Chapter 10: Jiang Minghuang’s Confidence
913 words
Everyone quickly got their answer.
Because the young Heavenly Emperor in the scene almost without hesitation made a choice.
He stood in the courtyard.
The cold wind seemed able to sweep away his small frame, but his gaze contained a coldness and resolve never seen before.
Gu Changqing picked up the firewood axe in the yard.
He knocked on the door.
The middle-aged man’s face hadn’t even registered astonishment before a cold gleam greeted him.
The middle-aged woman’s sharp shriek sounded from inside the house.
But that sound had barely begun before it was extinguished.
In the room, Gu Changqing looked at the child of the same age before him, expressionless, “Then I’ll kill you.”
Words cold as frost poured from the mouth of this young Heavenly Emperor.
“Only the two of us are left in the whole village, I’m your brother, I must protect you.”
In the blood-scented room, the young Heavenly Emperor stood in a pool of blood, staring at the infant wrapped in blankets, murmuring to himself.
“I’m sorry, I won’t abandon you again.”
He picked up the baby bundled in swaddling.
He set the wooden hut on fire, then without looking back ran into the mountains.
Throughout this whole process.
The young Heavenly Emperor showed not a trace of fear—only a chilling calm.
At this moment.
Everyone outside the screen was stunned.
The whole place fell silent!
No one expected that Gu Changqing would choose to slaughter his uncle’s entire family.
Was this something a five-year-old could do?
Killing people?!
This wasn’t killing chickens or dogs! What enormous courage that required!
“Perhaps it was from this moment that he, step by step, became that cold-blooded Heavenly Emperor,” many sighed.
Anyone could perceive the change in Gu Changqing.
When dealing with that giant leopard before he trembled all over, but now the entire process was disturbingly composed.
“The young Heavenly Emperor had truly cared for Miss Youwei. Nobody can deny that.”
Many fell silent.
The fact that the little boy killed others for a younger one who wasn’t even related to him—God knows how much courage that boy needed.
If previously Gu Changqing’s care for Gu Youwei was merely a sense of duty.
Then now it was an unwavering protection.
Gu Youwei stood there stunned for a long time, her eyes filled with complex emotions.
“Is it because of me that you gradually became so merciless…”
Ye Chen noticed Gu Youwei’s abnormal state and said softly, “If it were me, I would do the same, but I would never be as cold-blooded as the Heavenly Emperor.”
Yet this time, the emotion in Gu Youwei’s eyes did not fade.
On the screen, Gu Changqing was still running wildly deeper into the mountain.
A cultivator asked puzzledly, “The mountains are extremely dangerous, why does he continue travelling deeper into them? Staying in the mortal village would give him a better chance to survive, wouldn’t it?”
Someone replied, “If your parents were slaughtered and you picked up a child from the heap of corpses, who was then almost turned into food by other mortals, would you still think the mortal village is safe?”
“He is like a startled bird now. Deep down he must be utterly disappointed in human nature!”
At this time, another cultivator asked, “But when the Heavenly Emperor was in power, didn’t he establish the rule that cultivators must not slaughter mortals at will? Why would he protect mortals?”
Everyone was silent. No one could answer.
Given the young Heavenly Emperor’s current experiences and the ferocious temperament he showed after ascending, this was indeed an incredible contradiction.
In the mirror, Gu Changqing returned to the mountain cave he had entered the previous time.
However, this time he stood at the cave entrance without going in, searching the ground around the cave for something.
The baby in his arms seemed to be hungry again.
Crying nonstop.
“What is he searching for?”
“He’s probably looking for food the baby can eat.”
“What a baby can eat are things like porridge and milk found in mortal households—where would those be in these mountains?”
People discussed, baffled by the young Heavenly Emperor’s actions.
At that moment, Jiang Minghuang suddenly spoke, “He should be looking for that leopard.”
“Leopard?”
The crowd was stunned.
Jiang Minghuang explained, “That leopard should be a female, and one that has milk.”
“How do you know?”
Jiang Minghuang shook his head. “I don’t know, but I know the Heavenly Emperor knows—he’s always meticulous, and some details seldom escape him.”
Everyone showed astonishment.
“Emperor Jiang, what you say sounds almost supernatural. Even we didn’t notice whether that leopard had milk—how could the young Heavenly Emperor know in the heat of dealing with the giant leopard?”
“The Heavenly Emperor is indeed meticulous, but he’s only five years old now—how could he be so uncanny?”
Many agreed with those words.
What Jiang Minghuang said was indeed hard to believe.
Moreover, when he felled that giant leopard, the young Heavenly Emperor’s expression clearly showed he had been greatly frightened.
Someone continued, “Even if he noticed those details and knew it was a female leopard, on what basis could he ask it for milk?”
“Fierce beasts are wild and proud, especially those that possess intelligence. The Heavenly Emperor may have driven off the giant leopard, but forcing it to give milk is too fantastical.”
The crowd laughed uproariously.
Jiang Minghuang pursed his lips and no longer tried to explain.
Only his gaze remained very resolute.