About a hundred years ago, the Nether Sect and the Big Dipper Six Sects became embroiled in conflict again. For some unknown reason, this time their battle was especially fierce, with both sides slaughtering each other for a full five or six years...
(Mu Qingyan: Granny Ajiang, you don't need to start from so long ago. Just begin with twenty years ago.
Cai Zhao: Oh, don't interrupt! I want to hear it. Granny Ajiang, what started the conflict back then?
Mu Qingyan: Can't you do the math? A hundred years ago was naturally when Sect Leader Mu Song died suddenly, and his sons and sons-in-law fought over succession. No doubt they suspected the North Star of being involved in Mu Song's death.
Cai Zhao: Oh please, as if I couldn't figure that out. Because of sect rules, they couldn't openly kill each other, so they used the Big Dipper Six Sects to establish their dominance and compete for the sect leader position, right? Hmph.
Granny Ajiang: Maybe I should go fetch some water first, and you two can chat...
Cai Zhao: Granny Ajiang, please continue.)
Our village had always specialized in sericulture and linen weaving, staying uninvolved with the disputes of the Martial World. We simply sold our silk and linen to the Nether Sect each year—a fair exchange. But during that time, both sides were bloodthirsty, and the smaller sects under the Big Dipper Six Sects took their anger out on us, bullying and enslaving us until life became unbearable. We had no choice but to flee into this dense forest...
(Mu Qingyan: Hmph.
Cai Zhao: What's with the "hmph"?
Mu Qingyan: It means "hmph."
Granny Ajiang: Maybe I really should go fetch water...
Mu Qingyan: Granny Ajiang, don't mind her interruptions. Please continue.)
The pursuers followed like rabid dogs. We ran and ran until we reached this swamp deep in the forest. Though treacherous, it was still better than the cruel people outside who would have worked us to death. Our ancestors only meant to hide here temporarily until the storm passed, but soon they discovered they couldn't leave.
Alas, the native vines in this Blood Marsh secrete a strange, addictive sap. Where the vines spread, wild vegetables, mushrooms, even the spring water and air—all become tainted. After just two or three years here, our ancestors found they could no longer adapt to the outside world. We must drink this water, breathe this air, and eat the vegetables grown here, or else our bodies suffer as if bitten by ants.
Our ancestors tried sending newborn babies out, but even in the womb, they were affected. Once outside the marsh, they could hardly survive. Yet this is no place to live long-term—the damp, the miasma, the venomous snakes and insects festering with pus. The children grow thin and hunched, the adults don't live long. We became neither human nor ghost. But what could we do? Generation after generation, we endured, praying the gods would one day deliver us.
Until over fifty years ago, when our village's great benefactor finally arrived. That year, I was eight.
The elders called her an immortal maiden, but she said she was just an ordinary woman named Cai—Cai Anning, from Fallen Blossom Valley.
(Cai Zhao: Ah!
Mu Qingyan's lips twitch: ...Hmm, another connection. How nice.)Our great benefactor had come to the dense forest to gather herbs. At that time, she was not yet twenty years old—thin, small, and frail from illness. She said she had been weak since birth, beyond the help of medicine, and so she traveled to the most remote and obscure places in the world, hoping to find a cure for herself.
She ventured deeper into the forest and unexpectedly encountered us. After learning of our plight, she soon left. At first, we thought she was just another person afraid of addiction, eager to flee this place. But two years later, our great benefactor returned.
This time, she brought a peculiar orchid that only bloomed at night. She transplanted the living orchid into the Blood Marsh, waited for it to sprout new shoots, and then grafted it with several other strange and exotic plants. The result was a hybrid orchid with blood-red petals, stamens, and even leaves.
(Cai Zhao: "Is that the same small blood-red orchid we saw in the marsh outside? But I saw them blooming during the day."
Granny Ajiang: "Those are the modified offspring. The original plant our benefactor brought only blooms at night."
Mu Qingyan remained silent this time, lost in thought.)
Our great benefactor instructed us to plant these blood-red orchids throughout the marsh, especially around the roots of the vines. She said that while this would make the vines highly poisonous, it would also stop them from secreting the addictive sap. The adults in the village might not recover, but newborn children could grow up as healthy as anyone else.
The great benefactor lived in the marsh for five years. She taught us how to avoid the poisonous vines and plants and how to cultivate crops in clean soil and water. She also sent some of the children born in later years outside, entrusting them to an old servant to raise in a nearby village. True to her word, those children thrived outside.
Later, the great benefactor grew increasingly frail. She wanted to go home, to see her elderly parents.
But she could never return.
Before her intervention, the vines in the marsh were addictive but not deadly. Those who came to gather herbs or accidentally wandered in could at least leave unharmed. But after her changes, anyone who entered the Blood Marsh returned poisoned, dying in agony.
Their families and friends went to the Vast Heaven Gate to plead for justice. The Vast Heaven Gate and several other sects sent large groups of disciples to investigate the Blood Marsh. More people were poisoned, and the situation escalated.
Knowing she could never go back, the great benefactor refused to bring further trouble to Fallen Blossom Valley. She taught us to set up barriers, sealing off the Blood Marsh, and spread terrifying rumors to keep outsiders away. The Big Dipper Six Sects eventually dropped the matter.
Not long after, the great benefactor passed away from illness.
Many of us had lost our parents early and were raised by her. At her deathbed, I wept uncontrollably, wishing she had never come here and suffered such infamy and hardship. But she told me she had no regrets.
From birth, she had been told she wouldn’t live past three. At three, they said she wouldn’t reach adulthood. As an adult, every year she heard physicians subtly or openly advise her parents to prepare for her death.
She struggled through endless bitter medicines, under the weight of everyone’s pity and concern. She searched the world for rare cures just to live a little longer—but for what? Only to prolong her parents’ suffering?She said she never imagined that in her barren and meager life, she could save so many people—she felt it was all worth it.
From then until now, fifty years have passed.
Hundreds of children grew up and left the marsh, establishing families and livelihoods outside, farming and trading. Now, they can bask in the sun every day, tall and strong like great trees.
And we—we are the last remnants of the Blood Marsh.
The air was heavy with silence, memories weighed with melancholy, and the three in the room remained wordless for a long time.
Mu Qingyan broke the silence: "...Can we talk about what happened twenty years ago now?"
Cai Zhao shot him an annoyed glance, irritated that he had ruined the mood.
Granny Ajiang chuckled. "Alright, alright—so you two really aren't siblings? We all thought Miss Xiaoshu would marry Young Master Yang. But then again, it's just as well you're not."
Cai Zhao flushed. She realized elderly women everywhere shared the same habit—seeing young men and women and immediately trying to matchmake. Hurriedly, she said, "Granny, please tell us about my aunt."
Granny Ajiang nodded. "About twenty years ago, a young man and woman suddenly barged into our village. We were all startled, thinking the outer barrier had failed. The two came asking about the mother plant of the Night Orchid, saying Young Master Yang's friend was ill and needed it for medicine. Naturally, we agreed, and after taking a few cuttings, they left."
"That's it?" Cai Zhao asked.
"That's it. Miss Xiaoshu was the descendant of our great benefactor. We'd gladly give our lives for her, let alone a few Night Orchid cuttings."
Cai Zhao was momentarily speechless. Mu Qingyan interjected, "Granny Ajiang, may we see the mother plant of the Night Orchid?"
Granny Ajiang readily agreed and rose to lead the way.
The mother plant of the Night Orchid was cultivated in the backyard of the house, encircled by white stones. After fifty years of nourishment in the shaded woods, its roots had grown thick and sturdy, its leaves glossy and emerald green, with clusters of pristine white buds peeking out delicately.
Granny Ajiang sighed. "By midnight, these buds will bloom fully—it's a beautiful sight. Take a good look now, for tomorrow it will be burned to ashes."
Mu and Cai exchanged startled glances. "Why?" Cai Zhao asked urgently.
"It was Miss Xiaoshu's instruction," Granny Ajiang explained. "A little over a year after she and Young Master Yang left, she suddenly returned. She asked me if Young Master Yang had come back as well. I told her yes—just before her arrival, he had taken a few more cuttings. I even asked if his friend's illness hadn't improved."
"Then Miss Xiaoshu wept. She cried so bitterly, nothing we said could console her. Before leaving, she entrusted us with a solemn task: if anyone ever came inquiring about the Night Orchid mother plant again—no matter who, even if they were from Fallen Blossom Valley—we were to burn it immediately."
Cai Zhao frowned. "Why did Young Master Yang need to come a second time? Couldn't he have taken more cuttings the first time?"
Granny Ajiang shook her head. "You don't understand, Zhao Zhao. The Night Orchid is delicate. Once cut, the branches can only be preserved for half a year. Whether you store them in crystal boxes or plant them in soil, after six months they'll wither like dead wood, losing all medicinal properties."
"What if you uprooted it entirely and tried to cultivate it outside?""Unless it's someone as skilled in cultivation as our great benefactor... Even he, when he brought over a dozen Night Orchids back then, only managed to keep this one variety alive."
Mu and Cai exchanged glances, both understanding clearly—Mu Zhengyang had first taken the mother plant of the Night Orchid to secretly give to Chen Shu, intending to lure Nie Hengcheng into practicing the Purple Star Sutra . The second time he came for the mother plant was likely for himself.
When Cai Pingshu found out, she pieced together the whole story and wept.
Mu Qingyan pondered for a moment. "Zhao Zhao's aunt was right—it's better to burn it and eliminate the threat once and for all." He then asked, "Why not burn it now?"
Granny Ajiang replied, "Burning the Night Orchid while it's blooming releases toxic fumes. It can only be burned during the day. Ah, in truth, when Miss Ping Shu came the second time, she wanted to burn it, but we couldn't bear to. After all, it's the last relic of our great benefactor."
Cai Zhao sat in a daze. She felt that despite braving the dangers of the Blood Marsh, they had learned much yet somehow nothing at all. "Is there anything else? What else did my aunt and that Young Master Yang talk about?"
Granny Ajiang's eyes twinkled mischievously. "Do you really want to hear? The sweet nothings whispered between lovers—are you sure you want to listen?"
"Not that kind of talk," Cai Zhao blushed. "I mean, was there anything unusual, anything out of the ordinary?"
Granny Ajiang thought for a long while but couldn't recall anything. It was Old Man Alin, who came to call them for dinner, who reminded her, "Sister, how could you forget? Miss Ping Shu and Young Master Yang had a quarrel by the spring."
"Oh, I nearly forgot!" Granny Ajiang exclaimed. "Miss Ping Shu and Young Master Yang were always so affectionate, but that night after watching the Night Orchid bloom, they suddenly started arguing while walking by the spring."
Mu Qingyan's expression turned grave. "What did they argue about?"
Granny Ajiang said, "At the time, my brother and I were fetching water on the opposite side. We caught a few words. It seemed Young Master Yang planned to kill someone, and Miss Ping Shu found out. She asked him why, and then they kept talking about 'holding, holding.'"
"Holding?" Cai Zhao's mind raced. "Nie Zhe?!"
Mu Qingyan pressed urgently, "What happened next?"
Granny Ajiang replied, "Young Master Yang explained a bit, and Miss Ping Shu raised her voice, saying, 'Since he hasn't committed any evil yet, you shouldn't kill him without cause.' After that, Young Master Yang seemed to relent, and they went back to rest."
Cai Zhao looked at Mu Qingyan in confusion. "He wanted to kill Nie Zhe? Why?"
Mu Qingyan lowered his lashes and said coolly, "He hated Nie Hengcheng to the core. Perhaps he wanted to vent his anger by killing his nephew."
Cai Zhao shook her head. "No wonder my aunt disagreed. She never killed an innocent person in her life."
Mu Qingyan arched a slender brow. "Yan Xu said that while Nie Hengcheng was alive, Nie Zhe indeed pretended to be well-behaved, even treating his servants politely. But if your aunt hadn't stopped Mu Zhengyang from killing Nie Zhe back then, Sun Ruoshui might not have had anyone to conspire with, and perhaps my father would still be alive today."
Cai Zhao was stunned, unable to find words to refute him.Mu Qingyan smiled faintly. "My words were biased. Sun Ruoshui craved power and wealth. With my father missing and his fate unknown, even if it hadn't been Nie Zhe, she would have found another powerful patron. Besides, someone else secretly ordered her to poison my father."
Though he said this, Cai Zhao still felt uneasy, unable to stop herself from considering other possibilities.
Dinner consisted of mixed-grain rolls, grilled fish, salt-cured chicken, and a large bowl of wild vegetable and mushroom soup.
You Guanyue and Shangguan Haonan, having gone days without hot food, found the first sip of soup extraordinarily delicious, almost swallowing their tongues in delight.
Song Yuzhi, preoccupied with his thoughts, ate a few bites hastily before retiring to his room. Cai Zhao cleared her throat lightly. "I'm full too. Everyone, take your time..." She made to move in the direction Song Yuzhi had left.
A sharp crack of splitting wood sounded.
Mu Qingyan's left hand remained motionless on the table, yet a long fissure appeared beneath his jade-like fingers. You Guanyue and Shangguan Haonan quickly lifted the broken tabletop with both hands to prevent the dishes from falling.
Fan Xingjia shuddered, sensing an inexplicable chill filling the room.
Cai Zhao slowly sat back down. "Actually, I'm not full yet. Let Third Senior Brother rest first."
Mu Qingyan took out a snow-white silk handkerchief and meticulously wiped his slender fingers. "Young Heroine Cai needn't mind others. If you have words for Third Young Master Song, go ahead."
"No, no, nothing to say," Cai Zhao replied with an ingratiating smile.
Mu Qingyan fixed his gaze on the girl, his dark pupils profound and inscrutable as the sea, making Cai Zhao extremely uncomfortable.
The other three at the table dared not even breathe loudly—two holding up the tabletop, one clutching his bowl, all bowing their heads as if wishing to vanish into the ground.
After a moment, Mu Qingyan gave a cold laugh, flicked his sleeve, and left, tossing back a distant remark: "No point stopping you. Young Heroine Cai, do as you please."
With the menacing presence gone, peace returned to the room. Cai Zhao forced a laugh but ultimately didn't dare seek out Song Yuzhi in Mu Qingyan's wake, slinking back to her own quarters instead.
Fan Xingjia exhaled heavily. "Your sect leader grows more sinister by the day. Scared me half to death." No wonder his junior sister always called Mu Qingyan a madman—the description was spot-on.
You Guanyue shot him a glare. "What do you know? The sect leader is divinely formidable, profound beyond measure."
Fan Xingjia couldn't resist adding, "Actually, my junior sister is quite clever too, though different from your sect leader's cunning. My master says she's wise yet appears simple. Faced with trouble, your sect leader anticipates moves ahead, while she figures things out afterward. My master says you might deceive her temporarily, but never permanently."
What he left unsaid was—Mu Qingyan's brilliance carried aggression and control, scheming and plotting until the final strike. Crossing such a person, you'd be lucky not to be sold while helping count the money. Cai Zhao's cleverness was defensive—indifferent unless something involved her directly, then becoming exceptionally sharp and perceptive.
"Whatever we say is pointless. I think they're in for a long entanglement," Shangguan Haonan summarized.
Fan Xingjia looked surprised. "How so? This junior thought their matters were already settled."Shangguan Haonan said smugly, "Don't be silly. Did they look like they were 'done' just now?" He frowned. "I say, Moon, we need to find some nails. We can't keep holding up this tabletop forever."
You Guanyue retorted irritably, "Haven't you noticed all the buildings and furniture here use mortise-and-tenon joints or vine bindings? Where would we find nails?"
"Then what should we do?"
"Well, I still have some Nine-Bend Bone-Piercing Nails in my pack. We can straighten them out to use as regular nails."
"That could work. But what about a hammer?"
"If there aren't even nails here, where would we find a hammer? Just use your Vajra Finger technique to press them into the tabletop."
"That might work. Wait wait wait—did you poison those bone-piercing nails?"
"Uh, well... yes, they are poisoned. But I brought antidotes. Maybe you should take some first, just in case you get scratched. The poison is... slightly potent."
"How potent?"
"Just... just a standard instant-death-upon-contact variety."
"..."
As the two lackeys bickered back and forth, Fan Xingjia sighed deeply into his rice bowl, a wave of melancholy rising in his heart.
The night was still as water. Through the gaps in the dome of intertwined vines above, scattered starlight and moonlight filtered down, transforming this damp, chilly secret grove into a dreamlike illusion.
Tormented by worries, Cai Zhao tossed and turned sleeplessly before finally getting up to take a walk. After wandering around, she unexpectedly encountered Song Yuzhi sighing at the sky in the deserted vegetable garden behind the house.
"Third Senior Brother!" Cai Zhao's eyes lit up. After glancing around furtively, she hurried over. "Perfect timing! There's something urgent I need to tell you!"
Song Yuzhi stood tall and straight, his thick brows slightly furrowed. "Why are you whispering and looking around like that? We're far from the houses here—no need to worry about disturbing the villagers' rest." Like a little thief, he thought to himself.
Cai Zhao flushed, thinking she was just avoiding that madman.
"It's still someone else's place—better to keep quiet," she said, pulling out a wrapped handkerchief from her robe. Unfolding it, she revealed its contents to Song Yuzhi—a short, twisted segment of vine coated with faintly blood-colored sap.
Seeing Song Yuzhi's confusion, Cai Zhao explained, "I cut this from a vine deep in the Blood Marsh today. I've already tested it on rabbits and poultry—just a tiny scratch with this sap causes immediate paralysis and collapse, with no ability to struggle. Exactly what happened to you yesterday."
Song Yuzhi's pupils dilated sharply, his expression shocked and disbelieving.
"I assume Fifth Senior Brother already told you about the hidden dart?" Cai Zhao continued. "When I saw this vine, everything became clear."
She took a deep breath. "The person who attacked you was only moderately skilled in martial arts, but they knew your cultivation techniques and could predict your next moves. I remember that although you trained at Azure Tower Sect, you never neglected Vast Heaven Gate's techniques. At that moment, you happened to be using the Song family's secret skills, didn't you?"
Song Yuzhi's expression grew grave—the girl had hit the mark. When struck by the dart last night, he had indeed been using the Song family's "Cloud-Parting Sixteen Forms" technique.
Cai Zhao pressed on: "At the same time, this person was familiar with this forest and knew about these vines deep in the marsh that secrete sap causing instant paralysis." The Blood Marsh bordered Vast Heaven Gate's northern territory.Song Yuzhi stood alone under the moonlight, his figure as still as an ice sculpture. The person who had harmed him was already on the tip of his tongue.
With difficulty, he spoke, "Elder Brother, why would he want to harm me? So... was Second Brother also framed by him?"
"I don't know. I don't understand the affairs of your family."
Cai Zhao firmly refused to get involved in the Song family's internal conflicts. Whenever her mother, Ning Xiaofeng, recounted the troubles of wealthy families with multiple wives and concubines, she would always conclude with, "Just wait and see—if the Song family continues down this chaotic path, they're bound to face disaster."
The martial siblings stood outside in silence for a while before crossing a vast stretch of farmland and quietly returning to their quarters. As they entered the courtyard, they unexpectedly saw Mu Qingyan descending leisurely from the three-story rooftop—the top floor was a large flat surface used for drying wild vegetables and mushrooms, with a vine ladder on the side for access.
Meeting Mu Qingyan’s piercing, starlit gaze, Cai Zhao hurriedly explained, "No, no, I didn’t mean to seek out Third Senior Brother! I couldn’t sleep and happened to run into him while wandering outside!"
"Oh." Mu Qingyan’s expression remained indifferent. "And why is Third Young Master wandering about in the dead of night?"
Song Yuzhi replied coldly, "I was admiring the scenery. Might I ask what the Revered Moon Sect Leader is doing here?"
Mu Qingyan smiled. "What a coincidence—I was also admiring the scenery."
Cai Zhao fidgeted nervously, not daring to interject.
"The sudden upheaval at Vast Heaven Gate is shrouded in mystery," Mu Qingyan suddenly remarked. "If it were me, I’d investigate Yang Heying."
Song Yuzhi’s eyelids twitched. "What do you mean, Revered Moon Sect Leader?"
Mu Qingyan continued, "Do you know the maiden name of Yang Heying’s first wife?"
Cai Zhao racked her brain. "Madam Yang... I think her surname was Zhuo?" She strained to recall. "Madam Zhuo was said to be the only descendant of Master Zhuo, a prominent figure in the Guanzhong region. Rumor has it that the entire Zhuo family fortune was given to her as dowry."
This mismatched marriage was clearly orchestrated by Four Stallions Gate for ulterior motives, making it far from honorable. However, as Ning Xiaofeng saw it, this was a case of "like master, like disciple." After all, the first sect leader, Yin Dai, had blatantly seized the only son of the Guo Family, the wealthiest clan in Jiangnan, as his disciple—hardly a more noble act.
Cai Zhao scoffed. "My mother once said that even with a dowry spanning ten miles, Madam Zhuo couldn’t stop that old scoundrel Yang Heying from indulging in new pleasures while keeping old ones. But what does this have to do with the upheaval at Vast Heaven Gate?"
Mu Qingyan explained, "Master Zhuo was actually Madam Zhuo’s maternal grandfather. She took her mother’s surname."
Song Yuzhi’s heart stirred. "Then what was her father’s surname?"
"Huang." Mu Qingyan smiled warmly. "Indeed, Madam Zhuo’s birth father was Old Chief Huang of the Yellow Sand Gang. Her mother died in childbirth, and Master Zhuo, left without heirs, sorrowfully demanded his son-in-law hand over his granddaughter to raise."
Cai Zhao and Song Yuzhi exchanged glances, both stunned.
"Old Chief Huang was kind-hearted. He pitied Master Zhuo’s loss and also cherished his eldest daughter, who grew up away from him. It wasn’t until a decade later that he remarried and had more children. Sha Zuguang was originally a disciple of the Yellow Sand Gang. Seeing his cleverness and capability, Old Hero Huang married his second daughter to him. The rest, you already know."
The Yellow Sand Gang, refusing to submit to Nie Hengcheng, suffered heavy losses in several fierce battles, depleting their strength. Seizing the opportunity while his father-in-law’s influence waned, Sha Zuguang offered his beautiful younger sister to Yang Heying as a concubine, using this to establish his own faction. He then cast aside his first wife, Madam Huang, and indulged freely in his pleasures.
Song Yuzhi couldn’t help but ask, "How do you know such old secrets so well?" Yin Dai’s personal notes hadn’t mentioned this—perhaps he deemed the fallen Zhuo and Huang families, now without successors, too insignificant to record.Mu Qingyan glanced sideways. "With two centuries of enmity, how could the Demonic Cult not thoroughly investigate the backgrounds of the six sect leaders?"
Song Yuzhi was nearly choked by this sarcastic remark.
Cai Zhao asked, "Did Old Chief Huang know his daughter was wronged?"
"Even if he knew, what could he do? Besides, Madam Huang soon fell ill and passed away."
"Passed away?" Cai Zhao vaguely felt something was off but couldn't pinpoint it immediately.
Mu Qingyan continued, "After that, Old Chief Huang, disheartened, took his family and a group of disabled old comrades to live in seclusion at Seven Bath Mountain, cutting off contact with the Martial World—except for one person..."
Cai Zhao understood. "Madam Zhuo. Old Chief Huang worried about his eldest daughter in the Four Stallions Gate and must have secretly corresponded with her, which Yang Heying discovered."
Song Yuzhi still didn't grasp it. "But that didn't warrant killing Old Hero Huang's entire family."
Mu Qingyan explained, "A few months ago, our scouts found traces of Corpse Puppet Slaves at Seven Bath Mountain. Soon after, news came of Yang and Sha aggressively confronting Vast Heaven Gate. Initially, I thought Song Maozhi was secretly refining Corpse Puppet Slaves and Yang Heying had caught him, intending to extort benefits from Sect Leader Song. But since Song Maozhi is now dead, it's clear the situation isn't as I first assumed."
At first, Song and Cai didn't understand the implication, but after turning it over in their minds, they realized the connection—to blackmail Song Shijun with Song Maozhi's misdeeds, Song Maozhi needed to be alive. Dead men can't be threatened. Yet Sha Zuguang sent assassins to kill Song Maozhi, proving Yang Heying's intentions were far more sinister than mere extortion.
Song Yuzhi was distraught. "What exactly is Yang plotting?!"
"Connect the dots," Mu Qingyan said. "Someone at Seven Bath Mountain was refining Corpse Puppet Slaves. If it wasn't Song Maozhi, then who?"
Cai Zhao's eyes lit up. "We had it backward. It wasn't Young Master Maozhi refining Corpse Puppet Slaves who got caught—it was Yang Heying, discovered by Song Xiuzhi. Then they joined forces to gamble on a bigger scheme—conveniently, Song Xiuzhi is also Yang Heying's future son-in-law."
"Yang Heying is utterly depraved, deserving of a thousand cuts!" Song Yuzhi's breathing grew ragged. "How could my elder brother conspire with such a man? What are they after?!"
Mu Qingyan said leisurely, "What else? Look at the current situation. Your elder brother Song Maozhi is dead, your granduncle is 'gravely injured' and likely won't survive, and your father Song Shijun is also badly wounded. So who will inherit the leadership of Vast Heaven Gate?"
Song Yuzhi staggered, bracing himself against the doorframe, shocked and furious. "How could this be? How... My elder brother isn't this kind of person! He's always been gentle, unambitious—how could he do such a thing?!"
"Third Senior Brother, don't panic. The truth will come out," Cai Zhao said calmly now.
Seeing Song Yuzhi so shaken, she moved to help him back to his room. Mu Qingyan, with an earnest expression, beat her to it, playing the part of a solicitous noble youth assisting his peer.He pushed Cai Zhao aside, supporting Song Yuzhi by the elbow as he led him inside, all the while 'gently' coaxing, "Brother Song, there's no need for fear or sorrow. It's merely a case of fratricide and brothers at odds—oh, and an elderly father whose fate remains unknown. None of this is truly significant. Since Song Xiuzhi has slain his brother and harmed his father, you need only behead him with a single stroke, Brother Song. Don’t forget to carve out his heart and liver for the blood wine ceremony..."
Cai Zhao stood behind them, hands on hips, glaring in frustration before finally giving up and heading back to the house to sleep.
OpenNovel