Chapter 127 Family misfortune
As the sun gradually set, the entire Pan residence was shrouded in a gloomy haze, as heavy as a rock and as silent as death.

Luo Ningyu and Lin Fangda helped Pan Wen and others to deal with Pan Wu's funeral. However, Liu Xunyi came to Pan Chuba's study alone.

When I pushed the door open, I found the study room dark and quiet, as if no one was there. It was late at night but the lights were not on.

In the dim light, Pan Chuba sat alone in a corner, his spirit was dispirited. In just a few hours, he seemed to have aged ten years. His eyes, which were once shrewd and deep, became cloudy and scattered. His silver hair, which was once neat and tidy, was now in disarray. He was hunched over, his face was as dead as water, and he looked haggard. He had lost all his former spirit.

"senior……"

Having just experienced the pain of losing a son, this was undoubtedly a huge change for Pan Chuba, who was over 80 years old. At this moment, even if Liu Xunyi had thousands of words to say, they were still pale and powerless. No matter how much comfort he gave, it was meaningless to Pan Chuba.

"The second brother... was sent away?" Pan Chuba's weak voice trembled constantly, and his tone contained great sorrow, which made Liu Xunyi's heart suddenly filled with all kinds of feelings and felt very uncomfortable.

"Let's go." Liu Xunyi forced himself to remain calm and said softly, "Senior, you..."

"Lihua Powder." Pan Chuba stretched out his hand tremblingly, pointing at a small pile of white powder on the table, and choked weakly, "The second son's wife is so cruel that she would use this kind of poison on the man who had slept with her for decades..."

"Don't worry, senior. We have already sent people to look for her. Even if they find her at the ends of the earth, we will bring her back and give an explanation in front of Master Pan's spirit." Liu Xunyi said.

"What if we find her?" Pan Chuba said bitterly, "Even if we cut her into pieces, what does it matter? Lao Er will never come back..."

"The dead cannot be resurrected, senior, please accept my condolences." Liu Xunyi consoled him kindly, then changed the subject and said hesitantly, "There is one more thing. Just now when we went to look for the second lady, we found that... Master Pan Chun was also missing."

"He was taken away by the second son's wife!" Pan Chuba didn't seem surprised. He shook his head and sneered, "Both cups of tea are poisoned. The second son's wife was willing to kill her own man, but she couldn't bear to kill her own son. She deliberately took Pan Chun away to detoxify him in time. She knew that this matter could not be concealed, so she... fled for fear of crime... I was confused! I was confused! I should have expected this day to come, I should have expected that the second son would fall into this woman's hands sooner or later..."

Liu Xunyi was secretly surprised when he heard this. After hesitating for a long time, he couldn't help but ask, "What do you mean? Is there any other hidden story behind this matter?"

Pan Chuba smiled bitterly, and tears flowed from his eyes. He seemed to mutter to himself, "It is said that family disgrace should not be made public. I have endured this saying again and again, but I didn't expect that it would end up killing my own son..."

Seeing Pan Chuba in such agony, Liu Xunyi couldn't bear to expose his scars again and wanted to persuade him kindly, but Pan Chuba suddenly said indignantly: "The second son's wife was unfaithful to Pan Wu..."

"What?" Liu Xunyi was shocked.

"This woman has long been at odds with the Pan family. If she hadn't coveted the family property, she would have left Pan Wu long ago." Pan Chuba ignored Liu Xunyi's reaction and sighed, "She and Li Lao Hu have been having an affair for more than a day or two. She thought she had concealed this matter perfectly, but in fact I knew it a long time ago. I secretly sent people to investigate her background. It turns out that she was Li Lao Hu's mistress long before she married Pan Wu. She clearly had some ulterior motive when she married into the Pan family..."

Liu Xunyi didn't want to pry into other people's family affairs, but now Pan Wu was poisoned to death right under his nose. If he didn't ask for the truth, it would be difficult to relieve the depression in his heart, so he asked: "Then...Does Mr. Pan know about this?"

"Although he never mentioned it, I think he should have known something about it in the past two years." Pan Chuba choked up, "The second brother used to be a generous and cheerful person. He was also deeply in love with this woman and doted on her in every way. But in the past two years, he suddenly changed his personality. Not only did he become taciturn and depressed all day long, but even the woman who he once regarded as a jewel became unusually cold and even... disgusted."

Hearing this, Liu Xunyi finally understood why Pan Wu was kind to other people, but always looked down upon his wife, and even beat her up. Liu Xunyi thought Pan Wu was born weird, and even felt sorry for Ding Cui. Now that she thought about it, it was probably because Pan Wu loved her so deeply that he hated her so much.

I wonder what man in the world can tolerate the woman he dotes on being unfaithful to him? Not only is she unfaithful, but she also pretends to be unfaithful all day long, but in fact she has evil intentions and other plans.

"If that's the case, why does the Pan family still keep her? Why doesn't Mr. Pan divorce her..."

"I also want to do this," Pan Chuba shook his head, "but I can't do this. Whether it's for the reputation of the Pan family or for Pan Wu's face, I can't break this window paper... I wanted to wait for Pan Wu to speak himself, but he didn't say a word about it. He was obviously aggrieved, but he always pretended to be ignorant. He chose to endure it himself, so what can I do as a father? Should I tell him in person that his wife is another man's mistress? After all, in addition to the reputation of the Pan family and the second son, Pan Wu's heart is more or less... still a little bit reluctant to let her go..."

Although this may sound unreasonable, it does make sense if you think about it carefully.

As the saying goes: Those involved are confused, but those who are watching clearly. In fact, those involved are not confused sometimes, and they even understand more than the bystanders. But because they understand, they know that they still have thousands of concerns. And these concerns can never be understood by others. Therefore, those involved have to continue to pretend to be confused.

"It is said that women are the most vicious. I didn't believe it before, but now I firmly believe it..." Pan Chuba said with a wry smile, "I thought Ding Cui was just greedy for money, but I didn't expect that she would take the second son's life..." At this point, Pan Chuba felt sad and cried in front of Liu Xunyi. "Then Mr. Pan Chun..."

"It's true that Pan Chun is her son, but I have also doubted whether he is the flesh and blood of our Pan family. After all, Pan Chun's appearance and personality are very different from Yun'er and Yuyin. Most of the children and grandchildren of the Pan family are handsome, well-behaved and sensible, but Pan Chun was born ugly, with a perverse and arrogant personality... But this matter is very serious, I have to consider Pan Wu's feelings, so although I have doubts, I didn't investigate it deeply, and always treated him as my grandson. I thought that no matter how his mother is, the child is innocent." Pan Chuba burst into tears and cried bitterly, "But now I think about it... Pan Chun may not really be the heir of the second son, but the illegitimate child of that woman and Li Lao Hu... Otherwise, even if this woman thinks of the child, she will definitely not do such a cruel thing to the child's biological father."

"This……"

Liu Xunyi was overwhelmed by the unexpected news. He felt his mind was blank. He had no idea how to deal with the complicated emotional entanglements and the bizarre and messy relationships of Pan Wu, Ding Cui, and Pan Chun. For a long time, the only word that came to his mind was "terrible". He secretly sighed in his heart that if people living under the same roof were to intrigue against each other, it would be even more terrifying than the swordplay in the martial arts world.

At this point, Liu Xunyi was no longer able to speak. He could only stand blankly in the room, looking with pity at the old man in front of him, who had suffered a series of setbacks in just a few days and was now lonely and miserable.

"Senior, since I know this matter has a lot to do with Li Lao Hu, I'd like to go to the East Lake Gang for you..."

Pan Chuba looked at Liu Xunyi, who was full of murderous intent, with a hint of gratitude in his eyes, but he still shook his head slowly and said, "I appreciate the kindness of Young Master Liu, but the Pan family is in danger now, so I don't want to cause trouble before resolving the feud with the Qin family. As for Li Lao Hu, let alone whether you can break into the East Lake Gang alone, even if you can capture him, if he refuses to admit it, we have no evidence, what can we do to him? What's more, if you want to move him in Yingchuan, it is tantamount to making enemies with the East Lake Gang and its many gangs, and even with the Yingchuan government. Whether it is you or the current Pan family, we can't afford the consequences."

"Is this the end of Mr. Pan's death?"

"This is his life, and my life as well." Pan Chuba said with a sinister look in his eyes, "If I have the chance in the future, I will kill this vicious woman and avenge my son, but... not now."

"senior……"

"You should leave for Luoyang tomorrow!" Pan Chuba interrupted Liu Xunyi and said bluntly, "Please pass this letter to Lord Luo for me."

After that, Pan Chuba took out a letter from his sleeve, handed it to Liu Xunyi, and instructed: "Please tell Lord Luo that next year's matter will remain the same as before. The ten-year battle between the Pan and Qin families will be held in Shaolin as scheduled. I hope he can come to Shaolin in person and preside over justice for my Pan family."

"I will definitely convey it." Liu Xunyi nodded heavily, "But... the Pan family has just suffered a misfortune, how can we leave at this time?"

"Pan Wu's affairs are now in the hands of Pan Wen. We can neither seek revenge nor publicize it. We can only tell outsiders that Pan Wu died of a sudden illness. Therefore, there is no benefit for you to stay. You should leave Yingchuan, a place of trouble, as soon as possible!"

"Senior, I don't think Li Lao Hu would be so bold. There must be something else behind this. Moreover, Mr. Pan and Master Pan Chun are gone now, and only Chief Escort He is left. Who should we send to fight the Qin family next year..."

"Go!" Without waiting for Liu Xunyi to finish his words, Pan Chuba waved his hand impatiently and said, "I know how to handle this matter, and I won't bother you, Young Master Liu. I have to keep vigil for the second brother tonight, and now I want to rest for a while. Young Master Liu, please go out! Tell Miss Luo and Young Master Lin that they don't need to come and ask for leave again. I will meet them in Shaolin on the first day of March next year."

After saying that, without waiting for Liu Xunyi to speak again, Pan Chuba slowly closed his eyes. And at the moment he closed his eyes, two lines of hot tears once again could not be suppressed and quietly slid down his old cheeks.

"Take care, senior. I'll take my leave now!"

Liu Xunyi took a deep look at Pan Chuba, who looked as pale as death, and then sighed and bowed before leaving. He closed the door gently after leaving, leaving Pan Chuba a quiet space to "heal" alone.

"Looking for clothes?" Luo Ningyu came forward and asked with a worried look, "Is Mr. Pan... okay? I just discussed with Lin Fangda that since we have to go back to Luoyang tomorrow, we want to keep vigil for Uncle Pan tonight to show our gratitude. Do you want to join us?"

"No." Liu Xunyi refused with a serious expression. At the same time, a hint of coldness suddenly appeared in the depths of his eyes, and he murmured meaningfully, "I want to have a good rest tonight, and you... don't disturb me!"

After saying this, without waiting for Luo Ningyu to ask what was going on, Liu Xunyi quickly disappeared from her puzzled sight.

……

(End of this chapter)