Yun Xiao Discovered the Enemy's Approach

Seeing Yun Manman's guarded expression, Mo Beiyuan told himself he must not rush things and said with a faint, bitter smile,

"I want to stay with the children. I don't dare think of anything else for now."

"What else?"

Mo Beiyuan looked at the person before him. Because she always appeared in his dreams, she did not feel like a stranger. Instead, he felt as though they had not seen each other in ages, and a faint joy stirred in his heart.

Mo Beiyuan swallowed the words on his tongue. Perhaps their reunion after four years was a bond decreed by heaven.

"I want to spend more time with the children and fulfill my responsibilities. I've let you all down these past years."

Yun Manman thought of what had happened at the academy that day, and of Yun Rui's impulsive departure. Perhaps they wanted a father's love too.

No matter how strong she was, she could never replace a father's love. Boys, especially, had an innate need for their fathers.

"He's the eldest, Yun Rui. There's a younger one at home, Yun Xiao. They're twins."

"This..."

Mo Beiyuan's chest heaved. He fought back the sting in his eyes, then, after a long moment, looked at Yun Manman with a smile, his eyes full of gratitude.

"Thank you. Thank you for giving me all of this."

Yun Rui looked at his sucker of a father and faithless mother, then stepped forward to hold Yun Manman's hand, gazing fondly at his heartbreaker of a mother.

"Mother, take him home to meet Erbao. Don't be sad. We'll only ever love you. Whenever you want to let him down, Erbao and I will back you up."

"Yun Rui, report for punishment yourself when we get home."

Her son had done nothing but undermine her today. He could not read the room at all. It seemed he could go back into her belly to be remade!

"I don't care what you're capable of. You can visit the children, but you can't take them away. Your martial arts are excellent, but I'm capable of killing you too."

Mo Beiyuan nodded somewhat obediently, feeling rather helpless. Others called him the God of Slaughter. Had he finally met his match?

"Master, the carriage is ready. We can leave at any time!"

Mo Beiyuan gave Qing Yi an approving look, then turned toward Yun Rui with an unnatural smile and gentle eyes. Evidently, he rarely smiled.

"Yun Rui, come to Father. Father will carry you. Don't tire your mother out."

A complicated look flashed through Yun Manman's eyes, and she strode straight out of the courtyard.

Since she could not prevent father and sons from acknowledging each other, they could be like a divorced couple: both would care for the children, while their own lives remained separate.

Mo Beiyuan had never imagined that, just as he had gained a wife, children, and a warm kang bed,

Yun Manman had already divorced him unilaterally...

Yun Rui did not refuse to let Mo Beiyuan carry him. After all, this father of his seemed rather pitiful.

But the person hurting him was Mother, so he could only offer a regretful apology.

Inside the luxurious carriage,

Yun Manman sat alone in the middle, while Mo Beiyuan and Yun Rui sat to one side.

Throughout the journey, Mo Beiyuan asked questions and Yun Rui answered. They were like two emotionless question-and-answer machines.

Yun Manman chose to close her eyes and rest, never opening them along the way.

She was not naturally warm or outgoing, and those blue eyes were unlike Yun Xiao's pure ones. Their depths were dark, holding emotions she could not understand.

In the Yun Family's courtyard in Red Star Village,

Old Father Yun and the others were chatting with the village chief. They did not need to worry about rats in the granary either. Yun Manman had already hauled the grain away to sell-though she had actually put it in her space.

"Grandpa, Grandpa Chief, hurry... hurry!"

The two turned to see Yun Xiao approaching with two wolves, his face full of anxiety.

Old Father Yun stood and steadied him. "Erbao, what happened? Slow down and tell us."

"Grandpa, Grandpa Chief, I heard an old man plotting with a burly man. He's bringing people to steal our grain."

The village chief and Old Father Yun were startled. Why would anyone come to steal grain?

"Erbao, where did you see them? How many are there?"

"Lots of them, in the hollow in the back mountain. Mother isn't home, and I didn't dare send a signal in case they noticed. What do we do?"

Old Father Yun looked gravely at the village chief. "Old Chen, go tell the villagers to hide. There's no grain in the house, so they won't find much to steal. Presumably, they'll leave."

The village chief looked worried, but he picked up his tobacco pipe and hurried out.

Old Father Yun brought Madam Zhou and Yun Xiao to the hidden chamber in Yun Manman's room, urging them anxiously,

"Hurry inside. Don't come out unless I call you. Xiuniang, protect the child."

Madam Zhou nodded and reached for Yun Xiao, but he quickly backed away several steps.

"Grandpa, my martial arts are better than yours. If anyone should hide, it's you. I'm going to fight the bad guys and protect our home until Mother comes back."

While they were still arguing, wolves howled at the main gate.

"Grandpa, hide with Grandma. I'm a child. They won't make things difficult for me."

Old Father Yun reached to grab Yun Xiao, but Yun Xiao used his lightness skill to fly out of the room and ran toward the courtyard gate.

Old Father Yun hurriedly pushed Madam Zhou inside, tightened his grip on his saber, and headed out into the courtyard.

Inside the carriage, Yun Manman felt inexplicably restless.

Thinking it was this man's influence, she forced herself to steady her mind and practiced her cultivation inside the carriage.

The Lotus Heart Art had now broken through the eighth level and entered the ninth. That previous breakthrough had taken her four years. How long would this one take?

Seeing that Yun Manman appeared to be cultivating, Mo Beiyuan watched her steadily with his lake-blue eyes.

She was free-spirited and unrestrained, yet indifferent and distant, a peerless beauty with extraordinary martial arts. He wondered who had raised such an unusual woman.

When the carriage slowly entered the village,

Yun Manman opened her eyes, and Mo Beiyuan was slightly stunned.

He had clearly seen a powerful aura just now. The instant it spread, it was drawn back in.

Yun Manman looked into Mo Beiyuan's arms, where Yun Rui slept quietly and docilely.

Their faces resembled each other, and in that tranquil moment, they looked like a painting.

Sensing her gaze, Mo Beiyuan lifted his eyes toward Yun Manman and was just about to speak,

when Yun Manman's expression sharpened. She lifted the carriage curtain and flew out in an instant.

Mo Beiyuan also sensed something amiss ahead and leaped from the carriage with Yun Rui in his arms, landing on the ground.

Qing Yi had just jumped down from the carriage to report when Yun Rui was thrust into his arms.

Mo Beiyuan had already flown after Yun Manman. Qing Yi hurried to follow, holding Yun Rui tightly and feeling rather helpless.

Why was his master acting like some green young lad now?

Yun Manman moved so swiftly that her figure seemed like an afterimage, panic filling her violet eyes.

Her gaze swept over Old Father Yun lying on the ground, with two injured wolves guarding him. He was not seriously hurt.

She turned her gaze toward the center of the Beilin soldiers.

The tiny figure was almost impossible to see. The true qi in his hands was dispersing; he was clearly exhausted.

Yun Manman's eyes filled with panic and aching tenderness. Her voice was cool and trembled slightly, yet rang out with unusual clarity.

"Yun Xiao, don't you dare fall! The lotus heart is my heart; concentrate the heart into a lotus. Hurry!"

Amid the melee, Yun Xiao heard Yun Manman's voice and the cultivation formula she called out, and his eyes brightened slightly.

Had Mother come to save him?

Gritting his teeth, he endured the pain of his wounds.

Watching the saber cleave toward him right before his eyes, he used the last of his strength to form a barely shaped lotus in his hand,

and struck at the saber-wielding man ahead.

But it was already too late to dodge the broadsword behind him. He felt unable to muster any strength and slowly fell backward.

"┭┮﹏┭┮, this young master's done for today! Mother, Big Brother, I..."