8. Who Dares Touch Them?
“Ling’er, my precious Ling’er, wuwuwuwu—”
Even without Gong Yiling’s memories, she knew who would call her that.
Held in a warm embrace, listening to the incomprehensible whimpering, Gong Yiling didn’t struggle. Images from long ago flashed through her mind.
Their mother was a quirky woman.
She would fight with her daughter over cotton candy, argue with her son about which Ultraman was stronger, until both their faces were red.
She showered both children with love, expressing her maternal affection in a simple and direct way—hugs and kisses.
This kind of motherly face-washing was a common occurrence in her son’s memories, almost a daily ritual after coming home from school.
A month after that incident, their mother would still wait for him on his way home from school, wanting to talk, but his harsh words would always leave her teary-eyed, covering her face as she walked away.
Now, this embrace felt seven parts familiar, and the woman’s voice resembled his mother’s.
But the hug was getting tighter and tighter. If it continued, Gong Yiling felt she might… suffocate!
“Mom…”
Gong Yiling finally managed to squeeze out the word.
Hearing her daughter’s weak voice, Gong Muzhi’s heart ached even more.
She should have taken her daughter along. Then she wouldn’t have been injured by the assassin and become so weak.
Thinking this, Gong Muzhi tightened her embrace.
Ugh—I’m dying!
“Ling’er, my dear Ling’er, it’s all Mother’s fault, wuwuwuwu…”
“Stop crying! I’m being suffocated!”
A strong survival instinct forced Gong Yiling to roar in a voice as exasperated as a man whose penta-kill was stolen.
“Ah?”
Gong Muzhi froze, releasing her grip. Gong Yiling collapsed, her head hitting the table with a thud. The pain made her jump up, grimacing.
This mother and daughter were truly alike in their clumsiness!
“Ling’er, weren’t you stabbed?”
“No!”
“Then what’s the bloodstain on your chest?”
Bloodstain?
Gong Yiling looked down and noticed a large, blood-red mark on her clothes that she hadn’t noticed last night.
“Oh, that’s Qiu Shui’s. She took a sword blow for me.”
“Qiu Shui took a sword blow for you?” Gong Muzhi frowned.
This contradicted her earlier assumption. “Wasn’t it Qiu Shui colluding with outsiders to hurt you?”
What the hell was going on… wait!?
Gong Yiling suddenly remembered something.
She had taught Qiu Shui the cultivation technique, but no one else knew. Qiu Shui should still be cultivating. If someone discovered a Blood Orchid Palace member practicing a righteous sect’s technique, with only Chun Lian’s testimony…
“Mom, where is Qiu Shui now?”
“Being interrogated and tortured in the main hall…”
Before she could finish, her daughter rushed out of the room like the wind. Confused, she could only follow, calling out, “Ling’er, the main hall is that way! You’re going the wrong way!”
…
…
In the main hall of the Blood Orchid Palace, several cultivators in red clothes and blood-red masks stood around.
Two figures wearing half-oni masks held flaming whips, glaring at the two women kneeling below.
It was Qiu Shui and Chun Lian.
Upon receiving news of Gong Yiling’s assassination attempt, the Law Enforcement Hall and the Vice Palace Master immediately returned with Gong Muzhi.
Gong Muzhi naturally went to check on her daughter first and happened to see Qiu Shui cultivating a righteous sect’s technique in the room.
Then, a fantastical version of the story unfolded in their minds.
After that, both Qiu Shui and Chun Lian were captured and interrogated.
Having awakened from their cultivation state, Qiu Shui and Chun Lian consistently denied involvement in the attack. However, when asked about Qiu Shui’s technique, both clearly knew something but refused to speak.
Covered in wounds from minor tortures, they were about to face the Inferno Whip, a major punishment.
“I’ll make you pretend, you damned righteous spies!”
If the Inferno Whip struck them, the powerful true energy within it would instantly take half their lives.
At this critical moment…
“Stop!”
A woman’s voice rang out from outside the hall, but it was too late to stop the executioners.
—System prompt: Do you want to activate Master-Disciple Skill: Master is Awesome?
What the hell is this?
In desperation, Gong Yiling could only activate the skill by default. In the blink of an eye, she appeared in front of Qiu Shui and Chun Lian.
Holy shit!
System, I’ll fucking kill you!
This shitty skill just made her take a hit for Qiu Shui?
Qiu Shui at least had some cultivation and a healing technique. But if she took this hit, she would be sent straight to the King of Hell.
However, just as the whip was about to strike her, the true energy flames on it suddenly extinguished, and the entire whip dissipated into nothingness.
Huh? What was going on?
As Gong Yiling wondered, a black figure, like a bolt of black lightning, rushed towards the masked man and delivered a swift kick.
Right to the target.
“You dare whip my daughter? I’ll beat you to death!”
“No, it’s the Young Palace Master who ran there. I couldn’t stop in time!”
“I don’t care. You hit my daughter, so I’ll hit you.”
“Boss, you can’t be this unreasonable!”
“In this palace, I am reason.”
“I think we can stop now.”
“I don’t care what you think. I care what I think.”
This sudden turn of events left everyone dumbfounded, including Gong Yiling herself, who couldn’t help but rub her nose.
She didn’t know what to say, only hoping that the uncle, who seemed to be called Ghost Lord Nine, would be alright.
…
…
About three minutes later, Gong Muzhi finally let Ghost Lord Nine go, turned back to Gong Yiling, pinched her face, pinched her shoulders, rubbed her head, her still youthful and beautiful face full of worry.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No.” Gong Yiling sighed, both exasperated and amused, and finally hugged the woman who had just beaten up the Vice Palace Master for her.
“That’s good, that’s good.” Gong Muzhi reproached her in a mournful tone, “What’s wrong with you, child? What if Mother had arrived a moment later and you were hurt?”
“Then they wouldn’t have been able to touch my lifesaver.”
Gong Yiling released her hug, turned around, bent down, and patted Chun Lian and Qiu Shui on the shoulders. “I’m sorry, this Palace Master was late.”
Then, she stood up and declared to everyone present, her voice full of power,
“I dare anyone to touch these two girls!”
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