Going Home

In the northern district of the capital, in a two-courtyard residence near the city wall, several maids and servants were busy with their respective tasks in the yard.

A haggard, beautiful woman paced back and forth through the courtyard, unable to sit still.

"Mother, why hasn't Second Brother come back yet..."

Six-year-old Xiao Jinyu ran out and hugged her mother's jade-like leg.

Ye Shu picked up her younger daughter and said softly, "Your second brother is out on business. He'll need a few more days before he can come home."

The little girl's big eyes blinked rapidly. She nodded, then giggled and ran off to play with the maids.

After sending off her younger daughter, Ye Shu's face once more filled with worry.

Thud, thud, thud!

A nimble figure vaulted over the courtyard wall and hurried anxiously to her mother's side. "Mother, I went to ask at the escort agency. There's still no news from Xiao Fan's convoy..."

The newcomer was none other than the Xiao Family's eldest daughter, the graceful and slender Xiao Jinlan.

"What about your father? When will he be back?" Ye Shu asked urgently.

Xiao Jinlan caught her breath. "Father is already on his way back. He should reach the capital within the next few days."

"Something must have happened to Fan'er! What are we supposed to do?" Ye Shu's worry did not lessen.

Seeing her mother so anxious, Xiao Jinlan could only comfort her. "Don't keep frightening yourself. Perhaps the mountain roads were difficult, and they were delayed for a few days."

"It's all your father's fault! I told him long ago not to let him become some gray-clad agent of the Shadow Pivot Court... but your father simply wouldn't listen!" The beautiful woman was so frantic that tears streamed down her face.

As Xiao Jinlan poured tea for her mother, she sighed. "No matter what, he is still a man of the Xiao Family. You can't always spoil him like this. It's time he learned to stand on his own."

"He's not like you! Fan'er has been weak since childhood, and he's only a ninth-rank martial artist. He's still young and easily deceived... Oh, my poor, ill-fated son." The old mother had truly worried herself sick over him.

The original Xiao Fan's martial talent had been quite ordinary. Reaching the ninth-rank Qi Refining Realm had already cost him tremendous effort; he had barely climbed over the threshold of ranked martial artists.

By comparison, though Xiao Jinlan was a woman, a tiger father bred no weak daughter. She had perfectly inherited her father's abundant martial virtue, and at nineteen, she was already an eighth-rank Iron Bone Realm martial artist.

She had always been competitive and unyielding in everything, never conceding to any man. Toward her own younger brother, she even felt a touch of frustration that iron had failed to become steel.

Whenever she competed with peers from other martial families, her weakling brother was her greatest sore spot...

"My Xiao Family is overflowing with martial virtue!"

"Your brother is a weakling."

"I'm an eighth-rank martial artist, no less than any man!"

"Your brother is a weakling."

"I'll beat you to death for that filthy mouth!"

"Even if you beat me to death, your brother is still a weakling!"

Xiao Jinlan had had more than enough of such conversations. She wished she could personally whip that disappointing younger brother into shape.

But her father and mother always protected him. She could neither scold nor beat him.

Especially her mother, Ye Shu—her indulgence knew no bounds...

Just then, Old Li the gatekeeper came running over in a panic, so out of breath that he could barely speak. "M-Madam, Second Young Master is back!"

Mother and daughter were both startled, joy appearing on their faces as they followed Old Li outside to greet him.

Beneath the plaque reading "Xiao Residence," a ragged, disheveled, somewhat gaunt young man strode confidently toward the inner courtyard.

"Mother!"

The stone that had been weighing on Ye Shu's heart finally dropped. With a wail, she burst into tears and clasped her son's hands. "Oh, my son, how did you grow so thin!?"

In contrast, Xiao Jinlan was clearly much calmer than her mother. Letting out a breath, she said, "Xiao Fan, how did you end up in such a state?"

Xiao Fan helped his mother sit down, then shook his head with a long sigh. "It's a long story..."

"Second Brother!"

At that moment, the little one playing wildly in the backyard noticed the commotion in the front courtyard. She poked out her tiny head, saw that the second brother she had been longing for had returned, and immediately charged over on her little short legs. But she ran too fast, tripped, and fell to the ground, bursting into loud tears.

Xiao Fan picked up his younger sister and expertly lifted her high into the air three times.

The little one's crying stopped at once. Her sorrow turned to joy, and she immediately began laughing and dancing with delight.

"Second Brother." The little one spoke in a spoiled tone as she held out her small hand.

Xiao Fan pinched her little cheek. "I came back in too much of a hurry this time, so I didn't bring you any candy. Another day, I'll take you out for candied hawthorns."

"Okay, pinky promise!"

Xiao Jinyu held out her tiny little finger, hooked it around Xiao Fan's pinky, and gave it a shake before happily running off to play.

After sending off the little one, the three sat around in the courtyard and listened as Xiao Fan recounted everything that had happened.

As he told the story, Xiao Fan deliberately glossed over the various life-threatening details of the journey, lest his mother's heart fail to take it.

He merely said that after the convoy entered Golden Glow Mountain, they encountered a band of bandits, and only after enduring countless hardships had they managed to return to the capital.

As for just how perilous it had been—the caravan being massacred... encountering Night Erosion... that black-clad woman—he mentioned none of it.

If his mother learned those details, she would probably faint on the spot...

Yet even so, Ye Shu listened to Xiao Fan's account with her heart in her throat from beginning to end, her heart filled with lingering fear.

"Fan'er, I told you long ago that work at the Shadow Pivot Court is too dangerous. It would be better not to do it at all! When your father returns, I'll talk to him!"

Xiao Jinlan pursed her lips, clearly disagreeing with her mother. "I'm afraid I can't agree with that. What sort of place is the Shadow Pivot Court? How can you simply quit whenever you please?"

Her big eyes rolled as she said, "How about this? From now on, Xiao Fan can just follow Father to the Armament Hall and take up some clerical post. I'll handle the Shadow Pivot Court assignments instead!"

"No! What would a young lady like you do at the Shadow Pivot Court? You'd be among a pack of demons who kill without batting an eye. What if something happened to you?" Ye Shu refused decisively without a moment's thought.

The moment those words left her mouth, Xiao Jinlan was immediately displeased. "Mother! That's prejudice. I'm an eighth-rank martial artist. Even among the Shadow Pivot Court's Black-Clad Guard, I wouldn't be inferior. Why won't you let me go?"

"You child! The martial world is treacherous, with danger lurking everywhere. Fists can't solve every problem. It's simply dangerous for a young lady to be out and about—Mother is worried you'll run into bad people!"

"Hmph! You and Father are just playing favorites! We're both members of the Xiao Family. He can do it as a ninth-rank, but I can't, just because I'm a daughter?!"

"Are you trying to anger your mother to death? No means no!"

"You're just playing favorites!"

"Talk back to me again! Just see if I don't—"

"Go on and hit me, then! Hmph hmph, I'm in the Iron Bone Realm. Come on, hit me however you like!"

The mother and daughter had started their daily quarrel again... It probably would not end anytime soon.

"Mother, Sis, don't you two—"

"Shut up!" mother and daughter said in unison.

Xiao Fan's head was already swelling from the noise. He had wanted to mediate, but the overwhelming presence of the two women cowed him into giving up.

"Argue away, argue away. Arguing is healthier... I'm going to bathe first." With that, he turned and headed toward his room.

The mother and daughter were in the midst of a heated argument and had no attention to spare for him...

As the sky gradually darkened and the setting sun faded, Aunt Zhang, the housekeeper, instructed two maids to tidy Xiao Fan's room and prepare a tub of hot water for his bath.

Just then, servants from Ji Xuanyuan's residence arrived at the manor carrying five large and small chests. They came to the door and announced that they were a reward from the family head and must be accepted.

When the mother and daughter opened the chests, they were instantly rooted to the spot in shock, forgetting all about their quarrel...