Chapter 17: The Wei Siblings

Wei Family Residence.

“Big sister, just be honest with me—has Senior Brother really come back or not?”

A slender, delicate-looking boy stared wide-eyed, fixing his gaze intently on Wei Jiajia.

“I told you, he’s back. Why would I lie to you?” Wei Jiajia avoided her brother Wei Jiaping’s eyes, her tone calm.

“Heh.” Wei Jiaping sneered. “Still lying, even now?”

“What would I gain from lying to you?” Wei Jiajia replied irritably. “I’ve told you over and over—Senior Brother is back. He really is! But you don’t believe me, so what am I supposed to do?”

“What are you supposed to do? Just have him come out, and that settles everything!”

Wei Jiaping clenched his fists. “As long as Senior Brother shows himself, I’ll believe he’s returned.”

“He has other matters to deal with,” Wei Jiajia replied quickly. “Once he’s finished, he’ll show up. You don’t need to be so anxious—”

“Is it me who’s anxious? Really?”

At last, Wei Jiaping couldn’t hold back. He jumped to his feet and roared at her, “You tell me not to worry? Then why don’t you go tell the ‘Little Blade Society’ not to worry, if you’re so capable!”

“I—”

“Save your breath, I don’t want to hear it!” Wei Jiaping cut her off, voice still raised. “Senior Brother has other matters? You might deceive people for a while, but not forever! Half a month has passed, and Senior Brother hasn’t shown himself even once. The Little Blade Society is suspicious—no, they’re preparing to test us!”

“If they make a move and Senior Brother isn’t here, with just you, how many of their probes do you think you can withstand? Huh? Answer me—how many?”

“I—”

“I said, enough excuses! Just answer me honestly—has Senior Brother really come back?” Wei Jiaping roared.

Wei Jiajia opened her mouth, intending to lie again, but seeing her brother’s reddened eyes, she finally chose the truth.

“No.”

With a thud, Wei Jiaping collapsed onto the floor, his spirit utterly deflated, a bitter laugh escaping him.

“Haha, I knew it. I knew you were lying all along.”

“Senior Brother? What a Senior Brother! Hahaha…”

“Jiaping, don’t be like this.” Wei Jiajia crouched beside her brother, holding his head, trying to comfort him. “I know I was wrong. I didn’t want to lie, but I had no choice. You saw it yourself—if I hadn’t lied, would the Little Blade Society have left us alone this past half month?”

“I know, I do.” Wei Jiaping took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, his body trembling slightly. “I understand why you did it. I don’t want to be angry with you. But this kind of lie can’t last. Not even half a month, and the Little Blade Society already senses something’s wrong. Now they’re testing us—maybe you can block them once or twice, but three, five times? We won’t be able to hold out. The lie will unravel itself.”

“I know.” Wei Jiajia drew a deep breath.

“You know?” Wei Jiaping was taken aback. “If you know that, do you already have a plan?”

“Yes!”

“Really? What plan?” Wei Jiaping’s spirits lifted. “Tell me, what is it?”

“Find the one who saved me!” Wei Jiajia’s eyes shone with determination.

“What?” Wei Jiaping was startled, but then realized what she meant. “You mean, the man who impersonated Senior Brother?”

“He didn’t pretend—I asked him to stand in,” Wei Jiajia said awkwardly, with a small smile. “I admit it wasn’t right, but I had no choice. Even if the Little Blade Society suspects, it bought us half a month, didn’t it?”

“…But what’s the point of this delay?” Wei Jiaping frowned.

“At least it gave us some time,” Wei Jiajia said solemnly. “I deliberately claimed Senior Brother was back, and that he killed one of the Little Blade Society’s Ten Kings as soon as he returned. That’s a real achievement—a single punch settled it!”

“Those so-called Ten Kings aren’t even eighth-rank fighters—they’re just boasting.” Wei Jiaping curled his lip in disdain, then pressed her, “Forget about that. Tell me, how do you plan to find the man who saved you? He was wearing a cloak and a mask—we don’t know who he is, what his name is, or where to look for him.”

“I know,” Wei Jiajia’s eyes glimmered.

“What—are you serious?” Wei Jiaping was overjoyed.

“Of course.” Wei Jiajia replied confidently. “I’ve been thinking over that night in detail. I was being chased and ran past a lot of people. But we can ignore the ones I passed earlier—just focus on the ones I saw at the end.”

“Because if it had been someone earlier, they’d have made a move already. No need to follow me all that way. Only those I saw at the end, who happened to notice I was being hunted, would have joined me in the alley.”

“So, among the five people I saw at the end, one of them is my rescuer!”

“You remember what they looked like?” Wei Jiaping asked doubtfully.

“No,” Wei Jiajia shook her head. “I was too busy running for my life to notice, but the one who saved me was a man, not very old. Among those five waiting at the bus stop, one was a woman, one was old, one was too short, one too fat—only one fit the build of my rescuer.”

“So…”

“So, these past few nights, I’ve been riding that bus route every evening.” Wei Jiajia’s expression was resolute. “That bus stop is only serviced by the 303 route. I’ve checked—the 303 runs through the western suburbs. As long as he gets on, I’m ninety percent sure I’ll recognize him!”

“Good!” Wei Jiaping punched the air, his spirits rising. “If we find him, we can… Wait!”

Suddenly realizing something, Wei Jiaping’s expression changed. He hesitated. “But even if we find him, it won’t solve our problem, will it?”

“He studied ‘Seven Steps Fist’ at our school, but he didn’t step forward—so he doesn’t want to get involved with us.”

“He probably only helped you because he couldn't stand by and do nothing,” he added.

“I know,” Wei Jiajia replied calmly. “He was just passing by, saw me getting bullied, and intervened. When I called after him, he ran off—I understood what he meant.”

“So why even—”

“Let me finish,” Wei Jiajia raised her hand to cut him off. “I’m confident that if I find him, I can persuade him to help us.”

“How?” Wei Jiaping was skeptical.

“It’s simple—we make a deal with him!” Wei Jiajia’s tone was serious. “Others may not know, but you and I both do—the Wei family’s secrets aren’t limited to the ‘Seven Steps Fist’!”

“You… you…” Wei Jiaping stared, realization dawning in his eyes.

“That’s right. I’m prepared to offer the ‘Eight-Step Ascending Dragon’ in exchange for his help!”

…

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