Xiao Yu, Something's Off About You

With Xiao Yan back, the Xiao Clan had no further concerns. They announced that they would close their doors to visitors.

Rumors sprang up everywhere, and undercurrents stirred within Wutan City. Even the most ordinary mercenaries could smell rust in the air.

It was the scent of a gathering storm!

Yet no one of sufficient standing from the Xiao Clan stepped forward to clear up the misunderstanding. Instead, they withdrew the personnel stationed at the Marketplace and put up signs announcing a temporary closure.

This confirmed the rumors, effectively announcing to everyone that disaster had struck the Xiao Clan and left it gravely weakened!

In less than a day, the Jia Lie Family and the Ao Ba Family secretly recalled all their core forces. The interlocking, fang-like pattern of their usual deployments abruptly vanished as every faction pulled its forces back. The once shoulder-to-shoulder streets of the Marketplace were now deserted, and all of Wutan City fell quiet.

Events unfolded even faster than expected. It seemed a foregone conclusion that the Jia Lie Family and the Ao Ba Family would join forces to drive the Xiao Clan out of Wutan City. The five black-robed figures from the Jia Ma Imperial Family were already popping champagne at halftime.

By contrast, Xiao Zhan and the others were extremely nervous. They feared that their arrangements might reveal a flaw, or that the Jia Lie Family and the Ao Ba Family might catch the scent of a conspiracy and, like startled fish, abandon the bait already at their mouths and flick their tails to vanish into the vast ocean.

To everyone's surprise, the Jia Lie Family and the Ao Ba Family maintained an almost miraculous degree of restraint in the face of such unparalleled temptation. They cautiously tried to manufacture friction, probing the Xiao Clan's situation little by little, one measured step at a time.

This was precisely what the Xiao Clan least wanted to see. If they were allowed to keep probing slowly, like slicing flesh away with a slow-moving blade, the price the Xiao Clan paid would be far greater than that of a direct showdown.

As a result, the Xiao Clan's Da Dou Shi argued every day, debating what had led to their current dilemma and trying to devise a way out that would get the Jia Lie Family and the Ao Ba Family to take the bait as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, there was very little to discuss regarding the latter. The Xiao Clan neither wanted the Jia Lie Family and the Ao Ba Family to keep carving away at them with a dull knife nor dared make an unnecessary move that might send the two families, whose heads had already emerged, swiftly retreating again. In the end, their debates devolved into simple bickering.

The elders accused Xiao Zhan of failing to notify them beforehand, leaving the Xiao Clan unprepared!

Xiao Zhan said that this was Mr. Yun's intention.

The elders then accused Xiao Zhan of being too petty. How could destroying a few buildings convince their enemies that disaster had struck the Xiao Clan?

Xiao Zhan said that this was Mr. Yun's intention.

The elders also accused Xiao Zhan of being too weak. Now that Xiao Yan had returned, they had enough strength to wage war on the Jia Lie Family and should seize the opportunity to wipe it out!

Xiao Zhan said that they lacked a justifiable cause, that the losses would outweigh the gains, and that they would let the big fish that was the Ao Ba Family escape. Before the elders could object, he hastily added that waiting for their opponents to make the first mistake was also Mr. Yun's intention.

In short, no matter what the elders said, Xiao Zhan brazenly insisted that this was Mr. Yun's intention. If they were so damn capable, they could go blame Mr. Yun themselves!

The Grand Elder's beard bristled and his eyes bulged with anger, but there was nothing he could do.

They had nothing else to do anyway, and they certainly could not grab their weapons and strike back right now. Since they could find no fault with the clan leader, the Xiao Clan's elders obligingly divided themselves into two camps and began another round of arguments.

Their bickering made Xiao Zhan's head feel twice its normal size. Left with no choice, he summoned Xiao Yan, who had been searching for medicinal ingredients in Black Flame City, and asked him to find some way to persuade Yun Congxin, who was enjoying himself in the Main City, to intervene.

Xiao Yan was dumbfounded by the assignment. He could not understand why his father thought he could persuade the illustrious former sect leader of the Misty Cloud Sect to do anything. Was it simply because Yun Congxin had concealed his identity and seemed relatively friendly toward him?

But Xiao Yan was a sly one. His eyes rolled, and a crafty idea immediately came to him. He sneaked off to find Xiao Yu and promptly outsourced the task to her!

When Xiao Yan approached Xiao Yu and explained his outsourcing plan, he found her looking as adorable as a kitten with its fur standing on end.

Having never seen this crazy woman look so adorable, Xiao Yan immediately grew delighted. Sensing some juicy gossip, he promptly put on a restrained, conflicted expression and made a show of saying that Elder Yun was his friend, and that, on second thought, it would be more appropriate for him to go himself. Sure enough, Xiao Yu drove him out.

"So are you going to find Elder Yun, or am I? Give me a straight answer!"

After being chased out, Xiao Yan thought for a moment and decided to add more fuel to the fire.

"Bang!"

A tremendous crash came from inside the room. Xiao Yu had hurled something at the door.

"Drop dead!!"

Xiao Yu's voice rang out from inside, furious and mortified.

"Hehe, Elder Yun's listening to stories at the Cloud Listening Pavilion right now. If you're going, you'd better hurry."

Thoroughly satisfied, Xiao Yan swaggered away. He was in an excellent mood—so excellent that he even whistled as he left.

Only thirty minutes later did the tightly shut door open again. Xiao Yu touched her pretty face. Her lovely cheeks were no longer burning. She gave herself a little encouragement, locked the door, and went to find Yun Congxin.

Xiao Yan, who had spent ages waiting in hiding nearby, fed the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python while secretly watching Xiao Yu skip away in a different outfit.

"Something's wrong! Something's definitely wrong! She can't really have been fooled by Yun Shan's handsome face, can she? That guy's old enough to be her ancestor!"

The Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python had no idea what Xiao Yan was muttering about. After eating and drinking its fill, the little creature gave an enormous yawn, then slipped back into Xiao Yan's sleeve to sleep.

Xiao Yan scratched his head. He truly could not figure out what Xiao Yu was thinking.

Inside the Cloud Listening Pavilion, the storyteller onstage passionately recounted the legendary tale of Yun Potian's adventures across the Northwest Continent and his founding of the Misty Cloud Sect. He told of tender romances and their battlefields of jealousy, and of heroes mustering their forces on fields of war.

Yun Congxin sat in the very center of the front row, cracking melon seeds as he listened to the story, when he suddenly caught a floral fragrance.

He turned and saw Xiao Yu, dressed in her finest. The beauty before him smiled warmly at him, like a vivid red rose in full bloom.

"What brings you here?" Yun Congxin asked with a smile, offering her a handful of melon seeds.

An invisible, soundless breeze stirred, sealing off their voices.

"Uncle Xiao asked me to come get you." Xiao Yu naturally sat down beside Yun Congxin and accepted the melon seeds he offered.

"Oh? Is something wrong? Has the Jia Lie Family made its move?" Yun Congxin's eyes lit up.

Xiao Yu gently shook her lovely head. "No, the clan elders have been arguing too fiercely. Uncle Xiao would like you to talk them around."

"Arguing? About what?" Yun Congxin was completely baffled.

"Well, the Jia Lie Family and the Ao Ba Family have been especially cautious lately, haven't they? The elders are getting a little... impatient."

"How impressive." Yun Congxin scoffed. "I won't go there myself over such a trivial matter. Pass along a message for me. Tell them to keep their eyes peeled and wait. There are plenty of people even more impatient than we are."

"There's no need to rush off right this moment. Stay and listen to the rest of this part with me before you go..."