Chapter 17: Cheng Ying

Gu Qing was prodding the backs of the Wu brothers.

The Wu family’s moral standards were clearly poor—Wu Dunru and Wu Xiuwen were both useless, Wu Santong wanted to take his adopted daughter, and future figures like Wu Lie and Wu Qingying were all major players.

Their family’s martial arts knowledge was extensive in the Jianghu, yet they could never produce real results.

“You’re talking nonsense!”

Wu Dunru, enraged by Gu Qing’s insults toward his father, his eyes bulging, lunged forward to fight him to the death.

“Can’t even bear to hear the truth!”

At this moment, Gu Qing did not strike first; instead, he used the Ancient Tomb Sect’s lightness skill, swaying left and right, making Wu Dunru unable to touch his clothes, and said calmly: “Let me say a bit more truth: Wu Sanniang died because of Li Mochou. Have you ever thought of training hard to avenge your mother all these years?”

Wu Dunru and Wu Xiuwen’s mother was an extremely kind woman. After Wu Santong became a neglectful drunkard, she raised the two boys alone, and when she learned he intended to cause trouble for the Lu family, she rushed ahead to aid him—ultimately dying after sucking the poison from his body.

Gu Qing’s sudden mention of Wu Sanniang caused Wu Dunru’s lunge to halt mid-air; Wu Xiuwen, who had been about to join the attack, also froze, his face flushed red.

“Of course we must avenge our mother!”

Wu Xiuwen cried: “Li Mochou killed our mother—we’ve never forgotten that hatred for a single moment!”

Wu Santong, haunted by past events, had gone mad; the duty of avenging their mother now fell entirely on these two brothers.

“Oh?”

Gu Qing also stopped, looking at the Wu brothers, and said: “While your mother’s vengeance remains unfulfilled, you envy Yang Guo and boast you’d rather die by another’s hand than let him save you—is that how you plan to avenge your mother?”

Their mother was the Wu brothers’ deepest wound; both Wu Dunru and Wu Xiuwen turned beet red, feeling utterly ashamed as they recalled how they’d spent years fawning over Guo Fu, neglecting their martial cultivation—making them want to slap themselves.

“Slap!”

“Slap!”

Gu Qing slapped each of them twice across the face and asked: “You know you’re ashamed now—do you resent these two slaps?”

Their faces swollen, the Wu brothers looked up at Gu Qing and shook their heads vigorously—there was not a trace of resentment.

“Go thank Yang Guo right now!”

Gu Qing barked again.

The Wu brothers turned to Yang Guo, their arrogance gone; they bowed humbly and said: “Yang Guo, we were wrong. Thank you for saving our lives.”

Yang Guo looked at the Wu brothers, forgave them, and then turned to Gu Qing with newfound respect—only Gu Qing could slap them and make them truly submit.

“Though we quarreled as children, we were still playmates.”

Yang Guo patted their shoulders and said: “Looking back, I’ve made many mistakes too.”

Back on Taohuadao, Yang Guo had used the Toad Skill to strike them and thrown rocks from the mountaintop nearly killing them—but now, all was spoken and cleared.

Guo Fu watched Gu Qing kill Nimoxing and discipline the Wu brothers, his every move effortless and composed; her starry eyes held a strange gleam, yet Gu Qing’s gaze was fixed far away, as if he hadn’t even noticed her—leaving Guo Fu with a faint sense of loss… Normally the cherished jewel of the family, she was always the center of attention, but now, aside from their first exchange, he had ignored her entirely.

“Yang Guo, how have you been at the Quanzhen Sect?”

After receiving two slaps, the Wu brothers had temporarily reformed and realized Yang Guo’s martial arts far surpassed theirs; they asked him earnestly.

“At the Quanzhen Sect…”

Yang Guo recalled his time there—the events on Taohuadao he could now forgive, but Hao Datong’s murder of Sun Laopo was unforgivable.

“The Quanzhen Sect treated me…”

Yang Guo narrowed his eyes slightly.

“Hmm…”

Gu Qing suddenly interrupted: “Don’t say anything that undermines unity.”

Yang Guo turned to face Gu Qing, nearly laughing in exasperation.

“Your achievements today owe at least a third of their credit to Quanzhen’s secret manuals.”

Gu Qing said.

Yang Guo remembered how he’d needed Quanzhen’s techniques to assist his cultivation of the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra; realizing he’d indeed owed them a debt of sorts—and since Zhao Zhijing was dead—he sighed and buried his bitterness toward the Quanzhen Sect.

Only Hao Datong’s debt remained.

Gu Qing’s gaze shifted to another spot.

From the tree above, a young woman leapt down—slender and graceful, yet hideously ugly. After landing, she bowed to Gu Qing and said: “Grandmaster Shi, greetings.” Her voice carried a clear, refined tone.

Guo Fu, seeing the woman, looked startled—her face reminded her of Huang Yaoshi’s human-skin mask.

“I was up in the tree, waiting for the right moment to assist, but Grandmaster Shi had already killed them.”

The green-clad woman stepped forward, speaking with perfect courtesy; when she reached Lu Wushuang, she gently tugged her sleeve. Lu Wushuang immediately looked astonished, then beamed with joy.

This green-clad woman was Huang Yaoshi’s youngest disciple, Lu Wushuang’s cousin—Cheng Ying.

Gu Qing studied Cheng Ying from head to toe… Xiaolongnu he only pretended to like, drawn by her beauty and innocence, teasing her as one might tease a pretty bird; just as Yang Guo enjoyed seeing Lu Wushuang flustered, but Cheng Ying—he truly liked. In the novel, Gu Qing had always admired her quiet, reserved nature.

“Miss.”

Gu Qing cut straight to the point: “How can I marry you?”

“Ah?”

Cheng Ying had no preparation for this—she stared at Gu Qing in shock, as did Yang Guo, Yelu Qi, Lu Wushuang, Guo Fu, and the Wu brothers. Guo Fu, who recognized the mask, was stunned that Gu Qing could say such a thing outright.

But to Yang Guo and the others, the shock was that Gu Qing could be attracted to someone so ugly.

“G-Grandmaster Shi…”

Cheng Ying stammered: “I’ve never thought about this.”

Cheng Ying had grown up under Huang Yaoshi, cultivating Taohuadao’s martial arts; her nature carried the quiet solitude of a hermit, content to live alone for life—Gu Qing’s words left her utterly flustered.

“That’s fine. Take your time.”

Gu Qing said: “Tell me when you’ve decided.”

Yang Guo watched silently, his heart roaring: Safe!

Gu Qing liked someone this ugly—so Xiaolongnu’s breathtaking beauty meant nothing to him.

In that instant, Yang Guo felt an unprecedented sense of security regarding Xiaolongnu.

Thinking this, he asked cautiously: “Grandmaster Shi, my aunt…”

“Your aunt won’t mind.”

Gu Qing, seeing Yang Guo’s hopeful expression, immediately crushed it.

(End of Chapter)