Chapter Ninety-Three: Annihilate Your Entire Clan

That figure was unmistakably Yaya! Though her hair had been hacked to pieces so badly it looked as if a dog had chewed it, Tang Wei was no stranger to her after having seen her in the inner realm before. At a glance, she knew this was her daughter, the one who had gone missing for days. She could not help but cry out, “Yaya!”

Yaya acted as though she did not care in the slightest. She did not even turn around to look. She answered carelessly, “Oh, Mom! You finally came!” She was entirely absorbed in her game, as if this place had nothing to do with her at all.

Seeing that, Tang Wei grew even angrier, her face darkening as she said, “Were we not supposed to come? From the looks of it, you were having quite a good time.”

“Ah, Mom! Look at you! You made me have to start over again! I was at a crucial moment, and you scared me!” Yaya tossed the game console aside and turned around to complain at Tang Wei in a huff.

“Oh, then I’m terribly sorry for disturbing you. Go ahead and keep playing. Since this place is so fun, you might as well stay here for a couple more days.” Tang Wei gritted her teeth as she spoke, and when she finished, she even pulled the door shut. It seemed she really intended to lock her up for two days first.

Only then did Yaya begin to panic. She rushed over and slapped at the door, crying out anxiously, “Mom, that’s not what I meant! Open the door, quickly! It’s not fun here at all! Mom! Please! Don’t go! Ah, I was wrong, I was wrong, all right?”

“And where exactly were you wrong?” Tang Wei said, no longer the least bit anxious. Since she had finally found a chance to set this little troublemaker straight, how could she let it slip away so easily?

Yaya rolled her eyes twice and pleaded softly, “I shouldn’t have forgotten that Mom said I couldn’t play games!”

“And what else?”

“And I shouldn’t have ignored Mom by turning my back on you!” Yaya rolled her eyes again and quickly came up with another reason.

“And what else? Let me tell you now, if you still do not admit your mistakes properly this time, I really will leave.” Tang Wei finished her warning with a smile, then deliberately stamped her feet a few times so Yaya could hear, trying to scare her.

“No! No! I know I was wrong! I know I was wrong, dear Mom! I shouldn’t have disobeyed you and secretly played games. I shouldn’t have turned my back on you and acted as if nothing mattered. I shouldn’t have ignored you when you came to get me. I shouldn’t have disobeyed you! Dear Mom, I really know I was wrong. I will never dare again. Please let me out, all right?”

Yaya begged in a sugar-sweet voice, and the way she kept calling her Mom made one’s heart melt. I’m afraid this was the first time in her life she had ever compromised like this. Clearly, she had been locked up here for far too long, bored and stifled to the point that life had become unbearable; otherwise, she would never have admitted fault so readily.

Tang Wei also did not dare push her too hard. Otherwise, who knew how much trouble this little girl would cause her later? This girl was terribly petty. Better to stop while the matter was still pleasant and save herself some peace. So Tang Wei smiled and said, “All right. Since you have said it so nicely, I’ll let it go this time. Let’s say I forgive you.”

She opened the door, walked over, and lifted the little girl into her arms. “How about that, little one? You know to be afraid now, don’t you? If you disobey me again next time, I’ll lock you up for a month or two and see if you still dare to be naughty.”

Yaya rarely behaved so coquettishly, wrapping her arms around Tang Wei’s neck. “Mom, I’ll be good! I won’t dare make you angry again!”

Tang Wei was thoroughly enjoying the feeling. She pressed her forehead gently against Yaya’s and then reached out to tap the tip of her nose, saying indulgently, “You little imp, will you really be this obedient in the future?”

“Mom, you don’t even believe me!” Yaya pouted and wriggled a little in Tang Wei’s arms, pretending to be unhappy.

“All right, all right, I believe you. Come on, sweetheart, let’s go out and watch the fight.” With Yaya in her arms, Tang Wei headed outside, the two of them chattering nonstop along the way.

From the looks of it, Tang Wei had no interest at all in the other passage beside them. And that made sense. With so many treasures stored in her inner realm, even if she found the Xuanyuan family’s warehouse here, those few things would be nothing to this wealthy little lord. She would only find it a bother to pick them up, and even if she stepped on them, she might fear they would get in the way.

Long Jiu, on the other hand, did want to take a look, but the main people had already left. If he stayed here, it would seem rather inappropriate. If the Xuanyuan family escaped disaster today, even ten lives would not be enough to repay the debt. He could only hesitate for a moment before following them out.

Soon, Tang Wei carried Yaya out of the rear mountain. At that moment, Zi Xuan and the others were still fighting fiercely, because they had not yet seen Tang Wei and the rest come out. As a result, they had held back somewhat and not used lethal force, intending only to stop them. The few of them were merely trading blows without injury.

When everyone saw Tang Wei emerge carrying a little girl, they all naturally stopped. The Xuanyuan ancestor was even more stunned, pointing at the little girl and asking Tang Wei in disbelief, “Fellow Daoist, this... this... this girl is the one you were looking for? You found her inside?”

“Of course. If I didn’t find her inside, do you think I could conjure up a person just to frame you? Weren’t you the ones who said Yaya absolutely wasn’t in your house? Then how do you explain this?” Tang Wei was furious. She had already brought the child out, and he still dared question her. Did he think she would fake this? Utter nonsense.

“How is that possible? How could this be possible? It is absolutely impossible!” The Xuanyuan ancestor staggered back two steps, his face filled with disbelief. He did not look as though he were pretending. If Tang Wei had not personally carried Yaya out herself, even she might have wondered whether she had truly wronged him.

“Impossible? Could Fellow Daoist Chen have deliberately framed you? That would bring her no benefit whatsoever. Besides, we all saw her carried out from inside. How could it be false?” Chief Long questioned coldly and forcefully.

The Xuanyuan ancestor ignored him and turned solemnly to point at the Xuanyuan family head. “Was this arranged and carried out by you?”

The Xuanyuan family head looked even more stunned than the ancestor. “How could that be? How could I possibly act on my own without informing the elders? I absolutely did not do this. I ask the ancestor to investigate carefully!” His eyes were clear, with not a trace of panic, and he did not look like he was lying either.

“Then what about you all? Was it one of you who did this behind my back?” The Xuanyuan ancestor then pointed sharply at several Foundation Establishment elders and demanded, “Was it any of you?”

Everyone wore a baffled expression and shook their heads, denying it absolutely. But if no one had done it, and yet the person had truly been found inside, then their expressions were so genuine they might as well have won an acting award.

“Fellow Daoist Xuanyuan, there’s no point putting on a show here. If it wasn’t done by you, then who had the ability to lock someone away in your forbidden grounds? Do you really take us for fools?” Long Wei poured salt on the wound, making snide remarks from the sidelines.

“Whether you believe it or not, this person was definitely not locked up by us. Since the people of my Xuanyuan family have said it, then it was definitely not done. We always speak plainly. We would never do such a despicable and shameless thing and then refuse to admit it!” The Xuanyuan ancestor’s tone was still somewhat weak. Though he believed his younger generation had decent character, the fact remained that Tang Wei had personally carried the child out from inside. No matter how he explained it, it just did not make sense.

“If it wasn’t done by you, then explain why this little girl was shut inside your forbidden grounds!” Long Wei pressed the advantage and demanded an answer from the Xuanyuan family.

“This...” The Xuanyuan ancestor did not know how to explain it anymore. Could it really be that some younger descendant, without his knowledge, had done something unspeakable behind his back?

“Can’t explain it, can you? Acting like this is useless! You’d better tell the truth. What exactly was your purpose in doing this? Were you trying to drag the other two families into this with you?” Long Wei guessed maliciously. After all, everyone knew the three great families were always secretly fighting for power and profit, so such a suspicion was entirely normal.

“How could that be? My Xuanyuan family is already acknowledged as the foremost cultivation clan. What is there left to compete for? Compared with the other two families, is there anything at all they could use to threaten us? We had no need to take such a dangerous risk!” The Xuanyuan ancestor could only state his position indirectly, hoping to convince everyone that there was absolutely no benefit in his family doing such a thing.

“Then tell us what your purpose was! I have not seen the hidden dirt of your three great families just once or twice!” Long Wei had suffered no small number of losses in official matters at the hands of the three great families. Every time he uncovered some covert activity of theirs, the three families would join forces and drive him back. With such conclusive evidence this time, how could he possibly let them wriggle free so easily?

“Fellow Daoists, this really was not done by us. I know that no matter how I say it, it may not sound convincing, but could you believe us just this once? I swear we will find the culprit as quickly as possible.” Seeing that Long Wei was determined to bite down on them and not let go, the Xuanyuan ancestor knew this would not end well. He had no choice but to turn back to Tang Wei and the other one and plead in a softer tone, hoping they would spare them this once.

“Then what do you want?” Seeing that Tang Wei was somewhat softened by the matter, and considering Xuanyuan Che and Xuanyuan Yunqian, she did want to give them a chance, so she asked first.

“Could you give us some time? We will definitely give you a satisfactory answer!” Seeing Tang Wei appear to soften, the Xuanyuan ancestor immediately seized the opportunity and made his request.

“Give you time, so you can find a scapegoat?” Would Long Wei let such a good chance slip by so easily? The security bureau had long been kept under the thumb of the three great families. If he could successfully take down the Xuanyuan family, the other two families would no longer be much of a threat. As for the four major sects, they had never concerned themselves with the affairs of the secular world, so they had nothing to do with this at all.

“You...!” The Xuanyuan ancestor was seething. Could it be that Long Wei truly wanted to seize the chance and wipe them out completely? What was to be done? The Xuanyuan family could not be destroyed in its own hands over such an absurd reason.

“You’d better stop thinking about how to dodge reality. You should know that the three cultivators standing here are all at the Bigu stage. Today, even annihilating your entire Xuanyuan family would be easy.”

The Xuanyuan ancestor was furious. “We did not do what you accuse us of. Even if you wipe out our family, we still did not do it!”

“Then you want to try, do you?” Long Wei asked arrogantly. “Fine, then let’s see who has the harder spine.”