Chapter 59

Furthermore, in Sect Master Yu's eyes, Ao Xin, the black dragon, possessed a noisy and restless vigor, as if he feared the world wouldn't plunge into chaos.

However, thinking of his own precious daughter with her peculiar talents, First Elder Ao Qing had also signaled him to let Ao Xin stay close to Yu Youyou so that he could protect her.

Sect Master Yu therefore cupped his fists and said, "Then I shall have to trouble you." It was naturally a good thing for his daughter to enter the cultivation world accompanied by a formidable protector.

He deliberately avoided looking at Ao Xin's face, which was swollen half an inch high from a beating... To mock a dragon that had lost most of its scales, when one couldn't even beat it in a fight, wouldn't that simply be asking for a thrashing?

Since matters were thus settled, Chu Xingyun guarded Zhu Changshu's palace for another day, and seeing no sign of her coming out of seclusion, he took Yu Youyou and set off toward the Sun family.

This trip was not intended to be a grand mobilization; a Celestial Demon plus a Mahayana cultivator was merely meant to reason with others using logic and righteousness, so Chu Xingyun traveled quite leisurely.

He regarded it as doing a good deed, intending to take his little junior sister around to sightsee and relax once the business was concluded.

They journeyed toward the Sun family aboard a flying boat. The Sun family's residence was actually quite far from the Primordial Sect.

Yet, with the little one on board—clutching her small fists and preparing to vent her anger on behalf of her ancestors, running back and forth with tiny pattering steps across the deck—Chu Xingyun did not find the journey lonely at all.

Before the flying boat reached the Sun family, however, they encountered an acquaintance.

A flying boat burst out from the clouds ahead of them and came to a halt. When Elder Wen saw Chu Xingyun step out, a look of pleasant surprise appeared on his face.

"What a coincidence to arrive at the same time." Previously, seeing the Primordial Sect's vague attitude, Elder Wen had assumed they were not coming and had felt quite regretful, never expecting to run into them today.

Though he hesitated and glanced back at his own flying boat, Elder Wen still regarded the Primordial Sect with a higher degree of esteem.

His face was wreathed in smiles, and he was clearly in high spirits. Yet somehow, recalling the desperate pleas for help from the Sun family siblings, Yu Youyou suddenly felt that Elder Wen's benevolence was utterly meaningless.

She could understand why, previously, he had thought her unintelligent and good-for-nothing, and had been unwilling to let his grand-grandson play with her for fear that she would cling to his beloved grandson.

Everyone has selfish motives.

She did not force others to cherish her, to show her favoritism, or to insist on thinking she was wonderful.

It was fine even if they looked down on her and found fault with her.

However... how could one compel others to do things against their will?

How could one... force a marriage upon a young girl who was unwilling?

Yu Youyou felt this was a matter of character, so she stood there looking blank and stunned, sprawled across the railing of the flying boat with little desire to speak with Elder Wen.

With her indifferent and ignorant demeanor, quite different from when they had parted ways just two days prior, Elder Wen was slightly taken aback, but paid it no mind.

At this moment, he was in high spirits due to happy events, likely because his son was marrying again. Even though his household had already been turned upside down by the concubines in the inner courtyard, he was still overjoyed.

Elder Wen therefore smiled and greeted them, asking, "Is Youyou feeling unwell? Ah yes, after the hardships of travel, she must be tired." He hesitated for a moment, looking as if he had more to say, and repeatedly glanced back toward his own flying boat.

Chu Xingyun also felt that the marriage alliance between the Wen and Sun families was disgraceful.

Though it was already monstrous enough for someone with a cultivation partner to grandly take concubines, if the two parties were genuinely in love, outsiders might find it repulsive yet hard to interfere.

Presently, however, this was a forced marriage. Since Chu Xingyun's purpose on this trip was to lean toward the Sun family and protect the female cultivator being forced into marriage, naturally he would not alert the enemy prematurely, lest the Sun family be driven to desperation and harm the siblings who had sent for help.

He therefore merely smiled.

Looking amiable as usual, Elder Wen invited them, "Why not come over and sit together?"

"Both my little junior sister and I are tired, so let us leave it for another time," Chu Xingyun gently refused.

Ao Xin stood beside the cub, casting sidelong, suspicious glances at Elder Wen, who wore a benevolent expression yet harbored ill intentions.

This refusal left Elder Wen exceedingly regretful. Just as he was about to say something else, he saw a female cultivator slowly walk out from the cabin behind him.

Dressed in court robes, this female cultivator was exceptionally beautiful, with a rosy complexion and a slightly plump figure.

Wearing a displeased expression, she supported an extremely handsome man as they walked to Elder Wen's side, and said unhappily, "Why bother being polite with them, Uncle? As an elder, you invited them out of kindness, yet they show no appreciation. Truly ignorant of manners."

The female cultivator who had arrived was none other than Yu Youyou's birth mother, Gong Miaohua.

Having not seen her for a long time, her charming face was blooming even more radiantly like a flower, making her look to be in superb condition. With her protruding pregnant belly, her gaze toward the listless cub below was filled with even greater disgust.

The cub had sensed her presence long ago.

Gong Miaohua's aura was among those on the opposite flying boat, and she could feel it.

Yet to the current Yu Youyou, Gong Miaohua had nothing to do with her, so she paid her no mind.

Conversely, Gong Miaohua detested this eldest daughter immensely... The rumors circulating in the cultivation world recently were simply too dreadful. Everyone said human hearts were sinister, but Gong Miaohua had never imagined that the hearts of these cultivators could be so malicious.

Clearly, it was Yu Youyou's own aptitude that was lacking, yet people insisted on claiming that her lineage as a direct descendant of the Gong clan—the legitimate Gong bloodline—had rotted away, resulting in her inability to produce outstanding children.

Such rumors had inadvertently reached her ears through demons from the Demon City. Now heavily pregnant, Gong Miaohua felt as if she were sitting on pins and needles, perpetually suspecting that those demons were secretly doubting whether she was merely a facade of gold on the outside.

She could not clear her name no matter how she tried to explain.

How was she to prove that she was capable of bearing exceptional children?

She couldn't very well slice open her womb right now and show the child to everyone, could she?

Because of Yu Youyou, she had suffered bitterly from gossip. Fortunately, the Crimson Flame Demon Lord Chang Wenyu had comforted her, recently feeding her extra nutritional tonics and gathering the finest demonic veins for her so she could enter them and infuse her unborn child with demonic energy. Otherwise, her days would truly have become unlivable.

Added to this was the hateful Sect Master Yu, who had dared to bring a good-for-nothing back to the Gong clan for ancestral worship without consulting her—the lone survivor of the Gong clan—causing the clan to be battered by heavenly thunder. When Gong Miaohua heard about this, she had been fit to burst with rage.

Everything belonging to the Gong clan was hers.

By going to the Gong clan for ancestral worship, was Yu Youyou attempting to seize her inheritance?

Seeing her now, Gong Miaohua's pair of beautiful eyes was practically blazing with fire.

Supporting her was the smiling Crimson Flame Demon Lord, completely unaffected by the loss of one of his demonic veins.

His gaze did not fall upon Yu Youyou... After all, she wasn't his spawn, he didn't have to raise her now, and she had no utility value left; he currently held no animosity toward Yu Youyou.

He only spoke in soft, soothing tones to Gong Miaohua, who was stubbornly insisting on coming out: "For the sake of the child, do not be angry. Miaohua, you are pregnant; you must not let your anger rise."

So gentle and lingering was his tone that anyone unaware of his usual ruthless behavior would have thought him a deeply tender and considerate man. Yet Gong Miaohua inevitably felt aggrieved.

Though the Crimson Flame Demon Lord was considerate toward her, why couldn't he understand her feelings?

She had been thoroughly humiliated in the cultivation world because of Yu Youyou. As her husband, he ought to help her chastise that good-for-nothing.

The Crimson Flame Demon Lord simply pretended not to see her hints.

Was he insane to go and offend the Primordial Sect's scion of the Yu family?

Moreover, he suspected Gong Miaohua lacked a brain.

There was a Celestial Demon on the opposite boat, alongside Chu Xingyun, a Mahayana master. Had she ever considered whether her man's pitifully small stature at the peak of the Mahayana stage would be enough to withstand a single slap from that menacing Celestial Demon?

"Why are you here, hmm? Are you even worthy of attending the marriage alliance between the Wen and Sun families?" Seeing her husband was of no use, Gong Miaohua spoke up herself.

In the past when they were in the Demon City, she had frequently reprimanded this daughter, and doing so now came naturally. Sneering at her, she said, "A good-for-nothing like you..."

She was just about to say that a useless child like Yu Youyou brought disgrace wherever she went and wasted resources simply by staying alive, when a roar that chilled the soul rang out from across the space.

Demonic energy surged abruptly, and a black dragon claw lashed out viciously toward her face.

This movement was as swift as a thunderbolt; Chu Xingyun's hand had only just grasped his sword hilt when the dragon claw had already struck out.

He turned his head to see Ao Xin holding the cub in one arm, his expression gloomy as he barked, "What kind of cheap, base trash are you, daring to scold our Youyou!"

It was one thing for him, the little demon lord, to scold the cub himself, but was it anyone else's place to point fingers?

Gong Miaohua was a pregnant woman.

When Sect Master Yu had despised her to the extreme in the past, he hadn't laid a hand on the pregnant woman, striking only the Crimson Flame Demon Lord instead.

Yet Ao Xin practiced the demonic path; he had no morals.

Since Gong Miaohua spoke ill of the cub, he directly went to slap her face.

This was the strike of a powerful Celestial Demon. Under the pressure of this claw, Gong Miaohua trembled violently, paralyzed and unable to move. Her eyes widened in terror as she watched the giant claw grab straight toward her face.

If this blow landed solidly, half her face would be torn off. In a flash of lightning, the Crimson Flame Demon Lord stepped forward, taking the full brunt of the claw with his own face.

With a muffled groan of pain, the dragon claw gripped tightly, and the Crimson Flame Demon Lord was sent flying off the flying boat with immense force. After a long moment, he flew back, staggering and clutching his face.

When he lowered his hand, the flesh and skin were gone from his face, leaving only bare, ghastly white bone.

"Husband!" Seeing that the Crimson Flame Demon Lord had protected her at the risk of his life, Gong Miaohua shrieked tearfully and lunged toward him, then turned her resentful gaze toward the man in black.

Seeing his gloomy expression as he stared fixedly at her—clearly not someone inclined toward mercy—Gong Miaohua shivered and uncharacteristically dared not hurl loud reprimands, instead asking the Crimson Flame Demon Lord tearfully, "Are you alright?!"

Such a display of bullying the weak and fearing the strong.

The Crimson Flame Demon Lord waved a hand. Seeing her subconsciously flicker her gaze away to avoid looking at his fleshless, blood-smeared, skeletal face, his expression darkened, but he pushed her aside anyway and said soothingly, "It's windy in the clouds; go back inside first so you aren't frightened."

Gong Miaohua dared not linger here any longer and nodded hastily.

The cub, who had been standing there looking blank and stunned, turned her head at this sight, her eyes sparkling as she looked up at the black dragon.

Ao Xin raised his head, maintaining a dignified posture as he awaited her praise.

Indeed, the cub did not disappoint his expectations this time. Clapping her tiny hands, she cheered loudly, "That was... a great hit!" She continued to pat her little palms together, affirming the black dragon's protective gesture in her milky, tender voice: "Super cool!"

Back in the Demon City, whenever she was scolded by Gong Miaohua, she could only lower her little head, play the fool, and endure it helplessly. But now, so many, many people were standing up for her.

This feeling was truly, exceptionally blissful.

Such a fiercely filial act left even Elder Wen on the side dumbfounded.

He had never imagined that it was one thing for Gong Miaohua to look down upon her own daughter.

That daughter of hers was no pushover either.

Despite looking unintelligent, she was utterly ruthless.

Such disposition left Elder Wen lost for words. He had originally wanted to lecture them on family ethics and filial piety, but ultimately, under the smiling yet coldly oppressive gaze of Chu Xingyun, he kept his mouth shut.

"A backing!"

"What my little junior sister means is that she now has elders to back her up. If anyone else speaks insolently and dares to point fingers at my little junior sister, they might as well say goodbye to their heads."