Divine Emperor of Heavenly Destiny

Lu Chao’s eyes were filled with coldness, killing intent brewing within him.

But then his gaze fell to the Xiao Su’er in his arms...

The image of her throwing herself into the raging fire, heedless of her own safety, flashed through his mind, and the coldness in his eyes instantly melted into tenderness.

Quietly holding Xiao Su’er, Lu Chao thought, ’You and your father can’t bring yourselves to do it. So, I will.’

Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye...

Lu Chao, who had been waiting, saw Doctor Liu emerge from the room, looking exhausted but smiling.

”He’s out of danger now.”

”We’ve finally saved your father. He won’t wake up until dawn tomorrow, but you can go in and watch over him.”

With a deep nod of thanks, Lu Chao gently carried Cheng Yunsu into the room.

Just then, she stirred and woke up.

Upon learning that her father had been saved, she finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

Tears of joy streamed down her face. She rushed to her father’s bedside, calling softly, ”Father, Father...”

Just then, Lu Chao spoke slowly from behind Cheng Yunsu. ”Xiao Su’er, you take good care of your father. I’m going out for a bit.”

Hearing this, Cheng Yunsu’s body, her back still turned to Lu Chao, trembled slightly.

She turned and looked at Lu Chao’s back as he was turning to leave, seeming to understand something.

Cheng Yunsu suddenly lowered her voice, which was laced with pain. ”Lu Chao, Father instructed in his letter...”

Lu Chao gave a wry smile. ”I know. Don’t worry.”

In a flash, Lu Chao slipped out of Doctor Liu’s clinic like a phantom. Night had fallen, and the sky was a gloomy, starless, moonless void.

It was a dark and windy night—a night fit for murder!

...

「Inside Cheng Chuyan’s courtyard at the Cheng Mansion.」

Two tall, handsome household servants were massaging Cheng Chuyan’s shoulders. Her son, Cheng Gai, sat before her.

”Mother, Cheng Chuming has left the Cheng Mansion. I don’t know where he’s run off to.”

”That Life-taking Bone Calamity Star and Cheng Yunsu seemed to rush out looking for someone. It looks like something’s gone wrong. Do you think our plan will be exposed?”

”Thinking back, Bai Xin’s vicious plan was full of holes.”

Cheng Gai was worried and now, in hindsight, afraid.

Earlier, Bai Xin had gone to put more pressure on Cheng Chuming, but couldn’t find him. At the same time, a household servant went to Cheng Yunsu’s room and found no one there either. It was only after asking around on the street that they learned something had gone wrong.

”Don’t you worry, son. With anyone else, our plan might have been exposed. But not with Cheng Chuming.”

Cheng Chuyan stretched languidly, a smug smile on her face.

”I know my dear older brother...”

”He’s just having a breakdown and went to blow off some steam. That Life-taking Bone Calamity Star and his companion just got tired of waiting and went looking for him, worried something might have happened.”

”In any case, even if he can’t bring himself to kill Cheng Yunsu, he won’t dare speak the truth.”

At this, the corner of her lip curled into a slight smirk.

”And don’t you think for a second that your grandfather wouldn’t dare to kill Cheng Yunxiang. He would.”

”Cheng Chuming knows your grandfather better than I do. If he dares to step out of line, his son, Cheng Yunxiang, will be the first to die.”

”Bai Xin thinks it’s all an act.”

”But if Cheng Chuming dares to say the wrong thing, your grandfather can turn that act into reality for Cheng Yunxiang at a moment’s notice.”

Hearing this, the hair on Cheng Gai’s arms stood on end. ’This grandfather of mine, Cheng Weishan... isn’t he too terrifying?’

’He’d kill his own grandson just like that?’

Letting out a soft, derisive laugh, Cheng Chuyan waved her hand, dismissing the two household servants.

”Gai, let me tell you a secret.”

”Cheng Chuming and I don’t share the same mother. Very few people know this, not even your Second Uncle Chugong.”

”Cheng Chuming himself probably has his suspicions, he just doesn’t dare ask.”

Hearing this, Cheng Gai’s eyes widened in disbelief.

”But what Cheng Chuming definitely doesn’t know is that he and I... we don’t even have the same father.”

At his mother Cheng Chuyan’s words, Cheng Gai subconsciously tried to stand, but his legs hadn’t healed yet.

’Not the same father?’

’Doesn’t that mean Cheng Chuming isn’t Grandfather Cheng Weishan’s son at all?’

Her eyes narrowed as she continued, ”Your grandmother told me this a few years ago, before she died. She said that Cheng Chuming was not her biological son and that your grandfather had another woman before her.”

”And that woman was forced by your grandfather to... attend to a very powerful man. Cheng Chuming was the result of that union.”

”As for who this powerful man was, your grandmother didn’t know.”

”So, you tell me, do you think your grandfather would have even the slightest hesitation in killing Cheng Yunxiang?”

’He’s not even his biological grandson. Why would he hesitate?’

Cheng Gai’s pupils constricted in excitement. He quickly asked his mother, ”What happened to Cheng Chuming’s birth mother?”

”She died long ago, of course.”

”Your grandmother said that not long after the woman gave birth to Cheng Chuming, your grandfather tried to force her to serve a second powerful man. She took poison and killed herself instead. So pitiful, isn’t it?”

”HEE HEE HEE...”

Hearing his mother Cheng Chuyan’s chilling laughter, Cheng Gai asked, ”Why doesn’t anyone know about this?”

”Of course he couldn’t tell anyone. It was a massive scandal, and it would have ruined your grandfather’s reputation.”

”Besides, how do you think your grandfather established one of the four great families of Yangzhou City?”

”It’s all thanks to this. That powerful man was very pleased and rewarded your grandfather with many fine things, allowing him to become a top-tier master in Yangzhou City overnight and establish his own family.”

”Naturally, he couldn’t let people gossip, and he certainly couldn’t let Cheng Chuming find out. What if he decided to avenge his mother?”

”Your grandfather kept that bastard Cheng Chuming around, thinking that if that powerful man ever returned to Yangzhou, he could use the boy to claim a connection.”

”But that never came to pass.”

The more Cheng Gai heard, the more thrilling he found it all. Suddenly, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.

”If only Cheng Yunxiang and Cheng Yunsu were both dead, then maybe... I’d have a chance to become the Patriarch of the Cheng Mansion.”

At this, Cheng Chuyan lightly licked her lips.

It was because she knew this secret that she, Cheng Chuyan, had secretly arranged for her own husband’s death—Cheng Gai’s father.

Then she had Cheng Gai take the Cheng surname, all for the sake of one day seizing the position of Patriarch of the Cheng Mansion.

”Once Bai Wenrong is dead, Bai Xin will lose the powerful backing of her family. Then, even if Cheng Yunxiang doesn’t die, your grandfather will cast him aside.”

”Then we just have to cripple your second uncle and the others, and our chance will come.”

Nodding emphatically, Cheng Gai began to eagerly hope that Bai Wenrong would just hurry up and die, that he would be beyond saving.

However, just as the mother and son were rubbing their hands in glee...

A cold voice abruptly echoed through the room. ”Is everything you just said true?”

Instantly... a chill shot through them.

Every hair on the bodies of Cheng Chuyan and her son, Cheng Gai, stood on end. They snapped their heads toward the source of the voice.

There, perched on the windowsill, was a figure dressed all in black. It was Lu Chao.

”Life-taking Bone Calamity Star! Y-y-you... what are you doing here?”

Cheng Gai screamed in terror. The only answer he received was the sight of a small stone in Lu Chao’s hand.

With a flick of his finger... THWACK!

The pebble shot through the air and straight toward Cheng Gai. A bloody hole appeared on his forehead.

Cheng Gai collapsed to the ground, dead before he hit the floor, his eyes wide with disbelief.

For a moment, Cheng Chuyan was frozen in shock. Then she scrambled forward, shrieking, ”Gai! My Gai!”

But Cheng Gai could no longer respond. He was deader than dead.