This couple truly seemed to compete with each other over who could stay more unbothered. Facing a scene this dramatic, with over a thousand pairs of eyes fixed on them, they showed absolutely no reaction at all—if anything, they seemed even more like detached spectators than the crowd itself, watching everyone else with perfect composure.
The first thing Bai Feiyao did once he regained his senses was to shoot a furious glare at Jiang Chen—who, even now, still hadn’t recovered.
He stared, utterly dumbstruck, unable to believe his own eyes.
Jun Beiyue had actually woken up—and not only that, he’d survived the fire entirely, and, most horrifying of all, he and Han Ziqing were sitting there beside him as if it were the most natural thing in the world, utterly composed, as steady as a mountain.
Right beside him, no less—especially Jun Beiyue, seated right at his right hand!
This was too sudden, too terrifying!
What exactly had happened? How had the poison in Jun Beiyue’s body been cured? When exactly had they discovered he’d been poisoned in the first place, and how had it apparently already been neutralized?
Just how much did they actually know?
He couldn’t stop trembling, the shaking reaching all the way down to his heart, to the very blood coursing through his veins. He desperately wanted to turn and look at the man beside him, but he didn’t dare.
His neck felt as though it had been nailed in place—he simply couldn’t move it at all.
Bai Feiyao’s eyes bulged with fury—if Jiang Chen had seen him just then, he surely would have wanted to bury his own head in shame. How could he possibly face Young Master Bai now? Their entire plan had rested on Jun Beiyue—everything, all of it, hinged on one single outcome: Jun Beiyue’s death!
At this moment, the Gu family head and the Se Elder finally came hurrying over from the front. The family head’s eyes were clearly hollow and empty, his appearance disheveled. Gu Suying followed behind them, head bowed, seemingly lost in thought.
Bai Feiyao immediately shot her a cold, questioning glance, but when Gu Suying met his gaze, her fine brows remained tightly knit, her expression complicated.
Just then, the Gu family head suddenly cried out in shock, “You—!”
Gu Suying’s head snapped up at once, and the moment she saw who was sitting in her place, she gasped sharply, momentarily stunned.
How could this be?!
That man—that man was sitting in her seat, right beside Jiang Chen. One hand casually held a wine cup, the other rested on the table, holding Han Ziqing’s hand.
Who else besides Jun Beiyue would be holding Han Ziqing’s hand?
How could he possibly—!
Not just Gu Suying, but even the Gu family head stood frozen. And the Se Elder, who had come along with them and had just been gloating over Jun Beiyue’s supposed death, was equally unable to process the scene before him.
By the time they’d reached the scene of the fire, the flames had already completely swallowed the entire courtyard—forget saving anyone, they couldn’t even take a single step inside.
No matter how hard they tried to fight it, it had been futile. Once the fire finally died down enough, the family head had rushed in at once, only to find nothing at all—everything reduced to ash.
No one could say for certain whether the body itself had been reduced to ashes as well.
The family head hadn’t dared say a word, hadn’t dared draw any conclusions, his eyes reddening again and again. Only after repeated persuasion from the Se Elder and Gu Suying had he managed to force himself into some semblance of calm, resolving to keep quiet for now and wait for the investigation to proceed.
And now, arriving here, they found Jun Beiyue sitting right there!
None of them had any idea what was going on!
Seeing the shock plain on Gu Suying’s face, Bai Feiyao’s fury was so intense he felt his lungs might burst. She didn’t know either!
So what on earth was going on?
How had Jun Beiyue woken up? How much of the truth did he actually know?
Who could possibly tell him?
The Gu family head rushed forward at once, hands pressed excitedly against the table, nearly reaching out to embrace Jun Beiyue outright. “Beiyue! You—you—you’re awake! You’ve finally woken up!”
“Elder Gu, we’re at a gathering. Please, sit,” Jun Beiyue said flatly, addressing the family head as “Elder Gu,” just as he had before.
A single, brief sentence—and yet it spoke volumes about the current situation, the stakes and interests at play.
This was, after all, Qinse Valley’s grand gathering—every family on Liuxian Isle, countless martial figures from across the entire Longyuan mainland, all present. So many of them had no idea about Jun Beiyue’s coma, no idea about the internal strife within the Gu family!
This was absolutely not the place to air family matters—but it was, without question, exactly the kind of place where a family’s dirty laundry could be publicly exposed.
Only then did the Gu family head snap back to himself. Though still far from calm, he sat down as instructed. Gu Suying, with nowhere to sit, could only stand awkwardly off to the side.
Seeing this, Bai Feiyao wished desperately he could simply expose Jun Beiyue’s true identity to the entire gathering right there—but he had no proof.
Gu Suying and Jiang Chen had been searching and searching for evidence, but had found nothing at all. Everything about Jun Beiyue’s true identity rested solely on the Gu family head’s own word—as long as the family head and Jun Beiyue simply denied it, there was nothing anyone could do.
With so much still unclear, Bai Feiyao didn’t dare act rashly either.
Once back in his seat, the Se Elder gave only a brief account of the fire, glancing at Bai Feiyao with a smile. “Ziqing said the drinking game had taken a turn for the better. What, it’s still not finished?”
That jolted Bai Feiyao at once, and he suddenly realized where the most immediate consequence of this whole affair lay.
Nothing had actually gone wrong at all—how could a mere fire possibly disrupt the gathering?
This drinking game had to continue—until one side finally conceded!
Whether it was from spending so much time together or simply being kindred spirits by nature, Jun Beiyue and Ziqing now sat perfectly silent, utterly composed, lazily waiting to watch the show unfold—the calmest two people in the entire hall.
Though they themselves were the very ones who had set all this in motion, they seemed to have nothing to do with any of it at all.
If they’d simply sat quietly watching, that would have been one thing. But just as Bai Feiyao found himself at a loss for words, Jun Beiyue calmly spoke up. “What, not continuing? Could it be someone wants to concede?”
Yu Xiao reacted faster than Bai Feiyao. “Continue!” he said at once.
Bai Feiyao’s hands clenched into fists, gritting his teeth, nearly spitting out the word “despicable.”
“So then, Young Master Bai is the one conceding?” Jun Beiyue pressed further.
Even Ziqing beside him couldn’t help feeling a flicker of worry for Bai Feiyao—she spoke little, but Jun Beiyue spoke even less. If this man was suddenly talking this much, it was never a good sign.
“Ha, should I call you Young Master Gu, or Prince Yao?” Bai Feiyao asked, his voice low.
“You and I have no connection worth speaking of—there’s no need for you to know. Stop stalling. If you want to continue, get on with it. If you want to concede, do that quickly too,” Jun Beiyue said flatly, as though the matter were of no consequence at all.
“You—!” Bai Feiyao choked with fury. Just then, the Qin Elder struck the zither strings once more, the music flowing like a running stream!
“‘High Mountains, Flowing Water’!” Yu Xiao called out instantly!
Bai Feiyao had lost again, naturally, gritting his teeth as he hoisted the jar and drank deeply—unlike Yu Xiao, though, he wasn’t quite so reckless, forcing himself to stay calm even as he searched desperately for a way out.
But trapped in such a bind, he couldn’t think of anything at all. Soon, jar after jar went down, and before he knew it, another ten had passed!
Finally, after the fortieth jar, Bai Feiyao’s steps began to falter!
Jun Beiyue’s handsome face had long since turned cold, an expression bordering on sinister, his thoughts utterly unreadable to anyone. Beside him, Jiang Chen and Gu Suying both trembled with fear.
And somewhere in the crowd, Baili Weisheng watched Jun Beiyue’s icy expression from a distance, unable to help feeling genuinely worried for Bai Feiyao’s life. Given how Jun Beiyue had been drinking last night—if he genuinely intended to force someone to drink, there was no telling what might happen!
This man—one had better not cross him lightly!
Any debt owed to his wife, he would never let someone else settle on his behalf. If there was a score to settle, he would settle it himself.