The black-clad head steward walked directly up to Long Xuan, his voice cold as he asked, "What did I say before? Do you still recall?"
How could Long Xuan possibly forget?
If she truly didn't remember, she wouldn't be so eager to have Shen Xiaoyan and the others killed quickly, all because she feared the head steward's return and the difficulty of explaining herself.
Unfortunately, after all her calculations, she was caught red-handed. Long Xuan's heart was in turmoil.
She wasn't overly afraid of the head steward himself, but rather of him disciplining her in front of everyone.
If that happened, where would she be able to save face?
Alas, the very thing one fears the most is precisely what happens.
Just as Long Xuan was worrying about being disciplined by the black-clad head steward, he walked up to her, raised his hand, and with lightning speed, delivered a resounding slap across her face.
Caught completely by surprise, Long Xuan had no time to dodge.
Thus, she was slapped hard and remained stunned for a long time.
It wasn't until she heard a buzzing in her ears and the increasingly strong metallic taste in her mouth that Long Xuan truly realized she had been hit.
And not just hit, but slapped soundly in full view of everyone.
Long Xuan couldn't vent her anger, nor could she pretend that nothing had happened.
"Long Hao, don't go too far!"
Long Xuan, dizzy from the blow or perhaps from anger, was still somewhat disoriented even after standing up.
She tried her best to steady herself, took a deep breath after a while, and walked up to Long Hao.
"Long Hao, don't think that just because you are Father's child, you can boss us around."
"Don't think that just because you are Father's child, you have the right to lecture me. I'm telling you, you are dreaming."
"You are only fit to be my bodyguard. I gave you face before, which is why I listened to you. Now you've gotten carried away with acting. I'm telling you, when we get back, you'll have to answer for this. Both Father and Mother will be on my side. When that time comes, you absolutely cannot be late, nor can you disgrace yourself."
After scolding him like this, Long Xuan thought she was done.
In Long Xuan's view, after her words, Long Hao would surely not dare to cause any more trouble.
However, to her surprise, Long Hao didn't say a word but had already appeared before her.
Long Xuan watched Long Hao warily, suddenly experiencing a bad premonition.
At that moment, Long Hao suddenly raised his hand and struck Long Xuan's face hard again.
This scene stunned everyone.
Even Shen Xiaoyan was astonished.
The first slap could be attributed to Long Xuan defying orders.
But the second slap was truly an insult.
Long Xuan was clearly not the type to accept this passively. She let out an angry roar and lunged at Long Hao, intending to fight him desperately.
But Long Hao easily dodged to the side and looked at Long Xuan with contempt, saying, "You? Don't waste your energy."
His tone of voice was exactly the same as Long Xuan's earlier.
They were clearly siblings, so why did they act like mistress and head steward?
And Long Hao had fallen to this point, which brought him much pain.
If he had known that one day he would have to watch Zheng Wei send her away, how heart-wrenching that would be.
Long Hao withdrew his gaze from Long Xuan and looked at Yi Zhixie, "I apologize for startling you all. When we return and meet again, I will certainly teach her a lesson."
"Who are you, and who gave you the right to speak to me like that?" Long Xuan shrieked.
Long Hao heard her but remained unmoved.
In this world, whoever has power has the right.
If everyone were like Long Xuan, relying only on others, and were also opportunistic, their fate would likely be no better than hers.
"Does Yi Zhixie have any other dissatisfaction?"
As Long Hao spoke, his face was filled with a smile, and his tone was gentle, as if no fight had occurred, nor any unpleasantness between them.
At this moment, Long Xuan drew her sword and lunged at Long Hao's back.
Long Hao did not block. Why was he still alive and well?
Though countless doubts swirled in his mind, Yi Zhixie remained outwardly calm, simply watching it all unfold from the side.
Long Hao waited for a moment and saw that Yi Zhixie still had no reaction, so he said, "It seems Yi Zhixie is not satisfied with my actions. In that case, Miss, please punish yourself until Yi Zhixie is satisfied. Of course, all of you too. If Yi Zhixie is not satisfied, you will continue to kneel."
Upon hearing Long Hao's words, the remaining disciples who were still alive truly began to slap themselves.
The clear, resounding slaps echoed through the courtyard.
Shen Xiaoyan, standing by and watching, felt her own face ache, and these people were using their full strength when they hit themselves.
Yi Zhixie was utterly bewildered at this moment because he couldn't fathom what Long Hao was trying to achieve.
If they were indeed in opposing positions, as stated when they first met that morning.
But now, simply because Long Xuan had brought people to cause trouble earlier, they were made to kneel and slap themselves. This was truly too strange.
Could this be a ruse, a ploy to keep these people here?
Seeing Yi Zhixie's pensive expression, Yi Zhixie's eyes flickered, and the next moment he looked at Long Xuan.
"Everyone has started. You should start too."
Long Xuan stepped back upon hearing this, saying in disbelief, "Start what?"
Long Hao gestured to those who were still slapping themselves and said, "Are you blind? Can't you see what they are doing?"
Long Xuan pointed at herself incredulously, "You want me to do the same as them?"
Long Hao nodded, "Of course. The emperor who breaks the law is punished the same as a commoner. Besides, you are merely the daughter of a clan elder, and your cultivation is not high. With your caliber, you still expect to get away unscathed? I think you are purely dreaming. If you truly don't want to do it, it's not impossible."
Hearing Long Hao say this, Long Xuan's eyes were filled with excitement.
"In that case, I'll go back and rest."
As Long Xuan spoke, she turned and quickened her pace towards the exit.
"Wait, who gave you permission to leave?"
Long Xuan only heard Long Hao say this, and in the next second, Long Hao had already appeared before her.
"What do you want?"
Long Hao smirked, "Naturally, I want you to finish what you haven't finished."
Long Xuan bit her lip, turned around resolutely, and quickly walked up to Yi Zhixie, "I'm sorry, it was my fault today. I apologize. Such a thing will never happen again."
As Long Xuan spoke, tears were on the verge of falling from her eyes.
This kind of Long Xuan was indeed quite pitiable.
Unfortunately, among the men present, either they were clueless, or they had the desire but not the courage.
No one spoke, so Long Xuan could only bite her lip and stand there quietly.
Shen Xiaoyan exchanged a glance with Zheng Wei, nodded slightly, and walked up to Long Xuan.
"Why did you want to kill me?"
This was the question on everyone's mind; they too wanted to know the reason.
Long Xuan gave a cold smile, "Who can you blame? Who told you to follow Yi Zhixie? If you abandon him now, perhaps you can live a peaceful life in the future."
Shen Xiaoyan's expression remained unchanged upon hearing this, but she sighed inwardly.
As they had suspected, the people sent by the White Dove Sect were indeed fast.
Without a doubt, they must have used the temporal transmission gate to arrive here so quickly and formulated a plan to eliminate them all.
As for Long Hao, he was likely lured away by a scheme.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been delayed for so long.
And he wouldn't have been so furious upon his return.
All of this only went to show that Long Xuan was entirely responsible for her own predicament.
"Enough with the nonsense, Miss. Please cooperate quickly, so we can finish this sooner. Then we can return to the Sun Heat Sect, and you can hit me or scold me as you please."
Long Xuan only sneered upon hearing this and showed no reaction.
Unless she was a fool, how could she kneel and slap herself?
She had seen that the disciples' cheeks were already swollen like steamed buns from slapping themselves.
Although Shen Xiaoyan disliked this method, when dealing with enemies, the most fatal mistake is to be soft-hearted.
Therefore, she merely turned her face away impassively and said nothing.
Time passed, and Shen Xiaoyan felt her legs ache before she finally heard Wu Yihao say, "The sky is getting dark. Let's hurry back and rest."
With that, Wu Yihao waved his hand, and a group of masked figures appeared.
Long Hao looked at these suddenly appearing figures, his gaze gradually deepening, showing signs of impending conflict.
"What does Master Wu mean by this?" Long Hao asked with a smile.
Wu Yihao chuckled, "Young Master, you worry too much. I'm just a simple castle lord. What meaning could there be? I saw that you all were just slapping your faces, and your hands and feet must be swollen. I have some medicinal unguents here. Although they are not as precious as some famous powders, they are indeed very effective."
Long Xuan watched the application of the medicine with her own eyes and couldn't help but sigh.
There were truly many tough individuals in this world.
These people, though not straightforward, were at least aware of what they could and could not say.
"Master Wu invites us sincerely, and we should have stayed. However, there is an urgent matter at the Sun Heat Sect, so our paths diverge. We will meet again in the future."
Saying this, Long Hao prepared to lead his people away.
Zheng Wei, seeing this, leaped forward and directly blocked his path.