Surprise
Surprise
Although Ye Guhan was the one who was making the accusations at Jun Moxie, he completely ignored the man, making his face blue with anger, and helplessly glimpsed at Dugu Xiaoyi: "Miss Dugu, do you also believe that I abducted Little White? I haven't done any such thing; I never abducted him… he jumped into my palanquin on his own. Even the last time I met him, Little White showed a fondness towards me…. And why would I ever try to steal him? For making a pot stew out of him? But he's so small…. He won't even give out much meat either..."
Little White was comfortably lying in his arms, while his throat ceaselessly emitted a comfortable 'purrr' sound; a voice which an animal only emits when it's at its happiest. He opened his eyes, and satisfactorily looked at Jun Moxie's body with warm and comfortable look in his eyes, and then closed them again. Little did the intoxicated cub know that the man he was so taken by, was just talking about using his body for pot stew…
"What did you just say?" Dugu Xiaoyi opened her eyes wide; she clenched her tiny hands into a fist as she angrily looked at Jun Moxie, and it seemed as if she wished to spank him.
"Well, Miss, you never stop teasing me. Your father and seven brothers showed up at the Jun residence the other day, and leveled the buildings to the ground. Some of the rooms don't even have a roof over their heads anymore…."
Jun Moxie arched his hand as he described the state of the infrastructure, while leaning against his palanquin, making his body look weirdly boneless. The mournful look on his face suggested that he felt wronged by the ravaging that the members of the Dugu family had caused to his home.
Dugu Xiaoyi didn't like the look on his face, and started thinking about her seven brothers….
"Oh .... Ah, I know the facts, and I don't blame you, sorry ah. I'm sorry, once I get back home, I'll ask my father to help you build back your house, and I'll make sure that your family is compensated for the losses incurred."
Dugu Xiaoyi was feeling a special kind of embarrassment at the moment; after all, she was carrying the impression that Jun Moxie had been harassed by her family on her account. The poor girl was under the impression that her family had caused a lot of trouble for Jun Moxie, and was already beginning to imagine the destruction that her father and her seven 'brutal' brothers must have caused to the Jun residence. As far as she was concerned, even if Jun Moxie was exaggerating things a bit, their actions still must have been very difficult on Jun Moxie.
But she didn't know that Jun Moxie had grounded her seven brothers, who still hadn't been able to get up from their beds. And even though her father fared slightly better, Jun Moxie had blatantly blackmailed the man into expending huge sums of money….
"Never mind; these matters are not to concern you since your father was probably misinformed." Jun Moxie generously waved his hand, "I'm from the younger generation, so I must practice tolerance and forbearance, even if I'm wronged by my elders. Anyway, our families have been friends for a long time, and have many deep sentiments attached to each other, so there is really no need to points swords and spears at each other over such trivial matters…."
Dugu Xiaoyi nodded in approval as her beautiful eyes lit up with a look of satisfaction: "The fact that you're not taking into account... my emotions; sometimes things just happen, there's no need to beat..." She stammered as she uttered these few words slowly, and was unable to finish her sentence since her face had turned completely red; right down to her neck.
The poor young maiden had completely misunderstood his meaning, and had instinctively believed that Jun Moxie had been forced to bear the abuse of his father and brothers. Since she was blaming herself for it, the young maiden's heart suddenly turned as sweet as honey, and her thoughts started to stray once more.
Jun Moxie stated once again in a gentlemanly manner: "True, that's the way it must be." Dugu Xiaoyi became even shyer, and started unconsciously drawing rings in the ground with her toe, while her neck and head had turned red with a blush. Her eyes were secretly watching Jun Moxie's face, filling her heart was a sense of infinite satisfaction.
Ye Guhan was a hard-skinned man and was unable to watch these people court each other with the affection of young lovers!
"Jun Moxie, how can you be so shameless?!" Ye Guhan pointed his finger at Jun Moxie, and it seemed as if he wished to kill the youngster, "The seven sons of the Dugu Family suffered such a great calamity at your hands, and yet you say such things?"
"Ah? How could that be?" Dugu Xiaoyi cried out in shock, unable to believe that Jun Moxie could harm her brothers.
"That's not the truth." Jun Moxie flatly denied the truth in order to avoid trouble: "Ye Guhan, you're a dignified Heaven Mystic expert, please do not give heed to such fabricated rumors. How could I suddenly hurt seven people? Could I have ever beaten them up? Don't you know about my abilities? And you still think that I could cope up with the seven of them… please don't try to bend the facts!"
The situation was reaching a critical juncture, and he simply couldn't true admit his actions. If he admitted to hurting her brothers, then she was likely to flip out at him….
Dugu Xiaoyi looked at Ye Guhan with a puzzled look on her face.
"Miss Dugu, you must go home and see for yourself." Ye Guhan was unmoved, and continued to look at Jun Moxie coldly: "Miss Dugu, the color of the night deepens, and we must be on our way; I have to return to the princess's side for her protection."
Dugu Xiaoyi couldn't make up her mind; she hesitantly looked at Jun Moxie again, and analyzed that the atmosphere wasn't very favorable at the moment. Even though she was bit reluctant to leave, she knew that Ye Guhan's words made sense, and she would only understand the truth after reaching her residence. On top of that, she was well-aware that Ye Guhan was a man of his words, and wouldn't lie to her in such a manner. Although, given his skill, she simply couldn't fathom how Jun Moxie could hurt the seven of her brothers!
"Little White, come to me, I will take you home." Dugu Xiaoyi clapped her hands as she approached closer to Jun Moxie. She tasted a faint smell of his body's aroma in the air, and couldn't help blush even more.
Jun Moxie hastily returned Little White to her arms; the little panther cub didn't resist, but looked at Jun Moxie helplessly with a pitiful look in his eyes.
A question suddenly emerged inside Jun Moxie's mind: [Why is Little White showing so much attachment towards me? This simply doesn't make any sense!]
[Nothing ever happens in this world without a reason, so there must be something about me that other people don't have, and something that I haven't thought of yet….]
[Is it because… the Hongjun Pagoda and the art of unlocking the heaven's fortune?]
Being the only possible explanation, this idea swept across Jun Moxie's conscience like a tsunami!
"Jun… Moxie, could we meet tomorrow?" Dugu Xiaoyi lowered her head in search for a reason, and found one lying in her arms: "Little White really likes you, oh, you can see it too… he really, really likes you. I, I , I do not wish to make him unhappy." Even though Dugu Xiaoyi had found an excuse to meet him again, she didn't know how to use it properly, and was wondering if it was a good measure to use Little White as an excuse to arrange a meeting with him…
"Sure!" Jun Moxie responded in acceptance: "I can help you in looking after Little White tomorrow; I'll see you tomorrow for some playtime Little White."
Dugu Xiaoyi's heart rejoiced as she stated: "It's a deal!"
"It's a deal!" Jun Moxie maliciously looked at the little cub as he exposed a pleasant smile. [Come back tomorrow so I can carry out some experiments on you!]
The little cub which was now in Dugu Xiaoyi's arms suddenly felt a burst of chill on his body, and his soft and delicate white furs stood upright. Alerted, he looked around in search of an enemy, but couldn't spot any. If he was capable of speaking, he would have surely voiced his skepticism: [Why is this happening? Why did I suddenly feel these creeps? Why does it feel as if someone stripped me? Why are my fur upright for no reason?]
Dugu Xiaoyi retreated three steps and left.
Jun Moxie had already accomplished his objective, and so he quickly returned to the Jun residence.
"Third uncle! Third uncle!" Just as Jun Moxie returned, he sensed a different smell in the atmosphere, and quickly ran into the courtyard: "What's going on?"
Jun Wuyi slowly came out.
In the absence of outsiders, he wouldn't be sitting in his wheelchair since he had been in it for over a decade, and was already quite bored of it!
Jun Wuyi replied with a solemn look in his eyes: "I brought those kids back."
"Kids? Which one…. What children?" Jun Moxie stuttered.
"Out of the children whom we previously set free, I've ordered forty five of them to be set up in the ware house for a bit, as a temporary accommodation. As for the ones with deformities, all thirty nine of them have been presently accommodated here. I'm trying to use my Mystic Qi to see if I can unblock their tendons in order to see if there's any hope for them to have a normal life."
Jun Moxie was completely surprised.
Jun Wuyi looked at him profoundly: "Moxie, you did something with a strong purpose, but it comes with some heavy responsibilities as well. It is important for us to cultivate the strength of our family, but it would be harsh, even cruel, of us to not act on this matter. You may blame me for this, but as long as I'm the head of the Jun family, we have an obligation to be responsible for the basic necessities of these children, which includes curing their injuries and illnesses."
"Moreover, although charity mustn't be done recklessly, the downtrodden mustn't be neglected out rightly!" Jun Wuyi's eyes were filled with a sense of pain: "Like these children, no matter what…"
He expressed these words very resolutely and decisively, and it was obvious that there would be no challenging his decision. Since he had personally suffered from a disability for a long time, it was apparent that he was looking at these children with a strong sense of sympathy.
"Even if they can't do anything by themselves, we will support them. It doesn't matter how much burden they impose on us!"
Jun Moxie remained speechless for a long time before he finally replied: "I understand." He inwardly thought to himself: [Perhaps this is the difference between men of honor and ordinary men. However, does such kindness really make sense?]