Chapter 769: I Bought Her!
"I see," Hui Yue answered the elder, and when he did, the patriarch sighed, but said nothing. He knew that this young man did not have a good impression of the Su family, but thinking about how Su Xiaoyun had been treated, it would be a miracle if he had arrived with friendly thoughts.
Since this was the case, the patriarch started contemplating. What should he do? Should he forsake a few elders and place all the blame on them, or should he accept the blame himself?
Could he even do anything at all to make sure that Hui Yue would view the Su family in a slightly better light? This was the goal of the patriarch, but he was feeling rather uncertain as to how to do this.
He also understood that the reason that Hui Yue was here now was because of Su Xiaoyun. The reason they had even been honored with his visit was that Su Xiaoyun had some wish to return to the family before going further. This meant that she still felt a small bit of belonging to their family, and he would use every single bit of emotions that Su Xiaoyun had to increase the relations.h.i.+p with Hui Yue.
"I gave you one million Worldpower Stones when I took Su Xiaoyun with me back at the Spiraling Coral City, but you might have forgotten about this?" Hui Yue asked with a gentle smile on his face as if he was talking to a child, and the elder who had said that Su Xiaoyun had obligations towards her family clammed up. He could not even open his mouth, and his head turned completely red.
"I know that it is expensive to run a family," Hui Yue said understanding and started pacing forth and back in the room. "But although it is expensive, all I did was borrow one person who is not highly regarded in your family. At most she could be told to look after children, or books, or some sort of manual labor that you can easily hire a servant to do for you."
"The one million Worldpower Stones should be enough to have a servant for the next many years I a.s.sume?"
"Or did you imagine that I just gave you the money for fun?" Hui Yue lifted an eyebrow as he looked at the elder.
"I gave you the money so that you would not encounter any issues with Su Xiaoyun being gone, and there should be plenty of money left over to take care of things for at least a hundred thousand years, that is if you are extravagant."
"Since this is the case, I do not see why we should talk about Su Xiaoyun"s obligations. When you accepted the million Worldpower Stones in return for Su Xiaoyun"s services you actually sold her to me!" Hui Yue was not going to go easy on them, and he sneered at them while saying his last words.
On his side, Su Xiaoyun lowered her head and felt a bit of despair well up within her heart. It was indeed true that her family had sold her to Hui Yue, but never once had she felt like he had owned her. He had never shown any interest in being her owner like some men would have. Instead, she was much more free than ever before and happier, yet the words spoken by him pierced straight to her heart.
Hui Yue was aware that he was hurting Su Xiaoyun but he needed the entire family, and herself, to know the truth. Since they had done the deed, they had to acknowledge it.
The patriarch sighed and nodded his head. He had not said much while Hui Yue had been there, but he knew that if he did not say something now, then the emotions that Su Xiaoyun shared with her Su family would be dead forever, and this was something he could not allow to happen.
"It is true that we accepted the money for letting Su Xiaoyun travel with you throughout the eastern region," the patriarch said after a bit of time with a nod of his head while looking at Hui Yue and Su Xiaoyun with sad eyes.
"Truthfully the money was kind of pushed onto us as you gave it out so freely. It was not until later that we realized that you wished to purchase her services and we started to panic, but then you were already long gone with our little Xiaoyun."
"We have been worried sick every day that Xiaoyun was not being treated well, but looking at her today I feel that we made the right decision. She has grown into a fine lady who has experienced the world, and for her, the world has begun to become brighter and bigger."
"As a matter of fact, I wish I could sell other of our children to you and have them experience a world, unlike the one they are forced to live with here in the eastern region."
"You are a dragon amongst men, a proud son of the heavens. The world you live in is so different from our small one. You will take anyone who follows you to a much bigger stage, and they will experience many things. I truly wish that our most talented children could experience this world." The patriarch sighed again, and the knot in Su Xiaoyun"s heart started to untie itself.
It was clear that Hui Yue had wanted the patriarch to say such words and he smiled gratefully at the old man and bowed deeply this time.
"Su Xiaoyun is not a subordinate to me," he said with a clear voice. "She is a friend of mine and will be following by my side as an equal."
"I will be helping her advance her cultivation as much as I can, and I will provide her with guidance and resources."
"I cannot take more with me than I already have, as you might have heard, my entourage is already rather large, but I will keep an eye on the Su family. Should you encounter any issues, then feel free to go either to Diyu or the Celestial Sword Sect and ask for a.s.sistance. It might be a long trip, but I will ask them to a.s.sist you if you come."
"If you wish for some of your more talented youngsters to have a future send them to Diyu. Ask them to join the Second Judge of h.e.l.l"s guards, and they can slowly build up their strength there. By doing so then they might even become able to enter Yanluo’s Guard."
"That is all that I can do for you," Hui Yue sighed. He had come with the intent of annoying and insulting the Su family. He had also intended to give them nothing and maybe even take some of his million Worldpower Stones back, but this was because he wanted to break all relations between Su Xiaoyun and her family.
Things had, however, changed when they met the patriarch. This man was not overwhelmingly strong, but he was attentive. He had noticed the knot in Su Xiaoyun"s heart about being traded for money as easily as she had, and he had loosened it completely with a few words.
At the same time, he also managed to make her feel like she was the luckiest person in the Su family, that her rank was higher than even the talented youngsters.
"We thank you so much for your grace," the patriarch said and bowed to Hui Yue. To be honest, the offer he had given him was truly magnificent and amazing; it was hard to enter the judge"s guards unless you had connections but now they too had connections. Now it was likely that they could increase their family’s strength, get better resources for their geniuses, and improve things back home by relying on Diyu.
"Little Xiaoyun, never forget, although you go traveling with young master Pei Yue, you can always come back home when you feel tired of the outside world."
"That obviously also extends to you, young master Pei Yue; however, I imagine that you have other places where you call home and can relax."
The patriarch smiled, and Hui Yue nodded his head. Su Xioayun was crying silent tears as she felt that the Su family was finally treating her nicely and she truly was grateful. This was something she had wished for many years already but a dream that she had previously given up on.
"Can I ask why you decided to return to your family although we have not always treated you well?" the patriarch asked the girl gently, and Su Xiaoyun nodded her head through a few sobs, "I came to see my aunt."
"Although I was not her own family, she cared for me for many years and looked after me. I wish to say my farewells to her before I started traveling."
The patriarch"s eyes started gleaming when he heard that and nodded his head, "Your aunt has indeed gone through quite a lot through her life. She has never been able to have a simple life, but she still fought for survival and looked after you."
"I think it is about time that we treated her better. Do not worry about your aunt while you are traveling; the Su family will make sure she has a carefree life."
Hui Yue had to admit that he felt more and more respect for this patriarch who was capable of sensing everything that was going on around him. Without any words from Hui Yue, the aunt was already well looked after.
Hui Yue and Su Xiaoyun shared a few more words with the elders and the patriarch. They spoke casually about the war and the skirmishes with the Blood Demons, and about the common affairs of the strongest sects and families in the region.
It was obvious that they were attempting to slow down Hui Yue and keep him occupied, as after an hour another elder appeared in the Ancestral Hall and nodded his head.
As soon as he had appeared, the conversation died out then an elder started to prepare to lead Hui Yue and his friends out of the hall.
"Young hero Pei Yue, you are always welcome to come and talk with me," the patriarch said before Hui Yue was ushered out of the room together with Su Xiaoyun.
When they left, the elders stayed in the room together with the patriarch, their family leader, and the grand elder. Some of them heaved heavy sighs of relief while others frowned.
It was clear that wherever Hui Yue moved a pressure was emitted. This was the pressure of a heavenly dao that descended down to the world, but these experts were unaware of this and felt that it was his arrogance that made them all feel inferior.
While some felt respect for Hui Yue for having such an aura, others felt insulted and angry with themselves for being suppressed by such a young man.
"He is so arrogant!" one of the elders exclaimed with irritation clear in his voice. "He might be the son of some prominent expert, but to think he is here and behaves as if we owe him something!"
"Patriarch, why did you humble yourself so much? That man was nothing more than an idiot; only strength is revered, not some arrogance that all young masters have!"
"Strength is revered you said?" the patriarch laughed a hollow laugh when he heard that. "Tell me, do you think that if all of us attacked him together, we would be able to beat him?" he asked, and the elders looked at him as if he were stupid.
"Of course we would be able to deal with him!" the elder in question retorted, but the patriarch just shook his head, "That man has comprehended a heavenly dao, and you have the guts to think that we can deal with him? Don"t kid yourself. Behave while he is here, and if he wants you groveling on the floor then that is what you shall be doing!"