QHM Chapter 78 – Part 1

This night was destined to be an absurd one.

Xue Yuanqing never expected that he would actually be treated as the beast king by his own father and sent back to their clan.

He was so angry that he gasped for breath, his chest rising and falling dramatically.

It was at this moment that Xue Lingying’s video communication came through.

When the holographic screen opened, and he saw Xue Yuanqing slumped in the corner, lying there like a dead fish, Xue Lingying leaned in, frowning, and asked, “What’s with this beast king? Is it dying?”

“Beast King my ass, go to hell and die already!” Xue Yuanqing furiously kicked at the holographic screen, letting out a growling roar.

When Xue Lingying saw Xue Yuanqing glaring, so angry that the veins on his forehead were popping out, he suddenly realized something was wrong.

If he were still locked in the military department, it would make sense for the Beast King to pretend in order to survive. But now that he was heading home, why would the Beast King still be acting?

Suddenly, Xue Lingying felt a pang of unease in his chest and quickly instructed his subordinates to tear the tape off Xue Yuanqing’s mouth.

…Then he was immediately met with a barrage of foul-mouthed insults.

The intensity of the anger was so great that it even woke Ming Yi, who had been sleeping soundly next to him.

Ming Yi grunted as he woke up and immediately realized something was off when he heard Xue Yuanqing yelling at the holographic screen. His face changed drastically, and he stared in disbelief before urgently moving over and bumping into Xue Yuanqing.

But Xue Yuanqing had no time to pay attention to him, continuing to shout curses. Ming Yi panicked and crawled over to bump into the already silent subordinate of Xue Lingying, anxiously whining.

The subordinate glanced at Ming Yi, thinking that this situation was probably doomed, then glanced at Xue Yuanqing and Xue Lingying’s holographic screen. With all the noise coming from over there, it seemed they wouldn’t miss one more person. After a brief pause, he decisively ripped the tape off Ming Yi’s mouth.

…And then, the spacecraft was suddenly filled with a fierce shouting match.

Xue Yuanqing: “Xue Lingying, are you out of your mind?! If you’re crazy, go take some medicine, alright?!”

Xue Lingying: “You! If you’re really Yuanqing… how could you speak to me like this?!”

Xue Yuanqing: “Even your mother would say the same thing to you today!”

Xue Lingying: “Talk properly, my mom is your grandmother!”

Xue Yuanqing: “F*** you!”

Xue Lingying: “???!”

Ming Yi: “Xue Lingying, you old bastard, hiding away and using me to please these Beasts, you’re nothing but an old bastard!”

Xue Lingying: “W-what… How can you speak to an elder like this?!”

Ming Yi: “Are you even an elder!? You’re just an old bastard!”

Xue Lingying: “You little beast!”

Ming Yi: “You’re worse than that, old dog!”

Xue Yuanqing angrily said, “You’ve got a problem with your brain!”

Ming Yi also angrily said, “Old bastard!”

“Stupid Old man!”

“Old Dog!”

The scene instantly devolved into a fierce, unending loop.

Xue Lingying clutched his forehead, feeling his blood pressure rising, and his hand was trembling slightly.

Xue Yuanqing and Ming Yi kept cursing louder and louder, even standing up. If they weren’t on a spacecraft, they might’ve been dancing while cursing. Just then, the entire spacecraft seemed to be hit, and everyone was thrown to the ground!

Xue Yuanqing and Ming Yi lay on the ground, confused, and when they looked up, they saw through the glass window a row of mecha soldiers suspended in the air ahead of them. Leading them were the mechas of Xu Yin, Xiao Jiu, Lu Yuan, and the others—both their faces changed drastically!

At the same time, the holographic screen transmitted the sound of a door being forcefully opened, followed by surprised exclamations. The camera wobbled, and Xue Lingying had already left the frame. The camera now pointed at the door of a hospital room, where Huo Lingqi and his friend Xiao Ya were standing. Xiao Ya even grinned and said, “Wow, you guys are having quite a lively conversation.”

…At that moment, Xue Lingying, Xue Yuanqing, and the others realized they had foolishly walked right into a trap.

No, to be more accurate, Xue Lingying had foolishly walked into the trap, and everyone else had been dragged into it by him!

Xue Yuanqing and Ming Yi were so angry their faces turned green!

Meanwhile, Xue Lingying lay on the floor, gasping for breath. After a moment, he suddenly jumped up, trembling, and shouted, “Is the one in the prison… the real Yuanqing or not?!”

Xiao Ya grinned and said, “The one in the prison? Well, after it saw you knock out your own son and take him away, it seemed so happy and excited that it couldn’t control itself. It transformed back into its original form, but the neck collar strangled it in half, and it died.”

Xue Lingying: “…………”

He rolled his eyes and completely fainted.

It was an extremely absurd night.

Xue Yuanqing and Ming Yi thought it was incredibly ridiculous, and everyone watching the live broadcast of the entire event through the tiny camera attached to Xue Yuanqing’s body—members of the Xingyun Council and the military—also thought it was incredibly ridiculous. Everyone fell silent that night, except for the Ninth Legion, who, after returning to the military base and exiting their mechas, began celebrating.

Lu Yuan clenched his fist: “Finally got these people where they belong!”

Xiao Jiu patted his shoulder and smiled, “Don’t worry, once the process moves forward, it’ll be quick.”

That night, the Xue family and Ming family members were thrown into prison, and those from the Xingyun Council who were allied with the Xue and Ming families were also put under surveillance.

The evidence was solid this time. Even Xue Lingying, Xue Yuanqing, and the others knew they probably wouldn’t be able to turn things around, so as soon as they were locked up, they leaned against the wall and closed their eyes, contemplating life in deep thought.

After thinking for a while, Xue Yuanqing, Ming Yi, and Ming Yi’s father got up. The three of them stood before Xue Lingying, their faces dark.

Xue Lingying felt a chill and shuddered. He opened his eyes and found himself surrounded. In panic, he asked, “What are you planning to do?!”

Xue Yuanqing thought for a moment and then felt even angrier. It was bad enough that his own father couldn’t recognize him, but to make matters worse, he had foolishly stepped into such a trap, dragging everyone down with him!

Ming Yi and his father were even worse off—they had nearly been sold out by Xue Lingying and almost lost their lives!

Now that everyone was doomed, it made no sense to hold back their last breath, right?

So, the three of them all sneered coldly.

Then the prison was filled with the sounds of punching, kicking, and agonized wailing, which startled the prison guards so much that they nearly spat out the water they had been drinking!

……

After thirty days of questioning, the remaining members of the Xingyun Council confirmed the conspiracy between the Xue and Ming families to collude with the Evolutionary Beasts and frame General Xu and others. As a result, everyone quietly entered their cells, ready to serve their prison sentences.

The sentence of family exile was handed down, and with Huo’s father and Xiao Ya overseeing things, the Xingyun Council would not be able to make any further moves.

This long-criticized sentence of exile was better canceled as soon as possible.

They wouldn’t even sentence these people to exile. For these traitors, whether it was a life sentence or immediate execution, which would be worse than an exile?

—Of course, the original judgment for General Xu and others was actually made collectively by the members of the Xingyun Council, but a few had already switched sides, betraying the Council under Huo’s father and Xiao Ya’s influence, and that’s how they managed to escape disaster.

However, while the prison sentences might be over on the surface, the responsibilities still needed to be shouldered privately. These people had already anticipated their fate when they quietly sided with Huo’s faction. But rather than being used as pawns by the Xue and Ming families, betraying their country, they ultimately chose to give up the imminent power and end things before it went too far.

As a result, after the incident, these individuals voluntarily stepped down from their positions as leaders of the Council and chose other representatives to take their place.

…The entire leadership of the Xingyun Council was practically replaced. Has anything this bizarre ever happened in all these years?

When the public announcement came out, the internet exploded!

“What happened? Everyone was replaced?”

“The entire peace faction resigned?”

“Uh, I’ve heard rumors that the Xue and Ming father-son pairs are all in prison…”

“Ah? Why? What happened? This is so unsettling!”

“Do you guys remember the Evolutionary Beast replicating humans incident on that low-level planet? The planetary official there was originally Xue’s subordinate!”

“Am I overthinking? But now that I connect the dots, it seems like someone in the Xingyun Council… emmm…”

“Just say it, did someone in the Council betray the Nation?”

“Damn!”

“Mind-blowing!”

“Guys, don’t panic. Didn’t you see that the new batch of representatives includes Councilor Huo? Councilor Huo’s back in action!”

“Kudos to old Huo, I feel more secure with him around.”

“Damn, what kind of people were the previous members of the Council? I really thought we were about to be done for by them???”

“Xue Yuanqing and Ming Yi were even rated as outstanding students at the military academy for consecutive years, and now this? Now they’re locked up with their dads?”

“What ‘locked-up tears’? If they really betrayed the country, can we just execute them?”

“Wait, so the previous judgment for General Xu and the others… Was that decision questionable?”

“Yeah, I was totally confused when General Xu and the others were suddenly sentenced to exile with their whole families. I just couldn’t believe it…”

All wrongs needed to be righted.

A week later, the false accusations against General Xu, Lu Yuan, and their elders were all cleared up online.

The new representatives of the Xingyun Council appeared in a video, collectively bowing in apology.

This action caused another huge stir across the internet.

…

The situation was resolved more smoothly than expected.

Less than a month after returning to the main star system, all the charges against Xu Yin, Lu Yuan, and the others were completely cleared. Their parents were finally able to re-enter the public eye, some going home, others sent to the hospital for continued treatment.

The day they left the military base, Lu Yuan still felt a little disoriented.

Although he had been involved in the entire process, and Xue Yuanqing and Ming Yi were the ones he had personally captured, in the end, it felt almost too smooth to be real… However, when he was finally able to embrace his parents again, all the sense of unreality disappeared.

For the first time, Lu Yuan truly broke down in tears.

Yan Shui and the others felt the same.

They were going home!

They were finally going home, without any shame!

Watching the people not far away hugging their parents, crying, and then being comforted by their parents like children, while awkwardly smiling through their tears, Huo Lingqi glanced at the young man standing beside him.

The young man was quietly watching, a warm smile in his eyes as he looked at Lu Yuan and the others.

Huo Lingqi spoke: “Are we going to the hospital later?”

Xu Yin snapped back to reality and smiled. “Yeah.”

Although Xu’s mother hadn’t regained consciousness and Xu’s father was still in a coma, they were still his biological parents, so of course, he would go visit them.

Xu Yin’s parents had already been sent to the military hospital, placed in the same room.

When Xu Yin and Huo Lingqi arrived, they saw Xu’s mother sitting by Xu’s father’s bed.

Xu’s father was quietly asleep, and Xu’s mother was holding his hand, her body gently swaying back and forth.

But this was the first time Xu Yin didn’t hear Xu’s mother softly muttering words under her breath.

During those days on the exiled planet, Xu’s mother’s eyes were always fixed on some empty space, her lips always quietly whispering General Xu’s name.

But now, she has finally stopped.

She quietly gazed at Xu’s father’s sleeping face, pressing his hand against her cheek, as if she could never get enough of it, as if she would never tire of it.