Xie Mansion.
Xie Jinghong sat alone in the empty hall, his head bowed, stroking the silver bracelet on his right wrist in a daze. He was only pulled back from his void-like state when Gu Qing’s voice came from the doorway.
“Ah Hong, the Yaoguang Star Lord said he caught a female thief stealing spirit stones from our mansion. Do you want to see her? Or should we have them throw her directly into the Thunder Punishment Department?”
Upon hearing this, Xie Jinghong, as if he had expected everything, replied calmly: “Pass on my message. Leave the person here; he can go.”
“Understood.”
A moment later, Sheng Muxue was pushed and shoved by the Xie family attendants and thrown before Xie Jinghong.
Sheng Muxue had thought they would take him to see the head of the family, but instead, he was brought directly to Xie Jinghong. This was a bit tricky. He figured that they already knew his true identity and might be planning a harsh revenge.
However, when Sheng Muxue saw Xie Jinghong, he showed no signs of awe or fear. Seeing him acting so arrogantly, one of the attendants shouted sternly: “How dare you be so disrespectful before the head of the Xie family! Kneel!”
Sheng Muxue’s expression turned puzzled. The head of the family?
Someone whose spiritual bones were gone was not just suffering from a simple disability. He could never cultivate again, making him no different from an ordinary mortal. With those conditions, even if Xie Wuyai favored this second son, he would not hand over such a large family to a useless person, would he? Or had his eldest son already died?
“All of you, step down.”
The gentle yet cold voice of Xie Jinghong interrupted Sheng Muxue’s train of thought.
The attendants received their orders and dared not disobey, so they retreated. Now, only Sheng Muxue and Xie Jinghong remained in the room.
Silence.
Sheng Muxue locked eyes with Xie Jinghong, attempting to capture a trace of his thoughts from his expression so he could predict the other’s actions and take timely countermeasures. Unfortunately, the light in the room was not bright, and he could not see clearly what was hidden in Xie Jinghong’s eyes. He only felt that it was a bottomless abyss.
Xie Jinghong looked up and stared at Sheng Muxue for a long time, then suddenly chuckled: “It is one thing for Young Master Xiao to dress as a woman, but why choose such a wealthy look?”
Since the other party had been straightforward, Sheng Muxue did not want to beat around the bush: “You deliberately framed me; what do you want to do?”
Even if the other party knew his true identity, Sheng Muxue still held to his mantra: refuse to admit it until death!
However, Xie Jinghong did not mention the identity issue: “I am helping you.”
Helping?
Sheng Muxue almost wanted to laugh. Helping by having someone tied up and dragged home? If it were not for him, he would have run away long ago! Oh wait, that was not right; if it were not for him, it seemed he had no money to run either. But as long as he was not caught, money or not would not be an issue.
Seeing Sheng Muxue’s face filled with disbelief, Xie Jinghong finally moved his fingers. A flow of faint blue light emerged from his fingertips, covering Sheng Muxue and causing the Immortal Binding Rope on his body to vanish.
Freed from his restraints, Sheng Muxue flexed his wrists: “Where did you get this spiritual energy?”
Was he not unable to cultivate?
Xie Jinghong answered truthfully: “It was bequeathed to me by my father and brother before they died.”
So, his father and brother were indeed dead. No wonder it fell to him to be the head of the family. However, surely there were other relatives in the family; could his uncles, aunts, and cousins really agree to this? But those were other people’s family affairs, and Sheng Muxue was not in a position to care, nor did he want to.
Now, the only thing he wanted to know was: “Why are you helping me?”
Motivation was the best reason to convince himself.
“Because you are the Divine Consort.”
Sheng Muxue was even more confused. His IQ was not particularly low, but talking to Xie Jinghong just felt strenuous. He was purely a riddle-speaker.
Sheng Muxue did not intend to reply, nor did he intend to ask anything; instead, he gave Xie Jinghong a look that urged him to continue. Despite being the prisoner, he had more presence and deterrent force than the person who held the power to dispose of him. This was likely due to Xie Jinghong’s delicate temperament and his slightly faint voice, which made Sheng Muxue appear more imposing.
Xie Jinghong understood Sheng Muxue’s look and obediently continued: “You are not surnamed Xiao; you are a fox demon born in Qingqiu.”
“Can you tell me your real name?”
“Hu Xiaoxue.” Sheng Muxue finally managed to report the name on his second ID.
“Very well.”
Since Sheng Muxue was being frank, Xie Jinghong was also candid: “The deaths of my father and brother were all the work of Yun Zheng. I am helping you to avenge my father and brother.”
“How did he harm your father and brother?”
“That is a long story.”
Upon hearing this, Sheng Muxue knew he could no longer stand; he had to find a place to rest his feet. He had been running all morning and was exhausted. Without Xie Jinghong’s permission, he sat down beside him on his own accord. There was only a table between them.
As soon as he sat down, he consciously pinched a piece of pastry from the plate on the table and shoved it into his mouth without regard for his image. He spat out the words “it tastes good” without any concealment. Xie Jinghong was stunned watching him.
After a long time, he finally smiled helplessly: “If it tastes good, have some more.”
Sheng Muxue did not answer, but thought to himself: Do I need you to tell me that? This whole plate is mine!
Thus, while eating, Sheng Muxue listened as Xie Jinghong continued to tell his story.
Xie Jinghong said: “Five hundred years ago, when the Demon Lord perished, my father felt that the body should be handed over to the Immortal Alliance. However, Yun Zheng disagreed and took the corpse away privately.”
Sheng Muxue, who had been eating happily, felt his appetite interrupted by Xie Jinghong’s words: “What did you say?”
Yun Zheng took my corpse? What is he trying to do, whip the corpse?
Seeing the surprise on Sheng Muxue’s face, which suggested he was interested in this matter, Xie Jinghong’s lips curved: “Have you also been harmed by the Demon Lord?”
Sheng Muxue coughed awkwardly, pretending to be choked, and took a sip of water from the cup nearby before saying: “No.”
“But he did harm the Demon Realm; I heard it from my parents. He slaughtered the Demon race and imprisoned the Demon Emperor, nearly killing him.”
That was also done by the original host, and Sheng Muxue swore he had never participated in it; he was only there to take the blame.
Xie Jinghong did not continue this topic and continued from his previous point: “Yun Zheng hid the Demon Lord’s body. No matter how much my father and the people of the Immortal Alliance demanded it, he refused to hand it over.”
“Later, the Immortal Alliance gave up, but my father was unwilling to do so. After all, my body is in this state because of that demon.”
“I admit that my father had some selfish motives. He truly loved me. He wanted that demon’s corpse not just because he was afraid, he would be resurrected, but because he wanted to vent his personal hatred.”
Sheng Muxue interjected: “Perhaps Yun Zheng took that corpse away to vent his personal hatred as well.”
Hearing this, Xie Jinghong lowered his eyes and shook his head: “Not necessarily.”
This phrase “not necessarily” left Sheng Muxue in a daze for quite a while.
Looking at how Yun Zheng wanted to marry him the moment they met, he seemed to still retain a shred of feelings for him. But as for what those feelings actually were, Sheng Muxue could not clearly see.