Firmament Sword

Huo Lin, who had been in high spirits, felt as if he’d been struck on the head. He was dazed, frozen in place. The smile on his handsome face stiffened, replaced by utter confusion. He couldn’t understand why his grandfather, who had always been so kind and gentle with him, had suddenly exploded in such a rage.

”You bastard, what nonsense are you spouting? Get your ass in here now!” a roar echoed from the Patriarch’s living room.

The people who had followed Huo Lin, hoping to make a good impression on the Patriarch, were also stunned. They didn’t understand what had gone wrong and stood at the doorway, utterly bewildered and at a loss for what to do.

Huo Lin could no longer spare a thought for his followers. He lowered his head and cautiously pushed the door open. He saw his grandfather standing in the middle of the room, his face livid, staring at him coldly.

”Grandfather… I don’t know what I’ve done wrong to make you so angry,” Huo Lin said softly, bracing himself. His face was filled with a sense of grievance.

”You don’t know what you’ve done wrong? Fine. Then tell me, what did you come here to say?” The Huo Family Patriarch laughed in fury. He turned, sat back down in his chair, and casually tossed the secret report in his hand onto the table, his eyes fixed coolly on Huo Lin.

”I… I just led some men out to search for Beidou’s Eighth Star, and then…” Huo Lin cautiously raised his head, only to see his grandfather watching him with a blank expression. The words died in his throat.

From childhood to adulthood, Huo Lin had always been the kind of person who lived under a halo of glory.

Genius, outstanding, brilliant… He had heard so much praise that it almost sickened him. Over time, Huo Lin had grown accustomed to living in this atmosphere. He never imagined that one day someone would treat him like this—and that this person would be his own grandfather, the Patriarch of the Huo Family, a man he was destined to never be able to defy, nor dared to.

”Go on! And then what?” the Huo Family Patriarch asked coldly.

The corner of Huo Lin’s mouth twitched. He didn’t dare continue.

The Huo Family Patriarch’s voice was ice-cold. ”You don’t know what to say, is that it? Then I’ll say it for you!”

With that, he stood up, walked over to Huo Lin, and looked down at the grandson he had once doted on so much. He sighed internally. ’This child… has been spoiled rotten!’

”You bribed Huo Jinyin and Huo Jinshan to make a move on Huo Feng. Then, because you didn’t trust their abilities, you took a large number of powerful experts to follow them in secret, intending to completely obliterate Huo Feng.”

”But unexpectedly, for some reason, Huo Jinyin and Huo Jinshan failed, and Huo Feng and his group disappeared without a trace. And so, you, or that bunch of useless trash around you, came up with another idea—to lie!”

”You decided to come back and lie, claiming that Huo Feng had defected to Beidou’s Eighth Star, conspired with them to plot against Huo Jinshan and Huo Jinyin, killed them both, and then fled together… Is that it?”

As Huo Lin felt those two cold gazes upon him, he felt as if he had been seen through completely, left with no privacy at all. But what truly terrified him was that everything his grandfather, the Patriarch, had said was true!

”That…” Huo Lin wanted to defend himself, but he just couldn’t muster the courage. Lying to others was one thing, but lying to his own grandfather… The consequences were not something he, Huo Lin, could bear.

It didn’t matter how outstanding or doted upon Huo Lin had been before. It wouldn’t be enough!

”What ’that’? What I said… is it true or not?” The Huo Family Patriarch suddenly flared up, looking at Huo Lin with an expression of profound disappointment. ”Do you think I’m angry that you wanted to kill him? No, you’re wrong! I’m not angry about that at all. If you actually had the skill to kill him and do it flawlessly… I would only admire you more!”

”But you… you’ve disappointed me!” The Huo Family Patriarch shook his head and sighed. ”Framing someone… requires immense cunning and extremely high intelligence! Otherwise, even the slightest flaw can be seized upon by your enemies, and they will use it to strike back at you!”

”But Grandfather… that Huo Feng… does he have the ability to see the future? How could he possibly know all this?” Huo Lin couldn’t accept it. He just couldn’t accept it. He absolutely couldn’t accept it!

He couldn’t figure it out. He had clearly planned the whole thing flawlessly and possessed such overwhelming power. He should have been able to crush Huo Feng from his superior position. But why did that damn Huo Feng have to be as slippery as an eel…?

Suddenly, Huo Lin really hated eels.

”Heh… Huo Feng can see the future? Naive!” The Huo Family Patriarch glanced at Huo Lin, then tossed him the secret report from the table. ”Take a look.”

Huo Lin reached out, caught it, and opened it. After reading just a few lines, his eyes went wide with disbelief.

He murmured, ”How is this possible? How could he say this? This… this… this is too much!”

The secret report clearly stated that after a difficult search, their party had finally discovered the whereabouts of Beidou’s Eighth Star. They had tried to capture the Eighth Star but were unexpectedly met with extremely powerful resistance. Huo Jinshan and Huo Jinyin had sacrificed their lives heroically to protect the Young Master, Huo Feng. Although Huo Feng and the survivors were no match for Beidou’s Eighth Star, they had decided to continue tracking them for the sake of the Ancestor!

”Due to the urgency of the situation, we were unable to report in person and could only use this secret report to inform the Patriarch. Please, Patriarch and Ancestor, rest assured. We will report on the situation as it develops and will also take care of ourselves. —Huo Feng!”

After reading the last sentence, Huo Lin finally couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst out cursing, ”Shameless! That’s not what happened at all!”