Homecoming

"All right, enough about that. Back to the Mo Clan—have you thought of a solution yet?" Little Fairy Doctor asked.

Xiao Yan blinked, then smiled. "You never needed to worry about that from the beginning. Have you forgotten my trump card? Unless the Mo Clan can summon someone at the Dou Emperor level, there's nothing to fear from them." There was one thing Xiao Yan did not say: the Dou Emperor the Mo Clan could most likely find would be Yun Yun of the Misty Cloud Sect, and that was even less worth worrying about.

Little Fairy Doctor froze for a moment before immediately realizing that he was right. But then she sensed something was off and looked at Xiao Yan with an unfriendly expression. "Then why didn't you say so from the start?"

"Uh... did I? Maybe I forgot." Xiao Yan rubbed his nose awkwardly.

But Little Fairy Doctor clearly had no intention of letting him off so easily. Under her coercion, Xiao Yan finally confessed, "Fine, I admit it. I just thought you looked especially charming when you were worrying about me, so I wanted to watch a little longer."

"Then now that you've had your fill, can you get off me?" Little Fairy Doctor narrowed her eyes and chuckled.

"Mm, I don't think there's any rush. How about I stay a little longer?"

"Get lost!"

"Right away."

"Young Master Xiao, Miss, did you rest well last night?" Just as Xiao Yan and Little Fairy Doctor finished dressing, Mo Lan, the Mo Clan's patriarch, came up to greet them. Apparently, just as he had said, he had truly been standing guard next door the entire time.

"Mm, not bad." Xiao Yan replied flatly. "By the way, have you seen Qinglian? And how are the compensations coming along?"

"Reporting to Young Master Xiao, Miss Qinglian has already gone ahead to the main hall. She is checking the valuables for you. Mo Cheng and all those who previously offended you have also prepared their compensation. We are only waiting for you to inspect it." Mo Lan spoke obsequiously.

"Good. Lead the way," Xiao Yan said.

"Yes!"

They arrived at the main hall that Xiao Yan had split down the middle the day before. It had to be said that the Mo Clan worked quickly. In just one night, the hall that had been wrecked beyond recognition yesterday had been restored completely. There was no trace of yesterday's conflict at all.

"Young Master, you're here!" Qinglian, standing in the center of the crowd, was the first to spot Xiao Yan. She stood on tiptoe and waved her arms at him.

Xiao Yan waved back and returned her smile.

The people surrounding Qinglian also gathered around and bowed to Xiao Yan. "Greetings, Young Master Xiao."

Everyone standing here had been on Mo Cheng's side yesterday. Xiao Yan swept his gaze over them, confirmed that their numbers matched yesterday's, and nodded.

"Very good. All sixteen of you are here. All right, I won't waste words. I imagine none of you really like me, and likewise, I have no interest in any of you. Line up, hand over your compensation, and you may leave," Xiao Yan said.

At first, everyone's hearts tightened. They had not expected Xiao Yan to remember their total number despite claiming that he had only remembered a few people. They were secretly glad that they had not tried to play any tricks. Then they relaxed, feeling that this unexpected disaster was finally coming to an end. Though only two short days had passed since the attack on Xiao Yan's inn, to many members of the Mo Clan, it had felt longer than two years.

Incidentally, Xiao Yan had indeed only remembered a few people. But Little Fairy Doctor and Qinglian had not been confronting Mo Cheng at the time, so they had remembered all of them.

Xiao Yan accepted the Storage Rings from the Mo Clan members one by one. After briefly checking the valuables inside, he put them away himself. This time, he did not leave them with Little Fairy Doctor, since he intended to give these things to the Xiao Clan. It was better for him to keep them himself.

After every member of the Mo Clan had bowed and taken their leave, Mo Lan also presented a Storage Ring. It contained ten fourth-tier medicinal pills alone, as well as a full fifteen million gold coins. Clearly, he had paid a steep price.

Seeing that Mo Lan seemed to have something else to say, Xiao Yan told him directly to speak.

"Yes, thank you, Young Master. It's like this, Young Master Xiao... if possible, this humble one would like to know how to contact you in the future, so that we may handle some trivial matters on your behalf." As he spoke, Mo Lan nervously raised his head to study Xiao Yan's expression.

Well, while Xiao Yan was not afraid of any future tricks from the Mo Clan, it would obviously be better to bring them under his wing. Besides, he did need a few people to handle miscellaneous affairs.

"In that case, I will be attending Canaan Academy in some time. Send a few people from your clan there."

"Ah! Thank you, Young Master Xiao! From this day forward, our Mo Clan will serve you like loyal hounds and die in your service!" Mo Lan said excitedly, clearly delighted that Xiao Yan was willing to take them in as dogs.

"Mm, that's settled, then. If there is nothing else, I'll be leaving first." With the pleasantries over, Xiao Yan had no intention of listening to Mo Lan's response. He directly led Little Fairy Doctor and Qinglian outside.

"Yes, Young Master. Have a safe journey."

The flying magical beast was extremely fast. A little over three hours after Xiao Yan and the other two left the Mo Clan, the faint outline of a city appeared before them.

Unlike when he had entered the city himself, the flying magical beast flew directly into it. Looking at the bustling crowds within the city walls and the distant courtyards and pavilions belonging to the Xiao Clan, Xiao Yan murmured, "Wutan City, I, Xiao Yan, have returned."

After stepping down from the flying magical beast, Xiao Yan had not even left the landing grounds before he heard someone call his name.

"Xiao Yan? Is that Cousin Xiao Yan?" A still somewhat youthful male voice rang out.

Xiao Yan turned around and saw a young man in luxurious robes standing at the entrance to the flying magical beast grounds, waving in his direction. Several servant-like figures stood behind him.

The young man in fine robes was around seventeen years old and quite handsome. For a disciple of the Xiao Clan at his age, his cultivation was also not bad, having reached the Eighth Stage Dou Qi. Of course, such cultivation was not even worth mentioning to Xiao Yan.

Forget comparing him to Xiao Yan—even compared to Qinglian, who had only recently begun cultivating, he held no advantage. Due to the Jade Serpent Three-Flower Eyes' ability to absorb the cultivation of snake-type magical beasts, Qinglian's cultivation had already reached the Seventh Stage Dou Qi. At this rate, she would likely break through to the Dou Fighter realm in another month or two.

Of course, this did not mean that the young man before him was particularly worthless. In fact, there were fewer than ten people in Wutan City who possessed such cultivation at his age.

"You are... Cousin Xiao Ning?" Xiao Yan looked him over several times before finally recognizing the young man before him.

"Why are you here?"

"Ah, it's like this. The patriarch received letters from Xiao Ding and Xiao Zhan and learned that you were returning, so he had people wait here for you these past few days. Today happened to be my turn," Xiao Ning replied, his gaze then shifting to Little Fairy Doctor and Qinglian behind Xiao Yan.

When he looked at Qinglian, it was all right. Although he found her stunning as well, she was still young, so it did not affect him much. But when he saw Little Fairy Doctor, his eyes immediately became hard to move away.

Little Fairy Doctor had now fully blossomed. After being nourished by Xiao Yan for so long, although she consciously tried to conceal it, she would still occasionally reveal the alluring charm unique to a mature woman. Along the way, Xiao Yan had no idea how many people he had dealt with because of it.

"Ahem! Xiao Ning, I finally managed to return home. You're not going to leave me standing here, are you?"

Only after Xiao Yan's reminder did Xiao Ning finally come back to his senses. He then remembered that this was Xiao Yan's wife and hurriedly withdrew his gaze, not daring to look again.

"Ahem, ah, Cousin Xiao Yan is right. Come on, come on. The patriarch has been waiting anxiously for a long time." As he spoke, Xiao Ning called for the servants behind him to go ahead and clear the way.

Without passersby blocking their path, the three quickly arrived before the Xiao Clan's gates.

Beneath the two gilded words "Xiao Residence" on the plaque above the Xiao Clan's gates, a middle-aged man paced back and forth.

The moment Xiao Yan saw him from afar, his entire body shook. He strode forward quickly and said,

"Father."