Gu Fangchen was caught completely off guard when he came face to face with Gu Yuye's gaunt, icy expression. The shock hit him hard and deep.
On one hand, Gu Yuye's sudden appearance was enough to startle anyone, especially someone who'd been in a constant state of tension.
It was like watching a horror movie,just as you're fully focused on admiring the heroine's ample chest, a jumpscare suddenly appears on screen.
How could you not flinch?
But more importantly,this reaction came from muscle memory, buried deep within the body's instincts.
In the heart of the body's original owner, Gu Yuye was the shadow that blotted out all light.
Even when Gu Fangchen could still cultivate, he had been earnest and hardworking.
But every time he was ambushed and wounded, Gu Yuye never once offered a word of comfort when he returned home. He would merely glance at him with cold disappointment, handle the aftermath, and leave.
That look alone had been enough to make Gu Fangchen believe that it was his own weakness that disappointed his father.
He had longed, desperately, to earn "Father's" approval.
Yet his efforts bore little fruit,especially compared to Gu Lianqian, whose mere existence made his own diligence look pitiful.
Still, his struggle had been real.
Until his dantian was destroyed.
From that moment, all of Gu Fangchen's efforts became a joke.
What had been destroyed wasn't only his cultivation core,but also his very spirit.
The confinement chamber in the Prince's Manor was built solely for Gu Fangchen. It was crudely constructed.
Four solid walls. Completely soundproof. No light.
Every time Gu Fangchen made a mistake, he would be locked inside to kneel and "reflect."
Each confinement lasted three days.
Now, looking back, the present Gu Fangchen realized,it was a methodical form of psychological torture designed to break a person's will.
But to the original host, it had seemed like mercy.
He doesn't hit. He doesn't scold. Isn't that lenient?
Yet at some unknown point, the mere thought of Gu Yuye began to make him tremble with fear,an instinctive dread.
He thought that fear was his own weakness, and grew increasingly disgusted with himself.
Little did he know,that was precisely Gu Yuye's design.
...
Gu Yuye stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing down at the fool he had personally molded.
When he noticed Gu Fangchen trembling, satisfaction bloomed in his heart.
On the battlefield, Gu Yuye was known as the Saint of War, nicknamed "Heart Demon." He was a name that struck fear into the souls of men.
As the saying went,there are only mistaken names, never mistaken titles.
To his enemies, Gu Yuye was the heart demon they could never escape from. He haunted them like a specter, breaking their composure until they collapsed in panic and defeat.
And when he used those same manipulative techniques on this so-called "son," they were no less effective.
He had sculpted the perfect scapegoat,
one he could erase at any time with a simple flick of his wrist,
as easily as "brushing off a speck of dust."
Gu Fangchen.
From the moment that name was chosen, tragedy was already sealed.
Gu Yuye looked at him coldly and said:
"Wretched spawn! Colluding with the Demonic Sect, usurping your rightful brother's place, passing off false jade for real,you still refuse to repent? Come here and kneel!"
His voice wasn't loud, yet in Gu Fangchen's ears it crashed like thunder, shaking his organs inside his chest.
Gu Yuye gave a sharp snort.
The oppressive pressure of a Third-Rank cultivator descended like a mountain.
Gu Fangchen instantly felt the invisible force clamp around his shoulders and neck, forcing him to his knees!
His vision went dark, and he groaned low. The backlash he'd already suffered from the Reversal Wave Array flared up once more.
"I knew it, Gu Yuye definitely intends to kill me right here!"
The thought flashed cold and sharp through Gu Fangchen's mind.
In the game, the "false heir" died at the very start,but from all the fragmented clues scattered through that storyline, it was clear that his death had everything to do with Gu Yuye and his "son."
He could even be certain,the original owner hadn't committed suicide at all.
From the moment father and son reunited, his existence as a fake had lost all value. On the contrary, his connection with Ning Caiyong had become a ticking bomb.
Gu Yuye was a man who calculated a hundred steps ahead,domineering, decisive, and intolerant of any variable beyond his control.
His plan was clear: use the accusation of "deception" to stun Ning Caiyong, then, before she could react, kill Gu Fangchen on the spot.
Gu Yuye's intent was to silence him permanently.
Gu Fangchen tried to resist the crushing force, but the harder he strained to lift himself, the heavier that invisible weight became.
Crack... crack...
He could hear his flesh and bones groaning under the strain, muscles tearing under unbearable pressure.
A moment longer, and he'd burst like a balloon under a hydraulic press,splattering into a pile of bloody pulp.
Ning Caiyong saw the young man sway, blood streaming from his seven orifices, and her heart clenched in pain. She instinctively rushed forward.
"Chen'er!"
But before she could reach him, Gu Yuandao stepped in her way.
"Mother!" he said sharply. "Don't you understand yet? Three years ago, he already consorted with members of the Demonic Sect! Not only did he know everything that happened back then, he's likely their inside agent!"
But the beautiful woman stopped in her tracks, inhaled deeply, and said softly:
"I know."
"What?"
Gu Yuandao froze, thinking he'd misheard.
Ning Caiyong looked at the young man before her.
At first glance, she knew,this was the child she had carried ten months in her womb.
In looks, bearing, even in his accomplishments, Gu Yuandao seemed the perfect heir of the Prince's Manor.
But seeing Gu Fangchen's pain, she remembered the small boy who once clutched her hand and whispered that he hurt so much...
She couldn't bear it.
"I knew all along," Ning Caiyong said quietly. "Chen'er never colluded with the Demonic Sect. I can testify to that."
The once-gentle and obedient Princess Consort of the Northern Garrison Prince looked straight at Gu Yuye, calm and resolute. She lifted her skirt and stepped past Gu Yuandao, placing herself between them.
"If Your Highness came here for this matter," she said firmly, "then please, return."
Gu Yuye was silent for a long moment. Then his brow loosened slightly.
"Since the Princess has spoken..."
The suffocating pressure vanished.
Gu Fangchen exhaled like a drowning man breaking the surface, coughed violently, and spat out blood.
"Cough, cough..."
Ning Caiyong hurriedly turned to pat his back.
"Mother, I'm fine..."
Gu Fangchen forced a grin and wiped at his ear and eye,his fingers came away sticky with blood.
He sighed.
Before meeting Gu Yuye, he'd wondered whether he should play it safe, feign submission.
After all, this was a man whose power and status dominated the realm.
But now, there was no need.
Gu Yuye wanted him dead,and he wanted Gu Yuye dead.
Nothing left to say.
He spat blood to the side.
Touching his chest, he could feel the rage and resentment burning in the other soul that lingered there.
The heir's title had always belonged to his trueborn son,
yet it was he, an outsider, who bore the karmic backlash,
only to pave the way for the rightful heir's glory in the end.
Poisoned, crippled, discarded,what a brilliant scheme.
Why should he accept that?
Gu Fangchen looked at Gu Yuye, and said with a mocking smile:
"I'm guessing you've already prepared a Soul Search Technique, waiting for Mother's attention to waver so you can slap it on my forehead and rummage through my brain for what you want, right?"
Gu Yuye's right hand froze, pupils tightening ever so slightly.
Impossible.
"Gu Yuye, you really are easy to read."
Gu Fangchen's smile didn't reach his eyes.
"Two-faced, fickle, devious, ruthless, scheming,tell me, what part of you is saintly?"
Before Gu Yuye could respond, Gu Yuandao snapped coldly:
"Silence! A villain like you dares to turn black into white?
"Father acts only for the nation's sake,to protect Great Wei from corruption. If his methods are harsh, it's because of his upright heart and devotion to duty!
"If you're truly innocent, then you should welcome a Soul Search!
"A Saint of the Third Rank would never harm your soul,you must be guilty!"
Righteous my ass.
If the thousands who'd died by Gu Yuye's hand could hear that, they'd laugh themselves back to life.
To be fair, the man really did have a silver tongue,could twist any situation to his advantage.
But Gu Fangchen wasn't interested in verbal sparring.
He tilted his head in mild surprise.
"If I'm not mistaken, this should be your first meeting with your dear father, right?"
"Funny how naturally the words 'Father' roll off your tongue."
"What's wrong,grew up without one, so you're desperate to start now?"
Keyboard combat, level max. One strike, one kill.
Gu Yuandao's face flushed red, finger trembling as he pointed.
"You,!"
Gu Fangchen turned to Ning Caiyong with a grin.
"See, Mother? He's mad."
Ning Caiyong: "..."
The Princess covered her lips and coughed lightly, tugging at Gu Fangchen's sleeve to keep him from going too far.
Still, his words had planted a faint doubt in her heart.
Yes... it was their first meeting.
Why did father and son seem so utterly familiar, so without distance?
Blood ties could explain it... but still, something felt off.
Gu Yuandao's chest heaved. "I,!" he sputtered, unable to finish.
Years without seeing his mother, he had dreamed of this moment,of earning her pride through his achievements.
Yet here she was, siding with that impostor.
Gu Yuye raised his hand, stopping his son.
He studied the bloodstained youth before him. His eyes were like a bottomless abyss.
By all appearances, this was still the same useless waste.
But something felt wrong. Deeply wrong.
Why wasn't he afraid?
He didn't just look calm,he looked fearless.
Gu Yuye's voice was low.
"Who are you?"
The question froze Ning Caiyong and Gu Yuandao alike.
Gu Fangchen's heart skipped a beat, but his face remained easygoing.
"What, Prince? You don't recognize your own son, and now you don't even recognize me?"
"Allow me to reintroduce myself,my name is Gu Fangchen."
No lies.
Gu Yuye's eyes grew darker.
Gu Fangchen wiped at his face, gave up when the blood wouldn't come off, and took a step forward.
He picked up a fallen twig and pointed it straight at Gu Yuye.
Then he exhaled, clearing the last trace of hesitation from his heart.
"Gu Yuye," he said, voice calm, "even if everyone believes I've relied on the Northern Garrison Prince's name to act with impunity, you of all people should know,I never owed you anything."
"There is no water without a source, no fruit without a cause."
Ning Caiyong stared at her son's back,strange, yet strangely familiar.
This was still Gu Fangchen. He hadn't changed.
In fact, the unease that had lingered in her heart since she rescued him seemed to vanish entirely.
Gu Fangchen felt it too,the heaviness in his chest since crossing into this world was gone.
He smiled faintly.
So, the original soul finally understood what he truly wanted.
Gu Yuandao sneered at his side.
"You owe no debt? Were it not for you, Father's spotless record would never have been tarnished by accusations of 'poor upbringing'!"
"Were it not for you,"
Gu Fangchen ignored his babble.
"Anyway," he said lightly, "I don't like owing or being owed. You tried to kill me twice today,let's call that two and a half times."
"So..."
"Old Ding,watch closely. This is how I kill."
Before his words even faded, Gu Yuye's instincts screamed danger.
Old Ding? Who-?
The twig in Gu Fangchen's hand looked laughably fragile, like a child's toy. But in that instant, Gu Yuye felt a surge of lethal threat.
Everyone wondered,who was he talking about killing?
A heartbeat later, they knew.
Gu Yuye's pupils contracted sharply. He reacted instantly, raising his hand,
No mercy this time. One move, and Gu Fangchen would die.
But then, without warning, Gu Yuye froze.
His eyes dimmed, and the towering figure of the Northern Garrison Prince collapsed with a thud,then disintegrated into dust.
Drifting away on the wind.
Gu Fangchen gently flicked the twig in his hand.
[Power of Life and Death],activated.
...
Inside White Horse Temple.
In the quiet courtyard behind the main hall, night wind stirred.
A pond of violet lotuses glowed faintly in the center, releasing a subtle, intoxicating fragrance.
Layer upon layer of white gauze veils shrouded the view.
The abbot of White Horse Temple knelt trembling on the floor, forehead pressed to the tiles.
Behind the gauze, a woman's lazy, melodic voice spoke with quiet amusement.
"So you're saying... before I even arrived today, someone already knew I was coming?"