When Xiaoling and Ru reached Cang Tao's roof, Weisheng had already pulled a gun against Cang Tao. They both hurried down, fearing the worst. This place was Cang Tao's private villa, so only one butler was present with him. Cang Tao and Yun Shui were trying to convince Weisheng to put the gun away.
"Weisheng!" Xiaoling called him from a distance before running toward him.
Cang Tao narrowed his eyes upon seeing Xiaoling. He slowly ran his hand behind his back to pull his gun out when he saw that the stranger woman had come to his aid.
"Weisheng," Xiaoling stood between Cang Tao and Weisheng, "Put the gun down," She told him fearlessly, even though the gun was pointed at her.
Yun Shui and Cang Tao shared a glance of confusion. However, they stayed still, knowing they needed Weisheng's cool head to get him to agree to their terms.
"Weisheng," Xiaoling slowly cupped his face to make him look at her. Her eyes widened with shock when she saw his eyes had pinkened. Before she could do something about it, Weisheng pulled the trigger, causing her to squint her eyes shut.
Yun Shui screamed and fell to her knees, "Tao!"
Xiaoling's eyes opened to see how Weisheng had turned the gun to avoid shooting her. She turned to look back, finding Cang Tao dead on the ground with a bullet in his head. Yun Shui sobbed her eyes and shook him to wake him up, but in vain.
Weisheng's eyes returned to being brown, and he instantly fell to his knees, breathing heavily. His eyes widened at the sight in front of him. He shook his head constantly, grabbing Xiaoling's legs to look up at her.
"I didn't do it," He told her under his breath while constantly shaking his head, "Please, please… Please trust me…" He whispered desperately before breaking into tears. He shook his head in denial, "I didn't do it, Master. I… I didn't do it." He buried his head in her legs, leaving her confused.
Yun Shui looked up at the two and gulped. She slowly stood up to quietly leave when Ru hit the back of her neck to knock her out.
"Master," Ru called her, "He isn't lying. I saw that his eyes had changed color just now. I suspect he was under the influence of the demonic curse."
Xiaoling looked at Ru, then looked at the sobbing grown man who was desperately hugging her legs. She sighed deeply.
"Rewrite Yun Shui's memories," Xiaoling ordered, "Cang Tao committed suicide because of the guilt of murdering Gao Bojing."
"Understood," Ru pulled his quill to rewrite Yun Shui's memories.
While Ru took care of the crime scene and hid every possible evidence, Xiaoling annoyingly kicked Weisheng away from her legs.
Weisheng looked at her in disbelief, "M-Master!"
"You might've killed someone because of the curse, but you disobeyed my orders out of your free will," Xiaoling frowned and said furiously. "I told you to stay away from Yun Shui, didn't I?" She sternly asked.
Weisheng's eyes widened, and he instantly lowered his head. Ru walked closer to Xiaoling after cleaning the crime scene and rewriting Yun Shui and the butler's memories.
"Don't be too harsh on him," Ru suggested politely, "The curse is already driving him insane."
Xiaoling scoffed, "Not my problem!" She said sternly, "Ru, throw him and Hai into the Pond Of Disparity. They can rethink their mistakes in that freezing pond!"
Ru clasped his hands in front of her and bowed, "Understood."
—
The sound of clattering teeth became clearer when Weisheng tried to stay warm inside the freezing pond. Hai, who was also thrown into this pond as a punishment, seemed to be doing just fine.
"W-Why are you not… suffering like me?" Weisheng asked as his teeth continued to clatter.
Hai exhaled, "I'm explaining this the 10th time already now, Mr. Yuan," He complained, "If you focus your inner channels to travel around your body at a high speed, you will feel warm in this freezing pond. Master isn't so cruel to let you suffer for that long. Consider this more practice than punishment."
"I've been trying to channel my inner… whatever, it's really not working!" Weisheng complained.
"You must be broken," Hai narrowed his eyes, "Even the most brainless cultivators can control their inner channels…"
Weisheng exhaled constantly, trying to keep himself warm. All of this was too much. He had still not gotten over last night. Throwing him into a freezing pond was so cruel. He should've been given a day to arrange his thoughts at least. Murdering a man because of a curse wasn't normal!
Seeing Weisheng clattering his teeth in pain, Hai stood up from the pond, "I'll go fetch Mr. Ru to see what's up with you. Wait for me, and don't die."
That sounded reassuring. Weisheng kept exhaling, trying to keep his body warm. It didn't work but it made him think he'll survive. Soon, Hai arrived with Ru.
"I heard you still haven't been able to cultivate your inner channels," Ru said as he squatted in front of the pond. He tucked his Hanfu between his stomach and thighs so it wouldn't get wet. "Please show me your wrist."
Weisheng pulled his arm out of the freezing water. Ru held his wrist before leaning to put his ear against it.
Ru instantly pulled back and looked at Hai, "Pull him out and take him to Master's room. That's the warmest place here."
Hai nodded and pulled Weisheng out of the pond, quickly covering the freezing man with his coat. "What's going on?" Hai asked.
Ru shook his head in disappointment and gestured to Hai to leave. Hai nodded and quickly took Weisheng to Xiaoling's room. Thankfully, Xiaoling wasn't present in the room. Hai tucked Weisheng into Xiaoling's big, fluffy quilt.
"This is so warm!" Weisheng exhaled in pleasure, snuggling inside the quilt. Ru entered the room shortly, making sure Weisheng was warm and cozy. Although the punishment was supposed to last all day, Weisheng only made it till the afternoon. Ru was surprised Weisheng even made it this far without cultivating his inner channels.
Suddenly, the door opened behind them, and Xiaoling entered her room with both confusion and anger. Somehow, it made even Ru nervous.