Chapter 62: Cousin Gu Qing Ke
With exquisite beauty, a graceful young lady dressed in elegant and fancy attire stepped outside from the Ye Household. The moment she spotted Ye Chen Yuan, she could have been knocked down with a feather!
“You… you are…”
She clasped her hand over her mouth, her eyes widening with incredulity. “You are Ye Chen gege!” 1
Ye Chen Yuan was shocked as well. He recalled the memories of his past respectively, and his gaze unintentionally warmed, his lips curved upward slightly.
“It’s been a long time, cousin Qing Ke.”
After such a long time, Ye Chen Yuan’s tenor was like that of a grown jade tree which had faced the wind.2 Gu Qing Ke was at a loss for words, unable to speak for a long time, before a voice suddenly broke the silence behind her.
“Junior sister Gu, who has come?”
A plain and ordinary-looking youth stepped outside with eyes of hostility, looking to be either fifteen or sixteen years old. His footsteps were extremely rough and excessive, displaying none of the stealth that young cultivators should have.
“This…”
The moment his eyes met Ye Chen Yuan, they rounded in pure shock. Almost as if he had seen a ghost, he raced into the pavilion shouting at the top of his lungs.
“This isn’t good! The waste came back alive!!”
The instant he said that, the entire Ye household was alerted. With a mien as menacing as his attitude, Ye Chen Yuan scowled fixedly, before Gu Qing Ke tugged on his hand.
“Chen Yuan gege, it’s really you!” Her face flushed, it seemed she could hardly contain her delight. “It’s all my fault! If you’d left while I was still here, I would never let them do this to you! After you left, I pleaded with father to search for you, but father said he couldn’t find you, and that you’d likely be dead… I…”
Ye Chen Yuan looked at her gratefully, but withdrew his hand. “Cousin Qing Ke, thank you for helping me those few times when I was still in this Ye family.”
Ye Chen Yuan had been faced with abuse and neglect ad nauseam in the Ye household. It seemed that the people of his family wanted to dispose of him, yet that foreign cousin persistently extended a helping hand in times of need, so he was grateful to this distant relative of his.
But before they could say any more, a multitude of people swarmed the premises from inside the pavilion, led by the Ye family’s second young master who had just bolted inside.
“Damn you! You still dare to come back after you slaughtered Fourth Grandfather? Hurry, catch that trash and tie him up! If he dares to resist, cut him down immediately!”
“Let’s see who dares!”
Without waiting for Ye Chen Yuan to reply, Gu Qing Ke protectively stood before him with a stern expression.
“Chen Yuan gege is no longer a member of the Ye family. You have no right to execute him!”
“This… Junior Sister Gu, how can you side with an outsider?!”
Gu Qing Ke gave him an icy glare. “You must also know that you and I are not family.”
“You!” Ye Wei cursed under his breath and appeared to be visibly angered. For so many years, he has been careful not to fall into her disfavor. This Gu Qing Ke is an impatient and distant person. If it weren’t for her family’s meritorious services toward the country, he would have already snatched and taught her a lesson a long time ago!
Gu Qing Ke always remained aloof from Ye family’s matters, yet she has her eyes on Ye Chen Yuan, that waste! It’s really hard to swallow this humiliation!
“Sister Gu, don’t forget! Ye Chen Yuan is just a Fifth Level of Qi Condensation3 wastrel! You want to protect him, but good luck seeing how he can bear this fortune!”
When Gu Qing Ke wanted to oppose him further, Ye Chen Yuan suddenly reached out and pulled her behind him in a protective stance.
“Qing Ke meimei,4 you don’t have to interfere with this matter, I’ll deal with it.”
“Chen Yuan gege, you… can you really? Ye Wei is already at the Tenth Level of Qi Condensation, while you…”
Gu Qing Ke searched Ye Chen Yuan’s eyes with her own, a worried expression surfacing. He is indeed at the Fifth Level of Qi Condensation, and, with mixed spiritual veins,5 it’s unsuitable for his cultivation. If he were to be injured, or worse, killed, before transcending the Qi Condensation stage, that would truly be dreadful, especially having reunited after such a long time, so of course she couldn’t help but be anxious.
Before Ye Chen Yuan had the chance to respond, Ye Wei sneered and said conceitedly, “do you know how magnificent this Lord here is? I’m on the Tenth Level of Qi Condensation! If you don’t want to be beaten to death, I advise you to surrender while you still have the chance! The Clan Head can handle you personally then!”
Ye Chen Yuan couldn’t help but chuckle to himself. The road to cultivating immortality is strenuous and difficult. Ye Wei is sixteen years old and at the Tenth Level of Qi Condensation. He is, in point of fact, well-qualified, but his experience could never amount to Ye Chen Yuan’s, with a revered cultivator like Yuan Chu for his master, and a careful teacher like Elder Li. Tenth Level? That was a stage he had transcended long ago.
“Then I must learn how brilliant your moves are.” Ye Chen Yuan mocked him with a cunning smirk on his lips. “I want to see for myself how outstanding the Second Young Master’s skills really are.”
Being called “second” really made Ye Wei’s blood boil, because the First Young Master has always been known as an esteemed genius since he was a child. Ye Wei has never been able to surpass him, and, hence, has always lived in the shadow of his older brother!
“You shut your mouth!” Ye Wei charged at Ye Chen Yuan. There were a limited amount of skills that could be used in the Qi Condensation stage, and, as soon as he was within range, Ye Wei used the strongest move. White light gathered into his hands, emitting in all directions. If an average person were to be struck with such an attack, it would undoubtedly cause grave injury.
But his fist stopped only half a meter away from Ye Chen Yuan’s face! Almost as if there was some invisible force blocking him, he couldn’t penetrate it no matter how he tried.
“As it turns out, is this the only skill you possess?”
Ye Chen Yuan was more than a little disappointed with this subpar show of strength. Back in his childhood, when he had not a strand of spiritual power, Ye Wei’s fist had always served as an incessant reminder of his inferior strength. But now, that same fist of Ye Wei’s was charging toward him, yet it might as well have been a feather.
With a wave of his hand, Ye Wei let out a shrill and ear-piercing shriek as his internal pressure rose excessively and burst violently forth. If he wasn’t leading a mass of guards, he’s afraid that he’d have been destroyed by now!
Gu Qing Ke looked toward Ye Chen Yuan in astonishment, this image was doubly shocking!
Ye Chen Yuan is only at the Fifth Level of Qi Condensation, but he was still able to defeat Ye Wei easily. Wouldn’t that mean Ye Chen Yuan’s cultivation base exceeds Ye Wei’s? But is he not just fourteen years old right now?!
Ye Chen Yuan disregarded the horrid wailing beside him, instead reaching his hand out to Gu Qing Ke.
“Qing Ke meimei, don’t you want to come in and watch this play unfold with me?”
***
The current Clan Head of the Ye Family was Ye Wei’s father, so it can be imagined how he froze in shock at the sight of his gravely injured son being carried into the pavilion!
“How did this happen? Did Ye Chen Yuan bring an expert to support him?!”
He would have never thought that it was actually Ye Chen Yuan who had injured him like this.
As soon as his voice fell, Ye Chen Yuan callously walked into the room, looking every bit as cold as night, and as cold as death.
“No, I came alone. It’s been a long time, hasn’t it, Grand Uncle?”
“Ye… Ye Chen Yuan!!”
Ye Lei looked at Ye Chen Yuan, shocked. He did not expect that within just seven years, Ye Chen Yuan could’ve been able to change so much!
Initially, he killed the Fourth Elder, who always refuted him, for his own selfish success. And then he forced the blame onto Ye Chen Yuan in order to have him ousted from the Ye family, but who would have thought that child would still be alive!
But if there wasn’t enough evidence behind the return of that child, that same child had injured his very own son and is standing right before his eyes!
Ye Lei backed toward the wall, afraid to take his eyes off this child for even a moment. But when he thought twice, he already reached the Late Stage Foundation Building, why was there a need to be afraid of this Fifth Level of Qi Condensation waste? He spoke coldly.
“You still have the face to come back here? You are no longer a member of the Ye family, and you are no longer qualified to stand on the threshold of this Ye house!”
Gu Qing Ke came over from behind Ye Chen Yuan, and spoke reproachfully. “Uncle Ye, what you’ve just said is wrong, you are terribly mistaken.”
She scoffed disdainfully. “Ye Chen Yuan is the only son of the Clan Head! When the Clan Head went missing that year, the position should have been rightfully handed over to him, the sole heir, when he reached adulthood! As members of the Ye family, it was your job to guide him on that path! Only, a covetous snake was greedy for power, and framed Chen Yuan gege, who was only seven years old, for murder, and had him thrown out. How would a seven year old child with no spiritual power have killed him?”
1: “You are Ye Chen gege!” : Gege (哥哥), meaning elder brother, is used as a term of affection or familiarity. You can use it with a male older than yourself who you’re close to, he doesn’t have to be your blood-related brother.
2: grown jade tree which has faced the wind : an idiom 玉树临风 (yu shu lin feng) meaning a person that has grown from overcoming trials and tribulation.
3: Fifth level of Qi Condensation : 五灵根 which directly translates to five spiritual roots (wu linggen). In case you’re unfamiliar with this term, most Xianxia / Wuxia / Xuanhuan novels have different realms of cultivation that are arranged into levels starting with Qi (“life energy” ) Condensation, then Foundation Building, Nascent Soul, etc,. Five spiritual roots means Fifth Rank/Level/Stage of Qi Condensation. You can read more about it here: https://xian-ni.fandom.com/wiki/Qi_Condensation.
4: “Qing Ke meimei” : Meimei (妹妹), meaning younger sister, is similar to the term gege. Read the second footnote if you’re curious.
5: Mixed Spiritual Veins : The sentence here was 这种灵根驳杂的人，最不适合修炼了，若是没有奇遇，将一辈子止于炼气期，所以，她真的很担心. Generally, in cultivation novels, when you have mixed spiritual veins (spiritual vein/root of more than one element), it means you’ll cultivate slower, so people look down on people who have mixed spiritual veins. And people who have a pure spiritual vein (spiritual vein/root of a single element) cultivate faster, so it’s more beneficial. I’m not sure if this is what GQY is talking about in that sentence, I might have misinterpreted it, so correct me if I’m wrong!