Chapter 182
Chapter 182: It Hurt So Much It Made You Cry—You Wanted to Raise Them All Over Again
Slaps cracked like firecrackers against Lang Luo Feng’s face. Her cheeks swelled, bruised, split. She tried to argue, tried to scream—
She couldn’t even form words.
Lang Xin Wei’s tears and snot streamed down her face. The harder she cried, the harder she hit. Her accusations were so raw that more of the Lang family’s children finally snapped.
They surged forward.
Jiang Tea Tea flicked a glance at Sui Xuan Chu and Cheng Xiao Ting. The two dragged the broken-limbed Lang Yin Feng over and threw him into the pile.
All sixteen children—including Lang Xin Rui and Lang Xin Ping, dragged back to Barley Star by Lang Xin Yi—kicked and stomped, clawed and bit, their voices shredding the air.
“Lang Yin Feng! Lang Luo Feng! You weren’t our dad and mom. You never were!”
“There’s no one in the M31 Star System more vicious than you. You’ll go to hell. The Beast God will punish you!”
“You monsters! I only made one tiny mistake, and you punished me by making me hit Big Brother. When you said I didn’t hit hard enough, you made me bite him—made me tear meat off him!”
“Big Brother was in so much pain. He cried.” A sob tore through the speaker’s voice. “And he still held me and comforted me, telling me he didn’t hurt.”
“I used to wonder why other people’s dads and moms were kind. Why mine made me bite the brother who loved me.”
“So I’ll bite you too. I’ll bite you. I’ll tear your flesh off and make you feel what Big Brother felt!”
“Lang Luo Feng, I didn’t want to marry that fat pig-beastfolk, but you forced me. When I refused, you threatened my sister—my twin sister. Go to hell!”
“Lang Yin Feng, you used me to please old beastfolk so you could profit in business. Once, twice, three times—countless times. And you still called me useless because I didn’t bring you enough profit.”
“Hah. I blamed myself. I thought I wasn’t good enough in school, not good enough at work. That’s why you treated me like that.”
“But it wasn’t me.” The words came out like broken glass. “It was you. It was always you.”
“You stole us. You made us your children. You didn’t treat us as human—only tools for making money.”
“I hate you! I’ll kill you—I’ll kill you!”
Screams tore out of Lang Yin Feng and Lang Luo Feng, savage and broken.
Around them, the guests who’d done business with the Lang family turned white as paper. Bodies shook. Eyes darted like trapped animals.
It was over.
All of it.
Cheng Mian and Mo Jing Chun watched, horrified and sick. They’d always disliked Lang Yin Feng and Lang Luo Feng—always found them sleazy, unsettling, unfit for polite society.
But they’d never imagined this.
Seventeen stolen children.
Every one of them stolen.
Their gaze drifted to Jiang Tea Tea.
She stood in her loose training uniform, hair tied high, face delicate and sharp—black hair, pale skin, black eyes like bottomless night.
Small frame. Perfect proportions.
An aura of calm power pressed down on everyone nearby.
No one could outshine her. No one could suppress her.
Less than ten minutes later, Jiang Tea Tea lifted a hand. The “service staff” around the banquet began stripping away their uniforms.
Beneath were Barley Star garrison uniforms.
All around the lawn, more soldiers appeared, raising rifles and cannons, moving with practiced precision as they began sorting and detaining the guests.
The sixteen Lang siblings were pulled apart by the garrison—faces streaked with tears and rage, betrayal carved into every line.
Lang Yin Feng and Lang Luo Feng’s formalwear had been ripped to shreds. Their faces and bodies were mangled with bruises, bite marks, and blood.
Their blood soaked into the grass beneath them.
They were barely alive—breaths thin and shallow, but still there.
The garrison hauled them up like trash and threw them into medical pods.
Now was not the time for them to die.
The garrison moved to take the sixteen siblings as well, but the siblings begged for a little time.
Their lives had been too cruel—old and young alike. It was impossible not to pity them.
The soldiers weren’t heartless. They could see the siblings needed to speak to Jiang Tea Tea. Two soldiers stayed behind to watch them while the rest continued arresting the guests.
Lang Xin Yi, Lang Xin Wei, and Lang Xin An—three of the worst harmed, and also the ones who had helped Lang Yin Feng and Lang Luo Feng do evil—brought their brothers and sisters forward.
They bowed deeply to Jiang Tea Tea.
“Miss Tea Tea… thank you. Thank you for freeing us from them. Thank you for letting us know we aren’t their biological children.”
Jiang Tea Tea looked over the sixteen of them. “No need. You suffered for years. You won’t suffer anymore.”
“If any of you committed crimes, cooperate and explain everything. Chong Ming, the Commander-in-Chief, will treat it leniently.”
“And if there are minors among you who weren’t involved, empire law won’t punish you. Chong Ming won’t let you be punished by association.”
Lang Xin Yi, Lang Xin Wei, and Lang Xin An wiped at their faces, choking on gratitude.
“Thank you. Thank you so much.”
Jiang Tea Tea reached out and steadied Lang Xin Yi, who was still bent in his bow. “You don’t have to thank me.”
“You have my comm number. If you run into something you can’t handle, message me or call.”
“As long as you’re not breaking empire law—and as long as you’re not slapping me in the face—if I can solve it, I will.”
The fake heiress’s lingering consciousness inside Jiang Tea Tea ached with empathy. Even knowing the sixteen didn’t share the same mother and father, knowing what they’d endured made that lingering part of her cry.
She’d thought living alone for three years—unwanted, bullied, insulted—was suffering.
But these kids had suffered a thousand times more.
Lang Xin Yi, a beastfolk male in his thirties or forties, couldn’t stop the tears. They poured like a spring.
“Sister—no, Miss Tea Tea… can I hug you?”
Jiang Tea Tea opened her arms. “Of course.”
Lang Xin Yi stepped forward and embraced her, burying his face against her neck. His voice shook as tears spilled onto her skin.
“Tea Tea… thank you. Truly. Thank you.”
“I know we may not share blood. But being able to have you as my sister, even briefly… makes me happy. Honored.”
Jiang Tea Tea—a tree demon, not skilled at comforting—let the fake heiress’s remnant guide her. She patted Lang Xin Yi’s back.
“I’m honored too. To have you as my brother, even briefly.”
Her gaze shifted to the other two. “And Xin Wei-jie… Xin An-ge…”
Lang Xin Wei and Lang Xin An took steps that looked impossibly heavy. They came close and wrapped their arms around them both, crying.
The other Lang children crowded in as well. They clung to each other in a knot of grief—everyone crying except Jiang Tea Tea.
Sui Xuan Chu, Cheng Xiao Ting, and the others blinked hard, eyes burning.
Mo Jing Chun kept wiping her face. These children were too pitiful, too heartbreaking. Lang Yin Feng and Lang Luo Feng deserved to be executed ten times over and still not pay enough.
Cheng Mian held his mate, eyes red too. Who could have imagined Lang Yin Feng and Lang Luo Feng were this monstrous?
Jiang Tea Tea let them hold her and cry for ten minutes. When they finally loosened their arms, wiping their faces, three figures stepped forward.
Lang Xin Rui, Lang Xin Ping, and Lang Xin Chong—the triplets—bowed to her.
“Jiang Tea Tea… Classmate. We’re sorry.”
“We shouldn’t have stolen your military merits at school. We shouldn’t have looked down on you when you came home. We shouldn’t have tried to ruin you.”
“Truly, truly—sorry. We don’t expect forgiveness. We just want you to know… Dad and Mom forced us.”
“They warned us: if we didn’t drag you back, they’d cut off our allowance and resources.”
“We didn’t want to at first. But we’d only been adults for a couple of years. We were afraid. Without family support, we couldn’t even afford the most basic mech manufacturing parts. We couldn’t buy repair tools.”
“Sorry. We’re really sorry…”
“I forgive you,” Jiang Tea Tea said, cutting them off with calm finality.
The triplets stared at her, stunned.
Jiang Tea Tea met their gaze. The fake heiress’s remnant had forgiven them, and Jiang Tea Tea—the tree demon—had no desire to cling to petty grudges.
“I forgive you. I won’t hold it against you.”
“Study hard. Build a good future for yourselves.”
Tears flooded the triplets’ eyes again. They nodded furiously.
“Yes. Yes, Jiang Tea Tea. We’ll work hard to become the best mech engineers—repair technicians.”
“We’ll study. Just wait. Watch us. When we become the best, we’ll give you a mech. We’ll maintain your mech for you.”
Jiang Tea Tea smiled faintly. “I’m picky. You’d better give me the best one.”
They nodded hard, making a vow to her and to themselves. “We will. The best!”
Jiang Tea Tea watched as the sixteen were escorted away separately by the garrison. Most of the other guests had already been hauled off.
Cheng Xiao Ting bounded over to his dad and mom, grinning like a lunatic.
“Old Cheng! Jing Chun, gorgeous lady—didn’t I tell you? Sister Tea is insanely cool, ridiculously badass, super A!”
Cheng Mian and Mo Jing Chun tugged him aside, disgusted. “You’re not cool, not badass, and definitely not A. Move. We need to meet Jiang Tea Tea properly.”
Cheng Xiao Ting stared at them in disbelief.
He’d known his parents disliked him.
He hadn’t known they disliked him this much.
Jiang Tea Tea turned toward Cheng Mian and Mo Jing Chun, about to speak—
A low voice cut in from above.
“Sorry to interrupt.”
In an instant, Sui Xuan Chu and the others straightened like they’d been struck by lightning, eyes snapping up to the projection screen hovering in the air.
Cheng Mian and Mo Jing Chun stiffened too, faces filled with respect.
On the screen was Chong Ming, the Commander-in-Chief.
Jiang Tea Tea was the only one who stayed loose and casual. She lifted her eyes and demanded, “What? Speak.”
Chong Ming wore a crisp military uniform. Two glittering golden dragon horns crowned his forehead. His long gold hair was tied back, making him look almost young.
It had been nearly a week without his psychic-force soothing, without blood, without meat. Even through a screen, Jiang Tea Tea felt like he was baiting her.
She was starving.
Chong Ming’s gaze swept the group and settled on her. Then he named all eight of them.
“You eight cooperated well. You completed the mission well. Congratulations.”
Besides Jiang Tea Tea and Sui Xuan Chu, the other six looked like they’d just won the lottery. Their idol had praised them by name. They answered at full volume, voices bright and roaring.
“For the Commander-in-Chief! For the empire!”
Chong Ming nodded once, then looked at Cheng Mian and Mo Jing Chun.
“Mr. Cheng. Ms. Mo. You helped a great deal during this mission as well. Thank you for your hard work.”
The couple looked overwhelmed, almost flustered. “Not at all. Not at all. It was the eight kids who were brave and capable.”
“We didn’t do much. We can’t claim any merit.”
Chong Ming regarded them. “You’re too modest. You helped them greatly. I’ve seen it.”
“So there is something I need to tell you.”
Cheng Mian and Mo Jing Chun answered with utmost respect, “Commander-in-Chief, please speak.”
“After verification and cleanup of the criminals, you will take over the White Wolf Clan’s territory. Those within the White Wolf Clan who did not commit crimes will fall under your supervision and jurisdiction.”
“And there is one more matter.”
“Genetic profile comparisons confirm that Lang Yin Feng and Lang Luo Feng illegally used stolen cub embryos. Four sets of embryos came from your Black Wolf Clan.”
Cheng Mian and Mo Jing Chun’s faces went stark. “Commander-in-Chief… you mean… among their seventeen children, four are Black Wolf Clan wolf cubs?”
Chong Ming nodded. “Yes.”
Cheng Mian asked urgently, “Who? Commander-in-Chief, did you identify their biological parents?”
Chong Ming’s golden eyes flashed. “Their biological parents do not know they exist—just as the children did not know, half an hour ago, that they weren’t Lang Yin Feng and Lang Luo Feng’s children.”
“Therefore, I did not order genetic matches to identify their biological parents.”
“The reason is simple. If their biological parents already have mates and cubs, the sudden appearance of these children would only create new burdens—and cause secondary harm.”
“Of course, this is not an order. This is a discussion. You have the right to refuse.”
Mo Jing Chun’s eyes shone with tears. She didn’t hesitate for even a breath.
“We accept. Commander-in-Chief, we accept. Even if it’s only four cubs with Black Wolf blood… even if all seventeen came to the Black Wolf Clan—we would accept them. We’ll raise them all over again.”