PWE – Chapter 26 Drive Him Away

Mu Yuncheng was slapped so hard his head tilted to one side and his cheek immediately swelled red.

He frowned and instinctively tried to defend himself. “Mom—”

“Don’t call me ‘mom.’ I don’t have a son as vicious and cruel as you!” Gong Nianzhen snapped, furious, and shouted at Mu Yuncheng with extreme displeasure.

Mu Yuncheng’s breath caught. “Mom, you—”

“You’ve killed your child and that’s not enough—you even wanted to harm your father and your eldest brother! You truly are insane! Get out of my house! Don’t you ever set foot in the Mu family again!”

Gong Nianzhen spoke in righteous anger. When she finished she turned to the maid: “Pack his things up and get them out—clean everything out, leave nothing behind!”

The maid agreed — this second young master was too vicious. People like him couldn’t be kept.

She nodded and hurried upstairs to pack Mu Yuncheng’s things.

Mu Yuncheng’s pupils constricted; he looked stunned and bewildered. “Mom, you’re throwing me out? You actually… want to drive me out of the Mu family?”

“If I don’t kick you out, do you expect us to let you keep harming us?” Gong Nianzhen ground her teeth, her voice full of anger.

“Grandmother…” Mu Yuncheng turned his gaze toward Old Lady Mu, hoping to beg her for mercy.

But Old Lady Mu gave him a cold look and frowned. “You are no longer my grandson from now on! We have no descendants in the Mu family as cruel as you!”

Mu Yuncheng was speechless… He hadn’t expected even his grandmother to cast him out! They could be so heartless!

The maid worked fast; before long she had packed Mu Yuncheng’s things and brought them down, setting them in front of him.

Gong Nianzhen looked at him. “Take your things and get out!”

Mu Yuncheng clenched his teeth. “Mom—”

“Mrs. Mu, before he goes he still has one thing to do. Let him finish that and then make him leave, alright?” Xiao Wange looked at Gong Nianzhen and suddenly smiled.

Gong Nianzhen was puzzled. “What does she want him to do?”

Xiao Wange suddenly pulled Taotao up to her and stroked the child’s little head. “Mrs. Mu, don’t you think this child is pitiful?”

Gong Nianzhen looked at the well-behaved, adorable child across the room. Thinking of the suffering the child had endured, her breath tightened and she felt uncomfortable. Tears welled in her eyes. “This child has had a hard fate. He deserved a better father, someone who would love him properly.”

Xiao Wange looked at the child’s cute face. “He doesn’t need a father in this life. In this life… you can all love him.”

Gong Nianzhen was puzzled—this child is dead; how could they love him? But Xiao Wange suddenly turned to Mu Yuncheng and said, “You murdered your child; your crime is enormous. People like you ought to go straight to the eighteen levels of hell. But I can let you make amends so you’ll have fewer levels to endure after you die.”

Mu Yuncheng’s brow throbbed. “What do you want to do?!”

Xiao Wange smiled. “Taotao originally had an eighty-year lifespan; he might have died a natural death. But you caused him to live only one year! Since you stole his life, it must be paid for with your own life.”

“You… you actually—” Mu Yuncheng was stunned, his eyes wide; his breath grew unsteady and his voice trembled uncontrollably. “You want to take my life?!”

Xiao Wange stepped toward Mu Yuncheng. “Not your life—just thirty years of your lifespan. I’ll take thirty years from you, another twenty years from He Xiaokui, and Taotao will then have fifty years.”

Fifty years still couldn’t compare to eighty. Taotao truly was pitiable.

In truth, Xiao Wange would have liked to take more, but taking too much would cause backlash.

“You—don’t you dare!” Mu Yuncheng shrieked hysterically, stepping back. “My life belongs to me forever! You can’t take it!” he yelled at the woman.

Xiao Wange snorted coldly. In the blink of an eye she rushed up to Mu Yuncheng and made a hand sign, trapping his body with a spell. She glared at him. “Thirty years is lenient! If it were up to me, I’d kill you right now!”

She formed another hand sign and prepared to transfer his lifespan to Taotao.

Mu Yuncheng’s brow furrowed into a knot; his face suddenly went pale, terror and panic filling his expression.

He thought of something and suddenly shouted, “You have a son, right? Your son is still in town, isn’t he? Haha—do you want to know where he is now? He’s in my hands. I’ve already had people tie him up! You stinky woman, if you don’t want your son to get hurt, you’d better let me go. Or I’ll have your son die with me!”

At those words, everyone in the room panicked.

Zhao Guixiang looked at Xiao Wange and hurriedly asked, “Comrade Xiao, has Zhao Zhao been tied up? What… what should we do?”

Taotao pursed his lips; sadness showed on his face. He looked at Xiao Wange sorrowfully and said, “Aunt Xiao, you don’t need to take anyone’s lifespan for me. Maybe… maybe this is my fate. Please let them go—let Brother Zhao Zhao go, too.”

Gong Nianzhen was furious. She suddenly rushed up to Mu Yuncheng and slapped him again. “You bastard! How can you be so cruel? Why would you do such immoral things?!”

Old Lady Mu raised her cane as if to strike him as well. “This is a disgrace to the family—our house is cursed! How could we have produced a wretch like you?!”

Seeing Old Lady Mu and the others so furious, Mu Yuncheng only smiled.

He smiled with wicked satisfaction, arrogance written across his face as he looked at Xiao Wange. “Aren’t you going to let me go? Do you really want your son to die?!”

Xiao Wange arched an eyebrow, looked at him calmly, and said slowly, “Do you really think He Xiaokui has caught my son? Do you really believe you can control me? You’re delusional. You think my son is that easy to catch?”

“What do you mean?” Mu Yuncheng’s brow throbbed; a bad premonition spread through him.

Xiao Wange didn’t answer him; instead she formed hand signs and quickly cast the spell. “I’ll tell you everything after I finish transferring your lifespan to Taotao!”

The spell struck Mu Yuncheng, and he instantly felt excruciating pain—as if someone was ripping his muscles and skin. He howled in agony. “Stop! Stop!”

But Xiao Wange watched him coldly, unmoved.

The pain surged, and Mu Yuncheng almost fainted. He forced himself to stay conscious—if he passed out, it would be over.

He looked pleadingly at Old Lady Mu and Gong Nianzhen. “Grandmother, Mother, I beg you—help me… tell her to stop! I was raised by you; you cared for me since I was little—how can you let this person take my life?” he begged.

Old Lady Mu and Gong Nianzhen frowned but said nothing.

Watching the child they raised have his lifespan taken from him was painful—of course it hurt. But they also knew that those who had done wrong must be punished. Since Mu Yuncheng had committed the crime, he must accept the consequences. Besides, taking his life would restore years to Taotao—Taotao was still family blood of the Mu household.

“You… you truly disappoint me!” Mu Yuncheng said, angry and bitter, seeing that his grandmother and mother wouldn’t intervene.

But anger could not stop Xiao Wange from taking his lifespan.

Xiao Wange drew his lifespan out and transferred it straight to Taotao. Taotao suddenly gained thirty years; his complexion flushed rosy.

He seemed lighter and less heavy, no longer as clumsy and sluggish as before.

Xiao Wange looked at Taotao and smiled. “If we take another twenty years from He Xiaokui, he’ll have fifty years total.”

Taotao’s little face lit up in a smile as he looked happily at Xiao Wange. “Thank you, Aunt Xiao.”

But bad mothers weren’t here—how could Aunt Xiao take years from her?

Xiao Wange suddenly turned to Zhao Guixiang. “Aunt Zhao, I’m going to take twenty years from He Xiaokui for Taotao—will that cause you heartache?”

After all, He Xiaokui was her daughter; if Zhao Guixiang felt pain, that would be understandable.

Zhao Guixiang patted Taotao’s head, her face showing kindness, and smiled at Xiao Wange. “I don’t feel any pain. She harmed her own child; she should make compensation for her child. Comrade Xiao, go ahead. You don’t need to ask my permission.”

Xiao Wange nodded. “Then write down He Xiaokui’s birthdate and time. She isn’t here; I’ll use her birth data to draw her lifespan away.”

Daoist Qu standing nearby was stunned.

He had thought that taking someone’s lifespan in person was already formidable, but he hadn’t expected that one could also use a birthdate to snatch life out of thin air.

Who was this Miss Xiao really? Was she a bodhisattva? A reincarnation of a saint?

Everyone in the Mu household looked at Xiao Wange with admiration.

This young woman was so powerful in magic at such a young age—even Daoist Qingzhen Zi admired her.

It looked like it would be good to befriend her—if anything happened later, one could ask her for help.

Zhao Guixiang quickly wrote down He Xiaokui’s birth information.

Xiao Wange glanced at the birth data, curled her lips slightly, raised her hand, and made the hand signs.

At that moment, in an alley in town—

He Xiaokui was angrily scolding several big men.

She had sent those men to kidnap Zhao Zhao, but they were so useless that they had failed!

She yelled at them until they were thoroughly berated.

Just as she was in full voice, a sudden, fierce pain shot through her body.

The pain felt like someone tearing her flesh—like someone peeling her skin off—so intense she doubled over, her face turning pale.

She steadied herself against the wall, bewildered: what was happening? Why did she hurt so much? Why did it feel like someone was stripping her skin?