Chapter 162

Hu Yulin spoke while taking out a small porcelain bottle from his person and walking toward me.

Liu Junyan frowned, first looking at my hand that was gripping his.

That was the left hand; although it had some bloodstains and a minor wound, it was nothing serious.

Then he reached out and pulled over my right hand, which I had hidden behind my back.

He spread my right hand across his palm; when he saw the blood hole pierced through the center of my right palm, his pupils contracted, instantly bloodshot, and he glared fiercely at the approaching Hu Yulin.

Immediately afterward, he threw a punch.

Hu Yulin did not dodge; the punch smashed hard into his mouth corner, drawing blood instantly.

I hurried to pull the angry Liu Junyan, shouting: "Stop hitting him… he…"

I wanted to say he didn't mean it, but I couldn't get those words out.

Because at that time, Hu Yulin had attacked me without hesitation in order to protect Feng Lixiu.

If he hadn't immediately seen me using Feng Wu, none of what followed would have happened.

Perhaps if he had pierced my hand bone, he would have mocked me with a remark, just as he did before the Qilin Temple.

The next moment, Hui Moqiong pulled me apart.

Hui Moqiong gritted his teeth and said: "Xiao Jiu'er, what are you blocking for? Let Seventh Lord properly discipline this blind-hearted junior; this is what he deserves!"

I frowned.

Junior?

How could Hu Yulin be a junior?

He and Liu Junyan were childhood friends; they originally got along well, and Liu Junyan trusted him greatly.

But I soon recalled that during the previous battle at Zhu Pan River, Feng Lixiu had said Hu Yulin was ordered to remain in Yin Mountain and could not leave.

Therefore, Hu Yulin's seniority among the fox tribe is not the highest.

Moreover, thinking of the fox‑headed human‑bodied statue enshrined in the west wing of the pawnshop, that figure is female.

Thus, the person who holds the highest status among the fox tribe and can stand on equal footing with Hui Moqiong is not Hu Yulin.

Rather, it is a certain female among their clan.

Liu Junyan is not unreasonable; that punch was to vent my anger, but Hu Yulin had just helped us suppress the Qiongqi evil formation, so internal injuries were inevitable.

So after the punch, his anger was temporarily suppressed.

Hu Yulin wiped the blood from his mouth corner, shoved the small porcelain bottle into my hand, and gave a weary smile: "Ah Li, I've been looking for you for many years."

As soon as he said that, Liu Junyan's face instantly darkened.

He instinctively reached out and pulled me close, his warning gaze once again shooting toward Hu Yulin.

Hu Yulin said sorrowfully: "If I couldn't find you, I would seek your natal magic artifact.

but I never imagined that after all these twists and turns, you would stand before me—I… I clearly recognized you… clearly, I was the first to meet you…

"You're not!" Liu Junyan corrected: "The one who first found Xiao Jiu was me! She has been raised under my watch since she was six!"

Hu Yulin was momentarily speechless, but his eyes looking at me still brimmed with sorrow as he asked: "Ah Li, I've missed you again, right?"

"I am not Ah Li; I am Xiao Jiu of Wufu Town Pawnshop."

I don't know what psychology drives me, but I repeatedly emphasize this identity of Xiao Jiu.

In the past, emphasizing this identity was to draw a clear line with the Jiang family of Tafengcun.

Now, emphasizing this identity is because I don't want to become Ah Li again.

Because I now know that Ah Li is not the "li" of Feng Lixiu, but… the "li" of a li slave.

"Okay, I've remembered—not Ah Li, but Xiao Jiu." Hu Yulin's voice also tingled with an irrepressible sorrow: "Xiao Jiu, I'm sorry."

Suddenly, a flute sound came from outside.

Hui Moqiong's ears twitched, then he gloated: "Your clan master is summoning you, little fox—good riddance."

Hu Yulin glanced at me, then turned and left.

The flute sound faded away as well.

I watched Hu Yulin's retreating back, my heart filled with mixed emotions.

Liu Junyan tightened his grip on my hand and said softly: "Don't look; we'll see each other again. Come, let me tend to your wound first."

He helped me clean the wound, apply medicine, and bandage it; after checking several times, he said: "Fortunately the hand bone isn't injured; with some rest it should recover fully, otherwise I would certainly break one of his hands to vent my anger for you."

I shook my head: "Someone sincerely designed a deception against him; it's impossible to guard against."

"Then why wasn't I deceived?" Liu Junyan said: "I recognized you at first sight."

I pursed my lips, not daring to say: "I've been at the pawnshop since I was six; it wasn't until my eighteenth‑year wedding night that you finally confirmed my identity!"

"Seventh Lord, we need to get to work." Hui Moqiong stood by the door with arms crossed, looking at us mischievously.

Liu Junyan stood up and went to the main house.

He untied the red thread binding the paper figure and then removed the pair of Buddha Eyes from its face.

The moment the Buddha Eyes were taken out, the whole paper figure instantly turned to ash, which the wind blew away.

Only then could Guo Zhen's soul fully return to its body.

Liu Junyan handed the Buddha Eyes to me, then ordered: "Mo Qiong, take people to the prison and carry out a thorough sweep, uncovering all the corrupt places hidden there."

Hui Moqiong received the order and left immediately.

"Qingying," Liu Junyan continued, "you are responsible for comforting the townspeople."

Li Qingying also went.

In the end, only I and Yu Nian remained resting in the small courtyard.

I handed the Buddha Eyes to Yu Nian and said: "Senior Sister, keep these Buddha Eyes; they were originally meant for you."

"I can't guard them," Yu Nian said: "Xiao Jiu, leave them with you for now; if someday… I will come to you for them."

I took the opportunity to ask: "Senior Sister, by now you should also understand that we're all caught up in this situation, no one can stay out of it, so regarding Huicheng, regarding the protection of the Yu family's three generations, can you honestly tell me the truth?"

Yu Nian lowered her head, wringing her fingers, torn.

"It's Chaos." I said, "What you're guarding in Huicheng is the Chaos Evil Formation, right?"

Yu Nian suddenly lifted her head to look at me, her hollow eye sockets filled with shock.

She murmured with her lips, and after a while she said in realization: "So you've figured it all out."

"Before today, I could never have guessed it." I said, "But with the emergence of the Exhausted Strange Evil Formation, plus your eyes, I've somewhat connected it to Chaos. Senior Sister, is the Chaos Evil Formation also restless like this Exhausted Strange Evil Formation?"

"No, it has always been lying dormant." Yu Nian said, "Chaos likes to cling to those of great evil and wickedness to survive; it is a knife in its master's hand, and it cannot easily be drawn until the most crucial moment."

I frowned: "But it killed Grandma Yu, killed your mother, and gouged out your eyes……"

"Back then, Grandma Yu discovered the secret of the Chaos Evil Formation, and she decided to settle down in Huicheng." Yu Nian recalled, "It was our repeated investigations that disturbed the dormant Chaos, inviting the catastrophe that wiped out the family. After losing my eyes, I hid among the common folk, and these years have been relatively peaceful."