章 40: Autumn's Fragrance, A Frigid Heart of Snow (2)

"Who!?"

Wei Xuan roared with anger upon hearing the doors wrenched open, a surge of silver light speeding towards the intruder. The stream of silver possessed incomparable malice, all traces of elegance masked under the dense intention of murder.

Facing the silver light blazing towards his direction at a swift speed, the intruder yelped before spreading out his arms to his sides, faint undulations of spiritual essence as two threads of azure and scarlet coiled around his wrists.

The threads of spiritual essence merging into a single point at the center of the palms, the intruder curled his fingers into a tight fist. Taking a step forward with his left foot, the intruder crossed his arms before his chest, the left arm overlapping over the right.

The back of the palm acting as an impetus, the right elbow swung the arm to clasp the right fist within the left palm, creating two pale, illusory disks that expanded before the intruder's figure.

The disks of scarlet and azure light rapidly phased between the other as the stream of silver crashed into the conjoined layer, a shockwave of spiritual essence exploding outwards with a horizontal shear from the impact. With a scream, the intruding figure was hurled towards the doors of the study, the twin disks of scarlet and azure shattered to fragments within a single strike.

The silver stream dashed towards the intruder without mercy, intending to deliver the finishing strike.

"Father, ah, are you trying to kill your own son!?"

Hearing the cry escape the intruder's lips, Wei Xuan blinked twice in surprise, momentarily at a loss to speak. Loosening his control over the manifested spiritual essence, the silver stream gradually dissipated upon losing contact with the creator.

The intruder hastily released a sigh of relief, his body deflating. As the figure moved closer towards the depths of the study, it was indeed the Second Young Master, though his appearance could be called ragged at best.

"Chang Luo?"

Wei Xuan called out in surprise upon realizing the identity of the figure. However, his eyes narrowed in befuddlement and the minister couldn't help but furrow his brows.

"Chang Luo," Wei Xuan asked in a questioning tone, assessing the youth from head to toe. "Why are you in such poor…dress?"

Pu!

Wei Chang Luo couldn't help but involuntarily shudder, the urge to vomit blood threatening to overcome his mental control.

Father, oh Father, the poor youth grumbled in his heart as he stared desolately at the ragged clothes on his body. If you weren't so intent on killing your own son, would I have ended this way? Wei Chang Luo screamed in his heart.

"…why aren't you saying anything?"

"AH! Fa ~ ther!"

The youth screamed, waving his arms in the air in indignation as he plopped down onto his buttocks. His eyes scanning over the study's interior as he searched for a spare pair of clothes to change into, Wei Chang Luo leaned against a table leg, adopting an expression of defeat.

"That attack was plainly an act of bullying the juniors!" he cried with a vindictive expression.

"Such a powerful attack on someone who's only at the peak of Foundation Establishment, and you're complaining that I'm too weak?"

"If the technique isn't lackluster in quality," Wei Xuan mocked in a dry tone, directing an amused glance towards the fuming youngster. "Then the operator is. Don't tell me those twin shrimps of fire and ice are supposed to be your almighty <Twin Dragons> technique?"

"Your son is only at the first level!" Wei Chang Luo rubbed his nose in embarrassment.

"It's natural for the spiritual essence to be thin when they converge, I need to advance to the mediant stages of the technique to actually produce streams of spiritual essence that form the core of the <Twin Dragons> technique-"

"So to summarize your point," the minister interjected, his lips twitching into a light smirk as he tossed a set of clothes to the poor youth.

"You're saying that you need more time to develop your strength and prowess in the <Twin Dragons> technique? But even if you progress to the mediant stages, it's not like the shrimp will leap over the Dragon Gate to become a full-fledged sovereign, no? At most, they'll become a bit fatter, that's that."

"Why don't you go ask the librarian to rename it to <Twin Shrimps> technique instead?"

"Fa. Ther!" Wei Chang Luo cried in mock agony. Grabbing onto the hem of the robe, the handsome youth wrinkled his nose at the linen cloth, begrudgingly dressing himself into the fresh set of clothing.

"The librarian himself confirmed that the <Twin Dragons> technique is capable of contending against a Nascent Soul cultivator's peak strength at the mediant stages of the technique! It's just…that I… haven't gotten much progress over the past few months."

"Alright, alright, I'll stop teasing you, you thin-skinned brat." Wei Xuan's voice became gentle, staring at the reddened youth with an affectionate gaze, warmth blooming in his heart. "After a while, Father will give you some pointers, alright?"

"Then, Chang Luo shall give thanks…huh?" Wei Chang Luo's handsome countenance bloomed into a happy smile, before pausing midway.

His gaze seeming to have caught something suspicious, the youth glared daggers into the curtains of the bed.

"Father…are you keeping a mistress hidden away from Mother and Second Madam's attention?"

Pu!

Wei Xuan, who had just begun to taste the lotus seed soup before him to check for the consistency and temperature once more, choked as Wei Chang Luo's words finally filtered into his brain. His throat burning as it struggled to fully swallow the spoonful of viscous soup, the minister glared red-hot daggers into the youth's body, coughing repeatedly in an attempt to clear his throat.

"Cough cough…care…to repeat that…?"

"Are you alright Father?"

The handsome youth replied with a nonplussed expression on his countenance. His gaze didn't leave from the curtains of the bed as the youth continued to murmur in a dazed manner, every word clearly registered within Wei Xuan's mind.

"I mean, that figure's clearly of a young woman, and a beauty at that, no less. Although she's clearly on the thinner side, I suppose there's some benefits with that when Father needs a passionate-"

PA!

"AH!"

"F*ck, you're claiming that I'm lusting after my own daughter!?" The minister roared in fury, his countenance distorted from the veins bulging at his temple and neck.

"Don't you dare place such a hat on this minister, or watch what your father will do when he's angry!"

PA!

"AH! AH!" Wei Chang Luo shouted in agony, rubbing his head as two swollen, burning lumps sent excruciating spikes of pain to his mind. His father's words not yet registered in his mind, the youth continued to mumble in distress.

"That's clearly a young woman, Father, with your age, you have no conscience-"

PA!

His entire body trembling in anger, the minister instantly tackled the poor youth to the ground, raining blows down amidst Wei Chang Luo's cries of pain. Wei Xuan capitalized on his chance to berate the hapless youth, even going as far to scrounge up every article of dark history he hadn't scolded the brat about.

"That's your younger sister, for heaven's sake!" the minister shouted, shaking Wei Chang Luo with each word.

"Claiming that I, your Father, takes advantage of his own daughter, are you even my son, ah!? Did your brain rot to nothing at that Han Lin Academy, ah!? Chasing girls like you always did when you were little, lusting after those maidservants and pretty girls at the various scholar's associations and peony halls instead of properly studying your literature and practicing calligraphy, did you forget to pick up your intellect after enjoying a night of fun, hm!? Did you!?"

"My sister…but I saw both Xiao Yue and Xiao Yan earlier this morning, unless…no way!" the youth cried out, realization dawning on his face.

"…Fourth Sister is finally awake!? No way, Father, you have to let me see! I want to see my Fourth Younger Sister!"

"In your dreams!"

With a fierce snort, Wei Xuan tossed the once again ragged youth out of the study, slamming the doors shut and going as far to operate the locking mechanism. Ignoring the youth's futile attempts of pounding on the sturdy doors to gain entry, the minister walked back into the depths of the study whilst shaking his head.

Upon noticing that the bowl of lotus seed soup had cooled, Wei Xuan released a light sigh, before picking up the bowl.

"Fei'er," he called after several moments of hesitation. Looking at the curtains of the bed with expectation and feeling a sinking feeling in his chest after observing no response, Wei Xuan sighed before calling again.

"Sorry," he finally said.

"Father will quickly get you a new bowl of lotus seed soup, do you want anything else? You really have to eat something, for it's dangerous for your physique if you miss too many meals…"