Seeing that the two little girls were about to act, Xuan Yi quickly stopped them. She didn't want killing to stain their young hearts, so she decided to handle this arrogant young master herself.
Just as the Cheng Family guards took their first steps—before they had even walked three paces—several bolts of lightning suddenly descended from the sky, striking them directly.
Even the old man standing behind Cheng Shou wasn't spared. A slightly thicker bolt of lightning slammed straight onto his head.
Crack!
A blinding flash of electricity erupted. Everyone around instinctively covered their eyes.
The old man tried to block with his hand, but it was useless. The lightning struck him mercilessly.
When the light finally faded and people opened their eyes again, the guards had vanished. Only piles of black ash remained on the ground.
The onlookers gasped in shock.
"Is this divine retribution for all the evil he's done?"
"It must be. Serves him right."
Xuan Yi naturally knew who had acted. She turned her head and saw Xiao Jietian walking toward them.
Xiao Jietian arrived beside her and looked at Cheng Shou, who stood frozen in place, terrified by the sudden lightning.
"Daddy, you're here! This toad bullied us and even had ill intentions toward Aunt Xuan. Hmph!" The two little girls put on wronged expressions as they ran to Xiao Jietian's side.
Xuan Yi couldn't help smiling at their dramatic acting.
"Alright, Daddy will teach him a lesson." Xiao Jietian looked at Cheng Shou with an emotionless voice. "Since you have such filthy thoughts, I'll help you deal with the root cause."
He pointed a finger. A thin bolt of lightning shot toward the emaciated young man.
"Ahhhhh!!!"
A bloodcurdling scream immediately erupted from Cheng Shou's mouth. He clutched the charred spot on his body and writhed on the ground in agony.
"Hiss~~"
A series of sharp inhales came from the surrounding crowd. All the men instinctively felt a chill down below and covered themselves, as if sharing the pain.
Miserable. Truly miserable. Too horrible to watch.
This was a man's most painful spot. Even a light bump was unbearable—let alone having it forcibly shattered by lightning. How much pain must that be?
Xuan Yi moved closer to Xiao Jietian, reached out, and pinched his waist. Her beautiful eyes gave him a helpless look as she leaned in and whispered, "There are so many people here. Don't be so crude. Just kill him directly."
Xiao Jietian gently removed her hand from his waist, then took it in his own and played with it for a moment. Xuan Yi had a more voluptuous and soft figure—holding her hand felt especially good.
Xuan Yi felt her hand being held and even kneaded. Her body stiffened instantly. A blush spread across her cheeks as she struggled lightly.
She made only a symbolic effort to pull away. When she failed, she didn't continue resisting and allowed Xiao Jietian to keep holding her hand.
"Who told him to have ill intentions toward you? I'm just giving him a lesson he'll never forget in this lifetime," Xiao Jietian said calmly.
Though his voice was steady, it carried a strong sense of protection.
Xuan Yi couldn't help squeezing his hand gently.
"Ahhh!! Stop hitting him!!"
Just as Xuan Yi was about to speak, screams rang out nearby.
They turned their heads and saw Xiao Ling and Xiao Meng whipping Cheng Shou mercilessly.
"You thought you could escape while Daddy and Aunt Xuan were being lovey-dovey? Lie down properly on the ground!" Xiao Ling scolded as she whipped him.
"Exactly! We were enjoying the show, and you just had to run and ruin the drama," Xiao Meng added with clear displeasure.
Hearing their words, Xuan Yi's face flushed completely red. She quickly pulled her hand away from Xiao Jietian's grasp and went over to comfort the two little girls.
After calming them down, Xuan Yi glanced at Cheng Shou on the ground. His body was now covered in whip marks, blood seeping out and staining his brocade robes crimson.
He was already on his last breath—truly miserable.
Seeing his wretched state, Xuan Yi decided not to let him suffer any longer. She flicked her finger, and a flame landed on his body.
Roaring flames instantly erupted, engulfing Cheng Shou completely.
The flame's temperature was terrifyingly high. Cheng Shou didn't even have time to scream before he was reduced to ashes.
"Is this the legendary 'fallen leaves return to their roots'? I didn't expect Aunt Xuan to be so kind-hearted," Xiao Jietian said with a chuckle.
Xuan Yi was stunned. She turned to look at him, her usually profound eyes now filled with confusion.
Fallen leaves return to their roots? Is that how this idiom is supposed to be used?
Xiao Jietian laughed softly. "Think about it. When a person dies of old age, over time they turn into a pile of ashes. Now he has turned into ashes, and this Tianhuang City is his hometown. Isn't that 'fallen leaves returning to their roots'?"
"I'm just helping him fulfill his wish from old age ahead of time. It's definitely a good deed with great merit!"
"Pfft~"
Xuan Yi and the two little girls instantly broke down and couldn't help laughing after hearing his words.
Xuan Yi wondered how she would ever face this idiom again. If someone ever said their future plan was to "return to their roots," would she just set them on fire on the spot?
"You're full of nonsense," Xuan Yi rolled her eyes at him, scolding with a smile.
"Hahaha~ But you have to admit, there's a tiny bit of logic to it, right?"
Xuan Yi thought about it and indeed found a sliver of twisted logic, though it was pure sophistry.
While she was lost in thought, she suddenly felt a warm sensation at her waist. Her body stiffened slightly as she looked down and saw a hand wrapped around her slender yet voluptuous waist.
The owner of that hand was Xiao Jietian.
This was the first time Xuan Yi had been held like this by a man. A strange sensation surged through her.
Her breathing quickened for a moment before quickly returning to normal.
Her first instinct was to remove his hand, but then she remembered that Xiao Jietian had saved her and had just acted for her sake. She didn't dislike this feeling. In fact… she quite liked the warmth of his hand around her waist.
In the end, she decided to let him continue holding her.
Xiao Jietian noticed the changing expressions on Xuan Yi's face, but she never swatted his hand away.
Instead, the initially tense muscles in her waist slowly relaxed, returning to their soft and supple state. His tentative move had been very successful.
Love was a gradual process of constant testing—from tentatively holding hands… all the way to more intimate gestures—until the goal was finally achieved and they could spend a lifetime together.
If neither took the initiative, eventually she would end up in someone else's arms, and he would be left leaning against a wall with a bottle of wine, full of regret. At that point, regret would be useless—because he would have brought it upon himself.
In Xiao Jietian's view, there was no such thing as "treating each other with respect as if they were guests." That phrase was usually just a polite way of saying the love had already faded. When there was real love, who wouldn't burn like dry wood meeting raging fire, deeply entangled with each other?