Chapter 2656: A More Reasonable Explanation
Since things had come to this, the Wan family naturally wouldn't sit idly by and wait for death. They informed the government of Gao Hui's whereabouts and cooperated with other players to drive him away.
Drive him away, not hunt him down. Most of the players chasing Gao Hui at the time were from the Isle Nation. As for how Gao Hui died, he wasn't entirely sure either. Some said he died shortly after leaving the Wan family, but later he heard that Gao Hui had appeared elsewhere. Whether it was true or false was hard to distinguish.
As for the National Heirloom Treasure, Wan Ping didn't even know what it was.
Xu Huo smiled and glanced at Bei Bao beside him. "I'm very lucky. The moment I arrived at Moonhorn Duchy, I found a true descendant of the Gao surname."
"Both of you are descendants of the Gao surname. Aren't you going to greet each other?"
The smile on Wan Ping's face finally faded a bit. He turned to Bei Bao and, after a moment, sighed. "It seems no matter how I explain, you won't believe me, sir?"
Bei Bao's words might have been partly true and partly false, with some ambiguous points, but the Wan family appearing in the Dou family's genealogy, and Gao Hui's later connection to the Wan family, were both very telling. Not to mention Wan Yao's "self-exposure."
Xu Huo released the person from the container item. "Your youngest son really wanted to inherit the Gao surname, so he sought out Bei Bao. Last night, as soon as Minister Wang died, he couldn't wait to slip over to the capital, where I caught him red-handed."
"That's why I said I'm lucky." He lifted Wan Yao's head to face his father, his tone icy cold. "I believe that over the past few hundred years, there must have been precedents of entire families disappearing because a descendant of the Gao surname couldn't keep their mouth shut."
"Dad..." Wan Yao's body was immobilized by the drugs. He glared angrily at Xu Huo, then turned to Wan Ping for help.
Wan Ping was silent for a long time before finally speaking. "I am not a descendant of the Gao surname. The true descendant of the Gao surname was my late wife, but she only bore the surname Gao; she wasn't truly of the Gao family bloodline."
"She made this clear to me before she gave birth to our eldest son. Having the surname Gao is just that—it's nothing. It's a surname that produced a famous person a few hundred years ago. Many people change their surnames to it to add luster to themselves."
"I never expected Gao Hui to seek me out. As soon as he arrived, he demanded that I support him in reclaiming the Isle Nation."
"A small businessman getting involved in war is never a good thing. I thought of many ways to refuse him, but he not only refused to leave, he also threatened my family. It was then that I learned my wife had donated a considerable amount of money and supplies to her homeland before her death."
"Being from the Isle Nation alone wasn't a big deal, but donating money and goods to one side of a war makes it hard not to arouse suspicion. Moreover, Moonhorn Duchy itself has been plagued by constant internal strife. If someone with ulterior motives suspected us of trying to win over the Isle Nation to interfere in Moonhorn Duchy's internal affairs, or of using Moonhorn Duchy to aid the Isle Nation, our situation would become very difficult."
"But Gao Hui had a list of multiple material donations, with a clear provenance. It was easy to verify, so we had no choice but to drive him away. Of course, we also considered using others to kill him. He wasn't a good person anyway; his death would be a benefit to the district."
Wan Ping glanced at Wan Yao as he spoke. "What he heard was probably an argument between me and my eldest son. My eldest son believed that since our mother had inherited the Gao surname, she must have wanted her descendants to continue doing so. But what's the point? It's just an ordinary surname. Surnamed Gao, we gain nothing, and it might even bring danger. We've put down roots in Moonhorn Duchy. What does the Isle Nation really have to do with us?"
This explanation was perfectly reasonable, even more convincing than Xu Huo's earlier speculation about the list.
Xu Huo was silent for a moment before asking, "Did your wife say why she had to pass on this surname before she passed away?"
Wan Ping shook his head. "She said she didn't know clearly, and her parents hadn't explained it to her either. Maybe it was just a bit of longing for her homeland born from the displacement and hardship after the country was destroyed."
This was quite different from Bei Bao's account.
Bei Bao was almost certain that Wan Ping had inherited the Gao surname.
"I see," Xu Huo nodded slightly, then asked, "Which child did you ultimately choose to inherit the Gao surname?"
"I didn't agree to my eldest son's proposal," Wan Ping said. "I also didn't want to have anything to do with the Isle Nation's internal affairs anymore."
"Have them all come here. I want to see them," Xu Huo said in a tone that brooked no refusal. "If inheriting the Gao surname brought no benefits, it couldn't have lasted for four hundred years. Perhaps, without your knowledge, one of your children has already inherited it."
Wan Ping frowned in thought for a moment, then had the butler contact his own children and his brothers' children, including the adopted ones.
Xu Huo looked at Bei Bao beside him. "You identify them."
Bei Bao hesitated for a moment before stepping forward. Her eyes swept over the faces one by one. After a long while, she raised her hand and pointed at one person. She knew who Xu Huo was looking for, but just as she was about to point him out, she saw him scrolling through his terminal device, glancing at her casually.
A flash of intense regret appeared in her eyes, and Bei Bao clamped her mouth shut.
"Your fourth son isn't here?" Xu Huo asked Wan Ping.
Wan Ping's expression didn't change. "He's a player and often goes in and out of instances. He's not home much."
In the Dou family's genealogy, Wan Ping, his third and fourth younger brothers, and his eldest and second sons were listed. The Dou family believed these people were descendants of the Gao surname.
According to Bei Bao's account, Wan Ping's wife was the true descendant of the Gao surname. Wan Ping, as the son-in-law, was chosen to inherit the Gao surname, and he in turn chose his fourth son to inherit it.
The only overlapping point between the two pieces of information was Wan Ping himself. Considering that both accounts might have errors or omissions, whether Wan Ping was actually a child raised by a Gao surname descendant or inherited the surname from his wife's family wasn't too important. What was important was that both Wan Ping and Bei Bao were, in unison, trying to conceal a person who wasn't present.
Xu Huo didn't waste any more words. He directly asked Wan Ping's eldest son, Wan Chuan, "Did your fourth brother inherit the Gao surname?"
"I don't know..."
"When did he leave District 039?"
"Three minutes ago..."
Xu Huo looked at Wan Ping with a half-smile. "Still want to waste time?"
Wan Ping looked at the dozens of younger family members in the main hall and hardened his stance. "I've already told you everything I know."
As he stood up, several players among the younger generation of the Wan family immediately surrounded Xu Huo, buying time for the others to escape. But they quickly realized that teleportation items were unusable, so they activated the castle's Non-Game Area Simulator.
When the instrument's power covered the castle, all items became invalid, leaving only the instruments themselves functional.
Xu Huo manipulated the Time Ray, using the resonance of time power to destroy several instruments flying toward him. Then, he used the instruments he carried to seal off the castle. As several barriers descended inside the castle, the players following Wan Ping had to pull out their own instruments to break through them layer by layer.
Kicking aside two players who got close, Xu Huo ordered the Wan family members present, "Catch them."