Chapter 5291: The Gaze Behind the Gaze
Mo Chengzhou"s grandfather plummeted from the sky, falling out of the spatial realm into the real world. His son’s corpse also fell alongside him.
Ningyu Shangren had barely regained control over her body when she saw Mo Chengzhou’s body cras.h.i.+ng onto the ground. Startled, she stared at the sight in disbelief. She had intended to confront Mo Chengzhou to stop and rebuke him, but not once had it crossed her mind that Mo Chengzhou would be dead when they finally met once more.
“H-how did things turn out like this? What happened?”
Ningyu Shangren rushed over to Mo Chengzhou’s side, but he was dead. There was nothing she could do. Her hands began to tremble as the reality of things started to sink in.
In spite of the atrocities Mo Chengzhou had committed, they were still comrades who had braved death together. She couldn’t accept the abrupt death of her close friend. It took her a while to figure out what had just happened.
“Was it Chu Feng?”
Ningyu Shangren glanced in Chu Feng’s direction. She knew that Chu Feng couldn’t have killed Mo Chengzhou, but she was certain that this matter had something to do with him.
Someone must have been protecting Chu Feng.
“You were a fool.”
Ningyu Shangren gazed upon Mo Chengzhou’s corpse before gently closing his eyes. This was not the outcome she had wanted to see, but it was impossible to turn back time.
While she was pained by the death of her close friend, she had no intention of exacting vengeance. Mo Chengzhou might be her close friend, but he was the one who had erred here. What Chu Feng and his backing had done could only be considered self-defense.
She quietly stowed away Mo Chengzhou and his son’s corpses and brought them to Mo Yuhan. She told Mo Yuhan that Mo Chengzhou had offended a powerhouse beyond any of their means to deal with, not mentioning Chu Feng’s possible a.s.sociation in the matter at all.
Much to her surprise, Mo Yuhan remained calm upon hearing the news.
Tears flowed down her eyes, but she didn’t throw a tantrum. She didn’t even inquire about the culprit. She merely stowed away their bodies with her trembling hands.
“My deepest condolences, Yuhan. I know that it might be difficult for you to accept the situation, but you have to stay strong… If you don’t mind, I would like to take you in as my disciple. I’ll take care of you and impart all of my abilities to you. Otherwise, I’ll also treat you as my own granddaughter and teach you everything I know,” Ningyu Shangren said.
“Elder, you don’t have to worry about me. I can take care of myself,” Mo Yuhan replied hoa.r.s.ely.
“My grandfather has told me a long time ago that what he’s doing is dangerous. He wanted me to know that something like this could happen at any time and that I should be prepared for it. It’s just that… I’m more useless than I thought. I reminded myself time and time again, but I’m still unable to control my own emotions.
“My grandfather told me that he knew about the bad things that my father did, but he still couldn’t bring himself to let go of his son. I couldn’t understand his feelings back then because I hardly have any feelings for my father at all, but I think I can finally understand how he felt now…”
Mo Yuhan finally cried out loud. Tears fell from her cheeks, pattering down like raindrops.
Ningyu Shangren fell silent. She had also lost a loved one before, so she knew that there were no words she could say that would bring Mo Yuhan solace.
Mo Yuhan’s mother had died shortly after giving birth to her, and her father fell into a comatose state. Her grandfather was the one who raised her, teaching her how to walk, read, and fight. He was her only kin in the world, as well as her pillar of support.
It must have felt like she had lost the world.
…
Mo Yuhan left with the corpses of her father and grandfather in the middle of the night.
Ningyu Shangren was aware of it, but she didn’t stop her. She chose to respect Mo Yuhan’s decision.
However, there were two other pairs of gazes on Mo Yuhan. They were from Long Suqing and the white-haired woman.
They had previously split up to escape from Mo Chengzhou. Long Suqing had been marked by Mo Chengzhou, which led her to think that she was a goner. Much to her surprise, she quickly noticed that Mo Chengzhou hadn’t given chase.
Worried that Mo Chengzhou had gone after the white-haired woman instead, she quickly regrouped with the white-haired woman, only to find that she was safe too.
Did that old man let us go? That doesn’t make sense.
Unable to make sense of the situation, she decided to head back after much hesitation.
She returned in time to witness the scene of Ningyu Shangren handing over Mo Chengzhou’s corpse to Mo Yuhan.
“It looks like there’s more to Chu Feng than we know about. My intervention was unnecessary,” Long Suqing said self-deprecatingly.
She came to the same conclusion as Ningyu Shangren—she believed that the person who had killed Mo Chengzhou was related to Chu Feng.
“But he doesn’t seem to know anything at all,” the white-haired woman looked in Chu Feng’s direction and said.
“That person might be keeping things from him,” Logn Suqing replied.
“Then… do I still need to tell him about that matter?” the white-haired woman asked.
“Didn’t you come here to invite him? Don’t let yourself be swayed by his background,” Long Suqing advised.
“Mmhm.” The white-haired woman nodded.
She descended from the sky and landed in front of Chu Feng. Chu Feng was surprised to see her.
“Do you need something from me?” Chu Feng asked.
The white-haired woman handed an ancient bamboo slip to Chu Feng and said, “Come if you’re interested.”
After leaving those four words behind, she turned around and left.
“What’s wrong with that la.s.s?” Eggy was baffled by the situation.
Chu Feng knew that the answer lay inside the bamboo slip, so he unfurled it. Four words appeared before his eyes: Ancient Realm’s Invitation Letter.
At the center of the bamboo slip was a map depicting a location in the Totem Galaxy. Beneath it reflected the time of the event, but the time was slowly ticking down.
“What’s this?” Chu Feng’s curiosity was piqued.
Meanwhile, the white-haired woman had already returned to Long Suqing’s side.
“Is that how you extend an invitation to others?” Long Suqing stared at the white-haired woman speechlessly.
“What else do you expect me to do?” the white-haired woman asked.
“You should show some sincerity at the very least! Tell him why you’re inviting him! Look at that lad’s expression. I doubt that he even understands what the Ancient Realm’s Invitation Letter is about. What if he loses something as precious as that?” Long Suqing said.
The white-haired woman glanced at Chu Feng and frowned too. It was apparent from Chu Feng’s expression that he didn’t know what the Ancient Realm’s Invitation Letter was about. Nevertheless, she had no intention of heading back and explaining things to him.
“There are ways for him to gather information if he’s interested. Who in the Totem Galaxy hasn’t heard about the Ancient Realm?” the white-haired woman said before strutting off.
“This la.s.s…” Long Suqing sighed helplessly.
She didn’t try to catch up with the white-haired woman right away. Instead, she scanned her surroundings with a peculiar gleam in her eyes as if she was trying to find something. In the end, she shook her head in disappointment.
She cast a deep look at Chu Feng before heading off.
Little did she know that someone else was observing her. They were the mysterious woman and Ling’er, whom Chu Feng had met in the valley.
Back then, the mysterious woman found herself outmatched by the demon monk and quickly escaped from this realm together with Ling’er. The two of them chose to hide in a safe area not too far away from the realm so that they could continue observing the situation.
The mysterious woman was unable to peer through the black chains to watch the fight, but she quickly returned to the realm as soon as the black chains started to dissipate. She was able to swiftly find Chu Feng with her capabilities.
To her relief, the threat was already over. Someone had curbed the demon monk.
She planned to continue looking over Chu Feng to see if anyone would attempt to harm him. While earning the t.i.tle of the strongest was an honor, it could also invite unwanted attention. Some might see him as an eyesore, especially since he wasn’t native to the Totem Galaxy.
Thanks to that, the mysterious woman was aware of Mo Chengzhou’s ploy against Chu Feng, as well as everything that had happened afterward. She wasn’t able to see who was the one who took Mo Chengzhou down, but she knew that the person possessed incredible means.
From that, it was apparent that Chu Feng had strong backing.
“Young miss, you really weren’t able to see who killed that old man?” Ling’er asked in disbelief.
“That person is a formidable existence,” the mysterious woman replied.
The mysterious woman had actually used Lord Qin Jiu’s treasure to uncover the truth earlier, but someone had blocked off the treasure’s power. The fact that the other party was able to do that showed that he was an extremely powerful individual.
“Formidable existence? How does he compare to your master?” Ling’er asked.
She was intrigued, as it was rare for her young miss to use such a term. The most powerful person she knew about was her young miss’ master, so she tried to use that as a benchmark for comparison.
The mysterious woman chuckled softly and replied, “Silly Ling’er. How many people in the world can compare to my master?”
Following that, the mysterious woman left the realm together with Ling’er.
“Young miss, where are we going?” Ling’er asked.
“We’ll be returning to the valley. Chu Feng doesn’t need our protection,” the mysterious woman replied.
Interestingly, there were two people eyeing the mysterious woman and Ling’er when they left. They were the Ox-nosed Old Daoist and his mount, the Thousand Transformations Demon Fox.
As powerful as the mysterious woman’s concealment means was, it was unable to escape the Ox-nosed Old Daoist’s notice. In fact, with his help, even the Thousand Transformations Demon Fox was able to see everything that had happened.
“Let’s go,” the Ox-nosed Old Daoist said.
“Milord, are you not going to meet your disciple?” the Thousand Transformations Demon Fox asked.
“I won’t meet him. He has his own path to walk on,” the Ox-nosed Old Daoist replied.
“Milord, are you really fine with leaving such an outstanding disciple to fend for himself? He might have lost his life this time around if you weren’t here,” the Thousand Transformations Fox Demon asked.
“You shouldn’t underestimate my disciple. He won’t die that easily,” the Ox-nosed Old Daoist replied with a confident chuckle.
The Thousand Transformations Fox Demon looked unconvinced, but it heeded the Ox-nosed Old Daoist’s orders and ascended into the sky. The two of them headed for outer s.p.a.ce instead of a teleportation formation.