Chapter 61

Chapter 61: Calling in Backup

Secondary husband?

Hu Qing kept smiling, but inside she felt like a field after a wildfire.

Hu Zhuo leaned in, whispering, “Sis… I think it means the Xun family has two husbands for the family head.”

Hu Qing shot him a look until he straightened up again.

Two men. So what? She didn’t care.

In the cultivation realm, relationships were flexible. Some people wanted one partner from beginning to end. Some chased brief romances. Some pursued pure abstinence. And some… pursued abundance. As long as you had the ability, or everyone involved agreed, nobody could say a thing.

Hu Qing looked at He Jing. “So this was a clan alliance marriage. Don’t tell me you caught real feelings and now you’re bitter?”

Pure gossip.

He Jing nearly leapt out of his skin. Feelings? For her? Please. He forced himself to calm down, face tight. “Does Family Head Hu plan to interfere in matters between our two clans?”

Hu Qing didn’t want to interfere. She just hadn’t finished eating this melon yet. Was this love-turned-hate, or rich-clan power struggle?

She turned to Xun Ru Tang.

Xun Ru Tang slammed her forehead to the threshold. “I beg Family Head Hu to save the three of us. I’m willing to offer all Xun family assets and resources to Family Head Hu!”

He Jing’s expression changed instantly.

Hu Qing’s smile faded. Her gaze sharpened.

All of it?

What had happened to the Xun family?

Xun Ru Tang’s voice sounded like it was carved out of blood. “After the Xun family elders in the sect fell in Ancient Palace City, the other clans in Baoping Ward joined together against the Xun family. The He family wants to swallow us whole, turn the Xun family into the He family—and they’re trying to take the three of our lives.”

She swallowed, shaking, then forced the words out. “I’ll give everything. I just want a way to live.”

Hu Qing’s breath caught. “Your elders fell…”

Ancient Palace City. The heavenly punishment back then had scorched everyone. Three factions, all wounded. Zhaohua Sect had fared the best and still lost plenty of perfected.

So the Xun family had been crippled in that disaster.

Fate really was ruthless.

Cultivation clans lived and died on high-level cultivators. Without someone to hold up the roof, even the grandest house became fat meat waiting to be carved. That was the rule here—prey and predator.

In the mortal realm, no one wiped out a family openly. Even an emperor needed reasons. Because the mortal realm had laws.

Here, law was thin. People took years of resources to raise, and yet lives could be cut down as casually as weeds. It was wasteful in the ugliest way.

Still—“Why didn’t you seek help from Zhaohua Sect?” Hu Qing asked. “Anyone who died in Ancient Palace City took the thunder for everyone in the Little Li Realm. The sect would have taken care of their families.”

She trusted Yu Liu Ya, and she trusted Zhaohua Sect’s reputation.

Xun Ru Tang laughed bitterly. “The He family… has blood ties to a returned immortal.”

Hu Qing’s eyes narrowed.

So that was it. Borrowed power. Swaggering under a bigger shadow. No wonder they dared act like Zhaohua Sect didn’t matter.

If it were just a marriage alliance gone sour, Hu Qing might not have cared. She didn’t believe men “should” be one way or women “must” be another. Marry for love, marry for advantage—your choice.

But Xun Ru Tang was pregnant. Hu Qing couldn’t help a little sympathy.

And immortals?

She’d just killed one because that immortal tried to scheme against her daughter. Her impression of “returned immortals” was already in the gutter. Now she ran into another clan bullying people under an immortal’s banner.

She lifted her chin at He Jing. “Which immortal? What senior are you relying on?”

He Jing’s chest swelled. He cupped his hands toward the sky as if saluting the heavens. “Our Immortal Venerable’s immortal title is Ling De. He ascended from Yunxiao Palace.”

Yunxiao Palace, not Zhaohua Sect.

Good.

Not Zhe Liu, unfortunately—but also not connected to Zhaohua Sect. That made Hu Qing almost cheerful. Twelve immortals had returned. Killing one was already pushing it. Killing two? People would start whispering that Zhaohua Sect’s feng shui was cursed.

Hu Qing made her decision.

She tilted her chin at Hu Zhuo. “Go. Bring her eldest son here. And call Mission Hall and External Affairs Hall. Have them take over the Xun family holdings.”

Hu Zhuo’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. Sis… you’re really accepting this?

And the He family has an immortal!

He Jing stared. “Family Head Hu? You want to make enemies of my He family—and an immortal?”

Xun Ru Tang’s hands clamped the threshold so hard her knuckles blanched.

Hu Qing clasped her hands behind her back and smiled. “Listen to you. ‘Enemies of an immortal?’ Zhaohua Sect has more than a dozen immortals. Why would I need to bully your one?”

He Jing’s eyes widened further. Was that a threat?

Hu Qing kept going. “From the Baoping Ward angle, if your He family can swallow the Xun family, why can’t my Hu family take the profit too? My Hu family has been too low-key since the day this gate was built. I’m free right now. Consider this me greeting everyone properly.”

He Jing’s teeth ground. Was she insane?

“And from the sect angle,” Hu Qing continued, “Zhaohua Sect has never been afraid of anyone. Back then, even Taixian Palace couldn’t make Zhaohua Sect swallow humiliation.”

“This has nothing to do with Zhaohua Sect—” He Jing started, voice tight.

He had to say it. The He family wasn’t a subordinate of Yunxiao Palace. All these years they’d lived under Zhaohua Sect’s protection. Even if they planned to move to Immortal Realm later, right now they couldn’t afford to turn on Zhaohua Sect.

Hu Qing waved him off. “And as for immortals—who doesn’t have one coming back to visit family these days? The Xun family doesn’t, but Zhaohua Sect does.”

Her smile sharpened. “Go back and ask your Immortal Venerable. Did he return to sever karma, or to tie new knots? The Xun family isn’t at the point of total ruin. If a family head dies, an innocent child dies, an unborn baby dies… will those lives be counted on his head?”

Killing wasn’t the scary part. The scary part was heaven keeping accounts. Some people killed by the thousands and never birthed an inner demon. Others were stopped cold by a single life.

Hu Qing was certain of one thing: Ling De wouldn’t risk that kind of debt for the He family.

He Jing’s face shifted again and again. At last, his gaze toward Xun Ru Tang dulled into forced restraint. “A day as husband and wife is a hundred days of grace. You—I can let you go. But the Xun family’s assets… there isn’t much left.”

They’d already swallowed most of it.

Xun Ru Tang’s eyes flashed with contempt. She was about to speak—

“Then spit it back out for me!” Hu Qing snapped.

Her temper flared, fast and bright. She was poor to the bone, and someone had finally delivered money right to her doorstep. Now they wanted to cut in?

Did they think she was easy to bully?

Hu Zhuo lifted his message jade. “Sis, I’ll call people right now.”

“Oh, please.” Hu Qing shook her head. “You’re too slow.”

She grabbed her own message jade and practically howled into it. “Nephew! Get over here! Someone stole our stuff—come quick and steal it back! Bring as many people as you can!”

On the other end, Wen Chuan jolted. What? She’d just been sent home. What happened now?

Did an immortal attack Little Martial Uncle’s house?

No—if an immortal showed up, she’d call Master.

Whatever. No time to think.

Wen Chuan tapped his message jade like his life depended on it, calling everyone he could. “Move! We’re going to back up Little Martial Uncle!”