Dad, I'm Going to the Misty Cloud Sect to Break Off the Engagement!

Xiao Yan finished reading the letter and casually set it back on the table.

Xiao Zhan looked at him and asked:

"What do you think?"

Xiao Yan smiled and said:

"They want to see just how much your son is worth."

"The rumors outside have practically made me a Dou Ling already. Hearing all that, the Misty Cloud Sect must want to learn something for themselves. But how could hearsay ever be as reliable as seeing with their own eyes?"

"Becoming a Dou Zhe at eleven certainly makes me a genius, but that alone wouldn't make them dig up the marriage agreement so soon."

He reached out and tapped the letter.

"What really stirred their interest was probably that battle west of the city."

Xiao Zhan nodded slightly.

Over the past few months, as merchant caravans came and went, Xiao Yan's reputation had indeed spread farther and farther.

"If they meet me and find your son's strength satisfactory, they'll most likely try to recruit me. Then they'll use my engagement to Nalan Yanran to have me join the Misty Cloud Sect along the way, killing two birds with one stone."

"They'd gain a gifted disciple and draw the Xiao Clan over to their side."

Xiao Yan spoke casually, but he had already reached a conclusion.

Though the letter was politely worded and spoke only of good things, an inexperienced youth might well have thought it was an opportunity dropped straight from heaven.

Xiao Zhan lifted his teacup, in no hurry to respond.

Only after a moment did he ask:

"Then what do you want?"

"Join the Misty Cloud Sect?"

Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"They aren't qualified to take me."

Xiao Zhan's hand paused slightly around his teacup.

What a bold claim! But looking at his son's calm expression, he remembered the Da Dou Shi who had died outside the city, as well as the pills he himself had taken over the past few months.

This boy truly could no longer be regarded as an ordinary junior.

"I already have a teacher."

Xiao Yan's smile faded, and his voice grew more earnest.

"Master teaches me cultivation and alchemy. Even this sword was bestowed by him. I have no interest in what the Misty Cloud Sect can offer, nor any need for it."

Xiao Zhan nodded slowly.

"Of course, you must never forget your teacher's kindness. In that case, I'll write a reply for you and politely decline."

Xiao Yan shook his head and said:

"No need."

"I'll go to the Misty Cloud Sect."

Xiao Zhan was somewhat surprised.

Before he could speak, the youth continued:

"But I'm going up the mountain to break off the engagement."

Click.

The lid struck the rim of the teacup with a soft sound.

Xiao Zhan abruptly raised his head and asked in surprise:

"What did you say?"

Xiao Yan repeated himself.

"Break off the engagement."

"I want to dissolve my marriage agreement with Nalan Yanran."

Xiao Zhan set down his teacup, his brows tightly furrowed, and asked:

"Why break it off when nothing is wrong?"

"That marriage was arranged by the elders of both families while your grandfather was still alive. The Nalan Family hasn't sought to go back on it all these years. Now that your cultivation has borne fruit, you want to go to their door and break it off yourself. What will people say?"

His voice grew heavier.

"Yan'er, your ability makes me happy. But you can't forget all your old ties the moment you gain power."

Xiao Yan did not rush to defend himself. He waited until his father finished before slowly saying, "Dad, I remember the bond between our families. But that's a friendship between our elders."

"How much affection is there between Nalan Yanran and me?"

For a moment, Xiao Zhan said nothing.

Xiao Yan continued:

"She cultivates at the Misty Cloud Sect, while I grew up in Wutan City. Neither of us knows the other's temperament, what sort of life we want, or what path we'll take in the future."

"Are we supposed to bind our entire lives together on the strength of a single marriage agreement?"

"I'm not willing!"

He said those words very calmly.

In the original story, Nalan Yanran had likewise refused to be bound by this engagement and eventually used the Misty Cloud Sect's influence to break it off at his door.

Now that he had not fallen into worthlessness, and his reputation was instead growing, the Misty Cloud Sect's attitude had naturally changed as well.

But what right did other people's judgments about the worth of this marriage give them to decide whom he would marry?

As for Nalan Yanran, she had not come to humiliate the Xiao Clan, nor had she done anything to him. Naturally, Xiao Yan would not condemn her for things that had yet to happen.

He simply did not want to marry her.

That was enough.

After a moment of silence, Xiao Zhan asked:

"You don't want others arranging your life. I understand that. But you've barely met. Perhaps once you see her..."

"Dad."

Xiao Yan looked at him and gently shook his head.

"I have my master now, and a path of my own to follow. Once I go out to gain experience, even I can't say how often I'll return."

"I've never intended to marry her. Dragging out the engagement won't do anyone any good."

The hall fell quiet.

Looking at the youth before him, Xiao Zhan suddenly realized that his son had already thought this matter through.

His declaration about breaking off the engagement had not been a passing impulse.

"Besides, the Misty Cloud Sect isn't a good faction worth getting close to."

Xiao Yan's voice rang out again.

Xiao Zhan's brows shifted in puzzlement.

"What do you mean?"

Xiao Yan lowered his eyes to the letter on the table.

In the original story, the Misty Cloud Sect would become entangled with the Soul Hall. The calamity that befell the Xiao Clan and his father's disappearance were both inseparable from that shadow.

Many things had already changed now.

He did not know how far Yun Shan's relationship with the Soul Hall had progressed, much less where Protector Wu was hiding at this moment.

But he knew very well that beneath the Misty Cloud Sect's illustrious name lay far more than its outward splendor.

"As for the Misty Cloud Sect... you'll understand in the future, Dad. I can't explain it to you in detail right now."

He raised his eyes, his tone solemn.

"The Misty Cloud Sect is far more troublesome than the Jia Lie Family or the Ao Ba Family."

Xiao Zhan's expression gradually grew serious as he asked, "Where did you learn this?"

Xiao Yan paused for a moment and said:

"There are some things whose source I can't fully explain right now. But please remember this: if the Misty Cloud Sect sends anyone again, don't let this engagement make you lower your guard against them."

Xiao Zhan looked at him without speaking for a long while.

His son had not said this was his teacher's wish, nor had he used that expert to pressure him. These words seemed to be Xiao Yan's own judgment.

"So you want to use breaking off the engagement to sever your ties with the Misty Cloud Sect?"

Xiao Yan nodded slightly and said:

"Exactly. I'll dissolve the engagement first, regardless. Whether they try to recruit me later or have some other scheme, they won't be able to use my marriage as a pretext anymore."

"As for any other troubles, I'll resolve them one by one."

Xiao Zhan asked gravely:

"What if they feel that your breaking off the engagement damages the sect's prestige?"

Xiao Yan smiled.

"Then there's all the more reason to break it off. If they have to use their sect's might to force someone to agree to a marriage, what good would such an alliance do?"

Xiao Zhan opened his mouth, but ultimately found himself unable to refute him.

Indeed.

If his son's mere unwillingness to marry brought pressure from the Misty Cloud Sect down upon him, keeping this relationship might not be a good thing.

Still, the friendship between their forebears could not be carelessly trampled.

He pondered for a moment before asking:

"Have you really thought this through?"

Xiao Yan nodded.

"I have."

Slowly exhaling a stale breath, Xiao Yan finally nodded as well.

"Then go."

Xiao Yan's eyes brightened slightly.

But Xiao Zhan raised a hand and continued:

"Once you're there, though, you must make things clear. The Nalan Family's elders have old ties with us. Even if you're going to break off the engagement, you must observe every courtesy."

"Take responsibility for your own reasons. Don't saddle that girl with an undeserved bad name just for the pleasure of a few sharp words."

Xiao Yan nodded.

"I understand."

He had never intended to fabricate a list of Nalan Yanran's offenses anyway.

He was the one unwilling to marry, so he would say so himself. As for how the other party would react, he would have to meet her to find out.

Xiao Zhan picked up the letter again, looked at it for a moment, then shook his head with a helpless smile and said:

"They wrote to invite you up the mountain for a talk. And here you are, already planning to dissolve the engagement."

Xiao Yan grinned and said:

"It saves me the trouble of finding another excuse."

Outside the hall, Xun'er stopped beneath the covered corridor, carrying freshly brewed tea.

She had not meant to eavesdrop. She had simply reached the door just as she heard him mention breaking off the engagement.

The girl lowered her head to glance at the tea tray. Her fingertips tightened slightly, but a faint smile unwittingly rose to her lips. After a moment, she stepped over the threshold and said:

"Uncle Xiao, Brother Xiao Yan."

Xiao Yan turned and, seeing her carrying tea, took the tray from her.

Xun'er glanced at the letter on the table and asked softly:

"Brother Xiao Yan, are you going to the Misty Cloud Sect?"

"Yes."

"When are you leaving?"

Xiao Yan set down the tea tray and smiled. "There's no rush. I have to get things at home settled first."

After speaking, he lowered his head for another look at the letter bearing the Cloud Pattern Seal.