Chapter 935 — All Forces Converge on Songshan

"Actually, I do want to help the Gu family, but after all, I have no feud with the Xiao family, the Yu family, or Young Master Bing! If I were to step forward without a legitimate reason, I would have a hard time getting by afterward! So the only way is to let Yaoyao marry me—then no one can say a word. Though it may be a grievance for Yaoyao, my devotion to her is visible to heaven and earth, and I will surely treat her well in the days to come!" Seeing Gu Pengzhan remain silent, An Jianwen pressed on with his persuasion.

"Oh... I see. You may leave now." Gu Pengzhan nodded and dismissed An Jianwen.

An Jianwen's proposal held no allure for Gu Pengzhan. If Gu Mengyao had been fond of An Jianwen, Gu Pengzhan would naturally have been glad to see them together. But the problem was that his daughter was not fond of An Jianwen; marrying her off to him would have been no different from harming her.

"All right, then, Uncle Gu. Please think it over carefully and feel free to call me anytime!" An Jianwen nodded, said no more, rose to his feet, and left Gu Pengzhan's office.

At this moment, he understood perfectly that no matter how much he said, he could not make Gu Pengzhan change his mind instantly. Yet An Jianwen firmly believed that once Gu Pengzhan could no longer hold on, he would inevitably call him—because that was Gu Pengzhan's only choice!

It looked like he needed to find a way to have the Yu family put even greater pressure on Gu Pengzhan. Only then, with his back to the wall, would Gu Pengzhan come to him.

"I won't see you out!" Gu Pengzhan held An Jianwen's behavior of taking advantage of another's misfortune in deep contempt, but he did not say anything more. After all, An Jianwen had not come to make trouble, and Gu Pengzhan was already relieved about that.

But now, what was he supposed to do? Slightly bewildered, Gu Pengzhan sank into thought...

....................

Bad news raced one after another into Palace Master Wan'er's ears, yet she could do nothing about it at all.

Though she alone possessed formidable strength and was honored as the mistress of the Dark Night Palace, the Dark Night Palace was now entirely in the hands of the Supreme Elder. Without the Supreme Elder's consent, no one was permitted to descend the mountain on their own.

Palace Master Wan'er sat in the pavilion, her mind uneasy. At this moment, she had no heart for cultivation at all; her whole heart had already flown to Songshan City... If only she could fly, she would have flown there at once.

"Palace Master, Elder Li has come again..." Xiaoqing looked at her frowning mistress, her own heart aching. But she was only a little maid—what right did she have to speak?

"Let him in! Didn't I tell you that Elder Li may come straight in?" The moment she heard that Elder Li had come again, Palace Master Wan'er hurriedly ordered Xiaoqing.

In the course of this one day, she had already received several pieces of bad news. She had already asked Elder Li to keep a close watch on the goings-on in Songshan City. What new tidings had come now, she wondered? Let it be good news, she hoped.

"Yes!" Xiaoqing replied a little helplessly. "But I have already let Elder Li in directly—it was he who insisted that I announce him to you!"

"Oh? Then bring him in quickly!" Palace Master Wan'er nodded.

"Li pays respects to the Palace Master!" Under Xiaoqing's guidance, Elder Li walked in and saluted Palace Master Wan'er.

"Uncle Li, didn't I tell you to come straight in?" Palace Master Wan'er asked, somewhat impatiently. "How is it over there...?"

"Young Miss, the rules cannot be cast aside. Your old servant cannot let others seize hold of his weakness again..." Elder Li said with a bitter smile. "If I were to hand over even this little authority over the Shadow Group, then I really would be of no use to you any longer..."

"All right, I understand, Uncle Li. Are you trying to drive me to death with worry? How are Pengzhan and Yaoyao?" Palace Master Wan'er asked hastily, with a wry smile.

"It is still bad news... The Yu family has also shown up at their door!" Elder Li sighed and shook his head.

"The Yu family? Why did they go as well?" Palace Master Wan'er started. "How did Pengzhan manage to offend the Yu family too?"

"It is not him. Master Gu actually never offended the Yu family," Elder Li said. "It was Yu Kun of the Yu family, who once sneaked into the young miss's villa at night and wounded her beloved dog, Mighty General. In her fury, the young miss ordered Wei Zhao to kill Yu Kun. Later, because of Li Fu, Wei Zhao let Yu Kun off... but by then Yu Kun had already been crippled. So the Yu family seized on that as a pretext to come and take revenge on Master Gu..."

"Why did someone of the Yu family sneak into Yaoyao's villa? What were they trying to do?" Palace Master Wan'er was truly angry now. "A mere Yu family of the mortal world dares to lay a hand on my daughter..."

"If the Supreme Elder would only nod and acknowledge the young miss as his own, then naturally the Yu family would not dare to touch her!" Elder Li said with a bitter smile. "Let alone the Yu family—even the hidden hereditary clan behind them would have to think it over..."

"Yes..." Palace Master Wan'er sighed. "My poor, miserable daughter..."

"The people of the Yu family went to see Wei Zhao because Wei Zhao possesses a few map fragments of Cloud Terrace Island..." Elder Li said.

"Him? He actually has map fragments?" Palace Master Wan'er was slightly astonished, but then she shook her head. "Never mind him. What did the Yu family say? What do they want?"

"The Yu family demanded that the young miss marry into their household as a concubine, and that Master Gu's conglomerate be given as her dowry..." Elder Li sighed.

"What!" Palace Master Wan'er sprang to her feet, both shocked and furious. "How can they be so shameless? Do they dare?!"

"If you showed yourself, they naturally would not dare... Even if your old servant were to show himself, the Yu family would not dare to act thus... But your old servant cannot descend the mountain!" Elder Li said helplessly. "The Shadow Group is responsible for intelligence gathering and collection; among its members there are no capable fighters..."

"No! I'm going to beg the Supreme Elder! I cannot watch anything happen to him and Yaoyao! If anything happens to them, what reason is there for me to go on living?" Palace Master Wan'er truly could not sit still any longer. If matters really were as Elder Li had said, then the Gu family was indeed finished—and her daughter was finished for life! She could not allow her daughter's life to spiral into tragedy. She simply could not!

"Alas!" Elder Li sighed. "I will go with you, young miss."

Palace Master Wan'er and Elder Li hurried off toward the Supreme Elder's place of cultivation. As soon as she entered, Palace Master Wan'er said solemnly, "Supreme Elder, Wan'er wishes to descend the mountain."

"Descend the mountain? Have you broken through to the Heaven Stage?" The Supreme Elder asked casually, paying no heed to the anxious expression on Palace Master Wan'er's face.

"No! That is precisely why Wan'er begs the Supreme Elder to allow me to descend! If I had already broken through to the Heaven Stage, I could naturally descend the mountain at will!" Palace Master Wan'er said.

"No." The Supreme Elder replied with extreme coldness.