Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Eight

Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Eight

Shen Wang had an inexplicable intuition: The vampire anomalies, the strange foreign arrays… all the mysteries seemed to have answers in the island nation.

All along the journey, even though he always knew this was a city harem story centered around Tang Jiu, Shen Wang never took it to heart.

He was born in this world, grew up in this world, and even if the world's heavenly consciousness wasn't perfect, he could clearly feel that this wasn't just a superficial novel world.

Apart from Tang Jiu's slightly unusual luck, everything in this world surely has a logical explanation.

Gu Dongting didn't object to Shen Wang's sudden decision.

In his previous life, Gu Dongting's family was destroyed, and he was busy seeking revenge and troubling Tang Jiu and Gu Manting, without delving deeper into many matters...

In this life, when he confronted them before Tang Jiu's rise, Gu Dongting was surprised to discover secrets in this world yet to be unearthed, aside from Tang Jiu.

These secrets were interconnected, ultimately converging on Tang Jiu.

Incident by incident, they wove into a tight net, each person a link, inescapable.

Until one day, someone outside this net reached out, touching the invisible threads, causing the entire net to tremble.

Gu Dongting looked at Shen Wang, now, that invisible net seemed ready to be fully exposed under daylight.

Without hesitation, they abandoned their pursuit of the vampires and rushed to the island nation overnight.

Upon landing, they didn't pause to rest, immediately seeking the Abe family's address.

The Abe descendant who had been imitating Gu Dongting was seriously injured in a contest and had to withdraw, recuperating for days under the care of the family's physician, barely improving.

But Gu Dongting's attack was too fierce, and his sword qi was rarely seen in the world. Even with the best medicine, the Abe descendant's foundation was damaged, and his cultivation greatly reduced.

Shen Wang and Gu Dongting, concealing their presence, searched for a long time before finally finding the injured Abe descendant in a bed in the backyard, accompanied by an elderly man with graying hair.

"Grandfather," the Abe descendant said with a resentful and gloomy face, "Just because I was injured, those collateral relatives dared to speak against me. Once I recover, I will surely..."

"Abe Yasuhiko!" the old man exclaimed sharply.

Abe Yasuhiko fell silent in resentment.

The elderly man, with a full head of white hair and a square face, looked very kind and harmless: "The strength of the Abe family today cannot be separated from everyone's efforts. As the sole direct heir, you must learn to manage those collateral branches, not treat them as enemies."

The old and the young talked slowly, with sunlight filtering through the Japanese bamboo door, casting a warm and peaceful atmosphere in the room.

Shen Wang patiently listened for a while, hearing them discuss legitimate and illegitimate lines, weighing pros and cons, but gradually lost interest. Just as he was about to look for clues elsewhere with Gu Dongting, he suddenly heard a sentence.

"Grandfather, Gu Dongting has damaged my foundation. Is there really no way to heal?"

The old man remained silent.

Abe Yasuhiko spoke again: "What about visiting the shrine? If we worship at the shrine..."

Shen Wang narrowed his eyes, exchanging a glance with Gu Dongting.

After a long silence, the old man sighed softly: "With proper care, there is still a chance for recovery within ten years."

Abe Yasuhiko became anxious: "Grandfather, just a few days’ time, and those people can’t wait to pull me down. Waiting ten years... will the Abe family still be ours in ten years?"

This statement undoubtedly struck a nerve with the old man. His expression remained calm, but his eyes darkened, his aura abruptly shifting from gentle to stern and sinister.

"You are too impatient," the old man said softly, without a hint of accusation, "Tomorrow, let's go worship at the shrine together."

"Thank you, Grandfather!" Abe Yasuhiko was overjoyed, hastily expressing his gratitude, "I knew you wouldn't let them bully me."

As the grandfather and grandson bonded happily, Shen Wang's expression turned cold. He signaled to Gu Dongting, and the two silently retreated.

Once outside the Abe residence, Shen Wang immediately spoke: "The shrine they mentioned... is it the one I'm thinking of?"

Gu Dongting's gaze was also icy: "Most likely."

Damn it. Shen Wang cursed inwardly: "Let's check it out tonight."

The two made a swift decision, and as dusk fell, they immediately set into action.

Before even approaching the shrine, they felt waves of malevolent and Yin energy, mingling with a scent of blood imperceptible to ordinary people.

This level of malevolent energy was comparable to a small ancient battlefield.

But considering the significance of such a shrine... it seemed somewhat within the realm of normalcy.

Shen Wang wrinkled his nose in disgust: "It's unbearably foul."

An ancient battlefield at least had been tempered by time, but here, lingering resentment, murderous intent, anger, despair, and pain... a myriad of negative emotions were intertwined, creating a bone-chilling, nauseating odor.

"Something's not right," Gu Dongting also frowned, "For their country, this place should be akin to a martyr's memorial. It shouldn't have such strong malevolent energy."

Especially with such a large number of visitors.

"These idiots, they wouldn't be using their ancestors to concoct some wicked thing, would they?" Shen Wang blurted out.

It was just a casual guess, but once spoken, both Shen Wang and Gu Dongting were startled, exchanging glances, then reexamining the outwardly attractive shrine.

Knowing their character, it was indeed a possibility!