At the Ye Family home, at the dining table.
Mo Lin and the other two sat around the table in a harmonious atmosphere.
"You'll be heading out in a few days. Remember, you already have one at home, so don't go getting involved with any wild men."
They had been eating perfectly peacefully when Ye Xingmeng suddenly sprang this remark on Ye Lingling, nearly making her choke to death on a mouthful of rice.
"Cough, cough, cough."
After several violent coughs, Ye Lingling turned her flushed face toward Ye Xingmeng and protested indignantly.
"Mom, what are you saying? I'm your own daughter!"
"It's precisely because you're my own daughter that I'm saying it. Look at Dugu Yan-I don't say anything to her."
Seeing her daughter so flustered, Ye Xingmeng not only saw nothing wrong with it, but turned the tables on her instead.
Twisted logic rolled right off her tongue. Mo Lin, sitting beside them, had long since grown used to it.
Back when he was little, she had teased him plenty too.
How had she put it again?
Something like, weren't children there to be played with? Why else give birth to them?
Speaking of which, Ye Lingling's personality was nothing like Ye Xingmeng's. The latter was a Demon Pill through and through.
Come to think of it, her personality seemed rather like his Evil Face's. Could she have been the one who had led him astray too?
On closer thought, that wasn't impossible. After all, Evil Face was no well-behaved sort either.
"And you, brat, don't just sit there eating. Your future wife is about to go far away. Aren't you afraid someone else will steal her away?"
Having finished teasing her own daughter, it was time to turn to Mo Lin.
"Aunt Ye, go listen to those ridiculous stories from the street storytellers. Don't you know what Lingling is like?"
Ye Lingling was a pure little white flower, clean to her very core.
Besides, she had Dugu Yan with her. Anyone who dared touch her would first have to take a bite from that beautiful serpent.
Did this count as some alternative version of a heavenly treasure guarded by a spirit beast?
"You're really no fun, brat. Just wait until someone steals her away, then you can cry."
Mo Lin's reaction was far too calm, leaving Ye Xingmeng feeling no amusement at all. She might as well tease her own daughter instead.
A couple of casual remarks were enough to make her blush. It was so much fun.
Really, how did she never get tired of it?
After the meal, the three went into the courtyard to bask in the sun.
Ye Lingling leaned against Mo Lin of her own accord. As for things like men and women keeping their distance, those simply did not exist between them.
After all, they had been like this since childhood. They could be called childhood sweethearts.
"About how long will you be away this time?"
They couldn't just keep sitting there doing nothing, so Mo Lin casually found a topic, though he already knew the answer.
"I'm not too sure. Maybe a month or two."
Ye Lingling shook her little head. Their destination this time was quite far from Heaven Dou City, so most of their time would probably be spent on the road.
The round trip alone would take quite a while.
"Mo Lin, you'll miss me while I'm gone so long, right?"
Faced with Ye Lingling's question, so silly it was rather adorable, Mo Lin nodded.
"Yes."
His answer was simple. A single word was enough; given their relationship, there was no need to elaborate.
"I'll miss you too."
Having received his answer, Ye Lingling broke into a sweet smile.
It was clearly the simplest of answers, yet she savored it like honey, as though she had received some exceedingly precious gift.
Speaking of gifts, though, Mo Lin really had prepared one for her.
"Let me give you something."
As he spoke, Mo Lin took an ordinary wooden box from his pocket and held it out before Ye Lingling.
Looking at the wooden box Mo Lin offered, Ye Lingling blinked her large, bright eyes twice in curiosity.
"Open it and take a look. I just don't know whether you'll like it."
"There's no need for you to ask that. Even if you picked up a leaf outside and stuck it on her head, she'd like it."
Before Ye Lingling could speak, Ye Xingmeng, who was leisurely sunbathing on a reclining chair nearby, suddenly threw in this remark, completely destroying the lovely atmosphere.
"Mom, if you keep this up, I'm going to get angry!"
Ye Lingling puffed out her cheeks, her face turning scarlet, looking exactly like a pufferfish about to burst with anger.
"Angry? Getting angry won't help. I'm telling the truth."
Faced with the threat, Ye Xingmeng gently waved the folding fan in her hand, her expression saying, What can you do about it?
"I'm not talking to you anymore."
"Then don't. I'll enjoy the peace and quiet."
Suppression, pure suppression. Ye Lingling was no match whatsoever for her own mother.
"All right, Aunt Ye, stop teasing Lingling."
Seeing that mother and daughter had bickered enough, Mo Lin tactfully stepped forward to mediate.
After all, he couldn't have been more practiced at this task. There was no helping it; this was a skill he had been forced to develop.
"Oh my, you're already starting to defend her."
Hearing this, Ye Xingmeng stood and walked over to them, then snatched the wooden box from Mo Lin's hand right in front of Ye Lingling.
"Let me see just what you're giving her."
Seeing her gift taken away, Ye Lingling grew frantic and hurriedly lunged forward.
"Give it back! Mo Lin gave that to me!"
"I'm checking it for you first, you silly girl. What if this brat has drugged it? You aren't married off yet."
Facing the lunging Ye Lingling, Ye Xingmeng pushed her away with one hand and opened the wooden box with the other.
The instant the wooden box opened, a gemstone necklace giving off an emerald-green sheen appeared before her.
The necklace was silvery white throughout, with a thumb-sized emerald-green gemstone set in its very center.
The gemstone had a rich, lustrous hue. Sunlight passed through it, tinting its surroundings emerald green.
As someone who had spent years moving in socialite circles, what precious jewelry hadn't Ye Xingmeng seen? At first glance, this necklace could only be considered as mediocre as they came.
Judging by its workmanship, it was just an ordinary street-stall trinket, but that was only how it appeared.
Her eye was keen. A faint trace of life energy seeped from the green gemstone set in the necklace.
As the bearer of the Nine Heart Begonia Martial Soul, she could not have been more sensitive to the aura of life.
Then there was the seemingly plain, unadorned silvery-white necklace itself. On closer inspection, it was covered in densely packed, tiny patterns.
If she was not mistaken, those should be the soul-conducting patterns unique to Soul Tools.
To engrave those patterns in such tiny spaces clearly meant this was no ordinary object.
She knew Mo Lin was interested in Soul Tools and also knew he seemed to have achieved something with them, but she had never expected him to have already reached this level.
"Mom, have you looked enough? Give it back already."
Ye Lingling's disgruntled voice reached her ears, drawing Ye Xingmeng back from her thoughts.
"Here, here. It's just a lousy necklace. Look at how you treasure it."
Her words were full of disdain as she raised her head to look at Mo Lin.
As it happened, Mo Lin was looking at her too. Their eyes met, and each read something in the other's gaze.
"Looks like you really have given her quite a gift."
Before you continue