"How's the situation? Your aunt should be fine, right?"
Firefly asked with a look of concern.
Hearing this, Meng Xingyao, who had just stepped out of the room, also breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yes, Aunt Liu is fine. She was just stabbed by a kidnapper, but the wound isn't fatal. It's already been bandaged. She just needs about a month of quiet rest and she'll be mostly recovered."
Because Firefly and the other girl were just ordinary people, Meng Xingyao didn't tell the whole truth. However, the facts weren't too far off.
Silver Wolf and Firefly didn't seem to mind this.
At this moment, Silver Wolf suggested, "Is that so? Then let's go to the living room on the other side. Let's not get in the way of the family's conversation."
Having already intercepted Meng Xingyao's call in advance, Silver Wolf was clearly not very worried.
In any case, the two of them hadn't told her and Firefly the truth, so there was no need to worry about being criticized with comments like "Do you even have a heart?"
Besides, if she hadn't known in advance that Cipher had intervened right after Liu Xiyue left in a hurry, the two people at the scene would likely have been greeted by Sam descending from the sky with a super-invincible, million-fold weakened version of the Shattering Star Fist.
During the last dinner gathering, Liu Xiyue might not have noticed, but how could Firefly and Silver Wolf not be aware that the relationship between Cipher and Meng Xingyao was clearly unusual?
Although the specific details were unclear, since Cipher was involved in this matter, Firefly ultimately chose not to insist on taking action.
Otherwise, Silver Wolf was truly worried that Canglan City would suddenly be on the news tomorrow, reporting something like "Several demolition maniacs in Canglan City collaborated on a crime, leaving Viewing Tide Residence as nothing but a pile of ruins." The cause being Sam's iron fist...
While the three in the living room were chatting, inside Liu Yunshuang's room, Liu Xiyue's eyes were red as she checked on her aunt.
Liu Yunshuang sighed helplessly, unable to bring herself to send her away.
"That truly scared me to death, Auntie! How are you feeling now?"
"Don't worry, it was just a stab wound to the abdomen. For a martial artist, this is just a minor injury."
Liu Yunshuang comforted her in this manner.
But even so, if it hadn't been for Cipher's timely rescue, she really wasn't confident she could have survived the joint attack of two Level One Espers.
Having confidence wasn't an issue, but Liu Yunshuang always had self-awareness.
After all, while it was true she had broken through at that moment, a puncture wound to the abdomen wouldn't heal out of thin air. Even if it didn't affect her much at the time, she probably wouldn't have lasted long due to excessive blood loss.
However, that was all after the fact, and in any case, she wasn't going to tell this girl.
Thus, Liu Yunshuang patiently soothed her.
"Don't worry, girl. Your aunt was a genius in the past, and now haven't I simply broken through to the Grandmaster realm? Speaking of which, I originally wanted to slaughter everyone, but then someone came along and stole the kill. What a pity, I had just found my rhythm! The opponents just couldn't hold up."
After speaking, Liu Yunshuang shook her head gently, her expression full of regret, as if having her kill stolen was an incomparable disappointment.
Liu Xiyue's eyes were slightly red. After wiping away her tears, she forced a faint smile.
"Auntie truly is amazing! But this is all my fault. If you could have focused on cultivation these past years, with your talent, you should have broken through to the Grandmaster realm long ago. Today's bitter battle would not have been necessary..."
Seeing her niece about to cry again, Liu Yunshuang helplessly reached out to wipe her tears.
In her heart, she marveled that this girl was truly exactly the same as when she was a child. Presumably, she only showed that forceful attitude when she was fighting and killing.
But before she could think further, she noticed the smile on her niece's exquisite face gradually turning incredibly sinister. Those ruby-like pupils faintly flashed with a red light.
Liu Xiyue (✿◕‿◕): "If anything really happened to Auntie… even if I have to burn down the entire Canglan City… or even the entire Dragon Kingdom… I will tear the culprits into ten thousand pieces!"
Liu Yunshuang (*ﾟﾛﾟ)!!: What?!!
"Alright, what nonsense are you talking about? Am I not perfectly fine? It was just that you were a naughty girl back then; otherwise, the strongest person in the Dragon Kingdom today might have been me."
Liu Yunshuang hurriedly comforted her in a soft voice, then decisively pulled the girl into a hug, pressing her against her chest and silencing that cold little mouth.
"Mmph… mmph, I know I was wrong… Auntie, I can't breathe..."
Ultimately, under the pressure of absolute strength, Liu Xiyue's descent into darkness was halted.
Seeing this, Liu Yunshuang let go and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
In her heart, she wondered why she hadn't noticed before that this girl had the potential to become a yandere.
I really don't know if this girl's future partner will be able to handle it.
However, what Liu Yunshuang didn't know was that, with Liu Xiyue already aware of her own ending and then finding out her closest relative might leave before her, she herself wasn't sure what kind of state she would fall into at that time… whether she would completely break down...
"How is your aunt's condition?"
Sitting on the sofa in the hall, Firefly immediately noticed Liu Xiyue coming out and asked with concern.
"She's fine. Auntie's status is quite high, so there are always people dissatisfied with her. Last night was because of my sudden interruption, which caused Auntie to be somewhat negligent."
While answering, Liu Xiyue also took the initiative to explain.
And she truly believed in her heart that if it weren't for her, her aunt certainly wouldn't have been injured.
"I'm sorry. Although I can't help with much, if anything happens in the future, you must contact me."
"This isn't your fault, don't put so much pressure on yourself."
"Auntie will definitely be fine. Don't push yourself either; she'll still need you to take care of her later."
Liu Xiyue stared blankly at everyone's concerned gazes. A warm current quietly washed over her heart, and her eyes felt slightly hot.
Hearing this, a relieved smile also appeared on her face.
"I'm sorry for making you all worry. Please, make yourselves at home. I'll go wash my face and be right back."
After saying that, the girl quickly ran into the bathroom.
Seeing this, Firefly and the others couldn't help but exchange smiles.
As the incident settled, twilight quietly stained the sky.
Inside Liu Yunshuang's room, the night was as dark as ink, with only a few strands of pale moonlight spilling in.
Just as Liu Yunshuang closed her eyes to rest, she keenly heard a faint sound of electric current.
Immediately after, a familiar young girl's voice rang out.
"Yo, so this is the breakthrough you guys talk about? Your senses have indeed become much sharper."
Liu Yunshuang looked toward the sound.
In the pitch-black environment, a faint, blurry blue light suddenly flickered by the bedside where there had been nothing. In an instant, a blue holographic projection appeared out of thin air.
Looking at the punk-style girl before her, Liu Yunshuang's eyes twitched slightly.
"This kind of miraculous ability— even if it's not the first time seeing it— is still amazing."
Silver Wolf (ᗜ ˰ ᗜ): "Oh, looking at your expressionless face, I thought you were so calm. Turns out you're just desperate to save face."
Liu Yunshuang (°ー°〃): Uh… regarding being expressionless and desperate to save face, you don't seem to have any right to talk about me!
She opened her mouth, but in the end, she didn't say those words.
Although seeing Silver Wolf come with her niece today had almost scared a medical miracle out of Liu Yunshuang, through eye contact, the observant Liu Yunshuang still understood the other's meaning—don't expose me.
So even with the connection through her niece, Liu Yunshuang couldn't yet joke around as freely as usual.
Silver Wolf blinked strangely, but in the end, she couldn't be bothered to care about what the other was thinking.
However, at this time, Liu Yunshuang suddenly took the initiative to ask, "Why are you hiding your identity?"
Hearing this, Silver Wolf rolled her eyes.
Silver Wolf (ᗜ ˰ ᗜ): "First of all, I didn't deliberately hide it. She never asked me, and isn't she also hiding her identity from me? Besides, you guys have nothing better to do than put out a wanted bounty on me. I don't really care. But with this kind of identity, why would I go around talking about it for no reason?"
Liu Yunshuang: Σ(ﾟ∀ﾟﾉ)ﾉ