Chapter 48

"Why? Do you dislike that cousin?"

Lian paused, pen in hand, and turned to look at the side.

Hualun, who had quickly finished her calligraphy practice, approached and spoke to her.

Duanmu Bi, sitting beside her, was busy memorizing and writing characters with a furrowed brow. Lian whispered quietly.

"I've never even seen her, so how could I dislike her..."

That's how it is here and now.

"Your expression wasn't very good. Hmm. Should I beat her up for you?"

"That would be a disaster."

"I can really do it, you know."

Lian looked at Hualun with a wistful expression.

Whenever Hualun forgot that she was once the young master of the Mian Heaven Sect, Hualun would remind her with such words.

"It's not like that. Absolutely not. Got it? Rather, you should just not appear in front of Cheng."

"Why?"

"Cheng looks a lot like her aunt and uncle, very pretty. But..."

Lian turned her gaze back to the characters and continued writing.

"But, is that why she likes people like herself? No, she likes them. What if she asks me for you as soon as she sees you? So, Lian, even if your aunt comes, just stay inside."

"..."

"And please don't go around saying you beat someone up. And don't beat anyone up."

"Do I look like that?"

"Huh?"

Suddenly, an unexpected answer came, and Lian looked up to see Hualun grinning.

"What?"

"Does your cousin look like she wants to take me away?"

"Oh, ah..."

Lian finally realized what she had said and ruffled Hualun's hair.

"Of course. Our Lian is very cute."

"Ah, no, I asked nicely, why did you mess up my hair!"

Duanmu Bi, who had been watching the two bicker, lifted his head and opened his eyes wide.

"Lian! Me too!"

"Bi, our Bi is also very cute, come, come over! Come over!"

The small boy ran over with such enthusiasm that Lian almost fell off her chair. Hualun, who had been sighing, quickly moved her feet and hands to steady the chair and shook her head. Duanmu Bi, nestled in Lian's arms, smiled widely.

* * *

Duanmu Xianyao was a great beauty. With a face as beautiful as a peony, standing next to her daughter Duanmu Cheng, they looked like a large peony and a small peony standing side by side.

When Duanmu Xianyao arrived in Zhejiang, she was skeptical of the grand rumors she had heard.

The story of her father, who had lived in seclusion at Yueyingzhai like a dead man, gaining new enlightenment and rising again seemed too sweet to be true, and the tale of the precious Qinglian Elixir, which her nephew had created and which had sold like hotcakes, making him a millionaire, seemed like a mere rumor.

It was even more so because she couldn't find the Qinglian Elixir anywhere on the streets. Every apothecary and pharmacy she visited was out of stock!

Moreover, despite the large sum of money he had supposedly made, when she arrived at the estate, the scene that greeted her was not much different from before. Old walls, unrepaired roofs, rotten wooden pillars, and a desolate courtyard with flying sand and dust.

Duanmu Xianyao, who had first bowed to the Grand Patriarch Duanmu Tianji, then brought up the most important topic.

"Mother is much better. She was very happy to hear that Lian has risen."

"..."

Duanmu Tianji remained silent for a long time before finally opening his lips.

"Did you see her?"

Duanmu Xianyao shook her head.

"No. I visited several times, but it was still under lockdown. Fortunately, Mother wrote me a letter."

"Ah..."

Duanmu Xianyao said this and took out a bundle of letters from her sleeve. The papers, worn from frequent handling, had slightly changed color.

Duanmu Tianji, after staring at the bundle of letters for a long time, finally smoothed them with his fingertips and carefully placed them in a drawer, then took a deep breath.

"Was there anything unusual on your way here?"

"Yes. I almost flew here. By the way, Father, I heard all sorts of rumors on the way."

Duanmu Xianyao asked her father what had happened in the meantime.

If the stories about Duanmu Tianji's enlightenment and the Qinglian Elixir were not rumors, she would learn about them gradually. What she focused on most was the duel with the Jinjia Sect.

Duanmu Xianyao, who had heard the details of the duel, let out a sound that was hard to interpret as either admiration or annoyance.

"Oh my. I heard Lian has risen, and I was worried someone might say she's not my brother's daughter."

"Madam."

A man, Shibo An, the third son of the Fenglin Hall in Shanxi and a son-in-law of the Duanmu family, spoke quietly from the side, as if trying to dissuade her.

"What nonsense."

"I rushed here like my tail was on fire because of the big incident with the Jinjia Sect, but it turned out to be for nothing."

"I didn't call you for that. Didn't I tell you to tidy up your residence in Henan? I was planning to call you back anyway."

"What? Why! Now is a busy time!"

Duanmu Xianyao exclaimed in anger. Duanmu Tianji, leaning back and sipping tea, said calmly.

"What are you busy with?"

"Have you heard that a delegation to the Wu Lin Alliance will soon be established? One of the positions will be from our family..."

"Who do you plan to appoint as the leader?"

"Huh?"

"Since it's a delegation, there will be four leaders. Including the deputy leaders, there will be eight. Among the Nine Sects, Eight Families, and the Thirteen Thousand of the Black Heaven Alliance, the Mian Heaven Sect will likely take half of the positions. If we can secure one position, who do you plan to appoint?"

"The deputy leaders are two, so actually, there are twelve positions. And that is, Liu Xing Dao Duanmu Hansuo..."

"He is wandering."

"..."

Duanmu Xianyao opened her mouth and then turned to look behind her, as if she could find Duanmu Hansuo, who was not there.

"How long has he been wandering? Why?"

"For a few months."

"A few months? No, why would an elder who should firmly support the family suddenly... Blood Bathing!"

Duanmu Xianyao, realizing something in the middle of her speech, shouted.

"Lian performed Blood Bathing on him? How much of his inner strength did he lose? That's why he left the family..."

"Be quiet!"

Duanmu Tianji's low voice made Duanmu Xianyao lower her head, looking as if she were about to burst into tears.

She had also heard about Lian's Blood Bathing, but only after everything was over.

If she had known beforehand, she would have tried to dissuade her from wasting money on a hopeless nephew, but there was no time for that.

The marriage alliance with the Sichuan Tangmen, which she had been counting on, was gone, and she didn't even know who had used great power in the Blood Bathing.

Losing inner strength was a significant weakness. In the martial world, it was impossible to achieve such a level without enemies, so the identity of those who performed the great ritual was kept secret.

'If she had that much money, she should have used it on our Cheng!'

Of course, Duanmu Cheng, who had been weak for seven years, had more potential than the child who had been weak all along!

Duanmu Tianji, looking down at Duanmu Xianyao with a bitter expression, said quietly.

"Anyway, the four positions will be taken by Huashan Sect, Shaolin Temple, Zhuge Family, and Sichuan Tangmen. The Thirteen Thousand of the Black Heaven Alliance will take four positions, and the remaining four will be taken by the Mian Heaven Sect. Don't waste your time and come down to Hangzhou completely."

Xianyao's eyes flickered with anger and disbelief.

"We can take a few positions from the Mian Heaven Sect or the Black Heaven Alliance!"

"Can you? If you could, the Wu Lin Alliance, which includes the Black Heaven Alliance and the Mian Heaven Sect, wouldn't be necessary."

Xianyao, unable to control her temper, was about to shout but suddenly bit her lip.

The Wu Lin Alliance, which included the Black Heaven Alliance and the Mian Heaven Sect, was formed to deal with the Blood Demon Valley. They even borrowed the power of the Northern Sea Ice Palace.

And the result of that was now before her, with scars and wounds, and her father, who could not keep anyone by his side.