Return of the Immortal Emperor Daddy

Wu Tian’s anger stunned the proprietress. She hastily explained that this courtyard home by the sea was being sold on behalf of someone else and that she would only receive a commission if it sold. Normally, she didn’t visit the property often, instead relying on an Auntie Wang to handle the cleaning.

"I think she’s still here," the proprietress said. "Auntie Wang! Auntie Wang!"

Drawn by the calls, Auntie Wang emerged from the backyard.

"What’s the matter, boss?"

Auntie Wang was a widow with no children. To avoid starvation, she had taken on various jobs as a nanny and an hourly cleaner. She had no Martial Arts Cultivation; she was just an ordinary person. Now in her fifties, the plump woman ran over, panting as she stood before the proprietress, asking what had happened.

"You’re responsible for cleaning the kitchen. What’s the deal with these bowls and chopsticks?" the proprietress demanded.

The bowls and chopsticks all looked perfectly clean. Yet Wu Tian had clearly stated that the bowls had held foul water and the chopsticks had touched something unclean.

How could Wu Tian possibly know? the proprietress wondered. She was unaware that his Heavenly Eye could see through the very essence of all matter.

Confronted by the proprietress, Auntie Wang’s eyes flickered with panic, but she still argued, "There’s nothing wrong with them. I wash these bowls and chopsticks twice a day. There are no problems."

"But this customer says they aren’t clean enough," the proprietress said, gesturing toward Wu Tian.

Auntie Wang glanced at Wu Tian. His Bronze Ghost Mask was indeed frightening, and it made her flinch. Still, she put on an aggrieved expression. "I became a widow at twenty. I don’t even have any children, and none of my relatives will help me. I’m all alone in this world, and everyone bullies me. Just because I don’t have a husband or children, you all decide to pick on me... Fine, bully me if you must, but why slander me?"

As she spoke, Auntie Wang began to cry, creating a truly pitiful sight.

Even the proprietress felt conflicted. Seeing Auntie Wang like this, she started to think they really might have wronged her.

"There’s a detestable side to every pitiful person. That saying certainly holds true," Wu Tian said with a sudden smile. He approached Auntie Wang and narrowed his eyes. "I can guess what’s on the mind of someone like you. You’re unhappy with your own life, so you don’t want anyone else to be happy either, am I right?"

Having seen much of the world, Wu Tian could easily surmise the mindset of a woman like her.

Hearing his words, Auntie Wang’s expression shifted, but she continued to sob. "You... how can you accuse me so unjustly? What have I done wrong? When others find happiness, I wish them well. Why would I try to destroy it?"

"Really?" Wu Tian studied the woman’s face, and the corners of his mouth curled into a knowing smile. "You have no husband and no children. If you lost this job, you wouldn’t know what to do. You live in this house, yet instead of feeling grateful for the shelter, you’ve grown resentful."

Wu Tian could read a great many things from a person’s features.

"This is what you must be thinking," he continued. "’This courtyard home is so beautiful. It’s wonderful that I get to live here. I can’t afford to buy it, so I hope no one ever does. That way, I can stay here forever. But what if someone comes to buy it? Why can they afford it when I can’t? Heavens, why are you so unfair to me! Since I can’t have it, then even if you get it, it will be flawed and dirty!’ That’s why you washed the bowls with foul water and touched the chopsticks to unclean things... As for what kind of foul water and what things you touched... I’m too ashamed to even say it. You might as well just admit it yourself."

"You... you..." Hearing Wu Tian’s words, Auntie Wang stumbled backward. She stared at him as if he were a ghost. How could this young man know such things? It’s impossible! She was certain no one else had been around when she did it, so how could he know in such vivid detail?

"What, you want to deny it?" Wu Tian glanced at her. "There are plenty of people like you. With a face like yours, you’re not just unqualified to be a cleaner, you’re unfit to be a nanny. When you looked after children, you’d act all affectionate and play with them while their relatives were watching. But the moment they were gone, you’d help yourself to their food and drink, lording over their house while ignoring the very child you were supposed to care for. You’d just leave the poor thing off to the side, letting it cry. And when it cried, you’d probably just scold it... A person like you... heh."

"AHHHH!"

Auntie Wang’s face was a mask of terror, as if she were staring at a ghost. He was right about every last detail. And until now, no one had ever found out. How... how could this person know?

"Who... who are you?" Fear gripped her heart, and her body began to tremble. Before this masked man, it felt as if all her disguises and secrets were laid bare, and a profound guilt washed over her.

"Who I am doesn’t matter," Wu Tian said with disgust. "What matters is you. Don’t you think your actions are beyond excessive?"

"Excessive?" she shrieked. "No, I’m not the one who’s excessive, you all are!"

Auntie Wang knew her reputation was ruined. No one would ever hire her as a nanny or a cleaner again. Everything was destroyed. It seemed to break her mind, and she started screaming hysterically, her face twisting into a ferocious snarl. "You people are too much! Why do you get to live so well while my life is so miserable? There’s no justice in this world! I lost my husband and have no children! And you? Your lives are so wonderful you’re even buying big houses? You’re the ones who are excessive!"

Wu Tian simply chuckled, paying her no further mind. Bo Gu and Meng Tian spat on the ground in disdain, feeling that such a person deserved every misfortune that came to her.

The proprietress also looked at Auntie Wang with revulsion. She had initially taken pity on the woman and helped her find a lot of work, never imagining she was this kind of person.

"You’re bullying me! You’re all bullying me!"

The last of Auntie Wang’s frayed nerves snapped. She had gone completely mad. She turned and ran out of the courtyard. No one went after her.

Mad? Perhaps insanity was the most fitting fate for her.

"Proprietress," Wu Tian said, turning to her. "Don’t you feel you owe me something? After an incident like this, shouldn’t you apologize?"

Auntie Wang was at fault, but was the proprietress blameless? Her supervision had been lax, and her judgment of character poor.

"You... what do you want?" the proprietress asked nervously, unsure of what kind of compensation he would demand.

My body? To sleep with him? To become his mistress? She wanted none of it. Although she dressed provocatively for business, she was, in fact, quite chaste.

"This house. The price is now ten million Gold Coins," Wu Tian stated bluntly.

"What?" The proprietress was startled. That was a drastic price cut, wasn’t it? To drop the price by so much in an instant?

"What? Are you unwilling?" Wu Tian chuckled, now resembling a shrewd businessman. "Think carefully. If word of this gets out, will anyone ever trust you again? Will your brokerage have any business left in the future?"