(T/N: Chapter part 33.1 will be posted on August 11th by 5PM EST.)
Title: The Crazy Adventures of Wu Gate
Chapter: 32.3 of 87
Kong Kong's smile was incomparably kind. "After Gu Shang Shu found out what happened to you, he didn't care if he lost his family fortune. He used all of his connections to search for this old everywhere. Shizhu, do you know where this old one was before I rushed here?"
He shook his head and sighed. "This old one had been performing a religious ceremony to help deceased souls find peace at an armed escort agency when your father barged inside. Without even saying a word, he started pulling me outside…. The other people had though your father was deliberately causing trouble and stopped him with a violent strike. Sir Gu was quite pitiful. He's a distinguished scholar with an official governmental position, and yet he risked his life against those warriors and shouted, "Great Master, please save my daughter!"
"… Shizhu, you truly have a good father." Kong Kong sighed with emotion.
Qing Qiao felt a burst of sourness welling up in her chest. Her eyes reddened.
"My father… Does he know my real identity?"
"He…" Kong Kong opened his mouth to speak, but he suddenly started coughing as if he was choking on his saliva. "This old one is ... okay. I seemed to have caught a cold…"
"How can you get sick at this critical juncture?!" Qing Qiao raised her foot and was about to kick him, but her foot stopped halfway.
A familiar figure had appeared behind Kong Kong.
"Qing Qiao!" The man cut a sorry figure, but he spread out his arms towards her.
Her tears immediately started falling down.
"Daddy!" She rushed towards that person and stomped on Kong Kong in the passing.
"My dear child, you suffered!" Gu Shang Shu was covered injuries, but he endured his pain so that he could hug her.
Seeing the scarlet bruises on Gu Shang Shu's face, Qing Qiao couldn't help gasping, "Daddy, you…"
Gu Shang Shu covered her mouth. "You don't need to say anything. Daddy already knows everything."
He sighed, "Since the day that Dongxi had told me the news, I haven't been able to close my eyes…. When I heard from Mister Qi that you're going to enter the palace tonight, I felt as if I was going crazy from worry… Alas, now that I see you haven't been harmed, I can finally stop worrying."
Qing Qiao bit her bottom lip and quietly cried.
"… My dear child, there's no need for you to be so upset." Gu Shang Shu stroked her hair, "Back then, when I married General Xu's daughter, Ah Jue, we were so blissfully happy together as husband and wife. Unfortunately, Ah Jue's body wasn't healthy enough. Although she had carried our baby to full term, it wasn't born alive. I hid this truth from her. I was so sad that I wanted to die, but at the doorway, I found you. You were wrapped in swaddling cloth…"
"Your little face had changed colors from the cold, but you didn't fuss or cry. You were very lovable." Caught up in recollecting old memories, Gu Shang Shu's eyes were incomparably gentle. "I thought you were a gift given to me by the Heavens, so I brought you to Ah Jue to see. I said you were the baby that she had given birth to…"
He took a deep breath before continuing, "Qing Qiao, regardless if you were a Mu orphan or not, you'll always be my child! I know that you don't have wild ambitions. I just want you to live a happy and good life!" He closed his eyes and fiercely gritted his teeth, "… Leave this place and go far away. Don't ever come back!"
By this point, Qing Qiao had already cried so much that she was out of breath.
"Little Shizhu…" With a gluttonous rice face that had turned thoroughly red, Kong Kong finally finished coughing and interrupted, "Little Shizhu, do you want to know what's meant by "person"?"
Qing Qiao quietly looked at him. Her tear-filled eyes looked at him in confusion.
"The "person" item isn't difficult to find." Kong Kong secretively smiled, "Qing Mu person-shaped sword is the pugilist world's Xi Ling Sect's treasure. It's currently hidden in Xi Ling Mountain."
Eh? Qing Qiao was flabbergasted. Why was this old, bald donkey being so generous with telling her the name and address of the divine item?"
"I've already brought over a horse and money for you. Qing Qiao, go now!" Gu Shang Shu pushed her out of his arms, "Time doesn't wait for people. Prince Duan Yu and his people will definitely be here soon!"
"… If I leave, what will happen to you?" Qing Qiao was unwilling to easily part with him. Her face was like pear blossoms after the rain.
" No matter what, I'm still the Director of Board of Rites. I still have your maternal grandfather and Mister Qi to help me! Hurry and leave. Don't come back!" As Gu Shang Shu said this with a trembling voice, he slowly pushed her away.
Qing Qiao left the Gu Shang Shu's warm hug. The cold breeze caused her to involuntarily spit out a mouthful of blood.
"Are you injured?!" Gu Shang Shu suffered a great shock. He stretched his hand out to grab her and check.
"It's nothing." She smiled as she evaded him. "It's only… I accidentally bit my tongue when I was eating in the prison."
"Bad news! Horses are approaching here!" Kong Kong's face suddenly trembled.
"Hurry! Leave!" Gu Shang Shu didn't have time to care about anything else. He held her hand and led her to the well-concealed horse.
"Qing Qing, no matter what happens later, don't turn around to look!" Gu Shang Shu helped her up onto the horse. With agitated breathing, he said, "Just focus on running away. After you come out of this forest, there will be a path to Xi Ling Mountain. No matter what, don't stop!"
Flustered, Qing Qiao climbed onto the horse and tightly gripped the reins. A fluorescent light flashed through eyes, "Daddy…"
Gu Shang Shu thought she was just scared. He took out a dagger and brought it in front of her, "My dear child, daddy regrets not looking for someone to teach you how to defend yourself. For now, take this dagger. If someone acts unlawful towards you, then cut apart his flesh! Don't be afraid. If the god of the underworld sentences you to hell in the future, daddy will take your punishment for you!"
Qing Qiao looked at her father. He was usually a gentle and refined person. But right now, his face had a heroic demeanor of "Even if the Heavens fall, I will bear their weight and save you." Qing Qiao already couldn't speak. The fingers that were clutching the reins faintly trembled.
"Ya!" Gu Shang Shu fiercely slapped the horse. Suffering a shock, the horse immediately spread its four hooves and ran forward.
"Daddy! Daddy!" Qing Qiao cried out on the horse. The sound of her voice gradually faded away into the distance.
Gu Shang Shu quietly watched her as she went farther away. Tears fell out from the corners of his eyes.
This was the child that he had always held in his heart and protectively guarded, ah. But now, she was suffering like this.
Countless black figures landed around him and completely surrounded him.
"Dear child, leave and never come back." He mumbled as he closed his eyes.
(This chapter part starts at audiobook part 33 from 02:46 to 9:54. The audiobook's link is on the table of contents page.)