Chapter 44: The Brothers of the Northern Frontier War King’s Son

"The Battle King has descended? Which Battle King?"
"Did you just crawl out of the abyss? Who else could it be, of course it's Gu Qingfeng, the Battle King of the Northern Frontier!"
"What? You mean that pillar of the empire? That is a legendary figure! Why is he here?"
"Not sure. Looking at this direction, it seems they are heading toward the Li family."
......
An airship battleship, bearing the royal banner with the surname Gu!
Gu Qingfeng hadn't even shown his face yet, but tens of thousands of commoners in Lin City below were already in an uproar.
Excited, thrilled!
This was the king of the seven cities of the Northern Frontier!
To think he would suddenly appear in Lin City today, bestowing supreme glory upon everyone present.
Soon, the airship battleship came to a halt directly above the Li family estate.
Beneath the royal banner, a host of warriors clad in black armor stood tall and proud like rows of javelins. An aura of fierce, blood-tempered authority surged into the heavens, making it almost impossible for onlookers to meet their gaze.
Gu Qingfeng stepped out of the command chamber, stood before his personal guards, and gazed down at the Li family below.
Accompanying him were Qin Yun and the estate manager, Gu He.
"It's Gu Qingfeng!"
"Good heavens, it's actually the Battle King in the flesh!"
"What on earth is happening? Why would such a towering figure come to Lin City?"
"The airship battleship stopped right above the Li family estate. Are they targeting the Lis?"
"Tell me, is there even a remote possibility that Gu Chen is Gu Qingfeng's son?"
"Do you take me for an abyss-dweller? Gu Qingfeng only has one son, and that's Gu辞 (Gu Ci). Not only did he awaken a rare class early on, but he was also admitted to Beijing University. How could Gu Chen possibly be his son?"
"Forget it, guessing back and forth is pointless. Let's hurry over to the Li family and see for ourselves."
At this moment, Lin City was practically deserted of residents indoors; everyone was rapidly converging on the direction of the Li family estate.
Outside the Li family manor, crowds surged like a sea of people, shoulder to shoulder.
On the streets, in the trees, along the railings, over the eaves, atop the rooftops... everywhere people could stand, and even where they couldn't, was packed with spectators.
The airship battleship blotted out the sun, attracting nearly the entire population of Lin City.
Lin Yuan, Lin Qingqing, and Su Ran had also arrived near the Li family. Looking at the fluttering Gu royal banner snapping proudly in the wind, a bold thought suddenly popped into Lin Yuan's mind.
Gu Chen, Gu Qingfeng...
Could it be that Gu Chen is Gu Qingfeng's son?
Beneath the shadow, the airship battleship loomed like a beast of steel, completely blanketing the Li family estate.
Meanwhile, feeling the sudden, suffocating pressure from outside, a restless and troubled Li Xiao stepped out of his study and into the courtyard.
Looking up, he happened to see a dignified figure stepping down from the battleship, walking on empty air as he slowly descended toward the courtyard below.
At that exact moment, Li Xiao's eyelids twitched violently. He felt as though all the blood in his body was about to reverse its flow, and a soul-deep shudder turned his limbs to jelly. With a loud thud, he collapsed flat onto the ground.
"The... the Battle King!"
"Your humble servant Li Xiao is foolish and unaware of the Battle King's personal arrival. I beg for your forgiveness!"
Gu Qingfeng stood with his hands behind his back, asking coldly, "Li Xiao, hand over my son! If I do not see my son today, I will have your entire Li family wiped out to the last root!"
As his words fell, hundreds of black-armored warriors plummeted swiftly from the airship battleship, instantly surrounding the Li family manor so tightly not even a drop of water could leak through.
Gu Qingfeng's words rang clear and resolute, making it abundantly clear that Gu Chen was indeed his son.
On the outer perimeter, those who had previously guessed Gu Chen's identity immediately burst into gasps of astonishment.
Utterly explosive!
They had actually guessed right!
"Gu Chen? He's actually a member of the Northern Frontier royal lineage?!" Lin Qingqing turned her head, looking at Lin Yuan in disbelief.
"Don't look at me, I got played by him too! I originally thought he was so poor he couldn't even afford a meal, but who could have guessed his father is the Battle King of the Northern Frontier!"
The expression on Lin Yuan's face was immensely complicated. He had actually been deceived by his very best friend!
We agreed to just be ordinary civilians together, yet you turn out to be the son of the Northern Frontier Battle King?
This feeling... is simply exhilarating!
His brother actually hailed from the most powerful and influential family in this entire land!
From this moment onward, he was about to step into a brand-new identity.
Lin Yuan, sworn brother to the son of the Northern Frontier Battle King!
Wasn't this going to launch him straight into the stratosphere?
Monumental wealth and prestige, it was finally his turn.
Meanwhile, a tempestuous, storm-like aura enveloped the entire Li family estate, as if it were about to reduce everything here to dust in the next second.
Terrified out of his wits, Li Xiao felt his soul trembling. Flat on the ground, his entire body shook as he kowtowed and begged for mercy over and over again.
"Your Majesty, there must be some misunderstanding in all of this! I dare swear on my life that the young master is not in my Li family estate!"
No matter how hard Li Xiao racked his brains, he couldn't fathom why Gu Qingfeng would mobilize such a massive force just to demand a person from him.
Isn't Gu Qingfeng's son, Gu Ci, studying at Beijing University? Why would they come to the Li family looking for someone?
Although his Li family was the premier aristocratic clan in Lin City, given his status, even if he groveled to curry favor with Gu Ci, the other party might not even deign to give him the time of day.
That young master possessed heaven-reaching status and backing; even if Li Xiao were given ten guts, he wouldn't dare show the slightest disrespect to such a figure, let alone dare to make an enemy of him.
"Li Xiao, you have some nerve! I warn you, if my son has suffered even the slightest injury, your Li family can prepare to be exterminated!"
Qin Yun stepped down from the battleship, standing behind Gu Qingfeng as she rebuked him sharply, looking every bit like a mother driven to genuine fury.
With Gu Chen's life or death currently hanging by a thread, she dared not play any petty games at this juncture.
Gu Qingfeng stood to the side with an iron expression, resembling a gathering storm ready to erupt at any moment.
Gubei City and Lin City were separated by tens of thousands of kilometers. After receiving the news last night, he had traveled without rest, arriving in Lin City just as dawn broke.
This meant his own son had been wandering the desolate wilderness for an entire night!
That was the wilderness!
Fraught with danger and swarming with alien races, if he accidentally strayed into the abyss, then I'm afraid......
Gu Qingfeng's expression was grim and hard, the fury in his heart climbing steadily upward.
His biological son had been bullied to this extent in a mere backwater like Lin City, hunted down, forced to flee into the wilderness, and his whereabouts remained unknown to this day.
The outer crowd buzzed with discussion, marveling that the Li family had finally kicked a massive iron slab this time.
Gu Chen killed your son, so pursue him if you must, but you even issued a territory-wide bounty, making it so that not a single soul in the Northern Frontier was unaware of it.
Well, look at it now—you've provoked Gu Qingfeng, and your Li family is undoubtedly doomed!
Li Xiao's body shook violently, Qin Yun's words turning his face as pale as paper.
Qin Yun was Gu Qingfeng's wife, and her words represented Gu Qingfeng's will to a certain extent.
Li Xiao had no doubt whatsoever that at a single word from Gu Qingfeng, those personal guards of the Battle King outside would slaughter his entire family down to the infants, leaving none alive.
At this moment, his mind was in total chaos, his liver and gallbladder practically shattered, every single muscle in his body trembling violently from sheer terror.
Terrified!
He was terrified to the bone!
Yet Gu Ci truly was not inside the Li family estate!
When the Battle King and his wife came looking for their son, the entire Northern Frontier knew they only had one son, and that was Gu Ci.
Gu Ci was not in the Li family!
He really wasn't here!
This was genuinely going to cost him his miserable life!
"I beg Her Highness to forgive me! This humble servant dares swear to the heavens that the young master is truly not in the Li family. This humble servant has never even laid eyes on Young Master Gu Ci! I beg Your Majesty to discern the truth! I beg Her Highness to discern the truth!"
"Absurd!"
Hearing this, Gu Qingfeng flew into an uncontrollable rage.
Gu Ci?
Who said he was looking for Gu Ci?
After talking for so long, this Li Xiao still hadn't realized who he had actually come here for!