Resplendent – Chapter 405

Chapter 405: Fighting Over a Sister

“Let go!” Gu Ming hadn’t expected to be so easily pushed aside by the boy. Furious, he swung his fists like a gale toward the boy’s back.

Unexpectedly, the boy didn’t even turn his head. He simply raised one hand with calm ease, effortlessly countering Gu Ming’s increasingly desperate attacks. 

The more Gu Ming fought, the more alarmed he became. His grandfather always said he had an exceptional physique, perfect for martial training. For the past two years, he had diligently practiced his martial arts, never letting up. Yet in front of this boy, he felt like a duck out of water, unable to execute a single technique properly.

“Eh? Why does your fist technique resemble the Chu family’s techniques? Little Brother, where did you learn your martial arts?” The boy finally turned his head, giving him a direct gaze, his eyes filled with a hint of surprise.

“It’s none of your business where I learned it from. Let go of my sister!” Gu Ming, seeing that even both his hands attacking simultaneously couldn’t faze the boy, grew red in the face with urgency. He launched another desperate round of attacks!

The boy pushed Gu Ming back with a few palms, furrowed his brows, and scrutinized him with displeasure. After a moment, he said, “Your sister? Let everyone see. Who exactly does she resemble?”

Beside them, noticing that the boy harbored no ill intent toward his Aunt Master, Jiang Zhongtian felt less anxious. He carefully observed the boy, realizing he looked strangely familiar… 

Hmm… his features did indeed bear some resemblance to Gu Ye. Especially the eyes—large, round, and with thick lashes like little fans, almost as if they were carved from the same mold.

The crowd watching from a distance laughed and said, “Of course, this young gentleman in white looks more like the little girl’s brother!”

Gu Ming grew flustered and shouted in protest, “My sister and I were born on the same day. We’re twins! One just takes after our father, the other after our mother! Let go of my sister immediately!”

Silly Brother… You might as well not have said we’re twins! 

Having lived two lives, Gu Ye naturally understood that identical twins usually look alike, while fraternal twins might not. But these people of the past didn’t know that!

Sure enough, someone in the crowd loudly said, “Little Brother, you must be mistaken. Twins can’t look so different, right? One of you must have been switched at birth or something!” The remark drew a round of good-natured laughter.

“You’re talking nonsense!” I’m really her brother!”

When they were little, other children in the village would joke about their sibling resemblance, claiming Gu Ye wasn’t his sister. However, Gu Ming would beat anyone who said that so badly that they avoided him entirely. Now, with someone trying to snatch his sister, he was powerless. Gu Ming had never, in a single moment, hated his own lack of skill more than he did right now!

“Brother! Calm down!” Gu Ye saw her brother’s face flushed purple with anger and urgency. Fearing that his blood pressure might spike and cause something like a brain hemorrhage, she hurriedly advised, “Our thirteen years of sibling bond aren’t going to be broken by a few words from others. Don’t worry about what irrelevant people say!” 

“Thirteen years? That’s right, my sister was born in the year of Xinyou, and she’s exactly thirteen this year! You really are my sister! When you were just born, our family was falsely accused and imprisoned. Mother feared that the newborn you would suffer with us in jail, so she entrusted you to the maid she had set free! Sister, you are my biological sister, the one I was separated from thirteen years ago. There’s no mistake!”

The youth in moon-white robes also grew red-eyed with emotion. She was clearly his real sister, so why was she recognizing someone else as her brother and refusing to believe him?

“With no proof or evidence, what right do you have to claim a sister in the middle of the street? Just because my sister happens to look a little like you? How absurd! Let go!” Gu Ming grabbed his sister’s other hand, gently pulling her toward himself. He knew his own strength and dared not use too much force, afraid he might hurt her.

As Gu Ye listened to the ‘story’ coming from the young man’s mouth, she couldn’t help thinking: Why did it sound so familiar? Where had she heard it before? 

But caught between the two of them tugging at her from both sides, how could she find a moment or peace of mind to think it through?

“Sister, look!” The young man pointed to his own large eyes and said to Gu Ye, “Mother always said that among us seven siblings, only you and I take after her. We both have a pair of bright, clear eyes. When you were born, your eyes were black and shining, your lashes long and thick. The first person you saw when you opened your eyes was me! Father even stayed angry about it for a long time afterward… We share the same blood. The reason I recognized you at a glance is because of that bond. It’s in our blood!”

Gu Ye lifted her gaze and looked into the young man’s eyes. 

No wonder he had looked so familiar. Those eyes really were the same ones she saw in the mirror every day. Somewhere deep inside, a voice told her that everything the boy said was very likely true.

Mrs. Liu was only her stepmother, so it was no surprise she’d treated her poorly. But her biological father, Gu Qiao, had ignored Mrs. Liu’s abuse and even tried to sell her for money; something she had never understood. After all, even a vicious tiger wouldn’t harm its own cubs. Now, suddenly, everything made sense.

Gu Ming stomped his foot in frustration and shouted. “There are plenty of people with big round eyes! Does that make all of them your sister? Blood ties are a serious matter for you to make such a rash conclusion. You must have some ulterior motive! Sister, whatever you do, don’t believe a word he says!”

As Gu Ming spoke, though, a faint unease crept into his heart. Their mother had once worked as a maid in a wealthy household in Yan City, and this young man had said his sister was entrusted to a loyal maid…Could it really be such a coincidence?

No, it can’t be! 

Before their mother passed away, she had told him to take good care of his sister. If his sister hadn’t been his mother’s own child, how could she have still worried about her even on her deathbed?

But… if she really had been the loyal maid that the young man spoke of, then she would surely have taken her mistress’s final request to heart. In that case, her concern for the young lady she’d raised — his ‘sister’ — would also make sense. 

No. No! His sister was his sister. No one could take her away from him!

“If you can’t show proof,” Gu Ming roared, his voice raw, “then let go of my sister right now! Otherwise, I’ll report you to the authorities!” He sounded like a furious beast, but only he knew it was to cover the flicker of doubt rising in his heart.

The young man frowned, hesitating for a moment before reaching into his collar and pulling out a jade longevity locket. The texture and style of it struck the Gu siblings as strangely familiar. 

Gently stroking the jade, the young man said slowly,

“When my grandfather was stationed in the northwest, he came across a rare piece of warm jade. Each time a child was born into our family, a piece of it was cut and carved into a longevity locket. My sister’s locket has her childhood name engraved on the back: Bao’er…”

Gu Ming’s hand, still gripping his sister’s, began to tremble. And Gu Ye could feel the smooth, warm weight of her own jade locket against her chest, a silent confirmation of what she already suspected. She gave her hand a small tug, and the young man released her immediately.