The people around were surprised at who Jiang Chen was, looking at him in a strange way.
Jiang Chen didn't care. He entered the room. The medicine smell there was pungent. He frowned at it. He saw in the center of the room there was a giant bed. Besides his mother, his uncle Gao Ke was also by the bed.
Gao Ke had known nothing about Gao Yue and Jiang Chen's visit. He looked extremely uneasy, but seeing Gao Yue act so sentimental, he didn't say anything.
A weak, old man was lying on the bed. Under the torture of his illness, he was as thin as a rake, due to which his features had become very prominent.
"Yue'er?"
The old man turned his head to one side with difficulty and was surprised to see Gao Yue.
"Father!"
Gao Yue couldn't control herself anymore. She knelt down by the bed and grasped her father's hand.
"Yue'er, it's my fault."
The old man burst into tears. He stroked her hair as his lips trembled. He said, "Do you hate me?"
"No, I don't. I know why you had to do that."
Gao Yue hurried to shake her head. Since the day she had taken the poison, she had never held any hatred towards her father.
The old man was greatly comforted. He looked like he was in much less painl.
"Brother, how did father get sick?" Gao Yue asked Gao Ke, who was next to her.
Gao Ke curled his lips. He hadn't seen his sister for almost twenty years. His unreadable expression told how he was suffering.
"The doctor said it was mental problem. His practice was affected first. When we found out, it was already too late," said Gao Ke.
His answer undoubtedly made Gao Yue feel incredibly guilty.
"You shouldn't have come back," Gao Ke sighed and said, shaking his head.
"Didn't you send a party over to invite us?" Jiang Chen asked.
It seemed that not until then did Gao Ke notice Jiang Chen. Of course, he wouldn't be kind to the latter, especially under their current circumstances.
"Yue'er, is this your kid?" the old man suddenly spoke before Gao Ke could.
"Son, come and greet your grandpa," Gao Yue hurried to say.
Jiang Chen walked to the bed and looked into the old man's eyes.
Suddenly, his expression changed. He began to observe the old man's physical condition carefully.
"Kid, come here," the old man said.
Jiang Chen hesitated, but he bent over to approach the old man's head.
"Run! Run away from here with your mother!"
Then he started to cough severely. He looked to be in a great deal of pain.
"Make way!" Gao Ke pushed Jiang Chen away violently and fed a pill to the old man.
He soon stopped coughing and went to sleep.
"Brother, why are there no doctors here?" asked Gao Yue.
Gao Ke didn't answer her. He said, "You shouldn't have come back here. You shouldn't have detoxified your poison."
"You wanted my mother to spend her whole life as a weak woman?" asked Jiang Chen.
"Better than to lose what she was protecting," Gao Ke answered him in an aggressive tone.
"Do you know what the biggest contribution a pure blood carrier can make to their family is?"
"What?" Jiang Chen didn't understand what he was insinuating.
"To give birth to a baby and let the pure blood continue to flow in the baby's body! But look at you!" said Gao Ke.
"Do warriors of aristocratic families of inheritance, envied by the whole world, have to breed like animals?" Jiang Chen refuted.
"It's for the benefit of the family!" Gao Ke said angrily.
"That's wrong—"
"Are you going to tell me the story of the Sacred Zone again? That it found marriages between aristocratic families of inheritance to be meaningless? Then you tell me, why don't you have any phoenix blood in you while your mother has such pure blood?" Gao Ke interrupted him and stared at him sternly.
"Brother."
Gao Yue was so close to telling him that Jiang Chen was man of genuine blood.
"Ning Haotian, from the Black Dragon City, his mother's dragon blood was so thin that she had to marry into the remote Fire Field, but it turned out her son's dragon blood is the purest among the Murongs."
Jiang Chen recalled what the old man had told him, so he didn't want to tell them about his own strengths at that moment. He interrupted his mother.
"I've heard about it. The Murongs will become stronger. As far as I know, you had a chance to kill Ning Haotian!" said Gao Ke.
"I had to use his life to ensure my father's safety!"
"Yeah. Your father made the Gaos the biggest joke among aristocratic families of inheritance. Now, because of him, the Murongs pose the biggest threat to the Gaos in the past hundreds of years," Gao Ke shouted.
Jiang Chen snorted with no intention to answer Gao Ke.
"Brother, son, please stop," Gao Yue said angrily.
It was natural for Jiang Chen to be obedient to his mother, but it was surprising how Gao Ke was obedient, too.
"Brother, I want to stay here to take care of father. Could you arrange that?" Gao Yue said.
"Even if you want to leave, you won't be allowed," said Gao Ke.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jiang Chen asked.
"Did Third Uncle bring you here?" asked Gao Ke.
"Yes."
"Third Uncle isn't with us anymore. He's with Gao Yan now," said Gao Ke.
"Gao Yan? Did he?" Gao Yue immediately realized how severe the situation was. She suddenly forgot about her sorrows.
"If you had been here, Gao Yan wouldn't have had the nerve to do anything, but since you left, he's been forming a small group for his own benefit. He's been planning on usurping the lord's position for years."
Gao Ke said, "Father had to make you take the poison because Gao Yan was pushing him behind the curtain."
Jiang Chen was surprised. He hadn't expected the story to be so complicated.
He had been holding a grudge against his grandpa because in his opinion, as lord of the family, grandpa shouldn't have hurt his own daughter, even if she refused to do what the family wanted.
"What does he want now?" Gao Yue asked.
"The family sensed the recovery of your phoenix blood when your poison was detoxified. We had a meeting.
"Some think we should let you go since so many years have passed, but others think noble phoenix blood shouldn't exist in a place like the Fire Field.
"The majority agreed with the second opinion, but since father's health was a higher priority, I managed to make them give up the idea for the moment."
"Gao Yan said that day that since the Murongs were a great threat to us, we should call you back and marry you into the association."
Gao Yue said immediately, "That's out of the question!"
"But you came. Now they have the chance to do it. If you don't agree, they'll either make you take the poison again or draw your phoenix blood out," said Gao Ke.
"Bring it on. I'll never get married again."
"What's the association?" asked Jiang Chen.
"It's formed by all aristocratic families of inheritance. It has the greatest strength and power."
"Since when did the Dragon Field have such an association?" Jiang Chen had been living in the Dragon Field, but he had never heard anything about this association.
"It's not here, in the Dragon Field. It's in the Realm of Milky."
Suddenly, they heard lots of footsteps coming from outside, then noises.
Those who were guarding the door were quarrelling with the unexpected visitors.
"Call Gao Yue out. We have something to tell her."
"You don't have the right to call our young lady out. If you want to see her, wait here!"
The people around were surprised at who Jiang Chen was, looking at him in a strange way.
Jiang Chen didn't care. He entered the room. The medicine smell there was pungent. He frowned at it. He saw in the center of the room there was a giant bed. Besides his mother, his uncle Gao Ke was also by the bed.
Gao Ke had known nothing about Gao Yue and Jiang Chen's visit. He looked extremely uneasy, but seeing Gao Yue act so sentimental, he didn't say anything.
A weak, old man was lying on the bed. Under the torture of his illness, he was as thin as a rake, due to which his features had become very prominent.
"Yue'er?"
The old man turned his head to one side with difficulty and was surprised to see Gao Yue.
"Father!"
Gao Yue couldn't control herself anymore. She knelt down by the bed and grasped her father's hand.
"Yue'er, it's my fault."
The old man burst into tears. He stroked her hair as his lips trembled. He said, "Do you hate me?"
"No, I don't. I know why you had to do that."
Gao Yue hurried to shake her head. Since the day she had taken the poison, she had never held any hatred towards her father.
The old man was greatly comforted. He looked like he was in much less painl.
"Brother, how did father get sick?" Gao Yue asked Gao Ke, who was next to her.
Gao Ke curled his lips. He hadn't seen his sister for almost twenty years. His unreadable expression told how he was suffering.
"The doctor said it was mental problem. His practice was affected first. When we found out, it was already too late," said Gao Ke.
His answer undoubtedly made Gao Yue feel incredibly guilty.
"You shouldn't have come back," Gao Ke sighed and said, shaking his head.
"Didn't you send a party over to invite us?" Jiang Chen asked.
It seemed that not until then did Gao Ke notice Jiang Chen. Of course, he wouldn't be kind to the latter, especially under their current circumstances.
"Yue'er, is this your kid?" the old man suddenly spoke before Gao Ke could.
"Son, come and greet your grandpa," Gao Yue hurried to say.
Jiang Chen walked to the bed and looked into the old man's eyes.
Suddenly, his expression changed. He began to observe the old man's physical condition carefully.
"Kid, come here," the old man said.
Jiang Chen hesitated, but he bent over to approach the old man's head.
"Run! Run away from here with your mother!"
Then he started to cough severely. He looked to be in a great deal of pain.
"Make way!" Gao Ke pushed Jiang Chen away violently and fed a pill to the old man.
He soon stopped coughing and went to sleep.
"Brother, why are there no doctors here?" asked Gao Yue.
Gao Ke didn't answer her. He said, "You shouldn't have come back here. You shouldn't have detoxified your poison."
"You wanted my mother to spend her whole life as a weak woman?" asked Jiang Chen.
"Better than to lose what she was protecting," Gao Ke answered him in an aggressive tone.
"Do you know what the biggest contribution a pure blood carrier can make to their family is?"
"What?" Jiang Chen didn't understand what he was insinuating.
"To give birth to a baby and let the pure blood continue to flow in the baby's body! But look at you!" said Gao Ke.
"Do warriors of aristocratic families of inheritance, envied by the whole world, have to breed like animals?" Jiang Chen refuted.
"It's for the benefit of the family!" Gao Ke said angrily.
"That's wrong—"
"Are you going to tell me the story of the Sacred Zone again? That it found marriages between aristocratic families of inheritance to be meaningless? Then you tell me, why don't you have any phoenix blood in you while your mother has such pure blood?" Gao Ke interrupted him and stared at him sternly.
"Brother."
Gao Yue was so close to telling him that Jiang Chen was man of genuine blood.
"Ning Haotian, from the Black Dragon City, his mother's dragon blood was so thin that she had to marry into the remote Fire Field, but it turned out her son's dragon blood is the purest among the Murongs."
Jiang Chen recalled what the old man had told him, so he didn't want to tell them about his own strengths at that moment. He interrupted his mother.
"I've heard about it. The Murongs will become stronger. As far as I know, you had a chance to kill Ning Haotian!" said Gao Ke.
"I had to use his life to ensure my father's safety!"
"Yeah. Your father made the Gaos the biggest joke among aristocratic families of inheritance. Now, because of him, the Murongs pose the biggest threat to the Gaos in the past hundreds of years," Gao Ke shouted.
Jiang Chen snorted with no intention to answer Gao Ke.
"Brother, son, please stop," Gao Yue said angrily.
It was natural for Jiang Chen to be obedient to his mother, but it was surprising how Gao Ke was obedient, too.
"Brother, I want to stay here to take care of father. Could you arrange that?" Gao Yue said.
"Even if you want to leave, you won't be allowed," said Gao Ke.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jiang Chen asked.
"Did Third Uncle bring you here?" asked Gao Ke.
"Yes."
"Third Uncle isn't with us anymore. He's with Gao Yan now," said Gao Ke.
"Gao Yan? Did he?" Gao Yue immediately realized how severe the situation was. She suddenly forgot about her sorrows.
"If you had been here, Gao Yan wouldn't have had the nerve to do anything, but since you left, he's been forming a small group for his own benefit. He's been planning on usurping the lord's position for years."
Gao Ke said, "Father had to make you take the poison because Gao Yan was pushing him behind the curtain."
Jiang Chen was surprised. He hadn't expected the story to be so complicated.
He had been holding a grudge against his grandpa because in his opinion, as lord of the family, grandpa shouldn't have hurt his own daughter, even if she refused to do what the family wanted.
"What does he want now?" Gao Yue asked.
"The family sensed the recovery of your phoenix blood when your poison was detoxified. We had a meeting.
"Some think we should let you go since so many years have passed, but others think noble phoenix blood shouldn't exist in a place like the Fire Field.
"The majority agreed with the second opinion, but since father's health was a higher priority, I managed to make them give up the idea for the moment."
"Gao Yan said that day that since the Murongs were a great threat to us, we should call you back and marry you into the association."
Gao Yue said immediately, "That's out of the question!"
"But you came. Now they have the chance to do it. If you don't agree, they'll either make you take the poison again or draw your phoenix blood out," said Gao Ke.
"Bring it on. I'll never get married again."
"What's the association?" asked Jiang Chen.
"It's formed by all aristocratic families of inheritance. It has the greatest strength and power."
"Since when did the Dragon Field have such an association?" Jiang Chen had been living in the Dragon Field, but he had never heard anything about this association.
"It's not here, in the Dragon Field. It's in the Realm of Milky."
Suddenly, they heard lots of footsteps coming from outside, then noises.
Those who were guarding the door were quarrelling with the unexpected visitors.
"Call Gao Yue out. We have something to tell her."
"You don't have the right to call our young lady out. If you want to see her, wait here!"
