Page 15

In his previous life, Gu Jiuque had awakened alone in the hospital. No father, mother, grandfather, or grandmother had been there to ask whether he was hurting. Only Bai Yuesheng had kept vigil by his bedside, tearfully telling him that everyone in the Gu family was dead.

"Uncle, Auntie, Grandpa, Grandma—they're all dead. They all died because of you! Gu Jiuque, you have to live well! You still have me. I'll always stay by your side."

Bai Yuesheng did not know that the moment Gu Jiuque heard the terrible news, he had already lost the desire to live. But even in death, he would have had no way to face his parents and relatives in the underworld. So he swore to restore the old residence and revive Antique Appreciation Studio. Those two obsessions bound him, turning him into a wandering ghost hiding amid the crumbling walls of the old house, burying himself day after day in restoration techniques. No one asked when he hurt, no one cared when he was hungry. Only the bone-deep pain on rainy days reminded him that he was still alive.

How could he describe that kind of pain? It was like ten thousand ants crawling into his body and gnawing at his flesh, bones, sinews, and nerves from every direction. Over time, Gu Jiuque's tolerance for pain grew higher and higher. A shallow cut across his arm would not hurt him at all.

—He was no longer that pampered child from years ago, the one with a cleanliness obsession who feared pain and would complain to his parents and grandparents for ages over a tiny hangnail on his finger!

Watching Gu Jiuque sit quietly beside them, patiently comforting them even though he himself had been injured, wronged, and frightened, Mother Gu's nose stung.

It felt as though her son had grown up somewhere beyond her sight.

Grandmother Gu pondered for a moment, then summed it up. "...So you suspect Bai Yuesheng deliberately set fire to the west wing because he wanted to take advantage of the chaos and steal the Jade Celestial Pivot you wore around your neck?"

Gu Jiuque nodded.

Mother Gu asked curiously, "How did he know the Jade Celestial Pivot would gain supernatural abilities after absorbing the blood of the Gu family? Even we didn't know!"

Gu Jiuque hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.

Father Gu scratched his head. "Since you knew Bai Yuesheng was pretending to be drunk, why didn't you expose his true colors in front of everyone?"

"I have no evidence," Gu Jiuque said.

Only the two of them had been at the scene of the fire. Gu Jiuque had no way to explain how, in the darkness of night, through billowing black smoke, blazing flames, and tightly shut windows, he had immediately seen that Bai Yuesheng's eyes were open and that he was only pretending to be drunk. He could not reveal the Jade Celestial Pivot's secret to outsiders—besides, even if he said it, no one might believe him. More likely, he would alert the enemy.

Besides, even if he said it, Bai Yuesheng could insist that Gu Jiuque had seen wrongly. After all, he had repeatedly emphasized to the investigators that he had been drunk and had not noticed the west wing was on fire. It was Gu Jiuque who had smashed the window and rescued him. Otherwise, he would have been burned alive in the west wing.

"Listening to your analysis, this Bai Yuesheng really did plan everything carefully. He even figured out how to escape responsibility," Grandmother Gu said with a frown. "Luckily, the Jade Celestial Pivot warned you. If a petty villain like him had truly succeeded, I'd be furious to death."

After considering it for a long while, Grandfather Gu slowly rose to his feet. "I'm going to the storeroom to find something."

Gu Yugui immediately followed him. "Dad, what are you looking for? I'll help you!"

"No need." Grandfather Gu shoved his son aside with a look of disdain. "You're too clumsy. What if you break my things again?"

Half an hour later, Grandfather Gu returned beneath the moonlight, holding an ancient-looking Jade Celestial Pivot in his hand. It was also made of white Hetian jade, with faint red markings visible across its surface, crimson as blood. At first glance, it looked exactly like the Gu family heirloom!

"Isn't that—" Gu Yugui's eyes widened in disbelief. "How is the Jade Celestial Pivot in your hands?" Hadn't it disappeared into Little Que's forehead after recognizing him as its master with a drop of blood? He knew web novels were unreliable!

Grandfather Gu gave his son a disdainful look. "I carved this casually when I was practicing my knife work years ago, imitating the Jade Celestial Pivot's design."

He called it a casual carving, but with Grandfather Gu's skill and craftsmanship, a Jade Celestial Pivot he had carefully preserved for so many years could never have been an ordinary practice piece.

Grandfather Gu handed the Jade Celestial Pivot to Gu Jiuque. "Since you suspect Bai Yuesheng wants to seize the Jade Celestial Pivot, why not use this one as bait and see what he does next?"

The idea of the Jade Celestial Pivot vanishing into someone's forehead after being dripped with blood was far too fantastical. Ordinary people would never believe it. Nor could Grandfather Gu invent a more reasonable explanation for its disappearance. Since that was the case, they might as well put the imitation he had made in his youth to use. It would be best if no one had designs on the Jade Celestial Pivot. But if someone truly was scheming to seize the Gu family heirloom...

"Dad, that's brilliant!" Gu Yugui slapped his thigh and said excitedly. "No wonder the ancients said old foxes are—"

Grandfather Gu shot him a look, and Father Gu immediately fell silent. He awkwardly changed the subject. "Then what should we do next?"

"Of course, make the Bai family pay!" Lu Xunmei said coldly. "Debts must be repaid. Since they had the ability to burn down the house, they naturally have the ability to pay for it!"

No one in the Gu family objected to Lu Xunmei's words. They did not want to argue with a child, but if that child had deliberately set fire to the house in order to seize the Gu family heirloom, intending to take advantage of others' inattention to steal wealth and harm lives, that was another matter entirely.

Not to mention that, to avoid paying compensation, the Bai couple had even tried to turn the tables in front of the neighbors and deliberately bully Gu Jiuque, a child, while the Gu family adults were away.

Since the Bai family was rotten from top to bottom, with the old and young alike utterly shameless—the elders could throw tantrums and act like scoundrels at a child just to save a little money, while the younger one could set a house on fire over a piece of jade—if the Gu family still did nothing, people might truly think they were dead!

"Not only the cost of rebuilding the west wing, but also the antiques, calligraphy, paintings, furniture, and ornaments damaged inside it. The bedding, curtains, Little Que's clothes and shoes, as well as the brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, and various paints he used for calligraphy and painting—all of it must be listed on a compensation bill at market price and paid for by the Bai family!

Lu Xunmei slapped the table and snapped at Gu Yugui, "Every single expense must be calculated down to the last detail! The compensation bill must be accurate to two decimal places. We won't demand one cent more, but we won't accept one cent less either."