As Steward Wei's words fell, everyone in the hall raised their heads to look at the second-floor windows. However, there were dozens of private rooms on the second floor, and currently, someone stood at each window watching the commotion. None of them had seen Gu Qingfeng before, so naturally, they didn't know which one he was.
Peng Jia didn't recognize him either. He looked at Yue Jinghong beside him. At this moment, Yue Jinghong scanned the second-floor windows, and when his gaze landed on Gu Qingfeng, his expression immediately turned furious. Pointing, he shouted, "It's him! He's that guy surnamed Gu!"
Everyone looked over, their eyes falling upon Gu Qingfeng. They were all inwardly astonished. No one had expected that the person who had bankrupted Yue Jinghong and was respectfully addressed as 'Young Master' by Fei Kui would be such an ordinary-looking man.
He really was ordinary.
Ordinary in that he possessed neither an aura of arrogance, nor one of overbearingness, nor even an air of nobility. He didn't even have the youthful vigor one would expect from a young man.
What was even more surprising was that this person seemed to have no cultivation whatsoever. Not only that, he appeared extremely frail and weak.
Was it this utterly ordinary person who had bankrupted Yue Jinghong?
And was he the Young Master of a big boss like Fei Kui?
Many people harbored doubts.
Including Peng Jia. He released his divine sense to carefully probe and was certain this person had no cultivation, no spiritual aura about him. His life force was extremely weak, as weak as someone recovering from a serious illness—far from what he had imagined.
Of course,
Peng Jia would not underestimate him because of this.
Though he was proud by nature, he was not blindly arrogant. In his mind, this person must have some powerful background. Otherwise, Fei Kui wouldn't address him as 'Young Master,' and he certainly wouldn't be lounging idly right now, leaning over the windowsill, eating spirit fruit, sipping wine, and watching the spectacle.
But just who was this person?
What was his identity? What was his background?
"Are you Young Master Gu?"
Uncertain of the other's identity and background, Peng Jia dared not act rashly.
"That's right, it's me."
Gu Qingfeng ate a blue, crystalline spirit fruit. The thing looked like crystal grapes, sweet and delicious. Many in the hall knew this fruit was called Blue Crystal Fruit, extremely valuable—a bunch of ten or so cost tens of thousands of spirit stones. Such an expensive fruit was not something ordinary people could enjoy.
In just this short while, he had eaten about twenty of them. As he ate, he asked, "So? What do you want with me?"
As soon as these words were spoken, an uproar swept through the hall.
Everyone knew Peng Jia was a noble son of the Immortal Dynasty, a figure of esteemed status. Yet, this guy surnamed Gu actually referred to himself as 'me' in a manner implying superiority before him?
Was he truly ignorant?
Or truly fearless?
No one knew.
Peng Jia didn't know either. If anyone else dared refer to themselves that way in front of him, he would have long since beaten them to their knees, forcing them to kowtow. But facing this enigmatic Gu Qingfeng, he dared not act recklessly, fearing he might provoke someone he shouldn't.
His status might seem noble in the eyes of others, but Peng Jia understood clearly in his heart that in the eyes of the upper echelons of this world, his status was utterly insignificant.
"It's nothing serious. I merely wished to make your acquaintance, Young Master Gu. That's all."
Peng Jia was a cautious man. He decided to first probe the other's identity. "May I ask for your esteemed name, Young Master Gu?"
"My esteemed name?"
Gu Qingfeng chuckled and said, "I don't change my name when traveling, nor my surname when sitting. My surname is Gu, given name Tianlang, Daoist title Chixiao."
Surname Gu?
Given name Tianlang?
Daoist title Chixiao?
Monarch Chixiao Gu Tianlang?
If Gu Qingfeng referring to himself in that superior manner before Peng Jia had caused an uproar earlier, then at this moment, when he declared himself to be Monarch Chixiao Gu Tianlang, every single person in the hall, without exception, was struck dumb with shock and horror, their eyes wide and mouths agape.
No one had expected him to claim to be Monarch Chixiao Gu Tianlang.
Was it true?
No!
How could it possibly be true?
Could it be yet another person impersonating Monarch Chixiao?
Perhaps so.
These days, while there weren't as many swindlers impersonating Monarch Chixiao as before, there were still quite a few. Among them were some young masters from powerful backgrounds who impersonated the Monarch just for fun, and others who did it purely to scam food and drink. However, these people were eventually exposed. Of course, there were still over a dozen 'Monarchs' whose true identities remained unverified.
Many speculated that this person whom Fei Kui addressed as 'Young Master' probably wasn't scamming for food and drink; more likely, he was doing it for amusement.
Ever since the Monarch was judged by the Immortal Dao hundreds of years ago, swindlers impersonating the Monarch and his descendants had never ceased.
Hundreds of years had passed, and countless impersonators of the Monarch had appeared in this world. Whether it was the Immortal Dynasty or the Crimson-Letter Sect, they had long grown numb to it. Now, when they encountered someone claiming to be the Monarch, they couldn't even be bothered to acknowledge them. This wasn't just true for the Immortal Dynasty and the Crimson-Letter Sect; most people in this world had become accustomed to it, treating it as commonplace, and wouldn't react too strongly.
In the private room on the second floor,
Tang Manqing and Shui'er knew that Gu Qingfeng was the Chiyan Young Lord from the Great Northwest, who claimed to be the Monarch's heir.
Of course, whether it was true or false, neither of them knew for sure.
They had thought Gu Qingfeng's earlier claim of being Monarch Chixiao was just talk. They never expected this guy to actually announce publicly that he was Monarch Chixiao.
What was he trying to do?
Just for fun?
This guy had killed so many noble sons of the Immortal Dynasty in the Great Northwest. If his identity were exposed, the consequences would be unimaginable. Yet, despite this, he showed no caution. Not only that, he brazenly and openly declared himself to be Monarch Chixiao.
Did he think his life was too long?
Or did he truly believe that by using the name of Monarch Chixiao, he could pass off fish eyes for pearls and do as he pleased?
Perhaps that worked in the past.
That was because no one knew if the Monarch had reincarnated or if he was still alive. That wasn't important; what was important was the Crimson-Letter Sect.
The Crimson-Letter Sect used to hold the four words 'Monarch Chixiao' in the highest, most solemn regard.
So solemn that they allowed no one to show disrespect to the Monarch, even in words.
In the past, if anyone dared show disrespect to the Monarch, they would inevitably anger the Crimson-Letter Sect. If anyone dared call the Monarch a sinner of the Immortal Dao, the Crimson-Letter Sect would not hesitate to obliterate them on the spot.
It was precisely because the Crimson-Letter Sect valued the Monarch's reputation so highly that later, so many people impersonated Monarch Chixiao and his descendants.
Why?
Because in the past, the four words 'Monarch Chixiao' were equivalent to an inviolable protective talisman. As long as you claimed to be the Monarch's heir, no one dared touch you, at least not kill you on the spot. They had to report to the Crimson-Letter Sect first, letting the Crimson-Letter Sect verify your identity. Only after the Crimson-Letter Sect gave the nod would others dare take action.
Therefore, in the past, when facing those who claimed to be the Monarch, no one dared act rashly. Even if those claiming to be the Monarch weren't particularly powerful, even if everyone knew they were fake, still no one dared do anything, because killing a fake Monarch was also a form of disrespect towards the true Monarch.
Of course,
that was in the past.
Now it was different.
As more and more people in this world impersonated the Monarch and his descendants, the Crimson-Letter Sect had long since grown tired of verifying their identities.
PS: I've hit a bit of a writer's block these past couple of days...
Let me sort out the plot!