Gu Sijun trotted over with a patter. Liu Jiangfusheng squatted before the cage, gently wiping away his tears. At this moment, Gu Sijun was like a small beast that had lowered its claws, with red, tear-soaked eyes and a damp nose.
Liu Jiangfusheng patiently told him about the events of that year.
Impartially.
It was then that Gu Sijun suddenly understood that his mother had not abandoned them at all; she had merely... abandoned his father.
These words, while not wrong, were still somewhat painful for the person involved to hear.
Liu Jiangfusheng, who had been unintentionally stabbed in the chest, could only choose to forgive when facing his own son.
Now that he knew his mother had been looking for them, Gu Sijun no longer had any reservations.
"I, I want to tell Mother now!"
Gu Sijun, excited, stopped his tears. He sniffled, turned around, and was about to run.
But he was stopped by a word from Liu Jiangfusheng.
"Sijun, if you say it now, your mother will not come back to us."
Gu Sijun's footsteps faltered, and he looked at him with his bright, watery eyes, full of confusion.
What did he mean by... Mother won't come back to us?
"Sijun, do you want a stepfather?" Liu Jiangfusheng asked him seriously.
Gu Sijun's little mouth pouted, and he unhappily thought, who would want a stepfather.
"If your mother marries someone else, you will have a stepfather. If you listen to your father, your mother, you, and Lebao, the four of us will always be a family. You will have the love of your parents. Don't you want this?"
No matter how much Gu Sijun complained about his father's favoritism, he never truly wanted a stepfather. When he had said to Gu Junshi that he would find a new set of parents, it was just out of anger, a deliberate attempt to retaliate.
He remained silent, dejected.
Liu Jiangfusheng knew his own "weak power," so he intended to rely on his son: "Sijun, if you want your mother to come back to us, you must help your father."
But Gu Sijun wasn't that easily appeased. He took a step back, putting some distance between himself and Liu Jiangfusheng.
"I don't want to, I won't lie to my mother with you. However... I can let you go. You should leave Fengdu quickly, don't get caught by Mother again."
He looked around the cage but found that it had no door at all. It was shaped like a birdcage, with a large light array flickering overhead, maintaining its magic.
He was stunned and a little anxious: "...No door, it can't be opened?"
Liu Jiangfusheng hadn't intended to mess around with Gu Sijun, but he suddenly sensed something. His eyelids flickered, and he said, "Father will teach you a mantra that can open it."
Gu Sijun's eyes widened, and he asked curiously, "Since you know how to open this cage, why don't you open it yourself?"
Liu Jiangfusheng had already thought of the reason.
"Your mother sealed my spiritual power. The mantra alone is not enough."
Gu Sijun was then convinced.
"Oh, then tell me quickly. Mother will be looking for me soon, and I can't stay here too long."
Liu Jiangfusheng told him. Gu Sijun was also a little genius, after all, his father and mother were not ordinary people.
Although it was his first time, he muttered incantations. With a flip of his hand, a light array appeared in his palm. His expression was serious and focused. He clapped it against the cage, and ripples spread out from its sides.
Then, a vacant space appeared in the cage. Liu Jiangfusheng, expressionless, could walk out from it.
"It's open, hurry up and go."
Gu Sijun shouted.
As soon as he stepped out of the cage, he felt a cold, sinister aura surge towards him. He felt a shattering pain in his knee and stumbled back a step.
"Dad—"
Gu Sijun quickly ran forward, supporting him nervously.
Liu Jiangfusheng looked up and saw Ren Huang standing motionlessly on the flowering tree. He wore a half-mask and a black cloak. He lowered his gaze lazily, looking down at him with his arms crossed, exuding a kind of arrogant disdain.
"Trying to escape?"
Liu Jiangfusheng straightened his body. After making Gu Sijun stand further away, his clear eyes were filled with cold mockery: "Didn't you say you welcomed me to Fengdu for your wedding? Why do I hear that she rejected you? Your self-deception is rather pathetic."
It was basically impossible to make Ren Huang feel ashamed or embarrassed.
He said dismissively, "She will agree sooner or later, as long as I take this Fengdu Ghost City for her. But Liu Jiangfusheng, you cannot do this. Your positions are always antagonistic. Why do you compete with me?"
"Why?"
A moment later, Liu Jiangfusheng told him with clear words: "Because Gu Junshi herself told me that if there was an afterlife, I could seek revenge from her. She personally promised me what she owes, and she should repay it all in this life!"
Ren Huang's expression was unreadable, but a tempestuous killing intent surged in the corners of his narrow eyes.
"Then your method of revenge... is truly special."
At this moment, Gu Junshi's voice sounded from behind the two of them.
Liu Jiangfusheng stiffened and abruptly turned his head.
Her calm gaze met his stunned eyes, then slowly shifted to his injured leg. She said lightly, "Go back."
"Mother..."
Gu Sijun stood to the side, timid and guilty.
But Gu Junshi didn't blame him. She just said, "You go back too."
—
Liu Jiangfusheng was undoubtedly locked up again.
His leg had been maliciously injected with death qi by Ren Huang, and it couldn't be removed by ordinary means, especially since he currently had no spiritual power.
"Brother, does your leg hurt?"
In the dead of night, with the shadows of trees swaying and the wind softly blowing, a slender and well-proportioned figure walked slowly from the darkness.
Liu Jiangfusheng leaned against the cage, one leg stretched out, the other bent at the knee, his head slightly lowered. His fine hair was faintly illuminated by the golden light from within the cage.
Li Sheng knew he had deliberately allowed Ren Huang to injure him.
The reason was simple: he wanted Gu Junshi to feel sorry for him.
"Why did you switch back? Otherwise, you wouldn't have to suffer like this?"
Liu Jiangfusheng didn't want to discuss these matters with someone who didn't understand love. He asked, "Have you found out what she wants to do?"
"She is very wary of me, and I can't find out anything. However, it seems she wants to make Fengdu Ghost City an enemy of the Immortal Alliance, but she also seems to be plotting something else in private," Li Sheng said.
Liu Jiangfusheng's eyebrows were lowered, his expression weary and indifferent: "Don't touch her."
The yin qi in his leg bones caused a gnawing pain, both numb and itchy, an unbearable discomfort.
"Aren't we the same? Why can you touch her, but I can't?" Li Sheng's voice was quiet and gentle, but there was a charming red hue in his eyes: "It's strange, when you were Li Sheng, he seemed to treat you quite well, but when it comes to me, his gaze is like a sharp blade, always emanating a coldness. Tell me, does she recognize me?"
Liu Jiangfusheng's straight lips involuntarily curved slightly: "Don't underestimate her. You won't be able to hide it from her for long."
"You said yourself, why must you walk this path?" Li Sheng asked, confused.
Liu Jiangfusheng turned his head, looking at the towering blackness outside the cage. His heart felt as if it were submerged in icy, dark depths: "Because there is no other way. She... is like a goddess who will never fall for mortals. What do you think I should do, how should I act, to make her fall for me?"
But Li Sheng couldn't bear to see him like this. He whispered softly, "Don't you think you're courting death enough? If she truly falls for us, with her decisive and ruthless heart, she will definitely kill her husband to achieve enlightenment again."
But Liu Jiangfusheng smiled indifferently in the night wind, saying, "Then let's take a gamble. As long as she shows even a moment of softness, I won't consider myself defeated."