I Am Immortal in Great Yu

Chapter 239: Chapter 97: Burial Flower (Part 2)

Fang Rui stopped and nodded. "Yes!"

"I also know a little about what happened with Kang Huaifeng..."

Li Dadan fell silent for a moment before gritting his teeth. "Chief, I heard from Bajin that you just interrogated Kang Huaifeng. You must know more of the truth. Can you please tell me?"

"You really want to know?"

Fang Rui turned, looking Li Dadan straight in the eye. "Sometimes, knowing too much isn’t a good thing."

"Chief, I... I want to know!"

...

After yesterday’s torrential downpour, tonight was windless and moonless. The sky was sullen, and a suffocating, oppressive weight hung in the air, tinged with a biting, gloomy chill.

Amidst the CREAK-CREAK of the carriage wheels, Fang Rui left his post for the day and headed home.

Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family, Third Lady, Fang Ling, and Nannan were all waiting for him, having not yet eaten dinner.

With Fang Rui’s return, the family had its pillar of support back. They visibly relaxed, their hearts settling as smiles returned to their faces.

When he went to change his clothes, he saw Bai Shao.

Even though her younger brother was in trouble, the head maidservant was as composed as ever, laying out his change of clothes and other necessities in perfect order.

She had just become much more withdrawn.

"Bai Shao, I’ll do everything I can about your brother," Fang Rui couldn’t help but say, trying to comfort her.

"Thank you, Master." Bai Shao’s composure finally broke. She burst into sobs, her words of thanks choked with emotion.

During dinner.

The two little girls, Fang Ling and Nannan, chattered like frightened sparrows as they recounted the afternoon’s events.

"Brother, bad men came to our academy this afternoon! They just rushed in, grabbed two of our classmates, and ran off! They were so scary..." Fang Ling explained, waving her arms and legs about.

"So, so scary," Nannan echoed in her tiny voice, a faithful little copycat.

"I told you not to go to the academy."

Third Lady raised a hand and gently tapped both of the little girls on the head.

"Isn’t that the truth? When these two came home and told me, it scared the life out of me," Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family sighed, her face still pale with fear.

"You can’t go anymore. Ling’er, Nannan, starting tomorrow, you two will stop going to the academy. Just stay home for a while!"

Fang Rui’s decision was final.

He could have taken more precautions to prevent the girls from being taken. But it wasn’t worth subjecting them to repeated frights that might leave them with psychological scars.

Before?

Fang Rui had already guessed part of the truth and figured that even if his enemies were abducting people, they were unlikely to target his own family. Besides, with multiple layers of protection—the Exotic Beast, his own men, and other measures—their safety was more or less guaranteed.

And he had been right. They hadn’t made a move on Fang Ling or Nannan. Even if they had, they would not have succeeded.

But the people around them...

Fang Rui thought of Bai Shao’s brother and Li Dadan’s son, Heiwa, and couldn’t help but sigh.

After dinner, he returned to his room.

Fang Rui gazed at the pitch-black night sky, his brow furrowed in thought. ’From the Three Southern States all the way to Huaiyin Prefecture, there isn’t a single truly safe place... no Peach Blossom Spring.’

’My only consolation is that no matter where I go, strength—true power—is real. It can weather any storm and protect my family.’

’As long as I fight my way to the top, I won’t be the one who gets eaten in this dog-eat-dog world.’

The thought was bloody and stark, but it was the truth.

’Huaiyin Prefecture is no longer safe. Should we leave?’

The moment the thought occurred to him, he recalled Ge Changgeng’s words: the Great Yu is vast, the world is vast, but everywhere is more or less the same.

’If we go somewhere else, to a new place, could we ever truly settle down?’

He was skeptical.

Besides, leaving Huaiyin Prefecture meant giving up everything he had built: the Four Seas Commerce Association, his network of contacts... He would have to start all over again.

Fang Rui also considered returning to the Three Southern States. ’After the recent turmoil, the Three Southern States have just been "harvested." They’ll probably be peaceful for a long time. There, I could even slowly lay my plans and build the Fang Family into one of the Noble Families.’

’But what good is being a Noble Family? In the eyes of the Great Yu Court, we’d just be a slightly bigger fish in the pond. What I really want is to uncover the truths, the secrets, the trump cards of the Great Yu!’

To be frank, as long as Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family, Third Lady, Fang Ling, and Nannan were with him, Fang Rui had no intention of making any big moves that might implicate them and put them in danger.

’This is also a time for me to build up my resources. Outwardly, I can learn about the Great Yu’s foundations and secrets. Inwardly, I can accumulate Tribulation Points and bide my time...’

As Fang Rui was pondering, he suddenly saw a flash outside his window. A hazy light flared in the far distance, and he keenly sensed a surge of Yin Qi in the air.

’That’s... in the direction of Nanshan, outside the city? The Zheng Family’s Nanshan Garden?!’

His expression instantly turned grave.

...

「Nanshan Garden.」

「That night.」

In an underground chamber at its center, a translucent, blackish-green flower—a shade of gray pushed to its absolute limit—slowly rose into the air.

It was shaped like a phantom lotus. The core, the size of a carriage canopy, seemed solid, while the periphery was a hazy, ethereal corona of light—a massively magnified version of the center.

On this windless, moonless night, smaller, blackish-green blossoms, each the size of a baby’s fist, began to drift down from the colossal flower that stretched from earth to sky. It was a scene of haunting beauty, yet it brought with it endless death.

Throughout Nanshan Garden, anyone below the Middle Grade collapsed the instant one of the small, dark green blossoms touched them. They died on their feet, a fleshy, blood-colored flower sprouting from their foreheads, and a bizarre smile frozen on their lips.

The colossal, bizarre flower, bridging earth and sky, rotated slowly. It seemed to be absorbing something, growing ever larger, and larger still.

...

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