Mu Ye's face paled another shade.
A buzz of discussion rose around them.
"Could everything Qiaoqiao said be true?"
"Why did he poison the wine?"
"Could this Fu Fengyuan..."
"No, he isn't!" Mu Ye could not help blurting out. He turned a pleading gaze toward Sword Lord Qingyun beside him. "Uncle Yun..."
Uncle Yun would have a way!
Whatever difficulty arose, Uncle Yun could solve it. He would surely be able to prove that he was Mother's child!
In his panic, he did not even notice how ugly Sword Lord Qingyun's expression had become.
The secret he had painstakingly hidden for years had actually been exposed by a single, casual remark from Qiaoqiao!
Even less had he expected that the child he had abandoned back then would return to the Flowing Cloud Sect and even awaken the Radiant Dragon Bloodline!
Had he known this would happen, he should never have shown that moment of mercy because the boy was his elder brother's child. If he had killed him back then, how could today's trouble have arisen?
He looked at Mu Liuyun's back as countless thoughts raced through his mind. What could he do to salvage the situation before him?
Overcome with emotion, Mu Liuyun walked up to Fu Fengyuan.
Years ago, while exploring a secret realm, Sword Lord Qingshuang had unexpectedly obtained a drop of Radiant Dragon blood from High Antiquity and acquired the Radiant Dragon Bloodline. When the bloodline awakened, the image of a golden dragon would appear.
The Radiant Dragon Bloodline was exceedingly rare. In the entire Cultivation World, only her husband, Sword Lord Qingshuang, possessed it, yet it had just appeared in this disciple.
There was no possibility that she had seen it wrong.
"Why do you have the Radiant Dragon Bloodline?" Mu Liuyun asked excitedly. "Who are your parents?"
Fu Fengyuan looked at her. Her features were so unfamiliar, and the floral ornament between her brows shone brilliantly. Because of Qiaoqiao's inner voice, he knew that the person before him was his mother.
He had thought his parents had abandoned him, that no one loved him. It turned out that he had been harmed by a villain and separated from his mother.
"I..."
"You're my elder brother's child!" Sword Lord Qingyun strode forward and took Fu Fengyuan by the shoulders. "Only my elder brother possessed Radiant Dragon blood. You must be the bloodline he left behind outside!"
He actually acted even more excited than Mu Liuyun.
[Wow, he's so shameless!]
[Aaaah, get away from my fourth senior brother!]
Had they not known what he had done, they really would have thought he knew nothing about it.
He had even deliberately misled them by saying Fu Fengyuan was a child Sword Lord Qingshuang had fathered with another woman.
The sheer thickness of this man's skin left everyone from Ethereal Peak awestruck.
Mu Liuyun froze for a moment. Qiaoqiao said, "Yes, yes, my fourth senior brother must be Sword Lord Qingshuang and the sect leader's child! Who in the sect doesn't know how deeply Sword Lord Qingshuang and the sect leader loved each other?"
Sword Lord Qingyun could not help glancing at her.
Qiaoqiao smiled innocently. "Sword Lord Qingyun, you must think so too, right? After all, Sword Lord Qingshuang was your sworn elder brother!"
Qingyun: ...
His face was nearly turning green from holding it in, yet he still had to maintain a gracious smile. "My elder brother did indeed-"
"As expected, Sword Lord Qingyun thinks so too. Fourth senior brother is Sword Lord Qingshuang and the sect leader's child!"
Sword Lord Qingyun nearly spat blood from anger.
"Fourth senior brother, hurry and call her Mother!"
Fu Fengyuan opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
Mu Liuyun smiled reassuringly. "It's all right. You can take your time getting used to it."
Qiaoqiao was right. She could doubt anyone in this world, but never Qingshuang's love for her. He would never betray her.
But how had their child ended up out in the world?
She looked at Mu Ye. Why had he poisoned Fu Fengyuan? Did he know something?
Mu Ye's face was deathly pale, his heart filled with panic.
He realized where his inexplicable hostility toward Fu Fengyuan had come from.
This person had come to take everything from him!
A chill swept through Mu Ye's entire body. "Mother, Uncle Yun, don't abandon me... Uncle Yun, I'm the young sect leader! I'm Mother's child!"
"That wretch, what right does he have-"
"A-Ye!" Sword Lord Qingyun interrupted him. "Calm down first."
Mu Ye froze.
Sword Lord Qingyun felt that although the Radiant Dragon Bloodline could not be faked, it could only prove that Fu Fengyuan was Sword Lord Qingshuang's offspring, not necessarily Mu Liuyun's. If they tested his parentage, he would still have a chance to tamper with it.
So what if they acknowledged him?
Mu Ye was the elder brother. He would still be the one to inherit the position of sect leader. The Flowing Cloud Sect would fall into his own hands in the end.
Mu Liuyun was easy to deceive and would not guard against him. He would certainly be able to cover this up.
He had abandoned his wife and murdered his elder brother, painstakingly scheming and staying by Mu Liuyun's side for so many years before attaining his current position. He absolutely could not let all his efforts fall short at the final hurdle today.
Under Sword Lord Qingyun's meaningful gaze, Mu Ye gradually calmed down. "Mother, I didn't know who he was, and I didn't know there was anything wrong with that wine! Those people from Ethereal Peak have gone to such lengths to slander me. Who knows what they're plotting!"
He turned his spearhead toward Qiaoqiao, and Fu Fengyuan immediately said, "Sect Leader, I believe my junior sister."
Although he did not understand how his junior sister knew, he trusted Qiaoqiao unconditionally.
Qiaoqiao: [Wow, is this what it feels like to have someone backing me up?]
[From now on, I have someone to rely on too!]
"Qiaoqiao."
"Master, what is it?"
She turned back in confusion and saw Bai Fu looking at her with lowered brows, a faint trace of frost seemingly in his eyes.
[I have Master to back me up too.]
She straightened her back. "That's right, I'm the one who said it!"
Mu Ye could not help cursing, "Bullshit!"
Ning Shuang said, "Why not test their blood relationship right here? Whether it's true or false, a single test will tell."
Mu Ye instinctively looked toward Sword Lord Qingyun. Qingyun said, "Since that's the case, let's test it."
"Uncle Yun..."
"Don't worry," Sword Lord Qingyun said. "I watched you grow up. No one knows better than I do whose child you are."