Plastic Father-Son Affection

"Grandma Tian Gu, what's wrong?"

Lina heard her father's voice, turned her head, and saw a tall, muscular, and rugged middle-aged man walking towards her.

He was a full nine feet tall, towering above the crowd, two heads taller than the surrounding Gu tribe members, and his upper arms were thicker than Lina's waist. (Author's note: Since the Northern Wei Dynasty, one foot has been between 29.6 and 31.1 cm.)

Their eagle-like gaze and wolf-like movements exude a powerful sense of intimidation.

Compared to this woman, the hunched-over Granny Tian Gu looked like a child.

Granny Tiangu raised her head, nodded slightly, and quickly turned her gaze back to Lina, saying in a trembling voice, "Girl, tell me, Granny is waiting."

The old woman was getting anxious. What was wrong with her? Did she also want to collect silver every day like her friend number three? Lina felt uncomfortable because of the old woman's intense reaction.

Granny Tiangu refused to leave, so the main force stopped. The elites of the Tiangu tribe turned their gazes to Lina. The people from other tribes whispered among themselves, unaware of what was happening.

Granny Tian Gu turned to a young man from her unit behind her and said, "Go and inform the leaders of each department to take a short rest. Come on, girl, let's talk over there. Long Tu, you're not allowed to come with us."

The leader of the Li Gu tribe, named Long Tu, stopped in his tracks and silently watched as his daughter was led away by Granny Tian Gu.

The leaders of the other five tribes gathered around, walked to Long Tu's side, and stood shoulder to shoulder with him watching the old man and the young man leave.

"Longtu, what's going on?"

The leader of the Li Gu tribe shook his head. "Perhaps you should ask the people of the Tian Gu tribe."

The leaders turned their heads to look behind them.

Lina was just joking with her mother-in-law; who knew her mother-in-law would react so strongly?

"What did you say?"

Lina has a friend who picks up money every day.

"."

Granny Tian Gu, carrying a torch, arrived at a tree. She was already quite far from the main force, and could only see a tiny firelight behind her.

A crescent moon hung in the sky, casting a pure white glow. The firelight illuminated Granny Tiangu's wrinkled, aged face. She was no longer anxious or agitated; she had calmed down.

"Girl, talk to your mother-in-law carefully and find out what happened."

Lina pursed her lips and said, "I recently made a friend who said he has a friend who keeps finding money for no reason, and he's troubled by it and doesn't understand why."

Granny Tian Gu squinted, seeking confirmation. "How do I collect the silver? How much do I collect? Besides collecting silver, is there anything special? Tell me everything in detail."

Lina scratched her head somewhat sheepishly and said apologetically, "I don't know about that, after all, she's a friend of a friend. But I heard from my friend that as long as you find silver, you can live a life of plenty."

Out of curiosity, Lina thought that the Heavenly Gu Clan could observe all things and knew a great deal, so she casually asked a question.

Who wouldn't be curious about finding silver coins every day?

Where is that person?

Number Three is in the Great Feng. His friends should be there too. Lina said uncertainly, "It seems to be in the Great Feng."

"The capital of Great Feng?!" Granny Tian Gu was startled and shook her head repeatedly. "Impossible, it shouldn't be like this, it couldn't be anywhere but the capital of Great Feng, there's no reason for it."

Granny Tian Gu frowned deeply, her expression shifting between moments of sudden realization and moments of surprise and doubt.

"Grandma, what's going on?" Lina considered herself a very clever woman and had already sensed that something was amiss. If it were just something as trivial as finding money, Grandma Tiangu wouldn't have pulled her aside to talk.

They certainly wouldn't show that much concern.

But she found it absurd that an interesting incident in the capital of Great Feng could make Granny Tian Gu so serious and concerned.

It's like she accidentally met a nice friend, only to discover that he was Granny Tian Gu's long-lost child.

"Your friend is probably the one who picks up silver every day, not some so-called friend of a friend." Granny Tiangu glanced at the naive, silly girl.

Lina slightly parted her rosy lips, her light blue eyes fixed on the spot.

Number Three actually lied to her. She never expected him to be such a liar, even though she thought he was a chivalrous and righteous scholar.

Don't the elders in the tribe say that scholars are all upright and incorruptible?

Granny Tiangu sighed softly, looked up at the moon, and said in a deep voice, "Many years ago, two thieves, for some purpose, broke into a wealthy family's house and stole a very, very important item. That item has been missing ever since, and the thieves have never appeared again."

In wealthy families, some people know their belongings have been stolen, while others still don't know at all.

Lina blinked. "What did you steal?"

Granny Tian Gu didn't explain, only repeating that it was something very, very important.

Soon, the Gu Clan's elite team of one hundred arrived at the Extreme Abyss, a bottomless rift valley.

A poisonous aura permeates the rift valley, giving rise to toxic vegetation and various venomous insects and ferocious beasts. It is a natural breeding ground for Gu worms, providing the Gu clan with an endless supply of "raw materials."

Lina had been here more than once, but she had always caught Gu worms on the outskirts and had never ventured deep inside.

The group moved forward in silence, the insect repellent powder and poison-repelling pills sprinkled on them making them immune to poisonous barriers and insects.

The members of the Poison Gu tribe thrived here, their faces glowing with health.

Following the path trodden by those who came before, we ventured deeper into the Great Rift Valley. Gradually, the scenery began to change, with deformed and bizarre plants growing on the dark brown earth.

A rustling sound came from among the dense branches and grass, as the poisonous insects living there were startled by these uninvited guests.

"Ah!" Suddenly, someone screamed. It was a man dressed in cloth, his skin red all over.

"Woman, I want a woman!" he yelled as he pounced on his male companion, clinging to him tightly.

But because of the clothes in between, he was so anxious that he almost lost his mind.

Strange screams echoed everywhere, and strange things kept happening to people, both men and women. The men hugged the trees, and the women hugged the trees too.

Lina knew that these people were poisoned by the lust curse.

The Gu clan members remained completely calm and composed, consciously stepping back and even pointing and laughing.

The members of the Yu Gu tribe dispersed to treat the poisoned members of their respective tribes. They took out black, leech-like soft-bodied worms from their cloth bags and sprinkled them on the chests, necks, and groins of the poisoned individuals.

Leeches attach themselves to the skin's surface, insert their mouthparts into blood vessels, and frantically devour blood.

Before long, the leeches swelled up and shed off the skin, satisfied. The symptoms of the poisoned tribesmen improved immediately.

Aside from those who are faster and experience physical exhaustion, those who are more persistent are almost unaffected.

The deeper you go into the rift valley, the more and more Gu worms you encounter, and the more diverse they become. For example, there are giant worms as strong as oxen; brightly colored butterflies; snakes with twelve eyes; a herd of walking corpses; and male wild dogs with three genitals, and so on.

Finally, the group stopped in a flat area, where there were no plants, only jagged rocks.

Amidst the toxic fumes, Lina saw a tall stone statue, vaguely resembling a man dressed in loose robes and wearing a tall crown. He had one hand behind his back and the other on his abdomen, his head slightly bowed as he gazed at the chasm of the Abyss.

The seven tribal leaders stepped forward in unison and walked towards the stone statue.

"Mosan, who is that person?" Lina tugged at her brother's sleeve.

With a scar on his left cheek and an arrogant air, Mo Sang said in a deep voice, "I don't know his name, but you should have heard of his title."

He paused, then said with respect, "Confucian School sage."

In the small courtyard, the candlelight flickered like a tiny bean.

"I have been searching for Hengyuan's whereabouts, but so far, I only know that he is still in the city, but I don't know where he is," said Daoist Jinlian, sitting cross-legged on the bed, shaking his head.

"You can't locate yourself using the Earth Book?" Xu Qi'an remembered that "Number Nine" could pinpoint his location using the Earth Book, and it didn't take long.

Logically speaking, since No. 6 disappeared nearly ten days ago, Master Jinlian should have already found him.

"I guess number six, or rather, the Book of Earth, is sealed away."

"Huh? What if I'm sealed? This is making things difficult for me, Fatty Tiger!" Xu Qi'an was somewhat bewildered.

"Non-Self can get close enough, I've spent the last ten days walking across most of the outer city, searching using the most foolish yet safest method. If the fragment of Hengyuan's Earth Book is less than thirty feet away, I can sense it immediately, even if it's sealed," Master Jinlian said confidently with a smile.

"There's no doubt about it; this is the inherent status of a supreme treasure of heaven and earth."

Xu Qi'an felt relieved, saying this with a sigh of relief.

The method may be foolish, but as long as it works, that's fine. What's worse is having no method at all.

"If there's any news about the 6th, I'll inform you immediately. Hehe, it's better if you do it than I do; I also need the Nightwatchers's help. After all, this is the capital, the Nightwatchers's territory." At this point, Master Jinlian seemed to remember something:

"By the way, what is Wei Yuan's opinion on this case?"

"I don't have any particular opinion, I just need to do my job well." Xu Qi'an shook his head and sighed.

At this moment, he noticed that Master Jinlian's expression was very strange, because his expression looked like this: ()

Xu Qi'an's lips twitched, and he said dejectedly, "Why is the Daoist looking at me like that?"

Master Jinlian said, "Wei Yuan probably wants to turn you into a spy for the Nightwatchers, or perhaps expel you from the capital."

Xu Qi'an stared wide-eyed in surprise.

Master Jinlian seemed very satisfied with Xu Qi'an's reaction, and explained with a smile, "The fact that he was able to give you the fragments of the Earth Book shows that he values you enough. But he didn't offer you any guidance on the case."

"This proves he'd love for you to anger Emperor Yuanjing and make it impossible for you to stay in the capital."

Xu Qi'an was Qi Ingestion and wanted to defend Wei Yuan, but he couldn't bring himself to say it because Wei Yuan was very frank and had indeed revealed such thoughts.

"No, Wei Yuan did stand idly by, but at most he let things take their course, neither caring nor interfering, leaving it to me to handle things on my own."

"You underestimate Wei Yuan. This man, a eunuch, wielded immense power and commanded hundreds of thousands of troops to win the Battle of Shanhai Pass, even overshadowing the Prince of Zhenbei. His abilities, tactics, and cunning are all top-notch. I'm certain that, regarding the Sangbo case, he knows more than you do."

Xu Qi'an sat there blankly for a long time without saying a word.

Is this really just a fake father-son relationship?

Master Jinlian scrutinized him. "But I don't understand why Wei Yuan forced you to leave the capital. He doesn't lack henchmen."

The room remained silent for a while. After stabbing herself in the air, Daoist Jinlian tried to slip away. "Is there anything else?"

"Yes!" Xu Qi'an didn't miss the chance to take advantage of the situation. "I want to go to the Pingyuan Marquis's residence, but it's heavily guarded. I have ways to get in, but I don't have the means to subdue people silently. I'd like to ask the Daoist priest for help."

"You want to find the eldest son of the Marquis of Pingyuan." Daoist Jinlian understood.

"Hengyuan said that his junior brother Henghui was abducted by a kidnapper, and he wouldn't make such a claim without reason. Since we can't find Hengyuan now, let's try to find a breakthrough through Pingyuanbo first," Xu Qi'an said.

But he's already dead.

He also has a legitimate son.