24: The Useless Son-in-Law (Part 5)

Six years passed.

Luoyun City, the Lin Family.

Su Yun, or rather Yun Su, remained a non-entity. He bore the title of the 'Young Miss's live-in son-in-law for warding off ill luck,' yet he was such a waste that even the servants could trample on him.

Late at night, Su Yun sat cross-legged in his dilapidated woodshed, slowly concluding his cultivation session.

Through six years of bitter cultivation without any resources, he had forcefully pushed his cultivation from the Spirit Transformation Realm to the Spirit King Realm.

This speed would be enough to shock the outside world.

But in Su Yun's own eyes, it was too slow.

"Spirit King Realm... still too weak."

He had remained hidden long enough. Though his wings were not yet fully grown, he had enough power for self-preservation; it was time to leave.

The main reason was that staying in this Lin Family was a complete waste of his Superior Spirit Body Aptitude.

Su Yun stood up, pushed open the door, and walked toward the small courtyard at the deepest part of the Lin Family's backyard.

The courtyard was filled with a heavy smell of medicine and a... decadent aura.

On the sickbed, the Old Matriarch of the Lin Family had become so thin she was unrecognizable, her breathing as weak as a candle flickering in the wind.

Seeing Su Yun enter, a glimmer of light appeared in her cloudy eyes, and her withered hand struggled to reach out.

"Yun Su... child, you've come."

Su Yun walked over and held her hand. It was ice-cold to the touch.

"Old Matriarch."

"All these years... you've suffered."

Su Yun remained silent, sending a trace of spiritual energy into the Old Matriarch's body.

The result was exactly as he had expected.

The oil was exhausted and the lamp was going out; her Lifespan was at its end.

This was not something a Medicinal Pill could save; it was destiny.

Even though he was in the Spirit King Realm, a sense of powerlessness arose in his heart at this moment.

This was one of the few sources of warmth he had felt in this life.

Coming out of the Old Matriarch's courtyard, the night had grown deeper.

A thin, small figure was peeking around the door of the woodshed. Seeing Su Yun, she quickly stuffed an oil-paper bundle into his hand and then ran away like a startled rabbit.

"Brother Yun Su, this is what I saved... use it quickly."

The girl's voice was as thin as a mosquito's buzz.

She was the Lin Family's Second Young Miss, Lin Nianci, an illegitimate daughter who, like Su Yun, was constantly bullied in this large mansion.

Su Yun opened the oil-paper bundle; inside were two yuan crystals and a sheet filled with elegant small script containing annotations on a Cultivation Technique.

She was his only 'friend' in this cold Lin Family.

Su Yun watched the girl's silhouette disappear into the darkness and put the oil-paper bundle away.

He would remember this kindness.

The next day, the Lin Family's Matriarch, Madam Wang, found Su Yun.

She pinched her nose as if even looking at Su Yun once more was disgusting.

"Yun Su, tomorrow is the day of your grand wedding to Qingxue. I'm warning you, don't lose face for the Lin Family!"

Madam Wang's voice was sharp and mean.

"Recognize your own status. You are just a tool for warding off ill luck. After the ceremony, honestly get back to your woodshed. If you dare have any thoughts you shouldn't, I'll break your legs!"

Su Yun was expressionless and said nothing.

He had already sent word back to the Su Family through special channels that he had reached the Second Level of the Spirit King Realm. Calculating the time, the people sent by the Family to pick him up should be arriving soon.

This wedding was merely the final scene he needed to act out before leaving.

The day of the grand wedding.

The Lin Family estate was decorated with lanterns and streamers, yet the atmosphere was eerily oppressive.

The guests were sparse, mostly from insignificant small families, with smiles on their faces as if watching a comedy.

Lin Qingxue was in her bridal gown, but her face was even whiter than the white veil she wore. The look she gave Su Yun was one of undisguised hatred and despair.

Su Yun was also dressed in red, his expression indifferent, like a spectator who had nothing to do with the event.

He cooperated with the master of ceremonies' announcements, his movements standard but his eyes hollow.

He didn't care at all about the ridicule, disdain, or sympathy of the people around him.

"First bow to Heaven and Earth—"

"Second bow to the parents—"

"Husband and wife bow to—"

"Wait!"

A loud shout, like a sudden clap of thunder, exploded in the wedding hall.

Everyone turned their heads in astonishment.

They saw the main gate being kicked open, and a young man wearing the attire of a Qingyun Sect Inner Sect Disciple barged in, looking high-spirited.

Behind him were several fellow disciples in the same attire, each with an extraordinary aura.

"It's Zhao Kai! The Young Master of the Zhao Family!"

"Didn't he go to the Qingyun Sect for the entrance examination? Looking at those clothes, he's become an Inner Sect Disciple!"

"Seventh Level of Yang Qi Realm! My god!"

"To reach the Seventh Level of Yang Qi Realm at such an age, he might even have the chance to become a Spirit Transformation expert in the future."

Someone among the guests marveled.

When the head of the Lin Family, Lin Zhennan, saw who it was, the embarrassment and gloom on his face instantly vanished, replaced by wild joy.

"Brother Kai!"

The originally lifeless Lin Qingxue erupted with intense brilliance in her eyes the moment she saw Zhao Kai.

"Brother Kai!"

Like catching a life-saving straw, she lifted her skirt and ran toward Zhao Kai without hesitation, throwing herself into his arms and weeping loudly.

"Brother Kai, you're finally back! I don't want to marry him, I don't want to marry this waste!"

Instantly, the eyes of the entire hall were focused on Su Yun.

The new bride had thrown herself into another man's arms in front of everyone.

This was a supreme humiliation that no man could endure.

Everyone waited to see Su Yun's reaction—whether it would be rage or a cowardly retreat.

However, Su Yun just watched quietly.

In everyone's eyes, this calmness of his became proof of extreme cowardice.

Zhao Kai held Lin Qingxue and looked down at Su Yun with a face full of contempt.

"Waste, do you see? The one Qingxue loves is me. You aren't worthy of her."

Lin Qingxue also raised her head from his arms, looking at Su Yun with tearful eyes, but her words were like poisoned blades.

"Yun Su, I beg you, let me go, and let yourself go. You and I were never from the same world."

The farce was about to end.

Zhao Kai prepared to take Lin Qingxue away.

Just then, a thin figure stood forward.

It was Lin Nianci.

Her small face was flushed red, and she mustered the greatest courage of her life to shout at Zhao Kai and Lin Qingxue.

"You can't do this! Today is the day of Yun Su's grand wedding to my sister! By doing this, where are you putting the Lin Family's face? Where are you putting Grandmother!"

Zhao Kai's smile froze on his face.

He, a dignified Inner Sect Disciple of the Qingyun Sect returning home in glory, was actually being publicly contradicted by an illegitimate daughter whose name he couldn't even recall?

His face instantly darkened.

"A lowly bastard dares to lecture me?"

Zhao Kai snorted coldly and gave a casual wave of his hand.

A sharp palm wind, mixed with the might of the Yang Qi Realm, swung viciously toward Lin Nianci's face.

Lin Nianci closed her eyes in fear.

At the very moment that palm wind was about to strike her face.

Su Yun, who had been standing like a puppet, moved.

His figure pulled out an afterimage from where he stood.

The next moment, he had appeared in front of Lin Nianci.

That palm wind, which appeared incredibly sharp to the crowd, was crushed with a flick of his two fingers, as if it were nothing.

Inside the wedding hall, there was a sudden dead silence.

Su Yun turned around, supporting the terrified Lin Nianci whose legs had gone soft, and then looked at Zhao Kai again.

His voice was very light, yet it clearly reached everyone's ears.

"You shouldn't have touched her."

Zhao Kai was stunned for a moment, then as if hearing a massive joke, he burst into wild laughter.

"I shouldn't have touched her? A bastard! What if I did touch her?"

He pointed at Su Yun's nose with a distorted face.

"And what kind of thing are you? A useless live-in son-in-law who lives off a woman! You dare to meddle in my business?"

"Today, not only will I touch her, but I will also cripple you! Then I'll sell this little bastard to a brothel!"