I dare not.
The three words, spoken with a trembling voice, reached their ears. Gazing at Su Yuanshan's tear-streaked face, both Jiang Wuming and the mother-daughter pair, Liu Guifang and Su Shiyun, were stunned.
Why did Su Yuanshan dare not?
If Su Yuanshan dared not, why did he appear now?
"Hoo... I know you all have many questions, and I will answer them one by one."
As Jiang Wuming and the other two were in a state of bewilderment, Su Yuanshan wiped his tears, took a deep breath to calm his emotions, and then slowly began, "All of this began twelve years ago."
This time, Jiang Wuming, Liu Guifang, and Su Shiyun remained silent.
"Twelve years ago, Shirong passed away in an accident."
As Su Yuanshan spoke of this, deep pain etched itself onto his features.
Su Shirong's generation had four brothers. He was the only one who did not get involved in the Su family's business.
He joined the army at eighteen and became a member of the elite Zhanlong Special Forces, the sharpest blade in the military at the time. He was a comrade-in-arms with Jiang Wuming's biological parents.
Back then, the military's power far surpassed that of the martial arts community, not only in Long Country but globally.
As a member of Long Country's strongest special forces unit, Su Shirong had been a source of pride for Su Yuanshan!
Later, even when martial arts had fully risen and the military had declined, and the Zhanlong Special Forces were disbanded, Su Shirong retired and returned to the Su family. He leveraged the skills honed in Zhanlong and the connections he had built to safeguard the Su family.
Under such circumstances, Su Shirong's death was a devastating blow to Su Yuanshan and a great loss to the Su family!
Even now, recalling it brought him immense heartache!
Hearing Su Yuanshan's words, Liu Guifang and Su Shiyun's eyes reddened, and they silently wiped away their tears.
Even Jiang Wuming wore a somber expression.
That man named Su Shirong, although not his biological father, had treated him like his own child. In fact, he had doted on him even more than Su Shiyun! Da Feng Novel Network.
"Not long after Shirong's passing, one night, a mysterious person suddenly appeared at my residence and told me that all the members of the Zhanlong Special Forces from that time had been killed. Shirong's death was not an accident, but a deliberate act of murder!"
Su Yuanshan paused again at this point, his emotions becoming agitated.
*Swish!*
Simultaneously, the complexions of Jiang Wuming, Liu Guifang, and Su Shiyun, the mother and daughter, changed dramatically!
Including Jiang Wuming, they had all believed Su Shirong's death to be an accident!
Yet now, Su Yuanshan claimed it was a deliberate act of murder!
"Thinking back, Shirong's death was indeed quite peculiar. He was a member of the Zhanlong Special Forces. Don't talk about driving a car, he could pilot an airplane or even command a warship. How could he possibly have died in a car accident?"
As Su Yuanshan spoke, he weakly closed his eyes, adjusted his emotions once more, and then opened them to continue, "That mysterious person warned me that since someone was retaliating against the members of the Zhanlong Special Forces, it was highly likely that their families would be targeted. He advised me to have you three leave the Su family, and preferably sever all contact. Otherwise, you three would be in mortal danger, and the entire Su family could face utter annihilation!"
"That night, after the mysterious person said these things, he left. I used all my connections to investigate Shirong's former comrades, and the information I received was the same as what the mysterious person had said – all the retired Zhanlong members were dead, all in accidents.
Upon learning all this, I panicked. I thought about it all night and finally decided to adopt the mysterious person's suggestion.
The next day, Shiyun, you secretly took the medication I had obtained at great cost and gave it to Wuming. I used that as an excuse to drive you out of the Su family."
Su Yuanshan explained the entire sequence of events that led to him driving Jiang Wuming and the other two out of the Su family in one breath. Then, he looked at the three with self-blame and guilt. "If it weren't for this, how could I have done such a thing? While that medication was precious, it was nowhere near as important as the three of you!"
Hearing Su Yuanshan's words, Liu Guifang and Su Shiyun, the mother and daughter, were stunned.
All along, they had never understood Su Yuanshan's actions back then, even harboring resentment towards him. They had never imagined there was such a hidden reason!
Jiang Wuming was also somewhat shocked. At the same time, judging by Su Yuanshan's expression when he spoke, he could almost be certain that Su Yuanshan was not lying!
"After you three left the Su family, I was worried that something might happen to you, so I had Zhong Gang secretly follow you. Only when you returned to the Liu family did I feel at ease and instructed Zhong Gang to leave."
Seeing that Jiang Wuming and the other two remained silent, Su Yuanshan continued, "From then on, I constantly monitored your movements, but I also remembered the mysterious person's warning, so I never dared to contact you or even see you, until Wuming had his accident eight years ago.
At that time, after learning of this, I considered whether to help the Liu family deal with the Zheng family to ensure Wuming's safety.
After all, it had been a long time since you left the Su family, and no accidents had occurred in the interim.
As I was contemplating, I received news that the Liu family was willing to protect Wuming, but Wuming had left the Liu family and disappeared."
Su Yuanshan then directed his gaze at Jiang Wuming, "Child, after you left the Liu family, I had Zhong Gang search for you with great effort, but we couldn't find you."
Jiang Wuming sighed inwardly. He had gone to Longhu Mountain with his master and practiced martial arts in the mountains for four years, almost cut off from the world. The Su family would never have been able to find him.
"Because I couldn't find Wuming, I temporarily gave up on looking for you until Shiyun had her accident this time."
Seeing Jiang Wuming's silence, Su Yuanshan shifted his gaze to Su Shiyun and said, "When I learned that the Zheng family was retaliating against the Liu family, I knew the Liu family was no match for them. However, your actions, Shiyun, completely exceeded my expectations – under your leadership, the Liu family managed to narrowly withstand the Zheng family's first wave of retaliation."
"After that, it was as I said at the beginning. I went to find Jiang Zhengyi to handle the marriage contract, cough..."
Su Yuanshan recounted the entire chain of events in one go, and then began to cough again.
"Dad, please have some water."
Liu Guifang, seeing this, quickly handed him a cup of water.
Kind-hearted as she was, she now fully believed Su Yuanshan's words and harbored no more resentment towards Su Yuanshan or the Su family!
"Grandpa, according to what you've said, after you learned about the Zheng family's incident and, due to the mysterious person's warning back then, changed your decision and stopped seeing us, why did you come now?"
Su Shiyun, however, asked the question that was on her mind.
Although she also believed Su Yuanshan's words, she maintained a degree of rationality and pinpointed a flaw in Su Yuanshan's narrative.
"Because the mysterious person appeared again this morning."
Su Yuanshan took a sip of water and enlightened Su Shiyun, "He told me that there's no need to worry about the people who retaliated against the Zhanlong Special Forces targeting their families anymore."
"So that's how it is!"
Su Shiyun suddenly realized.
"Grandpa Su, did the mysterious person tell you the reason? Also, who is this mysterious person, and what does he look like?"
Jiang Wuming also spoke. He too believed Su Yuanshan's words but still had lingering questions.
His return, the mysterious person's reappearance, and the fact that he told Su Yuanshan that his family and the Su family would no longer be in danger – was this a coincidence?
"No, he just gave me this information. I also don't know who he is, nor do I even know what he looks like."
Su Yuanshan shook his head slightly and said, "Because he was wearing a ghost mask."
Hm?
Jiang Wuming's expression suddenly changed!
...
...
ps: For those who like this book, don't forget to add it to your bookshelf and give it a like. Thanks!