14: Second Sister's Late-Night "Surrender"

The night grew deep.

Gu Fan didn't stay in Gu Yu's smashed-up collection room; instead, he directly commandeered the most luxurious guest suite in the house, second only to the master bedroom.

Lying on a two-meter-wide latex bed and feeling the gentle cool breeze from the central air conditioning, Gu Fan stretched comfortably.

"This is the life."

"To think that just two days ago, I was fighting those weird-looking beasts for territory in the Forbidden Zone. Now, I not only have a soft bed to sleep in but also this family of top-tier relatives to provide me with entertainment."

"Life is unpredictable; one moment you're the hunter, the next you're the prey."

Gu Fan toyed with a beast core he had brought back from the Forbidden Zone. It was the core of a Rank 1 Vicious Beast, emitting a faint red glow.

Although this item was worth a fortune on the market, in Gu Fan's hands, it was just a trinket to fiddle with, like a walnut.

Just then.

*Knock, knock, knock.*

Someone tapped lightly on the door.

The sound was very soft, carrying a hint of testing and hesitation, as if the person were a thief.

Gu Fan's eyebrow twitched.

In the middle of the night, who was so interested?

That biological mother who just finished her 'hot soup bath'? Or that fake younger brother who just finished cleaning his crotch?

"The door's unlocked, come in."

Gu Fan said lazily.

With a soft click of the lock, the door was pushed open just a crack.

A figure quickly squeezed inside, then immediately locked the door behind them, even engaging two extra safety latches.

The visitor was wearing silk pajamas with her hair down; it was the second sister, Gu Wanqing.

Her face was still pale and her eyes were red and swollen, clearly from crying.

As soon as she entered and saw Gu Fan leaning against the headboard, Gu Wanqing's legs went weak uncontrollably.

"Second Sister?"

Gu Fan looked at her playfully, his gaze sweeping up and down. "Barging into your brother's room dressed like this in the middle of the night... isn't that a bit inappropriate?"

"Are you trying to use a honey trap on me?"

"While I know I'm very charming, I have no interest in that kind of plot."

Hearing this, Gu Wanqing was so terrified she nearly knelt down.

She shook her head frantically and explained at high speed:

"No, no, no! It's not that! Brother Fan! Lord Fan! You've misunderstood!"

"I... I'm here to defect! I'm here to save my own life!"

Gu Wanqing tightly gripped a USB flash drive and a stack of documents, her fingers turning white from the exertion.

She took a few steps toward the bed but didn't dare get too close; from two meters away, she fell to her knees on the carpet with a thud.

"Brother Fan, I'm truly scared."

Gu Wanqing spoke with a sob, "I don't want to turn into a frog like Eldest Sister, I don't want my legs broken and to soil myself like Gu Yu, and I certainly don't want to be disfigured like Mom."

"I know all of this is because of you."

"You aren't human... oh no, you are a god! You are a Heavenly God descended to earth!"

Gu Wanqing was incoherent; she was truly scared out of her wits.

As the only bystander in the family, she saw it most clearly.

Every instance of bad luck occurred right after they harbored ill will toward Gu Fan or made a move against him.

This Karma was too obvious—so obvious it drove her to despair.

"I'm here to deliver intelligence!"

Gu Wanqing held the documents above her head like an offering.

"Inside are records of Gu Yu secretly transferring company assets over the past two years, totaling three hundred million! He's been cooking the books, planning to hollow out the Gu Family and take the money to Eden for more Advanced genetic modification surgery!"

"And this!"

She pointed to the USB drive. "This contains communication logs between Gu Yu and black market assassins, as well as a recording of him trying to have someone finish you off in the Forbidden Zone on the day you returned!"

Gu Fan raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Oh? It seems this fake younger brother isn't just capable of incompetent rage; he actually has some brains."

With a wave of his hand, a gust of spiritual power swept out, and the documents and USB drive landed steadily in his hand.

Gu Fan flipped through them casually and sneered.

Truly an ungrateful wolf.

The Gu Family had given him everything, yet he was secretly undermining them from behind.

"Is that all?" Gu Fan closed the documents and asked indifferently. "These things are optional for me."

"No! There's more!"

Gu Wanqing grew anxious and quickly dropped a bombshell. "Tomorrow! Tomorrow morning!"

"Eldest Sister contacted 'Celestial Master Zhang' from Longhu Mountain! Although that Master Zhang has a poor reputation, he has some tricks in Tianqiong City's esper circles; he's said to be an E-rank Lightning-type Esper."

"Eldest Sister spent fifty million to hire him for a ritual, saying they want to... to eliminate demons and defend the Dao, to publicly suppress you, this... this 'evil spirit'!"

"They've even set up a 'Lightning Attraction Array' in the garden, planning to lure you there tomorrow so that Master Zhang can strike you dead with lightning!"

Gu Wanqing poured out the entire plan in one breath, not even daring to stop for air.

After hearing it, Gu Fan wasn't angry; instead, he was amused.

"Lightning Attraction Array? Lightning-type Esper?"

"Interesting."

"It just so happens I've been feeling a bit stiff lately and wanted someone to loosen up my bones."

"Fine, I'll consider this intelligence a sign of your sincerity."

Gu Fan toyed with the documents in his hand and looked at the kneeling Gu Wanqing. "So, what do you want?"

"I only ask for my life!"

Gu Wanqing kowtowed twice with a thud. "I beg Brother Fan not to target me in the future. I... I can be your inside agent! Whatever bad ideas they cook up in the future, I'll tell you immediately!"

"I don't ask for wealth or status, I just ask that I don't run into bad luck!"

Gu Fan looked at her lowly appearance and shook his head.

This kind of fence-sitter was contemptible, but indeed useful.

"Stand up."

Gu Fan said indifferently, "As long as you don't think of harming me, those retributions naturally won't fall on your head."

"However, if I find out you're being double-faced..."

"No! I wouldn't dare! I swear!" Gu Wanqing quickly raised three fingers.

Just then.

A very faint noise suddenly came from outside the door.

It sounded like someone had accidentally brushed against the doorknob.

Gu Fan's gaze sharpened as he looked toward the door.

Gu Wanqing was also startled, her face turning deathly pale.

Someone was eavesdropping?

Outside the door, Gu Yu was pressed against it, holding the latest model smartphone and recording.

Although he had just finished having diarrhea and his body was exhausted, the flames of revenge supported him in getting up.

He had originally just wanted to see what that dead girl Gu Wanqing was doing running over here in the middle of the night.

He never expected to hear such explosive content!

"Good! Gu Wanqing! You traitorous bitch!"

Gu Yu gnashed his teeth in his heart and smiled hideously.

"You actually dare to betray me! You even stole my ledgers!"

"Hmph, with this recording, I'll have Mom and Dad kick you and Gu Fan out together! I'll say you two are shameless, fornicating in the room in the middle of the night and plotting to swallow the family estate!"

Gu Yu felt this was a god-given opportunity.

He excitedly watched the recording waveform pulsing on the phone screen.

"Recorded, it's all recorded."

"Gu Fan, you're dead meat this time!"

Malice.

It was an extremely insidious malice, intending to destroy someone and ruin their reputation.

Inside the room, the System notification sounded on time.

[Ding! Detected eavesdropping and slanderous malice from 'Gu Yu' outside the door.]

[Nature of Malice: Insidious villainy, framing, intent to create an ethical scandal.]

[Backlash triggered! Multiplier: 25x.]

[Generating random effect... Congratulations, selected: Note 7 Tribute Edition (Targeted Demolition).]

[Effect Description: Since you love using your phone to record life so much, let the phone give your life a loud accompaniment.]

Outside the door.

Gu Yu was just about to press the stop button to save this precious 'evidence.'

Suddenly.

The phone screen flashed with a red light.

Immediately after, the battery area on the back of the phone began to heat up rapidly.

That kind of heat wasn't the warmth from playing Genshin Impact; it was like holding a red-hot branding iron.

"Holy crap! So hot!"

Gu Yu instinctively wanted to throw the phone away.

But he discovered in horror that the phone's casing seemed to have melted, sticking to his palm so that he couldn't shake it off.

*Beep—beep—beep—*

The phone emitted a rapid alarm sound, like the countdown of a time bomb.

"No... don't..."

Gu Yu's eyes widened.

*BOOM!!*

A loud explosion.

The phone exploded in his palm.

Firelight instantly illuminated the dim hallway.

Of course, as a karmic backlash, this explosion was calculated.

It didn't blow off Gu Yu's hand (after all, he already had a broken leg, and being too miserable wouldn't be fun); the shockwave of the explosion was perfectly directed at his face.

A cloud of black smoke rose up.

Gu Yu felt as if his face had been slammed hard with an iron plate.

That burning, stinging pain.

More importantly, the black chemical dust produced by the explosion instantly dyed his originally somewhat fair face (though covered in gauze) into a genuine 'African Chieftain' black.

Even his eyebrows were singed off.

His originally styled hair was now an afro, with wisps of green smoke still rising from it.

"Ah! My face! My eyes!"

Gu Yu let out a miserable scream, the dazed feeling from the blast making him lose his balance again.

He staggered backward, and as a result, his only intact left leg gave way.

His whole body tumbled backward, rolling down the stairs from the second floor.

*Thud, thud... Bang! Bang! Bang!*

A series of dull thuds, like a bowling ball hitting pins.

Inside the room.

Gu Wanqing heard the explosion and screams outside and shuddered, instinctively wanting to crawl under the bed.

"Don't be afraid."

Gu Fan remained leaning against the headboard, not even changing his posture.

He listened to the sound of someone rolling down the stairs and nodded with satisfaction.

"See? Retribution has arrived, hasn't it?"

"Eavesdropping is such a classless act that even the phone couldn't stand it, preferring to self-destruct to uphold justice."

Gu Fan looked at the stunned Gu Wanqing.

"Alright, you go back too."

"Just remember to leave that transfer record for me."

"When that 'Master Zhang' comes tomorrow, you just watch from the sidelines. If you perform well, I don't mind leaving you a ticket out of here at the end."

Looking at Gu Fan's calm, almost cold face, Gu Wanqing's fear intensified, but at the same time, a sliver of relief emerged.

Relief that she had chosen the right side this time.

"Yes... yes! Lord Fan, please rest early!"

Gu Wanqing scrambled out of the room.

When she saw the patch of charred marks on the hallway floor and the 'charcoal' Gu Yu still moaning downstairs, she couldn't help but shudder.

Too terrifying.

It was truly too terrifying.

Inside the room, Gu Fan turned off the lights.

"Master Zhang? The Lightning Dharma King?"

In the darkness, he smiled expectantly.

"I hope your lightning is strong enough. My 'Great Dao Returns to One Art' just happens to be missing some lightning-attribute energy for Body Tempering."

"Don't disappoint me tomorrow."