Chapter 167: Causality and Reincarnation

Chapter 167: Cause and Effect

In Xu Yun’s memory, there had only been one misjudgment among all the decisions he had ever made, and that single mistake had directly led to the death of Silver Dragon. Therefore, no matter what he did now, Xu Yun would consider everything much more thoroughly, never doing anything rash or impulsive.

Tang Zhentian ultimately chose to remain silent. Although this amounted to a serious offense, he had to get to the bottom of the matter.

Hearing the car return, Aunt Xue opened the door. Seeing only Tang Zhentian and Xu Yun, she asked, "Little Tang, where is Jiuer? Didn't she come back with you?"

Tang Zhentian shook his head. "She wanted some quiet time outside. After all, the Tang family has recently experienced too many things she couldn't bear. I think giving her some space might not be a bad thing for her. Sister Xue, you don't need to worry about her; Qiu Yan and Guoguo are keeping her company."

Xu Yun also chuckled and said, "Aunt Xue, you really care a lot about Tang Jiu. No wonder she is so close to you—she always speaks highly of you whenever she mentions you."

"Jiuer's mother passed away early, and I've always treated her like my own daughter," Aunt Xue said indifferently, a gloomy expression crossing her face as she let out a long sigh. "Why am I saying all this... It's all ancient history."

Seizing the opportunity, Xu Yun cut straight to the point. "Aunt Xue, I heard that your husband also passed away many years ago."

"I don't want to talk about this," Aunt Xue immediately rejected him flatly, giving Xu Yun no chance to speak again. "Those are things of the past, and I don't want to think about them anymore. Besides, it has nothing to do with you."

Xu Yun quickly said, "The deceased deserve the utmost respect. Since I'm here, I should at least pay my respects."

Aunt Xue rebuked him coldly, "There's no need."

"Sister Xue, it has been a long time since I last spoke with brother Guohua. Consider it as my wish to see him today," Tang Zhentian finally spoke up. He hadn't wanted to get involved in this initially, but seeing Aunt Xue's reaction, he had no choice. He remembered that whenever her late husband was mentioned in the past, she had always been very peaceful and never reacted with such intense hostility.

Hearing Tang Zhentian speak as well, Aunt Xue froze slightly. She finally nodded and agreed to let the two of them into her room.

Aunt Xue's room was neither large nor small, about twenty-odd square meters. For a servant's room, this demonstrated the Tang family's standing. Everything in the room was extremely simple: a single bed, a plain wooden sofa, and a table.

On the table sat a black-and-white photograph, and in front of the photograph was an exquisite urn.

Xu Yun bowed solemnly to the photograph and thought to himself: *Offense taken.*

In the fraction of a second when Tang Zhentian and Aunt Xue were not paying attention, Xu Yun suddenly stepped forward, picked up the urn in one swift motion, and muttered to himself, "Such an exquisite box. Heh, Aunt Xue, there must be something extremely important to you inside it."

Not to mention Aunt Xue, even Tang Zhentian was taken aback. This fellow was too sudden; he acted the moment he decided to, without any warning. Such lightning-fast methods made even Tang Zhentian feel inferior.

Aunt Xue's face instantly turned ashen, and her voice trembled with rage: "Put... put it down! Put it down!"

"I am a person with strong curiosity. I really want to know what kind of treasure is inside." As Xu Yun spoke, he performed an even more radical action—he actually opened the urn.

Tang Zhentian's expression changed drastically at that very moment, and Aunt Xue collapsed straight onto the floor...

Xu Yun looked at the contents inside the urn and smiled faintly, "I betted right."

Tang Zhentian's chest heaved violently as he slowly took the box—which he had always believed contained Gu Guohua's ashes—from Xu Yun's hands. Inside, it was completely packed with various medicine bottles such as quinidine, aminophylline, digitalis, and digoxin.

Aunt Xue seemed to realize that further explanation was pointless, so she closed her mouth and said nothing.

"Why?" After learning the truth, Tang Zhentian became surprisingly much calmer.

Aunt Xue looked up at Tang Zhentian and said word by word, "Tang Zhentian, that car accident back then—did you tamper with it or not?"

This question was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue. Xu Yun truly hadn't expected this grievance to trace back so far into the past. Could it be that Tang Zhentian had resorted to ruthless methods to attain his current position?

Tang Zhentian did not avoid Aunt Xue's gaze; in the end, he chose to nod.

"Why..." Aunt Xue asked in return.

Tang Zhentian looked up at the ceiling and said indifferently, "Aunt Xue, there are some things I really don't know how to explain. If I hadn't let Number Four and Number Five die that day, the one who died would have been me."

"Then why did you have to drag my Guohua into it and cost him his life?" Aunt Xue was already weeping uncontrollably. "Do you know how he treated you? Although he was your driver, your subordinate, while treating you as his boss, he also treated you like his own younger brother! I've never seen Guohua treat anyone the way he treated you! Tang Zhentian, how could your heart be so cruel? Why did you let Guohua drive them there when you clearly knew the car had been tampered with?!"

Tang Zhentian remained silent. After a long while, he finally spoke in a muted voice, "Just because he was the person closest to me. Only with him driving would Number Four and Number Five get in. If it had been any other driver, they wouldn't have gotten into the car..."

Aunt Xue glared at him with furious eyes. "Tang Zhentian, you are the most cold-blooded and ruthless person in the Tang family."

"Sister Xue, those are all matters of the past, and I have repented. Since so many years have passed... I have also suffered immensely. Isn't that punishment enough?" Tang Zhentian frowned. "I have always been sincere toward you and Guohua, and you know this."

"A person is dead. Saying anything is useless." Aunt Xue shook her urn-free head, looking utterly desolate.

Although Xu Yun knew it was cruel to ask questions now, he still spoke up, "Aunt Xue, you probably only found out about this recently, right? I want to know who told you."

Aunt Xue glanced coldly at Xu Yun. "If it weren't for you... Hmph... You still expect me to answer your questions? Keep dreaming!"

"Aunt Xue, even if you don't say it, it's very easy for us to guess. It must be one of the children of the two people who met with misfortune alongside your husband that day—either Tang Long or Tang Qun. I've had contact with both of them, and Tang Qun doesn't seem to have that kind of capability." Xu Yun shrugged. "So the answer is very obvious, and I don't want to say too much. The family may have wronged you in the past, but they have always tried to make up for it. Now, it is you who have wronged the Tang family."

Tang Zhentian stood up. "Sister Xue, I will forgive whatever you do. In this world, cause and effect are cyclical; every cause has an effect. Today's events are entirely the result of my own actions back then, and I cannot blame anyone else."

After the two of them left, Aunt Xue remained collapsed alone on the floor for a long time without getting up. She knew she no longer had the face to stay in this household; she had failed Tang Zhentian, and she had failed Tang Jiu...

...

At Illusion Dream Bar, Tang Jiu brought Qiu Yan and Guoguo to a private booth. Right from the start, she had the waiter bring two bottles of Absolute Vodka and two flavors of fruit juice, then said to Qiu Yan, "I like drinking this. If you don't like it, order something else."

Qiu Yan didn't hesitate at all and picked up a bottle directly. "Anything is fine with me."

Guoguo simply chose between peach juice and pomegranate juice, then obediently sat in her chair. Tonight, these two were definitely going to engage in a drinking contest; she would just stay here and watch the good show.

Even a little kid like Guoguo could tell something was off with Qiu Yan, which obviously stemmed from the relationship between Xu Yun and Tang Jiu.

"Shall we have a go?" Tang Jiu said casually, yet she also picked up a bottle and placed it in front of herself. Judging by this posture, neither of them intended to use glasses.

Qiu Yan nodded. "Let's go."

With that, the two of them put the bottle directly to their lips and tilted their heads back to pour the alcohol down their throats. The word "pour" was entirely appropriate here—the gulping sound was just like someone parched drinking soda, chugging it for dear life!

The combination of two stunning beauties and one little sprite was already eye-catching enough in a bar. Now, these two peerless beauties of breathtaking grace were starting a drinking competition, and they were straight-up chugging vodka by the bottle! This wasn't beer after all—very few people dared to drink like this!

Guoguo sighed, silently sipped her juice, and thought helplessly that matters between men and women were truly troublesome and a real headache. If Mom Ruan Qingshuang were here, she would probably join in on this drinking frenzy too, right? But even a hundred Mom Ruans probably couldn't outdrink Tang Jiu and Qiu Yan!

In just half a minute, an entire bottle of vodka was chugged down, completely stunning the venue.

Qiu Yan calmly set down her bottle, showing no signs of having just consumed alcohol. Tang Jiu smiled faintly and also set her bottle down. "Qiu Yan, I really didn't expect your alcohol tolerance to be so good. I'm really happy to have you keep me company drinking tonight. I mean it."

"Likewise," Qiu Yan said. "I didn't expect your tolerance to be so good either."

Tang Jiu still wore a smile. "Where does this even start? Heh, let's keep going." With that, Tang Jiu waved a hand, "Waiter, come on, keep them coming. Vodka, bring me ten bottles."

Good grief, what a grand tone! Tang Jiu was truly treating the hardcore liquor of the northern lands like plain water.

When the ten bottles of vodka were brought over, a man took the opportunity to sidle closer. Saying, "Put the two beauties' tab on me," he pulled up a chair and sat right between Tang Jiu and Qiu Yan.

Guoguo frowned instantly; she hated these stinking flies the most—they were utterly repulsive.

"Such great alcohol tolerances from both beauties. You don't mind me sitting here for a moment, do you? Brother Ha loves making friends with people who are forthright drinkers!" The man proudly announced his moniker. "It's fate that we meet here today, so why don't we have a drink together? Tonight's expenses are all on me."

That aura of youthful wealth was extraordinary, and his face was written all over with absolute confidence, as if no girl had ever turned him down before.

"Scram."

Tang Jiu gave only a single-word reply.