"As long as you cooperate with us and help us overcome the current crisis, then all past grievances between my Murong family and you will be forgotten and written off. What do you say?"
Mo Qi pondered for a moment. From his perspective, he hadn't suffered any losses in this dispute. On the contrary, the Murong family seemed to have taken a slight hit.
In other words, he owed the Murong family.
As the saying goes, it's better to resolve enmity than to foster it. Now that they were willing to let bygones be bygones and turn their swords into ploughshares, what reason did he have to refuse?
Mo Qi nodded, "As long as no blood is shed, I don't see why not."
Murong Shui glanced at Murong Mu.
Murong Mu sighed deeply and agreed.
Thus, everyone busied themselves, and soon Murong Yanran was dressed as a bride, her face covered by a red veil.
Then, Xiao Wen was asked to change out of his wedding attire and blend into the crowd.
In the main seat of the hall, Murong Mu and Xiao Ruo Nan replaced Murong Shui and Madam Qi.
Just as they finished tidying up, a commotion could be heard approaching from a distance.
Footsteps mixed with laughter echoed from outside, "Oh dear, we're late, we're late! Congratulations, congratulations!"
The Li family, consisting of Li Xinglan, Li Xingyuan, and their father Li Chunyu, entered, led by Murong Jin.
Upon entering, Li Xingyuan feigned surprise, looking at Mo Qi in his wedding attire. "Strange, isn't the groom Murong Jing? When did they change? Did I come to the wrong place? Is this the Murong family?"
He then turned to see Murong Jing, whose face was ashen, and said with a smile, "Young Master Murong, why have you taken off your wedding attire? What's going on? Where is your bride?"
"Why aren't you taking her to the bridal chamber? A moment of spring night is worth a thousand pieces of gold!"
These sharp and sarcastic words instantly chilled the once festive atmosphere to the freezing point.
Every word struck a nerve.
Murong Mu and Murong Shui clenched their fists, their knuckles cracking, wishing they could silence him.
However, at this moment, their words were not vulgar, and there was no tangible evidence to accuse them of insults.
The Murong family elder, leaning on his cane, stumbled forward and raised it to strike Li Xingyuan, "Get out!"
Li Xingyuan smiled faintly, raising his hand to gently catch the cane. "Elder, please don't be angry. Be careful not to hurt yourself!"
The elder tugged at the cane but couldn't pull it free, shouting, "Go to hell!"
Several younger disciples quickly stepped forward and helped the elder out.
Murong Shui stepped forward with a forced smile, "Hall Master Li, welcome! We apologize for not greeting you sooner. Please be seated in the guest room."
As he spoke, he tried to lead Li Xingyuan outside, but Li Xingyuan seemed not to notice and continued, "I'm just curious. You've got me all confused. What's going on? Wasn't Murong Jing getting married? Why is a stranger getting married in your house? Aren't you going to do anything about it? How can you tolerate this?"
Murong Shui felt a surge of fear, "Fortunately, we handled it in time."
At this moment, he felt more confident and said with a smile, "How can he be a stranger? Today is my niece's joyous occasion, and the person in the hall is my nephew-in-law!"
Li Xingyuan's train of thought was struggling to keep up. "Niece? Is Chao Xixue your niece? Well, I can't help it if you want to force this connection."
The guests below also burst into laughter, which made Li Xingyuan lose his composure.
Murong Shui said, "Hall Master Li, please look closely. The person under the veil is my niece Yanran, not Chao Xixue."
"What?" Li Xingyuan couldn't believe his ears and turned to look at Li Chunyu.
Li Chunyu blinked, signaling him not to believe their nonsense.
Li Xingyuan said, "I haven't seen Sister Yanran in a long time. Could you let her lift the veil so I can see?"
"That's simple," Murong Shui turned to Murong Yanran. "Niece, why don't you lift the veil and let him see?"
It would be a direct slap in his face!
Murong Yanran heard this and prepared to lift the veil.
At that moment, Mo Qi suddenly reached out and grasped Murong Yanran's hand, saying, "Wait!"
The air in the room instantly froze again, and everyone's gaze turned to Mo Qi.
Mo Qi said calmly, "This is my bride. By what right do you say she should lift the veil?"
Everyone subtly rolled their eyes, "He's getting into character quickly!"
Li Xingyuan looked embarrassed. "Alas, isn't today a joyous occasion? Everyone is happy. I just wanted to see how beautiful my Sister Yanran looks in her wedding attire. It's just a small request, you can't expect me to make trouble in the bridal chamber later, can you?"
Truly shameless!
"If you want to see, you can," Mo Qi said. "You just want to see if she is Murong Yanran, right? If she is Murong Yanran, how about you cripple your own hands?"
Li Xingyuan's heart trembled. "This, do we need to bet that much?"
Li Xingyuan fell silent.
Li Xinglan whispered in his ear, "Brother, bet with him. This is definitely a diversion. I personally saw Chao Xixue get into the sedan chair. Mo Qi came out to snatch the bride in the middle, replacing Murong Jing. Murong Jing only returned later."
Li Xingyuan began to weigh the options. If she lifted the veil and it was Murong Yanran, he would cripple his hands and be ruined.
If it wasn't Murong Yanran, at most the Murong family would become a laughingstock, and they wouldn't be able to defeat them.
It wasn't worth it!
"How about this?" Li Xingyuan smiled. "If it's Yanran sister, I'll give you a million spirit stones. If it's not, you give me a million spirit stones."
The crowd below couldn't suppress their excitement. This was wealth delivered to their doorstep. It would be foolish not to take it. They all egged him on, "Bet him, bet him!"
Mo Qi shook his head. "If you lose, I don't want your money. I only ask that you never set foot in the Murong family again. You are not welcome here." He thought to himself, "Murong family, you should thank me. I'm doing a good deed!"
Li Xingyuan felt extremely frustrated. "This... really? Am I so unwelcome?"
Li Xingyuan looked towards Murong Shui, who turned his head away.
"Fine, I agree," Li Xingyuan said.
After speaking, he anxiously watched the woman with the red veil.
The next moment, the red veil was gently lifted.
Murong Yanran lowered her head, her delicate face flushed with shyness. Her fair, snow-white skin was set against the red, like a blooming flower, so vibrant and fragrant.
Li Xinglan was stunned. "How is this possible? I never heard that Murong Yanran was getting married before."
He had even considered arranging for her to marry Li Xinglan. However, Murong Mu's answer at the time was to present twenty billion spirit stones or draw the Heavenly Heng Sword!
Twenty billion spirit stones were within the Li family's means, but to spend their entire fortune to marry a woman was not worth it!
As for the Heavenly Heng Sword, it was the Murong family's treasured sword, embedded at the entrance of the secret realm behind the mountain. It was said that no one had been able to draw it for five hundred years.
Once the Heavenly Heng Sword was drawn, the secret realm gate would open, revealing opportunities that varied from person to person.
At that time, Li Xinglan had indeed tried, but the sword didn't budge, so he had to give up.
At this moment, Li Xinglan was mesmerized. "So beautiful!"
Li Xingyuan, however, rapped him on the head. "Didn't you say it was definitely Chao Xixue?"
Li Xinglan looked dejected. "I, I don't know! I clearly..."
Mo Qi looked at Li Xingyuan and said, "You should fulfill your promise!"
Murong Shui also made a cold gesture of invitation.
The three members of the Li family were all embarrassed. "We already gave our gifts. We haven't even had a sip of the wedding wine, and they're so openly asking us to leave."
"Wait a moment, I have one last question. After I finish, I'll leave," Li Xingyuan said shamelessly, looking at Murong Mu. "I recall you saying before that to marry Sister Yanran, one had to present twenty billion spirit stones or draw the Heavenly Heng Sword. I wonder which of these two conditions Brother Mo has met?"
"Could it be that the Murong family said this just to deliberately make things difficult for our Li family?"
Murong Mu's face gradually turned ashen.
Murong Shui also froze.
Li Xingyuan immediately seemed to stand on higher ground, his entire posture elevating by a few inches, and his voice rising a few decibels. "Your actions are a bit too unkind."
"Who I want to marry is my freedom, what business is it of yours?" Murong Yanran said indignantly.
However, Li Xingyuan smiled. He suddenly thought of the crux of the matter. This marriage ceremony was decided on the spur of the moment for Murong Yanran; it was a forced arrangement, essentially to save face for the family.
If you want face, I'll slap your face until you have nowhere to hide!
"Of course, who you want to marry is your freedom. However, you can't just marry anyone, can you? At the very least, find a suitable husband in the Qionglou Realm. Even if you find a bumpkin from the Nine Gods Realm, and you're afraid he can't afford twenty billion in betrothal gifts, even ten million spirit stones would be acceptable! To preserve family honor, you shouldn't compromise yourself too much, should you?"
"You..." Murong Yanran stamped her foot in anger, her eyes wide open, almost shedding tears.
These sharp and sarcastic words, both taunting and ironic, enraged all the guests.
However, everyone feared Li Xingyuan's status and dared not speak out despite their anger.
At this moment, Mo Qi cleared his throat and said calmly and unhurriedly, "I can present twenty billion spirit stones as betrothal gifts!"
His voice was not loud, but it was like a thunderclap, stunning everyone into silence.
Li Xingyuan let out a sneer and said coldly, "I believe you. You can count it yourselves behind closed doors, one counting as a thousand!"
He then added with utter contempt, "Twenty billion spirit stones, have you ever seen so much money? Do you know how high it would pile up?"
"We can try and see how high it piles up!" Before he finished speaking, Mo Qi took out his storage bag, turned it upside down, and began pouring spirit stones in front of him.
He thought, I'll pour them out first to blind your eyes, and then I'll collect them after you leave.
The continuous sound of rustling was like a cascade of golden spirit stones, piling higher and higher like earth.
The people around were astonished!
So many spirit stones, how many lifetimes would that take to spend!
After emptying one storage bag, a small mountain had formed!
A glittering golden mountain!
However, it wasn't over yet. Mo Qi took out another storage bag and continued to pour them out with a rustling sound!
Li Xingyuan stared, dumbfounded. Was this an illusion?
He rubbed his eyes fiercely, but all he saw was a golden radiance!
The people of the Murong family's eyes lit up. If all this money truly belonged to them, how wonderful that would be!
Xiao Ruo Nan's eyes were even more fixed, her eyeballs almost falling out, drawn to the pile of golden objects.
After emptying two storage bags, Mo Qi felt it was enough and stopped pouring.
At this point, Mo Qi and Murong Yanran were completely obscured by a golden mountain. The people outside could not see them, nor could they see Xiao Ruo Nan and Murong Mu behind them.
Li Xingyuan stood there blankly, unable to utter another word!
So many spirit stones couldn't just be left here. Xiao Ruo Nan immediately took out her own storage bag and ordered some servants, "Quick, quickly put them away!"