Mu Tianlei and Mu Qianshang—were his only children.
A true miracle, considering Mu Dian's record of failed conceptions. Rumor was, he'd switched wives more tis than most sects changed patriarchs. But finally—boom! Two kids. Back-to-back... victory banners, wine, and thunder raves.
And now those very children were here, desperate, and pleading.
If Su Xiaobai helped them survive, they'd probably drown him in rewards and commorative plaques.
But that was the thing.
Su Xiaobai didn't care.
Not even if Mu Dian ca riding a golden tiger holding an apology letter.
Back when Su clan fell, and got banished, not a single guardian child lifted a finger.
And this Mu Dian?
Su Xiaobai rembered very well. He was among the first to carve up their ancestral mines in Wuxia Province.
When the king falls, the vultures feast.
He gave Mu Tianlei a half-smile, the kind that belonged to polite demons and regretless villains.
"General Mu must love you dearly, hmm? That hamr of yours…"
"Forged from his own thundering spear, wasn't it?"
That shut everyone up.
Because that wasn't public knowledge.
That hamr wasn't just inspired by Mu Dian's spear—it was literally made from a piece of it. Torn off. Reforged. Personalized for his son. Only a few knew. And now this villain just said it out loud?
Mu Tianlei took a step back, shaken.
Long Yushen raised an eyebrow. Even Wen Luli's expression twitched.
Who the hell is this guy?
Su Xiaobai didn't bother answering the question that no one had asked aloud. Instead, he turned gracefully to the woman behind Long Lian.
She stood tall. Just as tall as Long Lian. Six feet of elegance and beauty, lavender hair swaying like flower petals in wind, slender white legs exposed beneath ceremonial armor of gold and pale violet.
"The Blackstorm Heiress," he said, "Thousand Sorrow Mu Qianshang. And here I thought the valley sent scouts, not sacrificial lambs."
She blinked, surprised. "You know ?"
Her tone was sharper than her brother's, more guarded. But he could see the hope forming in her eyes.
Is he one of us? Part of the guardian rescue crew?
"We're searching for a Dusk Orchid," she said quickly, shifting away from Long Lian's wheezing body. "If we don't find it, Sun Lingxi—our teammate—won't last much longer. Please, if you're with the other guardians, signal them now!"
She was desperate... For good reason.
If Sun Lingxi dies here, Sun Liang would burn their entire sect to ashes and toast marshmallows over it.
No one wanted to beco the next Azure Dragon Clan.
But Su Xiaobai… rely tilted his head.
And smiled.
The kind of smile a man gives when he rembers exactly who sold him out.
And realizes he's the one holding the blade now.
"Another fool," Su Yiran muttered beneath her breath.
Too bad her "beneath her breath" carried spiritual resonance, and the words echoed across the clearing like a bell tolling over a grave.
All heads turned.
A few people blinked.
A few others held in laughter.
Because Su Yiran, currently disguised as the demure Ranran, was looking directly at Mu Qianshang, the so-called Thousand Sorrow Beauty. A na made famous for allegedly possessing both a "heavenly bustx and a "heaven-grade brain".
Today, the brain seed missing in action.
Su Yiran smiled, faintly contemptuous. She gave the heiress a glance down and then back up.
Bust size: overhyped. Armor's probably stuffed.
In Su Yiran's humble, increasingly opinion, she still had her beat.
Mu Qianshang, as if sensing the breast-to-breast hostility, narrowed her eyes.
"Ignorant girl. Who did you call a fool?"
Face flushing, tone sharp, temper bubbling.
Wen Luli and Zhou Ping stood nearby, blinking rapidly. Both from lesser sects. Both trained in the fine art of staying quiet when two long-legged prodigies are about to start a slapfest.
Long Yushen, of course, grinned.
"Didn't her brother marry the illegitimate daughter of Long Feilong? Well-served."
"HUH?" Mu Qianshang sputtered, caught off-guard.
Illegitimate daughter?!
Not accurate—but not entirely false either. Long Lian was technically legitimate, but when your father was Long Feilong, a man who reportedly fathered a small nation, no one really checked the paperwork.
In fact, it was a running joke in inner court circles:
"If Long Feilong has a child, assu nothing. Not even species."
So even whispered, blasphemously, that Long Lifen's strange affection for Long Lian was… unnatural.
(A/N: Calm down. Long Lifen was indeed a maiden when Su Xiaobai "accidentally cultivated" with her. The rumors are rely political slander. Probably.)
Ironically, Blackstorm siblings were the ones often accused of being illegitimate.
After all, how could Mu Dian, who struggled with fertility for centuries, suddenly drop a double miracle combo?
Too miraculous... Too suspicious... Too easy for gossip.
Mu Qingshan's brain clicked into place.
Ah. He was talking about Tianlei, not Lian.
But by then?
Too late.
While everyone else was still busy swapping insults and whispering lineage conspiracies, Su Xiaobai had already moved.
He stepped toward Mu Tianlei, casually, like he was walking over to borrow a cup of spiritual salt.
The Blackstorm heir turned, confused for a split second, then grinned
"You know, for soone riding a divine swan, you're not half bad," he said, extending a hand. "Let's be civil. Lend us that crane, and when we're back in the capital, my father, Mu Dian, will reward you personally."
He paused, chest puffing.
"He forged my hamr himself, you know. Out of the Thundering Spear. A piece of him… lives in it."
Su Xiaobai stopped, gaze flicking to the hamr.
Then to the hand.
Then to the idiot who offered both.
"Huh," he muttered. "So your dad gave you a weapon… forged from his own spear?"
He reached out and gripped the hamr, its large steel handle wrapped in feathers from a White Azure Eagle, soft to the touch, yet thick as his wrist and difficult to hold.
Mu Tianlei's grin cracked.
"Wha—what are you—?!"
Crackle!
Su Xiaobai spun the hamr once in his hand, the thunder in its core roared like a pleased beast.
"This is nice. Heavier than your brain, but nice. Let return it, personally... with interest."
Mu Tianlei stepped back, alarm flaring in his eyes.
"You dare? Do you know who I am—?!"
"Yes," Su Xiaobai interrupted calmly. "Dead weight."
Then, he took a stance.
"Seven Moves of Judgnt; Third Stage — Celestial Hamrfall."
"WAIT—!"
"Goodnight, Thunder Puppy."
The hamr rose like a mountain—and fell like a teor.
Mu Qingshan's eyes widened simultaneously. "STOP! You lunatic—!"
"Lunatic?" Su Xiaobai raised a brow. "You ca to begging for a flower. This is rcy."
Tianlei staggered back. "Wait...WAIT! You can't—"
"Can't I?"
The hamr fell.
BOOM!
The lightning cracked the sky, moonlight bent inward, sword intent fused into the blow like spiritual poetry. All they saw was a silhouette wrapped in moon-scorched silver.
For a blink, Mu Tianlei's horrified face was seared into the night sky....
Then ca the impact.
Puchi!
Ti slowed.
Flesh sprayed.
Mu Tianlei didn't even get a final pose.
One mont he was there—hands up, mouth open, pupils shrunk.
The next?
A burst of red mist.
The earth groaned as a ten-ter-wide crater split open, crackling with residual thunder. In the center, all that remained was a scorched ss... a pulped mass of flesh, armor, and spiritual regret.
Silence.
For three seconds, no one breathed.
Mu Qianshang stared. "Brother Tianlei…?"
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