Since Wu Long no longer needed a pretense to stay here and could just stay in the Luo family house for no reason as long as he wanted, he decided to wrap up the danger Luo Mingyu was in so that there would be no impediments that kept him here when he does move on further.
When Feng Yi was done learning from Luo Mingyu he asked to talk to her.
“Yi’er…”
When he started with this familiar way of calling her as he placed his hand on her cheek, caressing it with his thumb, she felt surprised and at the same time happy. This was the first time he called her in such an intimate way.
“…it might get hard and painful for you soon, but you can always come to me for comfort”
He said, greatly surprising her. She did not understand his meaning, but when she saw his sincere expression and kind eyes that looked at her with care she nodded in recognition.
He then told her that he needed to see her family, which she was fairly surprised about since Wu Long for some reason looked a little uncomfortable when he talked to her father last time, stopping him from speaking for too long. But since he asked, she sent a message to her father with a communication talisman and went ahead.
Feng Yi led Wu Long to the General’s Quarters, where Feng Yi’s father could usually be found, and he was now with both his sons waiting for them.
When they entered the office, General Feng cupped his fists and respectfully lowered his head.
“This little one greets…”
Wu Long waved his hand as goosebumps went through him. He really was not very good at dealing with this man.
“I came today to resolve your predicament with the leader of the Blood Dragon Gang”
He said flatly, as all of their faces changed.
“Heh! We’ve been trying to catch him for so long and you think you can just come and solve it? You really are arrogant!”
The youngest sibling, Feng Yi’s little brother Feng Hai immediately showed disdain on his face. There was ridicule in his tone.
“Hai’er! Don’t be rude to the esteemed master*!”
Wu Long did not react to this and simply continued.
“The reason you have not been able to catch him and his group moved so well is not because he is that smart or that dangerous, it is because he always knew your every step and action”
When he said this, while they were mostly dumbfounded, first anger and at the end a trace of panic appeared in Feng Hai’s eyes.
“You fart! How would he know our movements? Father! There is no meaning in listening to his nonsense!”
“Hai’er! If you don’t stop now don’t blame me for being harsh!”
Wu Long felt a headache the more he heard General Feng speak. This ‘don’t blame me for being harsh’ made him cringe so much he almost showed it on his face.
“Esteemed master, what might you mean by him knowing our steps and moves? We too have once suspected him being in our ranks or having spies, but we conducted a thorough investigation in our midst.”
Feng Yi’s older brother who was silent up to here asked respectfully, but with some doubt.
“You just did not investigate high enough. Since he is standing right there”
Wu Long said as he looked at Feng Hai, who did not react to this accusation, only ridicule appearing on his face.
“You see? What did I tell you?”
“Esteemed master… this…”
“My younger brother may be young and impetuous, but he is a man of our Feng family”
“Wu Long…”
All of them reacted with confusion and slight daze except for Feng Hai who had a mocking attitude. Feng Yi called out to Wu Long, a look of worry appearing on her face. She was the one who trusted him the most, and as he said this, painful recognition of what he talked about earlier came to her. She shifted her gaze from Wu Long to Feng Hai in disbelief.
“Esteemed master, my son cannot be…”
“I have been here for some time now and heard my fair share of rumors and information. It is widely known that the young master of the Feng family used to be the family disgrace, troublemaker, and generally a disappointment…”
Wu Long did not let General Feng continue and started. A dark expression appeared on Feng Hai’s face at these words.
“…he was known to slack off in his cultivation and training, and refused to uphold the family values, not even taking up the duty his older siblings were carrying. But then, about three years ago he suddenly seemed to have turned a new leaf, his cultivation rapidly rose to rival even his older brother, and he even agreed to carry the duty of an officer he used to reject so vehemently…but, have you not thought it strange that the Blood Dragon Gang started to gain their notoriety almost right after? Their mysterious leader whose face is unknown was supposedly of the same cultivation base as the siblings…”
As he continued speaking everyone’s gazes shifted to Feng Hai who had a bead of sweat coming down the side of his forehead.
“F-father! Brother! Sister! Are you really going to believe this nonsense?!?! What proof do you have besides your wild fantasies?!”
He first looked at his family with indignation and then turned to Wu Long with scorn.
“So you are saying that if General Feng searched your spatial ring right now he would not find evidence?”
Wu Long said, and Feng Hai’s face immediately changed to one of panic. His eyes were shifting from person to person and his posture became of someone who is ready for a fight as all of them felt him circulating his Spiritual Qi.
‘He really is not smart, he actually carries his bandit disguise in his spatial ring’
Wu Long thought, as he did not really count on it. He was ready to bring more arguments and if needed even for a harder approach, but all of his preparations were blown up by the stupidity of this man.
“Y-you!”
His father expressed utter shock, as this behavior was already highly incriminating.
“What? You thought I was useless anyway! You all were looking at me like some kind of vermin, so I became one!”
Feng Hai tore off all pretense since he saw that he would not be able to squirm his way out of this. A saber** appeared in his arm, and he took a fighting posture.
“Courting death! You are a disgrace to the Feng family name!!! It seems I need to teach you the immensity of heaven and earth!!!”
As General Feng made a triple mental attack on Wu Long he also took out his weapon, as did the others.
However did Feng Hai’s skills or cultivation base rise, he was still someone who only recently was a sloppy fighter, so he did not stand a chance against them and was quickly subdued. Wu Long did not even have to take out his weapon since the family of the bandit was enough to catch him. Thus he was arrested and detained for further investigations.
—
Late in the evening, Wu Long opened the door as Feng Yi went in past him.
“Why did you not tell me beforehand?”
She asked him, her eyes slightly red.
“I thought it would be efficient for you to know and then confirm at the same…”
“Heartless bastard” 𝒷𝒹𝓸𝓿𝓁.𝒸ℴ𝓶
Tears appeared in Feng Yi’s eyes as she looked at him. Wu Long looked at her while slightly stunned at her reaction.
In truth, Wu Long’s knowledge of women skewed toward immortal women who would mostly agree with this logic. The feelings and thinking of mortals were still very much foreign to him, as he was fascinated by their actions and reactions almost every time. Much like he could not understand why Sui Luxiao was not able to cut off her clearly dysfunctional family that dragged her down. His first illogical act of going to great lengths just to kill her husband still boggled him as he could not understand his own behavior completely. At the same time, unbeknownst to him, his own emotional state was in light turmoil because of Ye Ling and possily others being here. Memories of being mortal were buried so deep within his Sea of Consciousness that when they created large ripples on the surface he was mystified.
He hugged Feng Yi who first wanted to fight off his hug, but then buried herself in his embrace. He held her in his embrace all night, soothing her anger and grief with his words and gentle intimate kisses on her forehead. They did not cultivate, as he simply shared his warmth with her on this cold and bitter winter night.
—————————–
*The ‘master’ here is what is commonly called ‘DaRen’ in cultivation novels and donghuas, it is literally translated from Chinese as ‘big person’ which signifies a persona of great stature (as in repute) and/or status. He is not calling him his master (as in servant-master) or teacher (as in disciple-master). I added ‘esteemed’ just so it is easier to tell apart.
**Saber here is DaDao – a one-bladed curved weapon similar to a sword, they sometimes have rings on the non-blade side.