Translated by Eve
Edited by Wuxian
"Ah Ning, come here. My grandfather wants to see you," Yun Yi pressed over to Sui Yuan’s side and whispered, pulling onto his sleeves.
Only then was Sui Yuan awoken from the chaos inside his mind. He turned to look at Yun Yi and Yue Minghe, who had come over at some unknown point in time, and still asked despite knowing the answer, "Right now? When did your grandfather start caring so much about us younger generations?"
"Who knows, ne! Who knows what my grandfather is thinking?" Yun Yi shrugged and replied carelessly, "You know that he’s always been strict with me. He probably wants to see what sort of people I always hang out with, possibly to keep me from being led astray."
"Heh, lead you astray? It’s clearly you who are leading us away, ba!" Sui Yuan gently jeered in response. However, he did not forget what he came for. He called for the attendant to bring him his gift. Afterwards, he walked over to Old Master Yun, who was sitting upright in the seat of honour, alongside Yun Yi and Yue Minghe.
Sui Yuan and Yue Minghe stood side by side before Old Master Yun. Yun Yi stood off to one side and respectfully began introducing his two friends. One mustn’t just look at Yun Yi’s ostentatious, tyrannical attitude when before other people. In front of his grandfather, gone was his usual careless act. He feared that if the other became displeased, he would beat him fiercely and send him to the hospital. Yun Yi experienced this several times when he was little, thus , a shadow had formed over his heart!
As for the supporting female lead, Xin Xin, she leaned by Old Master Yun’s side, looking all lovely and cute as she prettily blinked at Yun Yi. Xin Xin was the only person capable of receiving Old Master Yun’s favour and was treated amiably even as a member of the younger generation. Thus, her reputation in the Yun Family was especially great. Right now, she was the only one permitted to sit by Old Master Yun’s side. Even Yun Yi, who Old Master Yun had the highest hopes for, was not given this kind of treatment.
——It was just unfortunate that this privilege would very quickly be ’stolen’ away by someone else....
Old Master Yun lowered his eyes to look at Sui Yuan and Yue Minghe. A phony look of affection concealed his sharp, examining gaze. It was probably only Sui Yuan that was able to see that there was joy and conflict in the other’s gaze from that short glance.
Old Master Yun only gave an insipid glance towards Yue Minghe’s gift, nodding his head to express his praise. When it was time for Sui Yuan to present his gift, Old Master Yun’s eyes lit up, and he raised a hand to allow him to bring it closer.
Sui Yuan saw the opportunity and promptly took a step forward to fawn over him, "I heard the Old Master Yun has a passion for ancient swords. A few days ago, I came across this antique jian. The appraiser said that it is worth quite a bit. Therefore, I decided to bring this over to you. A sword must be given to a hero, after all!"
Old Master Yun glanced at Sui Yuan with an ambiguous and unclear expression. He reached out to take hold of the sword, appreciating it more closely. Soon after, he nodded, very satisfied, "Indeed, it is a good sword. You have gone through a lot of trouble."
"It is worth it so long as Old Master Yun likes it," Sui Yuan replied immediately. His expression was deferential and calm, neither overbearing nor servile.
Most likely because this gift caught his fancy, the gaze Old Master Yun threwSui Yuan’s way became much warmer. He raised his hand to beckon him forward, "I remember that you are the Hao Family’s child. Is your grandfather doing well?"
Seeing that Old Master Yun wanted to call Sui Yuan over to speak in further detail, Xin Xin immediately stood up and gave him her spot. Her expression was calm and she smiled beautifully. There was not the least bit of dislike or jealousy. To be able to be doted on by Old Master Yun for so long, it was not possible to attain this by mere reliance on the shade provided by her grandparent’s protection. At the very least, one had to know when to advance and when to retreat, as well as be adept at observation.
Just as expected, Xin Xin’s sensible actions won a commending glance from Old Master Yun. Xin Xin immediately felt rather excited and she pursed her lips into a smile as she headed towards Yun Yi. It was very likely that, to her, even though being able to sit by Old Master Yun’s side was a great honour, she still preferred being able to be by her Yi gege’s side, even if the other did not respond to her love and only acted extremely perfunctorily towards her.
Yue Minghe, who did not receive Old Master Yun’s favour at all, could only retreat alongside Yun Yi. Before leaving, he cast a veiled look towards Sui Yuan’s direction and slightly furrowed his brows. Although it was a good thing to gain Old Master Yun’s fondness, the situation within the Yun Family was truly too complicated. Sometimes, even a good thing could turn into a bad thing if one meddled too much
Of course, at this time, Sui Yuan’s thoughts were not as complicated. He only felt as though he was sitting on pins and needles.
Although it was a good thing that he and Zhao Xihe now knew each other’s identities, the other’s identity was really too outlandish. It made him rather unable to keep calm. Sui Yuan cautiously sat in the spot beside Zhao Xihe. His hand was in Zhao Xihe’s and he could feel the other’s old, deeply calloused palm, which was unlike the tender and smooth hands of the youth. He had to say, Sui Yuan and Zhao Xihe’s relationship right now was remarkably alike to a grandson and his grandfather. Even if they stuck closer together, it would only appear like they had a very good grandfather-grandson relationship. The scene of the two of them was very far from what lovers would look like.
Even if he silently repeated that even a beauty would be reduced to nothing but withered bones, and that the corporeal body was but a superficial, worldly possession, Sui Yuan still couldn’t help but admit that sometimes, one’s appearance was indeed very important. Or, rather, it was age that was comparatively important? At least towards Zhao Xihe’s face that could only make one think ’respect the elderly’, Sui Yuan could not go through with it. He could only rejoice over the fact that the other most likely did not have that kind of need at present.
——After all, he was impotent. ╮(╯▽╰)╭
5237："..................Pfft!"
While Sui Yuan was in a conflicted mess over his lover’s appearance, the other people were particularly conflicted over his position.
No one believed that Old Master Yun, who had been all-powerful for more than ten years and was widely known to be cruel, vicious and cunning, would suddenly see someone in a whole new light and give them a preferential treatment over an antique sword that caught his fancy. If the other was so easy to trick, then they would have long since pounced over to curry some goodwill, OK?! Although an antique sword was rare, with their manpower, financial power and resources, what there anything they couldn’t they get? However, as it so happens, no matter what treasure they gave to him, Old Master Yun would always assume a flat attitude and would never grant them a good expression because of it!
Therefore, the question was: why did Old Master Yun treat this Hao Ning so specially, ne? Not only did he allow him to sit by his side and did not permit him to leave, he even held onto the other’s little hand. Even though he did not say much, his tone was especially good-natured. Even as Old Master Yun, he also did not forget to take care of the other from time to time and would absolutely not allow the other to feel snubbed.
——Was this something the Old Master Yun, who would always make decisions without consulting anyone, could do? In other words, what deeper meaning did his actions hide? The gaze everyone used to look at Sui Yuan was full of meticulous examination. However, no one dared to show it. They only decided to look into this properly once they returned to their respective homes, just in case something did happen and they ended up caught unprepared, because they had been kept in the dark.
Even Yun Yi and Yue Minghe, who had originally thought that Old Master Yun had just been whimsical in his decisions and thus did not pay this any attention, gradually saw that something was not right. Their eyes met, and anxiety formed within their hearts.
Although Yun Yi had yet to take over the family business, he had already received his grandfather’s teachings when he was young. Under his influence, he came to understand quite a bit about the business. Meanwhile, Yue Minghe was the only successor to his family. He had long since entered his family’s company to learn the ropes. Outsiders did not know anything. However, as they were Hao Ning’s good friends, they naturally knew that there was no ongoing cooperative relationship between the Yun and Hao families. Furthermore, someone of Old Master Yun’s position would not need to get personally involved in bringing this relationship between families together.
Except that for now, they could only watch on helplessly, staring at their good friend who ended up sitting by Old Master Yun’s side for nearly the entire banquet. It was only when Old Master Yun had to go rest because his energy level was not good, that they were finally able to send Old Master Yun off.
Yun Yi and Yue Minghe sighed in relief. They were just thinking of pulling Sui Yuan over and ask what the heck was going on, when they heard Old Master Yun’s deep voice, "The youngster of the Hao Family, follow me. I have something to say to you."
As he said this, his sharp eyes swept over Yun Yi and Yue Minghe, as if warning them. It immediately caused the two of them to stop moving forward.
Because of Old Master Yun’s parting words, the entire venue grew quiet at once. However, what hasn’t these guests seen before? Not long after, they all hid in their hearts their shock and suspicions and resumed their cheerful chatter. Meanwhile, Sui Yuan, who had been prepared for a while now, revealed a slightly astonished expression before calming down. He then nodded with a chuckle, and he was even in the mood to send his good friends a look, telling them to be at ease, letting them know that they needn’t worry so much.
Old Master Yun’s words were law within the Yun Family. If he said he didn’t want to be disturbed, naturally, no one would dare come and disturb him. Sui Yuan followed Old Master Yun from behind and entered the study. As soon as the door closed, the study became a world of their own.
Old Master Yun—or rather, Zhao Xihe—rescinded the evil aura emitting from him. He shook his body, appearing rather fatigued. His tone was gloomy, "I have clearly done my utmost to take good care of this body. Who would have expected that it would still be so useless. Indeed, it’s too old!"
"I never expected...that my Creator would unexpectedly give you...such a body," Sui Yuan looked at Zhao Xihe with sympathy. He was becoming more and more certain that this was a form of revenge from the Origin.
Zhao Xihe revealed a depressed expression. He dragged his body, that was quite sore from sitting for so long, to the recliner. Only after lying down was he able to sigh happily.
Sui Yuan was also not polite. He directly sat on the seat beside the recliner, "So, this whole time, you’ve been tidying up the Yun Family’s matters?"
Zhao Xihe nodded, "Although Old Master Yun has accumulated great power, he is old, after all. His energy levels are not very good. He already has no way to completely control such a big family. Therefore, quite a few irksome pests have cropped up. These little pests are dissatisfied with Old Master Yun’s son and also believe that Yun Yi is too young. They all want to vie for power. Naturally, I cannot let this pass."
Sui Yuan thought it over for a while, "However, what about the plot? In the plot, a giant calamity befalls the male lead and female lead and the cause of it is the internal power struggle within the Yun Family. If you mess with things like this, won’t that plot point disappear?"
"So what? In any case, our goal right now is not to preserve the plot. It is only to exterminate the Destroyer," Zhao Xihe chuckled as he shook his head, "Like in the last world, there is a reason why the Origin assigned these roles to us. You are in-charge of entering the protagonist’s camp and gaining their trust, protecting them, and also observing for peculiarities at the same time. Meanwhile, my job is to control the overall situation and provide the power and back-up required to eliminate the Destroyer. If the Destroyer makes any large movements, the Yun Family, this huge monster, will be our weapon to handle him/her. Thus, before we can put it to use, it is only natural that this weapon must first be pruned, so as to avoid a situation where it stops obeying commands after being used halfway."
Sui Yuan nodded in understanding. Compared to killing the Destroyer, changing one or two plot points was nothing to fret over. He and Zhao Xihe could handle fighting the Destroyer face-to-face, but if the Destroyer established an enormous power, then they would need a power that was equal—or even, greater than that of the Destroyer—to contend against him/her.
"Will the Destroyer know of your actions within the Yun Family?" Sui Yuan was slightly worried. After all, he had thought that something was fishy before. He could not guarantee that the Destroyer would not feel the same.
"This is a game within a game," The corner of Zhao Xihe’s lip raised in pride, "I concealed the real information with fake information and have meticulously set-up the fake information to be perfect. It is perfect to the point of making one skeptical. If the Destroyer feels that this perfection is strange, he/she will inevitably dig deeper in order to confirm what is true and what is not. At that time, I can seize the opportunity to track him/her, and chase him/her down in turn. However, if the Destroyer is deceived by the fake information, then that’s not even worth mentioning. He/she will be easily eliminated."
"...So, it can be said that when I was looking into that information, you already knew?" Sui Yuan felt somewhat gloomy.
"En, I knew. Only, before I could determine the location, you contacted me," Zhao Xihe shrugged, rather regretful, "I was happy for naught."
Sui Yuan：".........Hehe, really sorry about that."
Seeing that Sui Yuan was about to become resentful because of his teammate’s pit digging again, Zhao Xihe could not help but laugh and painstakingly re-arrange his expression, "Then, during this period of time, have you noticed any character acting oddly?"
"I feel that the supporting male lead, Yue Minghe is a bit suspicious. His personality is a bit different from what is described within the plot," Sui Yuan knitted his eyebrows, "In the beginning of the plot, he is the gentle xuezhang who is the female lead’s first love. Later, he became a steady, reliable older brother, then a dedicated and deeply loving pursuer. However, according to my observations, he is not that perfect. He is even...a bit sinister."
"That’s within the realm of being normal. After all, the plot was written from the female lead’s point of view. If Yue Minghe was only deliberately showing his outstanding, elegant side to the female lead, then he would naturally be perfect and faultless within the plot’s description," Zhao Xihe thought for a while, "Even so, we can’t eliminate him as a suspect just because of that."
Sui Yuan nodded, "I’ll continue observing him. What about you, ne? Did you notice anything here?"
"Yes. However, I’m not certain," Zhao Xihe muttered, twirling the ring on his thumb, "It’s the supporting female lead, Xin Xin. I feel that her personality is not quite the same as her settings. She is not as arrogant, willful, ruthless or stupid as described in the plot. Only, just like how I evaluated Yue Minghe just now, this could be explained by point-of-view. Xin Xin is inevitably not a good person in the eyes of the female lead, so it is reasonable to assume that she could have been deliberately defamed."
The two people swapped information that they have discovered over the course of the past few days. However, as there were still quite a few eyes watching them outside, Sui Yuan could not stay long. With haste, they finished their first meeting.
Furthermore, they needed an explanation for why they had this private discussion. The best explanation they could come up with was ’a parting on bad terms’.
Zhao Xihe had just gotten into the mood and was planning on chasing his lover out of the room, when the other finally couldn’t bear holding in the question he was conflicted over for the entire banquet. Sui Yuan had been biting his lips, hesitant over asking this for a long time but in the end, he still asked, "This body of yours, is it really like what is said in the plot...is it really...incapable of getting hard?"
Although Sui Yuan was very considerate of Zhao Xihe’s face, and had used a rather tactful way of speaking, the meaning remained the same. Zhao Xihe’s face immediately darkened and he put on a fake smile, "What? Are you dissatisfied with your sex life and want to proposition me?"
"No, I just feel that if it’s like this, then I can feel relieved, ne," Sui Yuan replied honestly, his black eyes glimmering, obviously very sincere.
"I really can’t imagine being so intimate with a...en...a grandpa-like person," Taking a pause, Sui Yuan stressed once more, happily, "So, if you can’t get it up, then that’s really great."
Zhao Xihe：".............................."
From Old Master Yun’s study suddenly came a loud bellow. Probably because he hadn’t been this angry in quite a while, the people who were secretly paying attention to the movements within the study were all frightened to the point of trembling. Their faces all paled in shock.
Very soon, the little young master of the Hao Family, who had been treated with great favour by Old Master Yun, was chased out, cutting a sorry figure. He directly met with numerous, astonished and apprehensive gazes, and couldn’t help but rub his nose, laughing bitterly.
——En, there was basically no need to act. Zhao Xihe, whose pride was stabbed by his family’s sweetheart, had genuinely flew into a rage out of humiliation. He probably did not want to deal with his honest lover face-to-face anymore, at least not until he became ’younger’ and was able to ’get it up’ again.
Zhao Xihe："Hehe, in the next world...in the next world, I will absolutely make you feel embarrassed!"
0007："......It doesn’t matter what you say. Everything depends on the Origin’s will."
Zhao Xihe："..............................Shut up."
0007："I’m only speaking the truth, host."
The author has something to say:
Seeing so many comments and overlord tickets, I finally understand just how much you all wanted to see Zhao Xihe, our gong, fall out of luck. [rests chin on hand] Everyone is so genuinely happy to see tragedy befall upon him, ah. wwwww
Eve: My pores are clear, my mind is finally at peace. ZXH flying into a rage and being helpless to do anything about it has brought me straight into a state of nirvana. Sorry baby, your misfortune is my joy.
Wuxian: *takes out celebratory wine with SY and Eve*
The sourc𝗲 of this content is free(w)ebnov(𝒆)l