NOVEL NEXT 61: Complicated Ties (I)
From her birth, Gu Fe had heard about how great her father was. A benevolent and kind man who helped those weaker than him and spent his days outside of the family's luxury estate to save the poor and unfortunate. She had heard it from the maids, butlers, elders, and most of all, from her mother.
However, when she first met him at four years of age, darkness was all she saw within him—an endless darkness suppressed behind a fake smile.
A darkness that swallowed her mother whole right in front of her.
By the time she had a grip on her life, Gu Changge was kneeling on the execution platform. Bloodshot eyes and disheveled hair, not an ounce of his former dignity and regalness. She remembered that bitter day vividly. Even more so because that man smiled, looking at her.
It wasn't the fake and pretentious smile he showed her before, but a smile of relief that he didn't have to hide his ugliness.
Gu Fe still remembered that smile whenever she had good days as a reminder, a reminder that her work wasn't done.
"You don't seem too shocked hearing he is alive," Muchen said and took a seat opposite the calm Gu Fe.
"I knew he was." Gu Fe admitted, the day of execution still replayed in her head. "I spent three decades to find that bastard's empty grave."
"You still want revenge on him?" Muchen leaned on the chair. "You already got him executed once."
"It was through the Family Matriarch." Gu Fe was the one who alerted the family about Gu Changge's plan to devour Gu Yingyue, for her talents, and had him caught in the act. However, she didn't feel satisfied, not in the least.
"I want to twist his neck with my own hands." Gu Fe had made that her life's purpose.
The immense hatred she has for her father hasn't changed. Muchen sighed. Everything about Gu Fe had changed because of what her father did.
She left the Gu Family on bad terms, joined the Azure Sky Sect and climbed the ranks, established her network across the continent, and gathered immense funds and resources to realize her plans. She did all that in the past fifty years with the aim of revenge.
Muchen learned a lot about Gu Fe's life when he had a drink with her before regression. At that time, he didn't know that she was about to execute her plans against Gu Changge the next day.
Even if she died, she paralyzed Gu Changge from the waist down and wiped out three Demonic Sects under his control. Muchen thought of the smile Gu Fe had when he last saw her. A peaceful smile, unlike the calculating one she had now. Like she already knew her ending.
"So, my dearest Peak Master Li, do you really want to target him?" Gu Fe moved next to Muchen. "If you are doing it to woo me, there is no need."
"Partially." Muchen had gotten used to her half-serious, half-flirtatious comments in his last run.
"My oh my, I am certainly flattered." Gu Fe leaned into her chair. "But I am afraid I can't share this, even if it's you."
"It won't be easy to do this alone," Muchen said. "He'll only grow stronger with the demonic technique he has."
"I know. My only option is to kill him quickly. He is slippery like an eel after all. But that is my problem to deal with." Gu Fe placed her teacup on the table and stood up.
Gu Fe had stopped expecting help from others for a long time now. From the time her mother died, she had done everything in her power to alert the Gu Family, but no one believed her. The elders, even the patriarch, her grandfather, wouldn't take her seriously because Gu Changge's image had become that perfect.
Which family would try to go against one of their patriarch candidates with little to no evidence?
But even after she had them catch him in the act, it was too late. She knew the Gu Family would only become a burden, so she left and found a new place.
The family declared me a traitor when I tried to tell them he might be alive still. They couldn't even bear to look at me, the spawn of their greatest shame. Now that the blade has reached their neck, they react. Gu Fe looked at Muchen.
The swiftness and completeness of the plan laid out had to be his handiwork, and he was only stringing along the Gu Family for his purpose. Even if she knew that working with him would boost the chances of her success, Gu Fe couldn't agree. Not at this moment, at least.
But there is a way to make her agree. Muchen stood up.
Gu Fe was a merchant by trade and nature. She has had an interest in business since young, and a keen eye that could find profit even in the darkest annals. So, all Muchen had to do was to pitch an offer she couldn't refuse.
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She was about to leave when Muchen grabbed her hand. He only had one chance, so he wanted to make it worthwhile. Because if she didn't see the potential in his plan, she wouldn't even bother coming over to talk.
"My My, Peak Master Li, you have been getting a bit too forward these days. Can't say I dislike it." Gu Fe could break free of his grasp, but she walked closer to him. Close enough for their nose to touch.
He would usually step back. However, Muchen remained unaffected by her tricks.
"Will killing him be enough?" He asked. "Will it rid you of all the years of hatred built inside you?"
Muchen already knew the answer, and he knew that Gu Fe knew too, but he had to ask. He had to bring this to her attention. Killing Gu Changge wouldn't resolve anything for Gu Fe. She hated him to the point of making his death her life's purpose, but achieving that goal with a sacrifice wouldn't amount to anything. It would only incur a loss.
Even if she kills him and lives, she would only feel empty. Muchen had been through this himself.
He had killed Gu Changge with his hands, choked the life out of him, but it didn't satisfy him. Emptiness and regret filled that burning rage in his heart. All he felt was sorrow for the lives lost. Gu Changge's death changed nothing about those who died at his hands.
At the end, regrets and long-term injuries were all he had.
That's why simple revenge won't work for someone like Gu Fe. Someone who had a greater emphasis on profit and loss.
He looked into her eyes and gauged the hidden anger behind those silent, gem-like eyes. The viciousness dripped nonstop from the moment he asked the question. So, all he had to do was verbalize the feelings she had suppressed to kill Gu Changge.
"Don't you want to crush his pride? Strip him of his dignity and show him that no matter what he does, even after using Demonic cultivation technique to boost his power and talent, that he is nothing more than a sniveling, worthless piece of shit?" He asked.
Her pupils dilated a millimeter, but went back to the usual calm. However, she noticed Muchen's sharp gaze had captured that momentary slip.
"Well…" Gu Fe sighed before laughing. "I thought I was the only one keeping a close eye on people."
"One doesn't have to keep a close eye on people for obvious things," Muchen said, sure of his observations. "Simple revenge won't satisfy you. Not after dedicating your whole life to it. You need something more, you deserve more."
He regretted not asking her more the day they shared a drink. Muchen had his hands full because Wang Yang had caused an incident on Dragon Isles and went missing with the Pheonix Saintess. But if he had only asked one question that day, maybe things could've ended differently for Gu Fe. Maybe she would've lived longer and had a fulfilling life.
It was the regret he had after killing Gu Changge.
Now, he had the chance to do that.
"You don't have to worry about Gu Changge slipping away this time." He faced her shrewd gaze and spoke with conviction. "I'll make it worthwhile."
He's been different since the caravan attack. A bit more direct… A bit more aggressive… However, this side of him is even more intriguing… She looked at Muchen, her eyes flashed for another moment, scanning his entire body.
Instead of his beautiful, picturesque face, she saw a white blank in the shape of his face. Even after a few breaths, it didn't change, it remained as calm as a lake. That was her sign.
"Gu Fe…" Muchen's hand still clutched her soft, slender wrist. "…give me this one chance."
"If you ask like that… I have no choice but to agree." Gu Fe looked at him with upturned eyes.
"What are you…" Before Muchen could finish, he heard porcelain plates clatter behind him.
He picked up the two female disciples, Ming Chyou and Hao Chang, from the Peach Peak a bit too late. All his attention was on convincing Gu Fe when the two entered the residence. He remembered Huang Bai speaking of sending a few dishes for the feast.
"W…We apologize, Peak Master Li, Vice Peak Master Gu…" Chiyou bowed repeatedly.
She wanted to pull back the wild Hao Chang, who entered without knocking, and somehow ended up overhearing a secret conversation.
"Oh my god…" Hao Chang covered her mouth, uninterested in the rules and plates she had broken. Her doe-like eyes shone at the gossip, "Peak Master Li confessed, didn't he?" she whispered.
Muchen's lips pressed into a hard line. His eyes turned to the culprit of the matter, Gu Fe. No matter how focused he was on her, he would know if a cultivator came this close to him in his residence, unless someone messed with his senses.
People will suspect things if we meet often for no reason. She winked at him with an impish smile.
We could've thought of a better reason, at least. Muchen answered telepathically.
You just set up the perfect mood for it with your intense gaze and words. Your title of Lady Killer isn't unwarranted. Gu Fe giggled.
Muchen didn't know if he should feel relieved that she had agreed, or dismayed that she had tricked him so soon after the alliance.
"Let us talk more over dinner." Gu Fe, however, flew away like a butterfly. Full of splendor and beauty.
"They are about to have dinner later… hey, isn't that just in that novel?!" Hao Change muttered, too invested in the apparent love story painted before her eyes.
"Shut up, Chang." Chyou wanted to disintegrate out of shame and envy.
This is going to be annoying to deal with. Muchen noticed the shining eyes of the sect's famous gossiper, Hao Chang, and sighed.
However, the annoyance was dwarfed in front of the benefits. Now that Gu Fe had agreed to join in, he had a critical card in his hand to deal with Gu Changge. Even this misunderstanding that Gu Fe had created would indirectly help him secure the second card he needed.
Muchen helped Hao Chang and Ming Chyou clean up the mess, sending them away without a word. Now that he had most of his cards on the table, it was time to make his second contact with Gu Changge.
He sat down on his bed, his eyes locked on the red dot floating over a map. Fu Yuzhe had just arrived at Gu Changge's new hideout.
Time to reel the fishes in.