NOVPUB
Chapter 66: His Only Family
Aldrian looked at the woman who had just opened her eyes. Earlier, while checking her body’s condition, he had also injected his own energy to improve her physical state and alleviate her pain. She began to wake up due to the warm sensation traveling through her body, something Aldrian was well aware of.
She seemed reluctant to open her eyes, so he thought it best to have Yu Fenglian leave the room first. Her clear lavender eyes, in stark contrast to her pale complexion, gave Aldrian the impression that she was merely pretending to be sick, but he knew that wasn’t the case. She looked at Aldrian without any expression, but he could sense her worry for her son and a feeling of guilt.
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Yu Ruomei
Age : 365 years
Race : Human
Cultivation : Middle Marquess
Cultivation technique : Demon of the night wind.
Attack techniques : Wind slash, Shadow bullet, Wind blade, Nightmare of the shadow
Defense technique : Veil of Darkness
Movement technique : Night Wind’s step
Supporting technique : Shadow blanket
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With her cultivation at the Marquess stage, it had to be a poison potent enough to affect someone at that level. From the strength of the poison he could sense, he detected traces of Duke-stage energy within her. That’s why they needed a physician with at least Duke-stage cultivation to cure her.
"You can keep lying down. Don’t make any unnecessary movements that might cause discomfort," Aldrian said.
"I’m sorry to have to speak in this condition, but who are you, and why have you come to this place? I don’t think we have anything that would attract someone here," the woman replied.
"I understand your concerns, Mrs. Yu, but don’t worry. I mean no harm to you or your son. Fate simply brought your son to me, and I hope you’ll listen to what I have to say." Aldrian then explained to the mother how he met Yu Fenglian and became involved with the group of thugs.
When Yu Ruomei heard what had happened to her son, she gasped as her body trembled. Seeing this, Aldrian quickly grabbed her hands and injected his energy to calm her down. After a few moments, she managed to regain her composure, but tears began to well up in her eyes, which she tried to hide with her arms.
"My poor child, how could I not have known about all of this?" Tears rolled down her cheeks, unable to be contained by her arms. Aldrian allowed her to cry and release her grief, thinking that Yu Fenglian must have kept his situation a secret to avoid worrying his mother. She couldn’t leave the house or check on him herself.
After a few minutes of crying, Yu Ruomei finally stopped, though she was still sniffling, her eyes swollen. Her once clear eyes were now clouded, replaced by sadness and a hollow expression.
"It’s my fault. I’ve already failed as his mother. I feel like I’m not worthy to see my son anymore." Aldrian was silent for a moment before he replied,
"You have a good child. Everything he does is for your well-being. Every time he tells his story, he finds a way to mention you, his mother, and how he does everything he can to make you better. For that, I commend his character and the way you’ve raised him."
She managed a small, bitter smile, but the guilt within her only intensified after hearing Aldrian’s words.
"Do you want to live?" Aldrian suddenly asked her. She was stunned but lowered her gaze.
"Do you want to leave your son and let him go on without your presence?" Aldrian continued, "Do you want to know why your family ended up in misfortune?" At this, Yu Ruomei’s head snapped up, slowly her face filled with hatred and rage.
"You’re still indignant about that fateful night when your family was destroyed by an unknown group. You still can’t accept that this was your family’s fate. You need to know the truth. You need to fulfill your revenge," Aldrian added.
Yu Ruomei gritted her teeth, as she tried to sit up with her frail body the effort itself causing her pain. Aldrian watched without offering help, but in that moment, he confirmed something.
"Her desire for revenge is strong, stronger than any of her other feelings. I forgot that demon cultivators are more extreme than orthodox ones," he thought.
Demonic cultivators tend to never forget past grudges. The difference lies in whether they choose to pursue revenge or not, and from the looks of it, Yu Ruomei wanted to take that path but was powerless due to her current condition. Seeing the determination still burning deep inside her, Aldrian was now certain he could involve her in his next plan.
With a pained expression, she finally managed to lift her upper body into a sitting position on the bed. Her eyes, now filled with determination, met Aldrian’s.
"From the way you speak, young master, it seems you have some kind of purpose in coming here. Does it have something to do with my family?" she asked.
"You could say that. Although I haven’t given you all the details yet, there’s a possibility that the demon territory has already been compromised by the devils. They may have even infiltrated the demon authorities here and had a hand in the attack on the Yu family that night."
Yu Ruomei was shocked by this revelation. Could it really have something to do with the devils? Her heart pounded heavily as she recalled something. In truth, Aldrian was only speculating based on what he had seen in the memories of those dead bodies. There had been something strange about how the Skull of Dual Horns treated Yu Fenglian compared to the other children.
He had also found some interesting details, there was a particular family, the Yu family, that sometimes coming up in their conversations from their memories. When he tried to guess the boy’s connection to this Yu family, he was surprised to learn that the boy’s name was Yu Fenglian.
The fact that they paid special attention to him, coupled with the stories Yu Fenglian had shared on their way here, made it clear to Aldrian what kind of status the boy held within the Yu family. Now, it all made sense. Aldrian realized this could be his starting point for hunting down those devils in the demon territory.
"Now, Mrs. Yu, it seems like fate that you crossed paths with me. I also have my own reasons for getting involved in this matter. So, do you believe in me to help you?" Aldrian asked.
Yu Ruomei looked at Aldrian with determination and, without hesitation, nodded her head. What was there to fear? The only thing she had left was her son, and in her current state, she was nothing but a burden to him. She needed to do something, at the very least, she could uncover what had happened to her family and why.
Even though she didn’t know this young man well, it seemed there was a common ground between them, a reason to work together on this matter.
"Good. First, let me introduce myself. You can call me Aldrian. As for my origins, I can’t share them with you just yet, but you’ll learn more in the future. Can you tell me about yourself? And about your family? What is your family’s status in this city, and what do they do here?"
"My name is Yu Ruomei. I’m the wife of the late patriarch of the Yu family. The Yu family is a local noble family in Dual Horns Peak City. We are involved in many businesses here, but our main business is an escort agency."
Aldrian wasn’t surprised by her status, he had already learned this from Yu Fenglian on their way here.
"Do you have any suspects in mind for who might have attacked your family that night?"
"I don’t know. As a noble family, we naturally have many enemies and rivals. Any one of them could be the perpetrator, so I really can’t pinpoint anyone."
Aldrian thought for a moment before asking again, "Was your family involved in any suspicious activities with your clients? Or did anything strange happen before the incident?"
Yu Ruomei pondered for a moment, but as she tried to recall the past, the pain started to return. Aldrian quickly grabbed her hand and channeled his energy to soothe her discomfort. She was still surprised by the warmth of his energy, but she composed herself and continued to remember.
"There weren’t any suspicious activities on our side, but the last mission our escort agency took on was escorting the Golden Swan Commerce to Vermillion City, which is within the Piercing Heaven Sect’s territory."
Aldrian was stunned. Golden Swan Commerce? Could this be a coincidence? No, he didn’t think so. If he had to guess, there had to be a connection.
"What were they escorting?" Aldrian asked.
"We didn’t know, and it’s one of our rules not to probe into the client’s goods. But what we do know is that the items were inside wooden boxes with some kind of seals and were very heavy. Oh, and I heard something happened to the caravan, apparently, all of our men from the agency were killed on the way. We thought we had failed the mission, the attack on our family happened just a few hours later," she explained.
Aldrian placed his hand on his mouth, deep in thought.
"What did the patriarch think at the time?" he asked. 𝔫𝖔𝖛𝖕𝔲𝔟.𝔠𝖔𝖒
"He also found that something wrong. And just before the attack, his behavior became odd. He told me and Yu Fenglian to be ready to leave the manor. He also mentioned something about ’those bastards betraying us’ or something like that," Yu Ruomei said.
Suddenly, something clicked in Aldrian’s mind, and he smiled.
"I think I’ve found the bigger picture here."
