A servant hurried over and announced, "Master, Third Master Cao of the Brothers Alliance has come to visit with gifts!"
Chen Ming's face immediately darkened. His brows drew together, and he shot the servant a fierce glare before slowly lowering Yan from his arms.
Under Chen Ming's glare, the servant lowered his head, his hands and feet trembling.
"Hmph! Come! Let's go have a look!"
His face gloomy and brows tightly knitted, Chen Ming gave a cold snort and strode toward the gate.
Hearing this, Yan and Zhang Tie followed behind Chen Ming, one on either side, heading toward the entrance.
When Chen Ming reached the gates of the Mo Mansion, he saw a crowd gathered outside, with a middle-aged man standing at the very front.
"Brother Mo, it really is you. After all these years without seeing you, I thought you'd met with some mishap and would never return." Cao Yang sized Chen Ming up as he emerged from the Mo Mansion and spoke with a mocking edge.
"Oh! Isn't this my dear younger brother Cao Yang? You're certainly well informed. I haven't even been home an hour, and you've already come knocking!"
Looking at the dark-skinned, burly Cao Yang with his onion-shaped hairstyle, Chen Ming made no attempt to hide the mockery in his voice.
Cao Yang was the third leader of the Brothers Alliance, with a martial cultivation at the fourth innate stage. Having just received a report from his subordinates patrolling East Street, he had come specifically to find out whether it was true.
"Brother Mo, I really never imagined that, with your cultivation fallen to the second innate stage, you'd still dare return to Jiayuan City-and speak so arrogantly, at that! If I choose to give you face, I call you Brother Mo. If I don't, I call you Black Cuttlefish! Do you still think you're the man you used to be? Pah!"
Sensing the aura of the second innate stage coming from Chen Ming, he thought, So the rumors were true. Mo Juren's enemy came knocking. Although he killed that enemy, he was also poisoned with some unknown toxin, and his cultivation fell from then on. He once possessed the cultivation of the martial grandmaster first heaven, but now even I can discern his level!
Cao Yang raised his head and checked several more times in disbelief. Previously, he had not even dared look Chen Ming directly in the eye, keeping a humble posture. Now he immediately became overbearing, holding his head high as he pointed a finger at Chen Ming and spoke. Afterward, he turned his head aside and spat.
Chen Ming had always displayed only his martial cultivation, concealing his aura as an immortal cultivator. Unless another immortal cultivator had a higher cultivation than his, they would generally be unable to detect it!
Whether it was because he had absorbed Mo Juren's memories or something else, Chen Ming could not be as stonehearted as Han Li, who had not even dared meet his family openly, only stealing a glimpse of them. Even by the time his parents and siblings had all died, he had never reunited with them!
In Chen Ming's heart, even if one cultivated to immortality and became an immortal, one was still human. Did one really have to wait until the child wished to care for his parents, only to find they were gone? No! First and foremost, one was human, and remained human even after achieving success in cultivation. Being an immortal was merely a cultivation realm.
Now that Chen Ming had returned to the Mo Family, he had only one goal: to eliminate every force that threatened them and ensure their safety for the next hundred years.
"Ha! Hahaha!"
Chen Ming threw back his head and laughed. His laughter stopped abruptly, and he struck in an instant, darting forward and seizing Cao Yang's throat with his left hand. Drawing his right hand back, he drove a punch into Cao Yang's chest, his fist punching straight through his body. Then he released his left hand and kicked, sending the entire body flying three meters before it fell.
"Zhang Tie, kill them!"
Chen Ming looked at the four men who had accompanied Cao Yang. They were still staring blankly, not even knowing what had happened, let alone reacting-he had struck far too quickly. His voice remained utterly calm as he spoke to Zhang Tie.
These members of the Brothers Alliance were merely second-rate martial artists. Zhang Tie punched each one in the head, and they instantly collapsed to the ground, their breathing gone.
The once-bustling street suddenly fell deathly silent. The onlookers' faces turned ashen. Someone shouted, and the crowd instantly scattered in every direction.
"Using my fists is still too crude. My dear, go fetch me a saber!"
Chen Ming looked at his right hand, covered in blood and bits of flesh, shook it, and turned to speak.
Yan covered her mouth with both hands, staring blankly at the bloody scene, unable to speak for a moment. Chen Ming approached her and gently patted her with his left hand before she turned to leave.
Watching Yan leave, Chen Ming went over to the courtyard well. Zhang Tie immediately came over, tossed the wooden bucket and its rope into the well, worked it a few times, then slowly drew it back up.
After washing his hand clean, Chen Ming returned to the gate to wait.
"Zhang Tie, stay in the mansion for now."
After a long while, Yan finally came out, holding a saber in one hand and lifting the hem of her skirt with the other as she walked lightly toward the gate. Chen Ming took the saber she brought, drew it from its sheath, examined it, and nodded slightly. Then he spoke to Zhang Tie before turning and heading toward the Brothers Alliance.
Shrouding Smoke Steps was a decent lightness technique from the Seven Mysteries Sect. Over these past four years, because he had not schemed against Han Li, their relationship had remained fairly good. That also left him with ample time, so he had learned some of the Seven Mysteries Sect's techniques!
As for the Blink Sword Technique, which Han Li took the greatest pride in, he had not learned it. Since he was already cultivating toward immortality, there was no need to spend vast amounts of time learning such a mortal technique.
Chen Ming used Shrouding Smoke Steps and vanished from the street in an instant. After turning several corners, he reached an alley off East Main Street and gradually slowed outside a courtyard compound.
Chen Ming stopped only because he saw three constables in official uniforms entering the Brothers Alliance's gates. Their leader was Nie Yuan, Jiayuan City's chief constable, whose cultivation was at the martial grandmaster first heaven!
Affairs of the martial world should be settled within the martial world. Unless necessary, Chen Ming still did not want to alert the authorities. Having become an immortal cultivator, he naturally had no fear of them, but what he was doing now was for his wives and daughters. After all, none of them had spirit roots, making immortal cultivation impossible. Although he possessed a system, he did not know whether he could draw another medicine like the Pseudo-Spirit Root Pill.
Even if he could, it was not something he could obtain right away. That would have to wait until he entered the world of immortal cultivation. With his current cultivation, bringing his entire family along was impossible; otherwise, there would have been no need to remain here.
For now, he could only wait until they left before deciding what to do next. Chen Ming walked out of the alley and sat down at a teahouse from which he had a clear view of the Brothers Alliance's main gate.
"What would you like to drink, sir?"
Shortly after Chen Ming sat down, a waiter with a towel draped over his shoulder approached with a smile and bowed as he spoke.
"A pot of fragrant tea! And some snacks!"
Chen Ming kept watching the Brothers Alliance as he spoke, without turning his head.
"Certainly, sir. Please wait a moment!"
"One pot of fragrant tea and one serving of pastries!"
After hearing the order and replying, the waiter turned and called it out!
Two figures upstairs were watching Chen Ming. After just a couple of glances, they closed the door, then whispered, "That's right, it's him. Xiao Qing, stay here and watch him. I'll return to the clan and inform the elders!"
"Mm! All right, Brother Dong!"
The one called Xiao Qing answered upon hearing this!
Meanwhile, Chen Ming had no idea that someone had already set their sights on him. He was still leisurely sipping his tea.