Chapter 544: Chapter 541: I’ll Choose My Own Path
"She’s like a beautiful flower. Though she should be in full bloom, an accident is causing her to wither away."
"She hasn’t had the chance to truly see the world, or experience real happiness."
"I don’t understand why the heavens are so unfair. She’s so kind and thoughtful, a little pixie, yet she has to endure such agonizing suffering."
Perhaps because he’d held it in for too long, Gu Peng covered his face and began to weep, his cries turning into choked sobs.
Mo Qi patted his shoulder. "Who says she’s unhappy? Having a brother like you is her greatest blessing."
"What kind of brother am I?" Gu Peng wiped away his tears, his voice thick with self-mockery. "I couldn’t even keep her safe. I let her become like this. What kind of damn brother am I?!"
Mo Qi shook his head. "That’s where you’re wrong. What happened to your sister wasn’t an accident."
Gu Peng’s head snapped up. "Not an accident?"
Mo Qi countered, "Have you ever seen a simple fall leave someone in her condition?"
It’s conceivable for someone to break bones—or even die—from a fall.
But for a fall to cause someone’s health to deteriorate day by day? That’s not normal.
"But I took her to the best physicians in Yunfeng City. They found nothing abnormal. If it wasn’t the fall from her childhood, what else could it be?" Gu Peng was dumbfounded. He had always believed Gu Lele’s illness was just a long-term complication from that injury.
"Her special bloodline was forcibly stripped from her, causing her very foundation to collapse. That’s why her health fails more each day. If this goes on, she won’t live to see twenty."
"What?!" Gu Peng’s face went white with shock.
’Gu Lele had her bloodline forcibly stripped?!’
’Wait!’
’How could she have a special bloodline?!’
’And who was it that stole it?’
For a moment, Gu Peng couldn’t process the news, but he trusted that Mo Qi wasn’t one to make baseless claims.
"Think back to when Lele was injured. Did you see it happen yourself, or did someone else tell you about it?" Mo Qi asked.
Gu Peng’s mind flashed back ten years, and his expression changed dramatically.
"No! Impossible! It couldn’t be him!" Gu Peng shook his head again and again, his expression turning ugly.
He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. After a long moment, he forced a name through them: "Gu Zetao!"
"You treacherous snake. All these years I treated you like my closest brother, I was even grateful to you. To think I was so blind!"
Mo Qi didn’t interrupt, quietly waiting for Gu Peng to process it all.
Gu Peng suddenly sighed, and all the fight seemed to go out of him.
"Gu Zetao is the grandson of the Gu Family’s Grand Elder. We grew up together... my brother. Heh, ’brother’!" Gu Peng laughed, but the smile on his face was more painful than tears, dripping with sarcasm.
"Lele was injured ten years ago. It was very serious; she almost died. I wasn’t with her at the time. It was Gu Zetao who found her and used an incredibly precious Immortal Pill to save her life."
"I always saw him as our savior, as a brother I’d trust with my life."
"But not long after that, Gu Zetao suddenly went into seclusion. By the time he emerged, three years had passed!"
"Soon after, he announced that he had awakened a special bloodline. His status in the Gu Family soared. For a time, his fame was unrivaled, even surpassing that of the Young Clan Leader."
"Back then, I was genuinely happy for him. I thought it was a case of a good person being rewarded for his deeds."
"Thinking about it now, I was such a fucking idiot. The biggest idiot in the entire world!"
It was true that Gu Peng was an honest man, but he wasn’t a fool.
With Mo Qi’s prompting, he quickly put the pieces together.
Special bloodlines don’t just awaken on a whim, and the timing was far too coincidental!
If Lele truly had a special bloodline that was stolen, then he was one hundred percent certain that Gu Zetao was the one who did it!
"No wonder. No wonder Gu Zetao stopped seeing me after that."
"I was naive enough to think he’d been given a great responsibility by the Gu Family and was too busy to spare any time for me."
After hearing Gu Peng’s story, Mo Qi had a good grasp of the situation.
He didn’t try to comfort Gu Peng or offer him any empty platitudes.
Such betrayals were all too common on the path of the Martial Dao. It was something a person had to face, adapt to, and overcome on their own.
’After all, hadn’t he himself been deceived by Fang Min for many years before finally getting through it?’
’It was all a necessary price for growth.’
"Gu Peng, you should understand why I’ve sought you out," Mo Qi said.
Gu Peng snapped back to reality and grabbed Mo Qi’s arm. "Brother Mo, you have a way to save my sister, don’t you?"
Mo Qi nodded. "I can definitely save her. However, there are two options, and you need to choose on your sister’s behalf."
"First, I can restore Lele to normal right now, freeing her from the suffering of her growing weakness. However, she would live the life of a mortal, with a natural lifespan."
"Second, I can restore her completely, including her special bloodline. If we do this, she will inevitably walk the path of the Martial Dao and compete against the world’s most powerful figures."
"With the first path, though she would only have a mortal lifespan, your abilities are more than enough to take her to a mortal city and ensure she lives a life of prosperity, peace, and happiness."
"With the second, she would possess a talent for the Martial Dao that countless others would envy and an incredibly long life. But she would also be thrown into the cruel Martial Arts World. Then, her future, her safety, even her life and death, would no longer be something you could control."
"Both paths have their pros and cons. The choice is yours to make."
Gu Peng chose the first option with almost no hesitation.
He knew his sister’s personality too well; she would never be able to adapt to the Martial Arts World.
Rather than have her live a life of bloodshed and violence, it was better to give her a peaceful and prosperous one.
"Are you sure?" Mo Qi asked.
Just as Gu Peng was about to nod, the door behind him suddenly burst open, and Gu Lele rushed out.
"No! I choose the second path!"
"Lele, what are you doing out here?" Gu Peng put on a stern face, feigning anger. "Go back inside. Adults are talking; children shouldn’t interrupt."
Normally, Gu Lele would have obediently gone back inside.
But today was different. She held her thin, sallow face high, meeting Gu Peng’s gaze without yielding an inch.
"I’m choosing the second path! I want to practice Cultivation and become strong! I don’t want you to have to struggle and toil all by yourself, Brother. I want to help you!" Her voice was not loud, but it was filled with unwavering resolve.
This time, Gu Peng was truly angry. "Lele, do you have any idea what you’re saying? The path of the Martial Dao is treacherous beyond measure! One wrong step, and you could fall into a bottomless abyss!"
"So what if it’s treacherous? The worst that can happen is death! That’s better than just barely surviving for a hundred years! Besides, Brother, you don’t really think a mortal life of wealth and luxury could ever make me happy and fulfilled, do you?"
Gu Peng was speechless, unsure how to respond.
"You’ve worked so hard and worried about me for so many years, Brother. I hope you’ll let me choose my own path from now on. Please?"
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