Chapter 3119 — Before Setting Out, Zhao Qibing Was Stunned at the Sight of Gu Mengyao

Yet although Zhao Qibing was shocked, he was not especially afraid. After all, in the Dark Night Palace the one who truly called the shots was still the Grand Elder, not the Palace Master. So Zhao Qibing changed his mind: he would cozy up to the Grand Elder, sow discord, and send Gu Mengyao's standing in the Dark Night Palace plummeting—lower even than Ye Rou'er's had been. With his abilities, Zhao Qibing was confident that pulling this off would not be particularly complicated.

But who could have imagined that things were not at all as he thought? This Palace Master Gu Mengyao seemed utterly domineering—even the Grand Elder was wary of her by three parts. This filled Zhao Qibing with deep misgivings, and when Gu Mengyao declared that whoever dared stop Ye Rou'er would die, Zhao Qibing was frightened clean out of his wits!

And well he might be. Only now did he realize that the Dark Night Palace was Gu Mengyao's domain; a new era had arrived. The days when the Grand Elder's word was law in the Dark Night Palace were gone for good. Now Gu Mengyao's rise meant that in the Dark Night Palace, she too had a say in what was decided!

Even the Grand Elder had to respect Gu Mengyao's opinions, and when faced with her sharp questioning, had to lower her voice!

Zhao Qibing had been just about to leap out and interfere—he took delight in making trouble for Gu Mengyao and Wei Zhao—but now he could only keep silent. Unless… he wanted to die!

"I… go back?" Ye Rou'er was slightly taken aback at Gu Mengyao's words. "If I go back, what will you do here? Won't you be lonely all by yourself?"

"It's all right, Mom. Here in the Dark Night Palace, no one dares bully me—right, Grand Elder?" Gu Mengyao turned to look at the Grand Elder and asked.

"That's right! If anyone dares bully Palace Master Yaoyao, this old one will be the first to take his dog's life!" the Grand Elder said hurriedly.

"In that case, I can accept the inheritance and cultivate with peace of mind. You can set your heart at ease now, can't you, Mom?" The Grand Elder had already made her stance clear, so naturally Gu Mengyao could not sit by and say nothing; she had to respond in kind, hinting to the Grand Elder that only with Ye Rou'er gone could she cultivate in peace. First, she was keeping her promise to the Grand Elder that she would cultivate; second, she was hinting that only if Ye Rou'er left would she obediently cultivate.

Palace Master Wan'er looked at the Grand Elder with some astonishment. She had not expected the Grand Elder to say such things either. It seemed her daughter was far more formidable than she was—from now on, in the Dark Night Palace, she would surely never come off the worse.

"Then… I'll go back and have a look… When I miss you later, I'll bring your father and come see you again, Yaoyao." Ye Rou'er actually wanted to go back as well. Since Gu Mengyao was fine here, she really ought to return.

"Mm, you can come anytime. If it's inconvenient, I can go see you instead! The journey is a bit far, after all—I'm afraid the long trip would be hard on you," Gu Mengyao said. "Daddy is only an ordinary man; he can't take much hardship!"

"That's no problem—I'll send a car to fetch them!" the Grand Elder said hurriedly. She was afraid that if Gu Mengyao went back to Donghai City, it would delay her cultivation, so she would rather send people to pick up Ye Rou'er and Gu Pengzhan herself.

"But isn't that still a long journey?" The young lady thought for a moment, then asked, "Is there any easy cultivation method or mnemonic suited to Daddy?"

After all, Gu Pengzhan was getting on in years and was no cultivator, but Gu Mengyao still wanted him to live a long life. Since the opportunity was there, how could she let it slip by?

"As for that, Ye Rou'er, you can go look in the scripture pavilion later and see if there's anything suitable," the Grand Elder said.

"Thank you, Grand Elder!" Ye Rou'er was both surprised and delighted. She had not expected her life to be suddenly filled with hope—and all of it brought by her daughter.

"What are you thanking her for? I'm the Palace Master of the Dark Night Palace, you're my mother, and you're the former Palace Master too—so what's the difference between the Dark Night Palace's belongings and our own family's?" Gu Mengyao said. "Right, Grand Elder?"

"Exactly!" the Grand Elder said hurriedly.

Zhao Qibing's heart was icy cold at this moment. It was over, utterly over. The Dark Night Palace had become Gu Mengyao's world, and his days ahead would truly be miserable. What was he to do? Zhao Qibing sank into deep thought; he had to find a new way out.

"By the way, do you have any Foundation Establishment Pills or the like? Daddy is so old, and cultivation will be hard enough on him. Even Zhao Qibing has taken Qi Gathering Pills—my father hasn't. Doesn't that seem unfair?" Gu Mengyao asked.

"Foundation Establishment Pills, eh…" The Grand Elder was thoroughly vexed. I wasn't the one who made your father cultivate—you were the one who brought it up, and now you're saying it's hard to cultivate without Foundation Establishment Pills. Aren't you making trouble for me? Besides, Zhao Qibing's Foundation Establishment Pill wasn't provided by the Dark Night Palace—it was provided by the Hidden Zhao family back in the day! But though the Grand Elder was displeased at heart, she still said aloud, "We don't have any of those, as it happens. You know the Dark Night Palace has no alchemists. We do have some materials, but only raw ingredients, not finished products!"

"Oh, materials are fine too. Wei Zhao knows how to refine pills—just give them all to me!" Gu Mengyao said without the least ceremony. "Mom, later you can take all the Foundation Establishment Pill materials and have Wei Zhao refine them for you."

"All right, Yaoyao…" Seeing Gu Mengyao so self-assured, Ye Rou'er felt a faint stir in her heart. She wondered what exactly the relationship between Wei Zhao and Gu Mengyao was. If he were merely a bodyguard, surely he would not be so obedient to Gu Mengyao?

But Ye Rou'er did not ask further. After all, she had never raised her daughter since childhood, and it was not her place to pry into her daughter's private life.

At last the Grand Elder saw Ye Rou'er off, then let out a breath of relief. Although Ye Rou'er had carried away many fine things from the Dark Night Palace along with her, the Grand Elder could not spare any heartache over it. To send her away so that Gu Mengyao could cultivate in peace—that was the Grand Elder's greatest wish.

Afterwards, Gu Mengyao said nothing more. Following the Grand Elder's wishes, she attended the investiture ceremony for the Palace Master, and then, beneath the reverent worship of the assembled Dark Night Palace disciples, became the new Palace Master of the Dark Night Palace.

"Zhao Qibing!" The very first thing Gu Mengyao did upon taking office was to deal with Zhao Qibing.

"Palace Master, this disciple… is here…" Zhao Qibing was drenched in sweat, filled with endless regret. Of all the ancient sects I could have chosen, why did it have to be the Dark Night Palace? Damn it all—Gu Mengyao won't rest until she's done me in!

It seemed he had best consider whether he could defect to Kang Jingming and start over from scratch. Otherwise, in the Dark Night Palace, it would be absolutely impossible to move against Wei Zhao! This Palace Master was Wei Zhao's woman—staying here was just asking to be tormented, wasn't it? RS