Chapter 136: Full of Worries

Thinking of this, Gu Weiyu could not help gnashing her teeth and muttering to herself:
It was truly too easy for that scoundrel Chu Xingyun last night. Had she known he would commit such despicable acts, she should have hacked him into a thousand pieces!
She should have refined his soul into a puppet artifact, leaving him to suffer the burning torture of heavenly thunder and fire day and night, and ensuring he would never enter the cycle of reincarnation for all eternity!
"Does that mean the ninth sister and the others are in a precarious situation right now?" Gu Weiyu asked anxiously.
"Who says they aren't?" Gu Qun sighed heavily.
Those with good aptitude might be bought as servants or maids to guard houses, but for those with poor aptitude, it was hard to say.
Among those with poor spiritual root aptitude, most of the boys were bought to do odd jobs or even sold to mining areas to dig for ore.
Doing odd jobs for others was still manageable, but if one was unlucky enough to enter a mine cave for excavation, it was simply a Shura field!
The girls would be sold to unsavory places, and if their appearances were outstanding, they might even be bought as cauldrons to assist in cultivation!
Once reduced to a cauldron, a woman's entire life could be considered mostly ruined!
"Over the past three years, nearly a hundred members of my Gu clan have been sold off by that scoundrel Chu Xingyun, and I have no idea where they are now."
Gu Qun sighed once more as he spoke.
"Alright, Third Brother, why do you keep sighing? Look at you, you've sighed yourself into a little old man!"
Gu Qingzhou, lying on the couch, opened his eyes, sat up, and said, "No matter the cost, our Gu clan members must be found!"
Hearing this, Gu Weiyu's face regained its radiance, and her eyes shone brilliantly. "Great-great-grandfather, do you mean...?"
"That's right. First, we will find out where they actually went, and then we will break them out one by one. No matter the cost, we must bring them back!"
Gu Qingzhou's voice carried determination and an unquestionable resolve.
Joy appeared on Gu Weiyu's face. Her gaze fell upon Third Grandfather's graying hair, and she thought of the Dragon Scale Pill.
"Third Grandfather, look at this Dragon Scale Pill I refined. Why don't you try taking it?"
Gu Weiyu took out the porcelain bottle containing the Dragon Scale Pill and handed it to Gu Qun.
Dragon Scale Pill?
Gu Qun was not well-versed in alchemy, and the Dragon Scale Pill was a rather unconventional elixir. He looked at the jade bottle with some curiosity.
"Little Eleventh, what kind of pill is this Dragon Scale Pill?"
"Third Grandfather, the miraculous thing about this pill is that if cultivators or spiritual beasts ingest it, their bodies will undergo a complete rebirth and transformation.
If a mortal is fortunate enough to take the Dragon Scale Pill, it can even bring the dead back to life and regenerate flesh!"

Gu Weiyu said slowly, "Third Grandfather, your body suffered hidden injuries; taking this Dragon Scale Pill should make you better!"
Gu Qun cast a deep glance at Gu Weiyu. Ah Yu had always been blessed with great fortune; he had not expected her to obtain such a precious elixir.
What was even more precious was that she kept an old man like him in her heart!
"Alright!" Gu Qun felt a wave of emotion as he reached out to take the jade bottle, poured out a Dragon Scale Pill, tilted his head, and swallowed it.
————
In Peach Blossom Dock, Gu Weilan sat alone on a peach tree, looking desolately at the piles of fallen yellow leaves filling the courtyard.
A slight sound of footsteps treading on fallen leaves echoed behind her, and she turned back in pleasant surprise, "Taoshi?"
"Fourth Sister, it's me!" Gu Weiyu's face wore a complex and inexplicable expression. "Are you thinking of Sister Taoshi? I miss Sister Yeyue very much too..."
Gu Weilan nodded faintly. Not seeing Taoshi upon returning to Peach Blossom Dock did indeed leave a somewhat unsettled feeling in her heart.
"Fourth Sister, will you accompany me to Taihe Residence?" Gu Weiyu walked beneath the peach tree and looked up to say.
Without asking further, Gu Weilan neatly and decisively leaped down from the peach tree, speaking with spirited boldness, "Let's go!"
Along the way, Gu Weiyu recounted the matter of the Gu clan members being sold off by Chu Xingyun.
Rage also surfaced on Gu Weilan's usually calm and unruffled face, her glass-clear eyes seeming to burn with fire.
"Let's go call Xu Weizhou. If anyone dares to bully the members of our Gu clan, we will definitely make them pay dearly!"
Gu Weilan declared with overbearing dominance, an aura of battle rising from her as she prepared to settle accounts with someone.
"Alright!" Gu Weiyu readily agreed, "I'll go fetch Senior Brother Xu right away!"
She spun around like a whirlwind and returned shortly after with Xu Weizhou.
Upon hearing the purpose behind Gu Weiyu's summons, he agreed without a second word.
He felt a sense of guilt toward the Gu clan, and if he could take this opportunity to make some amends, he was more than willing.
The three of them traveled together to Taihe Residence.
Seeing Xu Weizhou, Gu Qun and Gu Qingzhou were somewhat surprised, while Gu Weilan and Xu Weizhou were equally astonished.
Though only a few hours had passed since they last met, a large portion of Gu Qun's silvery hair had turned dark, and his overall complexion was vastly improved compared to before.
"Haha, Young Master Xu is here too?" Ever since taking the Dragon Scale Pill, Gu Qun had felt his strength fully restored, and he greeted Xu Weizhou with a voice like a booming bell.
Xu Weizhou respectfully performed a junior's bow to the two elders, "Greetings, two seniors!"
Learning that Xu Weizhou was willing to lend a hand filled both elders with quiet satisfaction.
Adding flowers to embroidery is easy, but providing charcoal in snowy weather is rare; this Xu Weizhou was quite a fine fellow!
Just after Gu Weiyu had left, Gu Qun and Gu Qingzhou had already discussed their respective tasks:
"Little Fourth, Little Eleventh, Young Master Xu, the three of you are responsible for going to the Myriad Treasures Pavilion to inquire about the whereabouts of our Gu clan members. Big Brother and I will make a trip to the Yun, Lian, and Lu families first..."
That morning, the other three major families had all sent people to the Gu residence to fish for information.
Upon learning of Chu Xingyun's death, the heads of the Yun, Lian, and Lu families had subsequently paid personal visits to express their condolences.
At the same time, they had tactfully mentioned that a small portion of the Gu clan members had been bought by their three great families.
To understand the underlying meaning of a hint is to be wise; the two old foxes Gu Qingzhou and Gu Qun immediately understood that the three family heads were implying something:
They could certainly return the people to the Gu family, but it was out of the question for the Gu family not to bleed a little!
After all, they had originally "bought" the Gu clan members from Chu Xingyun's hands!
If not for the sake of the Gu family's face, it wouldn't be impossible for these three families to hike prices on the spot!
Both reason and sentiment dictated that they should personally visit the Yun, Lian, and Lu families and bring their clansmen back along the way.
Of course, Gu Qun had no intention of voicing these thoughts aloud; it was enough for him and his eldest brother to understand tacitly.
"Understood!" Gu Weiyu and the others answered in clear, resonant voices.
Gu Qun and Gu Qingzhou left the Gu residence first to foster ties with the other three families while attending to business.
Meanwhile, Gu Weiyu and her two companions headed toward the branch of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion in Qin County.
On the surface, the Myriad Treasures Pavilion dealt in all kinds of magical artifacts, spiritual tools, elixirs, and spiritual materials. Whatever a cultivator could possibly think of was available within the pavilion!
In secret, the Myriad Treasures Pavilion also ran a black market, where not only could one trade in items of dubious origin, but there were also specialized venues for human trafficking.
Moreover, not only mortals were bought and sold there, but cultivators as well!
This branch of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion shared the same style as the one in Danyang City—in a word, extravagant!
Qin County was merely a remote place, and the number of Foundation Establishment cultivators could be counted on one's fingers.
The sudden arrival of three Foundation Establishment cultivators at the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, all appearing very young and two of them wearing uniform sect disciple robes...