"Mm, be careful playing with it. Every needle in there is coated in deadly poison. Whatever you do, don't scratch yourself. After using it, you must wear gloves when retrieving the needles, too."
After all, Zhao Ling did not have the Mysterious Jade Hand. In the future, he could only have some gloves custom-made to carry with him. Only with gloves protecting them could they reuse the Pear Blossom Needles in a Rainstorm.
"Mm... then, darling, put this Rain-something Needles away for me first." After playing with it for a while, Ah Yin handed the Pear Blossom Needles in a Rainstorm back to Zhao Ling. She, too, thought this thing was far too dangerous.
If she or her husband accidentally got scratched, that would be awkward. It was better to put away such a lethal weapon for now.
"Mm..." Zhao Ling casually put the Pear Blossom Needles in a Rainstorm back into his Storage Space. Once it was safely stored, he turned and headed out.
Puzzled, Ah Yin called after Zhao Ling, "Darling, aren't you sleeping in my room tonight?"
Zhao Ling turned back, bent his head, and gently kissed Ah Yin between the brows. "You've worked hard these past few days. Your husband won't put you through any more tonight. Get some proper rest."
Watching Zhao Ling turn away with easy grace and return to his own room, Ah Yin looked touched and murmured, "Thank you. You're so thoughtful, darling..."
She had thought she would be crying to unheeding heavens and an unresponsive earth tonight. Yet her husband had actually begun showing consideration for her. How could she not be touched?
Meanwhile, in room 516 of the same hotel, after reading the latest diary update, the urge to stab Yu Xiaogang grew ever stronger in Bibi Dong's eyes.
What a joke. That fellow Yu Xiaogang spent every day acting as though he liked her so much.
Zhao Ling had previously written in his diary that, originally, less than two years after separating from her, Yu Xiaogang would fall in love with a woman named Liu Erlong.
He would even want to marry her, only for Liu Erlong's father to stop them because they were first cousins.
Logically speaking, once they both knew they were first cousins, so closely related by blood, surely they should have given it a rest?
Yet in the end, they still became husband and wife in spirit, never going to find her, who had suffered such a tragic fate.
Bibi Dong could only say that the version of herself in the diary was far too stupid, far too foolish, to have fallen for a bastard like Yu Xiaogang.
Fortunately, thanks to the appearance of Zhao Ling's Diary Copy, she had not fallen for Yu Xiaogang. Otherwise, those two would have infuriated her until she vomited blood and her personality became twisted.
Compared with Yu Xiaogang, although Zhao Ling liked many women and was quite a scumbag himself, he always kept her in his heart even while liking others.
If she had not kept refusing to take her relationship with Zhao Ling further for fear of persecution by that beast of a teacher, he would probably already be sleeping soundly with her in his arms every night.
Bibi Dong could tell that Zhao Ling liked her more than Ah Yin. His gaze burned when he looked at her.
He was unlike that fellow Yu Xiaogang, who, once he fell for his cousin, insisted on becoming her husband in spirit despite their close blood ties.
Why hadn't he gone to find her, who had already become Supreme Pontiff in the diary? Was she unworthy as Supreme Pontiff?
The more Bibi Dong thought about it, the angrier she became. Just how blind in both eyes and heart had her original self in the diary been to fall for such a bastard? Damn it.
She swore bitterly to herself, Yu Xiaogang, just you wait. The next time I see you, if I don't beat you until even your parents can't recognize you, I'll take your surname...
What she did not know was that, after careful treatment by several Healing-type Soul Saints at the Great Soul Arena, the brothers Yu Xiaolong and Yu Xiaogang had already been carried onto a carriage bound for the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan by six collateral clan members.
They truly did not dare remain in Suotuo City any longer. Even their eldest young master, a mighty Soul Emperor, had been pinned to the ground and brutally ground into it by that man surnamed Zhao.
Had that man surnamed Zhao been interested, all eight of them would probably have ended up dead.
Setting off through the night and obediently scurrying back to the clan was now the safest choice. Besides, the second young master was unconscious. However unwilling he was to return, he had to go back obediently.
Of course, most importantly, those Soul Saint-level Healing-type Soul Masters had told them that the eldest young master's head injury was far from promising.
External injuries were easy to treat, but damaged nerves in the brain were not so easily restored. They had to return to the clan quickly and use its connections to find a higher-level Healing-type Soul Master. This could not wait...
Chapter 76: A terrible disaster
Over the next three days, both Bibi Dong and Zhao Ling were disappointed that Yu Xiaogang never appeared.
During that time, Bibi Dong finally obtained the Great Soul Arena's Gold Soul Fighting Badge, personally completing the assignment Qian Xunji had given her for this journey.
Thus, it was almost time for them to return to Spirit City. She and Chrysanthemum Douluo had agreed to depart for Spirit City in three days, and she extended another invitation to Zhao Ling.
Naturally, Zhao Ling gladly accepted, and he would bring Ah Yin along as well.
With the Soul-Sealing Seal in effect, even if Qian Daoliu and Golden Crocodile Douluo appeared before them, they could forget about discovering her identity as a Soul Beast.
He was going to take Ah Yin for a stroll around Spirit City and then leave safely. Wouldn't that infuriate Qian Daoliu and his son Qian Xunji?
Bibi Dong was naturally delighted by Zhao Ling's ready acceptance. She did not want to part ways with him so soon.
Ideally, Zhao Ling could put some pressure on her teacher, enough that he would not dare lock her in a secret chamber and violate her as described in the diary.
After three days on the road, the collateral clan disciples finally brought the brothers Yu Xiaolong and Yu Xiaogang home.
During the journey, Yu Xiaogang finally regained consciousness. Zhao Ling had gone relatively lightly on him, afraid that if he killed him, he would lose such an entertaining toy.
By contrast, Zhao Ling had been exceedingly brutal with Yu Xiaolong, as was clear from the crater he had smashed into the flagstone floor using Yu Xiaolong's head.
Thus, Yu Xiaolong remained unconscious even now, lying in the carriage with no response beyond breathing. To keep him from starving to death, the collateral clan members could only buy him rice porridge or meat broth for his three daily meals.
Now that they had finally returned to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, those collateral clan disciples were so excited that tears welled in their eyes. It hadn't been easy-truly, it hadn't. They had finally returned safely to the clan.
Unlike those collateral clan disciples, Yu Xiaogang was filled with mixed emotions.
On the one hand, he had failed to seriously injure Zhao Ling, leaving that fellow in Suotuo City to court Miss Dong'er.
Perhaps the next time he met Miss Dong'er, she would already have given herself to that beast Zhao Ling. The thought alone made his heart ache.
On the other hand, his elder brother had gone to the Great Soul Arena to find him and had wanted to deal with Zhao Ling to vent his anger for him, only for both brothers to be brutally dealt with by Zhao Ling instead.
Most importantly, his own injuries were not particularly serious, and he had regained consciousness a day earlier.
Yet his elder brother still had not awakened. According to the collateral clan members, even if his elder brother woke up, he might suffer extremely serious lasting effects.
Yu Xiaogang would rather have been the one lying unconscious at that moment. He was filled with bitter regret, truly regretting that he had not listened to his elder brother and returned to the clan with him when they met.
Instead, he had sought his own death by taking his elder brother to trouble that man surnamed Zhao. Now, with his elder brother lying stiffly beside him in the carriage, he truly did not know how to face his father or the piercing gazes of the clan elders.
As the carriage stopped at the clan's mountain gate, the collateral clan members carefully carried his elder brother inside.
The four guards at the mountain gate could not help looking shocked when they saw the eldest young master being carried through the entrance.
What was going on? Their eldest young master was a genius who had reached the Soul Emperor level before turning thirty.
Now he was being carried through the mountain gate like this. Who on earth had attacked him and injured him so badly?
With a complicated expression, Yu Xiaogang held his forehead. Although his injuries had healed considerably and he had regained consciousness, his head still throbbed intermittently, accompanied by dizziness and nausea.
But he had no time to recover and could only obediently follow the others.
Soon, the group returned to the clan's enormous courtyard. Upon learning that the brothers Yu Xiaolong and Yu Xiaogang had returned, someone immediately ran to inform Yu Yuanzhen and the other clan elders.
The clan's senior figures hurried to the courtyard upon receiving the news.
Previously, Yu Luomian had learned about Yu Xiaogang by questioning the servant who had come to report the situation to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
Displeased, Yu Luomian had joined the elders in confronting Yu Yuanzhen. However, Yu Yuanzhen had forcibly suppressed them using his authority as clan leader, offering only a promise to punish Yu Xiaogang severely upon his return.
The deputy clan leader and elders who were deeply unhappy with Yu Xiaogang could do nothing about it. What choice did they have when his father was the clan leader and its strongest member?
Now, however, hearing that Yu Xiaogang had returned, they felt they had finally found an opportunity to unleash their anger. How could they miss it? They all hurried into the courtyard.
Yu Xiaolong's recently married wife also arrived in the courtyard.
Seeing her husband lying unconscious on the ground, she cried with such heart-rending anguish that anyone who heard her would grieve and anyone who saw her would weep. Her sobbing also left everyone present in turmoil.
Hearing his sister-in-law crying so mournfully, Yu Xiaogang knew that he had caused a terrible disaster this time. He hurriedly knelt properly on the ground, not even daring to raise his head.
He felt guilty-guilty to the bone. If he had not kept refusing to return to the clan and insisted that his elder brother trouble that man surnamed Zhao, how could his elder brother be lying unconscious on the ground now?
Disturbed and agitated by the crying, Yu Luomian and the elders looked from the unconscious Yu Xiaolong on the ground to Yu Xiaogang, who knelt without daring to breathe loudly. The flames of anger in their hearts burned ever hotter.
Yu Luomian had long harbored resentment toward his younger nephew, but that did not mean he was dissatisfied with his elder nephew. His elder nephew was even more talented than his own son, Yu Xiaojiao.
Thus, he held great hopes for Yu Xiaolong, hoping that his elder nephew could lead the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan toward an even more glorious tomorrow.
But when he saw Yu Xiaolong lying motionless on the ground as though dead, he nervously approached his elder nephew and checked his breathing. He found that he was still breathing, but very faintly.
Fury blazed within him, and he strode over to Yu Xiaogang, who was kneeling properly.
Raising his hand, he delivered more than a dozen vicious slaps to the face he had hated for over a decade, striking alternately from both sides.
"You useless waste! What exactly did you do? Why has your elder brother ended up like this? Why aren't you the one lying on the ground? You wretched little bastard!!!"
However, to avoid slapping his younger nephew to death, Yu Luomian controlled his strength, making the blows painful without seriously injuring him.
Although Yu Yuanzhen was deeply displeased that his younger brother had suddenly struck his younger son so viciously,
the sight of his elder son lying on the ground, his fate unknown, kept him from intervening immediately.
He, too, crouched to check his breathing. Only after finding him alive did he breathe a sigh of relief and question the collateral clan members.
"What happened? What exactly happened? Why is your eldest young master injured like this? Speak!"
Chapter 77: Why aren't you the one unconscious?
At Yu Yuanzhen's question, one of the more trusted collateral clan disciples gave a full account of everything they had done after arriving in Suotuo City.
This included how the second young master had previously refused to return even if it killed him. To make him return to the clan, the eldest young master had to agree to teach that man named Zhao Ling a lesson.
The eldest young master had agreed, thinking it would be easy, only to strike an iron nail and be brutally dealt with instead, pinned to the ground and mercilessly ground into it.
Everyone had already been grinding their teeth in fury over Yu Xiaolong's injuries and unconsciousness. Now, hearing that Yu Xiaogang was the instigator of it all, Yu Yuanzhen shoved aside Yu Luomian, who was slapping his younger son's face.
"Brother, haven't you eaten? Your slaps are so feeble."
With that, he raised his palm-leaf-fan-sized hand and slapped Yu Xiaogang across the face from both sides, berating him as he struck.
"Don't you know that beyond every expert stands another, and beyond every heaven lies another heaven? Yet you had your elder brother go vent your anger for you.
"Now look at him, lying unconscious on the ground! If not for you, you unfilial son, would your elder brother be like this? Why aren't you the one unconscious? Why!!!"
One heavy, forceful slap after another landed on Yu Xiaogang's face, soon swelling both his cheeks high.
Under his father's savage slaps, all his teeth fell out, and blood drenched his mouth.
Yet Yu Xiaogang dared not show the slightest dissatisfaction. He spat some of his fallen teeth onto the ground and swallowed others along with his blood.
His head, which had yet to fully recover, kept buzzing. Soon, the world began to spin, and finally he toppled headfirst onto the ground, his fate unknown for the moment.
Only upon seeing his second son collapse unconscious did Yu Yuanzhen barely suppress his anger. Suddenly, some regret rose in his heart.
He only had two sons to begin with. Now his elder son had been beaten unconscious by someone else, and he had beaten his second son unconscious himself. If both sons were unlucky enough to die, he would be utterly finished.
Yu Yuanzhen looked back at his younger brother and the elders, wondering why they had not stopped him. If they had intervened, his younger son would not have been slapped unconscious.
But the other elders merely watched coldly. Compared with the exceptionally gifted Yu Xiaolong, Yu Xiaogang was an utter waste.
Now Yu Xiaolong had been beaten unconscious for the sake of that waste Yu Xiaogang. Yu Xiaogang should count himself lucky not to have been beaten to death, yet he still expected them to plead for him?
Yu Yuanzhen could only flick his sleeve in chagrin and order people to carry Yu Xiaolong and Yu Xiaogang to their respective rooms. Then he personally went to invite the Ye Family's current heir, who possessed the Nine Heart Begonia.
Yu Yuanzhen knew very well how terrifying the Nine Heart Begonia's healing ability was. It was nothing short of a miracle among Martial Souls, reputedly capable of saving anyone who had not died immediately, and restoring them astonishingly quickly.
He felt that, for his two sons, there was nothing wrong with setting aside his pride to beg the Ye Family.
The current inheritor of the Nine Heart Begonia Martial Soul had initially been unwilling to come, but Yu Yuanzhen offered money and gifts, and even promised to owe the Ye Family two favors.
He did not particularly care about the money or gifts, but two favors from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan were quite valuable to the Ye Family. Perhaps he would have no use for them himself, but future descendants might.
The current inheritor of the Nine Heart Begonia was a Healing-type Soul Douluo who looked to be in his sixties or seventies and whose Soul Power had reached level 82.
After examining Yu Xiaolong's injuries, he immediately released his Nine Heart Begonia Martial Soul and began treating him.
It had to be said that the Nine Heart Begonia Martial Soul was truly powerful. After more than ten minutes of treatment, Yu Xiaolong's injuries were fully healed, and he soon regained consciousness.
Only... after waking, Yu Xiaolong seemed very abnormal, constantly grinning foolishly.
He grinned so happily that he was just like the village idiot from the neighboring village in Zhao Ling's previous life. As he kept grinning, drool even ran from the corner of his mouth.
Seeing his elder son grinning and giggling foolishly, Yu Yuanzhen lost his footing and fell onto the ground. Disbelief filled his face as he questioned the Ye Family's current Nine Heart Begonia wielder.
"W-what's going on? Haven't my elder son's head injuries healed? Why does he look so foolish? W-what exactly has happened to him?"
The Ye Family's current Nine Heart Begonia wielder sighed heavily.
"The injuries to his head have indeed healed, but his brain was damaged earlier. It seems his mental faculties have been severely affected. I'm afraid that for the rest of his life... alas, I wonder who could have struck so viciously..."
Hearing this, Yu Yuanzhen felt as though his head had taken another heavy blow. It felt as though the sky had collapsed.
His elder son was not like his younger son. He had been meant to inherit leadership of the clan after Yu Yuanzhen's death, yet now he had become a fool who knew only how to grin happily.
The Ye Family's current Nine Heart Begonia wielder said nothing more to Yu Yuanzhen, turning and leaving the room.
Outside the room, Yu Xiaolong's wife saw him emerge and assumed her husband's injuries had healed. Overjoyed, she hurried into the room.
Yet when she saw her father-in-law slumped on the ground and her husband lying awake in bed, doing nothing but grinning foolishly, she, too, stumbled and fell to the floor.
Why? Why had this happened? Why had her always shrewd and capable husband suddenly become this witless fool?
Before you continue