"Big Brother..." Yuexi sat up, leaning against Li Nianlong and hugging his arm tightly, her face filled with worry. "You don't have to take my place, really."
Li Nianlong didn't respond to Yuexi, still locking eyes with Yue Chang.
Li Nianlong's starry eyes were devoid of any impurities,异常 pure and resolute. Gazing into those eyes, Yue Chang smiled softly and waved her hand gently. "Big Brother is being too serious. The tasks ahead are just some finishing touches, easily resolved, and there's no need for Xixi to be involved."
"Really not necessary?" Li Nianlong was taken aback, half-believing.
"Oh, come on..." Yue Chang pouted, her adorably soft demeanor even when she was upset. "How can Big Brother not believe me! I'm getting angry now."
Li Nianlong chuckled. "Alright, alright, I believe you. Don't be mad. I know that Chang Chang is the world's gentlest little lamb, how could she get angry! Being angry doesn't look pretty."
Yue Chang giggled softly. "Okay! I won't be angry anymore."
"You two, can you please not ignore me?" Yuexi, feeling neglected again, opened her small mouth and playfully nipped at Li Nianlong's shoulder, asserting her presence.
The bite was gentle, causing no pain to Li Nianlong. He smiled faintly and raised his hand to gently stroke her head. "It's getting late; you should rest early. When you're fully recovered, I'll take you out to play."
"Really?" Yuexi released her bite, looking at him in surprise.
"Really." Li Nianlong stood up, patting her little head. "Go rest now!"
"Okay!" Yuexi giggled, bouncing up and heading to her bedroom, humming a tune. "I love sleeping, my skin gets so good, ooo-ooo, jumping on the bed while lying down..."
If you're already in bed, how can you jump around?
Li Nianlong twitched his lips, turning to Yue Chang. "Aren't you sleeping?"
Yue Chang smiled softly. "I've slept for three days straight!"
"Xixi said you can sleep for seven days and nights."
"Oh, dear! How mean, how can you say that about me? I only slept for six nights and seven days, not seven nights!" Yue Chang covered her face with both hands, utterly embarrassed.
"... " Li Nianlong pulled out a key from his pocket and tossed it to Yue Chang. "Here, take this."
"What's this?" Yue Chang caught the key, blinking.
"The front door key." Turning to head upstairs, he added, "Remember to lock the door when you go out."
Watching Li Nianlong disappear around the stair corner, Yue Chang clenched the key, smiling sweetly as she murmured softly, "Thank you, Big Brother."
Sometime later, Yue Chang left the villa alone. After midnight, Li Nianlong also departed, beginning his hunt for the day.
In the eastern suburbs of Tianfu, Liu Family Castle, Liu Manor.
It was already past midnight, but Liu Xiu wasn't resting. Seated on the zitan dragon chair symbolizing the patriarch's position, he couldn't quell the excitement and thrill within him.
He was just a member of a Liu family branch, never destined to rule Liu Manor in his lifetime. But fate played a strange game; a sudden bloodbath at Liu Manor had turned his fortune around, handing him the biggest pie that fell from the sky.
"Liu Family Patriarch... Never thought I, Liu Xiu, would have a chance to become the Liu Family Patriarch, hahaha... I, Liu Xiu, am truly blessed by heaven. In the future, under my leadership, the Liu Family will surely become the strongest clan in China!"
Liu Xiu's wild laughter echoed through the main hall, grating on the ears of the guards on night duty. One of them spat, "Damn it, a villain basking in his newfound power! Old Master is really senile to choose such a person as the new patriarch."
"Mind your words!" Another guard's face darkened. "The patriarch isn't someone we can gossip about behind his back. Be careful, walls have ears."
"Hmph!" The first guard looked disgusted. "I heard Liu Xiu excels in intrigue. Everywhere he governs, there's great public resentment. I have a relative who lived in a county he once governed. This Liu Xiu accepted bribes and sold an area not yet planned for development to developers. When the locals refused to evacuate, it resulted in over a dozen deaths."
"Sigh! What can we do? We're just commoners; the people don't fight with officials. Just endure it!"
As the two guards complained and consoled each other, a water-like figure gradually emerged from the pond five meters away. Gazing at the starry sky, the figure raised its hands high. A hundred meters above Liu Manor, an unusual cumulonimbus cloud suddenly appeared, rapidly expanding until it formed a giant cumulonimbus over a kilometer in diameter.
The figure in the pond swept its hands downward. Rain began to pour from the cloud, drenching the patrolling guards, who, despite being drenched, couldn't abandon their posts even if knives rained from the sky. The heavy rain obscured the guards' vision beyond five meters.
Just then, the figure in the pond seemed to merge with the rain, evading the guards' notice, moving smoothly through the rain until reaching the entrance of Liu Manor's main hall.
Under the eaves, two guards stood steadfastly on either side of the door. The soft figure waved a hand, and a gust of wind howled, bending the rain to soak the faces of the two guards. As they closed their eyes momentarily, the figure dashed forward, arms spreading wide. Instantly, two meter-and-a-half-long icicles formed, smashing into the backs of the guards' necks. With two muffled groans, the guards lost consciousness. Just as their bodies were about to collapse, they froze in place. Upon closer inspection, their bodies were encased in a thin layer of barely visible frost, standing rigidly at the door as if still on duty.
The soft figure pushed open the door, slipped inside, and swiftly closed it behind, advancing towards the still-laughing Liu Xiu...
Half an hour later, the rain from the cumulonimbus cloud ceased and dissipated naturally. It was time for the guards at Liu Manor to switch shifts. When the two relieving the guards at the main hall noticed the abnormality of their comrades, a sense of foreboding arose. They hurriedly pushed the door open and beheld a scene they would never forget.
Liu Xiu, who had just assumed the position of the Liu Family Patriarch, remained in his deranged laughing pose, his heart pierced with a gaping hole that bizarrely didn't spill any blood, his entire body drenched as though he had just been fished out of an icy layer.
"Patriarch..." The guards were horrified. "The Patriarch has been murdered!"
At three in the morning, Liu Xiu, the newly appointed Liu Family Patriarch, was assassinated.
Crash—
A teacup was slammed onto the floor, shattering into pieces. Shao Meiyun's face was like ice, her voice freezing cold. "What use are you guards for?! The Patriarch was assassinated right under your noses! Why does the Liu Family keep you around!?"
The head of the guards, a towering, black-faced brute, had veins bulging from his forehead as he slammed his fist into the ground. "Damned assassin!"
Shao Meiyun snorted. "Investigate! Investigate immediately! Search every corner of Liu Manor inside and out! If you can't find them in the manor, search the castle! If not there, outside the castle! No matter if the killer flew to the heavens or burrowed into the earth, you must find them for me! Otherwise, don't bother coming back! The lives of those in Liu Manor cannot be entrusted to useless individuals like you!"
The black-faced brute barked, "Miss Shao, rest assured! If I, Liu Tiejun, cannot find the murderer, I'll present my head to you!"
"Idiot!" Shao Meiyun grabbed the black-faced brute by the collar, slapped him twice, and then kicked him out the door, raging, "I want the murderer, not your head! Get lost!"
Though sent flying by Shao Meiyun's kick, Liu Tiejun's eyes brimmed with tears as he cast a profound glance at Shao Meiyun before leading his men to conduct a thorough search throughout Liu Manor.
In Longcheng, the Crown Prince's Palace.
Just as dawn broke, Long Zongheng was awakened by a phone call. With a mix of drowsiness and irritation, he answered. Ten seconds later, he hung up, all traces of sleepiness gone, replaced by an irrepressible grin. He got out of bed, drew back the curtains, and as the rising sun illuminated his face, Long Zongheng felt a surge of ambition, as if the world's destiny lay in his hands.
"Our latest report: Liu Xiu, the newly appointed Patriarch of Liu Manor, was assassinated within the Liu Manor premises around three o'clock this morning. He was 38 years old. Upon hearing the news, the elderly Master Liu immediately fainted and has been rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment. The acting head of the Liu Manor, Shao Meiyun, angrily vowed to thoroughly investigate the murderer and bring them to justice..."
Sitting on the sofa in the living room, watching this news on television, Li Nianlong put down his teacup and gazed at the sisters' room door, sighing softly, "Truly a pair of monstrous sisters."