FIMA Ch74: Fengdu

Gu Beilin carried the grey-robed man by the collar, walked over to Gu Siyuan and Xie Xuanxing, and unceremoniously threw him onto the ground. The grey-robed man instantly hugged his legs and began to groan in pain.

Gu Beilin gave a cold sneer and swung his blade down again.

The grey-robed man was greatly shocked and subconsciously tried to dodge. He knew all too well what kind of madman Gu Beilin was.

However, in the next moment, a gust of blade wind swept past, but nothing happened to him—only the mask on his face had been slashed precisely in half right down the middle.

“It’s you?” Gu Siyuan looked at this person and narrowed his eyes: “It really is the Han family.”

The face beneath the mask belonged to none other than the robust, middle-aged man whom Han Mingye had called “Fourth Uncle” on the Feng Shui street not long ago.

Gu Beilin also curled his lips in boredom: “So it’s you. No wonder you’re such a coward who only knows how to run away.”

Three years ago, he had stolen the show at the Grand Tournament, defeating everyone from the Four Great Aristocratic Families.
Shortly after, a guy calling himself Han Si (Han the Fourth) came knocking on his door, shamelessly boasting that he would teach him a lesson.

When it came to fighting, Gu Beilin naturally refused no one, even if this person looked several years older than him. However, this guy did indeed have some skills, and the two exchanged blows back and forth for a while.
Later on, Gu Beilin experienced a breakthrough in the middle of the battle, comprehending ‘blade intent’, and his strength surged massively. Just as he was about to fight to his heart’s content, this guy couldn’t wait to turn tail and run.

Han Si glared at the Gu brothers, his eyes full of deep hatred.

Ever since losing to Gu Beilin three years ago, the Old Ancestor had taught him the method of spiritual sense attacks.
This time, the Old Ancestor instructed him to kill Gu Siyuan. To ensure things went smoothly, he even brought along the Han family’s ancestral array disk and rushed over personally to oversee the formation. Who knew that he would actually face defeat at the hands of these two brothers once again…

Gu Siyuan stared at him and said coldly: “With this guy in our hands, I’d like to see what kind of explanation the Han family has to offer.”

Han Si’s expression changed, immediately turning extremely ashen.

Kyoto, Han Family Manor.

“Fourth Uncle was captured?” Listening to his subordinate’s report, the ‘cold-faced noble young master’ persona Han Mingye usually maintained nearly crumbled.

“That demonic blade was actually real! And the trapping array was broken by that demonic blade…”
Xie Yuchen was also utterly shocked.

He knew the Han family had made numerous arrangements to deal with Gu Siyuan’s group, even using an allegedly non-existent demonic blade to lure Gu Beilin away in advance.
Who knew that their cleverness would end up outsmarting themselves.
Speaking of which, this Gu Siyuan’s luck was truly extraordinary, and he even brought Xie Xuanxing along to experience smooth sailing as well.

Han Mingye waved his hand to dismiss the subordinate and said coldly: “I need to go see the Old Ancestor immediately.”

At this moment, a white-clad boy walked in and said calmly: “The Old Ancestor already knows. He asked me to pass a message to the Family Head and the Eldest Young Master.”

Han Mingye looked at the white-clad boy: “What message?”

A long while later, Han Mingye’s expression shifted drastically, and he sighed softly: “It can only be so.”

Thus, when Gu Siyuan and the others brought Han Si back to Kyoto, preparing to settle the score with the Han family, they heard that the Han family had just issued a statement to the Metaphysics Alliance and the Special Control Bureau. The statement declared that a traitorous rebel had appeared within their family and stolen their ancestral array disk and magical artifacts; if fellow cultivators lent a hand in capturing this traitor, the Han family would reward them handsomely.

Xie Xuanxing puffed out his cheeks: “Even though I already guessed the Han family would abandon the pawn to save the chariot, I still feel inexplicably annoyed.”

He Pan said helplessly: “We live in a society governed by the rule of law now. Personal actions naturally can’t implicate the whole family. And that Han Si you caught is entirely impenetrable; he stubbornly insists it was all his own idea.”

Gu Siyuan didn’t pay it much mind. He raised his hand and flicked the conch shell on the table—the one found in the Green Fishman’s stone cave. “Although we can’t convict them, based on the current evidence, we can still launch an investigation.”

He Pan nodded, his expression ugly: “Naturally, we will send people to investigate the Han family. The information revealed in the conch is no small matter. The frequent occurrence of various supernatural events in recent years might very well be related to this. Later, I’ll need to report this to the higher-ups immediately.”

“Whatever happens next is your business. I’m heading back first.”
After speaking, Gu Siyuan turned and left. Following the battle with Han Si, he realized he had previously underestimated the methods of these metaphysical cultivators.

These families had existed for hundreds, even thousands of years, and all possessed quite a few trump cards at the bottom of their chests—such as the trapping array this time, or the spiritual sense attack method.
If it had been anyone else with a slightly weaker spiritual sense, or if Gu Beilin hadn’t arrived in time, they would have all been in danger.

However, where there’s a loss, there’s a gain; he had also found some new inspiration.

After leaving He Pan, he endured his brother’s cold mockery and sarcasm, going through immense trouble to borrow the demonic blade from Gu Beilin for research.

Following that, he didn’t step out of the laboratory for several consecutive days.
Even Xie Xuanxing found it difficult to get a glimpse of him.

It wasn’t until a few days before the National Grand Tournament in November that the laboratory doors finally opened.

Shen Ling excitedly patted Gu Siyuan’s shoulder: “This is too incredible! Too incredible! With such powerful weapons, who would even care about those high and mighty metaphysical aristocratic families anymore?”

The other researchers standing nearby also couldn’t take their eyes off the weapons in front of them.

Gu Siyuan nodded expressionlessly.
Then, in high spirits, he went to look for his little lackey, whom he hadn’t seen for many days. “Come, give me a hug.”

Xie Xuanxing lifted his eyes, looked at the person in front of him blankly, and said: “Hello, who are you?”

“…” Gu Siyuan.
Is my little lackey deliberately acting spoiled?

Gu Siyuan stepped forward in a few strides, gripped his little lackey’s slender waist with one hand, pinched his chin with the other, stared at him, and said: “Are you unhappy?”

Xie Xuanxing shook his head coldly: “We are strangers to each other. Please show some respect, sir.”

Gu Siyuan gave a cold sneer, gripping his waist a bit tighter. He lowered his head, gently bit those soft, dark red lips, and then licked them: “So what if we’re strangers? Haven’t I told you that taking things by force is my favorite thing to do?”

“…” Xie Xuanxing.
You are so shameless.

True to his word, Gu Siyuan pulled the person over and sat down on a nearby chair, forcing Xie Xuanxing to straddle his lap.

His broad hand pinched the person’s fair chin, forcing his slender, fragile neck to tilt up.
Gu Siyuan spoke with cruel coldness: “Start serving me well now. Once I’m satisfied, I’ll let you leave. Otherwise…”

Xie Xuanxing blinked his watery eyes and asked curiously: “Otherwise what? Tie me to the bed for a hundred days and not let me come down?”

“…” Gu Siyuan.
Why does it look like you’re actually looking forward to it?
Young people nowadays…

However, when called upon to cooperate with the performance, he couldn’t just turn a blind eye.
A faint, shallow smile hooked onto the corners of Gu Siyuan’s mouth, and he said carelessly: “Heh, a hundred days? Who has that kind of interest? For a one-night stand, once I’ve had my way, I can’t be bothered to pay them any mind.”

Xie Xuanxing puffed out his cheeks and glared viciously at the man: “Why are you such a scumbag?!”

Gu Siyuan’s finger lifted his chin higher, and he said expressionlessly: “What’s this? Has this ‘stranger’ gentleman changed his attitude and decided to offer himself up to my pillow?”

“…” Xie Xuanxing.
Hmph, acting out and still losing to the person in front of me.

With an “aowu”, he bit down on Gu Siyuan’s hard shoulder muscles, murmuring aggrievedly: “You only know how to bully me.”

“What comes next is what’s truly called bullying. En, actually, the studio isn’t a bad place for it.”
Gu Siyuan let out a low chuckle, lowering his head to kiss his soft black hair, his fair cheek, then his dark red lips, and his delicate collarbone…

“Wu…” Xie Xuanxing’s body couldn’t help but tremble slightly.
On the cold workbench, his fair toes curled up tightly.

The next morning.

Gu Siyuan had a brief meeting with He Pan. Having been immersed in the laboratory these past few days, he was completely oblivious to the news from the outside world.

“These past few days, what did the Special Control Bureau yield from investigating the Han family?”

He Pan sighed: “Not much of a yield. The Han family is a metaphysical aristocratic family with hundreds of years of history after all. If they truly want to hide something, it’s quite difficult for the Special Control Bureau. Moreover, those aristocratic families are all connected at the roots. With the increasing number of supernatural phenomena outside and the Bureau’s limited manpower, we still can’t afford to completely tear up all pretenses.”

Gu Siyuan sneered coldly.

Knowing he was in a bad mood, He Pan added: “However, the Han family does indeed have a hundred-year-old Old Ancestor. The Han family members are all deeply secretive about him, yet their expressions show the utmost respect. It’s highly likely that he is the mastermind from forty-nine years ago mentioned in the conch shell.”

Gu Siyuan narrowed his eyes: “Then recently, have these aristocratic families made any unusual moves?”

He Pan nodded: “There is one thing that’s quite strange. In past years, the Grand Tournament was always held in Kyoto. But for this year, not long ago, the location was changed by the Metaphysics Alliance to S City.”

In just one more day, the Grand Tournament would officially begin.
At that time, almost all metaphysical families and rogue cultivators would go to participate, whether to compete or observe, and some TV stations would even broadcast it live.

The organizer of the Grand Tournament was the Metaphysics Alliance, and the main members of the Alliance were those metaphysical families, primarily led by the Four Great Aristocratic Families.
The Special Control Bureau had a relatively short history; it was only established later when supernatural incidents became frequent and the higher-ups realized something was wrong, aiming to handle problems independently, resolve the public’s difficulties, and manage these cultivators who broke the law using metaphysics.

Over the years, to better interact with these people from the Profound Gate, the Special Control Bureau would also send a representative team to participate in the annual Grand Tournament, but they basically didn’t take part in managing any affairs.
Therefore, regarding the temporary change of location, they were completely passive.

Gu Siyuan fell silent for a moment and asked: “Where in S City was it changed to? Is it Fengdu County?”

He Pan nodded: “Yes! It’s precisely because of this location that I found it bizarre.”

In ancient Chinese legends, Fengdu was also known as the City of Ghosts.
But in the modern world, Fengdu was just an ordinary county town where over eight hundred thousand ordinary citizens lived peacefully, and it was also a famous cultural tourism destination.
Therefore, their Special Control Bureau didn’t even have a reason to object.

Xie Xuanxing, who had been quietly listening to their conversation, suddenly blinked and said: “The S City Xie family’s ancestral home is in Fengdu County. Does that mean Xie Yuchen is going back to his hometown? Right, while keeping an eye on the Han family, did you notice anything unusual about Han Mingye and Xie Yuchen?”

He Pan shook his head: “No, those two haven’t appeared at all. It’s said they went into closed-door cultivation.”

Gu Siyuan raised his hand and stroked his little lackey’s head. In the original plot, after Xie Xuanxing was crippled by evil cultivators in S City, he followed Xie Cang back to their old home in Fengdu County to set up a fortune-telling stall and scrape by.
Then, more than half a year later, he was implicated in a major supernatural case by the protagonist gong and shou—who had returned to S City—and ended up dead.

But now, everything seemed to have been put on fast-forward, whether it was the Hongtan Villa in South China or the emergence of Fengdu County.

Feeling the warm, large hand on his head, Xie Xuanxing looked up at the person beside him and said somewhat dazedly: “I keep feeling that the Metaphysics Alliance has ulterior motives. Speaking of the Han family’s schemes, the other aristocratic families might also be in the know. Moreover, the day after tomorrow, when the Grand Tournament starts, happens to be the first day of the tenth lunar month.”

He Pan looked up at him: “The Winter Clothing Festival?”

The Winter Clothing Festival (Hanyi Festival), alongside the Qingming Festival and the Zhongyuan Festival, is known as one of the three major Ghost Festivals.

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