Urban Romantic Divine Doctor

Chapter 1744 - 1741: Paths Diverge, No Common Pursuit

Mr. Ye merely let out a faint sigh, that sigh seemed to carry endless helplessness, drifting slowly through the heavy air, yet he still did not give Ye Qiu’s anxious questioning a direct answer.

Her father and eldest uncle remained silent like statues, the expressions on their faces shrouded in a layer of mist, complex and unreadable, making it impossible to guess what they were truly thinking.

Her elder and younger male cousins took advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention to secretly exchange a glance, as if there was some unspeakable secret hidden in their eyes, yet it vanished in an instant.

"Grandpa, is there some kind of misunderstanding here?"

Ye Qiu’s tone was full of anxiety and doubt. Her eyes were locked tightly on Mr. Ye, trying to find a hint of an answer on his face: "Mister Xu is only asking us to help him find a few kinds of medicinal herbs. With the Ye Family’s capabilities, that’s hardly difficult."

"Besides, he even promised to owe us a favor. For the Ye Family, that’s a rare opportunity!"

Ye Qiu spoke very fast, eager to persuade her grandfather. She truly couldn’t understand why her grandfather, who had always upheld righteousness, would make such an ungrateful decision.

Mr. Ye slowly stood up, his back slightly hunched, as if weighed down by the heavy burden of the family.

With his back to everyone, he was silent for a long time, as though weighing something over and over in his heart, and only after a long while did he slowly speak: "Ye Qiu, there are some things you still don’t understand."

"This is not something we can casually get involved in. Cutting off all contact with Xu Wendong is truly for the sake of the Ye Family’s safety."

Ye Qiu’s eyes slowly reddened, crystal tears swirling in her sockets. She simply couldn’t believe that the grandfather she had always been so proud of would actually say such heartless words. It made him feel like a stranger.

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm the storm in her heart, then clenched her fists tightly and said in a firm tone, "I want to know the reason!"

Mr. Ye slowly turned around. The eyes that had once been sharp as a hawk’s were now filled with helplessness and worry, as if heavily shrouded by a layer of gloom.

His voice trembled slightly, every word seeming to be squeezed from the depths of his heart, carrying the vicissitudes and weariness left by the years: "Girl, do you think Grandpa wants it to be like this?"

"Just now, I received shocking news. Xu Wendong and a powerhouse from the Cultivator Association engaged in a fierce, nerve‑racking battle near Antique Street."

"The two sides struck back and forth, trading blow for blow. The scene was beyond brutal."

Hearing this, Ye Qiu couldn’t help but inhale sharply. Her face, which had been as rosy as peach blossoms, turned paper‑white in an instant. Her beautiful eyes widened, filled with shock and disbelief.

She had never imagined that Xu Wendong would actually clash with a powerhouse from the Cultivator Association.

That’s a mysterious force that makes people in the mundane world tremble at the mere mention of it and can only watch it from afar. They exist outside worldly rules and laws, wielding power that ordinary people can’t even imagine.

At the same time.

Ye Qiu thought to herself in secret: Xu Wendong asking the Ye Family to help search for herbs must mean he was injured in that fierce battle and urgently needs those medicinal materials to heal.

Thinking of this, her anxiety grew even stronger.

Mr. Ye shook his head helplessly and let out a heavy sigh before continuing, "Although Xu Wendong relied on his extraordinary strength to defeat Shangguan Hong of the Cultivator Association, leaving him utterly humiliated and disgraced..."

"But do you know that this Shangguan Hong holds a pivotal position in the Association, and is one of its core figures?"

"What’s even worse is that, in his fury, Xu Wendong issued a vicious threat: if the Cultivator Association dares to make trouble for him, he’ll uproot the entire Cultivator Association."

"The Cultivator Association has immense power and deep foundations throughout the entire Cultivation World. Their influence reaches practically every corner. We have no way to contend with them at all."

Ye Qiu’s body trembled slightly, her delicate frame quivering. Inside her heart, it was like rivers and seas overturning.

"Grandpa, Mister Xu has shown our Ye Family great kindness!" Her voice carried a hint of sobbing and grew ever more choked: "Time and again he stepped forward at our moments of crisis, helping us with all his strength."

"If not for him, our Ye Family would already have been battered by the storm, our home destroyed and people scattered."

"Now that he’s in deep trouble, and we choose to stand idly by... whether in terms of emotion or reason, it just doesn’t make sense!" Her eyes were full of anxiety and unwillingness, and the tears she could no longer hold back slid slowly down her cheeks.

Mr. Ye waved his hand, that withered hand trembling slightly in the air, as if trying to brush away this endless worry and helplessness, cutting off Ye Qiu’s words: "Child, Grandpa knows you value feelings and righteousness, but you must also think of the whole family!"

"Our Ye Family has gone through untold hardships to obtain the peaceful life we have today."

"If, because we get too close to Xu Wendong, we’re regarded by the Cultivator Association as an eyesore, a thorn in their flesh, then our entire clan will fall into a bottomless abyss, and the lives of hundreds in our family will hang by a thread!"

At this moment, Ye Qiu’s father finally spoke as well, his voice low and grave: "Girl, your grandpa is right. We can’t gamble with the future of the family."

"The responsibility of the family is heavier than Mount Tai. We must be responsible for the safety of every clansman."

Ye Qiu let out a desolate laugh, her smile full of bitterness and disappointment: "So this is how you repay a benefactor?"

"Thank you for letting me fully understand the true value and weight of Mister Xu’s battle in Haicheng back then!"

"Back then, though he stood alone, he dared to fight the Divine Beast, the Eight-Forked Serpent of Wa Country, with nothing but his own strength. It shows that he carries the world in his heart, holding firmly to morality and justice."

"But for some people, life is above all else. For the sake of clinging pitifully to it, they’re even willing to become despicable ingrates."

"Yet for people like Mister Xu, life itself becomes insignificant when set against morality!"

Taking a deep breath, a trace of resolve flashed in Ye Qiu’s lively, beautiful eyes: "As the saying goes, people whose paths differ cannot plot together. Since our values are at odds, from now on we’ll take our separate roads and go our separate ways!"

As soon as Ye Qiu finished speaking, the entire living room fell into deathly silence, as if time itself had been frozen by those resounding words.

Everyone seemed to have been hit by an immobilization spell, their gazes all snapping toward her, eyes full of shock and disbelief.

Mr. Ye’s body gave a sudden shudder, as if struck by a bolt of lightning. His face burned with a strange heat, like he’d just been slapped hard!

He had never imagined that the granddaughter he loved most would say something so decisive.

His lips trembled, his throat felt as though something was stuck in it, and the words he wanted to use to persuade her simply wouldn’t come out!