Dispute

"Godmother, we clearly agreed!"

A familiar, startled female voice came from beside her ear. Li Wei's eyelids twitched. Was that Aunt Liang?

Did I... pass out?

The moment the thought arose, the fog vanished, and her mind cleared with startling sharpness.

This body's physical condition is incredible!

She tried to sit up, only to find herself as if embedded in cement. Her entire body was rigid and unable to move.

Her throat felt as though an invisible hand had locked it shut, leaving her unable to make the slightest sound.

What's going on? She was completely baffled.

Outside, Jiang Xinyue's voice rang out. "Xiao Qiu, you've lost your composure."

Liang Qiushi's voice rose several pitches, becoming sharp enough to grate on the ears. "Lost my composure? How could I not?! Li Wei is my person! What right do you have to detain her?"

It was as though she had thrown caution to the wind, her speech becoming extremely rapid. "Because of this, my elder sister forcibly suppressed her cultivation and came to the capital to help me!"

"My father endured the pressure and withdrew from the front line to cover for me!"

"My cousin even stained his own reputation, telling outsiders that his nephew was his son, throwing the entire household into chaos!"

"And you? How can you go back on your word just like that?"

Holy crap, my bargain-bin grandma is actually serious?

Li Wei's heart gave a jolt. Her almond-shaped eyes opened wide as she struggled desperately, but her body did not move at all, like an exquisite doll.

I'm doomed, doomed! This is way too damaging to my reputation! The golden signboard of Li Wei, the honest, reliable young gentleman, is going to be smashed in her hands! Grandma, oh Grandma, you've truly put Your Majesty through hell... Ahem, ahem...

Jiang Xinyue's voice remained unhurried, carrying a touch of laziness, yet every word was crystal clear.

"Xiao Qiu, Li Wei has the 'Dao-Approaching Body.' Did you know about this?"

"No matter what kind of body she has, she's someone I found..." Liang Qiushi's voice abruptly cut off. Then came her hurried, incredulous question. "What did you say?!"

Jiang Xinyue enunciated every word, each one seeming to strike Liang Qiushi in the heart. "Li. Wei. Has. The. 'Dao-Approaching Body.'"

A deathly silence fell outside.

Li Wei could even hear her own heartbeat, slightly hurried because she could not move.

After a long while, Liang Qiushi's dry, airy voice finally came. "H-How is that possible?"

Jiang Xinyue paid no attention to her discomposure and calmly dropped another bombshell.

"She not only has the 'Dao-Approaching Body,' but was also born with the three great dantians half-open. Having only just broken through to the First Order, she already possesses a Natal Lotus—and it's the rarest 'White Lotus' recorded in the inheritance."

She paused, her tone turning solemn. "Xiao Qiu, tell me: is it appropriate to have such a Martial Immortal seed die in Jinzhi's place?"

Liang Qiushi seemed to have been struck senseless by one bombshell after another, and silence fell again.

After several breaths, Liang Qiushi's voice rose once more, hoarse with struggle. "B-But she isn't your biological granddaughter after all..."

"If we're counting things that way..." Jiang Xinyue's voice betrayed no emotion. "Jiang Yunshu was adopted by me from the second branch, and Jiang Xue isn't my biological granddaughter either."

Li Wei: "..."

Holy... crap?

Liang Qiushi's voice was dry. "But there's still a blood relationship..."

Jiang Xinyue let out a mocking laugh. "Do you think I'm the sort of old fossil who clings to blood ties? Xiao Qiu, as long as Li Wei is a citizen of the Hua Nation, and as long as she has the potential to become a Martial Immortal of the Hua Nation, that's enough! What the hell does blood relation matter? It's unimportant!"

Liang Qiushi grew frantic. "Godmother! Even if she goes to the Western Frontier in Jinzhi's place, she might not necessarily die! The Zhang Family is targeting Jinzhi, not 'Jiang Xue.' With you here, the Zhang Family will have some reservations!"

"That," Jiang Xinyue asked mildly, "do you believe that yourself?"

Liang Qiushi fell silent again.

This time, the silence lasted even longer—long enough that Li Wei felt her rigid posture was about to make her muscles cramp.

At last, Jiang Xinyue's tone softened somewhat. "How about this... I'll go find your father and Elder Zeng. The three of us will pressure the Zhang Family together and make them guarantee Jinzhi's safety in the Western Frontier!"

Liang Qiushi let out a short, desolate laugh and returned Jiang Xinyue's words to her word for word.

"Do you believe the Zhang Family's promise?"

"If they want to kill someone, they have countless ways to manufacture an 'accident'!"

"When the time comes, they'll put on a show of being grief-stricken and sincerely apologize."

"Afterward, what can you do to them? Will you really go to war with the Zhang Family for Jinzhi?"

Jiang Xinyue: "..."

"The Zhang Family must have gone mad or something. They're clinging to Jinzhi and refusing to let go. Someone secretly told me that this was personally ordered by that old bastard Zhang Luye..."

Liang Qiushi's voice gradually calmed. "But Li Wei—or rather, 'Jiang Xue'—is in a different situation. She isn't on the Zhang Family's kill list. Moreover, with the talent she has displayed, once she makes a name for herself, the Zhang Family will actually be afraid to touch her!"

Her speech quickened, filled with desperate sincerity. "Godmother! If Li Wei were merely someone with 'Muscles and Bones Ringing in Harmony,' she would undoubtedly die! If the Zhang Family killed her, it wouldn't even cause a ripple. They know you wouldn't fight the Zhang Family to the death over a 'granddaughter' with 'Muscles and Bones Ringing in Harmony'!"

"But the 'Dao-Approaching Body' is different! A Jiang Family prodigy who possesses a Natal Lotus is even more different! As long as the Zhang Family isn't stupid, they should understand that if 'Jiang Xue' were to die under mysterious circumstances on their territory, you would absolutely go berserk! You would retaliate at any cost! Even the Martial Arts Alliance would hold them accountable! They wouldn't dare take that risk!"

Jiang Xinyue pondered, seemingly weighing the pros and cons. Only after a moment did she ask, "Since you're so certain that the Zhang Family is determined to kill Jinzhi for some unknown reason, have you considered that if Li Wei disrupts their plans, the Zhang Family might, in their shame and fury, redirect their anger toward Li Wei?"

"The joint pressure you mentioned just now can be used here." Liang Qiushi immediately picked up the thread. "She isn't a target the Zhang Family is determined to kill. Killing her would serve them no purpose and would only bring trouble upon them."

Jiang Xinyue's attitude softened slightly. "You mean to have her deliberately reveal her talent?"

"Yes. It's the only solution that benefits everyone." Liang Qiushi pressed on.

"Heh, I only told her yesterday to keep a low profile and conceal her abilities..." Jiang Xinyue's voice carried an indescribable melancholy. "What a mess this has become..."

Liang Qiushi's reasoning became even clearer. "There's no hiding it. The Zhang Family definitely already knows! Besides, Zhang Yansheng will certainly guess that you sent Jiang Xue abroad because you had already seen that she was 'exceptionally talented,' and that you were protecting her while secretly cultivating her."

"Yes, that must be it! Jiang Xue's mentor is Allen Wallace. Your original intention was merely for him to look after Jiang Xue, but his technique is best suited to laying a solid foundation. Through this twist of fate, it instead served to mislead them!"

"With that, the Zhang Family absolutely won't suspect Li Wei's identity anymore! After all, no matter how capable I, Liang Qiushi, am—even if I have divine powers and eyes and ears everywhere—I could never find someone with a 'Dao-Approaching Body' to serve as Jinzhi's scapegoat! It simply doesn't make sense!"

"My guess is that his plans may be centered on preventing Jinzhi and 'Jiang Xue' from having children! So why don't we turn their own scheme against them?"

Holy crap, why do I feel like I've suddenly grown a brain?

Li Wei listened, dumbfounded.

Jiang Xinyue pondered for a moment before pressing further. "What makes you think the Zhang Family won't make a desperate last stand and send someone to assassinate Jinzhi directly? If that really happens, what meaning does everything you're doing now have?"

Liang Qiushi's voice was exceptionally certain. "'That person' once guaranteed to my father-in-law that the Zhang Family absolutely would not—and did not dare to—resort to underhanded tactics."

That person? Who is that person? Li Wei's curiosity was piqued.

Aunt Liang's tone was practically that of someone holding a get-out-of-death-free card.

"'That person' personally intervened?"

Jiang Xinyue's tone held obvious surprise. Clearly, she knew who "that person" was.

Liang Qiushi gave a soft "Mm" and offered no further explanation.

Jiang Xinyue was silent for a moment before asking, "Since 'that person' was willing to intervene, why not simply see things through and be a good person to the end? Why make everything so troublesome?"

There was helplessness in Liang Qiushi's voice. "I don't know the exact reason either. My father-in-law only said that 'that person' remarked: The Great Dao is fifty, Heaven's workings make up forty-nine; in all things, leave one thread..."

"Heh." Jiang Xinyue lowered her voice, as though muttering to herself—or afraid someone might overhear. "That really is 'that person's' usual style."

"Godmother, why don't we do this..." Liang Qiushi's voice dropped, filled with hesitation and pleading. "I know you've always been investigating the whereabouts of Grandma Jiang—your mother, Jiang Xinyue. I'll have my father personally make a trip to the Abyss and help you..."

The voices in the conversation that followed dropped extremely low.

Li Wei pricked up her ears and strained to listen, but could only catch scattered words such as "trapped," "rift," "ruins," and "exchange."

No one knew how much time had passed before the door opened with a soft creak.

Jiang Xinyue and Liang Qiushi walked in one after the other. Liang Qiushi's eyes were visibly red, and she looked somewhat nervous.

"All right, good granddaughter. Get up."

Jiang Xinyue glanced at Li Wei. Her tone remained as languid as ever, but she waved her hand.

Li Wei felt her body suddenly relax. That invisible binding force vanished instantly.

She gathered her strength and shot upright from the bed. The movement was so forceful that she nearly toppled headfirst.

Seeing Liang Qiushi's reddened eyes, Li Wei awkwardly scratched the back of her head and revealed a somewhat foolish smile.

Jiang Xinyue looked at her carefree expression, raised a hand to rub her throbbing temples, and sighed. "Xiao Qiu and I have discussed this. This matter is extremely serious, and in the end, it still depends on what you want..."

"I'll go!"

Before Jiang Xinyue could finish, Li Wei had already cut her off with absolute decisiveness. She even thrust out the classic Erkang hand, her expression extraordinarily resolute.

The tension visibly drained from Liang Qiushi's face. Her gaze toward Li Wei filled with gratitude and tenderness, as though she had finally set down a thousand-jin burden.

Jiang Xinyue helplessly sighed again and looked at Li Wei. "Have you thought it through? This isn't child's play."

Li Wei nodded hard, withdrew her Erkang hand, and raised a thumb as she declared emphatically:

"Say it and do it—that's the endurance... Ahem, that's Li Wei's martial path!"