Chapter 19

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Chapter 19

Although Zhong Wei’s face seemed familiar, nothing was more important than Yu Jiu, who had come back from the dead. Yu Heng’s gaze only lingered on Zhong Wei for a few seconds before returning to Yu Jiu.

"Tell me, what is going on?"

"Master of the Yu family," Yun Chuyou suddenly interrupted his question, "Are you interrogating a prisoner?"

She didn’t want to get involved in the affairs between the father and son. As the saying goes, it is hard for a fair judge to settle family matters. Getting involved in other people’s family issues may not bring gratitude and could instead lead to being seen as the villain.

But just now, Yu Jiu had asked her for help. He requested her to stay as a trustworthy Elder Martial Sister by his side.

The master of the Yu family was Yu Jiu’s elder by blood. She was his guide on the path of cultivation, his Elder Martial Sister, and the leader of the Qingxu Sect.

No matter how powerful the noble families of the Imperial Capital were, their control over the Mortal World and ability to manipulate ordinary people was not something to be feared by cultivators with long lives.

On the contrary, having grown up in a modern society that values freedom and equality, Yun Chuyou had little regard for these so-called noble families with strict hierarchies and numerous rules.

When she spoke up, she felt a hint of regret at first, but looking at Yu Jiu’s joyful, excited, and grateful expression, she suddenly felt glad she said those few words.

Even though this guy really doesn’t need anyone to back him up and can handle everything by himself, having someone stand up for him feels different.

Yun Chuyou also knows that this little green tea’s fragile appearance is probably an act, but she still chooses to stand up for him.

"Who are you…"

Only then did Yu Heng pay attention to Yun Chuyou, who slightly released the pressure of a Golden Core Stage cultivator, immediately causing his expression to change. If he weren’t sitting in a chair, he might have knelt on the ground, unable to withstand the pressure.

He had encountered cultivators before, and as the master of the Yu family, he even had some defensive artifacts to protect against cultivator attacks. A regular Qi Refining cultivator couldn’t do much harm to him.

This level of pressure definitely isn’t something a mere Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator can release. The young and beautiful woman in front of him, who looks about the same age as his daughter, likely has Golden Core Stage abilities!

Yu Heng had a complex look on his face as he glanced at the door. The Yu family is powerful, and as the family master, he can afford to hire Foundation Establishment cultivators to protect his safety.

The Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator hidden in the shadows slowly shook their head, confirming Yu Heng’s speculation. This cold-looking young female cultivator really does have the strength of a Golden Core Cultivator.

Indeed, ten years have passed, and everything is different now. Yu Jiu is no longer the fragile child he remembers but is now a cultivator.

From the butler’s words, Yun Chuyou seems easy to get along with; she even generously invited him to drink spirit tea. She gives the impression of being quite young and doesn’t have the usual arrogance of cultivators looking down on mortals.

But Yu Heng knows that cultivators and mortals are different in the end. Yun Chuyou’s politeness is like a higher-up showing respect to the worthy. Her willingness to treat him equally shows her noble character, but she is not someone who can be suppressed or manipulated.

Yun Chuyou’s polite behavior is because of Yu Jiu’s presence, but that doesn’t mean he can treat a golden core cultivator from the spiritual world with the same rules used for noble families. He also cannot underestimate her just because she looks young.

He has lived a life of luxury, appearing twenty years younger than his actual age. Many female cultivators in the cultivation world use beauty pills; it’s possible that she is actually two hundred years old!

In reality, the twenty-something Yun Chuyou does not have the ability to read minds; otherwise, she would definitely think poorly of the Yu family master for his bad judgment. She is clearly a vibrant young girl, both in body and spirit — nowhere near a two-hundred-year-old monster.

Seeing that Yu Heng’s attitude has softened a bit, Yun Chuyou said, "When Master brought Junior Brother back to the sect, he was seriously injured. The sect spent many precious resources to help him recover a little. His health has not been good these past few years, and he has just recently improved a bit."

The implied message here is that Yu Jiu has not been doing well before; his life belongs to the sect that saved him. Even if the Yu family wants to make a move, they should consider whether it would offend the Qingxu Sect.

She paused before continuing, "We came to the Mortal World this time for training, and also so that our younger martial sister can end her ties with the Mortal World. Cultivators should not be too attached to the mundane world or get too entangled with worldly affairs."

After all, the lifespans of cultivators and mortals differ greatly. Mortals’ bodies are frail and cannot be easily healed; even with suitable spirit food, medicine, or plenty of resources poured in, they can at most live up to one hundred and fifty years.

If this person had a weak body before, with many old injuries and an unhealthy lifestyle, they might only live to about a hundred years.

But for talented disciples, breaking through to Golden Core or Nascent Soul can allow them to live for hundreds of years, even over a thousand.

The time spent with family was only about ten years, and the distance apart was so great that even the strongest feelings would fade. It’s true for both cultivators and ordinary people; even if both are ordinary, being far apart can dull their connections.

Moreover, to protect powerless ordinary people, the laws of the Mortal World impose many restrictions on spiritual world cultivators. The cultivation world emphasizes cause and effect, and interfering with ordinary people’s destinies would increase karmic retribution.

If someone does bad things in the Mortal World, they don’t need to swear to the heavens; they will still face consequences during the Thunder Calamity, and it is possible to be struck by lightning and die.

Therefore, besides a very small number of evil cultivators who target the Mortal World, serious cultivators do not like to visit the Mortal World. The Spirit Qi there is nearly non-existent, gold and jewels cannot be used for cultivation, and the teleportation arrays are very expensive. Unless there is a special purpose, a visit is not worth it.

"I am just being rude," Yu Heng thought, although his mind told him that the female cultivator before him might be as old as his great-grandmother, it was hard to see her that way with such a face.

However, compared to his earlier cold questioning, his tone had indeed softened a lot, "Please understand the feelings of a father. I thought Jiu’er was dead, and seeing him stirred up my emotions a bit…"

The man’s voice sounded somewhat obscure, "My father was once very healthy, but because of his matters, he suffered a great blow back then and has been ill ever since."

Yun Chuyou didn’t say anything more. She just came out to show her support for Yu Jiu and didn’t want to know about the Yu family’s troubles.

Luckily, Yu Jiu was not silent. He only asked his father, "Is Yu Chen still alive?"

Yu Heng’s expression immediately changed. On his somewhat stern face, there was a hint of helplessness and guilt. "I have punished him, but he is now a spiritual world cultivator."

Yu Jiu replied, "The Yu Jiu from ten years ago is dead. Now, I am cultivator Wang Jiu. Since my father treats me as if I’m already dead, he can consider me dead from now on."

He looked at Yun Chuyou and said, "What the senior martial sister said is true. This life was given to me by my master. Even if I sell the entire Yu family, I cannot repay what the master and the senior martial sister have done for me. I won’t hold the past of the Yu family against them, and no one from the Yu family should come to disturb us in the coming days."

Yu Heng still wanted to persuade him a bit more. "Don’t you want to see your grandfather? He misses you a lot."

"No, if there’s nothing else, I won’t catch up with the Yu family master."

Yun Chuyou noticed that Yu Jiu’s way of addressing the other person had changed. He coldly called him the Yu family master and didn’t even call him father anymore.

Letting go of the ties between cultivators does not mean cutting off relationships with one’s birth parents or friends. It means understanding the past, taking revenge for grievances, and repaying kindness. It’s about settling the debts from the past and letting go of what needs to be released, to avoid internal demons on the path.

But it seems that Yu Jiu and his father do not have a good relationship. Among the four people in the first line of senior martial siblings, Meng He has no parents, and for Zhong Wei, having a father makes little difference, so no one will step forward to say things like there are no overnight grudges between father and son.

After all, only Yu Jiu knows what really happened back then.

Glancing at the sky outside, "The master of the Yu family is very busy, so let’s not delay here any longer; let the butler see the guests out."

Yu Heng pressed his lips together, wanting to say something more, but in the end, he swallowed all his words; it was the first day and there would not be enough time to share everything. He wasn’t in a hurry, as there would be more chances ahead.

He looked at Zhong Wei again; since they were fellow martial siblings, perhaps he could start with this girl in the red dress.

The butler nervously saw the family master off and then guided several distinguished guests into the tidy guest room.

Yun Chuyou habitually cast a Cleaning Spell, and the faint smell of dust in the room disappeared completely.

She had a big heart and wasn’t too curious; she planned to rest as soon as she got into bed and didn’t think too much.

Just as she was about to turn off the light, there was a knock on the door, and Yu Jiu’s polite voice came from outside, "Senior martial sister, are you asleep?"

Just the sound of knocking at the door would wake anyone up, even if they were asleep. Yun Chuyou complained in her heart, but said out loud, "No, if there’s something to say, please come in and talk."

After Yu Jiu came in, he closed the door behind him. He found a chair and sat in front of the soft couch, his black eyes quietly looking at Yun Chuyou, "Senior martial sister, I can’t sleep. I want to talk to you. Would you like to listen?"

Yun Chuyou patted the bed, "Go ahead and say what you need to. I’m listening."

She didn’t think Yu Jiu was very sad, after all, no matter what Yu Heng said, Yu Jiu’s expression didn’t change much, and his Evil Value didn’t increase at all.

However, there was something odd about Yu Jiu’s data. Zhong Wei’s Evil Value fluctuated around ten points over five years, but Yu Jiu’s Evil Value was always a jumble of numbers, only showing increases and decreases without specific details.

As for the little weather forecast expressions that represented their feelings, when there was no emotional change, everyone had an empty space above their heads. But when their feelings had strong ups and downs, cute little expressions would appear.

Not everyone has expressions above their heads; the related panel only works for disciples in the sect. However, since everyone in the sect was a named character from the story and significant villains, Yun Chuyou wasn’t sure if she would be able to see the relevant data for the heroine and hero.

No fluctuations in feelings meant that Yu Jiu didn’t care about the Yu family at all; his sadness and vulnerability were all an act.

Though she knew Yu Jiu was acting, she still became a quiet listener and patiently heard Yu Jiu’s stories from his perspective.

The Yu family is a big family. Yu Jiu’s father is an important son, and he only had Yu Jiu, his firstborn son, at the age of twenty-nine, as you could tell from Yu Heng’s recent behavior.

As the next leader of the family, Yu Heng is very strict with his eldest son. He is the kind of father that is very traditional and serious. He can provide for Yu Jiu in material ways, but at the same time, he puts a lot of pressure on him.

There is almost no warmth between the father and son like in an ordinary family. Their relationship feels very cold. Unfortunately, Yu Jiu is physically weak and often gets sick, sometimes making it hard for him to meet Yu Heng’s expectations.

"I am an unqualified heir in my father’s eyes."

Yun Chuyou replied softly, showing that she was listening, "Mm."

"My mother is very weak, like a parasitic flower that depends on my father to survive. She is very fragile and can easily wither away."

This statement is true; the woman who bore him was carefully chosen by a ghostly mother, merely a beautiful container and nourishment for the ghost child.

"The Yu Chen I just mentioned is another son of my father." He is the first grandson, because his father is the legitimate son of this branch, but his father also has responsibilities to two families and married a noblewoman from another family to replace his uncle.

The other person is the proper wife of the second family, a foolish yet very healthy woman.

In a family like the Yu family, it is impossible to avoid hidden schemes. On the surface, the brothers seem to get along well, but in secret, there are sharp conflicts. However, there is no need to bring up those dirty matters. He knows that Yun Chuyou doesn’t like to hear about them and doesn’t want to tarnish the ears of his Elder Martial Sister.

When Yu Jiu was born, he was very weak because his mother was scared and gave birth early, at least that’s how it looked to others.

"Ten years ago, I died in my mother’s arms because of Yu Chen. I was an important son to my father, but not that important. For the sake of their interests, they would easily give me up since Yu Chen is a healthier heir…"

Yu Jiu said these words with his eyes downcast, looking very fragile and pitiful, "I didn’t expect Elder Martial Sister to say those things in front of that man."

Yun Chuyou said, "I don’t want to be the bad person; I am just stating a fact. No matter what your past was like, now that you are a cultivator of Qingxu Sect, you can’t be too involved with the Yu family."

Yu Jiu replied, "I understand that Elder Martial Sister’s words are to protect me."

Yun Chuyou said, "You were found by Master; your life was saved by Master. I haven’t done anything special."

She reached out and gently touched the head of the little black-hearted ghost child, "Don’t worry. If Yu Heng has ulterior motives and tries to force you to help the family, blocking your path, I will not stand by and watch."

The girl paused for a moment, "As long as you do not betray Qingxu Sect, I will always be your Elder Martial Sister."

She seemed to pull her hand back as if she had been burned, because just after her words, Yu Jiu, who had shown no emotion before, suddenly blossomed with a bright sunflower on his head.

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