Chapter 11627 — The Backlash of Fortune

Mr. Gu's face turned incredibly ugly on the spot. "Are you playing me for a fool?"

Wei Zhao shook his head. "No. I simply don't wish to bear the backlash of fortune in your stead."

"…"

Mr. Gu had clung to one last shred of hope, and now it was utterly extinguished; his expression turned bleak.

It was true—he had indeed been scheming to trap Wei Zhao.

Those two blades of fortune were his all-out, life-risking strike, and Mr. Gu knew full well that if even that failed to finish Wei Zhao, then by his own strength alone, he truly could never kill Wei Zhao.

The only remaining chance was to spend ten million units of fortune, and in the moment Wei Zhao attacked him, divert the backlash that should have belonged to himself onto Wei Zhao!

That way, he would not only evade the backlash from the Han Princely House's ancestors, but also dispose of Wei Zhao—two birds with one stone, neatly done.

But who could have predicted that Wei Zhao would stop short at the very last moment?

One thrust further and he could have finished off a formidable foe like himself—and he had actually held back?

Most absurd of all, this creature could actually see through his intentions?

In that instant, beyond his despair, Mr. Gu could not help but entertain a thought.

Was this creature playing the pig to eat the tiger?

Perhaps he was not truly a mid-stage Earth-Rank Venerable as he appeared on the surface, but rather a mid-stage Heaven-Rank Venerable a notch above himself—or even stronger?

Thinking it over carefully, that was the only reasonable explanation.

But Mr. Gu no longer had any way to verify his guess, because the backlash had begun.

All his power came from fortune, and now all the backlash came from fortune as well.

The difference was that the vast fortune he had accumulated before could make him ride high on good luck, making him invincible wherever he went.

But now that the backlash had arrived, all that vast fortune had turned into misfortune—misfortune to the extreme, every last bit of fortune become his death warrant.

Wei Zhao retreated two steps and watched quietly as the man was enveloped in dense misfortune.

At such a moment, there was no need to add another blow—it would be meaningless, and worse, he might end up tangled in the misfortune himself, gaining nothing and losing much.

Meanwhile, the people trapped inside the ancestral shrine were not idle either.

Han Niansan personally used the soul-search art on Han Jiechen.

Han Jiechen stared fixedly toward the door, waiting for Mr. Gu to come rescue him as they had agreed beforehand—but in the end, no one came.

"Breaking your word… shameless scoundrel…"

Han Jiechen ground his teeth, cursing with remarkable fluency and a truly impressive density of obscenities.

It was not that he genuinely trusted Mr. Gu so much. In his reckoning, even if Mr. Gu devoured the ancestral fortune, his name would still not be legitimate, and he could never personally take control of the Han Princely House—at the very lowest estimate, he would still need a puppet like himself to help.

Moreover, though the seven princely houses schemed against one another, they were in some sense branches of the same tree.

If something happened to the Han Princely House and it was truly wiped out, Mr. Gu, as the chief culprit, would instantly become the common enemy of all seven.

After all, if he could strike at the Han Princely House, he would strike at the other princely houses next.

Mr. Gu alone could not withstand such pressure.

But if Han Jiechen were left alive, the focus of blame would shift, and the nature of the affair would become an internal strife within the Han Princely House—which was an entirely different matter.

Anyone with a bit of sense knew how to choose.

Unfortunately, Han Jiechen could never have guessed that it was not that Mr. Gu deliberately meant to abandon him, but simply that he lacked the ability.

Having read Han Jiechen's memories, Han Niansan's expression was not the least bit relaxed; it grew even more grave.

"Old Monster Gu? That thief of fortune?"

Han Changshi and the others were baffled.

Han Niansan explained, "That man was active in a rather ancient era—he counts as a man of my own generation."

Everyone clicked their tongues in astonishment.

As the twenty-third-generation ancestor of the Han Princely House, Han Niansan was a genuine man of antiquity.

The old monsters of his era, apart from special cases like himself who were sustained by the offerings of an ancestral shrine, had basically all died off clean. Even if some had used certain special means to linger on to the present, they would absolutely keep to their deep dwellings and rarely emerge to stir up trouble.

Han Niansan continued, "In my time, that man was already a thief of fortune steeped in evil to the brim."

"Anyone touched by his name was bound to come to grief. Great powers that were ultimately torn apart because their fortune had been scraped clean by him numbered no fewer than a hundred!"

"Because he made too great a commotion, the seven princely houses once joined hands and dispatched their most lavish, top-tier lineup, preparing to encircle and annihilate him."

"In the end, under the shelter of fortune, he still escaped calamity."

"But after that, the man vanished without a trace, hiding himself away in the Inner Royal Court and stirring no further."

Han Niansan turned to look at the insensate Han Jiechen and could not help grinding his teeth again. "A curse upon this house, to have produced such a creature—one who bites the hand that feeds him, and actually brought him here!"

By past experience, this Old Monster Gu, as a thief of fortune, would never stop until he had drained dry the ancestral fortune of the Han Princely House.

When that time came, the Han Princely House would truly be finished.

Seeing that Han Niansan could not contain his fury and was about to stomp Han Jiechen to death, Han Changshi hurried forward to restrain him.

"Calm yourself, Old Ancestor. Brother Lin has already gone out. With him there, that old monster Gu shouldn't be able to get his way."

Han Niansan gave him a helpless look. "What the hell do you know!"

He was right about Wei Zhao, make no mistake.

But not because he truly believed Wei Zhao's strength was heaven-defying. It was simply that, by every path of reasoning he had followed, only by attaching himself to Wei Zhao could the Han Princely House hope to survive this calamity.

In the end, Wei Zhao was no mighty pillar in his eyes, but a lucky charm.

Perhaps, once Wei Zhao had grown into his potential, he might be able to cross swords with that old monster Gu. But now? He stood no chance whatsoever.

He had no idea how Wei Zhao had managed to pass through his ancestral-worship formation, but to claim Wei Zhao could deal with that old monster Gu on his own was pure nonsense.

Han Niansan curled his lip. "You still don't grasp the weight of the three words 'old monster Gu.' Let me put it this way: if Wei Zhao can take him down, I'll stand on my head and eat shit right here on the spot."

Everyone's expressions turned strange in unison.

Just then, Wei Zhao's voice rang out. "Stand on your head and eat shit? So you're angling for a free meal, is that it?"

"......"

As they watched Wei Zhao saunter in at an unhurried pace, the entire hall was struck dumb.

Han Niansan rubbed his eyes instinctively, unable to believe it. "You're actually not dead?"

Wei Zhao regarded him with amusement. "Could it be that you're a little disappointed, Senior?"

"No, no, not at all."

Han Niansan waved his hands again and again.

If a moment ago he had still harbored the notion of letting Wei Zhao suffer a bit so as to bring him around to his proposal, now he had no mind to spare for any such thing.

After all, with a formidable foe at the gates, they were grasshoppers bound to the same rope.