Eldest Son, Younger Son

Wenren Sheng soon returned to his villa. Just as he and Li Shuangyue approached it, they heard Brother De's puzzled voice from the living room.

"Old Wu, what's gotten into you? The moment you came into my house, you went straight for the bathroom? And one wasn't enough—you had to inspect every single one? Is something wrong?"

"Uncle, Teacher Wu may be thinking about our safety. Teacher Zheng said that bathroom drains are one of the places in a home where strange incidents are most likely to occur..." That was Zhao Han's voice.

"Tch, with my son here, why would he need to bother with that? Besides, ever since I met him, he's never liked meddling in other people's business. There's definitely something fishy about what he's doing today. Xiao Han, help me think. My brain's been a little muddled lately."

"Teacher Wu is only trying to help. Besides, even if we figured out what he wanted, what good would it do us?"

"Of course it would do us good. If I figured it out, I could threaten him into secretly giving me all those good wines he doesn't drink anymore."

"But I really can't figure it out."

"Even if you could, you shouldn't tell him." Wenren Sheng pushed the door open and entered, interrupting their conversation.

Only he understood Old Wu's purpose—he merely wanted to see whether he was living with Wu Shanshan.

How could that be possible?

He was an honest man. The reason he had specifically asked Old Wu to drive the two of them home was to prove that he had never harbored any improper intentions toward the man's daughter.

After entering, he was somewhat surprised to see Brother De holding a copy of 40,000 Tang Poems and pretending to read it. For once, he was not guzzling beer like mad whenever Wenren Sheng was away.

Zhao Han was reading beside him, and the book in her hands was Records of Ancient Gods and Monsters, the same one he had seen in his study.

He had not expected Zhao Han to be able to keep Brother De in line. Was this what they meant by brine curdling tofu—everything had its natural counter? Or had her Seed of Narration given her some kind of hint?

Just then, Old Wu came downstairs from the second floor, his expression somewhat complicated.

"Not bad. You really weren't lying," Old Wu said as he walked over and patted Wenren Sheng on the shoulder. Then, lowering his voice, he asked, "But where has she gone now?"

"Oh, before coming back, Shan Shan went to a specialty store to buy all sorts of premium ingredients. She wants to celebrate my passing the judges' preliminary selection ahead of schedule today," Wenren Sheng answered openly.

At that, Old Wu's expression changed slightly. He then gave a thumbs-up and said, "Mm, worthy of being my, Wu Liansong's, brother despite our age difference. You passed the preliminary selection in your first year taking the exam. Looks like I should stay and celebrate with you."

"Great! We'll have a feast again tonight," Zhao Han cheered.

"Great? What's so great about it? Premium ingredients are difficult to prepare..." Wenren De tossed aside his book and leaned back on the sofa.

"Uncle, let me massage your shoulders first." With a flattering smile, Zhao Han went behind Wenren De's sofa and began kneading his shoulders.

"Not bad. Feels good. If A Sheng were half as filial as you, I'd be completely satisfied," Wenren De said appreciatively. "No wonder people say daughters are their fathers' little padded jackets. I'm only thirty-seven—I should still have time to raise a daughter."

"Brother De, you didn't drink today. Are you feeling like you can float now?" Wenren Sheng sat down on the sofa and took out his phone.

Old Wu also sat on the sofa and turned on the television to watch the news.

Meanwhile, Li Shuangyue silently headed for the bathroom, making himself completely invisible.

Wenren De turned a deaf ear to Wenren Sheng. Seeing Old Wu's attitude, his eyes shifted as he said pointedly, "Eh, Old Wu, you really intend to stay for dinner? You can't visit someone empty-handed. We're traditional Divine Land people, after all. We can't forget the etiquette left behind by our Old Ancestor. Your home isn't far from here, so hurry and bring those two bottles of Gujing Gong..."

"No wine. And I'm absolutely going to eat the dinner you make empty-handed." Old Wu watched the news without looking away, speaking as if it were only natural.

Wenren De immediately groaned in pain. "What a decline in public morals, what a degeneration of human hearts. Who gave you that sense of entitlement? I finally understand why the Internet could come up with 'If friends come from afar, though far away, they shall surely be executed.' That saying clearly has a basis in real life..."

Wenren Sheng ignored their nonsense. He was scrolling through messages on Key of Secrets.

Over the past three years, he had built up connections there ranging from the Patrol Division to private contacts. It was highly secure and served as a common app in the Mysterious Realm.

Since it was developed and maintained by the Palace Administration, some people deliberately avoided using it. In fact, how frequently someone used the app was itself a form of hidden evaluation.

Not only was the app free, but daily check-ins also earned monthly subsidies. It was not just a matter of a few cents, either, but ten or eight yuan...

Therefore, an Otherworldly User who used it every day was not necessarily a good person. But anyone who never used it definitely had a problem.

Through the app, he sent Inspector Liu what he had just seen and heard at the Xu Family.

"Thank you, Manager Wenren, for providing the intelligence. We've had quite a few matters on our side recently. Xu Qingshu's case is being followed up on, but it isn't convenient to act for the moment. We suspect there's something deeper behind them," the other party replied instantly.

"You've had it hard," Wenren Sheng typed.

He was not surprised in the slightest. The Patrol Division's principle was—when facing the mysterious, never act rashly unless necessary.

Those twelve words seemed ordinary, but they had been accumulated from countless Mysterious Calamities throughout history, each soaked in blood and tears.

As long as a mysterious incident showed no signs of affecting the public and could still be contained within a small area, the Patrol Division would not act rashly.

They would only continue tracking and investigating, probing as deeply as possible to uncover the root cause. Only once they had sufficient confidence would they cast their net in one decisive move.

At that moment, Wenren De, whose shoulders were being massaged, said to Zhao Han behind him, "Xiao Han, isn't your assessment next week? Although there's no pressure of failure this time, better results can get you quite a few benefits and allowances. You should go study. You don't need to help with meals this week either."

"My brain is slow. A little more studying won't make much difference," Zhao Han said carelessly.

"Uh..." Wenren De looked at her twice, then suddenly turned to Wenren Sheng. "A Sheng, I remember telling you a story when you were little."

Wenren Sheng did not look up, merely lowering his head as he stared at his phone.

Wenren De continued on his own. "Once upon a time, there was an old moneybags with two sons. Before he died, he did not know which one should inherit the family fortune. So he had his servants bring him two broken axes and gave one to each son. He told them to go up the mountain to gather firewood the next day, and whichever had gathered more by sunset would inherit the family fortune."

"It must be..." Zhao Han was about to blurt out an answer when Wenren De reached out and smacked her...

She froze, then heard Wenren De continue, "The eldest son set out with his axe before dawn, while the younger son ate well and slept well before getting up early to sharpen his axe. By sunset, the eldest son had brought back only a little brushwood and rotten timber, while the younger son returned carrying many bundles of fine firewood. A Sheng, do you know how that old moneybags divided his estate?"

Zhao Han finally could not hold back any longer. Smugly, she said, "He definitely gave it to the younger son, because the younger son understood that sharpening the knife would not delay the chopping of firewood."

At that, Wenren De looked at her with an extremely strange expression, seemingly lost in thought.

"Of course he gave it to the eldest son," Wenren Sheng said without raising his head. "In your story, the old moneybags only said he would decide based on how much they chopped. He never said the one who chopped more would inherit the estate. The eldest son was stupid and followed the old moneybags' last words to the letter. The younger son was clever and could think of a better way. So he should send the younger son out to expand their prospects and keep the eldest son at home to guard the family business."

"Great minds think alike... no, like father, like son," Wenren De said with great satisfaction. Then he asked, "Do you know why I told you this story?"

Hearing this, Wenren Sheng's brow furrowed slightly. He looked seriously at Brother De for a long time, and there seemed to be a glimmer of light in his eyes.

Wenren De was so unnerved by his stare that he trembled... involuntarily edging toward Old Wu. In return, he received a look of utter disdain.

"Brother De, if I hadn't confirmed that you really lost your Otherworldly powers, I would have taken you for some great reclusive sage from ancient times."

As he spoke, he began scrolling through the information Wu Shanshan had sent him earlier.

So this was Xu Qingshu's true motive?

The incident known as Death of the Expert truly concealed a terrifying truth behind it, enough to make one shudder.

But for now, it was only speculation. There was no evidence.