Chapter 44

When Du Shaofu brought a few dishes from the kitchen, night had already fallen, the bright moon hung high, and the moonlight was like a ribbon, though it wasn't the 15th of August, the moonlight tonight was also very bright.

The two fathers and sons sat down, silent to each other.

Du Shaoting, reeking of alcohol, raised his head and took a sip of wine, then passed the wine bottle to Du Shaofu and asked, "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine, I just took a walk in the Savage Beast Mountains."

Du Shaofu knew that his alcoholic father was asking about his disappearance. He told his second uncle that he had secretly entered the Savage Beast Mountains to train himself, without mentioning the beautiful woman in white to avoid implicating Fu Yibai. Du Shaofu also didn't tell his second uncle about the Golden-winged Great Peng and the Purple Flame Demon Phoenix to avoid getting into trouble, not knowing how to explain it.

Du Shaofu took the wine bottle and drank a sip, then passed it back to his alcoholic father. Having grown up drinking with his alcoholic father and even stealing sips as a child, his alcohol tolerance was actually quite good.

"Oh."

Du Shaoting just said softly, then took the wine bottle and drank a big mouthful again, then said no more.

Du Shaofu was long accustomed to this mode of interaction between the two of them. Then the two fathers and sons drank, one sip at a time, and tonight they seemed to drink more than usual, until Du Shaofu felt dizzy and fell asleep in the courtyard. ...

In the early morning, when Du Shaofu woke up, rubbing his sleepy eyes, he found the surroundings pitch black.

"Am I in the ancestral hall's stone coffin again?"

Du Shaofu got up and pushed open the stone lid on the stone coffin. Indeed, he was in the stone coffin in the ancestral hall, his body drenched in sweat, with some impurities, feeling as if his bones and marrow had been washed again.

"Master Shaofu, the head of the household wants to see you in the study."

When he came out of the ancestral hall and returned to the courtyard, his alcoholic father was no longer there. After taking a bath and changing into a purple robe he usually liked to wear, Du Shaofu met the front courtyard manager, whom everyone in the Du family called Uncle Lin, an elderly man over sixty, a person highly regarded by his eldest uncle and with a high status in the entire Du family, who said that his eldest uncle wanted to see him.

Du Shaofu nodded. His second uncle had mentioned that his eldest uncle wanted to see him yesterday, and he didn't expect his eldest uncle to send someone to find him so early in the morning. He then thought of something and looked at the elderly man, asking, "Uncle Lin, how is Du Hai's performance in the back courtyard?"

"This..."

The old man was taken aback at first, then smiled slightly and said, "Master Shaofu, I almost forgot. Du Hai is the manager of the back courtyard, but his performance has been getting worse recently, and I am planning to punish him."

"Uncle Lin, you are a person highly regarded by my eldest uncle and by our Du family. Please take care of the Du family. Those who are not up to standard in the Du family should not be tolerated." Du Shaofu said, then smiled and left lightly.

Looking at Du Shaofu's back, the elderly man's face showed a hint of a smile, saying, "It seems this young master is about to take action. Who says this young master is foolish? How could the child of the third uncle be foolish? Some of the servants in the Du family now need to be moved."

Du Shaofu arrived at the study, his eldest uncle's study.

His eldest uncle did not ask him to go to the hall but to the study. Du Shaofu knew that his eldest uncle had never looked down on him, and not many people could enter his eldest uncle's study, even among the Du family's descendants.

"Shaofu, let your eldest uncle take a look."

When Du Shaofu pushed open the slightly ajar study door, a man in his forties with a heroic aura looked up and immediately came forward happily.

"Eldest Uncle." Du Shaofu bowed. The man in front of him was his eldest uncle, Du Zhenwu, a well-known figure in the entire Stone City.

"I heard about your situation. It's good that you're fine. Next time, don't go to the Savage Beast Mountains alone."

Du Zhenwu patted Du Shaofu's shoulder, pulling him into the study to sit down. His tense face showed a look of kindness, then he said, "I heard that you can now cultivate. Is that true?"

"Yes, I can cultivate now." Du Shaofu nodded, there was no need to hide this, as everyone in the Du family already knew.

"It's good that you've recovered, it's good. Heaven blesses our Du family, and Heaven pities my nephew Shaofu."

Du Zhenwu was very excited, looking at Du Shaofu with a happy smile. After a long time, his face became a bit more serious, and he said to Du Shaofu, "In about a month, it will be the triennial competition among the young generations of the five major families in Stone City. If you can win, not only will the winner receive great benefits, but the entire family will also benefit. Prepare well, the Du family needs you then."

"Okay."

Du Shaofu nodded. He had heard about the triennial gathering of the five major families before.

After chatting with his eldest uncle for a while, Du Shaofu bid farewell and left. For the questions his eldest uncle asked, he naturally evaded the ones he couldn't answer, always saying that he went to the Savage Beast Mountains to train himself.

Watching Du Shaofu leave, Du Zhenwu looked outside the study, his happy expression gradually fading, his eyes showing a hint of seriousness, saying, "The triennial gathering of the five major families, I hope nothing goes wrong this time." ...

Behind the Martial Arts Hall, in a spacious courtyard.

Fu Yibai, with his white hair like a bird's nest, squatted on the ground, watching the ants crawl around, his eyes fixed, looking very serious, but not daring to look up.

Du Shaofu stood behind Fu Yibai, then moved in front of him. Although he told his second uncle and eldest uncle that he had entered the Savage Beast Mountains on his own to avoid implicating Fu Yibai, it didn't mean he could pretend nothing had happened. At least he needed to find out what had happened from Fu Yibai.

Fu Yibai turned around without a trace, still facing the ants in front of him.

Du Shaofu got angry, squatted in front of Fu Yibai, and said, "Old Bai, you have to give me an explanation."

"What explanation?" Fu Yibai looked up at Du Shaofu with a blank face, his eyes looking very innocent.

"Don't pretend to be stupid. What's the deal with that beautiful woman? Do you know? This time, you almost got me killed."

The more Du Shaofu spoke, the angrier and more agitated he became. He was completely implicated by this old man, risking his life, almost dying, and now this old man was actually refusing to take responsibility.

Fu Yibai looked at Du Shaofu, completely ignoring his agitated face, and said, "Are you dead now?"

Du Shaofu was taken aback, gritting his teeth, "No."

"Are you missing any limbs?" Fu Yibai continued to ask.

Du Shaofu gritted his teeth again, "No."

"That's it."

Fu Yibai looked at Du Shaofu with disdain, then said, "She looks cold as ice, but she doesn't kill people randomly. You, on the other hand, missed a great opportunity. How many people in this world want to be her disciple? If you had found a chance to stick to her, she might have taken you as a disciple, and you would have become famous in the world, much better than staying in this small Du family. I really feel sorry for you."

Du Shaofu was taken aback, listening to Fu Yibai's words, it seemed like he owed Fu Yibai a great favor.

"Fu Yibai, stand still."

Just as Du Shaofu was taken aback, Fu Yibai had already disappeared from the spot.

A short while later, at the back mountain of the Du family, smoke rose.

Du Shaofu and Fu Yibai were eating roasted meat, eating heartily, devouring it.

However, no matter how Du Shaofu asked about the identity of the beautiful woman in white and her relationship with Fu Yibai, Fu Yibai always dodged the questions. In the end, Du Shaofu had many questions in his heart, but could only keep them to himself.

"You take good care of the things on your body, don't lose them. Whether you can understand them on your own depends on your own ability."

After eating, Du Shaofu was burping, and Fu Yibai suddenly said something incomprehensible to him, then said, "I'm full, I'm going to take a nap."

Du Shaofu was taken aback again. When he came to his senses, Fu Yibai's figure had already disappeared.

"Du Shaofu, you're finally back."

In the afternoon, Du Shaofu was planning to return from the back mountain. Just as he reached the back courtyard gate, he was blocked by a group of people.

Du Shaofu looked up, and the people blocking him were all familiar. Du Hao, the grandson of the elder, was among them, as well as Du Chong and Du Yan, and others who were also Du family descendants.

Looking at these people, Du Shaofu's eyes flickered, then he smiled and said, "Are you here to give me the medicinal pills and spirit coins? It seems you haven't forgotten, you still owe me ten years of medicinal pills and spirit coins."

"Bullshit, quickly return our Foundation Establishment Pill and the Blood of the Boulder Demon Wolf, or we won't be nice to you!"

Du Hao was furious. The Blood of the Boulder Demon Wolf was such a treasure, and it had been taken away. How could he swallow his anger? His father had gone to the head of the family, but Du Shaofu had mysteriously disappeared, so it had to be left unresolved. Hearing that Du Shaofu had returned in the evening, he gathered the people who had suffered that day and came to settle accounts with Du Shaofu, unexpectedly meeting him in the back courtyard.

"Du Shaofu, quickly return the Foundation Establishment Pill and the Blood of the Boulder Demon Wolf, or don't blame us for being unfriendly."

Du Chong and Du Yan also shouted loudly. For over a month, they had been ashamed to face anyone. The three of them had their rewards taken by Du Shaofu, and now the uncles and aunts in the Du family looked at them differently.

They even dared not go out, as the news that the three of them couldn't even withstand one move from Du Shaofu had spread to the other major families, the An family, Cheng family, Qin family, and Bai family. Whenever they saw these people, they would be loudly mocked, and now the whole city knew about it.

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