Chapter 142: Inviting the thief into your house
"Stop you brute... Where are you taking me? Let me go."
"No... you will again hide yourself behind Qing’er."
"What else do you expect me to do? You are literally kidnapping me in the middle of my meal."
The cold night wind swept through the bamboo grove as Song Tianyu forcefully grabbed Gu Fan by his robes, almost dragging him out of his comfortable courtyard while Gu Fan let out an irritated, heavy groan.
"I spent a ton of effort and literally had to beg on my hands and knees to finally get my aunt to agree to meet you, so you have to come with me right this exact second before she changes her mind and locks herself again!" Song Tianyu urged as he ignored his big brother’s annoyed resistance.
"But what the hell is your actual problem dragging me out into the freezing cold in the middle of the night?" Gu Fan complained loudly, violently yanking his sleeve back with an annoyed glare, "Can’t we just go tomorrow morning?"
"Qing’er had specially cooked for me steaming hot delicious dumplings, and Xue’er literally just finished drawing a scented bath for me."
"What am I going to tell them? They are both going to be disappointed if I don’t let them strip down and join me in the water to scrub my back while pressing their soft boobs against my shoulders. All that effort they put, it will all go to waste."
"Brother..." Song Tianyu looked at Gu Fan completely taken aback for a brief second, since he honestly had absolutely no idea his big brother was actually such a shameless pervert. But he quickly pushed the sheer absurdity aside and frantically shook his head as his face was filled again with worry for his aunt.
"We don’t have time for this, Brother Fan. My aunt’s health is rapidly deteriorating every single passing day, and I fear she really does not have much time left before the curse stops her heart," Tianyu pleaded desperately, looking Gu Fan directly in the eyes with raw sincerity.
"You don’t know it, but she is the only person in this entire cold, calculating clan who has ever actually treated me like a real human being instead of just a useful political tool for the clan’s expansion," Song Tianyu said as his eyes turned to look in the distance with a deep sense of longing and hurt, "So please, brother Fan, you just have to save her life. I beg you."
Seeing the desperate devotion burning in Song Tianyu’s eyes, Gu Fan finally rolled his eyes and gave in with a heavy, bored sigh. Well, he had to meet up with his aunt sooner or later. The quest said to make the first move in three days and it was already the second day today.
So he casually reached right into his spatial ring and pulled out a plain black cloth.
"Fine, I will go look at her, but I am definitely going to cover my face because I am not dealing with Clan rivalries and annoying political bullshit if they recognize me," Gu Fan grunted, tightly tying the black cloth mask over his mouth and nose while Song Tianyu nodded enthusiastically.
"That works perfectly fine. I did not even tell Aunt Yan about your true identity anyway," Song Tianyu explained quickly as they finally started walking down the dirt path, "I just told her that I specifically asked my supreme, wandering master to come and personally treat her rare condition, so she thinks you are just an old hermit."
"I am not that old," Gu Fan sighed, but with their story firmly established, Song Tianyu quickly led Gu Fan out of the isolated bamboo grove and directly towards the sprawling Song Clan estate.
In no time Gu Fan found himself walking past the towering main hall and the brightly glowing forging pavilions of the Song Clan where the rhythmic loud clanking of heavy hammers striking hot metal echoed through the night.
But anywhere they went and whoever they met, be it the armed patrolling guards or the late-night inner disciples, every single one of them would immediately stop whatever they were doing and bow deeply with respect to greet the clan’s top genius.
And even Song Tianyu would politely smile and nod back to every single one of them without missing a single beat.
"You are actually quite loved by everyone in your clan, little brother. They all seem genuinely thrilled just to be in your presence," Gu Fan praised casually from behind his mask.
Hearing Gu Fan, Song Tianyu just let out a soft chuckle as his polite smile instantly vanished the second they turned at a corner.
"You are not naive enough to believe that, Brother Fan."
"It is not me that they respect, it is just my position and the fact that I am most likely to be named the Patriarch when my father steps away. It is that seat that they are eager to lick clean," Tianyu muttered bitterly, fully aware of the opportunistic nature of the brutal martial world.
"If rumour were to spread that my meridians were completely crippled tomorrow, every single one of those smiling disciples would gladly spit right in my face and kick me into the dirt."
"You must know that more than anyone else."
"Yes I do..." Gu Fan nodded in understanding as they continued walking in silence.
’No matter where you go... it is the same dog eat dog shit world. In here, you just end up dead pretty quickly,’ Gu Fan thought as they soon strayed far away from the bustling main courtyards.
Soon they both arrived at the other end of the Song Clan estate, stopping right in front of a secluded abode known across the clan as the Bamboo Spring Pavilion, but instead of finding a quiet courtyard, they found their path blocked by uninvited guests.
Patriarch Song Tianming stood directly in front of the heavy wooden pavilion doors with his hands clasped behind his back, accompanied by a large group of inner-court elders who radiated stern martial pressure. Even the fat Second Elder was there, glaring in their direction..
They had clearly caught wind of Song Tianyu’s suspicious late-night movements. But instead of stopping them, they had gathered here to see for themselves the mysterious, wandering senior who had supposedly brainwashed their clan’s prime heaven-chosen genius into throwing away his bright future and become a wanderer himself.
"Is this the so-called supreme expert who made the Patriarch’s son to hang our head in shame?"
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