Could they take on the Gu Family?

Gu Zhiyue stayed in the downstairs living room for a while, then returned to his room and went online to play games with Luo Yunhe and Xie Zhen.

Gu Shuoyan went to Gu Tingchuan's room to call him downstairs. The mother and her two sons sat on the sofa, all wearing serious expressions.

Zhao Wanling spoke first. "Xiao Chuan, you heard Xiao Yue's thoughts just now, didn't you?"

Gu Tingchuan looked briefly startled. "Mom, you and my third brother can hear them too?"

Gu Shuoyan nodded. "Our little brother fell down the stairs the night he came home. We've been able to hear them ever since he came back from the hospital."

Gu Tingchuan frowned slightly and asked with concern, "Can anyone else hear them?"

Zhao Wanling shook her head. "No one outside our family can hear them, but we don't know whether it'll always stay that way."

Gu Tingchuan said, "Since we're the only ones who can hear them, we have to keep this secret. We absolutely can't let outsiders find out. Our little brother is still young, so don't let him know either."

"We already agreed on that. We can't let our little brother find out. What if he starts avoiding us?" Gu Shuoyan picked up his phone and opened WeChat. "Oh, right, big brother, I'll invite you to the group. You're the only one who hasn't joined."

Gu Shuoyan saw the group name and frowned in confusion. "This group is...?"

Zhao Wanling explained, "It's specifically for discussing Xiao Yue's thoughts. Xiao Yue isn't in this group."

"So..." Gu Tingchuan pressed his lips together. "I'm the last one to find out about this."

Gu Shuoyan grinned. "That's right."

Zhao Wanling reminded him, "Pay close attention to what Xiao Yue said. Every word of those thoughts Xiao Yue and that Xiao Jiu exchange will come true. If any girls approach you, be extra careful. Your mom might want you to find someone soon, but I certainly don't want you dating someone like that."

Gu Tingchuan nodded. "Mom, this isn't something we can take lightly. It doesn't just concern the group's reputation. More importantly, lives are involved. I'll take this seriously. Once the National Day holiday is over and I'm back at the office, I'll start investigating."

Gu Shuoyan leaned back against the sofa and let out a long sigh. "Now we've confirmed that everyone in our family can hear our little brother's thoughts. For now, nobody else can. We just don't know whether it'll always stay this way."

Zhao Wanling's voice softened. "No matter who else can hear them in the future, it's fine as long as they genuinely care about Xiao Yue. I'm just afraid someone with ulterior motives will hear them and use Xiao Yue to do something that harms our family."

Gu Shuoyan reassured her. "Mom, if bad people can hear them, so can we. With our family's resources and our little brother's thoughts helping us, what can those scheming people do even if they hear them?"

Gu Tingchuan nodded in agreement. "Our third brother is right. It doesn't matter if other people can hear them. If they can hear them, so can we. If someone with ulterior motives really does hear them, they'll have to weigh whether they can take on the Gu Family first."

Zhao Wanling felt relieved. "You're right. I've been too anxious. It's almost five already. Aunt Sun went out to buy groceries and will be back soon to prepare dinner. When your dad heard you were coming home today, he said he'd come back early tonight so we could all have dinner together."

Gu Shuoyan clicked his tongue. "Dad really has been busy lately. It's been over half a month, and he's only come home on time a few days."

"There's nothing we can do about that. The cooperation proposal with the Xing Group has been under constant development and revision, and work on the other details is still ongoing. Your dad said the company's holiday won't officially start until tomorrow. They'll get the statutory seven days off too."

"All right. See you at dinner, then. I'll go back to my room and lie down for a while."

"I'll head upstairs too."

Gu Shuoyan and Gu Tingchuan went upstairs together to return to their rooms. Gu Tingchuan had just placed his hand on the door handle when Gu Zhiyue's voice and the voice of the one called Xiao Jiu sounded in his ears again.

[Host, why are you so happy chatting with Xing Yisheng? You never smile like that when you chat with other people.]

[What do you know? Chatting with handsome guys makes me happy and extends my lifespan.]

Xiao Jiu pursed his lips. [I think you're just a sucker for a pretty face.]

Gu Zhiyue raised a hand. [You can see through me without saying it out loud.]

Gu Shuoyan had already quietly moved to Gu Zhiyue's door to eavesdrop. Gu Tingchuan came over and was about to ask him something, but Gu Shuoyan put a finger to his lips, signaling for silence. Then he pointed at his phone, indicating that they should chat on their phones once they were back in their rooms.

Gu Tingchuan glanced at the tightly shut door and nodded in agreement.

Seeing that Gu Shuoyan had no intention of leaving, Gu Tingchuan stopped to keep listening too.

Gu Zhiyue's thoughts drifted out again. [How did my parents and my three brothers end up so unlucky? What would they have done if I hadn't come back?]

Xiao Jiu spread his hands. [There'd be nothing to do. The Gu Family could only slowly head toward ruin and death.]

[Wait, that's not right. According to that timeline, I should've been with the Gu Family too. Why wasn't my ending mentioned?]

[Are you sure you want to hear it, Host? Personally, I don't think it matters whether you hear it or not.]

Gu Zhiyue sucked in a breath. [Now you've made me even more curious. Hurry up and tell me. I want to hear it.]

Xiao Jiu hesitated for two seconds. [All right, I'll tell you, Host. You actually died a month after Gu Tingchuan did. But you weren't murdered. You took the Fu Family's eldest young master and that woman down with you.]

[Wow~ Was I that brave? I actually managed to take on two evil spirits.]

[After Gu Tingchuan died, Gu Jiangfeng and Zhao Wanling had already ended up paralyzed and reduced to begging, respectively. After watching your family suffer one disaster after another, you started investigating what exactly had happened behind that accident. The investigation went smoothly, and you soon traced it back to that eldest young master of the Fu Family.]

[You spent a full half month planning and observing for this plan to take them down with you. Half a month later, on an ordinary rainy day, you followed their car in yours, floored the accelerator, and rammed into them. The two of them were caught off guard and both stopped breathing on the way to the hospital. You didn't make it to the hospital either, Host.]

But Gu Zhiyue's focus wasn't on his own death. [I actually managed to trace it back to the Fu Group all by myself. I'm amazing.]

Xiao Jiu's lips curled slightly in apparent pride. [Other people might not know, but this system knows perfectly well. With your hacking skills, Host, isn't investigating something like this a piece of cake? You might not be on par with the top hackers, but looking into a little matter like this is no problem for you at all.]

[You even know that? Not bad. You pay so much attention to me.]

[You can hide things from other people, Host, but how could you hide them from this system? Everything you can do, everything you fear, and everything you like was scanned into my memory chip like an itemized list the day we bonded.]

Gu Zhiyue flopped onto the bed and closed his eyes. [Then don't I have absolutely no secrets from you? How boring.]

[Then how long had I been back with the Gu Family when I died?]

[Four or five years.]

The two eavesdropping outside felt awful listening to this. Gu Shuoyan was so angry that he shot Gu Tingchuan a fierce glare. Look at the girlfriend you found! Such a wonderful little brother, gone just like that. Then Gu Shuoyan turned and went back to his room without looking back.

Gu Tingchuan felt helpless. He hadn't known she was a plant either. Besides, none of those things had happened yet. He didn't even know that woman's name. Glaring at him wouldn't help.