23: The Useless Son-in-Law (Part 4)

The Family Head, Su Zhantian, showed no joy. He looked deeply at the calm Su Yun, his voice raspy.

"All core Elders, follow me and Su Yun into the Forbidden Ground's secret chamber."

...The stone door of the secret chamber slammed shut, isolating everything from the outside world.

After a brief silence, one Elder couldn't help but speak, his voice trembling with excitement: "Family Head, we... we made it through!"

"Made it through?" Su Zhantian turned abruptly, his eyes as sharp as knives. "You think this is over? This is only the beginning!"

His voice wasn't loud, but it caused the temperature in the secret chamber to drop suddenly.

"Yun'er's Open Scheme was indeed brilliant, temporarily securing the Su Family and the Cultivation Technique. However, it also means he has turned himself into a target, planting an unremovable thorn in the hearts of Prince Lie and the other families!"

Su Zhantian said word by word: "A youth with peerless talent and such a monstrous mind—do you think they will let him grow up to threaten the Imperial Family's rule? Will they stand by and watch our Su Family rise again?"

"They won't!"

"Since they failed to seize it openly, what follows will be endless assassinations! A fight to the death!"

The joy on the Elders' faces vanished instantly.

Indeed, the simplest way to deal with a Prodigy who hasn't yet matured is to make him disappear forever.

"With the Su Family's current strength, we simply cannot protect him," an Elder said dejectedly.

"It is I who have burdened the Family," Su Yun suddenly spoke, his expression calm.

He looked at Su Zhantian, his eyes clear and devoid of any Impurities.

"Family Head, Elders, there is no need to worry. From the moment I decided to make the Cultivation Technique public, I had already planned my way out."

"I must 'die'."

These two words, coming from a youth's mouth, sounded cold and resolute.

A sharp glint flashed in Su Zhantian's eyes.

"I am already the target of everyone. Staying in Tianhuo City is not only dangerous for me, but it will also bring a catastrophe upon the Family. Only by completely disappearing from the public eye can I temporarily put Prince Lie and the others at ease, while also buying the most precious time for the Family and myself."

This plan sent the Elders into deep thought.

This was indeed the only way.

Su Zhantian looked at Su Yun with mixed emotions. He stepped forward and took out an ancient jade pendant carved with cloud patterns from his robe.

"The plan is feasible, but it needs refinement."

Su Zhantian pressed the jade pendant into Su Yun's hand.

"To the outside world, we will declare that you were too eager for success and forcibly Cultivated the second level of the 'Burning Heaven Art', causing your True Qi to flow backward, leading to Qi Deviation and death by body explosion. This fits the normal logic of a young Genius obtaining a divine technique."

"And this jade pendant is a token I left behind during my travels when I was young. Take it and head to 'Luoyun City' at the edge of the Empire to find a Family surnamed Lin."

"I have a history with the Lin Family. It just so happens that their eldest Young Miss, Lin Qingxue, is frail and sickly. You will become a Live-in Child Groom to 'chase away her bad luck' through marriage. There is no better identity for hiding than this."

"A Live-in Child Groom? Isn't that a live-in son-in-law!" an Elder cried out in surprise.

To let the Su Family's Qilin son become a lowly live-in son-in-law? This was simply a great humiliation.

"This is precisely the best disguise," Su Zhantian interrupted him. "The humbler the identity, the less attention it attracts. From today on, forget that you are Su Yun. Your name is 'Yun Su', an orphan who has come to seek refuge with distant relatives."

He reached out and patted Su Yun's shoulder heavily, his tiger-like eyes already welling with tears.

"Child, you've been wronged. Live on, live on like a true waste. Until one day, you possess the strength to no longer fear Prince Lie and to contend with all enemies, then come back."

"The future of the Su Family rests entirely on you."

Su Yun gripped the jade pendant in his hand; its warm touch felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.

He had no extra words, only a heavy nod.

Through several lives of Reincarnation, he understood better than anyone that the path to the summit was paved with thorns and endurance... Three days later.

Shocking news spread from the Su Family, quickly exploding throughout Tianhuo City.

The Su Family's once-in-a-century Genius, Su Yun, who had received the Ancestral Legacy, had suffered Qi Deviation and unfortunately perished while forcibly Cultivating an Earth Spirit Cultivation Technique!

White banners were hung at the Su Family estate, draped in mourning white.

As the news spread, the whole city was in an uproar.

Countless Martial Artists sighed in regret at the heaven's jealousy of talent. A young hero who had just made his Cultivation Technique public was gone just like that.

Prince Lie's Manor.

Prince Lie listened to the secret agent's report, his fingers unconsciously tapping the armrest of his throne.

"No aura left, flesh and blood mangled—are these truly signs of death by body explosion?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, it is absolutely true. Our top scouts infiltrated to investigate; the residual aura at the scene was violent and chaotic, there is no possibility of it being faked."

Prince Lie was silent for a long time.

A youth being too eager for success after obtaining a divine technique was indeed reasonable.

But in his heart, there was always a lingering doubt. Could that youth, who had spoken so eloquently before him and broken the deadlock with an Open Scheme, really be so foolish?

The other major families also received the news. Their reactions varied, but the seeds of doubt had already been planted.

Just as the entire city's eyes were focused on the Su Family.

An ordinary carriage transporting grain and fodder, mixed in with a convoy leaving the city, drove inconspicuously out of Tianhuo City.

Inside the carriage, a youth dressed in simple hemp clothes, his face deliberately modified to look somewhat ordinary, was resting with his eyes closed.

Half a month later.

The carriage stopped in front of the Lin Family estate in Luoyun City.

An elegantly dressed, well-maintained middle-aged woman was already waiting at the door; she was the Matriarch of the Lin Family, Madame Wang.

When she saw Yun Su jump down from the carriage, dressed in cheap hemp clothes with a cultivation aura only at the Body Tempering Realm.

Madame Wang's brow furrowed on the spot, the disdain and impatience in her eyes completely unconcealed.

"You are Yun Su?" Her voice was sharp and biting.

"Yes, Madam," Su Yun replied calmly.

"Hmph, such a penniless look. I don't know what the Old Madam was thinking back then, to actually owe this kind of favor," Madame Wang muttered, turning to leave. "Follow me, don't just stand there."

Su Yun was led into the main hall of the Lin Family.

In the hall, the Lin Family Head, Lin Zhennan, and several clansmen sat upright, the atmosphere cold and awkward.

They looked at Yun Su as he walked in, their gazes like they were inspecting a piece of merchandise, full of pickiness and dissatisfaction.

If not for the instructions of the seriously ill Old Madam, they would never have agreed to this absurd marriage.

"This is my daughter, Lin Qingxue," Lin Zhennan pointed to a young girl in the seat next to him, his tone devoid of warmth.

Su Yun looked over.

The girl was wearing a white dress, her face pale to the point of being nearly transparent. She occasionally let out one or two suppressed coughs, her figure so frail it looked as if she would collapse if the wind blew.

But her eyes were stubborn and cold.

When she saw Su Yun, those cold eyes instantly turned into unconcealed disgust and disdain.

In truth, she already had someone in her heart—a young master from another major Family in the city with outstanding talent.

Now she was being forced to marry such a waste who had appeared out of some corner to 'chase away her bad luck'; how could she be willing?

Su Yun took everything in, his heart without the slightest ripple.

His gaze fell upon Lin Qingxue's overly pale wrist, which even faintly showed a trace of black Qi.

Great Yin Severed Meridians.

So that's how it is.

This kind of innate severed meridian is a death warrant for ordinary people, but for him, who possessed the Profound Fire Spirit Body, it was not unsolvable.

It only required time.

Since he had to live under someone else's roof here, it wouldn't hurt to play the good person once.