Qiangu Qingfeng

After school that afternoon, Qian Jue left the school gates with Gu Yue.

Based on memories from before his mother's passing, Qian Jue vaguely recalled that his maternal grandparents lived in a villa district on the outskirts of East Sea City.

"Xiao Qian, do you still have any impression of your grandparents?"

Facing Gu Yue's question, Qian Jue shook his head.

"I have very little impression of my grandfather because he rarely visited our home."

"Besides, he seemed quite dissatisfied with my parents' marriage. My father had a rather timid personality, which the old man didn't care for."

In his memory, Qian Jue had only met his grandparents once or twice. Although the two elders didn't like his father, they had been fond of him.

It was just that Long Yeyue had intercepted him too quickly; otherwise, he likely would have ended up living with his grandparents.

He remembered the day he first entered the orphanage, when Long Yeyue had simply walked over and declared she was adopting him.

The staff wanted to register him, but this arrogant woman didn't follow the rules at all. She didn't even bother with the paperwork, just stated she was from Shrek Academy and walked off.

What an imposing display of authority.

Not long before the accident, his mother had a massive argument with his grandfather over something. Given how suddenly everything happened, it was hard to say if his grandfather even knew about her death yet.

After all, in Qian Jue's memory, his mother had a stubborn personality. Back then, she was so dissatisfied with her father's arrangements that she ran away from home to travel the world, eventually meeting his father—then just a low-level employee—at the Spirit Pagoda on the Star Dou Continent.

A year or more without contact was already standard practice for his grandfather.

"So that's how it is. By the way, your grandfather's status must be quite extraordinary, right?"

Qian Jue tilted his head, his young face showing a look of confusion.

Gu Yue felt a surge of joy; so, his dear wife didn't know.

Her chance to show off had arrived!

"You just joined the Spirit Pagoda, so there are some things you don't understand yet."

"This villa district is property of the Spirit Pagoda and isn't open to outsiders. Everyone who lives here is either incredibly wealthy or of high status; at the very least, they hold a certain amount of influence within the Pagoda."

Hearing Gu Yue say this, Qian Jue suddenly remembered that his grandfather's surname was Qiangu. He must be one of the members of the Qiangu clan within the Spirit Pagoda.

His first martial soul, the Coiling Dragon Staff, was the best proof of that.

The two walked along the quiet path and soon arrived at the villa from his memories.

"Ding—"

Qian Jue pressed the doorbell, and soon a soft female voice came from the soul guidance device nearby:

"Who is it?"

"Ahem, Grandmother, it's me, Qian Jue."

There was silence from the device, and then the two standing outside watched as the villa gate was pushed open. A middle-aged woman with delicate features and a graceful figure, looking to be in her thirties, walked out.

"Grandmother~"

"It really is Xiao Qian! Why did you come? You should have given me a heads-up so I could have had Qingfeng buy some more groceries."

Qingfeng, Qiangu, Qiangu Qingfeng?

Dead memories were attacking his brain. Qian Jue finally found this figure in the memories of his previous life.

The elder brother of Qiangu Dongfang, a ninety-nine-level Limit Douluo, a demigod-level powerhouse with the title Purgatory.

He appeared in the later parts of the story, and his life story was worthy of a novel protagonist.

In his early years, he was mediocre, his light overshadowed by his younger brother, Qiangu Dongfeng, and he was even vaguely ostracized.

At fourteen, he left to seek knowledge. When he returned, Qiangu Dongfeng had just broken through to become a Title Douluo and was full of spirit, but he challenged his brother and defeated him with ease.

He left behind only one sentence: "It's not that I couldn't compete with you; I just didn't want to."

Then he left, choosing to live in seclusion and ignore the affairs of the world.

To think this ruthless man was actually his own maternal grandfather—Qian Jue found it hard to believe.

Holy crap, isn't this a ready-made guardian?

Xia Zhengleng took Qian Jue's hand and pulled him into the house, rummaging through the refrigerator to pull out a bunch of ice cream and other small desserts.

"Grandmother doesn't know what you like, this is all we have in the house right now. Take whatever you want to eat, I'm going to go find your grandfather."

Qian Jue sat in a chair, dazed. At this moment, Gu Yue leaned over, pressing her body quietly against Qian Jue's:

"Xiao Qian, your grandmother is the Hanzheng Douluo. It's said she is the number one sound-type soul master of this generation."

In order to carry out the great plan of soul beast revival, Gu Yue had made Di Tian scour a great deal of information on the Spirit Pagoda, which naturally included the wife of Qiangu Qingfeng.

She just hadn't expected to meet her in such a setting.

Qian Jue turned his head and, seeing Gu Yue's little 'praise me' expression, followed her wishes and gave a few perfunctory words of praise.

To his surprise, Gu Yue seemed quite happy after hearing them.

She truly lived up to the reputation of inheriting the Dragon God's world-shaking wisdom; she was as easy to coax as a child.

Gu Yue sat beside Qian Jue, her fair calves swinging gently under the table.

Recalling Qian Jue's praise just now, she felt the ice cream in her mouth become even sweeter.

Before long, a middle-aged man who resembled the portrait of Qiangu Dongfeng at the Spirit Pagoda headquarters returned home with Xia Zhengleng.

"Grandpa."

"Hello, Grandpa Qiangu."

Qiangu Qingfeng nodded slightly, his complex gaze falling upon Qian Jue. It held joy and sorrow, but in the end, it all dissolved into a long sigh.

"Why did you come alone? Where is the guardian who adopted you?"

Qian Jue thought through all the heartbreaking events of this life, his past life, and the life before that, then let out a loud "waah" and ran over to hug Qiangu Qingfeng's leg.

Snot and tears streaming down his face, he recounted all the grievances he had suffered over the past year or so.

Upon hearing that his adoptive guardian was Long Yeyue, the expressions of the two elders shifted slightly.

But as Qian Jue's tearful complaints continued, the details of his life over the past year were laid bare.

The temperature inside the house dropped to freezing point before anyone realized it, and three distinct auras of killing intent permeated the villa.

It was so intense that the birds outside didn't even dare to fly over the roof.

"Has that old hag gone mad? Feeding you rice water when you're at the age where you need nutrition to grow?!"

Xia Zhengleng's chest heaved with anger, her beautiful face twisted with fury.

On the other side, although Qiangu Qingfeng remained silent, the teacup that had been crushed into powder in his hand revealed his state of mind perfectly.

Qiangu Qingfeng's expression was extremely grim, and flames seemed to flicker in his eyes.

He was like a volcano poised to erupt, and no one knew when he might explode.

More than a year ago, he had a massive argument with his daughter and cut off contact. After much thought, he realized he was in the wrong and prepared to apologize, only to learn that she had died in an accident.

That apology would never have the chance to be spoken, and this regret would accompany him for the rest of his life.

And now, he hadn't even managed to look after her child properly, leaving him to suffer grievances for over a year for no reason.

"Child, you have suffered!"

Xia Zhengleng pulled Qian Jue into a tight embrace, comforting him while saying to Qiangu Qingfeng:

"Qingfeng, we must seek justice for Xiao Qian!"

Qiangu Qingfeng took a deep breath and said, word by word, "Shrek has gone too far; they must pay the price for this."

"My brother has been asking me to come out of retirement to assist him. I had always politely declined, but it seems there is no need to continue living in seclusion any longer."

In Xia Zhengleng's arms, Qian Jue felt a surge of secret joy.

Hehe, just you wait, Fireworks Douluo. This time, I've finally found my backing.

"Your Excellency, please rest assured. I am Xiao Qian's senior sister, and also his family."

"My family and I will never stand by and watch Xiao Qian be bullied."

Gu Yue stood behind Qian Jue, her face cold as frost, her tone solemn.

To think, to think they dared to treat the Dragon Venerable like this, to treat my beloved like this!

Long Yeyue and Shrek have already paved their own path to death!

Seeing her reaction, Qian Jue scoffed inwardly.

A mere Silver Dragon King, is she trying to put on a show to win favor in front of my grandparents?

To put on a proper act, she should at least have bloodshot eyes and be panting like an ox.

Not standard at all.

Verdict: Lacks sincerity.