Yunchen felt like his body was torn to pieces as the lightning bolts found him time after time. He was taken by surprise when the first one hit him. He didn't have time to react. After the first came the second, then the third, without any sign of stopping. He fell to his knees, the earlier impotence of moving gone. Most likely the bolts of lightning took care of that. He didn't know where to dodge to escape the calamity on his head and honestly he didn't even have the time to think of a way of escape. The bolts kept coming in an unending stream, each stronger than the previous one.
His breathing became shallow as his eyes became unfocused. His skin turned dark, his hair was burning. He was going through hell. The flames from earlier, he was already used to them and that pain he could ignore and put it at the back of his mind, it being continuous. But this one was coming in waves, making him unable to cope with it.
Smoke was rising from his body as the flesh dried and cracked where the bolts hit him, letting the blood boil down his body after seeping out of his wounds. After an unknown amount of time for him, finally came the last bolt of lightning. It was the last straw, which made him collapse on his face, losing his consciousness.
The others were staring at his crumpled body with conflicting feelings in their hearts. It was hard for them to come to terms with what they have just witnessed.
Wei Yance and Shang Yunfei shared a glance. How far could he go since he smashed through so many barriers in a matter of days. He was even acknowledged by the Heavens with the earlier Bolts of Retribution. They came only when a cultivator stepped into the Venerable rank and by that challenged the natural order of nature. And by challenging it, he would attract the wrath of the heavens, who would test his resolve. If he passed the storm of lightning sent from above, he would be able to start incorporating nature elements into their cultivation. If he couldn't pass the test, he would simply die.
Zhen Ming looked at him, not knowing how to proceed. Should he hit him now that he was already down for the count? Or should he let him me? Finally with a sigh, he lowered his cane and slowly walked towards the door.
At that time an old woman entered into the courtyard, short of breath, leaning in her own cane. Looking frantically around the courtyard her eyes stopped on the scorched body laying face first on the ground. She approached him and bending over, turned him around. She gasped seeing her grandson's face. Even though it was badly burned, she still recognized him. She checked and saw that he was still breathing. She let out a sigh of relief, followed by a furious ranting.
"Chen'er, my sweet boy! What have they done to you? I wondered why they were so anxious to see me gone outside to visit my friends. Now I finally understand."
She stood slowly, helping herself with the cane, and looked around at the frozen faces of the ones around. Her eyes stopped on her son and daughter-in-law.
"You! The two of you are most likely involved in what just happened."
Her eyes found Dongyi and snapped.
"And you! Didn't you have enough of your pettiness? I must say you planned it well along these years. I almost believed your sincerity of trying to make amends when you crawled back into these two fools lives." she gestured towards the pair of husband and wife. "I should have interfered back than, but I thought a simple warning to my daughter-in-law would be enough to dissuade her from the wrong path. I guess I should have known better."
Then she snapped at the servants standing by the side.
"What are you waiting for, you fools? Take my grandson out of this nest of vipers. He'll be living in my courtyard from now on. And if anyone dares to even look funny at him from now on, I'll personally skin him or her alive."
Dongyi stepped forward.
"And what about my son? Yunchen hurt him, almost killed him by crushing his windpipe. If not for honorable..."
Zhao Shuqin waved her hand in dismissal, stopping his torrent of words and turned around, starting to walk away. She was followed by the servants carrying Yunchen's body. She stopped just before passing the threshold and turned around looking each and everyone of them in the eyes, making them squirm.
"I don't care about your son. I'm sure whatever Chen'er did, your son fully deserved it being so spoiled. Even if he would have slaughtered each and everyone of you, I still wouldn't find a fault in it. Your son is a bully, spoiled by all of his four parents. Don't think I don't know of your sick trists just because I'm turning a blind eye. I could even ignore it as long as my Chen'er would still have his father and mother to depend on. But you took them away from him with your sick games. Whenever I look at you lot it's making me sick." She turned her eyes to her daughter-in-law and scowled." And you, Yunfei. You've disappointed me the most. I've raised you like my own and loved you all these years. All I asked of you was to return that attention and love I taught you on your own son. You've truly disappointed me, girl."
Then without uttering another word, she walked away, her cane clanking rithmically on the pavement leading to her courtyard.
Inside the courtyard, the silence was deafening. Dongyi, Yunfei and Yance shared a guilty look. They sent the guards and servants away in a hurry, until remain only them.
Dongyi looked at the other two and whispered so just they could hear.
"So how much of what we did do you think she knows? I thought we were quite careful."
Yance shrugged while looking into the distance.
"I don't know. A lot by the way she reacted just now. The only thing she didn't do was call us perverts in the face."
Yunfei nodded.
"So, what should we do now that we were discovered? I think we should stop. And we should try to smooth things out with Chen'er."
Dongyi cackled at hearing that.
"Yes, we should. But you'll have more success if you'd try to find a snowball in the middle of the Inferno than trying to change that boy's mind. Especially now that he has his grandma's unconditional support. Didn't you witness how he acted in front of esteemed Zhen Ming?"
"Yes, but we're still his parents! No child could be able to hurt his parents without a care."
"Yeah, just tell yourself the same thing when he'll come to collect your life when the time has run out. As about me, I'll enjoy the rest of my life."
The trio finally dispersed.
After the silence reigned supreme, a silhouette moved across the courtyard, heading out and started walking on the paved alley leading to Yunchen's grandparents courtyard.
As she was walking, she was muttering to herself.
"I can't believe that they are so shameless. All they care about is themselves. They didn't even worry about how Yunchen is feeling, if he'll survive the night."
The moon shined, coming out from the cover of the clouds. It's light shined on the silhouette illuminating Taotao's worried face.
Soon, she reached the courtyard and knocked at the door. A guard opened it and she sneaked inside.
"Old Hai, how is he now? Did he wake up?"
"Not yet, young miss. The old mistress is worried at his side. Go in, she might need your support. Don't worry, I'm sure she'll approve of you."
The guard smiled seeing her in the torchlight starting to blush.
"Old Hai, you're teasing me! What do you mean by she'll approve of me?"
The guard kept smiling as he escorted her.
"I'm sure you know what I mean, young miss. It's no secret how you feel about the young master. Do you still believe there's something inside the household our old mistress doesn't know about?"
Taotao nodded mollified.
"Yes, I'm starting to realize that very thing. So, do you think she would really approve of me?"
The guard's laughter was interrupted by their arrival in front of a door. He knocked and an aged voice summoned them in. He waved Taotao inside and closed the door behind her, returning to his guard duty.
Taotao walked inside, trying to make as little noise as possible. Her eyes were on the bed, where Yunchen's body was wrapped in bandages and covered in a silk blanket to protect him from the coldness of the night.
The old lady sitting by the bed on a chair was looking at her, with a smile on her face.
"Girl, come closer. He's still not awake. I'd like to have a chat with you while we're waiting. Take a sit!"
Taotao took a small chair and sat in front of the old lady, her eyes kept turning towards the bed. She didn't see the smile starting to grow on the old lady's face.