Chapter 206

Having just finished tidying up, Liu Junyan came back.

Translation: "Just finished tidying up, Liu Junyan returned."

Having just finished cleaning up, Liu Junyan came back.

Li Qingying instinctively glanced behind Liu Junyan, puzzled: "Seventh Lord, Hui Fifth didn't come back with you?"

"Mo Qiong?" Liu Junyan said, "I have some private matters to attend to today, he didn't come with me."

Li Qingying muttered: "If there's no mission, why stay out all day? You're still wounded—could something have happened?"

Indeed, Hui Moqiong isn't the type to wander about aimlessly.

If nothing's up, he usually likes to stay in the pawnshop.

Just then, a sharp scream and wail came from the direction of Xijiekou.

That sound, in this quiet night, almost echoed through half of Wufu Town.

We three walked forward together, stepped out of the pawnshop and looked toward Xijiekou, seeing Hui Moqiong dragging a man's right leg, hanging upside down, pulling him toward the pawnshop.

The man was wailing, his two hands clawing desperately at the wall corner, refusing to let go.

While struggling, he shouted: "Fifth Lord, please spare me, I'm just an errand runner—I know nothing. If you need to vent your anger, go find Shuchen; this has nothing to do with me..."

Hui Moqiong was especially angry, kicking the man's butt with his foot, one kick after another, each strike particularly vicious.

The man kicked until he howled, and when he could no longer endure, he suddenly reverted to his true form—a huge Flower Rat.

Hui Moqiong lifted the Flower Rat, about the size of a house cat, and walked toward the pawnshop.

He stepped one foot into the pawnshop, pressed the Flower Rat onto the tea table, and shouted: "Qingying, lock the door!"

Li Qingying hurriedly bolted the pawnshop door.

The Flower Rat was surrounded by the four of us, huddled beside the tea table's leg, looking utterly pitiful.

Hui Moqiong sat on the sofa, picked up the water on the tea table, and gulped down a few mouthfuls.

Looks like he spent the whole day out just to capture Hui Shuchen's lackeys, and ended up catching this Flower Rat.

He was exhausted to the point of being spiteful!

After finishing, he smashed the teacup onto the ground, shattering it beside the Flower Rat's feet, sending many shards flying onto it.

Hui Moqiong snarled: "Speak—what was Hui Shuchen up to when he sneaked into the pawnshop the other night? If you don't give a detailed answer from beginning to end, you'll stay here to feed the evil spirits."

The Flower Rat's body trembled like a sieve.

I suddenly realized that Hui Shuchen's line was originally left behind by Hui Moqiong.

Hui Moqiong wouldn't just grab someone randomly and launch an interrogation.

This Flower Rat before us must have been following Hui Shuchen for a long time, perhaps even a trusted aide.

Even more boldly, I suspect he might have originally followed Hui Moqiong and lived here in the Wufu Town pawnshop.

That's why Hui Moqiong is so furious.

I glanced at Liu Junyan; he happened to look down at me, nodded with his chin toward the chair beside him, clearly also intending not to intervene, leaving Hui Moqiong to handle this himself.

I sat with Liu Junyan to one side.

Under Hui Moqiong's relentless mental torment, the Flower Rat finally broke down, turned around, clung its chubby forepaws to Hui Moqiong's thigh, and sobbed: "Fifth Lord, you don't know—what kind of life have we lived these years without you!"

"After you were sealed, Shuchen seized control, issuing chaotic orders; before long he got many brothers killed. The Grand Protector argued with him, so he sent men to surround and annihilate the Grand Protector, even killing several Elders who defied him."

"We… we followed his lead down a wrong path, and now we can't turn back…"

These words were spoken sincerely, and they struck Hui Moqiong's sore spot.

Hui Moqiong's lip twitched; after composing himself, he said: "Shuchen's sins, I will eventually make him confess. I brought you here just to ask one thing—answer truthfully and you'll be fine."

The Flower Rat wiped his tears, glanced respectfully at Liu Junyan, then said: "Something happened to the Tang family in Huicheng; the pawnshop couldn't possibly ignore it. Shuchen was counting the days, guessing you'd all be in Huicheng that day, planning to sneak into the pawnshop and steal the Buddha Eye."

That answer surprised us.

Hui Moqiong frowned: "The pawnshop isn't somewhere just anyone can enter; Shuchen knows the rules."

"Fifth Lord, the pawnshop's rear courtyard is dilapidated, the seal has a breach." The Flower Rat said, "After you were sealed, Shuchen once dug a rat tunnel from beneath the rear courtyard wall..."

Upon saying that, everyone present was shocked.

"The pawnshop's seal has a gap? And there's a rat tunnel inside that gap?"

"Such a huge loophole—if not detected early, it will surely cause a major disaster later!"

Hui Moqiong grabbed the Flower Rat's throat in one grip, his face flushing with anger that vanished instantly: "Speak clearly!"

The Flower Rat trembled as he spoke: "It's exactly what Shuchen thought—that you'd all be off to Huicheng's Tang family, unable to return for a while, at most leaving a little Miss Li to guard the place, which he didn't even consider; if he could enter the pawnshop via the rat tunnel and successfully seize the Buddha Eye, he would achieve merit, his future would be limitless."

"Merit?" Hui Moqiong asked, "Who is he trying to curry favor with?"

The Flower Rat still shook his head: "I only know he defected to some important figure in Huicheng; who exactly, nobody knows, and that party seems to have always wanted that pair of Buddha Eyes."

Hui Moqiong released the Flower Rat, sitting there dazed.

"Hui Shuchen has defected to Huicheng—could he have defected to Chaos?"

"That means he has completely taken our opposing side."

"At this moment, Hui Moqiong is utterly disappointed in his thirteenth brother."

"Brothers, farewell—either you die, or I perish."

"This is the outcome Hui Moqiong least wants to see."

"He has endured too many partings and deaths in the Qinling; to this day, his youngest sister's whereabouts remain unknown, only relying on Hui Shuchen for survival."

"Unless it reaches a certain point, he will not lightly give up on Hui Shuchen."

"Unfortunately…"

Hui Moqiong kicked the Flower Rat again, then clenched his hands and kneaded his brows, as if all his strength had been drained in an instant: "Get lost—go tell him not to harbor any designs on the pawnshop again, or I'll personally intervene and clean house!"

The Flower Rat hastily kowtowed to Hui Moqiong, then turned and kowtowed to Liu Junyan.

Then he scrambled up and stumbled away.

No one gave him a hard time, because Hui Moqiong wanted him to deliver the message.

Li Qingying reached out and patted Hui Moqiong's shoulder, about to utter a few words of comfort, when Hui Moqiong suddenly shifted sideways, extended his long arm, and embraced Li Qingying's waist.

Li Qingying was startled by him, instinctively looked toward us two, her cheeks flushed over a large area, and she also pushed with her hand, trying to pull Hui Moqiong away.

As a result, Hui Moqiong tightly hugged Li Qingying's waist, his whole head buried on her abdomen, speaking with a sobbing tone: "Yingyingzi, I'm having a hard time, how can I be so hard!"

"I lost my parents, lost twelve elder brothers, my little sister's whereabouts unknown, life or death unknown, I raised that kid with blood and sweat, how did he become a white-eyed wolf?"

"Am I too much of a failure?"

"My only remaining relative has also become an enemy, Yingyingzi, I have no love left, I have no one who wants me, wuwu..."