5: Chapter 5 Qingxue, for the Gu family, and for you

A single word, hoarse, yet resonant.

Shen Qingxue's sobbing came to an abrupt halt.

She lifted her tear-filled eyes, looking at Gu Yan in disbelief. That word just now, clear and forceful, was definitely not a sound that could be made by someone experiencing a final burst of energy before death.

Gu Yan ignored her shock and spoke again; his voice was still dry, but the words were now coherent:

"Water… bring water."

This time, Shen Qingxue heard him clearly.

Her gaze was dazed, her mind a blank, but her body acted instinctively. She wiped away her tears, stumbled to her feet, poured a fresh cup of warm water, and with trembling hands, held it to Gu Yan's lips.

Gu Yan took the cup; although his arm still trembled slightly, he steadily drank the entire cup of water.

The warm water moistened his throat, and he let out a long breath, feeling as though his entire body had come back to life.

"Father, you…"

Shen Qingxue looked at him, her lips quivering, her eyes filled with confusion and a glimmer of incredulous hope.

"You… are not…"

"Not a final burst of energy."

Gu Yan interrupted her, his voice much smoother than before. He knew that he had to use a reasonable explanation at this moment to stabilize the situation.

In his clouded eyes, he struggled to squeeze out a hint of sanctity and reminiscence:

"Just now… my soul left my body, and I had already reached the banks of the Naihe Bridge. It was Changfeng, it was Changfeng… he couldn't bear to leave us, and he forcibly pushed me back from the gates of the underworld."

"Changfeng also appeared in my dream, saying that an Immortal, touched by the Gu Family's loyalty and kindness, had bestowed an Immortal Pill that would allow me to extend my life and revitalize our Family."

This explanation was half-truth, half-lie; it would be considered absurd in modern society, but in an ancient era that revered spirits and gods, it was enough to explain all the strange occurrences before her.

Shen Qingxue was stunned by his words; especially upon hearing her late husband's name, she immediately believed him by three parts. In her simple understanding, apart from Immortals and gods, there was no other power that could bring someone on the brink of death back to life.

"Changfeng… is he… is he doing well?"

She asked in a trembling voice; this was the question she cared about most.

"He is doing well, but he is concerned about you and Yaya, and concerned about the Gu Family's lineage."

Gu Yan sighed, his eyes revealing a perfectly measured sense of compassion.

He looked at Shen Qingxue's slightly calmer expression and knew the timing was right.

"Qingxue."

His tone suddenly became incomparably serious.

"Go, close the door and dismiss all the servants. What I am about to say concerns the survival of the Gu Family, and it must not be heard by a third person."

Shen Qingxue felt a shiver in her heart. Her father-in-law had never spoken to her in such a grave tone before. She dared not delay, immediately rising to close the door tightly as instructed, and then sent the few servants guarding outside the courtyard far away.

Inside the room, only the oil lamp flickered.

The dim light cast their shadows onto the wall, stretching them out long.

Shen Qingxue knelt back down by the bedside, her hands lowered and head bowed, respectfully awaiting her father-in-law's instructions.

Gu Yan did not speak immediately. He just looked at her quietly, creating an invisible pressure.

In his mind, the crimson countdown had ticked down to "Two."

Time was tight; he had to cut through the Gordian knot quickly.

"Qingxue, I ask you, what is the greatest crisis facing the Gu Family now?"

Gu Yan spoke slowly.

Shen Qingxue was startled and replied without hesitation: "It is… it is the Wang Family. They have always coveted our Family's rice shop and farmland."

"Correct."

Gu Yan nodded.

"The Wang Family has wolfish ambitions; before, when I was critically ill, they were only testing us. If I had passed away today, do you think that, as a weak woman, you could protect this Family property while raising Yaya?"

Shen Qingxue's face turned deathly pale in an instant.

She was not a naive young lady sheltered from the world; for the past three years, she had managed the shop alone and had long since witnessed the cruelty of the world. She still remembered vividly the vicious faces of the Wang Family's stewards when they came to cause trouble.

She knew very well that once her father-in-law passed away, the Wang Family would surely be like sharks smelling blood, pouncing to devour them, mother and daughter, completely.

The best outcome would be having their property seized and being driven out of Luoyun Town, left destitute and homeless.

The worst outcome… she dared not think about it.

Gu Yan took in her fear completely and continued:

"Losing the property is a small matter. But what about you and Yaya? You know better than I what kind of person that wicked young master of the Wang Family, Wang Tianba, is. You are beautiful, and Yaya is delicate and adorable. If you fell into their hands, what would be your fate?"

Shen Qingxue's body began to tremble uncontrollably, and she bit her lips until they were drained of all color.

This was the deepest fear in her heart, now cruelly laid bare by Gu Yan and exposed under the candlelight.

"No… that won't happen…"

Her voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz.

"It will!"

Gu Yan's tone was iron-clad.

"This is the most realistic crisis facing the Gu Family right now. A Family without men to support it is just a piece of fat meat that anyone can come up and take a bite of!"

He successfully shifted Shen Qingxue's emotions from concern for him to fear for the future.

He paused, giving her a moment to catch her breath, then changed the subject and played his second card.

"Do you know what Changfeng was most worried about before he passed?"

Mentioning her late husband instantly touched Shen Qingxue's psychological defenses; she looked up at Gu Yan with tear-blurred eyes.

Gu Yan's gaze became distant and sorrowful:

"It was not this Family property, nor was it you and our daughter. He knew that as long as my old bones were still around, I would definitely protect you. What he was most unwilling to accept was that you hadn't yet been able to leave him a son or daughter, and the Gu Family's lineage was about to end with his generation!"

"He felt that he had failed me, and failed the ancestors of the Gu Family!"

These words were heart-wrenching.

Shen Qingxue's defenses were completely shattered, and her longing and guilt for her late husband surged forth. Yes, after two years of marriage, she had never been able to conceive; this was the eternal pain in her heart.

"Father… it is me… it is I who have failed Changfeng…"

She sobbed uncontrollably.

"It is not your fault; blame only his short life."

Gu Yan sighed deeply, his tone becoming increasingly heavy.

"But now, Changfeng is gone, and the burden of continuing the Gu Family's Bloodline falls upon those of us who are still living."

"Qingxue, that I was lucky enough to survive today is because of the Immortal's mercy, and because Changfeng's spirit is watching from above. But the Immortal Pill can only extend my life, not change my fate. My old bones cannot last many more years. We must, before the Wang Family reacts, and before I take my last breath, leave behind a true root for the Gu Family, for Changfeng!"

He elevated the matter of "continuing the Bloodline" from a personal need to the level of responsibility towards his late husband and the entire Family.

Shen Qingxue was so bewildered by his words that she could only subconsciously ask, following his train of thought:

"Father… then what… what should we do?"

Gu Yan was waiting for these very words.

He revealed his true intentions.

He looked into Shen Qingxue's eyes and said, word by word, his voice filled with endless sorrow and determination:

"In the Gu Family today, I am the only male left."

The room fell into a terrifying silence.

The flickering candlelight cast Gu Yan's shadow onto the wall, resembling a silent stone statue.

The color drained from Shen Qingxue's face at a speed visible to the naked eye. Her entire body froze, as if she had not understood the meaning of those words.

Her brain refused to comprehend the shocking and immoral implication behind that statement.

Gu Yan did not say another word.

He simply looked at her quietly with a gaze filled with deep sorrow, helplessness, and pleading.

He had played all his cards.

The future, her late husband, responsibility.

Finally, he placed this choice, heavy enough to crush any woman, before her.

Either keep her chastity and watch as the Gu Family is destroyed, and she and her daughter fall into the clutches of demons.

Or…

Sacrifice herself, bear the infamy, and continue the last thread of the lineage for this Family.

There was no third path to take.