Chapter 212: Ruthlessness in Great Undertakings

"I'm fine!" Shao Meiyun stood up, brushed the dirt off her clothes, and shook her head. "Everything's alright, no problem at all. How did I end up here?"

"Don't you remember?" Liu Laotaiye asked. "You were reporting to me earlier, suddenly feeling dizzy, and came looking for Menglong for medicine..."

"Oh?" Shao Meiyun thought for a moment, then nodded. "I remember now. I felt faint all the way here and eventually collapsed." Realizing this, she looked apologetic. "Sorry for worrying everyone."

"Meiyun Jie..." Xiang Youyou couldn't hold back. "It wasn't just a simple fainting spell earlier. If it weren't for Big Brother, you might not have made it."

"Might not have made it?" Shao Meiyun was taken aback. "What exactly happened earlier?"

"It's hard to explain briefly." Li Nianlong glanced at the servants around them. Liu Laotaiye glared at them. "Don't spread what happened just now. You know the consequences!"

"Yes... yes..." The servants nodded nervously.

Li Nianlong waved his hand dismissively. "It's fine if it gets out. No one would believe it anyway. Grandfather, Meiyun Jie, let's talk inside. There are things I need to discuss with Meiyun Jie."

Shao Meiyun narrowed her eyes and nodded. "Alright."

In Li Nianlong's room, after sending the servants away, Shao Meiyun sat on the edge of the bed and asked, "Menglong, what exactly happened to me earlier? Why did everyone look at me strangely?"

"It's not just me who looked at you strangely; it's Grandfather, Youyou, and Ruyue." Li Nianlong sat at the desk, took out a yellow paper, set up cinnabar, dipped a wolf hair brush in it, and wrote a series of talismans on the yellow paper that no one else could understand. He infused them with true qi, and as the talismans formed, the yellow paper emitted a brilliant white light, leaving Liu Laotaiye and the three women dumbfounded.

After folding the talisman paper neatly, Li Nianlong took out a sachet, placed the talisman inside, and handed it to Shao Meiyun. "Wear this around your neck so you won't attract more troublemakers."

"What kind of talisman is this?" Though Shao Meiyun didn't believe in ghosts and spirits, the sight of the talisman emitting light inexplicably was too eerie, even causing a significant impact on her worldview.

"An exorcism talisman. With it, no ghosts or spirits can harm you." Li Nianlong said calmly.

"Oh?" Shao Meiyun hung the sachet around her neck and smiled faintly. "It actually looks quite nice."

"It's not for appearance's sake." Li Nianlong was about to put away the cinnabar and wolf hair brush when Xiang Youyou tugged at his sleeve. "Big brother, can I have one too?"

"Um..." 

Liu Laotaiye cleared his throat. "If it's not too much trouble, could you give me one too?"

"..."

Nalan Ruyue blinked her eyes and gestured, "Brother, I want one too."

Li Nianlong was speechless. He took out three more pieces of yellow paper and drew three exorcism talismans. After placing them in sachets, each person received one and wore it around their necks. They all showed a relieved expression, seeming much more at ease.

Shao Meiyun narrowed her eyes. "Something's not right."

Xiang Youyou looked at her. "Definitely not right. And you're the most suspicious one. Otherwise, why would we need these things?"

"Hehe, you don't think I've been possessed, do you?" Shao Meiyun joked.

The room fell silent.

Shao Meiyun was startled when she saw everyone's unusual expressions and swallowed nervously. "Am I really possessed?"

Everyone nodded.

"You're not joking, right?" Shao Meiyun's heart tightened, her delicate body stiffened. "Are you all playing a trick on me together?"

"Jie, don't worry." Li Nianlong waved his hand. "You're not possessed."

Shao Meiyun breathed a sigh of relief and patted her chest. "That's a relief."

"It's a ghost possession."

"#$%^&*..."

Liu Laotaiye cleared his throat. "Don't be afraid. Menglong has already killed those evil spirits."

"Really?" Shao Meiyun's body remained somewhat tense. Despite her fierce and ruthless nature, she was most afraid of supernatural occurrences, which stemmed from her mischievous childhood. Her grandmother would always say, "If you don't sleep, the old demon will come and get you!"

Alright! I believe every child has had this 'painful' experience.

"It's true." Xiang Youyou said, "The scene just now was too frightening. Over a hundred evil spirits with green faces and fangs seemed like they wanted to tear you apart and eat you. It was terrifying."

"It was actually over two hundred." Li Nianlong said calmly. "By the time you all saw it, I had already captured over a hundred evil spirits."

"Captured!?" The four were astonished.

Li Nianlong nodded and took out a ghost-capturing talisman. Inside, the evil spirit struggled violently, trying to escape the confined space. Li Nianlong injected a bit of true qi, and the evil spirit was immediately engulfed in flames, screaming in agony.

The four paled at the screams, and Li Nianlong looked at them. "Do you want to see?"

"No!" Shao Meiyun shouted, "Don't bring it out! I don't want to see!"

Her sudden outburst startled everyone in the room.

"It's okay, we won't look." Li Nianlong said. "But I'm curious, Jie, how did you manage to anger over two hundred evil spirits? They were of all ages and genders, each seemingly eager to devour you, which is quite frightening."

Over two hundred, of all ages and genders...

Shao Meiyun's expression changed, and she tightly grasped Li Nianlong's arm. "Could it be them!?"

"Who?" Li Nianlong tapped on Shao Meiyun's body a few times, and she soon felt her body relax.

"Thanks." Shao Meiyun leaned against Li Nianlong's shoulder. "I feel much better now."

Seeing this scene, Xiang Youyou suddenly felt a twinge of jealousy. "Jie, you haven't said who 'them' are! What's the story behind those over two hundred evil spirits?"

Thinking about the over two hundred evil spirits, Shao Meiyun became nervous again. She held onto Li Nianlong's shoulder and remained silent for a moment. "They're the people who spread rumors and slandered the Liu family."

Everyone present understood. Xiang Youyou couldn't help but be shocked by Shao Meiyun's ruthless nature, while Liu Laotaiye sighed. "I didn't expect something like this to happen. Meiyun, I shouldn't have let you handle this matter from the start."

Shao Meiyun shook her head. "I was the most suitable person for this. I just didn't expect those people would go so far as to try to harm me even after death." She paused and looked at Li Nianlong, smiling faintly. "Fortunately, Menglong saved me. Otherwise, I would have died inexplicably."

Li Nianlong shook his head, somewhat reluctantly. "Jie, I know you did this for the Liu family, but... was it too ruthless? After all, there were elderly, women, and children among them."

Seeing Li Nianlong still had reservations, Shao Meiyun sighed softly. "That's why Menglong isn't the type to do great things. Without a ruthless heart, how can one achieve greatness? Even though there were elderly, women, and children among them, their actions could have led to the downfall of the Liu family. Being soft-hearted wouldn't work. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to deter the enemies lurking in the dark."

After a pause, Shao Meiyun hesitated and continued, "Back when you were in Longcheng, although the other side was wrong, if you put yourself in their shoes, they were the ones truly capable of doing great things. They are much stronger in this regard compared to you."

Li Nianlong fell silent for a moment and nodded. "I know he's stronger than me in that respect. There's no right or wrong in this matter. It's survival of the fittest, a law of the jungle. But I am stronger than him. So as a weakling, he took ruthless actions against me, and he can't blame me for retaliating. If anyone's to blame, it's him for not being strong enough and for targeting me."

"Yeah!" Shao Meiyun sighed softly. "All I can say is it's a pity."

"Big brother, Jie, who are you talking about?" Xiang Youyou was confused. "Please don't speak in riddles."

Shao Meiyun smiled slightly, glanced at her, then turned to Li Nianlong. "Can we talk about it? Are you okay with it?"

Li Nianlong was silent for a moment. "Go ahead and tell her! Youyou is one of us; it's okay if she knows."

Shao Meiyun nodded, gently brushing a lock of hair from Li Nianlong's forehead. She smiled softly and said, "Stay strong. No matter what, you are the head of the Liu family. Compared to you, he's far inferior."

With Shao Meiyun's reassurance, Li Nianlong smiled slightly. "I'm fine."

"That's good." Shao Meiyun smiled and then turned to look at Xiang Youyou, who was full of curiosity. "Youyou, this is Menglong's secret. Originally, I shouldn't have said anything, but since Menglong said you are one of us, as one of us, try to keep it a secret after hearing it. Of course, you can choose not to keep it secret; it's up to you."

Shao Meiyun always liked to keep some things ambiguous. She mentioned keeping it a secret or not but didn't discuss the consequences of either choice. This made her a woman one had to be cautious around.

Xiang Youyou glanced at Li Nianlong and nodded. "I will keep it a secret."

Shao Meiyun squinted and smiled, teasing, "Why did you say that to Menglong and not to me?"

Xiang Youyou blushed and said coyly, "Meiyun, are you going to tell me or not? If not, forget it."

"Then forget it."

"..."

Seeing Xiang Youyou's face alternating between red and green, Shao Meiyun laughed. "You took it seriously! I was just teasing you!"

"Meiyun, will it kill you not to tease me?" Xiang Youyou was very frustrated with a woman as scheming as Shao Meiyun.

"Not teasing you won't kill me, but it would be boring." Shao Meiyun laughed again. Seeing Xiang Youyou's displeased expression, she said, "Alright, I won't tease you anymore. But this matter is indeed very secret. Don't be too shocked after you hear it."

Xiang Youyou nodded. "Go ahead."

"Well." Shao Meiyun organized her thoughts and began, "You should know Menglong's other identity. His biological father is actually Long Qingyun."

Xiang Youyou nodded. "I already know this, but I haven't told anyone. Neither my grandfather nor my father knows."

Shao Meiyun smiled and nodded. "The problem lies here. Menglong is Long Qingyun's son. Last June, Menglong's mother passed away due to illness. At the end of the month, Menglong and his old butler went to Longcheng to seek his father. But before Menglong could meet Long Qingyun, he was discovered by Long Zongheng."

Hearing this, Xiang Youyou quickly connected the dots with the information she already had and exclaimed, "Long Zongheng wanted to kill Brother Long!?"

"You got it right," Shao Meiyun smiled slightly, a cold glint flashing in her eyes. "If it hadn't been for the old butler sacrificing his life to save him, Menglong wouldn't have made it back. Such a deep-seated enmity can't go unavenged!"