After leaving Hundred Bend Valley, the first place Chu Feng headed was the number one sect in Qingzhou — the Lingyun Sect.
His purpose was to find his eldest brother, Chu Guyu. Ever since the Chu Family Assembly a year ago, Chu Feng had not seen his brother even once.
But his brother was, without question, the person Chu Feng worried about most in the entire Chu Family. If anyone were to ask who was most important to Chu Feng among his family, besides his father Chu Yuan, it would be Chu Guyu — the two people who had first made Chu Feng understand what family truly meant.
Now, with his battle against Gong Luyun approaching, there was bound to be trouble afterward. Although Chu Guyu was a disciple of the Lingyun Sect, his status was low and his strength was not enough to protect himself.
If the Gong Family wanted to do him harm, it would be far too easy. That was why Chu Feng wanted to take Chu Guyu away — bring him to somewhere he considered safe.
"You're saying Chu Guyu is no longer at the Lingyun Sect? Then where did he go?" At the gates of the Lingyun Sect, Chu Feng stared at the Outer Disciple before him with a look of surprise.
"How would I know? You're his family member and you don't even know — how could I possibly know?"
Disciples of the Lingyun Sect were always arrogant, and Outer Disciples were no exception. The man couldn't tell Chu Feng's cultivation level and assumed he was just a commoner, so his gaze was filled with contempt, his face practically screaming three big words: impatience and annoyance.
Having learned that Chu Guyu had left the Lingyun Sect, Chu Feng's mind was already in turmoil. He couldn't be bothered to argue with the disciple and instead racked his brains trying to figure out where Chu Guyu might have gone. After all, the Chu Family no longer existed, and Chu Guyu would not have left the powerful shelter of the Lingyun Sect for no reason.
"Excuse me, brother — might I ask what relation you are to Brother Chu?" Just as Chu Feng was about to leave the Lingyun Sect, a young man walked over.
He was also a disciple of the Lingyun Sect, an Outer Disciple of about the same age as Chu Guyu. Standing before Chu Feng now, he showed none of the arrogance of the other Lingyun Sect disciples — instead, his face was full of warmth.
"I am Chu Guyu's younger brother. My name is Chu Feng. Senior brother, do you know where my elder brother went?" Chu Feng felt that this man would not have come to talk to him without reason. He must know something.
"Brother Chu Feng, let's talk over here." The man glanced around, then pulled Chu Feng to a secluded corner before speaking: "Your brother and I joined the Lingyun Sect together all those years back. We were close friends even when we were both Outer Disciples."
"His talent surpassed mine, and he became an Inner Disciple before I did. But that never affected our friendship."
"Your brother had decent talent. If he'd kept cultivating, even if he couldn't have become a Core Disciple, he could have eventually secured an Elder's position in the sect."
"But about half a year ago, something happened in your family, didn't it?" the man suddenly asked.
"Yes. There was an accident at home. My father passed away from illness." Chu Feng didn't tell the full truth, since having one's entire clan exterminated wasn't exactly something you announced openly.
"No wonder. After he heard about that, he completely changed. He barely kept in touch with me, and his temper turned vicious. Because of that, he offended the grandson of an Inner Sect Elder — someone who had always been well-behaved before."
"Your brother was beaten half to death and expelled from the Lingyun Sect." The disciple sighed.
"My brother was framed and then cast out of the sect? Who did this? Who would do such a thing to my brother?" Hearing this, Chu Feng was consumed with fury, nearly driven to the edge of his sanity.
"Forget it — telling you won't help. But I can tell you where your brother is now," the man said.
Five hundred li from the Lingyun Sect, there was a small tavern. There were no waiters inside — only the owner, and that owner was none other than Chu Feng's elder brother, Chu Guyu.
Chu Guyu was exactly eighteen now, in the prime of his youth. But on his face, the heroic spirit of old was nowhere to be seen.
At this moment, he wore coarse linen clothes. His lifeless face was full of weariness and age, and he walked with a pronounced limp — he had become a cripple.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Chu Guyu, can you move any slower? Can't you tell I'm starving?"
"The wine! Where's the wine? Get my wine out here now! If you don't hurry up, I swear I'll smash your pathetic little tavern to pieces."
Three tables of customers sat inside the tavern, about six people per table. They were all Inner Disciples of the Lingyun Sect, drinking and carousing while ordering Chu Guyu around and hurling curses at him.
Chu Guyu was used to this. He couldn't afford to offend these people — not because of himself, but for the sake of his younger brother.
"Brother Zhao, that Chu Guyu really can take a beating. We come here once a month to trash his tavern, and yet he still stays put." One disciple spoke to a pale-faced man with a thin, wispy beard.
"He wouldn't dare leave. Sure, the Chu Family was wiped out, but Chu Guyu still has a younger brother named Chu Feng. That Chu Feng is currently cultivating at the Azure Dragon Sect. If Chu Guyu dares to leave this place, I'll make his brother suffer even worse than he does." The wispy-bearded man sneered.
"It seems Chu Guyu really does care about his brother — willing to make such a sacrifice for his safety. But Brother Zhao, in my opinion, we should just kill him outright. He dared to offend you — he doesn't deserve to live." Another disciple chimed in.
"Hmph, killing him would be easy, but that would be letting him off too lightly. I want him to live out his days in misery — poorer, more wretched than anyone else. Today, I'm going to destroy his cultivation and turn him into a complete waste."
The wispy-bearded man took a swig of wine, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. Then, with a sharp crack, he hurled his wine cup to the ground.
The other two tables of disciples immediately flipped their tables over, turning their hostile gazes toward Chu Guyu as he emerged from the kitchen.
In Chu Guyu's hands, he held a dish in one and a jug of wine in the other. Seeing the scene before him, he had expected this. With a helpless look directed at the wispy-bearded man, he said in a flat voice: "Zhao Di, isn't this enough? I'm no longer a Lingyun Sect disciple, and I haven't left your line of sight. No matter what, I am still a martial cultivator. Even without the banner of the Lingyun Sect, I can still amount to something."
"But I know you don't want me to do well, so I've humbly opened this tavern. Yet even so, you still won't let me go? What exactly do you want from me?"
"Hah? Let you go? If I let you go, I wouldn't be Zhao Di. What do I want? I want you to suffer even more. It seems you still don't understand your situation. A martial cultivator? Today, I'll make sure you can never cultivate again — you won't even be as good as a commoner."
As he spoke, the wispy-bearded man shot to his feet and drew a gleaming dagger from his sleeve, striding toward Chu Guyu with menacing intent.