chsdbacks Chapter 419 - 404: No One to Blame, No One to Resent
Chapter 419 - 404: No One to Blame, No One to Resent
Gu Shen’s mind raced. After saying his piece, he simply watched the person opposite him in silence, not adding a single unnecessary word.
’Until he was sure of her attitude, saying more would only mean making more mistakes.’
But Gu Xi’s reaction... was just a nonchalant "oh."
Gu Shen frowned imperceptibly.
A gentleman doesn’t stand beneath a crumbling wall. Though he had no intention of acknowledging Gu Xi, or even meeting her, on this trip to A City Base, he and his team of advisors had still prepared extensively before he came to City A. They had anticipated several possible reactions she might have upon seeing him.
But none of their scenarios had involved such a nonchalant "oh."
It left him completely baffled.
As a result, all the responses he had prepared in advance were now useless.
But as the heir the Gu Family had painstakingly groomed for so many years, Gu Shen quickly recovered his composure.
’He already had a new plan.’
However, just as he was about to say something, he saw Gu Xi slowly approaching.
"I’m curious," Gu Xi said, watching him. Her voice, soft and slow, held a terrifying stillness. "How do you people from the Gu Family still have the audacity to show your faces in front of me?"
’Had she been so low-key recently that these people thought she could no longer wield Xidao?’
Gu Xi stared at the curved blade in her hand, entwined with slender vines. She frowned slightly, then looked at the middle-aged man who called himself her elder cousin, a hint of confusion in her gaze.
As if she were waiting for him to give her a definitive answer.
But this was asking a bit much of Gu Shen.
In fact, the moment Xidao materialized in Gu Xi’s hand, Gu Shen’s entire body had tensed involuntarily.
’That was Xidao!’
’The blade that had once slain millions of zombies, the very name of which struck terror into the hearts of all during that chaotic era!’
’A blade... a true divine weapon forged in slaughter!’
Gu Shen’s heart leaped into his throat.
Opposite him, Gu Xi tilted her head slightly and asked again, "Why is that?"
Her tone was light, as if she were sincerely seeking an explanation. "I’m truly very curious."
At the same time, a section of eerie green vine looped loosely around Gu Shen’s neck.
The vine looked delicate and slender, as if a simple tug would snap it in two.
And yet, this single vine, draped so loosely and casually around his neck, made Gu Shen’s pupils constrict violently.
For the first time in his life, Mr. Gu felt a lethal sense of danger.
"Xiaoxi." Gu Shen swallowed, an instinctive, uncontrollable reflex. Now he finally understood why the Old Master had always forbidden him from coming to see his younger cousin.
But what was done was done; regrets were useless.
Besides, Gu Shen wasn’t the type to admit defeat so easily. ’Until the very last moment,’ he thought, ’I can still salvage this.’
’Who knew? There might be an unexpected reward.’
So, he continued, "Xiaoxi, I know you must hate everyone in the Gu Family. After all these years..."
He trailed off with a bitter smile and a soft sigh, as if he couldn’t bring himself to speak ill of his own family.
Gu Xi said nothing, simply watching the man’s performance in silence.
Fortunately, Gu Shen didn’t need her cooperation to continue his act.
"Xiaoxi, do you want to know about your parents?" Gu Shen asked, looking at her earnestly. "There are other matters that aren’t my place to discuss, as I’m of a younger generation. But when it comes to your parents... if you want to know, I can tell you everything..."
In truth, Gu Xi didn’t care who her parents were. For as long as she could remember, the only ones by her side were Li Ming and the others... along with cold machines, cruel experiments, and ruthless training in the art of killing!
And the word ’parents’... to her, it was just an ordinary word.
It held no emotional weight for her.
It wasn’t that she was too cold-blooded; that was simply her reality.
’After all, she had grown up in that kind of environment, hadn’t she?’
There was no one to blame, no one to resent.
Of course, Gu Xi had never been one to blame fate or others for her circumstances. So, by that same token, if members of the Gu Family fell into her hands... well, there would be no one to blame and no one to resent for what happened next, would there?
....’Who told them to walk right into her path?’
And so, hearing this man who called himself her cousin suddenly bring up the topic, she somehow found it rather amusing.
But Gu Shen, at that moment, had no idea what she was thinking.
Seeing Gu Xi still watching him in silent calm, Gu Shen had no choice but to press on. "Your father was my youngest uncle. Your mother... she was an orphan the Gu Family sponsored long ago..."
The Gu Family were shrewd businessmen, not philanthropists; they naturally wouldn’t sponsor just anyone.
You could say that every child sponsored by the Gu Family was exceptional, or at the very least... extraordinarily talented in one area or another.
And Gu Xi’s mother was no exception.
"Because of the Gu Family’s sponsorship, your mother began interning at one of the family’s subsidiary companies after starting college. There, she happened to meet your father, and it was love at first sight for both of them..."
Such was the story Gu Shen told.
But Gu Xi didn’t believe a word of it.
’...A young master from a rich and powerful clan—what kind of woman hadn’t he seen? How could he possibly fall in love at first sight with some poor girl his own family was sponsoring?’
’That was the stuff of TV shows and novels.’
But Gu Xi said nothing, merely watching the man in silence.
The man opposite her, however, also fell silent after finishing that part of the story, for reasons she couldn’t guess.
The night suddenly fell silent. Even the faint whisper of the wind around the Lin Family estate seemed to have tactfully died down.
Gu Xi sighed.
’Fine. Good thing Ye Xin taught her how to handle situations like this when she was a kid...’
So, she raised a slight eyebrow and prompted him, "And then what?"
Gu Shen inwardly sighed in relief. Good. His little cousin, who was so obviously cold and apathetic, had finally shown a flicker of a reaction.
’Perhaps she did care about her origins after all?’
At that thought... an idea sparked in his mind, and he continued, "Back then, the department head where your mother was interning was a distant cousin from my third aunt’s side of the family..."
He paused, and his gaze toward Gu Xi seemed tinged with a hint of... shame?
Gu Xi just watched him calmly.
Gu Shen could only force a bitter smile. "Your mother was, without a doubt, a remarkable woman... She rejected that department head’s advances, and he flew into a rage from the humiliation. But given your father’s status, he couldn’t retaliate against her openly."
Just then, he felt a sudden itch on his neck.
Gu Shen glanced down instinctively. The delicate, frail vine that had been loosely draped around his neck was now beginning to squirm erratically.
Somehow, despite the faint, subtle movements, Gu Shen could clearly perceive a sense of impatience.
Gu Shen instinctively looked up at the person across from him.
He saw Gu Xi, her head slightly bowed, idly tracing the blade of her Xidao with a long, pale fingernail.
The cold moonlight glinted off the icy blade, refracting a lethal, spectral light into the darkness.
And in the darkness, the wind began to rise again, its sound weaving through the mountain forest like the wailing of ghosts and the howling of wolves.
As if at any moment, it would claim a life.