted to speak to someone. He had lived his life alone and helpless. How many times did he dream about having someone who would quietly listen to his complaint? How many times did he dream about sharing all his problems with someone? The burden he was carrying was making him suffocate. Yang Ze was afraid that if he didn't have a second person to talk to, he would become numb.

"So... Why don't you drink?" Xio Ruolan didn't seem to have noticed his changes. She still kept on pestering him.

In the end, Yang Ze just let out a helpless sigh before speaking in a soft voice.

"Because of my mother."

"Aww... Because she forbade you to drink?" Xiao Ruolan didn't think that there would be someone who would respect their mother so much.

"No." Yang Ze let out a bitter smile. "It's because her drinking ruined our family."

"...." Xiao Ruolan didn't know how to reply to this. She poured another cup of wine and was about to drink it when her hand paused mid-air while her eyes looked at he man sitting beside her.

"Sigh..." In the end, she didn't drink it, but just placed it on the ground beside her.

"What happened?" Perhaps she was drunk, or perhaps it was because of another reason, but Xiao Ruolan really wanted to talk to someone.

Yang Ze let out a heavy sigh as the events of his past life flashed before his eyes.

"After my father died, my mother started to drink."

"At first, I thought it was to cope with his death, but her drinking only increased with time."

"She lost herself in drinking. So much so that she didn't even remember that she had two children who needed her."

"Grief turned into numbness, numbness turned into anger and then anger into violence."

"Before I realised, my mother had changed."

"Daily abuse became a norm. And with her drinking came gambling. And it took away what was left of our once little happy family."

Speaking till here, Yang Ze went silent for a long time as his gaze was stuck on the starry sky above him.

Xiao Ruolan, beside him, didn't disturb him but waited patiently in silence.

"And I lost everything."

With a bitter smile, Yang Ze shook his head while looking at the jar of wine beside Xiao Ruolan.

"I see." Xiao Ruolan didn't know what to say. She wanted to say a few words of comfort, but found herself at a loss. She didn't have any friends, and conversations like this were few and far between. She didn't know if she should console him or encourage him. What if she said something stupid and ruined everything?

In the end, the best option she thought of was to stay silent.

As the two of them sat there in silence, a different voice brought them back to their senses.

"Interesting story."

Turning his head around, Yang Ze's eyes narrowed into slits as he saw the figure of Lin Yue standing behind them. Even with his strength at the peak of Foundation Forging, he couldn't sense her arrival.

"I know someone who had a similar story to yours."

Ignoring Yang Ze's surprise, Lin Yue sat beside Xiao Ruolan, picked up the jar of wine, and directly placed it on her lips before gulping down mouthful after mouthful of it.

It was as if Yang Ze's life story had no meaning to her.

"When did you come here?" Snatching the half-empty jar of wine, Xiao Ruolan snorted in displeasure. Her heart twitched in pain as she looked at the remaining half wine. God knows how much struggle she had gone through to get this wine, and now half of it was gone.

"When you two started talking." Licking the corner of her lips, Lin Yue savoured the taste of the wine. But unlike Xiao Ruolan, her face wasn't flushed. It was as if the wine didn't have any effect on her.

"Tch!" Xiao Ruolan just clicked her tongue in annoyance.

It was at this time, Yang Ze spoke.

"Who?"

"Who, what?" Lin Yue just looked at him in confusion.

"Who has the same life story as mine?" Yang Ze asked while gritting his teeth in anger. How could she forget it already?

"Oh!" Lin Yue placed her right hand on top of her chest before tilting her head and replying with a smile.

"That would be me."

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