The son and the stepmother…
What a sudden, jaw-dropping scandal!
The crowd snapped out of their daze, shifting their gazes from the unconscious Sect Leader's Wife to Yue Wugou, who stood by the window.
Yue Wugou frowned slightly, his tone indifferent yet laced with disdain: "I did no such thing."
True Lord Pangyue leaped back in shock, shaking off his wife, who had collapsed at his feet, and roared at her, "Who?! Who put you up to framing my son?!"
Of course, the unconscious woman couldn’t answer.
Pretty Boy, however, noticed something amiss. With a raised brow, he strode forward, crouched boldly before the Sect Leader's Wife, and with one hand swept aside the loose strands of her hair while the other yanked down the collar of her robe—rip!
A stretch of pale, slender neck was exposed to the crowd.
There, unmistakably imprinted on her skin, was the mark of a man’s hand.
The shape of the fingers alone matched Yue Wugou’s—his signature weapon, the Moonwheel Halberd, required frequent use of the first knuckle, leaving his joints and calluses distinct from an ordinary man’s.
He also wore a thumb ring, its impression clearly pressed into his stepmother’s neck—irrefutable proof.
Those with vivid imaginations could already picture Yue Wugou gripping his stepmother’s head and nape, forcing her hair to tangle around his waist.
True Lord Pangyue choked on his breath, his face turning purple with rage.
One elder attempted consolation: "Look on the bright side—at least this proves the Young Sect Leader wasn’t elsewhere at the time."
True Lord Pangyue glared. The elder awkwardly scratched his head.
"Since the true culprit may be someone else, this… family matter of Sect Leader Fengyue’s is best left to him," Master Lingxue said coldly, clearly disgusted by the sordid affair. "We’ll take our leave."
True Lord Pangyue gnashed his teeth as he scanned the younger disciples present. "I expect no word of this to spread."
"Of course, of course."
After leaving the disciplinary hall, Luo Luo called out to the two brothers who were frantically searching for their Little Junior Sister.
"Do you have anything of hers?" she asked. "Something that carries her scent?"
The two paused, closing their eyes to think.
Elder Martial Brother spoke first: "All her belongings are in her Qiankun pouch. We’ve never touched—"
Second Junior Brother’s eyes lit up. "The sword tassel she made!"
Elder Martial Brother blinked dumbly at his sword. "She made this? She said she bought it."
Second Junior Brother sighed as he untied his own tassel. "You were always so harsh with her. She was afraid you’d scold her for slacking off, so she never told you."
Elder Martial Brother’s lips moved silently before he finally sighed. "Fine. I’ll… try to be gentler."
Second Junior Brother’s eyes reddened as he turned away.
Pretty Boy swiftly unraveled the tassel handed to him, sifting through the red threads before shaking his head in disappointment. "Not even a pricked finger."
A mere sword tassel wouldn’t carry much of a trace.
They’d need hair or blood at the very least.
Luo Luo mimicked his actions, carefully picking apart Elder Martial Brother’s tassel—then froze.
Nestled inside was a lock of hair, twisted into half a love knot—clearly meant to be a full one before being hastily undone out of guilt.
Luo Luo recognized it instantly. She’d done the same once, though she’d been too timid to use her own hair, opting instead to weave a single thread from her tassel into Li Zhaoye’s.
She’d also started a love knot, only to unravel half in fear of being caught.
After that, she hadn’t dared touch his sword for ages.
"Why would Little Junior Sister sew her hair into this?" Elder Martial Brother muttered blankly. "So careless."
Beside him, Second Junior Brother opened and closed his mouth several times before exhaling heavily. "What terrible taste she has…"
How could she fall for this blockhead instead of someone as dashing as him?
He blinked rapidly before turning to Luo Luo. "Will this hair work?"
Luo Luo thought it should. Pretty Boy had tracked Yue Wugou’s stepmother with just a single strand—this was a whole lock.
Suppressing her emotions, she handed the hair and tassel to him.
The scene felt eerily familiar, like a ghost from her past.
The harder she tried to act casual, the more obvious her discomfort became. Steeling herself, she forced out a perfectly reasonable request: "Take a whiff. Find her."
Pretty Boy nodded absently.
Two steps later, he paused, tilting his head.
Something felt… off.
Luo Luo leaned in, concerned. "Is there a problem?"
"Tch." He pushed her away. "Piece of cake."
Dark energy swallowed the hair in his palm. He lazily raised a hand, sensing the faint traces lingering in the wind, and strode forward with purpose.
Luo Luo gestured urgently to the brothers. "Quick, follow him!"
Pretty Boy: "…"
Somehow, despite being the leader here, he couldn’t shake the odd feeling that he’d been reduced to a bloodhound.
Still, when he glanced back at her eager, trusting gaze, he couldn’t help but preen a little.
"Your son takes his leave."
Once Yue Wugou decided to go, his father, True Lord Pangyue, had no power to stop him.
The elders, too, hesitated to interfere in family matters, watching helplessly as the moonlit prodigy drifted away.
Soon after, Yue Wugou caught up to Yue Ranchen, who was escorting Gu Meng back to her quarters.
"Miss Gu," Yue Wugou said calmly. "I have a question, if you’d indulge me."
Gu Meng glanced at Yue Ranchen. "Go ahead."
"From the third hour of the tiger until dawn—were you and my younger brother together the entire time?"
Gu Meng pretended to think. "Hmm… I don’t recall the exact time, but after the preliminaries, he showed me around the Jianmu tree."
"My thanks." Yue Wugou bowed slightly before departing.
Once he was out of earshot, Yue Ranchen chuckled. "Pfft. My elder brother is so simple. He believes whatever people say. See how easily you spared me a headache?"
Gu Meng covered her smile. "How can someone so gullible be the Young Sect Leader?"
Yue Ranchen smirked.
A gentleman could be deceived by principle. Someone like his brother? All too easy to manipulate.
"Come. Brother Li must be worried about you by now."
Beneath the layered sky corridors, Pretty Boy led Luo Luo and the two brothers along the trail of the missing Little Junior Sister’s scent, stopping abruptly on a bronze walkway.
He slowed, then halted mid-step.
Staring at the empty space before him, he declared: "Here."
Luo Luo: "?"
Behind her, the brothers gasped. "This is where Little Junior Sister vanished!"
Luo Luo frowned. "I didn’t ask you to find where she disappeared—I asked you to find her… Wait."
Realization struck. "You mean she’s right here?"
A cold breeze swept through the corridor, raising goosebumps.
If she was here… why couldn’t they see her?
"Should we keep searching everywhere?"
"Alright!" The two martial brothers hurried to the edge of the Sky Corridor, calling out as they ran around, "Little Junior Sister! Little Junior Sister!"
The empty corridor offered no place to hide a person.
For a moment, all clues were lost.
The prime suspect, Yue Wugou, had an alibi, and the trail of the missing Little Junior Sister’s scent ended here.
Only a thick fog of mystery remained.
Luo Luo glanced around, then tiptoed closer to Pretty Boy, nudging him. "Why don’t you take another careful sniff?"
He withdrew his gaze, looking down at her eyes, which shone with "expectant admiration."
Suddenly, it dawned on him.
He glared. "You’re using me like a dog, aren’t you?"
Sniffing out scents to track someone? No wonder something felt off.
Luo Luo: "..."
Wait, let me explain—!
Once again, she found herself grabbed by the scruff of her neck.
The last time he’d pinned her against the carved copper railing like this, her face had turned as red as a crab.
But today was slightly different.
The moment he seized her, a question that had been circling in her mind for ages slipped out unbidden.
If Yue Wugou had been holding his stepmother by the neck while kissing her, how had her hair gotten tangled in his belt buckle?
Instantly, her mind conjured up several bizarre kissing positions.
None of them made sense.
This chaotic train of thought amused him to no end.
With a mix of exasperation and amusement, he pulled her closer, whispering lightly by her ear, "Don’t you get it?"
Luo Luo froze. A terrifying tingling sensation swept over her ear, spreading rapidly through her body.
Her legs felt weak. Before she could catch her breath, he tightened his grip on her neck, spun her around, and pressed her down in a motion that almost resembled a demonstration.
In an instant, he was leaning lazily against the railing, one leg bent casually.
Her head rested against his thigh, her hair brushing against his waist.
He leaned down, his nose almost touching hers. "See? Now we can kiss."
Luo Luo stammered, "O-oh."
The proximity forced her to hold her breath, lest she exhale directly onto his face.
He promptly lifted her back up.
Luo Luo steadied herself, her heart pounding wildly.
Noticing her flustered expression, he smirked smugly. "That Li Zhaoye of yours is useless. Doesn’t even know how to do this—what kind of man is he?"
Luo Luo: "..."
She shot him a tiny glare. "You just know everything, don’t you?"
He preened like a seasoned flirt. "Obviously."
A real man needs no instruction.
Luo Luo: "..."
She had no words.
The two martial brothers stayed behind on the Sky Corridor while Pretty Boy led Luo Luo downward to where the grieving old man had been temporarily settled.
His daughter’s body lay on a wooden plank. The old man sat beside her, occasionally burying his face in his hands or staring blankly at the sky.
Pretty Boy signaled for silence.
Luo Luo understood immediately, tucking all traces of her presence into his shadow.
Their seamless coordination made his eye twitch.
Time crawled by. One incense stick’s worth, then two…
He glanced down at her.
Outwardly, she was the picture of obedience, but her thoughts were anything but.
She was mentally chanting: Waiting for the rabbit, waiting for the rabbit, waiting for the rabbit! Rabbit meat—braised, fried, spicy, grilled!
He: "..."
Now he was hungry too.
Then—a faint disturbance in the wind.
A figure slipped past the two law-enforcing cultivators guarding the courtyard, appearing soundlessly beside the old man.
It was Yue Wugou.
Luo Luo’s eyes widened as Yue Wugou silenced the old man with a spell, seized his coarse clothing, and dragged him through the room toward the back window.
Pretty Boy motioned to Luo Luo, and the two of them ducked beneath the copper eaves, scaling the roof to perch neatly on the edge of the overhang.
Below, Yue Wugou’s every move was visible.
He yanked the old man up by his collar, shoving half his body out the window.
"Whoosh!"
A fierce gust swept through, billowing his wide sleeves.
The towering sacred tree’s architecture loomed around them—below the window was a sheer drop into the abyss.
The old man dangled precariously, mouth open in a soundless scream, his face flushing crimson. His gnarled fingers clawed desperately at Yue Wugou’s wrist, but it was futile.
After a moment, Yue Wugou cast a soundproofing spell inside the room.
No noise would escape now.
He sneered, voice dripping with malice. "Your daughter? She was a whore. A worthless bitch."
The old man stiffened, then erupted in silent fury, eyes bulging with rage.
Yue Wugou continued cheerfully, "So desperate for a man she used a dagger as a—well, you know. Did she enjoy it? Huh? Did she?" His tone abruptly sharpened. "Answer me! Did she?!"
The vulgar tirade continued.
Luo Luo, incensed, moved to intervene—but suddenly, she was weightless, lifted like a kite by an invisible thread.
In a blink, Pretty Boy had deposited her safely outside the courtyard.
"Go get help."
Luo Luo: "Got it!"
As the thread retracted, Pretty Boy lounged on the roof’s edge, watching coldly.
Yue Wugou, now fully unhinged, alternated between shoving the old man toward the drop and yanking him back, all while spewing venom.
"Want to die? Not that easy!" He giggled, serpentine malice in his voice. "If I didn’t have to cover my tracks, I’d slap that ugly face of yours raw! Worthless trash!"
He leaned in, grinning. "Don’t worry. After you ‘kill yourself,’ I’ll take very good care of your daughter’s corpse—"
The abuse went on, Yue Wugou pouring every ounce of hatred into the helpless old man.
Pretty Boy observed silently.
After about fifteen minutes, Yue Wugou finally wound down. He idly toyed with the old man’s collar, sighing. "I should go. Time for you to die."
Just as his fingers loosened—
A voice, dripping with mockery, rang out from above.
"Hey, still too scared to lift the silencing spell? Afraid he’ll curse you back? Buddy, you’re kinda fragile, huh?"
Yue Wugou stiffened, slowly looking up.
Pretty Boy grinned, waving cheekily.
Yue Wugou’s eyes narrowed. "I’d advise you not to interfere."
Pretty Boy feigned innocence. "I’ve been here the whole time and didn’t make a peep! Just saying goodbye since you’re leaving."
Yue Wugou smiled coldly. "Fine."
His left hand, hidden in his sleeve, gathered lethal spiritual energy—ready to strike the moment this meddler moved to save the old man.
He released his grip.
The old man toppled forward—
But as Yue Wugou’s killing blow formed, a crystalline chime shattered the air.
His soundproofing spell exploded like fireworks. A wave of icy light froze the old man mid-fall against the windowsill.
Master Lingxue strode in, frost radiating from his every step.
A few steps behind, True Lord Pangyue’s square-shaped frame nearly tumbled into the back chamber.
Luo Luo followed closely, loudly accusing, "He insulted the old man and even tried to kill him!"
A frozen scene crashed into view.
Everyone saw it clearly.
True Lord Pangyue, burning with fury, spat out, "You—"
But his gaze landed on Yue Wugou, and suddenly, he froze.
Pretty Boy leisurely flipped in from the roof, casually dragging the old man inside as he said, "We came here to lie in wait, thinking Yue Ranchen might seek revenge on the old man. Never expected we’d catch someone far bigger! Shocking!"
Luo Luo: "..."
Who the hell announces their shock out loud?
That was the least convincing "shock" ever.
True Lord Pangyue’s frown deepened.
He strode forward, but Yue Wugou couldn’t meet his eyes, lowering his head in disarray and turning away.
His Adam’s apple bobbed rapidly before he abruptly shut his eyes tight.
When he opened them again moments later, all traces of panic and shame had vanished, replaced by his usual cool detachment.
"Father?"
Yue Wugou swept a glance around, brows knitting slightly.
True Lord Pangyue stared at him, disbelief etched across his face. "You—that wasn’t you just now! It was Second Junior Brother!"
As a father, how could he fail to recognize the stark differences between his two sons?
He took a step back, pupils trembling as he scrutinized Yue Wugou from head to toe.
"You—he… how could he… your body… how is he inside you?" He rubbed his plump hands over his eyes roughly. "Why is Second Junior Brother possessing you—"
Yue Wugou pressed his lips together, silent.
True Lord Pangyue pointed a shaking finger at him. "All those things—they were his doing, weren’t they?! And you’re still covering for him, still hiding his crimes! Murder, forcing himself on the Sect Leader’s Wife—has that bastard lost his mind?!"
