Wu Qing scanned his surroundings coldly before speaking indifferently, "It's late, everyone should go back and rest."
"Yes, Young Master," Qing Feng and Ming Yue replied. Mo Chou and Mo You walked to their master's side. Fortunately, they had settled the dozen children elsewhere, otherwise, the night would have been even more chaotic.
Qing Yao looked at everything before her, forcing down her nausea. The ground was covered in snakes, and the mangled flesh of snakes blown apart by grenades, a gruesome sight that assaulted her eyes. It wasn't just the sight, but also a deeper sense of guilt; if they hadn't been here, perhaps none of this would have happened.
"Wu Qing?"
Wu Qing looked up, meeting her gaze. His face was softened by a gentle light as he slowly spoke, "It's alright, don't think too much about it. Go rest, and everything will be fine."
"Mm, you should rest early too," Qing Yao nodded, suppressing the urge to vomit. If she didn't hold back, she feared she wouldn't be able to stop herself.
After bidding farewell to Wu Qing and the Third Prince Wen Yu, Qing Yao turned, ascended the stone steps, walked through the long corridor, and entered her room.
As soon as she stepped into the room, she couldn't help but retch. Mo Chou and Xiao Yu'er were startled and quickly surrounded her.
"Mother, what's wrong? Are you okay?"
Xiao Yu'er's small face was etched with worry. She reached out and touched Qing Yao's forehead. Seeing their anxious faces, Qing Yao shook her head, her own face pale.
"I feel sick."
"Mm, it is quite sickening," Xiao Yu'er pouted. However, she was naturally not afraid of snakes. She remembered that her mother was afraid of snakes, which was why she felt like vomiting.
Mo Chou shuddered at the thought of the snakes, a chill permeating her body. She glanced around the room, not missing even the corners, before finally relaxing, "Alright, there are no snakes here."
"But these snakes are strange? And those two people are strange. Why did they enter the valley?"
Xiao Yu'er hopped onto a nearby chair, propping her chin in her hands, her expression thoughtful. The events of the night were peculiar. Wu Qing Valley had always been peaceful. Although some had harbored intentions, very few had managed to enter. But now, with the Black and White Fiends bringing in a large number of snakes, there might be others who would follow.
"Yes, Miss. Why did those two people know we were returning to the valley today? That's the strangest part. We just returned today, and they knew, rushing over overnight. Doesn't that mean there's a spy among us?"
As Mo Chou spoke, Qing Yao's expression turned cold and deadly. She couldn't bring herself to believe Mo Chou's words. Among their group, only Wen Yu was an outsider. If there was an internal spy, it could only be him. Even if he wasn't Yin Xuan, he wouldn't harm them, would he?
However, Mo Chou's words were not entirely wrong. There was another possibility. The royal family of Huang Yuan Kingdom knew that Wu Qing had once resided in the Seventh Prince's residence. If the Seventh Prince was missing, he must have entered Wu Qing Valley. Were the Black and White Fiends tonight sent by people from Huang Yuan Kingdom, or was it Wen Yu's doing?
"Mother, I think that Wen Yu has ulterior motives. Tonight, he didn't say a word from beginning to end. That's too abnormal. Wouldn't anyone encountering such a situation feel uneasy? At least they would show some reaction, but he remained completely still, as if he already knew."
As Xiao Yu'er finished speaking, Mo Chou nodded in agreement. "Yes, Third Prince Wen is too abnormal."
Mo Chou pondered in confusion. Perhaps everything was related to love. When Third Prince Wen was the Prime Minister's son, he had pursued Miss. Now that he saw her again, he wouldn't easily act without reason. Perhaps he had orchestrated the appearance of the Black and White Fiends to kill the people of Wu Qing Valley, so that Miss would leave with him. His plan was indeed cunning, but he didn't consider if Wu Qing could be dealt with so easily. Instead, he caused the death of Hei Sha and lost half of their life's work.
"Alright, let's not talk about him. I'll be watchful," Qing Yao truly wished that Wen Yu wasn't that kind of person, but the matter was almost obvious. However, there were always exceptions. Perhaps it was truly the work of people from Huang Yuan Kingdom. Without concrete evidence, she wouldn't make baseless accusations, but she would pay attention to Wen Yu's movements.
In the brightly lit room, Qing Yao narrowed her eyes and looked at Xiao Yu'er with a half-smile. Xiao Yu'er immediately sat up straight, wondering what she had done to displease her.
"Since you can make hand grenades, why not make more? And their power isn't very great, they're too small."
Qing Yao was comparing them to modern hand grenades. If the grenades tonight had been more powerful, two would have been enough to blow up all the snakes the Black and White Fiends had brought, not just most of them.
Xiao Yu'er blinked, unable to speak for a long time. Seeing that Qing Yao was still waiting for her answer, she spoke weakly, "Don't mention it. There were no materials. The casings were fine, and the fuses weren't a problem, but there was no explosive material. We managed to make three with great difficulty. I've been trying to think of substitutes."
Xiao Yu'er spoke fluently, her large eyes sparkling. Mo Chou listened, completely baffled. Although she didn't understand, she still admired her. Was Little Miss a human or a demon? No wonder Ming Yue secretly muttered that she was a little goblin. Now even she had such thoughts. She was clearly a child, yet she could make such powerful things, and Miss even said they weren't powerful enough. And the things she said were incomprehensible to her.
Unaware of Mo Chou's confusion, Qing Yao continued to ask Xiao Yu'er in the room, "Then how did you manage to create these three?"
Hearing her words, Xiao Yu'er pursed her lips and smiled, a hint of pride in her eyes. "Later, I thought of something. Around the pigpens of ordinary households, there are explosive materials like saltpeter. I later had Ming Yue find some for me, but there wasn't enough."
Xiao Yu'er spoke with some regret at the end, but everything had a process, so she wasn't in a hurry.
"Then you must use your brain more. This is very useful," Qing Yao stroked Xiao Yu'er's head. As long as they could make hand grenades, they might be useful in the future.
"Okay," Xiao Yu'er nodded. Mo Chou, noticing that the night had grown dark, quickly urged the two masters, one big and one small, "It's late, let's go to bed early."
"Alright," they both nodded. Xiao Yu'er quickly reached out and hugged Qing Yao's neck, saying sweetly, "I'll sleep with Mother tonight."
"Fine," Qing Yao readily agreed. The mother and daughter giggled as they washed up and went to bed. Some matters seemed to fade away, like wisps of smoke. The matters of her past life and Xiao Rui were now very far away, so there was no need to mention them...
The next day, Wu Qing Valley had once again become a beautiful place. All the dead snakes had disappeared, having been carefully cleaned up by Wu Qing's orders. Even Hei Sha's body had been thrown into the swamp.