Qing Muye's exceptional intelligence made him the greatest threat to Heka Liannuo.
And she would absolutely not allow such a threat to exist.
"None of you move!"
Heka Liannuo hadn't expected Heka Qingtang to order her arrest.
She produced a dagger in one hand and used the other to brace herself on the floor, attempting to stand. However, her knees were throbbing from kneeling so forcefully, and she stumbled before managing to straighten up.
With the dagger held to her throat, she faced Heka Qingtang. "Mother, if you don't save Qing Muye today, I will die right in front of you."
Seeing this scene, Heka Qingtang's heart tightened. She instinctively took a step forward, but as she was on the verge of a staircase, her foot slipped. She stumbled before regaining her footing on the steps.
"Do you think threatening me will work?" she scoffed, her expression grim.
Just as everyone believed Heka Liannuo was joking, she plunged the dagger directly into her abdomen. Blood immediately began to ooze out along the blade.
"Liannuo!"
"Young Mistress!"
Heka Qingtang and several guards' expressions changed drastically, finding the scene before them utterly shocking.
Heka Liannuo stood steady, unmoving, her gaze fixed resolutely on Heka Qingtang. "I, Heka Liannuo, never speak empty words!"
Qing Muye was in grave danger, and there could be no further delay.
Every minute of delay meant another minute of peril. She did not want Qing Muye to die.
Facing Heka Liannuo's aggressive stance, Heka Qingtang waved her hand. "All of you, leave. Close the door."
The guards nodded, turned, and walked out, closing the door behind them.
Heka Qingtang strode down the steps and approached Heka Liannuo. Lowering her voice, she said, "Saving someone with Gu arts is extremely draining and far more complicated than you imagine. If you insist on saving Qing Muye, his memory must be sealed. Otherwise, I will never agree to save a future enemy!"
"Seal... seal his memory?" Heka Liannuo had heard that the Gu arts of the Hidden Tribe could seal memories, but she didn't want Qing Muye to have all his memories sealed. "If all his memories are sealed, he won't be himself anymore."
"Actually, our Heka clan doesn't know the true method of sealing memories. Only the Hexiao clan, led by Hexiao Bei and a few elders, are adept at it. For years, they have been researching this method, but with no progress. Ultimately, they resort to scientific methods: using a chip to read and seal memories, deleting a portion of them, and then implanting the chip to disrupt the brain's memory system. However, this is harmful to the individual and can make their personality indifferent."
"Indifferent?" Heka Liannuo's eyes glazed over. "Then wouldn't he be like that towards me too?"
"But if you are together, over time, feelings can develop."
Heka Qingtang patted Heka Liannuo's shoulder, then looked at the wound on her abdomen, feeling a pang of sadness. "Liannuo, it's easier to conquer a kingdom than to defend it. Your father, alongside me, took control of the Hidden Tribe, which led to his illness and eventual death. Do you want to watch everything my father and I fought for be taken away by Qing Muye and Meng Jingwei together?"
"I..."
Heka Liannuo hesitated.
She felt that doing so would be unfair to Qing Muye and Meng Jingwei, and it didn't align with her own principles.
But at this moment, it seemed there was no other choice.
"Mother, I... I'm just worried, besides affecting his memory, will this method you mentioned cause other damage to his body?"
"The results of this research were successful a long time ago, and the clinical trials were very effective. However, implementing this technology requires fifty million [currency units]! That's real money."
The exchange rate between Hidden Tribe currency and Chinese Yuan is one to five. Fifty million Hidden Tribe currency is equivalent to two hundred fifty million Yuan.
Heka Qingtang felt it was not worth spending such a sum for an outsider.