"Father? Father!"
After the Three-Year Agreement ended, Xiao Yan came down Misty Cloud Mountain and searched every room at the Mittel guesthouse, but couldn't find Xiao Zhan. He saw only a letter lying quietly on the table.
"Yan'er, by the time you read this letter, I'm afraid your father..."
Xiao Yan slowly finished reading the letter Xiao Zhan had left behind. His heart trembled, and his eyes stung.
"Father..."
He gently wiped away the tears welling in his eyes. Deeply moved, Xiao Yan carefully put the letter away, his heart soaring as he prepared to return to the Xiao Clan!
"Bang!"
"Something's happened to the Xiao Clan!"
Hai Bodong still wore his usual cold expression, but his words made Xiao Yan's face change dramatically!
"Xiao Zhan left the Mittel Family in a hurry last night. We only just received word: Wutan City's lord has sent an urgent report. People from the Chu Yun Empire secretly infiltrated the Jia Ma Empire, and the Imperial Capital is in an uproar!"
Hai Bodong, hurrying along, suddenly paused.
"Their target seems to have been the Xiao Clan. I heard they were searching for something. Xiao Zhan drew the enemy away by himself and disappeared. When Wutan City's lord arrived with his people, all he could do was rescue the Xiao Clan members."
"Father has gone missing!"
Xiao Yan's eyes turned bloodshot. His usual calm was gone, and his Dou Qi surged as he was about to erupt!
"Calm down! Get a hold of yourself!"
Hai Bodong and Yao Lao spoke at the same time. Yao Lao's soul fluctuation gently soothed Xiao Yan's frenzied heart.
"This is exactly when you need to stay calm! Your father is only missing; it doesn't mean he's already met with disaster. What good will flying into a helpless rage do?!"
Hai Bodong's sharp rebuke finally brought Xiao Yan to his senses. He hadn't expected this usually calculating young man to react so strongly whenever his father was mentioned.
"I promised your teacher I'd keep you safe, and I need you to refine my Purple Spirit Recovery Pill. I'll go with you!"
Hai Bodong said without turning around, then summoned someone to make the necessary preparations.
"People from the Chu Yun Empire infiltrated the heart of our territory without anyone noticing! What use are you all to me?!"
Inside the Jia Ma Imperial Palace, the empress, Yao Ye, dressed in finery, angrily roared at the timid ministers below her.
"Place the entire nation under lockdown and send a formal letter to the Chu Yun ruler. If they don't give us an explanation, then we'll go to war!"
The sects of the Chu Yun Empire still nominally submitted to the rule of the Chu Yun Imperial Family. If the Chu Yun Imperial Family didn't provide a reasonable explanation, then they would fight!
"Bring along the corpses we 'found' in the desert!"
A cold glint flashed in Yao Ye's eyes as she spoke again. Did they really think the Jia Ma Empire had no temper?!
"The sect master sent word. They've cornered the people from the Chu Yun Empire in the Magical Beast Mountain Range. This time, they brought three Dou Emperors!"
The Misty Cloud Sect had received the news as well. Yun Leng, the Great Elder, was left in charge of sect affairs, while Yun Zimo swiftly led several elders and the Law Enforcement Team toward the Magical Beast Mountain Range!
In an instant, the Jia Ma Empire sprang into action, and the air of war gradually spread across the entire empire.
When Xiao Yan returned to the Xiao Clan and saw the place reduced to a charred ruin, anger and guilt filled his chest.
"It was my moment of recklessness that brought this disaster upon the Xiao Clan!"
Xiao Yan believed that if he hadn't killed those people from the Chu Yun Empire in the desert, they wouldn't have come knocking at the Xiao Clan's door!
"Young Master Xiao Yan, cough, cough, there's no need to blame yourself."
The Xiao Clan's Second Elder, Xiao Ying, approached, supported by his granddaughter Xiao Mei. He took out an ancient wooden box and spoke softly.
"The clan head knew what they were after. Before he left, he entrusted this to you!"
"What is it?"
Xiao Yan carefully opened the wooden box. A jade shard, green as a leaf, appeared before him. At its very center, a tiny speck of light glimmered faintly.
"This was left behind by the Xiao Clan's ancestors. Every clan head since has left behind a tiny soul-light. As long as that light hasn't faded, the clan head should be safe."
"Can I use this to find where my father is?"
Xiao Yan gently stroked the jade shard and asked.
"No..."
Xiao Ying gave a bitter smile and shook his head. The Xiao Clan had been attacked in the middle of the night; its members had suffered heavy losses, and its clan head was missing. More than anyone, they wanted to find him as soon as possible, but the jade shard could only confirm whether he was alive.
"Greetings, young clan head!"
The Great Elder and Third Elder, who had arrived at some point, suddenly cried out. They were the first to drop to one knee. The Xiao Clan members followed suit, all kneeling and addressing him as their young clan head!
"Elders, what are you doing?"
Xiao Yan hurriedly dropped to one knee as well, trying to help the clan members up.
"The Clan Head Jade has been passed down from generation to generation. Before the clan head left, he entrusted it to you. That makes you the Xiao Clan's young clan head!"
"We ask that you take charge of the situation, young clan head!"
The three elders no longer had the shrewd, mercenary air they'd shown years ago. After this ordeal, they'd come to see what truly mattered, and they sincerely respected the mature, steady Xiao Yan.
"We ask the young clan head to forgive what happened back then. In my capacity as the Xiao Clan's Great Elder, I swear that nothing like it will ever happen in the Xiao Clan again!"
The Great Elder spoke gravely.
"Xiao Yan back then really wasn't very likable. I hope the elders and my fellow clansmen won't hold it against me!"
Xiao Yan managed a faint smile as he knelt. Hai Bodong glanced at him from the corner of his eye. This kid...
From the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Xiao Clan again and saw his frightened, haggard clansmen, the sense of belonging buried in his blood drove him toward the clan gates, one step at a time. Everything from the past had become smoke in the wind, gone in an instant.
"At least my childhood was perfect, wasn't it?"
Xiao Yan chuckled to himself and gently took the Clan Head Jade in his hand.
"Everyone, let's rebuild the Xiao Clan together and restore it to glory!"
"What did they want with the Xiao Clan's Clan Head Jade?"
Seated in the crude hall they'd rebuilt, Xiao Yan turned the Clan Head Jade over in his hand. He examined it again and again, but couldn't spot anything unusual. It was clearly just an ordinary piece of ancient green jade. Yao Lao didn't seem to know either; he'd stayed silent inside the ring.
"Let's leave this thing aside for now."
Xiao Yan flipped his hand and put the Ancient Jade away. He glanced at Hai Bodong, who sat beside him as still as a statue, and thought to himself:
"I should focus on how to settle the Xiao Clan."
Whether the people from the Chu Yun Empire had come for revenge or for the Ancient Jade, the Xiao Clan had to leave Wutan City for the time being. If they were attacked again, the clan really would be wiped out!
"Young clan head, you sent for us?"
The three elders entered the hall and bowed.
"Please sit, Elders. I wanted to discuss moving the clan with you."
Xiao Yan took out a relocation plan. Ya Fei of the Mittel Family had helped him draw it up, and it laid out everything in considerable detail.
"Move the clan? Young clan head, this..."
The Great Elder seemed hesitant about Xiao Yan's idea.
"Great Elder, the Xiao Clan is at a life-or-death crossroads. If we don't change now, we'll be left at the mercy of others!"
Xiao Yan tapped the tabletop gently.
"This... We'll follow the young clan head's instructions!"
The three elders thought it over briefly, then rose and bowed. Afterward, they went off together to study the relocation plan.
"The empire's eastern region, Stone Desert City?"
"That's right. My elder and second brothers have a foothold in Stone Desert City. We'll move the main force of the Xiao Clan there for now and join them. If any trouble arises, we can face it together!"
"Once I find a better place for everyone to settle, I'll bring the clansmen back."
"The Xiao Clan may have to wander from place to place for the next year or two. I hope the three elders can manage the clan's affairs."
"Rest assured, young clan head! For the Xiao Clan, we'd gladly stake even our old lives."
After the three elders left, Xiao Yan sighed softly. A trace of coldness flashed through his eyes.
"The Chu Yun Empire..."
"Xiao Yan! A Dou Emperor battle has broken out in the Magical Beast Mountain Range!"
Yao Lao's urgent call echoed in Xiao Yan's mind. Xiao Yan's Dou Qi burst forth, and he left Hai Bodong with a single request:
"Elder Hai, please look after the Xiao Clan for me!"
Then he shot into the sky and headed straight for the Magical Beast Mountain Range!
Yao Lao's remaining words also reached Xiao Yan's mind.
"There's the aura of a Poison Master there!"
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