"Cheng Shou is dead?! Run!" A cry of alarm rang out from the crowd.
Hearing it, the people on the street woke as if from a dream and scattered in a hurry, afraid of being dragged into the trouble. In an instant, the crowded street emptied, and several shops even shut their doors.
Most of the people there were ordinary folk, for the latter half of the street was where goods and resources for cultivators were sold. Still, no one was brave enough to stay. The Cheng Family was one of the two great families that ruled Tianhuang City, and its name was etched deep into people's hearts. It had also always been known for its cruelty. Those who offended the Cheng Family were as good as wiped out.
"Oh, well! There's nothing left to browse," Xiao Ling said, gazing at the silent street with a face full of frustration.
"It's all that ugly toad's fault!" Xiao Meng sighed, just as disappointed. She had not had nearly enough fun yet.
"All right, all right. When we get to Holy Pill City, it will be even livelier. I'll have your Aunt Xuan take you to see it," Xiao Tian said, bringing Xuan Yi over to stand before them.
As for how he had brought her over, he had his arm around her waist, and as they walked, he kneaded it gently a few times.
It had to be said that Xuan Yi's figure and skin were flawless. Even through her qipao, he could feel the softness of her waist and the smooth, tender skin beneath. As for that touch, well, whoever has felt it knows, so I won't go into detail here.
Xuan Yi felt it, of course. She even felt his hand slide slowly downward, closer and closer to her hip. She could bear it no longer. She reached out and pinched his hand without ceremony, warning him not to push his luck.
Xiao Tian knew that was enough, and slowly moved his hand back to where it had been.
Xiao Ling and Xiao Meng had seen that their father's hand was already on Xuan Yi's waist. They exchanged a glance, a hint of a smile in their eyes, and then looked up at Xuan Yi, smiling. Seeing their sweet, smiling faces, Xuan Yi felt her heart melt. She thought they were happy because they had heard they could play again in Holy Pill City.
"Of course. I promise I'll make sure you have fun then." Xuan Yi even resolved that the next time they went out, she would bring some people from the Pill Tower along, so that no such nuisance could trouble them again and cost her face.
"Really?" At her words, the girls' eyes shone like twin lanterns.
"Of course. When have I ever lied to you?" Xuan Yi rubbed their heads, her voice full of affection.
"Wonderful! Thank you, Mother Xuan Yi!" They jumped for joy.
"Ah... Aaah?!" Hearing what they had called her, Xuan Yi felt as if lightning had struck her, and her whole body froze. Her face changed quickly from shock to panicked helplessness, and finally she lost her composure completely. The tips of her ears turned red before everyone's eyes, and the color spread from her earlobes down to her neck until she looked like a boiled shrimp.
"No, no, that's not... !" Her usual calm and poise had vanished. She waved her hands wildly, and her voice trembled with urgency until it became a stammer. "You, you, how can you call me Mother? That isn't proper... You can't call me that yet..."
Xiao Ling and Xiao Meng exchanged a glance, showing no sign of backing down. Instead, they smiled even more brightly and said together, "Okay, Mother Xuan Yi! We know, Mother Xuan Yi!"
Xuan Yi's mind went blank. She had never imagined that one day two little girls would chase her around calling her Mother. Her cheeks burned crimson, and her breathing quickened.
"Who... who taught you to talk like that?" Her voice shook with panic. She tried to sound stern to hide her disarray, but the tremor in her voice gave her away entirely.
As she spoke, her eyes darted to Xiao Tian. She was certain that the shameless fellow had taught them, since it was exactly the sort of thing he would do!
Xiao Ling and Xiao Meng clung to her, one on each side, hugging her legs, their faces the picture of innocence. "No one taught us. It's just that Aunt Xuan is the nicest to us, so we want you to be our Mother!"
"That's right! Besides Aunt Xuan, no one is this good to us!"
The two girls put on pitiful faces, as though they might burst into tears at any moment.
Xuan Yi looked at them, and before she could think of anything else, her maternal love overflowed. She crouched down, wrapped the two girls in her arms, and comforted them gently, as though she had completely settled into the role of a mother.
Xiao Tian watched the girls' performance and secretly gave them a big thumbs-up. They were truly his little cotton jackets, so warm and thoughtful!
Little did he know that when the truth eventually came out, the father and his two daughters...
While Xuan Yi was still comforting the two girls, in the Council Hall of the Cheng Family Manor, all the high-ranking members of the family were gathered in discussion.
A guard burst through the door and rushed in, shouting in a panic. "Patriarch... Patriarch... something terrible has happened..."
Bang!
Cheng Chuan slammed the table. The thick, specially made wooden tabletop gave a dull thud that rang in everyone's ears like a thunderclap.
"Why all this panic? I've told you before: stay calm in a crisis! It's in the family rules!"
Frightened by Cheng Chuan's voice, the guard dropped to his knees with a thump. He did not dare to raise his head, and his whole body trembled like a leaf in the wind. "Patriarch... died... no, the Young Master, he... he died."
The guard was so terrified that he could not speak clearly, and he had nearly said that his own Patriarch had died.
At his words, Cheng Chuan shot to his feet, his eyes wide with disbelief and burning with a raging fire of anger. In an instant he stood before the guard, a chilling aura pouring off him. He seized the man by the collar and lifted him up. "What did you say? Say it again!"
His voice was low and thick with uncontrollable rage, each word squeezed out between clenched teeth. His eyes were bloodshot, like those of a beast that had lost all reason. The Council Hall was brightly lit by candles, yet it was wrapped in a suffocating killing intent.
"The Young Master was... was killed on Lingsha Street," the guard stammered. Terrified by Cheng Chuan's aura, he had even wet himself.
Cheng Chuan looked down at the kneeling guard with eyes full of murderous intent. The armrest of the chair he had been sitting in was already crushed in his grip, and his knuckles shook with fury.
No one else in the hall dared to breathe loudly.