Mu Jinyu returned to River City and, feeling somewhat dizzy from the overnight travel, decided to go home and sleep first.
The next day.
Mu Jinyu got up, had a simple breakfast, said goodbye to Gu Xiyan and Wen Rou, and then boarded a plane to Capital City once more.
Originally, upon returning from Gui Province, he had deliberated whether to fly directly to Capital City or to return to River City first.
Eventually, he thought it better to sleep in River City for a night, report his safety to Gu Xiyan and the others, and then head to Capital City.
After all, it was only a matter of one day, and it wouldn't delay anything.
When Mu Jinyu, holding several bottles of the Spring of Life and the Ten Thousand Year Wood Core, slowly approached the courtyard that he had visited not long ago, pondering how to find an excuse to give the items to the Old Dragon King,
he saw white funeral banners hanging at the entrance of the courtyard!
"What is this..."
Seeing this scene, Mu Jinyu's heart suddenly sank, with a very bad premonition surging within him!
"This shouldn't be..."
Mu Jinyu's face turned pale, he clenched his fists, murmured, and with heavy steps, moved toward the inside of the courtyard.
His mind was in a daze, a total mess, feeling that this should not be the case. According to what he had observed that day, the Old Dragon King should have had at least half a month of good life left. He shouldn't have passed away so soon!
Could it be Uncle Fu?
Or another elder?!
Mu Jinyu walked into the courtyard with a pale face, and several servants of the Su Family, upon seeing him, slightly changed their expressions but did not speak up to drive him away.
The Old Dragon King's funeral was naturally not something that just anyone could attend, and if they were unaware of Mu Jinyu's specific identity, based on the incident where Mu Jinyu caused a commotion at the engagement ceremony the other day, they would have never allowed Mu Jinyu to enter.
However, Mu Jinyu was the Old Dragon King's grandson-in-law; they had no right to criticize him!
Mu Jinyu disregarded these people and walked toward the main hall in a daze.
Thereafter, he saw Su Zijin in a small black suit, her complexion pale but enduring the grief, instructing everyone in an organized manner in the hall that had been converted into a mourning hall.
Occasionally, servants approached her with items for her direction.
Behind Su Zijin, a black nanmu coffin was positioned.
Mu Jinyu stood frozen in place, the bottles of the Spring of Life and the Ten Thousand Year Wood Core slipping from his hands and falling to the ground.
"Clatter!"
Hearing the sound, Su Zijin looked up toward the entrance. Upon seeing that the visitor was Mu Jinyu, she too was stunned, her eyes reddening further.
Su Zijin didn't bother with the servants reporting to her at her side and walked towards Mu Jinyu. Bending down, she picked up the bottles and the wood core and handed them to Mu Jinyu, her voice hoarse, "Your grandpa-in-law is gone."
"Why so suddenly?" Mu Jinyu looked up at Su Zijin and asked. His own voice was so hoarse he could scarcely recognize it as his.
Su Zijin shook her head slightly, unsure, "Maybe he wanted to exert his last bit of light and warmth before passing away..."
Mu Jinyu fell silent again, staring wordlessly at the nanmu coffin in the mourning hall.
The old man's body lay inside.
He thought about going over and lifting the lid to see the old man's face one more time.
But he did not have the courage; his legs felt as if filled with lead and he couldn't move.
When we said goodbye the day before yesterday, who would have thought it would be forever?
Mu Jinyu recalled the memories he shared with the Old Dragon King and realized that their only recent interaction had been at Su Zijin and Shen Cangsheng's engagement ceremony.
Their first meeting and their last gaze were that chaotic engagement scene, silently sizing each other up…
"Haha..."
Mu Jinyu laughed a few desolate times, then took the Spring of Life and the Ten Thousand Year Wood Core that Su Zijin had been holding out, stuffed them into his pocket, and turned to leave.
"Jinyu... Jinyu..."
Seeing this, Su Zijin anxiously called out after him a few times, but Mu Jinyu didn't stop. He quickly walked out of the courtyard and disappeared around the corner, vanishing from Su Zijin's line of sight.
"Jinyu..."
Su Zijin called out sorrowfully once more, leaning powerlessly against the doorway.
"Apprentice sister."
Just then, an old man who had just reached the doorway looked puzzledly in the direction Mu Jinyu had left, then called out to Su Zijin, who was acting strangely.
Su Zijin heard the voice and originally didn't want to pay attention.
Because the news of Old Dragon King's death had just come out, and since early this morning, many people had rushed over upon hearing the news, while others were hurrying to the Capital City from other places.
She knew without thinking that the person greeting her must be someone who had come to offer condolences.
For ordinary people, with her identity as the Old Dragon King's only daughter, her seniority, and her now even worse mood, she rather willfully wanted to ignore them for the moment.
She would adjust her mood later, then go and apologize to everyone!
But Su Zijin turned her head to glance, and upon seeing the old man standing to the side, dressed in a neat and crisp military uniform, recognized his identity.
She quickly suppressed the irritation in her heart and greeted the old man, "Chief Lu, you've come..."
Although this old man was once a student of the Old Dragon King, he was also a high-ranking official, naturally not someone Su Zijin could afford to slight.
Not that she couldn't afford to slight him—given her status as the Old Dragon King's only daughter in Shenzhou, there were few people who would be dissatisfied with her for neglecting them during the Old Dragon King's funeral.
It was just that she respected the old man, didn't want to slight him, and also didn't want to fail in the Su family's courtesy!
Chief Lu did not ask further about Mu Jinyu's identity, nor why he had caused Su Zijin to lose her composure. His weathered face showed a hint of sorrow as he said, "Apprentice sister, please restrain your grief and accept the change..."
...
Mu Jinyu didn't know with what feelings he numbly walked out of the Su Family Old House, nor what exactly he was thinking.
After wandering for who knows how long, he didn't even know where he had ended up.
He stood in a dead-end alley, staring at the wall in front of him, feeling so uncomfortable that even breathing felt difficult.
Why did it turn out like this?!
He shouldn't have returned to River City first; if he had flown straight back to the Capital City yesterday, would things have been different?!
Or if he hadn't bothered with Lin Qingxue and the others, he could have come out of the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains a day or two earlier, wouldn't everything have been in time?!
"Ah!!"
Mu Jinyu let out a roar of fury, followed by a forceful punch towards the wall in front of him.
This punch was without Inner Strength, so his fist struck the wall heavily, and immediately, a smear of fresh blood flowed slowly down from the point of impact.
"Tap tap tap..."
At that moment, a series of footsteps slowly approached from behind.
Mu Jinyu pulled back his fist, wiped his face, then turned around to look at the newcomer.