Give an Explanation

The moment Ye Xiu said this, the living room fell dead silent.

Mo Lan's smile froze right on his face, and the few elders were stunned as well.

After several seconds, Mo Lan forced out a laugh. "G-Great One, what did you say? Qing Lin?"

Ye Xiu nodded. "That's right. The girl with snake-human blood. I know she's in your Mo Clan."

Mo Lan gave a dry chuckle. "Great One, where is this coming from? Our Mo Clan has no such girl with snake-human blood. You must have heard wrong."

Ye Xiu glanced at him and said nothing.

Just that one look made cold sweat break out on Mo Lan's back. That gaze was too calm—calm enough to make his skin crawl.

An elder beside him quickly tried to smooth things over. "Yes, Great One, there must be some misunderstanding here!"

Ye Xiu leaned back in his chair and said slowly, "Misunderstanding? Then let me put it another way. Didn't your Mo Clan recently bring a girl over from Mo City? Green hair, a scale on her forehead, eyes like a snake's."

Mo Lan's expression completely changed.

They had done this very discreetly—how could an outsider know?

He opened his mouth, still wanting to quibble, when footsteps sounded from outside.

An old man walked in from the entrance, around sixty years old, wearing a dark robe. His face was deeply lined, but his eyes were sharp. The moment he entered, his gaze landed on Ye Xiu.

Mo Lan quickly stood up. "Father!"

The elders also rose. "Great Elder!"

The one who had arrived was none other than the Mo Clan's Great Elder, Mo Cheng.

Mo Cheng waved his hand, signaling them to be silent, then walked up to Ye Xiu and clasped his fists. "This old one is Mo Cheng. Greetings, Great One."

Ye Xiu glanced at him and nodded.

Mo Cheng smiled. "The Great One has come from afar, and I failed to welcome you properly. I just heard from the servants that the Great One wants that girl named Qing Lin?"

Ye Xiu said, "That's right."

Mo Cheng sighed. "To be honest with the Great One, that girl is indeed in the Mo Clan. But she's a half-breed, her bloodline impure. Staying in the Mo Clan, she's nothing more than a servant who pours tea and fetches water. If the Great One wants her, in principle, I ought to offer her with both hands."

He paused, then continued, "However..."

Ye Xiu raised an eyebrow. "However what?"

Mo Cheng gave a bitter smile. "However, that girl has been a bit unruly lately and is confined to the back courtyard for reflection. If the Great One takes her away now, word might spread that the Mo Clan mistreats its servants. That wouldn't look good for our reputation."

Ye Xiu listened and then broke into a smile.

"Elder Mo, that line might fool others, but it's no fun trying to fool me," Ye Xiu said. "I know that girl's situation better than you do. Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils, right?"

Mo Cheng's expression shifted.

Ye Xiu continued, "You brought her here because you had your eye on those eyes of hers. You wanted to study them, see if you could dig them out and use them, didn't you? Don't give me that 'pouring tea and fetching water' nonsense."

The smile on Mo Cheng's face vanished completely.

He stared at Ye Xiu, silent for a long moment, then spoke. "The Great One is indeed well-informed. Since the Great One knows that girl's background, this old one won't beat around the bush."

He took a deep breath and said, "That girl does have a special bloodline. The Mo Clan kept her to study her. If the Great One wants her, you'll have to give the Mo Clan some compensation. Otherwise, if word gets out, people might think the Mo Clan is easy to push around."

Ye Xiu looked at him and said nothing.

Mo Cheng went on, "The Great One is a Dou King and a fourth-tier Alchemist. The Mo Clan cannot afford to offend you. But that girl cost the Mo Clan a great deal to acquire. For the Great One to take her away with just a word—that's a bit too dismissive of the Mo Clan."

Ye Xiu listened, then nodded.

"Fine. You want compensation, right? Then I'll give you compensation."

The moment he finished speaking, a terrifying aura exploded from his body!

That aura was overwhelmingly powerful, like a mountain pressing down. The people in the living room went weak in the knees and dropped to the ground in a row.

Mo Cheng's face turned deathly pale. He stumbled back several steps, only stopping when he hit a pillar.

He looked up at Ye Xiu, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.

"A Dou Emperor?!"

The elders lay prostrate on the ground, trembling all over, not daring to breathe.

Mo Lan was so scared his face went white, kneeling there and shaking uncontrollably.

Ye Xiu stood up, walked over to Mo Cheng, and looked down at him.

"Is this compensation enough?"

Mo Cheng opened his mouth but couldn't utter a single word.

What could he say? He had been haggling just moments ago, but this man wasn't a Dou King at all—he was a Dou Emperor!

Against a Dou King, he could at least rely on the Misty Cloud Sect's influence.

But in the entire Jia Ma Empire, Dou Emperors could be counted on one hand! Any one of them could annihilate the entire Mo Clan! The Misty Cloud Sect wouldn't dare to intervene.

Ye Xiu withdrew his aura and clapped his hands. "Is this compensation to your satisfaction?"

Mo Cheng nodded frantically.

"Alright, lead the way. Bring that girl out to me."

Mo Cheng didn't dare waste another word. He quickly nodded. "Yes, yes, yes! Please wait a moment, sir. This old man will go fetch her personally!"

With that, he turned and ran, afraid that if he slowed down even a step, Ye Xiu might change his mind.

Before long, Mo Cheng returned.

Behind him followed a little girl, no more than thirteen or fourteen, thin as a bamboo pole. Her long green hair was a tangled mess, her face grimy, and a faint scale-like mark rested on her forehead. She wore a set of tattered clothes, hunched her shoulders, and kept her head down, not daring to look at anyone.

Mo Cheng brought her before Ye Xiu and said with a fawning smile, "Sir, this is the girl."

Ye Xiu looked down at her.

Sensing someone's gaze, the girl flinched and lowered her head even further.

Ye Xiu crouched down to meet her eyes.

"Your name is Qing Lin?"

The girl trembled. After several long seconds, she gave a slight nod.

Ye Xiu said, "I've come to take you away. From now on, you'll follow me. How about that?"

Qing Lin lifted her head and glanced at Ye Xiu. He didn't seem like a bad person.

She looked past him at Xiao Yi Xian.

Ye Xiu stood up and reached out to pat her head.

"Let's go."

With that, he turned and walked out.

Qing Lin froze for two seconds, then quickly scurried after him, her small steps racing as if afraid of being left behind.

Mo Cheng chased after them, calling out, "Go slowly, sir! Come again anytime!"

Ye Xiu didn't even look back.

Outside the Mo Clan Fortress.

Back at the inn, Xiao Yi Xian bustled about, heating a basin of water and digging out some clean clothes she'd brought along.

Qing Lin stood there, at a loss.

Xiao Yi Xian pulled her down to sit. "Come on, come on. Wash up first, change into something clean. You're filthy all over—you need a good scrub."

Qing Lin whispered, "I, I can do it myself..."

"Alright, you do it yourself. I'll go get you something to eat."

Xiao Yi Xian left, and Qing Lin sat alone, staring blankly at the basin of hot water.

After a long while, she finally began to wash slowly.

When she finished and changed into the clean clothes, she came out looking like a completely different person.

She was still thin, but once cleaned up, her little face was fair and delicate. Her green hair hung loose, and the scale mark on her forehead wasn't so noticeable anymore. Her eyes were large, but they always shied away from others, never daring to meet anyone's gaze.