Chapter Ninety-One: The Ancestor of the Wu Clan

I’m only here to make up the numbers and broaden my horizons. You can ignore me; once we’re inside, everyone just do what they’re supposed to do.” Fish Youngsylph said in her unhurried way, drawing a burst of laughter from the square.

Ning Zhongwu also laughed and called out loudly, “Little sister-in-law, once you’ve married into the Ning family, can’t you show a bit of family pride? The old master is pinning all his hopes on you leading the team to a championship. Even if you can’t pull off three straight titles like the Third Brother, at least don’t be so halfhearted in this one, all right?”

The whole square fell silent. The Emperor of Qian looked deeply at Fish Youngsylph, then said to Ning Zhongwu, “So the head of the Ning family has already decided that the championship will once again belong to the Ning house?”

“The old master only said that since the Ning family stands tall, it naturally draws attention, so if we enter the competition, we have to go for the championship. Any good-for-nothings who can’t bring it home will be thrown into the army and worked to death.” Ning Zhongwu said with a grin, showing not the slightest awareness that he was speaking before the Son of Heaven.

The Emperor then turned to the old master of the Fish family. “Your family raised a fine daughter. The moment she entered the Ning family, she was entrusted with great responsibility.”

The old master of the Fish family forced a dry laugh and answered vaguely, “It is the kindness of the head of the Ning family.” Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead in streams. It was not from anxiety, but from anger. To be so highly valued by the commander of the Cloud Wasteland Army, the very man who controlled Qian Dynasty’s trump card forces and also headed the Ning family, one could imagine just how prodigious Fish Youngsylph’s talent must be. Yet he had been kept in the dark all this time.

“The joint trial begins.” Having suddenly understood the old master of the Fish family’s feelings, the Emperor’s own mood improved instead. As the disciples of the various houses entered the teleportation formation one after another, he held a banquet in the palace for the heads of the ten houses, or for the officials representing them if they were in the imperial capital.

The head of the Wu family, lacking qualification to attend the palace banquet because his house had failed to qualify for this year’s Ten-House Illusion Demon Realm battle, returned home and flew into a storming rage before going to the underground chamber of the Wu estate to meet the family patriarch in seclusion.

Though called a chamber, it was well ventilated, and the room was filled with the fresh scent of flowers and wood. Light was ample as well, thanks to the illumination formation carved into the ceiling. Warm jade, the sort usually reserved for storing precious medicines, would already seem extravagant if made into tables and chairs, yet here there was a carved warm-jade canopy bed against the wall, along with four gorgeous maids in attendance.

Usually, when the Wu patriarch was cultivating, the four maids would wait in the outer room. But now the chamber door was half ajar, and from within came sounds that made one’s face flush and one’s heart race.

The Wu family head did not dare push straight in. He knocked lightly on the door, and only after hearing the male voice inside, as clear and hard as metal striking stone, say, “Come in,” did he enter, still keeping his head lowered and not daring to meet the other man’s eyes.

On the canopy bed sat the Wu patriarch in lotus position, looking even younger than the dead Wu Shunhong. The four beauties filed out one after another and drew the door shut. Only then did he ask, “What is it?”

After detailing the recent situation, and especially mentioning that the Ning family had changed their lineup at the last moment today, the Wu family head said with no small measure of unease, “Given how much the Ning family head values Fish Youngsylph, I’m afraid that girl is another genius without peer. With her in the Ning family, it will be even harder for our Wu family to deal with the Fish family in the future.”

“What do you plan to do?”

“Please come out of seclusion, Ancestor, and go to the Sword-Imperial Sect to speak with the Lin family patriarch. Lin Yanfeng’s marriage to Fish Frost was obstructed by Fish Shiyu. Better to force the issue and let matters take their course; once they have crossed that line, his succession to the position of sect master will be much easier.”

“And do you think the old fox Lin is some abacus bead you can flick around in your hand?”

“With Fish Youngsylph born in the Fish family, their attitude will only grow more forceful. Fish Shiyu obstructing Lin Yanfeng’s marriage to Fish Frost is also because he covets the Sword-Imperial Sect’s seat of power.”

“Will the current sect master of the Sword-Imperial Sect swallow that insult?”

“Before, he was favorable toward Lin Yanfeng. We can say that Lin Yanfeng was young and impetuous and lost control for a moment. Besides, once the matter is done and dusted, we can take advantage of the fact that that wolf cub Fish Shiyu has entered the Illusion Demon Realm and cannot stir up trouble in front of his fourth aunt. If we hurry and settle the marriage, at the very least the Sword-Imperial Sect will no longer be the Fish family’s backer.”

The old patriarch smiled without committing himself, his smile somewhat cold, and said softly, “You’re afraid of that little Fish Shiyu?”

After a moment of silence, the Wu family head said with some apprehension, “He’s a wolf. If it were only him, that would be one thing. But the Fish family is also hiding a Fish Youngsylph with even greater talent, and now they have married her into the Ning family. That will be the wolf cub’s greatest aid. If we let those two siblings grow unchecked, one day that wolf cub will chew the Wu family to pieces, not even leaving crumbs.”

“Hm. That old fox in the Fish family really played this hand beautifully. To have the courage to marry out such a gifted daughter—if she were one of my Wu family’s daughters, I would never bear to part with her. Indeed, we can’t let this continue. It must be resolved as soon as possible.” A fierce glint flashed in the Wu patriarch’s eyes. “If we move, we must strike the enemy dead. The old monsters in the imperial palace surely do not wish to see Qian Dynasty produce a Ning family, and then another rising Fish family as well; the Xiang family would not even be able to keep its second-place seat.”

“What does the Ancestor mean?” The Wu family head’s eyelids jumped, and his face lit up with delight.

“Do you know why I couldn’t be bothered when Shunhong was butchered? Because that brat was too timid and spineless. If he had dared to kill Fish Shiyu, I would naturally have protected him. The Wu family’s foundations—how could they be compared to those of a mere newly risen noble family like the Fish family? At least you still have some of the old Wu family’s blood in you in your old age. Otherwise, this family head position ought to have changed hands long ago.”

“You’ve taught me well, Ancestor. I’ll go prepare at once.” The Wu family head secretly wiped the sweat from his brow and withdrew.

“The powers in the imperial capital ought to be reshuffled as well.” The Wu patriarch stood up, and the soft silk robe slid off his powerful body. The four beauties reentered without a sound to help him change into a stone-blue ritual robe. Just as they were about to retreat, he lifted a hand, and golden light flashed. In the room appeared a golden-maned qilin-like beast as large as a small mountain, more than ten times the size of the one Fish Youngsylph had roasted and eaten on Immortal Heaven Mountain.

The four women all went limp at once and collapsed to the floor. In one gulp after another, the golden beast devoured them in the blink of an eye, leaving not even a trace behind. When it had finished, it still howled in dissatisfaction.

“I’ll get you something to eat after we go see that old monster Xiang in the palace.” The Wu patriarch stroked the beast’s head, showing not the slightest guilt toward the four women who had served him.

Deep within the imperial palace, in a small courtyard shaded by bamboo and trees, there was an elderly man who looked like a gardener, bent-backed as he tended the flowers and plants there. When the golden beast’s howls rang out from the Wu chamber, he turned his head toward the Wu residence and murmured, “Has that killing star of the Wu family grown lonely again, and is he about to stir up trouble?”

Outside the courtyard wall, a lively female voice said, “If that killing star doesn’t come out soon, the Wu family will be swallowed by the Fish family.”

“The Fish family swallowing the Wu family? Are you sure you aren’t telling me a fairy tale?” The gardener laughed, not believing a word of it.

A woman’s jeweled head popped up over the wall, her eyes bright and clever. She giggled and said, “The Fish family has also become impatient. If they bide their time a little longer and let those two youngsters grow up, swallowing the Wu family would be no fairy tale. The Wu family’s killing star has come. Listen to what he has to say. I’ll hide first.”

“That killing star of the Wu family can’t wait any longer. The imperial capital is about to be swept by another storm of blood and wind,” the old gardener said, as serene as ever, turning his gaze toward the Fish residence with what seemed like expectation.