Upon returning to the Mo family, the first thing Mo Yi Gan did was not to hug the jade pendant and laugh heartily, but to strip off his clothes and set up a wooden tub in the courtyard for a bath.
The firewood burned brightly as Mo Yi leaned against the edge of the wooden tub, his hands wrapped around its rim. Wisps of white smoke rose, and through the mist, the bright moon in the sky made the world seem somewhat unreal, yet extraordinarily beautiful.
The temperature was just right, and a night breeze blew from afar, creating ripples on the surface of the hot water. Mo Yi gazed at the sky, lost in thought.
He knew that meeting Luo Hou today was very dangerous; without the Shadow Guards to protect him, he would never dare to provoke Luo Hou. Instead of killing Luo Hou, he had seized the celestial fortune that belonged to him, knowing that this was the safest and most comprehensive method.
Obtaining Luo Hou's celestial fortune was equivalent to crippling him. Although Luo Hou might find new celestial fortunes in the future, by then, Mo Yi would have already stood at a higher place, looking down on him, not to mention that there were two other troublesome figures eyeing him besides Luo Hou.
“This is what my political teacher often talks about—sustainable development,” Mo Yi sighed softly, sinking deeper into the hot water. Every capillary in his body relaxed comfortably, and the bathwater was infused with various tonics for strengthening the body. The pressure Luo Hou brought him today made him want to enhance his strength at all times.
As the autumn wind blew, a figure appeared on the branches of an old parasol tree.
Mo Yi turned his head slightly to look at the parasol tree. The person sitting on it was someone he knew all too well, and he was even more familiar with the object in that person's hand!
Mo Tianjiao tossed the carp-shaped jade pendant in his hand, looking down at Mo Yi, who was soaking in the tub. He crossed his legs and said, “Is it really okay to flaunt the celestial fortune you stole like this, tucked away in your clothes?”
Mo Yi rubbed his forehead and said, “Old man, I genuinely suspect you used to be a pirate. With your skills, you could have stolen the imperial seal from the palace.”
Mo Tianjiao squinted his eyes and said proudly, “Who says I haven’t? Otherwise, how do you think you came about?”
Mo Yi was taken aback, then looked at Mo Tianjiao in horror and said, “What the hell! I wasn’t stolen back, was I? I always thought my old man wasn’t even one percent as handsome as me; it seems I really am not your biological son!”
“What nonsense are you spouting, you brat? You are indeed my flesh and blood. Back when I was a pirate, I tricked your mother into my grasp and then had you!” Mo Tianjiao shouted loudly.
“Not only a pirate but also a flower thief on the side?” Mo Yi was stunned. “Old man, you’re impressive. It’s a pity the authorities didn’t catch you back then. Oh, by the way, what did my mother look like?”
Mo Yi's mother passed away a few years after he was born, and in his memory, he had not a single clear image of her. Vaguely, he felt that his mother was very beautiful, breathtakingly so, but now, recalling her was like trying to grasp a flower in the fog.
Mo Tianjiao looked up at the moon and said, “Beautiful to the point of being unrecognizable.”
“Are you sure you can talk?” Mo Yi wanted to retort, but seeing the old man's gaze fixed on the moon, he suddenly found himself at a loss for words. Because those eyes were filled with memories and tenderness, emotions that were astonishing to see in the otherwise imperious Mo Tianjiao.
Mo Tianjiao shook his head and said, “I didn’t come here to chat nonsense. I want to tell you that the jade pendant you stole is fake, made of glass, and the craftsmanship is so crude that it’s worthless.”
As he spoke, Mo Tianjiao tossed the jade pendant toward Mo Yi.
Mo Yi reached out to catch it, not because he was good at catching, but because Mo Tianjiao threw it perfectly, landing it steadily in Mo Yi's hand.
Mo Yi's expression turned serious as he picked up the pendant and held it up to the moonlight to examine... this thing really is glass!
The carp-shaped jade pendant was transparent but lacked any spirit, and the scales carved on it were incredibly rough. Mo Yi knocked it against the wooden tub, and the sound confirmed it was indeed glass.
“I’ve been played,” Mo Yi said with a strange expression. It seemed Luo Hou was not only maxed out in strength but also had a full intelligence stat! The pendant was probably swapped out during the table flip without anyone noticing.
“So, how does it feel to be too clever for your own good, and now you’ve made an enemy for nothing?” Mo Tianjiao looked at him with amusement, as if the one in trouble was not Mo Yi but a stranger.
Mo Yi fell silent for a few seconds before tossing the pendant away, watching it fall into a dark corner and disappear from sight.
“The world is so vast, and there are countless people better than you. Since those better than you are still striving, what’s the point of your efforts?” Mo Tianjiao mocked Mo Yi with sharp words.
Mo Yi looked up at the bright moon with a calm expression and said softly, “If I still have a life to fight for, then I won’t wait until I regret it to fight, because that cost is a lifetime. I don’t want to regret, so I will use all my strength to climb until I reach the peak.”
“……”
“That’s really well said,” Mo Tianjiao praised. If Mo Yi remembered correctly, this was the first time Mo Tianjiao had formally complimented him.
Mo Tianjiao fixed his gaze on Mo Yi, speaking each word deliberately, “Many people's endpoints cannot compare to the starting points of many others. Since you have a perfect start, you must stand at the peak and look down on all beings! You are my Mo Tianjiao’s son, so you should go higher and further than I did. If you can’t even do this, why should I have you as my son?”
Mo Tianjiao's voice was like a great bell, each word carrying a fierce momentum, and what came from his mouth was a grand poem and battle training.
“I really doubt, old man, whether you are just a martial arts master,” Mo Yi chuckled.
“I really doubt whether you are my son,” Mo Tianjiao chuckled back.
“Since I’ve become your son, then I will be your son for life,” Mo Yi said with a slight smile at the corner of his mouth.
“What’s the point of talking about useless things? If you dare to turn your back on me, I’ll chop you up and feed you to the dogs in the next second,” Mo Tianjiao said with a fierce look, as if trying to scare a baby.
Mo Yi shook his head and said, “Old man, besides telling me that I acted like a fool tonight, what else do you want? You didn’t come all this way just to feed me some motivational soup, did you?”
Mo Tianjiao nodded and said, “If you hadn’t reminded me, I would have really forgotten. I’m here to inform you of the time and place the celestial gate opens.”
Mo Yi was taken aback... then he cursed loudly, “You could forget that? Cut the crap and tell me quickly! Your son was played and is very unhappy; I’m looking for good news to comfort me!”
Mo Tianjiao ignored Mo Yi's coarse language, stroking his white beard with a wandering gaze, “I remember... it should be... seems like...”
“.........” Mo Yi