Chapter 411: The Earthquake at the Dugu Family...
Translator: Novel Saga Editor: Novel Saga
"You… you… you raised your daughter in that manner… I… I… I… Dugu Zong Heng am this family’s misfortune! I’ve raised a bunch of evil creatures! You cheated me…? And, now there’s a disaster at our hands because of that! Are you happy? Are you delighted now?" Dugu Zong Heng jumped up. He looked like a hungry wolf that was circling around in his currently enraged state. He took a round and found nothing to vent his anger on. He then suddenly shouted, "This Old Man is mad!"
He jumped and kicked Dugu Wu Di ferociously. That kick was extremely powerful. "Bang!" General Dugu’s majestic body broke through the opposite wall, and flew into the distance as a result. And, it eventually landed inside the great courtyard. In fact, he had fallen flat on the ground.
The Dugu and Jun Family guards were on standby. So, they quickly turned around in their alertness. The two old men had given serious orders some moments ago…‘Kill anyone who dares to come near in order to eavesdrop on the military secrets’. This was no joke. So, they thought that someone had come to eavesdrop when they heard that whooshing sound. However, they then saw that an exceptionally sturdy body had crash-landed between their two groups. This unexpected event shocked everyone present, and left their mouths wide open.
No one knew what was happening. They suddenly heard another whooshing sound. Then, they saw Old Man Dugu dash forward and kick General Dugu violently with a twisted mouth and narrowed eyes. He didn’t even pay any heed to their presence as he violently kicked and cursed, "Fu*k you! I fu*k your mother! Fu*k you!"
It seemed that Dugu Wu Di had honed himself a long time ago when it came to facing these beatings. And, he put his experience to good use at this time. He used his arms to protect his head. And, he then curled into a ball-like shape in order to use his head to cover his crotch. However, he continued to shout loudly as he received this beating, "Good, beat me! Hit me properly! Leave a million bruises! Beat me up fiercely! But, I’m also very furious! I’m very furious! Damn it!"
The two groups of guards stared blankly while remained stationed on either side. However, their eyebrows had shot up violently. They didn’t know what was happening. [What’s happening? Why is the General being beaten up so badly?] Forget about the Jun Family’s guards… even the Dugu Family’s guards had never seen such a thing. So, this was big news to everyone! And, all of them were thoroughly shocked!
The guards started looking around at first. Then, they started to gossip. It was then that Jun Zhan Tian came rushing. He then shouted loudly, "What are you people doing here? Get lost! Don’t you know that this matter is a top-secret? I will kill the family of anyone who peers around or divulges any information!"
[What?! Even this is a military secret…? What nonsense is this?!]
[Forget about it! This is a high-level secret between two houses. We small fries shouldn’t get involved…]
Bang! The two sets of guards scattered in different directions.
However, Dugu Zong Heng still hadn’t finished. His fist continued to hammer-down like a meteor as he beat and cursed to his heart’s content. The more he cursed… the more saliva he spit. But, was this beating genuinely that fierce? Dugu Wu Di wasn’t also someone to be trifled with either. So, he was able to put up with the beating…
Jun Zhan Tian narrowed his eyes as he looked at the father-son duo. They were both crying themselves hoarse. However, they still looked very energetic.
"That’s enough. That’s enough. Listen to me Old Dugu. That’s enough. Beating him up isn’t going to solve anything… Listen to me… It’s okay to curse him… that’s justified… But, you’re taking it too far… You’ve already beating him senseless… He’s your son dammit…" Jun Zhan Tian decided to mediate once he felt that they had vented their anger out to a considerable degree. It’s not that he didn’t wish to intervene earlier. However, he also knew that it was necessary for this father-and-son duo to give vent to their anger. Otherwise, it was very hard to say what a man of Dugu Zong Heng’s temper might end-up doing…
He was trying to mediate the situation. But, it seemed like he was adding more fuel to the fire.
"What happened? Are you trying to break this house?! Do you know what it is?" a shrill, sharp, and dignified voice echoed in the surroundings. A group of magnificent women had arrived inside the large courtyard. They were led by their Lady. Her face was stout, and her figure was graceful. She was Dugu Zong Heng’s wife. She was the Lady of the house… Old Lady Dugu.
The wives and concubines of Dugu Wu Di were at the rear of that group of women. The members of that elegant party were no less than seven or eight in number. And, all of them seemed distressed at the sight of Dugu Zong Heng beating his son into a pitiful state. But, they didn’t dare to face Old Man Dugu’s wrath by attempting to mediate between the two. However, they couldn’t help but cry in distress. So, they could only look towards Old Lady Dugu for help.
"What’s going on?! Old Lady Dugu struck the ground hard with her walking stick, and shouted in anger, "What’s the matter here? What is this? Did you beat him into this condition? Don’t you know how to control yourself?"
Then, she glanced sharply at Jun Zhan Tian. [Don’t speak or mediate, you idiot! You’re only making it worse! And, your sarcastic tone is even more disgraceful! I will deal with you later.] Old lady Dugu was no less than men in any regard.
"You want to know what happened?!" Dugu Zong Heng looked at his wife as he finally retracted his hand. But, he still couldn’t help as he gave another kick to his son’s posterior. He then continued in anger, "This un-filial brat has made me very angry! Don’t stop me today! I won’t kill him. But, it would be a good thing if I did. And, I’ll still be at peace even if I do kill him! However, I will break this brat’s legs for cheating me even if I don’t kill him!"
The many ladies saw that Old Man Dugu had finally given rein to his hands at Old Lady Dugu’s interjection. So, they rushed forward like a swarm of bees with tears in their eyes. Then, the seven or eight of them helped General Dugu to his feet. Dugu Wu Di’s nose was bloody, his clothes were in tatters, and his face was swollen…
Suddenly, there was a loud cry. Then, a beautiful and graceful lady rose into the sky and fell to the ground. "Ah!" she cried out in pain. She had been rendered breathless. She looked astonished, and tears had started to flow down her face. She was completely confused, and felt very wronged. This was Dugu Wu Di’s first wife, and Dugu Xiao Yi’s mother…
"That’s so shameful! What’s the matter with you? Have you lost your mind?" Old Lady Dugu hit Dugu Wu Di’s shoulder with her walking stick in anger, "You beat your own wife to vent your anger?! Are you not a man?!"
Dugu Wu Di rose up, and cried in anger, "You don’t know about this matter mother! This vile woman birthed and raised such a daughter! And, that girl has created a big scandal now! I will kill her! And, that will still be an easy punishment! I won’t regret it either!" The beating General Dugu had received didn’t seem to have inhibited his anger. In fact, it seemed that the Father should’ve beaten his son a bit more…
"Xiao Yi…? What’s the matter with Xiao Yi?" The women suddenly became nervous. The Dugu Family only had one treasured daughter. So, everyone cherished her like a gem. And, any mention of a daughter obviously referred to Dugu Xiao Yi. General Dugu suddenly found himself surrounded by that group of women.
"What’s the matter, my husband? What happened to Xiao Yi? Hurry up and tell us!" Lady Dugu was still in pain. And, she was still feeling wronged at being thrown into the air. However, she eagerly crawled to her feet as she asked in a nervous manner, "What happened to Xiao Yi? What happened to my daughter?"
Dugu Zhong Heng looked up and sighed as General Dugu twisted his mouth and narrowed his eyes. Then, the two men muttered with grief, "Ah! Our family is ruined!"
Jun Zhan Tian scratched his nose, gathered himself, and cupped his hands as he faced Old Lady Dugu. He then chuckled for a bit and said, "Ah, my kin by marriage… please accept my greetings..."
Old Lady Dugu hadn’t looked at Jun Zhan Tian directly before this. However, she then heard the term, "kin by marriage," being spoken. And, she nearly lost her breath at the sound of it. She coughed severely as a result, "Jun Zhan Tian, you bastard! Your… your scoundrel grandson… what did he do to my treasured granddaughter?!" Old Lady Dugu was a mature and sophisticated lady. So, how could she speak like this? However, she couldn’t help herself when she heard Old Man Jun say, "Kin by marriage," Consequently, those words shot out of her mouth like an arrow from a bow.
The power of the words, "kin by marriage," was truly great.
The eyes of the seven or eight women had suddenly turned into big search-lights as they started to stare at Jun Zhan Tian in an imploring manner.
Old Man Jun’s facial expressions wouldn’t change if he were to face an army on his own. And, he had felt nothing when he had faced the Dugu father-and-son. But, his scalp had started to feel numb in the face of that group of women. In fact, he suddenly went dizzy with admiration for Dugu Wu Di… [This Dugu Wu Di is amazing! He manages to deal with so many of such women every day! He’s nearly as good as I used to be in those days…]
Jun Zhan Tian coughed and spoke-up, "Speak with caution, my kin. My grandson hasn’t done something to your granddaughter. Instead, your granddaughter has done something to my grandson. Xiao Yi was the one who boiled the pan, and "cooked the rice"… This is a serious matter. You must understand it properly before you talk about the hows-and-whys of it…"
Old Lady Dugu started to sway because she had suddenly thought of many possibilities. However, she quickly regained her composure, and her face got enveloped in a frost-like cold mask, "I have seen the information that has been coming from the Southern Heaven City!" Lady Dugu cautiously looked at her mother-in-law as the Old Lady whispered, "I’ve read every letter of the information which came from the Southern Heaven City. But, I didn’t read a word about Xiao Yi."
This was also reasonable from one angle. The three Dugu youngsters knew of it. And, they were very courageous. However, they couldn’t dare to relay this information to their home either. Basically, they were all in-on-it, and no one wanted to poke the hornet’s nest.
It was what they called…‘Sweeping the bad news under the rug.’
In fact, the Dugu Brothers had already made their contingency plans. [We’ll slip away the moment we return home. Perhaps we can hide out in the frontier posts. Then, it won’t matter what cacophony this matter creates. After all, it isn’t related to us directly…]
Old Man Dugu burst out in anger, "Great! So, the whole family knew that the little girl had gone to the Southern Heaven City. And, the entire family had concealed this from me! It seems that this Old Man is the outsider, and all of you are one family! Great!"
"Bullsh*t outsider! Stop with your whining! Who would ever tell you about this matter with that beastly temper of yours?! Wouldn’t we obviously have to hide to hide this from you?!" Old Lady Dugu spoke-up in a harsh manner. Then, she returned to the matter at hand, "Hurry and tell me the entire story from the very beginning. I want to know how I’m a kin by marriage with this Old Man Jun."
Old Man Dugu was shaking with anger, but he was still helpless against his wife. He had always been powerless to lash out… even when he had wanted to. And, that was because the ‘enemy’ had always been too overbearing…