"DAD! MEILAN!!"

Bai Yunyu rushed to his house as soon as he realized the source of the smoke. He had a terrible feeling that something already happened to his family, Dad, and Meilan.

He was catching his breath as soon as he reached his house district. He saw many people surrounding his house that was on fire, but none of the people around actually helped to put out the fire. They just watched the flame engulfed his house and shop while a few middle-aged women and men were surrounding Meilan and kicking her as she was trying to shield someone in her small embrace.

Bai Yunyu gritted his teeth. He jumped and flew up high. He landed right behind these middle-aged men and women. He grabbed their collars and flung them away one by one.

"No, no! Please don't hurt us! Please!" Meilan yelled as she closed her eyes, still shielding Yunyu's father with her small frame as she was only ten years old.

Meanwhile, Bai Yunyu saw his father already closed his eyes… lifeless.

"Mei… Meilan, what happened?" Bai Yunyu asked. He crouched and checked his father. He checked his father's nostril, he also checked the veins, and lastly, his father's heartbeat.

And he found no sign of life.

Bai Yunyu was trembling all over. He patted his dad's cheek, "Dad, Dad! Wake up!"

No response.

Bai Yunyu's tears welled up in his eyes. He grabbed his father's shoulders and shook him, "Dad! Dad! I finished my Imperial Exam. You said you will wait for me until I return home."

Meilan, who was bruised all over, cried loudly and successfully took Yunyu's attention. She sobbed and grabbed her Master's arm, "Master, Old Master Bai… Old Master Bai died after he heard that—"

"What? What did he hear?"

Meilan pointed at the people who were grimacing in pain after Yunyu flung them away. Meilan's little hand was trembling as she reported, "T—They… they came together and protested in front of the store. They yelled loudly, accusing that Bai Yunyu was a Ger slut who seduced their husbands or sons, and that… Bai Yunyu was promiscuous and a cheap whore."

"At first, it was only a few people, and Old Master Bai argued with them. But more and more coming, and they accused you of sleeping with their husbands and sons…."

"Then, one of them yelled that slut should burn in hell, so they burned the store and the house. Old Master Bai was too shocked and died out of heart attack…."

After Meilan's explained everything, Yunyu felt his heart was cold. He didn't expect someone to be malicious enough to slander him like this and caused his father's death.

[Pupa: Warning! Warning! Your emotion is volatile right now. Please control yourself!]

[After all this, and you still asked me to 'control' myself? Fuck that.]

[Pupa:…]

Yunyu got up and glared at these people, who were obviously strangers getting paid to create havoc and ruin his reputation. And the fact there was no Imperial guard who stopped this havoc that killed his father… made him suspicious there was any involvement with the Imperial Family.

Bai Yunyu clenched his fist. He wiped the tears in his face and was ready to beat up these people who dared to hurt his father.

"You are all dead meat to me," Yunyu muttered.

He was about to kill all these provocateurs, but the moment he grabbed a middle-aged man and raised his fist, Xu Jiansheng suddenly came, "Yunyu Gege, STOP!"

Bai Yunyu stopped halfway. He glanced at little Jiansheng, who had a lot of his mansion's servants and guards running to the house to extinguish the fire because apparently, everyone was eager to see it burned down to ashes.

Xu Jiansheng grabbed Yunyu's hand and then clenched it as hard as he could, "Yunyu-Gege, don't do this! Stop!"

"Jiansheng, you're still too little, step back and let me kill them," Bai Yunyu said. He gritted his teeth and was ready to kill everyone around him.

"Gege! You will be charged with assault! Someone is obviously against you here. Control yourself!"

Yunyu ignored Jiansheng again, but then Pupa suddenly floated in front of him, obstructed his view.

[Pupa: Bai Yunyu, don't.]

[But—]

[Pupa: This is clearly a trap staged by someone in the Imperial Family, don't get fooled.]

[But my dad—]

[Pupa: He is not your real dad.]

[Pupa: Remember, you don't have another chance with Rewind Stone.]

…

Bai Yunyu looked at his deceased father. He clenched his fist, trying his best to bury this rage in his heart. He knew what Pupa said was correct, but it hurt so much that he thought he should've snapped right here, right now.

Because Yunyu truly cared for his father in this world, unlike his real father, who never cared for him.

Bai Yunyu looked over his shoulder and saw that Meilan was hugging his father's corpse, grieving over his death.

"AAAAARGGGHHH!"

Yunyu screamed as loud as he could, and then he slumped to the ground. He cried while punching the ground with his fist. He felt so powerless.

He lost the father that he liked so much. The kind of father figure that Yunyu missed his whole life. And someone malicious, alongside their crooks, already took the father figure away from Yunyu.

**

"Ugh… my head hurts…" Huang Shu opened his eyes after dark. He felt that his head was being hammered every second. He tried to move but then realized that his hands were tied.

Huang Shu's eyes widened. He didn't know what happened. He looked around and found no one but noticed from the window that it was already late at night.

"WHAT—" Huang Shu struggled even harder. The only thing in his mind right now was Bai Yunyu.

He promised to take Bai Yunyu to the Imperial Exam with his royal carriage, so they would know how important Yunyu meant for him.

Huang Shu tried to pull the rope that tied him to the bedpost. He desperately struggled, and the worry about what happened to Yunyu only made him struggle harder.

"AAAARRGHHH! LET ME GO!" Huang Shu's worry for Yunyu was like an adrenaline boost for him. He pulled the rope until the wooden bedpost broke. He staggered towards the table, signifying that the drugs inside his body had an aftereffect.

Huang Shu used his sword lying on the table to cut the rope and free himself.

Then he mustered his strength and dashed out of his room. He saw no servants or guards in his palace, which was already weird. As if someone had orchestrated everything, so Huang Shu wouldn't be able to question anyone.

Huang Shu gritted his teeth. He used the secret passage and rushed to the Capital City to check on Yunyu. Since it was already late at night, he assumed that he already missed the Imperial Exam.

Huang Shu dashed to Yunyu's house, hoping that he would take his apology. He didn't know what just happened to him. He was obviously in such great condition this morning, but how could he faint?

And that rope…

'I will have to investigate after this.'

Huang Shu finally arrived at the district where Yunyu's house was located.

"Yunyu—"

Huang Shu was stunned when he saw the two-story house, with the jewelry store at the bottom and Yunyu's home on the second floor, all turned to charcoal and ashes.

Huang Shu's heart skipped for a moment, staring at the burned house in front of him.

"Yunyu…"