Chapter 44: The Meeting of Little Chen and Little Gu
Chen Yan departed from the bustling Market Street, summoning a ride to return home. As he idly scrolled through his phone in the car, he discovered that a video of Falling Cloud Retreat had already surfaced on a local channel of a certain short-video app. The footage was rapidly gaining traction.
In an instant, Falling Cloud Retreat had become a sensation in the local trade circle. But this wave of attention was the kind that no one would ever wish for.
—
The car arrived at the foot of General’s Mountain, where Chen Yan resided in a villa district. He passed through the gates of the community and walked toward his own home. As he reached his villa’s entrance and began keying in his access code, he had only pressed three numbers when—
Beep! Beep! Beep!
The gate swung open from within.
Standing behind it was a small, wiry old man with a slight hunch.
Chen Yan paused for a moment, stunned. “Who are you?”
The old man regarded him with an impassive expression. “I am the steward of this house. And you are…?”
Steward?
A flicker of confusion crossed Chen Yan’s face. He instinctively stepped back and surveyed the surroundings. No mistake—this was indeed his home!
A surge of indignation filled his chest. With a forceful push, he strode in. “Steward? What steward?! Where the hell did you come from? This is my house! And since when did my home have a steward?!”
The old man immediately adopted a deferential demeanor, bowing with a respectful smile. “Ah! So the Young Master has returned! Please, Young Master, come in!”
His tone was humble, his posture submissive, as he stepped aside to make way.
Chen Yan, however, was even more bewildered. “What Young Master? What nonsense is this?!”
He was about to storm forward when—
“Enough, Chen Yan. Don’t make things difficult for him.”
A crisp, sweet voice rang out from the villa’s front hall.
Chen Yan’s sharp gaze snapped toward the source.
A girl stood at the entrance, watching him from afar. Before he could even react, her silhouette flickered—
And in the next instant, she was right before him.
What the—?! A master?!
Chen Yan’s instincts screamed danger. His reflexes honed from recent encounters, he immediately leaped backward, abandoning all bravado. Run first, talk later!
Though he had dabbled in sorcery, it had only been a few days. If someone had come seeking revenge, what was he supposed to do? He wasn’t a celestial warrior!
With a single breath, he executed the Command of Evasion, his body retreating like a phantom—
Yet before he could fully escape, a slender hand clasped his throat.
Chen Yan’s feet lifted off the ground as the girl hoisted him effortlessly before her.
“Don’t run. I need to talk to you,” she said, eyes narrowing. “I went through a lot of trouble to find you, so don’t make me force you.”
Chen Yan gulped.
His first thought was—Damn, this bandit is stunning.
—
With a casual kick, Miss Gu sent the old steward flying—straight into the swimming pool. Only then did Chen Yan realize that the pool had been filled with water.
“Stay inside. Until I say otherwise, you are not to come out,” she commanded coolly.
The moment the old man splashed into the pool, he transformed into a massive water turtle the size of a millstone. He sank to the bottom, curling up motionlessly in a corner.
Chen Yan’s eyes widened.
A demon cultivator?!
—
Miss Gu dragged him to the center of the courtyard before finally releasing him.
Chen Yan inhaled deeply, his mind racing as he subtly surveyed his surroundings, looking for an escape route.
“Don’t even think about it,” Miss Gu said coldly, as if reading his thoughts.
She flicked her hand, and two bamboo chairs from afar soared through the air, landing before them with a soft thud.
Chen Yan’s unease grew—Was that the Command of Control?
He had yet to master such techniques!
“Sit.” Miss Gu’s tone was firm.
Chen Yan looked at her, a peculiar sensation welling within him.
Despite the attempt at an imposing demeanor, her naturally sweet, slightly nasal voice carried an unshakable softness. No matter how severe her expression, it sounded less like a threat and more like… she was pouting?
It was an innate, delicate timbre—like a child throwing a tantrum.
Even so, he dared not underestimate her. A single step had brought her over ten meters in an instant, she had dispelled his Evasion Command with a mere gesture, and now she had summoned chairs with a flick of her fingers.
Most importantly—
The old turtle in the pool.
That was a bona fide demon cultivator!
Chen Yan composed himself. A wise man knows when to yield.
With measured movements, he lowered himself onto the chair.
Seeing him comply, Miss Gu hesitated for a brief moment. Not out of fear, but because the words she needed to say—
Were difficult to voice.
After a few seconds of internal struggle, she cleared her throat.
“You are Chen Yan, twenty-two years old, of the Chen Family, correct?”
“…Yes.” Chen Yan blinked.
Chen Yan’s gaze darkened as the girl before him spoke. “I have been to the place where the Honored Elder resided in this world. You lived alongside the Honored Elder, did you not?” As she spoke, she reached into the folds of her robe, fingers deftly searching an inner pocket before producing an item.
A carefully rolled bundle—slowly, she unfurled it.
A photograph, stark in black and white.
The image was of an elderly woman, her spirit unbroken, her smile filled with unshakable authority.
Chen Yan’s expression shifted in an instant. He could not contain his fury!
Leaping to his feet, his voice thundered, “You stole my grandmother’s memorial portrait?!”
“You—uh, calm yourself,” the girl interjected, shaking her head. “Memorial portrait? The Honored One is not dead. Why do you rage so?”
A pause.
Her words struck him like a sudden gust of cold wind.
Indeed, his grandmother had merely descended beneath the earth, assuming a new mantle. Yet this photograph, in its solemn nature, had become akin to a memorial.
Chen Yan’s wrath was abruptly stifled. He sat back down, dazed, his mind reeling.
The girl waved her hand dismissively. “The photograph is correct, and so is the person. There is no mistake.”
She carefully rolled the image back up and extended it to him.
Instinctively, Chen Yan accepted it, his brow furrowed. He blinked. “Who… exactly are you?”
A sigh left the girl’s lips, as if she had finally arrived at the heart of the matter—something she had struggled to broach.
“My surname is Gu. I come from the Gu family. Remember this well—my name is Gu Qing Yi.”
Gu Qing Yi?
The name carried an air of grandeur, reminiscent of the heroines in grand tales of old.
Yet it was hardly the kind of name a rational person would bestow upon themselves in reality.
Wait. Something was off.
Chen Yan’s intuition flared. His sharp gaze fixed upon the girl before him.
She was lying.
From the moment she sat down, Chen Yan had employed his Heavenly Eye Qi-Observing Technique to scrutinize her essence.
Through this art, he could perceive the currents of fate and vitality within a person. When she uttered the name “Gu Qing Yi,” her Qi fluctuated, revealing an imperceptible flaw in her flow of fortune.
The name was false.
“The matter I am about to discuss is of the utmost importance—both to you and to me,” she continued, her tone solemn. “You may find it absurd, but—”
“Hold it right there.” Chen Yan interrupted her without hesitation.
The girl frowned, clearly displeased at being cut off. “What now?”
“You claim that what you are about to say is of great importance. Naturally, that means you wish for me to believe you, correct?”
“Of course.”
“Then you should not begin with a falsehood.” Chen Yan shook his head. “Surely you know that I am well-versed in the mystical arts? I can perceive one’s Qi and observe their fate. When you spoke your name just now, you were not truthful.”
The girl’s cheeks flushed—not out of embarrassment, but rather…
“That is none of your concern!” she snapped, her gaze turning stormy. “My given name was chosen by my family. I despise it! When I grew older, I chose my own name—Gu Qing Yi! I have traveled the world under this name! My birth name is irrelevant to you.
I am Gu Qing Yi. Gu Qing Yi is me!”
Chen Yan tilted his head slightly, suppressing a smirk.
She was genuinely irate—yet in this moment of fury, the sharp edges of her presence softened, revealing an unexpected charm.
“Still, if the very first thing you tell me is a lie, how am I to trust what follows?”
“I do not need your complete trust!”
“Huh?”
The girl narrowed her eyes. “If you refuse to believe me, then I shall simply beat the belief into you.”
Chen Yan: “…”
For a fleeting moment, he caught a glint of cold intent in her eyes.
She was not bluffing.
Straightening his posture, he adopted a more respectful tone. “It seems I have been too hasty. Please, continue.”
Gu Qing Yi huffed in satisfaction before resuming. “Since you were raised by the Honored One, and your name is Chen Yan, then you must be the one I have been seeking—the heir of the Chen family. I—”
“Hold on,” Chen Yan interrupted once more, raising a hand. “When you say ‘Honored One,’ you mean my grandmother, correct? Why do you address her with such reverence?”
“Because she holds the title of Venerable among the Thirty-Six Venerables, of course,” Gu Qing Yi replied, momentarily startled by the question. “In the Domain Realm, the highest rank belongs to the Heavenly Venerable, followed by the Earthly Venerables, and beneath them, the Lesser Venerables.
Among them, thirty-six hold dominion as the Lesser Venerables, making them the supreme existences within the known realm. Your grandmother stands among them, thus she is rightly called the Honored One.”
Chen Yan frowned deeply.
That his grandmother was an unparalleled force—this, he had known.
After all, he had seen even the dreaded Black and White Lords kneel before her.
But this talk of Lesser Venerables, the Honored One, the Domain Realm…
What were these things?
“The Honored One hails from the Domain Realm and raised you as her own…” Gu Qing Yi pressed on.
“Hold it!” Chen Yan cut in yet again. “This ‘Domain Realm’—what exactly is it? The Immortal Realm? The Celestial Realm?”
A twitch formed at the corner of Gu Qing Yi’s eye. She inhaled deeply before answering, “The Domain Realm is simply the Domain Realm—it does not belong to this world. For all intents and purposes, consider it another realm entirely.”
A pause.
Then, she continued, her voice measured.
“I am not of your world either. I too come from the Domain Realm.”
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation