Playing with the jade pendant in his hand, Mo Yi felt around for its use as he walked up the stairs leading out of the secret passage.
The scarlet twin fish jade pendant wasn't large, only of ordinary size, about five centimeters in diameter, but it was quite heavy, weighing about as much as an egg.
Mo Yi tossed the pendant up and caught it in his palm, then tossed it up again and caught it in his palm. The firelight on the wall shone on the pendant, making it look incredibly beautiful. Mo Yi played with it enthusiastically, completely indifferent to the countless expectations of "immortal fate" that the thing carried.
Mo Yi tossed it up again, then spread his palm out to catch it... but nothing landed in his hand.
Mo Yi froze, cold sweat instantly pouring down his back, "Where the hell is my jade? Did it break?"
Mo Yi quickly looked down. The lamplight shone on the stone steps, making it rather dim. Mo Yi widened his eyes, trying to find the pendant.
A pair of clean black cloth shoes appeared in Mo Yi's eyes. He froze completely, then slowly looked up.
"Father...?!" Mo Yi took several steps back, his eyes wide in disbelief as he looked at Mo Tianjiao in front of him.
The firelight on the wall flickered, illuminating Mo Tianjiao's burly but slightly stooped figure. There was no sound or movement, Mo Tianjiao had appeared behind Mo Yi.
"Good boy, you're cunning, daring to make a move," Mo Tianjiao kept tossing a blood-red jade pendant in his hand. Mo Yi's eyes lit up, this was his twin fish jade pendant.
"Son wishes Father well. Son didn't know Father was coming, Son was remiss in not greeting Father, please forgive... forgive!" Mo Yi quickly reached out to grab it, immortal fate was indeed safer in his own hands.
"Slap." Mo Yi's hand hurt, he instinctively pulled it back, a red mark appeared on the back of his hand.
"You little rascal, you think you can snatch something from me? You're still too young." Mo Tianjiao said leisurely. He reached for a pipe from his waist and lit it himself, stuffing a golden, high-quality tobacco into the pipe.
Mo Yi, like a servant, quickly approached Mo Tianjiao and took the match, striking one to light the tobacco for Mo Tianjiao, while probing, "Father, how come you have time to come here?"
Mo Tianjiao took a deep puff and exhaled a plume of white smoke. As he savored the taste of tobacco, he said unhurriedly, "I've been here for a long time. I've seen everything that happened before. You're quite quick on your feet, little rascal."
Mo Yi thought to himself, "I wouldn't dare, stealing is nothing compared to you, old man. Only when I reach your level of stealing without a trace can I be considered fast." But the words that came out of his mouth were different, "To be the first to strike is to be strong, to be the last to strike is to suffer, right? My little sister has a big prejudice against me, you know that, Father. I was afraid she was going to chop me up in the secret room."
Mo Tianjiao narrowed his eyes and said, "What was the first thing you did after you left this secret room?"
Mo Yi said without hesitation, "I called for someone to smash the secret room door that locked up Mo Luoxue, otherwise she would have suffocated to death in the secret room."
Mo Tianjiao didn't even look at him, he simply squatted down on the stone steps. He picked up his pipe, tapped it on the stone steps and said, "You're not lying, but why didn't you simply lock Mo Luoxue up in there to die? Immortal fate is something that comes and goes, once you get it, you should keep it to yourself, don't let a third person know."
Mo Yi followed Mo Tianjiao and squatted down. He took out a paper bag of melon seeds from his bag, brazenly squatting next to Mo Tianjiao and cracking melon seeds. He thought for a moment and said, "Are you saying I should eliminate you now, Father? That way no fourth person would know?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Mo Tianjiao's pipe was on the back of Mo Yi's head. Mo Yi was hit solidly and nearly fell down the steps.
Damn, can you talk properly? Don't you know you might knock me silly? Mo Yi thought resentfully while holding his head. But Mo Tianjiao beside him showed no self-awareness, talking to himself, "The Immortal Gate opens once every five hundred years. According to historical records, every time the Immortal Gate opens, it draws countless people to go to it, from emperors to beggars, everyone goes to the Immortal Gate to seek the immortal path. But it's all fake. The Immortal Gate only opens to a select few, not just any Tom, Dick, or Harry can go."
Mo Yi frowned and said to Mo Tianjiao, "Isn't that what's in the classified scroll? You memorized it? You're questioning the contents of the scroll?"
Mo Tianjiao took a puff of his pipe and said calmly, "What you know, I know. What you don't know, I know too! Do you know the purpose and origin of this jade pendant? If you don't, shut up and listen."
Mo Yi shut up decisively and cracked melon seeds diligently, entering story mode.
"No one knows the origin of the jade pendant, but every owner of a jade pendant will inexplicably find it on themselves. And each jade pendant is different in style, the twin fish pendant you have now is one of them." Mo Tianjiao threw the twin fish pendant to Mo Yi, who caught it and examined it in the firelight.
"There's only one purpose for the jade pendant, it's a key—a key to the Immortal Gate." Mo Tianjiao said gravely, "The jade pendant summons qualified cultivators, this is an ironclad law. Except for some lucky people who get ancient scriptures left by great cultivators, no one can become a cultivator halfway, the Cultivator Alliance manages the number and quality of cultivators very strictly. If cultivators run rampant, it will be a disaster."
Mo Yi nodded and said, "I understand this, it's like family planning."
"Now that you have the key, the task of opening the Immortal Gate naturally falls to you. You'll be the first cultivator in our Mo family, naturally." Mo Tianjiao said nonchalantly, as if Mo Yi was going to be a monk instead of a cultivator.
"Why me?" Mo Yi was silent for a moment and suddenly asked, "Isn't Mo Luoxue more suitable? She's proficient in everything from music and chess to calligraphy and painting, she's also beautiful, if she steps on the immortal path, she can easily hook up with an immortal elder and make the Mo family soar to prosperity."
Mo Tianjiao chuckled softly and said, "Unlike your sister, I saw a lion in your eyes! It's the last look of a trapped beast, fierce and bloody. True strongmen are always men. I don't know when you grew up, but I'm sure that right now, you're capable of taking on this immortal fate. Since you want it, I'll give it to you."
"No, Father, you're wrong, it's a panda in there, a national treasure." Mo Yi stared at Mo Tianjiao with wide eyes, his two fingers pointed at his eyes, as if he were going to poke his own eyes out. "Actually, I'm still that frivolous son who scares tigers into biting people, really!"
"Panda? What's that." Mo Tianjiao asked in confusion, "I've only heard of big mountain cats."
"It's a cute creature anyway, a vegetarian that eats bamboo." Mo Yi explained simply.
"My son, Mo Tianjiao, is never a vegetarian. If you want to eat vegetarian, I can order that you only eat cabbage and rice for the next year." Mo Tianjiao patted Mo Yi on the shoulder, almost dislocating the thin arm. "As for frivolity? Which family's young master hasn't been frivolous? Men always grow up, but it's only when they encounter something that can change their lives."
"Maybe." Mo Yi said, moving a little further away from Mo Tianjiao without leaving a trace.
"Don't worry about your sister, I'll let her out. You keep the jade pendant. Now that you have it, it's yours. This immortal fate might have been yours all along." Mo Tianjiao stood up and said lightly, "Don't let anyone know, I'll tell you where the Immortal Gate will open when the time is right."
Mo Yi nodded. He thought for a while and suddenly asked, "If I really killed Mo Luoxue, what would you do to me?"
A long silence.
Mo Tianjiao bit his pipe and silently walked towards the bottom of the secret room with his back turned.
"So that's how it is." Mo Yi smiled silently and then stood up, clapping his butt as he walked up the stairs.
The father and son parted ways in the secret room.