Chapter Fifty-Nine: Cause and Effect
"Changqing, how are you?"
"Changqing, my dear nephew, your Uncle Cang’s family owes you another debt."
...
"Uncle Cang, I’m fine. It’s just a flesh wound."
"By the way, Uncle Cang, who is this Song Tianyu? And the other one, Li Chengkun? Since they came to assassinate us, why did they initially conceal their cultivation and aura?"
Comforting the two girls by gently patting their heads, Gu Xiaopang began his questioning.
Soon, from Cang Aotian’s lips, he learned the entire tale.
More than twenty years ago, Cang Aotian and Song Tianyu, who had attacked that night, were close friends adventuring together across the southern continent. Fate led them to rescue a gentle woman, and both fell in love with her...
What followed was unsurprisingly ordinary: the woman was drawn to Cang Aotian’s upright and masculine character and quickly gave herself to him. When Song Tianyu returned after settling family matters and discovered the situation, it was already too late.
Song Tianyu, always a bit reserved and delicate, felt betrayed by his friend Cang Aotian... a fierce battle ensued, ending with Song Tianyu’s defeat and retreat.
In the years that followed, Song Tianyu returned several times, seeking revenge.
Until one stormy night some ten years ago, Song Tianyu, consumed by jealousy and hatred, struck once more... That night, the woman struggled through childbirth, delivering Cang Ruoyi, the second daughter... With a hint of remorse, she shielded Cang Aotian from a fatal blow, but despite efforts to save her, her life slipped away.
Overwhelmed by rage and grief, Song Tianyu tore the jade bracelet from her wrist and fled silently into the night, shedding tears. He never returned to his clan, and his whereabouts became unknown.
After more than a decade of quiet sorrow, the two daughters grew up—now the elder is fourteen, the younger twelve.
Cang Aotian thought peace would continue for their family of three, but soon realized he was mistaken.
Song Tianyu, vanished for a decade, reemerged—more ruthless than ever. Not only did he demand Cang Aotian repay his debt, he also targeted the beloved woman's two daughters...
After several failed ambushes, he finally sent dozens of his Foundation Establishment henchmen to attack the girls and their guards on their way home...
But fate intervened—just as the attack was about to succeed, Gu Xiaopang appeared... and so, the dramatic scene unfolded.
"So that’s how it is!"
"This Song Tianyu is truly vicious."
"I thought it was a case of love turning to hate, but it seems he doesn’t even deserve those words."
...
"And what about Li Chengkun, the one at the early Core Formation stage? His appearance was quite unexpected, wasn’t it?"
"Changqing, he’s our City Lord’s deputy. My father trusts him, and we sisters have always respected him. Who would have thought..."
...
This time, before Cang Aotian could answer, the two girls spoke up in unison, leaving Gu Xiaopang stunned, mouth agape, thinking to himself how treacherous and dangerous the hearts of people could be...
Cang Aotian was right—the entire Cang family truly owed Gu Xiaopang another debt. Of course, Gu Xiaopang hardly cared; he simply helped when injustice crossed his path.
...
Except for the two black-clad men pierced through the chest by Gu Xiaopang’s rhinoceros horn and battered twice by the Five Spirits Bracelet, later riddled like a porcupine by the common soldiers’ crossbows, the surviving enemies—whose cultivation had been abolished—were promptly detained by the guards and several Foundation Establishment experts who rushed to the scene. As for their ultimate fate, Gu Xiaopang had no interest.
Standing at the side, Captain Sun Chenghu, tall and sturdy with an iron spear, gazed at Gu Xiaopang—who, despite being only at the late Foundation Establishment stage, could hold his own against an early Core Formation opponent, and was now chatting warmly with the two young ladies. Sun Chenghu could only marvel, his face full of admiration.
...