Chapter 74: A Bitter Struggle
This novel is translated and hosted on BCatranslation.
“Give it to me!” bellowed one man, his eyes narrow and calculating.
“Give it to me!” echoed the other, his face distinguished by a bulbous nose. The air crackled with tension as the two glared at each other, neither willing to relent.
The older brother, nose prominent, snapped with authority, “I’m the older brother! The Breakthrough Pill should rightfully be mine!”
“Age doesn’t guarantee wisdom or strength!” the younger brother retorted, his narrow eyes flashing with defiance. “Even Grandfather acknowledges my superior talent. That pill belongs to me.”
“Grandfather’s favor doesn’t make you better!” the older one’s face reddened with rage.
Unfazed, the younger brother smirked. “He’s simply speaking the truth. Why does that infuriate you?”
From the sidelines, the old man in a black robe observed his feuding grandsons with a mix of anger and exasperation. “Enough!” he commanded. “I will decide the rightful owner of the Breakthrough Pill.”
Confidence radiated from the younger brother; he was the favored one, after all. Surely, the decision would be in his favor.
The older brother felt the sting of familiar injustice with his fists clenched. Always second to his more charming brother, always the overlooked one despite his seniority. But the Breakthrough Pill was a chance to change his fate, to achieve the powerful Golden Core stage. He couldn’t just stand by.
A dangerous look crossed his face. In a sudden burst of energy, he struck his brother with a fierce palm strike. “Die!”
If his brother were out of the picture, all the treasures, all the favor, would be his.
The old man and the narrow-eyed brother were both caught off guard. The younger was thrown back violently, his body limp as it sailed through the air.
“You scoundrel!” The old man’s voice thundered as he slapped the attacking brother, sending him crashing against the mountain wall, knocked out cold from the impact.
Disregarding the unconscious older grandson, the old man rushed to his favored grandson. His preference had always been clear; the younger was better looking and articulate, the older one merely an embarrassment based on that look.
Dazed, the younger brother saw his older brother approach, a sinister smile playing on his lips at the sight. Hatred surged, and instinctively, he plunged a poison-coated dagger into his brother’s abdomen. “You’re the one who should die!”
His push was forceful, driven by years of bitterness.
“Argh!” The old man gasped as blood spilled from his mouth, staining his beard a deep crimson. He now remembered—the dagger had been a birthday gift from his own hands, its blade secretly coated with a lethal poison. To those below the Golden Core stage, this poison brought instant death; to those above, it wreaked havoc internally.
He tried to disregard the shock of his youngest grandson’s treacherous strike, focusing instead on purging the deadly toxin. But as he mustered his spiritual energy, the narrow-eyed man drove the dagger deeper, his lips curling into a deranged smile.
“Ugh!” The old man choked on more blood. This unrelenting assault was a stark betrayal. He had always seen his younger grandson as the black sheep, secretly longing for his demise, while the elder had been the epitome of loyalty. In a desperate move, he struck the assailant’s head with a forceful blow.
A gruesome crack resounded, and the younger man’s life ended abruptly, blood streaming from his nose and mouth as he fell, his eyes wide with disbelief.
The members of the Chen family, who had witnessed the scene unfold, stood in stunned silence. Never before had they seen such ruthless infighting, each blow aimed with lethal intent.
There was no doubt about the narrow-eyed man’s fate—he lay dead. The bulbous-nosed man was barely clinging to life. The old man, though still standing, appeared gravely weakened; his ashen complexion and the blackened blood he spat were telltale signs of his impending demise.
Stabilizing himself with a hand pressed against his wound, the old man seemed to age a decade in mere moments. He coughed weakly, the dark clouds above beginning to scatter, allowing slivers of light to break through. He glanced around, intent on leaving, but halted abruptly. His eyes fixed on Yu Zhao, who stood a short distance away, her expression one of calm serenity.
“It’s you?!”
Yu Zhao’s smile did not waver, and the subtle scent of smoke drifting from the lotus-shaped incense burner at her waist suggested she was behind the chaos.
“Hahaha… cough, cough… hahaha! To think I would be undone by a mere Foundation Establishment stage youngster! Cough! I’ll kill you!”
Realizing the truth, the old man’s laughter turned to hysteria. He could not believe he had been outmaneuvered by someone he deemed insignificant. His grandsons’ madness—the older one’s betrayal, the younger’s attempt on his life—it was all orchestrated by her!
Unable to come to terms with being manipulated by someone of such low cultivation, he summoned his fading strength for a counterattack. But as he focused his energy, the poison surged, sending waves of excruciating pain throughout his body.
“Argh!” His final scream was one of pure agony. Crawling towards Yu Zhao with murder in his eyes, he gasped, “I’ll… kill… you…”
With his dying breath, his glare never left her face. His withered hand still pointed accusingly as he collapsed.
The Chen family members collectively inhaled, their emotions a mix of horror and awe. They almost felt pity for the old man, who had not only killed his grandsons but had been killed by his own actions.
This novel is translated and hosted on BCatranslation.
The tragedy of a family destroyed by greed and betrayal hung heavily in the air. The survivors regarded Yu Zhao with a complex blend of fear and respect.
“Thank you, Senior Yu,” murmured Chen Tiandong, still trying to grasp the reality that Yu Zhao, their savior, had prevented their certain deaths at the hands of the sinister Black Robed Elder.
Yu Zhao’s smile remained gentle as she tossed a small wooden box towards Chen Tiandong. “You should keep this yourself.”
Catching the box, Chen Tiandong looked at her, his expression a blend of gratitude and bewilderment.
Oh Yu Zhao you are that girl!