"What happened?" Seeing the two of them like this, Chu Lian, Cai Ya, and Inori immediately got up from the sofa and went over to ask.
"Don't even mention it. Those people from the Li family are simply going too far." As Chu Chu complained, she habitually handed over her small backpack. Chu Lian reached out to take it, and at the same time picked up Liu Yanran's small bag as well, asking softly, "Were you wronged?"
"Wronged? It's way beyond that—we were basically being bullied." Chu Chu took off her little shoes, changed into slippers, and stepped onto the wooden floor, still grumbling.
"It might be a bit exaggerated, but that's basically the truth. The Li family really went a bit too far." Liu Yanran had always been gentle. After knowing her for so long, Chu Lian had never seen even a hint of anger from her. Yet now, there was a faint trace of irritation in her expression. It seemed the Li family had truly pushed her patience.
"The Li family would act that outrageously? Don't they know one of you is from the Chu family and the other from the Liu family?" Cai Ya was a bit surprised. The Li family had declined, so they should have been careful not to provoke others. Why would they act so arrogantly toward Liu Yanran, who came from a major family, and Chu Chu, whose background was anything but simple?
"I think they're just desperate. Before that precious heir of theirs fully grows up—before he has the ability to protect himself—any kind of probing will probably be seen as hostility. It's normal they'd react badly." Chu Lian saw through the situation clearly. It was probably just more of the usual nonsense.
"Do we need to step in?" Inori didn't care about the reasoning. What she cared about was whether there would be another fight.
"If big sister insists on going tonight, then we'll probably have to fight. Although I didn't manage to detect exactly how many Heaven-ranked experts the Li family has, judging from the situation, even in their decline, they still have three. But they all seem to stay in one place and don't come out, like they're guarding something."
At this point, Chu Chu threw herself onto the sofa, not wanting to move anymore, before continuing, "Experts who guard something like that are both the safest and the most dangerous."
"They're 'safe' because as long as you don't wipe out their entire clan or touch what they're guarding, they won't act. If you control the consequences well, you can practically pretend they don't exist."
"They're 'dangerous' because once you cross their bottom line, you'll face their most brutal retaliation. That kind of revenge usually doesn't stop until one side is dead—it's extremely hard to resolve."
"I see. Looks like the Li family has some hidden secret too." Chu Lian nodded. This was the foundation of any great family. Like the Wang family—at the spacetime rift, it was said they stationed four Heaven-ranked experts, plus two more at home, making six in total.
Although Wang Hao ultimately dealt with them effortlessly, it still showed how terrifying the foundation of a major family could be.
"Mm. I didn't know anything about cultivation before, but after we came back from the school trip, my parents started letting me learn about it. They just haven't let me actually start cultivating yet."
"But I do know our family has many powerful experts. Just like the Wang and Li families, they're guarding something too. As for what exactly it is, I don't know."
The Liu family had been passed down for generations, so it was only natural they possessed deep foundations. Since Liu Yanran had already been allowed to learn about this side of things, she must know a little.
"So as long as we don't go too far, even if things get heated, at most Earth-ranked experts will show up? And after last night, are we really afraid of Earth-ranked opponents anymore?" The battle the previous night had been extremely difficult, but it was also excellent training.
At the very least, after that fight, the girls had matured quite a bit. Facing those kinds of enemies again would be much easier.
"They won't dare go all out, and they won't seriously injure you either. So I estimate they'll at most send a high-tier Earth-ranked expert to deal with you."
Cai Ya knew the Li family's background best. Making such a statement meant she had sufficient information and was confident they wouldn't act recklessly.
"Whether that's really the case is still uncertain. By the way, Chu Chu, what exactly did you suffer?"
Chu Lian handed the two small backpacks she was holding, along with her own and Cai Ya's, to Tina, who had been quietly listening, then pointed upstairs, signaling the cat-eared maid to take them to her room.
The little maid, suddenly "abused" like this, instantly had her big eyes fill with grievance. She looked as if she might cry, but still hurried upstairs with the pile of bags.
Noticing this, Cai Ya rolled her eyes at Chu Lian. Chu Lian had already explained Tina's identity at noon, so she knew this cat-eared maid was actually that little white kitten who loved curling up on people's chests.
Seeing such a tiny cat forced to carry so many things made Cai Ya feel a bit bad, which was why she glared at Chu Lian in disdain.
Chu Lian felt helpless. She wanted to explain, but the more she tried to explain this matter, the stranger it would sound. Better to say nothing.
Fortunately, after taking a sip of tea, Chu Chu finally resumed talking about what had happened at the Li family with Liu Yanran: "Those people from the Li family are on a completely different level compared to Xiu'er—they're all idiots!"
"Mm. Even though it's not good to speak badly of others behind their backs, the Li family really are a bunch of idiots. No—idiots are better than them!" Liu Yanran strongly agreed, which made Chu Lian and Cai Ya even more curious.
"They really are idiots!" Chu Chu looked both amused and exasperated, but that didn't stop her from continuing to mock them. "That so-called 'genius' of theirs—I think he's already ten? I don't even know exactly. Anyway, his strength has only just stepped into the Spirit rank. He's even weaker than I was before the school trip."
"And back then, my strength had been completely sealed, which is why I had fallen to that level. But this boy has trained for so long and is still only at that level... honestly..."
"Forget his strength. I wasn't even planning to comment on the kid, but those people from the Li family are unbelievable. After seeing Chu Chu's strength, they actually said she was an old woman who had cultivated for decades but still hadn't 'grown properly,' instead of believing she was a twelve-year-old girl."
Liu Yanran said this while holding her forehead. If things were really like that, then the Li family truly...
"That shouldn't be the case. Since the Li family considers that little boy their saving grace, he must have some kind of special ability. Even if it took him years of cultivation to reach that level, calling him talented might be fair—but calling him a top-tier genius would be far off." Chu Lian was also stunned. Had the Li family really declined to this extent?
"As for why they didn't believe Chu Chu is just young and already this strong... maybe it's because they've never seen a prodigy like this at her age? But that doesn't make sense either. Since they're connected to Xiu'er, they should definitely have your information. Not to mention, if their so-called savior showed up, his elders must have appeared too. And if his elders were present, even if they didn't recognize Yanran, they should at least recognize Chu Chu, right?"
Chu Lian paused for a moment before continuing, "After all, my mother is from the Li family. Since they admire and revere her so much, they must have been paying attention to her. It would be strange if they didn't know about us."
"That's what I thought at first too, but it's not like that at all. It's like their brains are filled with water—everything they see is filtered through their own biased judgment. They're completely hopeless—just like Aqua!" Chu Chu couldn't help but use a popular internet term to summarize the Li family.
"There is indeed something wrong with them. But I can guarantee that what Chu Chu said is the truth. The Li family, who should have been wise, now seem just like Aqua—utterly exasperating." Liu Yanran, being a refined lady, phrased her insults more gently, though the meaning was the same.
"Alright. Tonight, I'll go take a look myself and see what's really going on." After hearing everything, Chu Lian knew she wouldn't get more useful information on that front. But they still hadn't explained what happened to Li Xiu'er or why they looked so dejected, so she asked, "What else?"
"When Xiu'er was at the gate, even the servants were mocking her, as if she were some kind of disgrace. When we tried to reason with them, not only did they curse at us, they even sneered, saying, 'People who walk with trash can't be any better—not trash themselves, just garbage.' It made me furious!"
"Big Sis, do you know? At that moment, I really wanted to drop a Lightning Purgatory and blast the entire Li family! It was infuriating!"
As Chu Chu spoke of this, her cheeks puffed up. Clearly, she had been truly angered.
"And that's not all. They even said, 'If you two weren't so young, seeing how strong you are, we'd have already grabbed you and had some fun.' Tell me, isn't that going too far?"
"Later, when we refused to back down and argued with them, Xiu'er tried to ease the situation. Not only did they ignore her, they pushed her aside. If Chu Chu hadn't reacted in time, she would have fallen from a height of three meters."
This was what angered Liu Yanran the most. If even the servants of a great family were like this, it was easy to imagine just how rotten that family had become. And they had nearly caused harm to Xiu'er—she was still shaken by it.
"Mm! In the end, their elders came out with that so-called genius. After mocking us, they ordered Xiu'er to cut ties with us and return home immediately to reflect on her mistakes. When she refused, they tried to beat her. Thankfully, Yanran and I spoke up and used the reputations of the Liu and Chu families as a guarantee—if they dared to harm even a single hair on Xiu'er's head, the Li family would pay a terrible price. Only then did they stop."
As Chu Chu spoke, lightning crackled around her body. Behind her, the Thunder Empress Lia manifested, floating in the air. In her anger, Chu Chu radiated a destructive urge, as if she could tear the world apart.
"So the Li family really are all a bunch of Aquas? That's just... hopeless. Being that stupid leaves no saving them." Chu Lian held her forehead. Now that she understood the situation, she was even more determined to go and 'rescue' Xiu'er tonight.
If Xiu'er stayed in that environment any longer, her future would truly be ruined.
And yet, in such a filthy Li family, they had produced geniuses like Li Mingxue and someone as gentle as Li Xiu'er... truly like a lotus rising from the mud, yet unstained.
"By the way, where did Mother go?" After complaining for so long, Chu Chu finally realized something—her family's supreme authority was missing!
"That's right. Mom said she'd be back at six. It's already almost six-thirty—why isn't she back yet?" Chu Lian checked the time and suddenly felt something was off.
"I'm back~"
However, before they could start worrying, Li Mingxue's voice came from the doorway, making all of them let out a sigh of relief. She had finally returned.