novelraw Chapter 215 - 211: Disposal
Chapter 215 - 211: Disposal
The sky was overcast, as if shrouded by a giant gray curtain, and the city’s silhouette appeared somewhat indistinct against the dim backdrop.
The rain continued to drizzle, like countless fine silver threads falling from the sky.
The dense drizzle fell into a puddle by the roadside, creating faint, concentric ripples on the water’s surface.
Outside the giant, spherical building, the meeting had just concluded. Aided by the rain, vehicle after vehicle sped away from the area.
As high-ranking officials of the Federation, they had access to more information, which only made them more anxious.
Although they wielded immense power and held the authority of life and death over the common person, they were also the most afraid of death and cherished their own lives above all else.
Faced with the anomalous environmental changes, it was impossible for them not to be nervous.
Learning about the powerful weapons currently in development was like a tranquilizer, putting them slightly more at ease.
Of course, there were certainly some among them who still harbored anxieties.
But people are prone to wishful thinking, especially when faced with unsolvable problems.
...
"This wretched girl! How dare she make us wait here for so long!"
A raspy voice, sharp and biting, cut through the air.
Following the sound, one could see a group of people holding black umbrellas standing in a corner.
The speaker was a petite old woman.
She wore an exquisitely crafted purple robe, with a Pearl Necklace clasped around her neck.
Though her hair was completely white, it was neatly coiffed into an intricate bun at the back of her head, secured by a jeweled hairpin.
At a glance, she looked every bit the wealthy matriarch.
However, her slightly raised chin and the calculating glint that occasionally flashed in her wine-red eyes proved she was not an easy person to deal with.
Several others, both men and women, stood gathered by her side.
All of them were blond-haired and red-eyed.
"Putting aside whether she is truly your daughter, even if she is, she is still the Sect Leader of my Shexin Sect and the Speaker of the Federation. So I suggest you watch your tone!"
Du Wang frowned, his voice growing stern.
He had originally thought that when Zhu Yan mentioned blood relatives, he was only referring to his wife.
He never imagined they would bring Helinta’s birth mother and this whole clan of so-called siblings.
What he hadn’t expected at all was how utterly crass the old woman was.
He was already beginning to regret having made the introduction.
But on the off chance that she really was Helinta’s mother, he limited himself to a verbal warning.
The reason was simple: the old woman possessed the same rare, wine-red eyes as Helinta.
As a Qi Dao Grandmaster, Du Wang’s Life Level was naturally far beyond that of an ordinary person.
Though it was just a simple shift in his mood, it sent a chill through the hearts of the old woman and her companions.
They swallowed the words that were about to leave their mouths.
But, as if feeling she had lost too much face, the old woman retorted with a sour expression.
"I’m talking about my daughter, not anyone else.
Besides, I’ve seen the photo. That is my daughter. These are our family’s Features. There’s no mistaking it!"
As she spoke, she pointed to her own wine-red eyes.
She was inwardly smug. ’To be honest, I don’t know anything about Secret Martial Arts Schools. It was just a few months ago that I was told the daughter I abandoned had apparently become some big shot in the Federation, and that’s why I came.’
’This man is just my daughter’s subordinate, yet he dares to speak to me like that!’
’I’ve already decided. When I see her, I’ll make sure she punishes this man.’
’As for whether she’ll acknowledge me, that’s not even a question. At the end of the day, I’m her mother. Blood is thicker than water.’
Seeing the ugly look on Du Wang’s face, Zhu Yan, who was standing to the side, chuckled.
"Du Wang, she’s an old woman, a little senile. She’s just grumbling. Don’t stoop to her level."
Du Wang remained noncommittal. He couldn’t be bothered to deal with Zhu Yan anymore.
Truth be told, he was older than the old woman—old enough to be her father.
He felt he had already shown her more than enough courtesy.
If it had been anyone else, he would have already taught them a lesson.
Though Du Wang was mild-mannered, he was by no means a pushover.
A while longer passed.
A figure emerged, walking slowly through the curtain of rain.
Strangely, despite walking through the downpour, not a single drop of water touched the figure’s clothes.
"Sect Leader, you’ve arrived! These are the blood relatives Sect Leader Zhu Yan mentioned."
Du Wang said in a low voice.
He chose his words skillfully, completely distancing himself and placing all responsibility on Zhu Yan.
Hu Qi nodded, his gaze sweeping over them and pausing for a moment on their Features—the blond hair and red eyes.
"You must be Lady Helinta. I have heard so much about you. I am Zhu Yan, Sect Leader of the Rock Boar Sect—"
Zhu Yan stepped forward with a fawning smile, bowing with his fists clasped.
But before he could finish, a voice cut him off.
"You’re Helinta? That can’t be right. I gave birth to you eighty years ago. How can you be so young?!"
After a brief moment of astonishment, the old woman snapped to her senses and rushed in front of Hu Qi.
Gazing at Helinta’s face—impossibly young, looking no older than twenty—a look of greed and desperation appeared on her own well-maintained, yet deeply wrinkled and furrowed, face.
For a centenarian, the allure of a youthful appearance and body was undoubtedly the greatest temptation of all.
When she had first seen the photograph, she had assumed it was from Helinta’s youth.
But now, seeing that she was truly this young, she was desperate to know how it was possible.
However, just as her withered, twig-like fingers were about to touch Hu Qi’s arm, she was repelled by an invisible force and sent sprawling into a nearby puddle.
"Great-grandmother! Grandmother!"
Seeing this, the others by her side rushed over.
The old woman scrambled up, her eyes red. She pointed a trembling finger at Hu Qi and began to wail.
"Agh, my back! To think I gave birth to an ungrateful monster who won’t even acknowledge her own mother!"
"Fuck! How dare you push my grandmother! You—"
One of the men, a burly, muscular figure, snarled and lunged forward.
But in the next instant...
He had only taken two steps before his head exploded, splattering red and white matter all over the ground.
The spray drenched the old woman and her companions from head to toe.
The once-noisy scene fell deathly silent.
"These are the blood relatives you spoke of?"
Hu Qi turned his head, his expression impassive as he looked at Zhu Yan.
"Zhu Yan, was it? Who gave you the audacity to bring these charlatans here to deceive me?!"
As his voice fell,
the surrounding air seemed to solidify.
In that instant, even the falling raindrops seemed to hang suspended in mid-air.
The old woman and her companions’ eyes rolled back into their heads, and they collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Feeling the oppressive might of a Refining God Venerable, the fat on Zhu Yan’s face trembled uncontrollably.
He had thought that by marrying the old woman’s granddaughter, he could use the connection to get in with Helinta, the new Refining God Venerable.
But now, things were clearly not going as he had imagined.
"Lady Helinta, this... this is all... a misunderstanding..."
Before he could finish, his right arm exploded into a cloud of blood mist.
SPLAT!
The intense pain contorted Zhu Yan’s face, but he didn’t have time to dwell on it.
His knees buckled, and he dropped to the ground, his fat-laden body trembling like a leaf.
"Venerable, spare... spare me! I was blinded by greed! I listened to their vicious lies! You are magnanimous, please, spare me this once!"
"Since this is your first offense, I’ll let it go this time. I don’t want to see these people again. Do you understand?"
Watching Zhu Yan kowtow until his scalp bled, Hu Qi’s emotionless voice finally drifted over.
With that, the oppressive aura vanished, and Hu Qi turned to leave.
"Yes, Venerable! Rest assured!"
Zhu Yan replied, his head still bowed.
He rose to his feet and glanced at the fainted figures to the side, a ruthless glint flashing in his eyes.
...
"Sect Leader, about what happened today..."
On the way, Du Wang opened his mouth to speak.
But Hu Qi cut him off.
"It’s nothing."
’Regarding Helinta, to be honest, I don’t bear her any great grudge. She actually treated me quite well.’
’If she hadn’t attacked me that one time, I wouldn’t have killed her.’
’After I obtained her memories, I learned that it hadn’t been her intention.’
’So naturally, there’s no question of hatred between us.’
’As for that old woman, she was, in all likelihood, Helinta’s birth mother.’
’A pity that someone like her could hardly be called a mother.’
Having absorbed most of Helinta’s memories, Hu Qi naturally understood her quite well.
She was abandoned on the roadside right after birth. If not for a kind-hearted person adopting her, she would not have survived.
She had barely reached her teens when her adoptive parents’ home burned down, leaving her an orphan once again.
Fortunately, she was discovered by Jiang Zuo, who was traveling at the time. Taking pity on her, he brought her into the Shexin Sect.
Helinta had, of course, investigated her biological parents.
The results, however, were difficult for her to accept.
During her pregnancy, her mother had an affair and conspired with her lover to murder Helinta’s father.
She only carried the pregnancy to term in order to claim a larger compensation payment.
Once she had the money, she casually abandoned the newborn on the roadside.
Faced with this truth, Helinta had once wanted to kill the woman, but she had always managed to restrain herself.
It was safe to say that Helinta’s personality was largely shaped by her tragic origins.
As for the descendants accompanying the woman earlier, they were all the offspring of that woman and her lover; they had no real relation to Helinta.
’And people like that still had the gall to show up and claim kinship.’
’Even if Helinta were still alive, I’m sure she wouldn’t have been able to resist cutting them down herself upon seeing this.’
’But the outcome is more or less the same.’
’Even if I hadn’t killed that man, Zhu Yan would never have let them go.’
’Their fate will likely be worse than death.’
---
「That night.」
In Anshan City, inside the Zhu Xi building, Hu Qi sat beside a massive floor-to-ceiling window on the top floor.
Hu Qi sat cross-legged, his gaze seemingly fixed on the view outside the window, but his mind was elsewhere.
The incident with the "blood relatives" from earlier in the day was just a minor, insignificant interlude for Hu Qi.
He was thinking about the information he had learned from Xuanqing regarding the Spirit Realm’s Sea of Sumeru.
The implications of this information were staggering to him.
’If the Sea of Sumeru truly exists, and if I were to find the Spirit Realm Sea Eye and enter it... could I find a path back to Blue Star?’
But he dismissed the thought the moment it arose.
’The Sea of Sumeru contains countless spacetimes and worlds; it must be boundlessly vast.’
’Trying to find Blue Star within it would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.’
’Instead of pondering such hypotheticals, I’d be better off thinking about how to enter the Earth Core.’