Chapter 647 - 3: Gu Ningxuan’s Otherworldly Travels (Part 2)

The ghost-like guy looked conflicted, especially when the cold-toned man questioned him, his face turned even worse. After a long time, he finally uttered a sentence, "I have been absolutely faithful to your mother, how can you question your poor old dad’s chastity?"

"Chastity?" The man continued in a cold voice, "How could I not know you had such a thing? If so, can you explain how this person came to be? Don’t tell me a complete genetic match is just a coincidence!"

Gu Ningxuan looked speechless at the straight-backed figure, an inexplicable sense of familiarity seeped into his heart, yet he dared not let that guy turn around. As for the other who declared his chastity was beyond doubt... looking at his face, Gu Ningxuan felt he was truly bewildered.

Having grown up accustomed to various stern and aloof expressions of his dad, now seeing him like this was quite a shock to the worldview! He hadn’t seen his dad in merely five or six years, how did Admiral Gu Qidong, who was always aloof, turn into such a state?

"Father..." Gu Ningxuan called out to Gu Qidong, and the other reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

"Who, who allowed you to call me father?" Gu Qidong faced the two, no one was more conflicted internally than him at this moment. He suddenly found a supposedly missing civilian warship, the people inside were dead one by one, except this person had a chance of survival. After saving him with difficulty, he now faced a huge trouble, "I don’t remember having a son like you!"

Facing Gu Qidong’s questioning, Gu Ningxuan’s face instantly went pale. He had indeed forgotten that he had been expelled from the Gu Family, severing all blood ties with his father. His refusal to acknowledge him was normal.

Gu Ningxuan’s face darkened slightly, his eyes closed a bit, hiding the complicated emotions inside, his voice calm, "Sorry, Admiral Gu, I was disrespectfully offensive just now. However, there is one thing I hope you can clarify for me... how did I end up here?"

Gu Qidong heard Gu Ningxuan speak, his expression slightly distorted, looking particularly odd. Because if listened carefully, one would find Gu Ningxuan’s calm voice after the initial coldness was extremely similar to that man’s, except the latter recently had throat issues, causing a noticeable difference, which made Gu Qidong feel extremely uncomfortable, "You were saved by someone, naturally you’re here..."

"Saved?" Gu Ningxuan showed an expression of surprise, his voice slightly raised, appearing very shocked, "Did you... rush into the cosmic turbulence black hole to rescue me? Or was I thrown out by the turbulence and you saved people then?"

Gu Qidong’s mouth twitched, speaking with subtle meaning, "Rushing into cosmic turbulence black holes would be seeking death, not rescue. We just inadvertently discovered a supposedly lost warship while searching for enemy activity. You’re very lucky, not being eaten by those insects like the others for lunch, and... the only survivor."

The only... survivor? Gu Ningxuan’s hands on the blanket involuntarily clenched tighter, unexpectedly, he became the survivor, had the right to live? He... was still alive? Not dead? Gu Ningxuan raised his hand, looking at the lines on his palm.

He couldn’t tell whether he should be thankful for surviving or saddened for those who perished... yet, being alive truly felt good. Living meant endless possibilities in the future, he still had the chance to grasp everything he didn’t dare to seize before! Clenching his fist tighter, Gu Ningxuan lifted the blanket intending to get up, finding himself wearing only loose trousers.

"Where do you intend to go?" Gu Qidong frowned. Despite the youth in front of him looking exactly like his son, he couldn’t allow him to wander, partially considering his body’s condition, and partly for his son’s sake. Bearing that face, if he did something bad, it might implicate his son.

Gu Ningxuan looked around, wanting to find a shirt to wear, Gu Qidong suddenly asked, he naturally answered instinctively, "Of course to Qiming Star, Xiao Meng and the two kids are there, I must hurry over..."

Qiming Star? Upon hearing this term, both the man who had been facing away from Gu Ningxuan and Gu Qidong paused.

Gu Qidong revealed a hint of pity, saying, "Qiming Star... was occupied over twenty years ago."

"Occupied... occupied! What does that mean?" Gu Ningxuan’s expression turned to shock, how could Qiming Star be occupied? Was there a war? He’d only been away for about a year! Moreover, if war broke out, he should have received some news.

After all, Qiming Star is where Xilena First Affiliated School is located, every small change there garners significant attention!

"It’s literal meaning, young man, you shouldn’t aim for Qiming Star, it’s courting death. Since the disaster back then, it has become a major base for the Insect Race, going there would be lamenting that you weren’t thoroughly dead?" Gu Qidong inexplicably had some anger, purely because of the young man’s suicidal intent opposite him. He regained his senses, feeling such emotions slightly abrupt.

"Insect... Race?" Gu Ningxuan blinked, then asked an exceedingly stupid question, "Isn’t that the brutal race in Xiao Meng’s novels? By the sounds of it... have novels become reality?"

Gu Qidong was speechless, then raised his hand to touch Gu Ningxuan’s forehead, muttering, "Not brain damaged, looks not foolish."

At this moment, a tall man in a military uniform pushed the door open and said, "Third Brother, I heard you saved our old man’s illegitimate son left outside? Is this true? Even Mom has heard about it..."

The newcomer’s expression instantly froze, his gaze wandering between his younger brother and Gu Ningxuan. Who could tell him what was going on?

Then, the newcomer asked a very simple question, directed at Gu Ningxuan, "Who are you? How did you end up on the lost warship?"

"I..." Gu Ningxuan’s gaze was somewhat awkwardly fixed on Gu Qidong, his expression troubled. He had previously denied their father-son relationship, and now trying to introduce himself seemed a bit tricky, which might make his father feel embarrassed.

Gu Ningxuan had already classified the newcomer as a colleague of his father. If he revealed his true identity, it might embarrass Gu Qidong. But he hadn’t anticipated that his hesitant and ambiguous reaction would only make Gu Qidong feel more like he couldn’t clear his name, even if he jumped into the Yellow River! Come on, kid, prove that I’m innocent, that I really didn’t have an affair!

"My name is..." Gu Ningxuan hesitated, looking at the three people present, and the words he said shocked everyone, "My name is Gu Ningxuan, the unfilial and rebellious son of Admiral Gu Qidong, third in the family. As for why I’m here, I can only say I wasn’t lucky. I boarded a civilian warship back to Qiming Star, only to encounter the Star Thieves of the Jialanluo Clan and accidentally got caught in a cosmic current black hole..."

Gu... Ning... Xuan? Gu Qidong and the newcomer, which was Gu Ningzhi, both simultaneously focused their gaze on the man who had been silent. Young Master Gu Er raised an eyebrow and repeated in a teasing tone, "The unfilial and rebellious son of Admiral Gu Qidong?"

"Absurd!" The man coldly spat out two words, then turned his head to look at the bewildered Gu Ningxuan. The two looked almost identical, except the man had faint wrinkles between his brows, as if he often frowned. "I will investigate your background thoroughly. Also... when did Admiral Gu Qidong have two sons ranked third with the same name?"

Having said this, the man left in long strides, his back looking somewhat gloomy, perhaps angry?

Since seeing that man’s face earlier, Gu Ningxuan had been in shock, indescribable in words. The resemblance was uncanny, as if... as if looking in a mirror!

"He... was angry?" Although the man’s expression was indifferent when he left, Gu Ningxuan was certain that the other party was angry, or perhaps just in a sulk?

Over what? Gu Ningxuan keenly noted the last thing the man said before leaving...

What did he mean by "two sons ranked third with the same name"? Thinking of the man’s appearance earlier, a sense of foreboding crept into his heart. It felt like he had overlooked something upon waking, as if the entire world had become unfamiliar.

"We’ve all grown up, so what if he’s angry? It’s just a sulk; it’ll blow over in time." Gu Ningzhi smiled with ill intent, then extended his hand to Gu Ningxuan, introducing his name with mischievous interest, wanting to see how the young man claiming to be "Gu Ningxuan" would react, "I think this is the first time we’ve met. My name is Gu Ningzhi..."

"Gu Ningzhi? Second Brother?" Gu Ningxuan looked at Gu Qidong beside him, then at the increasingly strange smiling man claiming to be Gu Ningzhi, and was suddenly bewildered, "When did you come back? You and Father... have reconciled?"

Neither Gu Ningzhi nor Gu Qidong were fools; they could naturally judge whether the other’s reactions were genuine.

This young man claiming to be Gu Ningxuan... his reactions were too natural, making one suspect he might really be Gu Ningxuan...

Gu Qidong frowned, feeling that the matter was far more complicated than he had imagined.

The intelligences of the young man in front of him were entirely made for the direct descendants of the Gu Family, the possibility of forgery too slim, and it was identical to what his third son was wearing.

Not only that, but even their genetic sequences were a perfect match, something even cloning couldn’t achieve with such precision.

Moreover, since this person awoke, his behavior had been full of questionable points, compelling one to investigate the truth.

"I think we need to have a good talk with this young friend... about what misunderstanding lies between us." Gu Qidong looked at Gu Ningxuan, his gaze returning to its usual cold and serious demeanor. "I hope this young friend can answer honestly." (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)