Chapter 138: Double trouble
Gu Fan sat comfortably at a large stone table in his private garden, tearing into a massive, steaming plate of roasted spirit-beast meat while the twin maids quietly stood by his side to pour him spirit wine whenever his glass became empty.
He was just about to take another bite of the tender meat when a guard walked in and whispered something to the older of the twins. The older twin maid nodded as the guard went back and stepped forward, bowing deeply, to let her alluring cleavage distract as she respectfully spoke up.
"Master, please forgive the interruption," she murmured softly, "But Young Master Song Tianyu has just arrived at the front gates and is demanding to see you."
"Ughhh!" Gu Fan let out an irritated sigh as he dropped his chopsticks onto the table.
"Can’t this guy just let me eat in peace for one morning?" Gu Gan grumbled, completely annoyed by his highly enthusiastic and clingy new friend who simply refused to give him a break.
And no matter how much he wanted to shut the door on his face, out of the "goodness" of his heart, he still reached into his spatial ring to pull out a plain black cloth mask, "Let him in," Gu Fan ordered them.
And as they went away to invite Song Tianyu in, Gu Fan tied the cloth over to cover his face, hoping to maintain his mysterious senior persona.
"You really don’t need to bother hiding your handsome face from me anymore, Brother Fan," Song Tianyu laughed out loud as strode into the garden, his pristine silver martial robes fluttering lightly in the morning breeze.
Hearing him, Gu Fan instantly froze in his seat, his eyes narrowed dangerously into a predatory slit as he glared at the smiling young master. His grip tightened around the knife he was holding, prepared to silence the boy if he knew too much, but Song Tianyu just waved his hands dismissively and chuckled as he took a seat right across from him at the stone table.
"There is no need to look so tense, big brother. You did not really try hard to hide it and it was actually quite easy to figure it out," Song Tianyu shrugged, casually while pouring himself a cup of spirit wine, unbothered by Gu Fan’s sudden killing intent.
"I might act like a polite merchant, but I have functioning eyes, and considering the show you put on yesterday... Damn, the supposedly crippled Seventh Young Master melting weapons and punching Spirit Realm geniuses left right and centre."
"It wouldn’t take a genius to put two and two together." Song Tianyu replied, "But I don’t know why you would half-heartedly attempt to hide your identity from me?"
"Would you believe me if I said I had nothing better to do?" Gu Fan dropped the knife and undid the black cloth mask, tossing it onto the table since there was absolutely no point in refusing it or beating around the bush. Moreover the guy had literally sworn a binding blood oath to his soul. He was absolutely no harm to him at all.
But this made Gu Fan realise something. These Xianxia characters actually possessed some basic common sense when they weren’t entirely blinded by arrogance. They can’t be fooled by the Clarke Kent is not Superman logic.
"If you know who I am, then you know I have a lot on my plate right now, so what brings you knocking on my door so early in the morning, Tianyu?" Gu Fan asked bluntly, leaning back in his chair while he picked his chopsticks back up to continue eating his breakfast.
"I just dropped by to tell you that I have rejected Elder Song Kui’s generous offer to join the White Bone Hall yesterday, which completely sent my father and the clan elders into a massive, screaming frenzy," Song Tianyu chuckled proudly, casually brushing off the fact that he had just thrown away a heaven-defying opportunity.
"You are an absolute idiot to do that just to come grinning at me and hang around," Gu Fan laughed out loud while casually tossing a thick, perfectly roasted slab of spirit-beast meat directly onto Song Tianyu’s empty plate.
"You may say that... But tell me honestly, big brother, aren’t you actually happy that I chose you over them?" Song Tianyu grinned as he caught the meat, leaning forward with a highly eager, almost puppy-like expression to seek his master’s approval.
"Bleh, get away from me, you sick pervert," Gu Fan groaned with an exaggerated look of disgust, waving his chopsticks to shoo the noble genius away.
But truth be told, he did indeed feel a wave of warmth gush through his chest. This was something he had never thought in his previous life that he would be able to experience.
Bonds like these. Based on love, respect and brotherhood... he could never ever dream of such a thing.
Meanwhile, Song Tianyu just threw his head back and laughed off as he quickly turned to business.
"But jokes aside, big brother, I actually came to ask if you have any more of those high-grade spiritual artifacts or premium beast cores to sell. Our Clan is always looking out for stuff," Song Tianyu asked.
"Your clan really has some very deep pockets. How big is your appetite to want more of that stuff," Gu Fan asked with an amused smirk.
"I honestly don’t know the exact specifics. But we are richer than maybe even both the Bai and Gu Clan combined," Spong Tianyu shrugged casually, taking a long sip of his wine since he never actually cared about the boring merchant side of his family’s business. He was the just handsome face that sold stuff, "The clan’s entire treasury and all of our financial ledgers are exclusively managed by my aunt, Song Yan,"
"Song Yan?!" Gu Fan paused his chewing at the mention of that name as his author’s brain rapidly kicked into high gear, as he tried to remember the massive lore database in his mind.
This name Song Yan sounded familiar, but something about it felt completely wrong.
’If I am not wrong, I distinctly remember writing Song Yan as a very minor character who had a tragic back story. Her husband died on the very day of their wedding, leaving her as a grieving widow./ And she even got infected by some curse and her health slowly deteriorated until she died a quiet death,’ Gu Fan thought to himself, his eyes narrowing while he reviewed his mental notes.
’But I am absolutely certain that I wrote the Song Clan’s Second Elder as the primary treasurer, a greedy bastard who was later brutally executed for massive embezzlement by Song Tianyu himself.’
’Did that old author brain of mine just forget a minor detail, or is it the Heaven’s Will again at play, rewriting itself because I stepped on a few too many toes?’ Gu Fan continued to muse, slightly amused by the subtle change in the story’s plotline.
But he quickly decided it didn’t really matter who held the keys to the treasury as long as the spirit stones kept flowing into his pockets.
But the absolute second Gu Fan decided to ignore the issue, a crisp, highly satisfying electronic chime suddenly echoed directly inside his skull, instantly pulling up a glowing blue interface in the quiet garden.
[Ding!]
[SYSTEM ALERT: NEW QUEST TRIGGERED: ’Spreading happiness’!]
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