Mo Cheng, alongside an almost identical clone of himself, approached Bai Qingyue enthusiastically.
As Bai Qingyue was currently disguised as Li Meirong, he had no choice but to acknowledge Mo Cheng and his lesser clone.
Without turning around, his head tilted to the side as he glanced in their direction, concealing a sneer.
"To what do I owe this great honour?"
His tone was almost spiteful. The men's mouths were left hanging slightly open in response.
Nevertheless, when they stood directly in front of the Fox Lord, they cupped their fists in a respectful greeting.
Never, in all the times they had met Li Meirong, had she ever spoken to them in such a manner. Even when angered, she had always been polite and demure.
An aura of lofty detachament faintly exuded from her as she stood quietly in front of them.
Mo Cheng appeared rather taken aback. The man beside him, however, who greatly resembled him in appearance, appeared to be a bit less undeterred by Bai Qingyue's show of hostility.
"Sister Meirong, this is the second time you have saved my life. I do not know how I could ever repay your grace," said Mo Cheng's near-clone. The words he delivered sounded genuine and sincere.
Bai Qingyue arched an eyebrow at the boy. 'My wife risked her life for this… vermin… not once, but twice? How important is he to her? How deep in her heart is he?'
"Who are you to me?" Bai Qingyue asked finally, curiosity getting the better of him.
"Sister Meirong, are you well? It is me, Mo Jing." The slimmer, younger version of Mo Cheng looked bewildered, and slightly hurt. "Do you not remember the time after we passed our final test? Back then, I swore I would be your friend for life."
"Is that so?" Bai Qingyue's voice was mild, and he kept his face unreadable, but inwardly he was seething. 'This stinky brat thinks he can befriend my wife? He should remove such a notion from his mind at once!'
Mo Jing nervously cleared his throat. "I see that the potion's effects had worn off. Do you want me to brew you a new batch of herbal medicine for the scars on your face?"
Bai Qingyue fixed Mo Jing with a sudden scathing glare. "There is no need for that."
"I understand. There is nothing wrong with your appearance, of course. I simply thought you'd feel better about yourself." Mo Jing kept his tone calm and spoke politely as he could manage, but no matter what he said, it seemed to upset Li Meirong.
Mo Jing was a bit disappointed by Li Meirong's reaction. The last time he had offered to brew the medicine for her, she had been so overjoyed...
Mo Cheng patted his brother's shoulder, a subtle request for silence rather than reassurance. He turned his gaze back to lock eyes with Bai Qingyue.
"I see that Sister Meirong has chosen to join the tournament after all. Is it due to spite that Sister wishes to fight me?"
Mo Cheng's rich brown eyes lit up as he noticed Li Meirong focused her attention on him, he proceeded to address her informally. "If you advance to the final round, we are bound to face each other, and you would be forced to battle against Shu Qianqian. I do not wish for this to happen."
Bai Qingyue attempted a polite smile. However, it caused both boys to unconsciously stiffen in discomfort. "Be that as it may, Brother Mo, we cannot prevent the inevitable. Since we will be opponents, would it not be best to keep our distance from each other?"
His voice came out calm, collected, as he tried to act as much like his wife, in her more serious moments, as he could.
However, Mo Cheng appeared to completely disregard Bai Qingyue's good intentions of offering him a polite, verbal warning to stay away.
"Shu Qianqian already plans to relinquish her position in the tournament before she faces me, but I fear what will happen should the two of you end up battling in the arena. Little Qianqian holds quite a high level of resentment towards you, you know."
Bai Qingyue glanced disinterestedly at Mo Cheng, pursing his lips. 'What would happen would be my wife smearing your concubine's blood across the arena. And if she did not, then I surely would.'
The possibility made the Fox Lord's sour mood improve by a little bit. Suddenly he was quite looking forward to the prospect of attending the tournament. This occasion had turned into the perfect excuse to remove vermin from his wife's side without bringing suspicion upon himself.
Mo Cheng sighed deeply, oblivious to the thoughts of the person standing before him.
"I understand the reason you are upset about the disagreement between yourself and Shu Qianqian, but you know her well. She has always been this way. Also, you used to be friends for a long time… can you not find it in your heart to forgive her childishness?"
Bai Qingyue's dark eyes narrowed dangerously at the clueless humans. They continued to use the word 'friend' as if it justified every individual's cruel behaviour. Shu Qianqian had plotted, viciously, to kill his wife.
To have such friends, his little wife had suffered a great loss!