After chatting for a few moments, Gu Bieli said with relief, “Thanks to you, your father will soon be released from the dungeon. I’ll go prepare a delicious meal for you all.”
An'an said joyfully, “I’ll draw bathwater for master and let him wash away the dirt and bad luck!”
The two immediately got to work, bustling with energy. Xu Santong took a sip of tea, chuckled, and pulled out the silver notes. “Gu Yi, come on, let’s split this money between us.”
Gu Yi raised a hand to stop him. “Money is useless to me. You should keep it all. However, if I ever need money in the future, I’ll have to trouble you to pay the bill for me.”
Xu Santong did not refuse. The two knew each other inside and out, so there was no need for false modesty or polite formalities. He cheerfully tucked the money into his robes and said, “All right, I’ll keep it here for now. Whenever you need money, just tell me. Even if you spend it all, it won’t be a problem.”
“Mm, all right.” Gu Yi smiled, greatly satisfied with Xu Santong’s temperament.
Before long, Gu Chengjiao was carried back in a sedan borne by eight men.
The clan patriarch Gu Chengqian, the fourth uncle, the punishment elder, and the other powerful family members repeatedly apologized and offered compensation. Their faces remained wreathed in smiles the entire time, leaving Gu Chengqian extremely depressed.
“Third younger brother, we are blood brothers. Locking you in the dungeon was also done to uphold the family rules. Fortunately, Yi'er exposed Second uncle’s conspiracy in time. I wronged you.”
Gu Chengqian put on a deeply emotional expression. After seeing him to the main gate, he glanced at Gu Yi, who was sitting upright in the courtyard, and said with a chuckle, “From now on, we must visit each other more often. When you have time, bring Yi'er over to sit with me. We are family; we must not become distant.”
Looking back on the past, when had Gu Chengjiao ever enjoyed such warm and considerate words in this family?
Gu Chengjiao was not a fool. He had gradually discerned the true meaning behind their words and said calmly, “uncles and elder brothers, please go on ahead. Chengjiao won’t keep you here.”
When they returned to the residence compound, An'an said with delighted surprise, “master is back! I’ve already prepared your bathwater. Hurry and go take a bath!”
Gu Bieli poked her head out of the kitchen and called, “Once you’ve bathed and tidied yourself up, you can eat.”
Xu Santong rose, respectfully bowed, and said with a chuckle, “uncle, I’ve come to pay you a visit.”
A warm feeling gradually rose from the depths of Gu Chengjiao’s heart. He looked toward Gu Yi, who was sitting in the courtyard.
All this courtesy, this treatment so vastly different from before, had come about entirely because of Gu Yi.
Gu Yi nodded and smiled faintly. “I originally planned to rescue you tomorrow, but I didn’t expect it to happen early.”
Gu Chengjiao burst into hearty laughter, secretly wiping away the tears welling in the corners of his eyes. He murmured, “Mingyue, our Yi'er has grown up…”
After exchanging cups and enjoying a full meal, it was already afternoon by the time Gu Bieli and Xu Santong departed.
Gu Yi helped the drunken Gu Chengjiao back to his room. Seeing that he was not completely drunk, Gu Yi asked, “father, there’s something I want to ask you.”
Gu Chengjiao glanced at Gu Yi and said bitterly, “You want to know the true reason your mother died, don’t you?”
Gu Yi nodded. “That’s right. My mother was a true essence realm martial artist. She shouldn’t have died in childbirth. Besides, there are clues in the jade slip.”
Gu Chengjiao nodded and sighed deeply. “That’s right. Your mother was a true essence realm martial artist. Whenever we encountered danger in the past, she was the one who protected me. How could she have died in childbirth?”
“Alas! Yi'er, you’re already a grown man. I’ll tell you everything about this matter.”
From the moment Gu Chengjiao handed the jade slip to Gu Yi, he had never intended to keep the truth from him. Taking advantage of the alcohol, he shed tears of sorrow and slowly recounted the buried events of the past.
It turned out that his mother, Li Mingyue, had not died in childbirth at all. She had been harmed by members of her maiden family—the people of the Li Clan of the Capital!
Twenty years ago, Li Mingyue disregarded her family’s opposition, secretly pledged herself to Gu Chengjiao, and became pregnant.
Li Mingyue’s biological elder brother, Gu Yi’s maternal uncle, Li Tongba, had been ordered by the family to bring Li Mingyue back. At the very least, he could not allow Li Mingyue to bear Gu Chengjiao’s child!
Li Tongba had originally intended to forcefully take Li Mingyue back, but she resisted fiercely. During the clash, her pregnancy was endangered.
Li Tongba took the opportunity to produce an “abortion medicine,” claiming that it was a pregnancy-preserving pill, and tricked Li Mingyue into taking it.
Not long after taking the pill, Li Mingyue realized that she had been deceived. In desperation, she forcibly circulated the family’s cultivation method and transferred all her essence into Gu Yi, who was still in the womb. Only then did she narrowly preserve Gu Yi’s life.
Afterward, Li Mingyue aged instantly, and her physical condition deteriorated by the day. After enduring countless hardships to successfully give birth to Gu Yi, she passed away.
“Li Tongba!”
Gu Yi ground out the name through clenched teeth. His expression twisted savagely, and his eyes blazed with overwhelming killing intent!
The Li Clan of the Capital was an imperial relative clan with deep-rooted influence. Many of its younger members engaged in commerce or politics, and its branches flourished throughout the realm. Among them, Li Tongba was the clan’s pillar and leading figure.
Li Tongba not only possessed profound cultivation level, having reached the five luminaries realm, but also wielded enormous authority. He was one of the five great divine generals of the empire, held the official rank of junior guardian, and had been enfeoffed as the Marquis of Wuting.
He possessed not only overwhelming power and influence, but was also Li Mingyue’s biological elder brother. Although Gu Chengjiao hated him to the extreme, he could only blame himself and remain helpless.
Seeing killing intent spreading from Gu Yi, Gu Chengjiao anxiously advised, “Yi'er, you absolutely must not act rashly. Even if you have obtained great fortune and possess extraordinary abilities, you still cannot possibly contend with the colossal Li Family.”
“Besides, although Li Tongba was responsible for harming your mother, he did not intend to harm her. He was merely unable to disobey his father’s orders, caught in a difficult position. Otherwise, he would not have stepped in to preserve your mother’s life at the critical moment back then.”
Gu Yi sneered. “Even if he was unwilling, my mother was ultimately killed by him and the Li Clan!”
“Father, don’t worry. If I’m not certain of success, I won’t do something foolish like striking an egg against a rock.”
“Li Tongba is merely a five luminaries realm martial artist. Sooner or later, I will make him and the Li Clan pay the price they deserve for what they did back then!”
…
In an elegant residence compound, an old man sat beneath a grapevine in a reclining chair, his eyes half-closed as though asleep yet awake.
Kneeling before the old man was a young man. It was Gu Feng!
“Grandpa Poison! I’ve made up my mind. I’m determined to win tomorrow’s clan tournament! Tonight, I’ll bring you the hearts of twelve virgin boys and girls. Please lend me your strength so that I can seize the championship tomorrow and slaughter Gu Yi!”
The old man slowly Opened His Eyes and glanced at Gu Feng. In a hoarse voice, he asked, “Have you thought it through?”
“I have! As long as I can kill Gu Yi and enter the Martial Arts Sacred Grounds, I’m willing to do anything!”
“Very well. As long as you bring me the items tonight as promised, I’ll give you an Essence-Enhancing Pill. It will allow your cultivation level to reach the peak of the tenth stage of the True Essence Realm in a short time.”
“However, remember this: the twelve virgin boys and girls must share your bloodline. Otherwise, they will be of no use…”