Elder Ma's slap sent Ma Rulong spinning on the spot.
The blow was anything but light. It spun him a full three hundred and sixty degrees like a top, leaving his head buzzing and stars bursting before his eyes.
He opened his mouth as if to speak, but before he could get his tongue working, his eyes rolled back.
Smack.
He toppled backward and hit the bluestone ground flat on his back. His head struck with a dull thud, and he passed out.
His pose was absurd, limbs spread wide like an overturned turtle.
At the sight, Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen blinked in unison.
Xiao Hongchen's white hair was disheveled, and his blue-and-red eyes were full of bewilderment. He looked at Ma Rulong on the ground, then at Elder Ma's livid face. His lips moved, but he still hadn't worked out what had happened.
Beside him, Meng Hongchen stood frozen for a moment too, her wine-red hair slightly tousled.
Her narrow, phoenix-shaped eyes swept between Ma Rulong and Elder Ma twice. Her pink lips parted as though she wanted to say something, but she decided this was hardly the time.
After a brief silence, the siblings took half a step back together.
Then, almost at the same time, a remarkably peculiar expression appeared on both their faces.
Their eyes were wide, their lips pressed lightly together, their chins tucked in. They stood perfectly straight, looking as well-behaved as could be.
Both faces said the same thing—
You've hit him, so you can't hit us too, okay?
Elder Ma looked up and saw the siblings making those faces.
The corner of his mouth twitched sharply.
He opened his mouth to curse, but couldn't think what to say.
The siblings hadn't provoked him. They had stood quietly there from start to