Chapter 401: Chapter 398: Sorrow for Some, Fury for Others

After the rest of the Liu Family had departed, the father and son, Liu Hong and Liu Chen, tended to Liu Luoyan’s body and prepared for her funeral, their faces etched with sorrow.

One was her father, the other her brother. No matter what terrible mistakes Liu Luoyan had made, those two facts could not be changed.

Grief was inevitable.

"A falling leaf returns to its roots. Let her be buried with the Liu Family," the Immortal Ancestor sighed, then turned and left.

"Thank you, Ancestor, for your grace." Liu Hong and Liu Chen, their faces filled with emotion, hurriedly bowed their thanks.

After all, Liu Luoyan had been expelled from the Liu Family. By rights, she was not qualified to be buried among them.

But now that the Immortal Ancestor had spoken, everything was different.

Neither Liu Hong nor Liu Chen wanted Liu Luoyan to be alone, even in death.

"Luoyan, I regret it so much. I should never have let you marry into the Xiao Family. This is all my fault!"

Liu Hong seemed to age several hundred years in an instant. His hair was disheveled, his eyes vacant and completely unfocused.

He had vehemently opposed the marriage between Liu Luoyan and Xiao Shan back then, but Liu Luoyan was madly in love with the man and refused to marry anyone else.

Furthermore, an alliance between the two great families offered many benefits, so the vast majority of the Liu Family’s upper echelon had been supportive.

Worn down by Liu Luoyan’s stubbornness and the persuasion of the Liu Family’s high-ranking members, Liu Hong eventually relented.

But he never approved of the Xiao Family, and especially not of Xiao Shan. He felt that by marrying into their family, Liu Luoyan was throwing herself into a pit of fire.

But that’s just how life is sometimes; you’re powerless in the face of many things.

Even when you know you shouldn’t do something, you sometimes have no choice but to go along with it.

This was one of the main reasons he later took Liu Ruyan far away to the Mortal District.

Out of sight, out of mind.

"Father, you can’t be blamed for this. To each their own. Since my sister chose this path, these were all her own choices."

Liu Chen said comfortingly, holding his father steady.

"We should respect her."

At these words, Liu Hong’s brow furrowed, and he backhanded Liu Chen across the face.

"Respect? She’s dead, and you want to talk to me about respect?!"

"You put in plenty of effort to make that marriage to the Xiao Family happen! Hmph! If I hadn’t been alert enough to take Ruyan away, she would have followed in her aunt’s footsteps!"

Liu Hong raged, his expression agitated.

If Liu Chen weren’t his son, he would have struck him dead on the spot.

Though a searing pain spread across his face, Liu Chen felt not a shred of resentment in his heart.

With a THUD, he fell to his knees before Liu Hong. Tears streamed down his face, and he cried like a child, shedding every last shred of his dignity as the Patriarch of the Liu Family.

"I was wrong! Father, I was so, so wrong! Terribly wrong!"

As the older brother who had watched Liu Luoyan grow up, Liu Chen’s love for her had been like that of both a brother and a father.

Having watched Liu Luoyan die right in front of him, the pain in his heart was no less than Liu Hong’s.

He had only suppressed it earlier due to his position—or rather, a habit cultivated over many years in power.

But now, Liu Hong’s slap had shocked him to his senses. He could no longer hold back; his composure shattered in an instant.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!

Liu Chen frantically kowtowed while fiercely slapping his own face.

Even as his skin split open and blood streamed down, he showed no sign of stopping.

"I’m the one who harmed my sister, and I nearly harmed Ruyan too! Father, I am guilty! Please, punish me!"

Seeing Liu Chen torment himself like this, Liu Hong couldn’t bear it.

But he didn’t relent, saying coldly, "Go and reflect on your misdeeds. Think carefully about your position, and think carefully about what path you will take from now on!"

With that, Liu Hong ignored Liu Chen, lifted Liu Luoyan’s body, and walked toward the Liu Family’s ancestral burial grounds.

He would bury Liu Luoyan with his own hands.

Meanwhile, Liu Chen buried his head in the hollow he had beaten into the dirt and remained motionless for a long, long time.

No one knew what he was thinking.

...

Back in the Xiao Family’s estate, Xiao Shan was like a volcano on the verge of erupting. He was seething with a monstrous rage, his expression terrifyingly dark.

Along the way, every member of the Xiao Family who saw him gave him a wide berth, not daring to approach.

They all knew Xiao Shan’s temper all too well; he was liable to injure, or even kill, at the slightest disagreement.

"They’ve gone too far! This is outrageous!"

Xiao Shan’s heart bled.

An Immortal Level greatsword! A Pseudo-Immortal Artifact Level robe!

’Just like that, snatched away by Mo Qi!’

’Humiliation!’

’The ultimate humiliation!’

"Fine, fine, just fine. So this is Mo Qi, this is the Feng Family, this is the Liu Family! You’ll all pay for what you did today! We’ll settle this on the Demon Spirit Battlefield!"

As Xiao Shan began to set his plan for revenge in motion, he forgot one very important thing.

Mo Qi had fed him a Medicinal Pill containing an Ancient Ice Ant.

...

Upon returning to the Huangfu Family estate, Huangfu Yu’s master immediately summoned him.

"When you get to the Demon Spirit Battlefield, you must be extremely careful of Mo Qi. He now has an Immortal Sword and a Pseudo-Immortal Defense Robe. You must plan meticulously before confronting him. Above all, do not be rash or impatient."

"An Immortal Sword?!"

Huangfu Yu’s expression turned grave, but it quickly relaxed.

’An Immortal Sword wielded without Immortal Power consumes an enormous amount of True Essence.’

’Even if the Immortal Sword is incredibly powerful and its edge is unstoppable, with Mo Qi’s Vajra Realm Cultivation, how many strikes can he possibly manage with the True Essence in his body?’

’One strike? Two? Or three?’

’And after those three strikes?’

’His Dantian will be completely empty, his physical body utterly exhausted.’

’At that point, I’ll be able to kill him however I please!’

"Master, rest assured. Even wielding an Immortal Artifact, Mo Qi has absolutely no chance of survival," Huangfu Yu said with confidence.

...

「The Feng Family Estate, Taohua Village」

Liu Ruyan’s heart was heavy. As she walked with Mo Qi and Niu Kexin, she was often lost in thought and not nearly as happy as one might have expected.

Niu Kexin gave Mo Qi a meaningful look and then went on her way, leaving Mo Qi and Liu Ruyan alone together.

"Ruyan." Mo Qi gently took her hand and whispered her name in her ear.

Liu Ruyan flinched and gave Mo Qi an apologetic look. "Brother Mo, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be like this."

Mo Qi smiled and fondly ruffled Liu Ruyan’s hair. "Silly girl, what is there to apologize for? Brother Mo knows you feel guilty about your aunt, right?"

Liu Ruyan pressed her lips together and nodded.

"I’m just going to ask you one question. Answer honestly, from the heart. Okay?"

"Okay, Brother Mo. Ask away." Liu Ruyan took a deep breath, momentarily setting aside her worries.

"Leaving aside the fact that she was family, do you hate her?"

Liu Ruyan fell silent, thinking long and hard.

Finally, she gave a solemn nod. "Hate!"

In Liu Ruyan’s memory, Liu Luoyan had never shown her any of the care or warmth an aunt should.

All she had ever done was endlessly flaunt her lifestyle, constantly praise Huangfu Yu, and incessantly try to brainwash her, drilling into her head the myriad benefits of marrying into a wealthy and powerful family.