At the thought, she still felt it was not safe enough and simply dispersed all the spiritual power in her body. With that, there truly was no risk of hurting Wu Yuting, but when the bamboo ruler struck flesh again, Zuo Xiaonian felt pain no differently from an ordinary person.
Smack, smack, smack...
Wu Yuting kept swinging the disciplinary ruler.
Zuo Xiaoduo trembled as he watched from the side, both aching for her and feeling the fox's grief at the rabbit's death. His voice shook. "Mom, that's enough... Sister Niannian looks like she's really hurting..."
Zuo Changlu smiled faintly. "What touching devotion between sister and brother. Unfortunately, your mother and I are determined to play the villains today..."
Before he finished speaking, he gripped one end of the belt in each hand, brought them together, then pulled them apart, producing a crisp snap.
Zuo Xiaoduo shuddered all over.
With a hook of his leather shoe, Zuo Changlu swept another long bench over, his icy eyes fixed on Zuo Xiaoduo.
Zuo Xiaoduo did not hesitate in the slightest, not even for a second. He lay face down on it immediately, raising his backside as he did.
He assumed the standard position for a beating.
The next instant.
Smack! Smack, smack...
A string of blows rang out, as thick and fast as falling hail.
Zuo Xiaoduo's screams, like those of a pig being slaughtered, pierced the clouds.
"So you can tell fortunes now!"
"So you can read faces now!"
"Aren't you capable! You've even learned to swindle people!"
"To swindle them out of money!"
"You're a Martial Warrior now. Aren't you just something!"
"..."
A long, long time later.
The smacking on both sides finally stopped.
Zuo Xiaoduo groaned feebly, while Zuo Xiaonian sobbed softly.
"Do you know what you did wrong?" It was Wu Yuting asking Zuo Xiaonian.
"Yes."
"Why did I beat you?"
"I shouldn't have pushed myself and gone out on a mission..."
"Then you really do understand. Will you dare do it again?"
"No."
Zuo Xiaonian capitulated very quickly too.
Wu Yuting truly could not be blamed for being angry. For an ordinary cultivator, breaking through to the Dan Origin Realm was one of the most important events of their life. At this juncture, even nurturing their dantian every day hardly seemed enough. They would absolutely never go out to take missions, and even routine sparring would be suspended!
Major sects and academies always confined disciples who had reached this critical stage, strictly forbidding them from going out and allowing nothing to affect their emotions or cultivation.
Any mishap, any injury, could cut off their path to becoming a grandmaster forever! The consequences would last a lifetime!
This juncture truly was the most critical of all!
The slightest mishap would become a lifelong regret.
Yet Zuo Xiaonian had actually taken a mission at such a time. It would have been strange if Wu Yuting had not been driven mad with anger. As for this beating, Zuo Xiaonian herself knew she had brought it upon herself and had no one else to blame.
She really did deserve it.
On the other side.
"Do you know why you were beaten?"
"I know half of it."
"Hmm?" Zuo Changlu's brows knitted.
"I think I was wrong, but not entirely wrong." Now that the beating was over, Zuo Xiaoduo's mind had actually cleared.
"You used that fortune-telling, face-reading bullshit to swindle someone out of ten thousand yuan. Didn't you deserve a beating? Then you came home and tried to pull the wool over my eyes too. Didn't you deserve a beating?" Zuo Changlu glared.
"There was a reason. There really was."
Zuo Xiaoduo truly felt he had been wronged.
He even found his earlier cowardice inconceivable. Right, I didn't do anything wrong. Why did I feel guilty? Not only did I get beaten, but my private stash was confiscated too. Who am I supposed to turn to for justice?
I stood up for what was right. I caught a thief. I'm a model citizen.
And I actually got beaten! Worse, before the beating, I was scared out of my mind and utterly spineless.
No, there's something wrong with my mindset.
I've really been wronged to death.
Zuo Xiaonian brought it on herself, but I didn't...
At that thought, Zuo Xiaoduo hurriedly recounted everything in full. "...I did a good deed. I stood up for what was right..."
Zuo Xiaoduo did not notice.
As he told his story, Zuo Changlu and Wu Yuting kept exchanging glances.
Nor did he notice that when he mentioned "a girl in pink, a pink wallet," Zuo Xiaonian, who was being beaten, suddenly stopped screaming, and her expression slowly began to change.
Zuo Xiaonian looked thoughtful, her gaze growing very deep.
"So that's what happened. Then there really were extenuating circumstances."
Zuo Changlu nodded thoughtfully, suddenly feeling that he really had beaten him unjustly. Right, he stood up for what was right and caught a thief. Conning a little money out of a thief was perfectly justified. It was good enough that he hadn't forced the thief to find a nearby ATM and withdraw money...
Seeing his father acknowledge it, Zuo Xiaoduo immediately felt so wronged that tears nearly spilled from his eyes. "That's exactly what happened... I stood up for what was right, but I still got beaten..."
Smack!
Another lash of the belt. This one, however, was much lighter.
Zuo Xiaoduo froze at once, staring at his father in utter disbelief.
Zuo Changlu spoke unhurriedly. "I'm your father. Even if I beat you by mistake, are you going to hit me back?"
Zuo Xiaoduo felt too aggrieved to speak up. "I wouldn't dare."
"Then doesn't that settle it?"
Zuo Changlu said as though it were only natural, "That's that."
Zuo Xiaoduo could only question Heaven in speechless despair.
Did I take that beating for nothing?
With a slap, a small bag appeared in front of him.
"There are fifty low-grade pieces of Star Soul Jade in here. There's a hundred thousand yuan on the card. Take it to pay your tuition tomorrow."
"Also, here are ten mid-grade pieces of Star Soul Jade. Use them for your daily cultivation. They should cover a month's consumption. But to be safe, come ask me for another ten in about twenty days. When it comes to cultivation, the more resources, the better. Don't be stingy and reluctant to use them."
Zuo Xiaoduo was instantly stunned!
Ten mid-grade pieces of Star Soul Jade! Although the Zuo family owned a Star Soul Stone shop, Zuo Xiaoduo knew the price of mid-grade Star Soul Jade. A single piece cost at least tens of thousands of yuan!