The Moqi brothers silently waited together in the main hall of Twelve Branches Valley, the identical figures hunched over the upside-down Celestial Perception Mirror. While both of them had at last settled on occupying exactly one half of the surface, they refused to acknowledge the other's presence, each immersed in their own fantasies of what their shizhi's promised surprise might be.
It was only a while later, when a bead from each of their bracelets simultaneously disintegrated, that they broke the stalemate. This was Ning He's cue that they could finally look!
The two glanced over to confirm that their rival had also received the signal, then swiftly flipped the mirror right-side up to stare at the reflection.
But as soon as they saw the youth's circumstances, their hearts that had been overflowing with anticipation chilled.
The scene in front of them showed that the boy had been brutally injured all over, his face pale and his right shoulder hanging at an awkward angle. Although logically, they knew that the child must be safe since he'd remembered to contact them, they shook uncontrollably at the overturned furniture and gouges lining the floor, all of which illustrated the dangers he'd faced.
Even more infuriating was that the blood splattered around the room was golden, indicating that Ning Taio had managed to poison his son despite their best efforts. Yet the man had the face to approach the youth, pretending to be worried about him. As if he even had the right to breathe the same air as their baby!
Perhaps due to this shameless father, Ning He's usually lively eyes were dulled, causing the twins to reflexively clutch at the polished glass to try to soothe him, then to remember that this was only an image.
Good, very good! Engraving the other people present in the image into their minds, the two men fiercely slammed out of their hall to fly toward Jade Sword Mountain and sprint toward the area their shizhi was in. They couldn't hold back anymore, even if the boy became scared of them, they'd drag down anyone who had harmed him and tear them into pieces.
With this tacit decision, when they rushed into the room bare moments later, their momentum was stifling, casting an oppressive gloom over the dazed and confused people inside.
Of course, the men's fierce entrance didn't frighten Chen Yu, but it did cause him to rub his temples inwardly, suppressing the grim premonition that he would be shackled to two heavy oil bottles from now on. Still, he held on to the hope that he could fix this and save his freedom.
For this great purpose, he ruthlessly abandoned his plan to play up the pain, pasting on a reassuring smile and politely apologizing, "Master, Shishu. Please excuse your shizhi for showing you such a joke. This will be handled soon, there's no need to trouble yourselves."
In the Moqi brothers' view, however, this forbearing expression distressed them even more than if the youth had cried directly. While the hearts that had been stuck in their throats finally fell when they carefully embraced the tattered figure, the boy's soothing words just upset them more.
They knew very well how sensitive the child was, there was no way he could treat this so lightly. Besides, from the assessment stone in the room, they could guess that Ning He's intended surprise had been his recently soaring cultivation level, and such a cute exhibition had become this kind of terrible scene. It was completely these pests' fault–You Daolin, Wenren ShiShi, Ning Taio, none of them would escape!
This thought goaded them into action, Moqi Lirong starting to meticulously treat the wounds littering his shizhi's body and Moqi Baihui coldly staring at Ning Taio. After all, even if the scum hardly deserved to be considered a peak leader, this disaster was ultimately his responsibility.
To the glare boring through his skull, Ning Taio could only awkwardly cough out, "That…Ten Stems Hall Master, Twelve Branches Valley Master, rest assured that I will certainly investigate this matter. This almost cost my son his life, and I will never let go of whoever is behind this. Only...until the results come out, perhaps it would be best if you each return to your own peaks. This is my peak's internal problem, after all."
Immediately, identical scoffs sounded. Hng, trying to drive them out? Who knew how he'd treat the boy when they weren't around?
In addition to this blatant attempt to separate them from Ning He, the golden blood around them served as a glaring reminder of how this trash had poisoned the youth, so that Moqi Baihui sneered without giving Ning Taio any face as his shizhi's father. "What, it can't be that Master Ning has anything to hide? For instance, why your son has obviously been fed Golden Honey Flower extract for more than a month, yet you don't seem concerned?"
Wrapped up in Moqi Lirong's arms, Chen Yu sadly drooped his head at this proof of his father's callousness. But a moment later, as if rousing his spirits, he resolutely interrupted, "Shishu, I believe my father will definitely provide satisfactory answers to everything later. If you're uneasy about leaving me here, everyone saw Wenren ShiShi over there and You Daolin attacking me. Since they're here, it should be alright to question them now, right?"
Moqi Lirong, who had keenly noticed the child's depression, promptly stopped combing through the boy's messy hair to signal to Moqi Baihui. Indeed, it would be better to deal with Ning Taio when the overly filial youth wasn't around, to avoid rubbing salt in his wounds.
From Ning Taio's perspective as well, he had no excuse for his attitude towards his son, and whatever his peak's members had done, it would doubtlessly be less shameful than the truth of his failed collusion with Duangan Pang. Having weighed his options, he therefore weakly smiled at Ning He to express his gratitude for shifting the subject, then stood aside.
In contrast, the Zhuo Biming who'd been stiffly crouching on the side gritted his teeth and thoroughly cursed out Ning He in his mind.
It wouldn't have mattered if the damn brat had only drawn attention to You Daolin, but the mention of Wenren ShiShi caused cold sweat to slide down his forehead. Zhuo Biming hadn't dared to move from the instant that the peak leaders had entered, so as soon as anyone turned to check her body, they would find that he was still grasping the puppet in an obviously suspicious position.
And as it happened, the Moqi brothers chose to focus on the girl, because they were more disturbed by how Wenren ShiShi, someone they'd clearly disposed of, had come back to pose a threat to their shizhi.
If killing people didn't get rid of them, how could they protect Ning He? Should they burn all corpses in the future? Or chop them up and bury the pieces separately?
Upon turning around, however, these ideas were halted by a fresh wave of rage. That apprentice seemed to be the one Moqi Baihui had 'spoken' with during their trip before, but that posture plainly revealed that he'd been trying to hide something.
The mere possibility that someone who was aware of all that Ning He had sacrificed for Jade Sword Mountain's disciples would actually do something to endanger the child caused the eyes of both twins to flash with suffocating fury. For such white-eyed wolves, they naturally didn't have to be polite.
Without a word, the unilateral beating began; on the one hand, Moqi Baihui flicked his finger to freeze Zhuo Biming from the feet up, while on the other, Moqi Lirong contributed by electrocuting him.
It didn't have to be said that a fledgling disciple couldn't resist these peak leaders' offensives at all, so that in front of the wide-eyed audience, the formerly elegant figure couldn't do anything except writhe and howl for several minutes. Yet the tortured voice stubbornly insisted on his innocence, shouting, "Master Moqi, Master Moqi, please teach this disciple, this disciple believes that he has done nothing wrong! This disciple was simply examining how someone that you have declared dead could move, where has that offended you?"
When Moqi Lirong irritably directed a strike at the noisy idiot's thick face, Zhuo Biming hurried to change tack. "Yes, this disciple did happen to open the door with You Daolin. Is my crime that I accompanied someone who's offended Ning He? But this disciple had no part in You Daolin's attack, nor was Ning He really injured. Masters, this disciple begs that you be impartial! This disciple hopes that you will not be confused into killing an innocent person!"
Listening to the hoarse screams, Chen Yu secretly curled his lips.
This Zhuo Biming deserved to be called the son of heaven, ah! Even suffering such pain, he didn't forget to smear the Moqi brothers' reputation by suggesting that they were abusing public authority for private interests.
Moreover, Zhuo Biming had also managed to implicate Ning He, implying that he was a vicious child, covertly directing these men to murder his fellow disciple just because he wasn't pleasing to his eyes.
But were his lovers people who could be bullied so cheaply? The only response to Zhuo Biming's appeals was a barrage of lightning, along with hordes of sharp ice shards piercing into his flesh.
Finally, Zhuo Biming couldn't endure the pain anymore. When he fainted, the twins no longer dealt with him, since they hadn't intended to get a confession from him in the first place.
Their goal had always been something else. Once that had been achieved, there was no need to waste time on this bug anymore.
As for how Zhuo Biming's nonsense might impact their prestige, that didn't bother them at all. Even if the other peak leaders later wanted to make a fuss about this, they wouldn't dare to, for fear of losing their powerful guardian wings.
Rather, the urgent issue was whether their innocent shizhi would be portrayed as some kind of enchantress leading them astray, but they had their own strategy for that.
Satisfied on this point, they turned toward the next target. Moqi Baihui, feeling that he'd accomplished his share of the responsibility when he'd shut down Ning Taio, stepped back to subtly shove his brother away from Chen Yu, and Moqi Lirong reluctantly left to drag You Daolin's barely conscious body over.
Combined with his previous offense against Ning He, the youth's outburst this time was absolutely enough to justify ruining him. Perhaps if You Daolin hadn't abandoned the protection of Golden Lion Valley's peak leader and chosen to seek shelter with the apathetic Duangan Pang, he might have had someone to defend him, but now, he was completely vulnerable, a perfect tool for the twins' demonstration.
And because the Moqi brothers wished to take advantage of this opportunity to hammer home the price of trying to injure their shizhi for everyone, they didn't carry out their show right away.
Instead, the two men walked away, leading a strange procession out of the room. Moqi Baihui in the front held Chen Yu and threw Wenren ShiShi's corpse into his storage space as he passed, while behind him, Moqi Lirong towed out Zhuo Biming's body on his left and You Daolin's on his right. Following along meekly, Ning Taio anxiously trailed after these great gods, heading the line of Ning He's similarly nervous lackeys.
In the meantime, Moqi Baihui used his free hand to send out a sect-wide call for everyone to gather at the Sun and Moon Hall. Such assemblies were usually quite rare, and to have another so soon after the last one surprised many members into rushing over, filled with curiosity.