After A Max-Level Celestial Master Transmigrated Into The Body Of A Sickly Beauty's Substitute - Chapter 7

Since the husband’s voice had been so loud earlier, she assumed the youngest son must have heard. Although Lan Ting’s attitude was clear—that he wanted to draw a line between himself and the Gu family—Madam Lan still felt a twinge of heartache, knowing he had once given his genuine heart to that relationship. Seeing her youngest son open the door with an indifferent expression and even offer her a faint smile, she felt an even greater sense of sorrow.

He was just too well-behaved. Even though he must be heartbroken, he insisted on pretending to be relaxed.

Unaware of the scenarios Madam Lan was imagining, Lan Ting asked with a smile in his voice, “What is the matter?”

As soon as he spoke, Madam Lan snapped out of her daze and reached out to tuck her arm into his, but Lan Ting dodged. His movement was so natural, as if it had happened by accident, that Madam Lan did not think twice about it.

As they walked, she said, “We have discussed it. Since the two families have fallen out and you have suffered such a major incident, the engagement should be cancelled.”

Madam Lan turned to look at him. “Your father’s meaning is that the Gu family has reaped many benefits through our name over the years. Since we have cut ties, we must make it clear to the public. We cannot let them continue to take advantage of us.”

Back in the day, the Gu family’s influence in Jinchuan was not strong; they were, at most, a mid-sized enterprise. It was only after the Gu boy began pursuing Lan Ting and they eventually got engaged that the Lan family, biting their tongues, provided them with plenty of resources. The Gu family was also lucky; they caught several favorable trends at the right time. Once they capitalized on those, the company grew strong. Nowadays, when Gu family members walked out, people would respectfully address them as “President Gu.”

However, even with their newfound wealth, the family lacked a solid foundation. The presence of the Lan family had cleared away many obstacles for them. Although the Lan family had opposed Lan Ting’s involvement with Gu Guixi, they were secretly soft-hearted, which resulted in the benefits given to the Gu family.

The two walked downstairs to find the father and son of the Lan family looking grim.

“The Gu family came today, and they were shameless enough to suggest continuing the marriage alliance!” Mr. Lan threw a stack of documents onto the coffee table with a loud thud, clearly furious.

Lan Lin sat to the side, his expression equally dark. “In their dreams.”

“What did the police say?” Mr. Lan suddenly looked up and asked.

The fact that Lan Ting had been inexplicably injured remained something the Lan family could not easily let go of. However, the matter was far too suspicious. They did not know the origin or the process, and even the suspect, Gu Guixi, had been seriously injured himself. Even with the Lan family applying pressure behind the scenes, the police could only sigh and say they could not find any valid evidence.

At the mention of this, Lan Lin’s expression became hesitant. He shook his head. “No progress.”

Mr. Lan slapped his thigh, his eyes filled with anger. “Did the private investigator find anything either?”

Since the police were helpless, the Lan family had hired a famous private investigator in the industry to secretly monitor the Gu family. But Lan Lin still shook his head. “Nothing.”

His eyes flickered, and he hesitated for a while, wondering if he should speak. Finally, he pursed his lips and said, “The private investigator we hired refused to continue working with us.”

Mr. Lan frowned. “Why?”

“Because he encountered strange things.”

When he said this, Lan Lin’s tone was very uncertain, clearly skeptical himself. “He said he followed the Gu family for several days but would inexplicably grow sleepy. Every time he woke up, the Gu family had already made several trips, so even if there were leads, he missed them all. His contract ended yesterday. He saw Gu Guixi suddenly leave the hospital and did not know where he went with the butler, so he followed him, but he got lost. To be precise, his own words were that he encountered a ghost wall.”

“A ghost wall?” Mr. Lan’s voice was full of doubt.

The term was not unfamiliar to anyone, but such a dramatic word, used by someone else as an excuse to quit, sounded ridiculous.

“Simply ridiculous, absurd!” Mr. Lan narrowed his eyes. “It must be the Gu family meddling. Maybe that person was bought off by them long ago.”

Compared to the supernatural, Lan Lin was also inclined to believe this answer. He pondered for a moment and said, “I will reach out to a few more people and see.”

“Hmm.”

As they spoke, Lan Ting and Madam Lan approached. As soon as Lan Ting sat down, his brother leaned over and asked, “That day, do you really not remember what happened?”

Back at the hospital, Lan Lin had been afraid of upsetting Lan Ting, so he had not brought it up. Lan Ting did not want to waste his breath explaining how he had escaped; the more he said, the more likely he was to trip up. With his current feeble body, dealing with one Gu Guixi was manageable, but facing several more would be exhausting. Until he found a way to unblock all his meridians, he did not plan to reveal his secrets to anyone. Furthermore, the Lan family members were avowed atheists; even if he told the truth, they might not believe him.

So, Lan Ting slowly shook his head. “I have forgotten everything.”

Everyone sighed, but they did not pressure him.

“Doctor Li also said that after suffering major trauma, it is very likely to cause selective amnesia.”

Lan Lin poured him a glass of water and comforted him. “It does not matter if you cannot remember. Brother will make them pay the price.”

Lan Ting obediently reached out to take the cup, hiding his indifference. “Thank you, Brother.”

Thanks to the Gu Sheng Ling Mu spell, Lan Ting’s right eye had briefly acquired the ability to see. With the help of his phone and the internet, he had learned quite a bit of information about this world. Standing in front of the bathroom mirror and staring at the person inside, Lan Ting lowered his eyes and chuckled softly.

“It bears a thirty percent resemblance to my true form.”

When he looked sideways, he saw a red dot flash briefly on his right earlobe. Lan Ting reached out to touch it. The original owner had a red mole on his earlobe, positioned neither high nor low, looking as if he were wearing an earring.

Suddenly, his phone rang; it was a WeChat notification. For the first time in such a long time, someone had contacted the original owner. Lan Ting ignored it, but the phone kept ringing, and the person’s messages kept popping up, annoying him until he finally picked it up to take a look.

The other party likely thought typing was too slow and kept sending voice messages. Lan Ting looked up and saw the name: Mu Chun. He remembered this person; they had been the original owner’s best friend, but because Mu Chun often chattered on about how bad Gu Guixi was, and due to Gu Guixi’s prompting, they had stopped talking long ago. Mu Chun had sent too many messages, one after another, all of them sixty seconds long. It made his head hurt just looking at them.

Lan Ting clicked on the top one, and a young, energetic voice came through.

“Little Ting, I just heard from my dad that your family is throwing a banquet to announce the cancellation of your engagement with Gu Guixi. Is it true? Is it? Is it really true?”

The tone was very excited, but the chatter was overwhelming. Lan Ting chose to cut his losses; hearing only half, he quit the playback and clicked to convert it to text. He had not expected the Lan family to act so quickly to spread the news. Lan Ting looked at the wall of voice messages below and the still-flashing WeChat avatar. He lowered his eyes, locked the screen, and muted the phone.

The whole world became quiet.

Mu Chun, on the other end, did not know he had been shunned. He was immersed in the joy that his blind friend had finally broken up with that idiot, chattering away for a long time. It was only at the very end that he realized something and muttered to himself, “As expected, hanging out with an idiot makes you bad. He has even become this rude.”

After complaining, he excitedly ran out. “Dad, take me to the Lan family banquet!”

After nightfall, the effect of the solar essence began to fade, and the power of the Gu Sheng Ling Mu would soon disappear. Lan Ting glanced at his phone one last time, just as Mu Chun was sending him another message. The other party had sent a photo of two hands, clearly belonging to the same person, each holding a glass of wine, clinking them together.

Mu Chun’s caption read: Celebrating your breakup with the idiot.

Lan Ting remained silent.

The spiritual eyes were about to vanish. Lan Ting rested his chin on his palm, lost in thought.

“If it can draw in solar essence, should it be able to draw in lunar essence as well?” he murmured.

The essence of the sun and moon was highly beneficial for cultivation. If he wanted to accelerate the unblocking of his entire meridian system, these two things were essential. Saying this, Lan Ting acted immediately. Absorbing lunar essence was similar to solar essence; as long as the clouds parted and the moonlight shone down, the hidden lunar energy could be used.

Lan Ting had been born knowing how to absorb spiritual energy. He did not need complicated spells or to seek out land with perfect feng shui. As long as he stood there, if he wished it, the lunar essence would naturally flow toward him. Tiny specks of silver light gathered into an invisible galaxy, circling around Lan Ting like a dreamlike planetary ring. Under the reflection of the lunar essence, the youth looked nearly transparent, as if he were glowing.

Human meridians are extensive, intersecting in complex ways. With the help of the lunar essence, the spiritual energy flowed through more than half of his cycle, and several blocked meridians were gradually cleared. Just when Lan Ting thought he might succeed, the final gate began to crack and collapse. Once the meridians collapsed, a person was essentially crippled.

Lan Ting had no choice but to give up at the very end. He retracted the spiritual energy, and the blocked meridians failed to clear, returning to their previous state. He was back to square one. Beads of sweat trickled down Lan Ting’s forehead; his eyelashes were damp, and his complexion was unreadable.

After a long while, he spat out two words in a low voice: “Trash.”

However, the slight collapse of the meridians still brought him harm. After speaking, Lan Ting leaned over, his chest throbbing with pain as he spat out fresh blood.

The moment the blood fell, the rusted sword, which had been so silent it felt non-existent, suddenly emitted a clear, sharp chime. The sword flew away from Lan Ting’s side, and at the last possible second, the tail of the sword caught a drop of crimson.

The bloodstain vanished into the tail of the sword almost instantly. The entire blade vibrated with excitement. The part stained with blood, which had looked like inherent rust, actually showed signs of flaking off. Originally, Lan Ting had just watched with cold eyes, but now his expression changed drastically. He reached out with lightning speed to grasp the sword hilt.

A second later, he pressed his fingertips onto the barely visible bloodstain on the sword’s tail. Spiritual light flickered, and he quickly stripped away his own blood. He forced himself to swallow the metallic sweetness rising in his throat, his gaze ferocious, though his tone sounded extremely gentle:

“What are you, to be worthy of being my sword?”