Rest in a Demon's Embrace

Luo Xiao followed the pair of servants that led him towards the main hall. He knew perfectly well that the situation he was about to encounter would be delicate, and the possibilities of being disdained and hated were rather strong.

Although both the patriarch and his son were aware of his true identity, the rest of the Gu family was not allowed to know the details about his origin, so they genuinely thought that he was Gu Tianyu, the nephew of the patriarch, and the cousin of Gu Tianhu, the heir to the family.

The earlier meeting with the younger generation of the Gu family outside the city walls made it clear that his arrival was not something that they were looking forward to. However, for now, he had to stay with this identity and face the criticism it brought. This was, after all, the best way to stay alive and not drag Jiang Yao down with him while he still kept increasing his strength.

To Luo Xiao, any hardships were worth it, if it allowed him to grow stronger and reunite with Jiang Yao sooner.

As he had steadied his heart, Luo Xiao found that he no longer cared about the disdain and verbal abuse he was about to face. He knew that these people would never be able to physically harm him, as the patriarch would never allow it to happen, so what did he have to fear?

His steps were neither slow nor rushed. The young man was walking steadily and exuded an aura of nobility, and anyone who looked at him would never think that he had grown up as a humble orphan raised by his uncle. In many ways, this young man was even more outstanding than the other members of the Gu family.

However, even if the servants were secretly awed by this new young master, they did not dare to show any emotions on their faces. They knew full well that his arrival was causing mixed reactions from the various family members, and although the patriarch and his son were both stubborn about this decision, the rest of the family did not agree with them.

"Young Master Tianyu, please enter."

Luo Xiao looked at the heavy doors in front of him that had been made from the Spiritdew Mahogany wood. Such extravagance was truly overwhelming and showed the position of the Gu family well, but Luo Xiao was not affected by the display of riches as he still had numerous treasures within his own storage bags from when he looted the entire hidden cave. Even his little friend, Little Gold, was hiding there as she absolutely loved the aura they gave out and the sheer amount of spiritual energy that could be absorbed within.

Before Luo Xiao even got to lift his hand and knock on the doors, a creaking sound erupted as the heavy doors slowly swung open on their own. From the fluctuations of energy in the air, Luo Xiao could guess that the doors had been opened by a special kind of mechanism controlled with either spiritual energy or Qi.

Even so, he was more intrigued by this overly wasteful way of opening a door than by the priceless resource used to carve the door from, so he did not hesitate to thank the servants before he strode into the hall in front of him.

The hall was fairly dark, and the only source of light came from the torches that were placed on the walls. Luo Xiao raised an eyebrow in surprise as he looked at the seemingly ordinary torches that were burning brightly, but upon closer inspection, he once more noticed that there seemed to be some sort of energy fluctuation around the fires themselves. It seemed that the Gu family were hiding many interesting methods.

"Gu Tianyu, step forward." A powerful voice reverberated through the silence. Luo Xiao regained his composure and looked forward once more.

The hallway he had walked down was in no way narrow, but the end was opening up into a large room that was constructed in a rectangular shape.

On each side of the room, many chairs were placed, and from Luo Xiao's quick observation, it seemed that the closer to the entrance of the room, the less power one had, as the ones sitting closest to him were all from the younger generation, and their age became more prominent the closer to the end.

At the very end, on the whole side, there were only three seats. On the middle seat, which was placed on top of a podium and stood higher than any other within the hall, a middle-aged man was seated. His aura was domineering and full of intimidation, but his eyes displayed a fondness that was symbolic towards a favored member of the younger generation.

This man, with the most power in the entire Gu family, was Gu Xingyu, the patriarch.

By his right side was a young man who seemed to be a few years older than Luo Xiao, but while Luo Xiao looked more like a refined and elegant scholar, this man was truly burly and powerful. His entire body seemed to be full of energy that could burst out at any moment, but when looking at his eyes, it was clear that he was not all muscle. His eyes were sparkling with an intelligence and wisdom that was rare to find in a young person.

The chair on the left was also occupied, but unlike the father and son who seemed genuinely happy with Luo Xiao's arrival, the woman sitting next to the patriarch had a very stern expression on her face, and a trace of disdain flashed past her eyes as she noticed the seemingly weak Luo Xiao.