Chapter 581: Is This Beast Someone Who Respects Elders and Cares for the Young?

Gu Liang Gong watched Le Zhuang stand up, ready to follow Xuanqing Daozhang toward Cui Ji, and saw Cui Ji's snarling face, the man like a beast that selects victims to devour; anyone who learned his entire clan had been wiped out would be crazier than Cui Ji, let alone if Le Zhuang appeared before him.

Perhaps Cui Ji would swallow him whole and tear him apart alive!

Gu Liang Gong hurriedly grabbed Le Zhuang, who was about to leave.

Le Zhuang asked puzzled, "Grandpa Gu, why are you holding me?"

"Xiao Zhuang, your Le family has been passed down single‑handedly for generations, and now only you remain as the lone sprout…"

Gu Liang Gong ultimately couldn't bear to let Le Zhuang go to his death; he knew Xuanqing Daozhang was capable, yet still didn't think Xuanqing Daozhang could match Cui Ji, even though Xuanqing Daozhang stood before him with a confident air, trying to urge Le Zhuang to leave, but seeing his impatience, he said directly:

"How about you, while your uncle holds Cui Ji, slip away quietly through the back yard?"

"Grandpa Gu, I appreciate your kindness!"

Le Zhuang shook his head and refused.

Not to mention he knows that with his uncle's skill, even if Zhu Xing were present, his uncle could take Zhu Xing's head from among ten thousand troops; this time he goes not to die but to watch Cui Ji die right before his eyes.

When he learns the skill, it will be when he seeks revenge on that scoundrel Zhu Xing; even if his uncle lacks the power to deal with Cui Ji, he still won't leave.

This disaster was caused by his grandfather; he cannot disgrace the Le family and let others suffer for him, even if that person is his uncle.

"Hey, you kid…"

Gu Liang Gong still wanted to say something, but seeing Le Zhuang break free from his grasp and stride toward Cui Ji, the words he was about to speak were swallowed back; his peripheral vision suddenly caught a one‑ or two‑year‑old child following, and he hurriedly shouted:

"Whose child is that? Grab him quickly, don't let Cui Ji go berserk and spare even this child!"

"Uncle Gu, that child came with Kumu Daozhang; it might be Kumu Daozhang's child!"

The man who had just rushed over to deliver news—Zhuo Tie—reminded them.

Gu Liang Gong stared silently at Zhuo Tie, cursing inwardly; he had lived on this street for most of his life, knew every tree and blade of grass, let alone the street's children, so he naturally knew that Wang Ping'an had been brought by Xuanqing Daozhang.

He said that to find an excuse to hide the child quietly, lest the child follow Xuanqing Daozhang and Le Zhuang and meet a gruesome death at Cui Ji's hands.

That damn fool was a pig‑brain, couldn't grasp his meaning, and bluntly exposed the child's identity, completely unafraid that Cui Ji might hear; trying again to find an excuse to hide the child was almost impossible.

Zhuo Tie, after being glared at by Gu Liang Gong, was stunned at first, then thought perhaps he hadn't done anything wrong; why was Uncle Gu glaring at him? A flash of insight flickered in his mind, and he said awkwardly:

"Uncle Gu, did I say something wrong?"

"What do you think?"

Gu Liang Gong replied expressionlessly.

"I think I misspoke!"

Zhuo Tie forced an awkward laugh and scoffed, "How about it, Uncle Gu, if you bring that child over, can you save one at a time?"

Only then did he realize what Gu Liang Gong's earlier words meant; he knew Wang Ping'an was the child Xuanqing Daozhang had brought, yet he didn't believe Gu Liang Gong was unaware, and Gu Liang Gong's feigned ignorance was clearly an attempt to find an excuse to rescue the child from Cui Ji's clutches.

How infuriating. He hadn't thought it through and bluntly exposed the child's situation, ruining Gu Liang Gong's plan.

Gu Liang Gong said harshly, "Why don't you go?"

Zhuo Tie replied awkwardly, "Isn't this about you, Uncle Gu, having some face in front of Cui Ji?"

His mind wasn't clouded; though he wanted to be a good person, he knew his own limits and feared that his good intentions would fail and cost his life.

"Face? I have no damn face in front of Cui Ji!"

Gu Liang Gong snorted; before, when facing Cui Ji, he could say a few words, but that was because people saw his age and wouldn't dare act irrationally, he sneered coldly:

"Consider Cui Ji's situation now—his entire clan has been wiped out. If I go now to avenge his family, I'll still need an excuse to explain why we're all here. If you let me dash over now to rescue that child, do you think Cui Ji would treat me as Le Wenmao's accomplice and slash me alive with a single blow?"

Zhuo Tie scoffed, "No, no, that's impossible, Uncle Gu, aren't you an elder of Cui Ji?"

He was worried that by doing good and rescuing Wang Ping'an's child, Cui Ji would mistake him for Le Wenmao's partner and kill him with a single slash, leaving the good deed to Le Wenmao instead.

"An elder?"

Gu Liang Gong mocked softly, "Does Cui Ji even respect his elders?"

Zhuo Tie's face was full of oddity; whether Cui Ji respected elders, he didn't know. If he did, the Cui family wouldn't bully their neighboring households. He changed the subject, saying:

In this novel, you…

"Uncle Gu, what should we do now?"

"What else can we do?"

Gu Liang Gong sighed lightly, remarking, "See if Cui Ji can leave Xiao Zhuang and the others with intact bodies; if he does, we'll collect them and bury them together with his grandfather!"

Xuanqing Daozhang strode out of the main hall to Cui Ji's side, as if he didn't know Cui Ji—well, he truly didn't—but seeing Cui Ji's snarling face, his eyes burning with fiery anger, and noting Le Zhuang's gaze at Cui Ji, he could recognize the man before him.

Eight or nine out of ten are the Cui family's escaped fish!

"This friend, I don't know how to address you; what brings you to the Le household?"

Xuanqing Daozhang, as if he didn't know Cui Ji, as if unaware of what just happened, as if unaware of Cui Ji's ill intent, asked:

"But you know that old fellow Le Wenmao has unfortunately passed away, and you're here to attend Le Wenmao's funeral?"

"Hahaha!"

Cui Ji seemed to hear a joke of cosmic proportions and laughed heartily for a long time; then he recovered, snarling, glanced at Xuanqing Daozhang, then at Le Zhuang beside him, as if he wanted to devour Le Zhuang alive, and said harshly:

"You say that old bastard's unfortunate death—if he's unlucky, then what about my whole family?"

After speaking, Cui Ji ignored Xuanqing Daozhang; he knew of Xuanqing Daozhang from a remark his cousin of Chi Yongchun had mentioned, but he didn't know Xuanqing Daozhang's identity, even his cousin was unaware, and he said coldly:

"Le Zhuang, who am I, and what business do I have at your house? Why don't you talk to this old fool?"

(End of chapter)