Su Yan had a smile on her face, but a shadow lurked in the depths of her eyes, making her entire being appear shrouded in darkness, eerie and terrifying.
Gan Hua sucked in a breath of cold air. He was no fool; through the scattered fragments he had learned over these past few days, he could more or less deduce some of the truth.
But the closer he got to the truth, the more uneasy he became.
Now, hearing Su Yan say it with her own lips, it was even more unbelievable.
Su Yan's sudden decision to tell him this was not without purpose. "Senior Brother Gan, I know you are different from those cold and brutal members of the Kong family. I have always settled my debts with vengeance and will not involve innocent bystanders. Therefore, my target this time is only those who participated in that matter back then."
Gan Hua's clothes were already soaked with sweat. "You want to deal with the Clan Leader?"
His voice was trembling violently.
"It shouldn't be just the Clan Leader; there might also be those two from just now."
Su Yan felt that as family elders, Kong Ling and Kong Chao could not have been uninvolved in such a matter, which was why they were so eager to meet with her.
"Su Yan, please calm down. The strength of the Clan Leader and the two elders is very great. If it is only you, even if you succeed, it will surely result in mutual destruction. Furthermore, if I remember correctly, the current Clan Leader only ascended twelve years ago; the previous Clan Leader was not the current one at all."
Gan Hua was truly anxious.
Whether as a member of the Kong family or because he had received favors from Su Yan, he did not want to see such a situation unfold.
What he had just said was exactly what Su Yan intended to ask next.
"Fourteen years ago, the Clan Leader of the Kong family was Kong Lingfeng."
Gan Hua froze, and it took several seconds before he could find his voice. "You already knew?"
Since she knew, she shouldn't be shifting her hatred onto the current Clan Leader.
"Where is Kong Lingfeng now?"
Su Yan, of course, would not let the true culprit escape.
She had asked Zhou Xiongfeng this question before, but Zhou Xiongfeng had stated he had no idea where Kong Lingfeng had gone, and didn't even know if he was alive or dead.
As expected, Gan Hua shook his head quickly. "I don't know. I had only just arrived at the manor back then. I only heard people saying that Clan Leader Kong Lingfeng had somehow suffered a severe injury and needed to enter long-term secluded cultivation to recover, making him unable to continue serving as Clan Leader, which is why the current Clan Leader ascended."
He was telling the truth, and he only knew these details.
"Then where is Kong Lingfeng in seclusion?" Su Yan immediately seized the key point.
"The places for seclusion are all in the back mountains of the manor, but as for which specific secret chamber it is, ordinary disciples like us simply cannot know."
Gan Hua's answer caused Su Yan to knit her brows tightly.
"I have said so much to you that I have already violated the interests of the family. I am not trying to stop your revenge, I only hope you will think twice. The foundation of the Kong family is much deeper than you imagine. I believe your relatives would also not want to see you sacrifice your own life for the sake of revenge."
Gan Hua mustered his courage to say these final words.
However, he also knew how difficult it was to make a person let go of an obsession.
***
After a day of rest, Su Yan emerged from her room at dusk.
Although Kong family disciples were patrolling everywhere, no one restricted her movements.
Gan Hua said that Kong Lingfeng had been in seclusion for injuries for over a decade, so what she needed to do next was find the exact location of his seclusion.
Just as she was wandering about with an air of nonchalance, a burst of laughter from not far away interrupted her thoughts.
It was several quite young Kong family disciples, appearing to be only twelve or thirteen years old, playing under a massive willow tree.
Their somewhat youthful faces were filled with vitality and vigor.
They soon spotted Su Yan standing in the corridor, and curious gazes fell upon her.
By the time Su Yan snapped out of her thoughts, she had already arrived in front of them.
"Hello, Senior Sister Su."
They actually greeted her in unison.
A flash of surprise passed through the depths of Su Yan's eyes.
"You know me?"
"We know you. You are Senior Sister Su Yan," several of them said almost in unison.
Su Yan had not expected that she was already so famous within the Kong family.
"Senior Sister Su, we heard that you are exceptionally powerful, even more so than Senior Brother Gan and Senior Brother Ruan. Is it true?"
The boy who spoke was both curious and full of doubt.
After all, standing before them, Su Yan did not look much older than they were.
"Who told you that?"
"Many people are saying it. Senior Sister Su, have you been cultivating outside all this time? Are you not leaving again now that you've returned?" These young children were innocent and ignorant; they had no concept of what it meant to be discreet or to read the room.
Although Su Yan's expression remained relaxed, her gaze deepened slightly.
"Is that something many people are saying as well?"
The children all nodded together.
Su Yan let out a cold laugh.
It seemed the Kong family intended to do the same as they did fourteen years ago—to "keep" her. Of course, what they truly wanted to keep was not her person, but the energy in her eyes and the spiritual power throughout her body.
But she was no longer the child from fourteen years ago who allowed them to do as they pleased.
"I am not a member of the Kong family, and I will not be staying here."
Her attitude was firm and powerful, making it heard clearly and distinctly by everyone present.
Those youthful faces froze simultaneously.
Clearly, the attitude Su Yan displayed was completely different from what they had heard.
Su Yan did not linger.
Every blade of grass and every person here filled her with utter loathing.
After circling the grounds, as she passed through a garden and attempted to continue toward the back, she was intercepted by a Kong family disciple.
"Senior Sister Su, the area ahead is the Kong family's forbidden zone. Without the Clan Leader's command, no one is permitted to enter privately."
Su Yan's dark gaze pierced through the disciple toward the interior.
"Senior Sister Su, it is getting late. Please, return to your quarters." The disciple's attitude toward her was actually quite respectful.
Su Yan did not continue to argue; if she wanted to get in, there would be countless ways to do so.
By the time she returned to the guest rooms, the sky had completely darkened.
"Senior Sister Su, where did you go? I've been looking for you for ages."
Zhou Li walked over from the side, and only when he saw her did the look of urgency on his face subside.
Knowing Su Yan as he did, he was truly afraid that she might strike out at a Kong family disciple at the slightest disagreement.
"I just went out for a stroll. Is something wrong?"
"They have already delivered dinner. Gan Hua said those two elders originally wanted to hold some kind of reception banquet to welcome us, but I turned it down."
Now that Zhou Li knew of the relationship between Su Yan and the Kong family, he was naturally much more cautious in everything he did.
(End of Chapter)