Chapter 1414 — Chen Yutian's Sigh

"This way the Chen family can't say a word against me either. Both sides are in the wrong here. Besides, if the Chen family wants revenge, they can raise it at the Great Families' Gathering whenever they like — if anyone from their family feels aggrieved, I'll accept the challenge! Though I doubt they have anyone left who can come after me!" Yu Feng went on.

"Oh?" Yu Shuixing's eyes suddenly lit up. "Yes — Yu Feng, you handled this matter well! Haha, thinking it over now, this is a fine opportunity for the Yu family. Not only will it not hurt us, it will make people think we are the ones who suffered a great loss!"

"What do you mean?" Yu Feng was startled.

"At the Great Families' Gathering, I intend to make trouble for the Chen and Song families and lay all the blame at their feet. She was betrothed to our Yu family — by what right did she carry on with a Chen? And the Chen boy had his faults too: daring to make advances on another man's betrothed? The charge of failing to discipline their young is one they will not escape. So when you injured Chen Yutian, you were injuring a seducer — you are Qiu Lingshan's betrothed, and to catch the adulterer is only natural and right. The Chen family will not only be unable to say a word, they will have to apologize to us!"

"Haha, Father thinks of everything. That way the Chen family swallows a mute loss and has no way to air its grievance!" Hearing this, Yu Feng relaxed at once and was overjoyed.

"Exactly. And you have snuffed out a Mystic-rank expert of the Chen family in the cradle of his growth — that is no small merit. If a Mystic-rank junior were to emerge in the Chen family, that would threaten our Yu family's standing," Yu Shuixing said. "But the Great Families' Gathering is nearly upon us. You are not to stay in Songshan City; set out for Yanjing at once, and do not leave the house for the next few days. We do not fear them in the open, but there is no telling whether the Chen family, gone mad, might hire someone to make trouble for you. Don't let your boat capsize in a ditch!"

"All right, I'll head back now!" Yu Feng nodded. Then a thought struck him — Chen Yutian's little sister seemed to be on very good terms with Wei Zhao, didn't she? If the girl went and worked her wiles on Wei Zhao to come after him, then he would truly be in trouble.

Once the Great Families' Gathering was over, Yu Feng would have nothing to fear. The Gathering was the place where conflicts were resolved; all the grudges the various families had accumulated were to be settled there, and whatever was left unsettled counted as abandoned of one's own accord. There was no such thing as a feud that must end only in death; and if, after the Gathering, someone raised an old hatred again, that would be a breach of the compact of the Great Families' Gathering — such a one would not only be treated as an enemy by every family, but be expelled from the ranks of the great families. So no one would ever do it.

Yu Feng boarded his flight to Yanjing, while at the hospital Chen Yutian had just been wheeled out of the emergency room, the wounds on his body and legs properly bandaged. He had woken up; as a cultivator, his willpower was beyond that of ordinary men.

"Yutian, how do you feel?" Qiu Lingshan had been waiting anxiously at the door of the operating room, and the moment she saw Chen Yutian come out she hurried to his side.

"Lingshan, I'm fine..." Seeing her anxiety, Chen Yutian felt a little moved, and a little bitter. He knew she cared for him out of friendship and nothing more — no other feeling was mixed in.

"Yutian... why did you have to do it..." Qiu Lingshan sighed. He said he was fine, but the bitter smile on his face told her the injury was far from light. And for an inner-family cultivator, damage to the meridians meant the ruin of his path of cultivation — he would never advance another step.

In a case like Chen Yutian's, even once the wounds healed his strength would surely not hold. To remain at the Yellow rank would already be a stroke of fortune; to break through to the Mystic rank again was all but impossible — unless there was the legendary Meridian-Unblocking Pill, but that was something only the hidden families possessed. An ordinary family could never have it.

"Lingshan, this time, I was a man about it!" At the thought, Chen Yutian could not help saying proudly. "I'm hurt, yes, but from now on Yu Feng probably won't pester you anymore. It was worth it."

"Thank you..." Qiu Lingshan murmured. "Yutian, you're a good man, but matters of the heart can't be forced. I..."

By rights, with all Chen Yutian had given up for her, Qiu Lingshan ought to have said something; but she truly felt nothing for him, and all she could do was resolve in secret to make it up to him in some other way.

"Ha, I know!" Chen Yutian cut her off. He knew she had just handed him a good-guy card, but he had already made his peace with it and was no longer tangled up in the question. "Lingshan, don't talk about that. Wei Zhao is my closest friend — I could even call him my master. My strength came from him, and since I lost it, so be it; let it be as if it never was. Even if when I recover I'm not Mystic rank but only Yellow rank, that's still not bad..."

What worried Chen Yutian was not himself but his family. With an injury this grave, the Chen family was, he feared, truly done for.

"But... the Chen family, Grandpa Chen..." Qiu Lingshan was torn inside. Though Chen Yutian had not said it, she understood perfectly well that the Chen family was likely finished — struck from the ranks of the great families. The only way to preserve the Chen family's standing was a marriage alliance between the Song and Chen families. But that marriage — she truly could not accept it.

"Ah... that is my one worry too..." A flicker of loss crossed Chen Yutian's eyes. "I don't know how heartbroken Grandpa will be when he hears. Not long ago I told him I had broken through to the early Mystic rank — the old man laughed for three whole minutes!"

"Apart from the Meridian-Unblocking Pill, is there any other way to restore your strength?" As she said this, Qiu Lingshan made up her mind: if there was, then whatever the price, however bitter the hardship, she would help Chen Yutian find it.

"There's... only the Sun family left... I've heard the Sun family's cultivation method is a healing one; it can repair a cultivator's damaged meridians. But most of the Sun family have only cultivated the first layer of it, and a physician can heal only one person — he cannot heal a second. That is to say, once the method is used, it cannot be used for anyone else... So the Sun family is not likely to heal me..." Chen Yutian smiled bitterly. "Unless the Chen and Sun families were to form a marriage alliance. But... why would the Sun family ever look twice at the Chen family?"