Cyrus followed his great-grandfather through the halls of the Gu Family Estate. The occasional servant or maid they passed by bowed respectfully, though Cyrus noticed veiled anxiousness or even fear in some of their expressions upon seeing him. This was especially true for a young maid with neat black hair tied into a bun who was dusting some ornate blue vases that radiated a small amount of Qi. The moment her dark brown eyes landed on Cyrus, her entire body stiffened. Although the old man next to him showed no reaction, Cyrus himself distinctly noticed her body trembling ever so slightly, though she did a very good job of hiding it.
'Guess the previous Gu Yangde wasn't the most respectable individual. It might be easier to deal with if I truly take on the identity of Gu Yangde. I don't need to feel bad taking this idiot's life for myself.'
Without pausing, Cyrus, nay, Gu Yangde made a mental note to fix his new body's reputation to some extent in order to avoid annoying situations in the future. Then again, he couldn't pass up an opportunity to cause chaos for some of those uptight cultivators like he had for several decades already.
'Either way, I'll just do what I want and handle things as they come.'
Eventually, the two arrived in front of a large set of double doors decorated with identical mirrored carvings of trees with snakes hanging from the branches. Gu Yangde's great-grandfather waved his hands, opening the doors without even touching them. Gu Yangde followed the man through the doorway into an ovular office that doubled as a small office with a high rounded ceiling, complete with a chandelier that glowed with spiritual flames upon the candle wicks placed within. Gu Yangde briefly raised a brow at the candles since he expected light crystals of some sort like he had seen in the halls or even in the uncountable light fixtures scattered throughout the city.
'Typical rich cultivation family and their wasteful ornaments,' Gu Yangde inwardly concluded.
Directly in front of them, a man with similar features to Gu Yangde, namely dark blue hair and reddish eyes, rose from his seat at the desk in the middle of the room with a startled expression. Despite only looking a few years older than Gu Yangde himself, Gu Yangde knew how deceiving appearances could be in this world. Vaguely sensing the man's approximate age and to an extent the atmosphere generated by a cultivation base somewhere in the lower layers of the Golden Core realm, Gu Yangde narrowed down the man's identity.
"Grandfather! You've returned!" The man exclaimed, his lips curling up into a relieved smile that lasted only a second or two before he narrowed his gaze on Gu Yangde. "And you, my stupid son. Welcome back."
Gu Yangde chuckled inwardly, Even though the man tried to hide it, he couldn't hide the loosening tension in his shoulders that gave away his relief toward seeing his offspring safe and sound.
"Thanks."
"..."
"..."
"That's it?" Gu Yangde's 'father' asked, a hint of irritation lowering his tone of voice. "You go missing for weeks, and that's all you have to say?"
Ignoring the heavy Qi leaking from the man's body that felt like a cloud of mildly acidic water vapor, Gu Yandge simply looked at his newly minted great-grandfather with a look that basically said, 'I'm too lazy to explain, so you do it.'
The older man noticed his great-grandson's expression and chuckled. Then, he said, "Little Chenggang, there are some special circumstances this time. Sit down and listen for a bit."
"...Yes, grandfather."
The old man explained the situation for a few minutes, which caused Gu Chenggang to frown and wrinkle his brows. By the end, he silently tapped his fingers on the desk for several seconds.
Suddenly, Gu Chenggang stood up and said, "Give me a moment. I'll be right back."
Without another word, the man vanished from their sight. At least, that was how it looked in Gu Yangde's perception.
Running his hand through his air, Gu Yangde thought, 'I miss my old cultivation base.'
A few minutes later, Gu Chenggang returned with a white orb made of stone in his hands, but the orb looked misshapen as though deformed by extended periods of high temperatures.
"Place your hand on this, Yangde," Gu Chenggang ordered, a hint of anxiousness evident in his voice.
Gu Yangde raised a brow since he didn't expect to see this kind of artifact in one of the lower Heavens. With this here, he wondered if he might already have to kick the bucket, but he also found the situation entertaining. Lips curling into a slightly amused grin, he placed his hand on the orb. A single reddish-pink color glowed from deep within the orb in response.
A relieved sigh slipped from Gu Chengeng's lips. Even the old man's eyes betrayed a glint of relief for a second before returning to normal. Even Gu Yangde was surprised by the result, but he didn't show it on his face.
'My situation might be a bit different than I initially thought. I'll look into it later, but it doesn't really change anything aside from making my life a bit easier for now.'
While thinking such, Gu Yangde raised a brow and asked, "Is that it? What, exactly, is this for?"
"It's nothing. I just wanted to make sure you hadn't sustained any damage to your soul," Gu Chenggang lied.
'Pft. More like you wanted to make sure I wasn't a demonic soul who killed your son to take his body. If I didn't know better, I might have thought that was the truth. Having a good liar for a father in this life will definitely be interesting, though.'
"So, you want to abolish your cultivation and start from scratch?" Gu Chengeng asked, unable to hide his anxiousness despite displaying such strong lying capabilities only a moment earlier.
"Yes. Mind if I start right now?" Gu Yangde asked.
Both of the other men in the room furrowed their brows, and the older man immediately asked, "We'll need to prepare medicines to prevent your body from falling apart first."
"That won't be needed. There is a method of doing it in my memories that will allow me to do it without extra resources. It'll just take a few days without external interruption."
"...Are you sure?" The old man inquired.
Gu Yangde nodded.
"Well, it'll prevent us from spending a lot of resources. Doing such a thing is usually quite expensive if you want to do it without causing permanent harm. I'll stay by your side to make sure nothing happens," Gu Yangde's great-grandfather offered.
"That's fine, so long as your Qi doesn't leak enough to distract me."
"Does this old man look that incompetent to you, little Yangde?" The old man replied with a sad tone that was so fake, the other two in the room couldn't help rolling their eyes.
"Before you start, go see your mother to let her know you are safe," Gu Chenggang ordered in a commanding tone, ignoring his grandfather's jokes. "She's been so worried about you that she hasn't been able to cultivate properly for a week."
"...I don't mind, but are you going to show me where she is?"
"...Your loss of memory is going to be hard to adjust to. Hmm… I need to speak to grandfather briefly about some things, so…" Gu Chenggang raised his gaze toward the wall as though staring through it. A small and barely noticeable amount of Qi rippled around the man's head like a barely perceivable wave of gas.
"I don't mind bringing him over. It will give me more time with my descendant that I don't get often."
"The things we need to discuss are regarding the Su family, so I'll definitely need you here for it."
The old man sighed and replied, "If it's about them, then I understand."
Moments later, the maid who had displayed the most fearful reaction toward Gu Yangde earlier entered the room. She bowed without raising her head and asked, "What can I do for you, Patriarch Gu?"
"Take my son to see his mother. My grandfather and I need to discuss some important matters."
"...I understand."
"Explain the situation to your mother when you get there."
"Got it," Gu Yangde casually replied while observing the veiled nervousness the maid tried her best to hide. Although his new father and great-grandfather didn't notice her hesitation, Gu Yangde picked up on it. After all, one of the first things he learned as a Dual Cultivator was the body language of a woman. While considering how to handle the maid's attitude, or whether he would bother handling it at all, he walked up to her and said, "Lead the way."