True God’s Disciple and Mu Yu
The businessmen pressed Mu Tianhe to call off the marriage and accept Gu Clan’s offer, saying Gu Clan was being reasonable by all accounts.
“We can’t cancel their engagement! Gu Hongyi, your late father, Gu Renfei, was the one who pushed for this marriage. Are you not letting him down?” Mu Tianhe shouted.
Gu Hongyi would be could a disloyal and unfilial son if he did call of the engagement, but was it worth sacrificing his daughter to protect his reputation? Thus, he stated, “That is why I want Mu Clan to initiate the cancellation. That gives us both wiggle room, does it not?”
“We’ll cancel.” Mu Hao squeezed through the crowd with his fists shaking and confronted Gu Qiaowei. “There were no feelings between us in the first place. I never acknowledged you as my wife because I don’t like an uncultured lass who has no respect for her elders. Whoever marries you must be cursed! You’re not worthy of being part of Mu Clan!”
Stunned, Gu Qiaowei couldn’t respond during the time Mu Hao walked off. “You… You get back here!”
Mu Tianhe cut in before Gu Qiaowei could hurt Mu Hao and said, “Patriarch Gu, as my grandson does not like your daughter, let us cancel their engagement. You need to prioritise educating your daughter. Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you that the wage of sin is death. We’ll repay our debt even if we have to sell our abode, so don’t worry, gentlemen. We will pay you everything we owe you in five days’ time.”
Mu Tianhe felt apologetic to Mu Hao, who was far more sensible and understanding than other kids of his age.
“Hao!” Mu Rongxuan caught up to his son, fighting back his tears. He didn’t know how to comfort his son.
“Dad, Grandpa always told us that everyone in Mu Clan has a backbone and to protect it. Was that the right thing for me to do?”
“Yes, it was,” responded Mu Rongxuan, apologetic that he couldn’t provide a healthier environment for his son to grow up in.
“I want to be alone for a bit, Dad.”
Mu Hao sat against a wall in an alley, staring at his tears splattering on the ground. He murmured, “If only I had your power, Brother Mu Yu. I will help Dad and Grandpa out.”
Upon seeing a pair of feet in his field of vision, Mu Hao looked up to see a pair of eyes as fuzzy as his own. He hid his face and wiped his tears. “What are you doing here? Haven’t you left?”
Mu Yu bit down on his bottom lip and deliberated, What should I do? I could’ve stopped Gu Clan’s attack and prevent Mu Clan’s fall. What exactly am I waiting for, an apology? Would Mu Clan even spare me a thought if they weren’t on the brink of demise? Would they even be interested in me if they didn’t hear I’m Shifu’s disciple? Don’t they think it’s too late?
Mu Yu sat down on the ground with Mu Hao and asked, “What sort of person do you think Mu Yu is?”
“Brother Mu Yu is man with a sense of duty, punishes evil, helps humankind and a hero every sings the praise of. I won’t allow you or anyone else to disparage him.”
Mu Yu smiled bitterly. “You think he’d help Mu Clan in their situation.”
“He will!”
“Mu Yu ended up out there somewhere in the world because of your grandpa. Your grandpa even tried to off him before he was born. If it wasn’t for your grandpa opposing your fourth uncle and fourth aunt’s relationship, Mu Yu wouldn’t be an orphan. You think Mu Yu doesn’t resent your grandpa for everything he did?”
“H-he won’t mind it.”
“He won’t? What would you do if your grandpa never let you see your parents and never let you home ever since you were a kid?”
“Gr-Grandpa wouldn’t do that.”
“But that’s what he did to Mu Yu!” Mu Yu’s bitterness jumped in.
Mu Yu let his head hang in defeat.
“If True God’s disciple isn’t Mu Yu but Cheng Yan, Lie Shang or Xiang Nan, would you idolise him? Do you idolise True God’s disciple or your Brother Mu Yu?”
“I… I…” Clearly, Mu Hao never considered the scenario. Since he believed Mu Yu was True God’s disciple and his cousin, he never saw the conflicting proposition. Weakly, he answered, “I don’t know”
“Of course you don’t.” Mu Yu sighed and got up. He rubbed Mu Hao’s head and verbalised, “You need to hang onto your resolve, not place your hopes on others. You’re part of Mu Clan, but Mu Yu isn’t necessarily one of you. If you want to protect those you care about, you need to train. You won’t need to depend on anyone once you’re strong.”
Mu Hao clutched his clothes and looked up. “Can you help me grow strong?”
By the time Mu Hao looked up, however, it was just him in the alley.
***
Mu Yu watched the lively street through the window of an inn. He cooped up in his room for two days already, purposely avoiding anything associated with Mu Clan. Part of him wanted to sit back, letting Mu Clan suffer from what he believed they had coming. Another part of him worried for them. He turned back to staring at the ceiling. The dragon vine lying next to him wasn’t nearly as bogged down.
“Mu Yu, when I went to the gitchen for some grub juzt now, I heard Mu Clan is auctioning their ancestral home todai. I guess they’re gornered. Are you sure you dun want to go see?” Xiaoshuai came back through the window with drumsticks and asked.
“Who care? Also, you didn’t pay again, did you?” scolded the dragon vine.
“Shut up.” Xiaoshuai pranced on the table and chomped away as if to make fun of the dragon vine.
Mu Yu rolled over onto his bed and shut his eyes. “I’m not part of them anyway.”
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