Chapter 22

"Absolutely not, absolutely not!" Zhou Quan said evasively, then thought for a moment and softly continued, "This Yun Mo is only a little over eight years old, but today's battle with the two juniors clearly shows his vengeful nature! The ruthlessness of his actions is on par with seasoned warriors, truly making one shudder! Coupled with the shocking poems he recited offhand, he is likely a rare dual-attribute awakened genius! Of course, this is just a hypothesis, as there has been no public test yet!"

Listening to Zhou Quan's analysis, Cheng Fugui slowly nodded, his brows furrowing, feeling extremely troubled!

"Even without the test, this possibility exists! So...!" Zhou Quan glanced at Cheng Dawei's serious expression and continued, "This child has a bright future! If the public test confirms his abilities, he will immediately become a prized treasure in the city lord's mansion, and might even have the chance to study in the capital! At that time...!" He paused, his brows tightly furrowed, clearly with many concerns.

"Go on!" Cheng Fugui urged.

Zhou Quan, with no choice, said, "At that time, his status will inevitably rise, and the city lord will place great hopes on him! It's likely that our families... will have no place to bury our bodies!" He spoke with great certainty, without hesitation.

"Really?" Cheng Fugui asked.

"Given the situation, this will definitely be the outcome!" Zhou Quan replied.

Cheng Fugui's eyes finally flashed with a cold, murderous intent! He understood Zhou Quan's words and shared the same thoughts, but he feared it was just his own overthinking, which is why he had kept Zhou Quan to discuss the matter. Now that Zhou Quan shared the same view, it confirmed his concerns!

In fact, the situation was quite clear. First, Yun Mo's vengeful nature had been thoroughly understood by the two of them. Second, Yun Mo was likely a rare dual-attribute genius. Today, their sons had offended this petty genius, which would surely lead to relentless retaliation in the future. So...?

The two exchanged a glance, and in each other's eyes, they saw the same thought: strike first!

But neither of them said it aloud! After all, such a talent was the empire's most precious resource! Every dual-attribute awakened individual had to be reported to the capital. Anyone who dared to harm such a genius would face severe punishment, possibly even the extermination of their entire clan, and their ancestors' graves might be desecrated! This is why they were so cautious in their discussion. Cheng Fugui even resorted to beating Cheng Dawei to the point of near unconsciousness to avoid arousing suspicion from those eyeing his position!

With a glance, Cheng Fugui made up his mind! Of course, this could only be kept in his heart. Fortunately, Yun Mo's abilities had not yet been tested, so his death now would not cause much of a stir. This was the best time to eliminate him. Both of them were well aware of this!

"You can go back now. We didn't say anything today! Understand?" Cheng Fugui said sternly.

"Of course, sir. I'll take my leave. We didn't say anything today!" Zhou Quan replied, bowing and backing out. He followed the same path out of the courtyard and returned to his residence, a cruel smile on his lips.

"Damn it, you beat my son to this state, and you still think you can get away with it? I'll take you down in the shadows, and you won't even know why!" He was extremely pleased with himself.

Cheng Fugui blew out the dim candle in front of him and sat in the darkness for half an hour without moving. Then, he reluctantly pulled out a small object wrapped in black cloth from his chest. The object was not large, about the size of an egg, but the serious expression on Cheng Fugui's face revealed that it was a precious treasure!

As he unwrapped the black cloth, a dazzling and mysterious five-colored light rose from his palm, spreading out in all directions!

The light was very gentle, not at all blinding even when looked at directly.

It was a transparent crystal! It emitted a strange light, the colors constantly changing—red, green, blue—without any fixed pattern. Dense elemental energy flowed within the egg-sized crystal, making it an extraordinary object!

Cheng Fugui caressed the crystal with his right hand for a while, then gritted his teeth: "Damn it, you can't catch a wolf without risking your child! Today, I'll use this priceless elemental gem to take Yun Mo's life! This matter should be done as soon as possible. I need to find that money-grubbing guard captain! I'm sure he can easily dispatch a couple of his men to take care of that kid quietly, solving this major threat!"

With that thought, he no longer hesitated, wrapped the gem and put it in his chest, left the secret room, and looked around to ensure no one was around. Then, he quickly headed towards the residence of the person he needed to see. It was just after dusk, and a conspiracy against Yun Mo was silently unfolding.

...

Yun Mo put on a black outfit and looked at the elf-like girl in the bronze mirror. A sudden whimsical idea came to him. Since the outfit was quite unisex and often worn by the young boys and girls practicing in the mansion, and since he was now taller in this girl's form, he decided to go out and explore. With so many people in the mansion, a couple of new faces wouldn't attract much attention. Why hesitate? Thinking this, Yun Mo, a free-spirited person who never cared much for rules, boldly opened the small gate of his courtyard and stepped out.

Hmm? He suddenly stopped, as he saw a girl dressed exactly like him, but much cuter!

In front of Yun Mo's courtyard was a small bridge, with a stream flowing beneath it. The moon and stars shone above, and the water flowed gently below, accompanied by the chirping of insects in the summer night, creating a serene and peaceful atmosphere.

A girl with long black hair and black eyes was walking across the bridge towards Yun Mo. She was a bit taller than Yun Mo in his current form, extremely beautiful, and looked like a little princess from a fairy tale. She was dressed the same as Yun Mo, likely another young girl from the mansion out for a stroll.

Yun Mo had never practiced with the other geniuses, though he knew many of them, he had not met most of them, so he was not surprised.

He was not surprised, but the little girl was!

Hmm? From a distance, she saw a younger girl with short hair, who was also very cute, though not as much as herself. This girl, who had changed her hair color, eye color, and face, and was wearing the black training outfit of the mansion's young girls, was Miss Yingying, who had come to cause trouble for Yun Mo.

"Oh, I didn't expect Yun Mo to be so fickle! Inviting such a pretty little sister to his room so late at night, he must have ill intentions!" Miss Yingying thought, feeling quite disdainful of Yun Mo's character.

Yun Mo was truly wronged, a victim of a misunderstanding!

Yun Mo felt a liking for the approaching girl and was about to step out of the courtyard to meet her when he saw a look of horror on her face.

Miss Yingying, currently at the third level of Heavenly Protection, had never needed to train hard due to her noble birth. But at this moment, she regretted not training more!

Because, without warning, two black-clad figures had appeared at the entrance of Yun Mo's courtyard. One of them saw Yun Mo's foot stepping out and quickly launched an attack. The other saw the disguised Miss Yingying and rushed towards her, clearly intent on silencing her!

Miss Yingying, who was usually fond of pranks, had never encountered such danger before. She was so shocked that she almost screamed! But the assassin was incredibly fast, like a gust of wind, and was already in front of the little girl! It was a grown man, his face covered by a black cloth, revealing only his fierce eyes. Despite the black clothing, his tall and muscular build was intimidating, causing fear!

He rushed to Miss Yingying, not caring that she was a girl, and thrust his sword at her open mouth, determined to kill her before she could scream! Miss Yingying was so scared that she almost wet her pants, watching the gleaming sword approach, she thought: "I'm done for!"

At the same time that Miss Yingying was in danger, Yun Mo was also in a critical situation! A gleaming ghost-head saber split the poor wooden door into three blades of cold light, generating invisible blade energy that attacked Yun Mo's left shoulder, chest, and right rib from three directions! The sound of the blade cutting through the air reached him even before the blade did! "Generating blade energy? Damn! A sixth-level Heavenly Protection expert!" Yun Mo shouted in his mind. When he saw the horror on Miss Yingying's face, he knew something was wrong and quickly stepped back, otherwise, he would have walked right into the expert's attack, making the situation even more dangerous!

Night Lianhua was diligently practicing in his spirit sea, completely unaware of the outside world! The Chi Zhen bird was still sleeping on the bed, and its power was too weak to do anything against the blade energy! The mysterious force in Yun Mo's back tattoo had long fallen into a deep sleep, having helped Yun Mo transform, and would not wake up unless in a special situation! So, Yun Mo could only rely on himself! Thanks to the horror on Miss Yingying's face, Yun Mo reacted quickly, otherwise, he would have been caught off guard by the sixth-level Heavenly Protection expert's ambush, which would have been fatal! After all, the difference between sixth and fifth level in Heavenly Protection is significant, and the expert was using a sharp weapon!