CHAPTER 204: EMERGENCE OF THE DEAD

Nan Xu muttered to himself, “Though the Nan and Yan Families have opposed each other for so many years, you’re actually this close to them… And, not only you, but also Nan Wei, he and Nan Chan too. How unexpected.”

“The friends.h.i.+ps of children are not built on long-term schemes and objective maximization. The only reason you let us bond as children was because you thought there was no way Yan Jin would win the Yan Family successors.h.i.+p. What do you want now that you’ve realized your mistake?” Chu Ge had wanted to ask how humiliated they felt but then reconsidered it given that Nan Xu was still his elder in the end.

“Our a.s.sessment was indeed wrong. I don’t think anyone expected the Yan Family to have been plotting for the past twenty years to topple the Nan Family.”

“You think that Yan Jin was plotting against us twenty years ago?” Chu Ge scoffed. “He was eight at the time.”

“You were just a child too, just a year older than him,” Nan Xu said doubtfully. “That just means you weren’t even able to win against him back then.”

“Wow, brilliant! How astute of you!” Chu Ge wasn’t provoked at all and instead began clapping. “I can’t beat him today either, so you might as well go back. I won’t be looking after the Nan Family.” Chu Ge made another gesture of dismissal.

They had wasted the entire morning arguing back and forth, leaving Chu Ge on the brink of exploding from annoyance. He really didn’t want to spend any more time playing word games. His original plan to visit Nan Chan was already ruined. If Nan Xu wasn’t his elder, he would have already forcefully thrown him out of the room.

It was hard to believe this situation had already persisted for almost a month. If it wasn’t for Nan Chan, Chu Ge definitely wouldn’t have obediently stayed under house arrest, regardless of whether his ident.i.ty would be exposed.

The privilege to see Nan Chan. That was the condition for him staying at the Nan Family’s ancestral home.

The official reason was that this was his apology for his previous fights and subsequent disappearance, but in truth, it was because he was a doctor. He couldn’t possibly stand by and do nothing while a close family member suffered, especially since it was from an abnormal mental illness.

Chu Ge felt sickened that Nan Xu could even use his own daughter’s sickness to his advantage, but he didn’t have a choice; that was really who Nan Xu was. The whole reason he had forsaken his family name and run off was because he couldn’t deal with his family’s ruthless pursuit of ambition.

Also, Chu Ge had a few other reasons.

Chu Ge was still bothered by Xiao Yu’s abduction. He’d lost treasured things before and didn’t have much tolerance for it. Seeing that his ident.i.ty was already revealed, he wanted to use this as an opportunity to keep a close eye on the Nan Family’s every move to at least ensure they wouldn’t make any further moves against Yan Jin.

It was really quite regrettable that the Nan Family had pushed their own young master to the point of becoming a spy for the enemy.

Unfortunately, Chu Ge’s intentions had already been seen through by Nan Xu. That was why he still didn’t reveal Chu Ge’s ident.i.ty to the Nan Family.

……

Nan Xu suddenly fell silent.

He stared at the outstanding calm youth who refused to budge before him. His impression of the frivolous child began to fade.

Ten years ago, he was the Nan Family’s sharpest sword. Ten years later, this sword was firmly in its sheath.

Unfortunately, this sword wasn’t so easy to trick anymore.

He imagined the blood-red beads of his Bodhi bracelet warning him.

If Chu Ge had truly lost all hope in the Nan Family, he would have joined with Yan Jin to destroy the Nan Family long ago. Perhaps ten years ago they might have had the will to do this but not the strength. However, today, if Chu Ge wanted this even for just a moment, the Nan Family would cease to exist.

But, the Nan Family was still strong. Chu Ge had returned home.

In the end, Chu Ge was unwilling.

Family and relatives were such incredible social constructs. It wasn’t that easy to separate from your bloodline. It didn’t matter that Chu Ge already knew his family was rotten to the core and beyond help. In the depths of his heart, he still wanted to see them survive.

Last but not least, no matter how much Chu Ge hated them, he still had a younger brother and sister he grew up with.

Thus, he couldn’t run away.

That was a certainty.

Nan Xu released his Bodhi bracelet beads.

It was like he’d released his last qualm.

“Do you… still remember your Aunt Du?”

Question marks appeared over Chu Ge’s head.

“Uh… which Aunt Du?” Chu Ge wasn’t acting when he indicated he didn’t know where this was going. [TLN: Du is the surname.]

His mother’s surname was Du too. Although the Du Family wasn’t as powerful as before, all powerful families had very wide family trees. On his mother’s side, there were no less than eight to ten people he could call “Aunt Du”.

“Your mother’s youngest sister, Du Yirou.”

Chu Ge was even more confused.

He didn’t actually know the full names of all ten of his ‘Aunt Du’s. He hadn’t had much contact with them after his mother had pa.s.sed away when he was very young. But, he was very familiar with the name “Du Yirou”. She was his youngest aunt and Yan Jin’s mother.

Twenty years ago, he had met Yan Jin for the first time at Du Yirou’s funeral.

Chu Ge didn’t actually know what losing a mother felt like. When his own mother had pa.s.sed away, he was too young to remember. However, he had shared in Yan Jin’s sorrow.

It was the kind of bonding that could only happen through shared struggles.

“What’s this about? Tomb sweeping day isn’t for a while,” Chu Ge waffled randomly. He really couldn’t see where Nan Xu was going with this.

“Don’t curse your aunt. She hasn’t pa.s.sed away.”

This was said in a lightly teasing tone, but its significance was like a thunderbolt through the clear sky. Chu Ge even thought he had misheard.

“Are you… joking?”

“You can ask your dear brother Yan Jin if it’s true,” Nan Xu said.

“I’m not going to ask him. Not happening.” Chu Ge shook his head angrily.

“Why do you find that hard to accept? Because you don’t think Yan Jin would lie to you?” Nan Xu laughed. “That’s quite inappropriate as the successor of our Nan Family given how many resources were invested in you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Chu Ge firmly declared. But, ripples now ran through his previously calm heart.

He could sense his own apprehension. He intuitively knew that he couldn’t allow Nan Xu to control the discussion and continue the topic.

But, there was no way Nan Xu would let this slip by. He had finally made some headway against Chu Ge’s stalwart calmness. He had to strike while the iron was hot!

“Don’t you want to know why Du Yirou didn’t die and instead hid away for twenty years?”

“… I don’t want to know.”

Chu Ge actually did want to know. He just didn’t want to hear it from Nan Xu.

Chu Ge loathed not knowing and being forced to listen to Nan Xu. He even thought about calling Yan Jin. Yan Jin would tell him that Nan Xu was spouting nonsense and trying to trick him to do the Nan Family’s dirty work, right?

“She came to visit you a lot when you were little. I remember you really liked her. She even drew a portrait of you.”

“That’s enough…”

Chu Ge still had that drawing today. When he had left the Nan Family, he had departed almost entirely empty-handed without even a bank card. But, he had brought this drawing with him.

The missing motherly figure in Chu Ge’s life had been almost entirely filled by Du Yirou.

He could still remember her lavender garden, her quick origami gra.s.shopper figures, her priceless watercolor paintings, and her unfulfilled promise of a surprise for him.

That gentle lady was part of Chu Ge’s fondest childhood memories.

However, she had pa.s.sed away that summer when he was just nine years old.

“What a pity. You haven’t visited her for so many years.” Nan Xu’s voice was like the mutterings of the devil.

Chu Ge found it hard to breathe. He tried to inhale deeply and reset his breathing, but all of his effort was ruined by Nan Xu’s next words.

“If you had visited her earlier, perhaps she wouldn’t have become so mentally unstable.”

The earth spun around Chu Ge.

“… What did you say?”

“Du Yirou’s madness began twenty years ago. The car accident was just a convenient excuse,” Nan Xu drawled. “To seize all of the Du Family’s power, the Yan Family sacrificed Du Yirou.”

“Bulls.h.i.+t,” Chu Ge declared through gritted teeth.

“Like I said, if you don’t believe me, you can ask your dear brother.”

“That’s impossible. Even if the Yan Family wanted all of the Du Family’s resources, they wouldn’t go after Du Yirou. What would they get from driving her insane—”

He suddenly stopped.

Chu Ge realized something.

It wasn’t important whether the Yan Family had driven her insane. The faked death was the crucial point here.

Du Yirou had been the Du Family’s youngest daughter and Grandfather Du’s most treasured little girl. With Du Yirou around, it would have been impossible to get the Du Family’s a.s.sets. But, what if she died?

If Du Yirou died, her inheritance would pa.s.s on to Yan Jin.

“Aunty… the past twenty years…”

“After announcing her death, the Yan Family shut her into Summer Springs Third Clinic.”

Summer Springs Third Clinic was a mental inst.i.tution in the suburbs of City S.

Chu Ge saw spots across his vision and heard the thumping of blood in his ears.

He didn’t know why he could still clearly hear Nan Xu talking about all the past events he didn’t want to hear.

“Hmm, are you feeling disillusioned? Perhaps you’re willing to believe me now. You think of others as your brothers, but who knows how they think of you. The Nan Family is your only home.” Nan Xu continued pouring oil onto the fire. “Yesterday, Yan Jin sent me a legal notice accusing my daughter of premeditated murder. Did you know about that?”

“…Does he know about this?”

“Huh?”

“Summer Springs Third Clinic.”

“I’ve already said, you can go ask him yourself.”

Nan Xu didn’t elaborate, but his expression showed his confidence at holding all the cards.