“You already know about our origins, but the part about our agreement with Master Yu—Yun Hui’s explanation was inaccurate.”
Su Mo’s expression shifted with intrigue. “So, Steward Yun Hui…”
“No, no, Yun Hui is loyal. What I mean is that only the clan leaders of the four families—Yun, Xiong, Wu, and Huang—know the true secret. Everyone else only knows the version we crafted,” Yun Fei explained.
At this point, Yun Shan chimed in again: “Father, if it’s a secret, maybe I should step out.”
“No need. You’re my son and the next leader of the Yun clan. There’s no need for you to avoid. Besides, you’ll play an important role later.”
An important role?
Yun Shan’s eyes lit up, instantly feeling incredibly significant.
Yun Fei opened the door drawn in the air and gestured to Su Mo. “After you!”
Su Mo hesitated, staring at the door, unsure whether to enter or trust Yun Fei and his son.
The old fox immediately noticed his hesitation and nodded to his son. “Now it’s up to you.”
Yun Shan: “???”
Before he could question further, Yun Fei pointed a finger at his abdomen.
Yun Shan’s expression turned to one of disbelief, and perhaps due to pain, sweat beaded on his forehead. “Father, why are you sealing my cultivation!?”
Yun Fei ignored him and assured Su Mo, “He is my only son. I swear on our lives that if my actions harm you in any way, may we die horribly.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a bolt of lightning struck down from the clear sky, exploding right above them with a majestic roar.
Yun Fei remained unfazed, clearly aware that such an oath would summon heavenly thunder.
“If you still don’t trust me, I’ll hand him over to you as a hostage. With his cultivation sealed, he’s just a waste. Killing him would be effortless.” Yun Shan was pushed toward Su Mo.
“Father…” Yun Shan felt utterly wronged. “So this is the ‘use’ you meant? This really isn’t necessary!”
Su Mo was momentarily speechless. He rubbed his temples and sighed, “I believe you, alright? Even I, an outsider, can’t bear to watch this.”
Yun Shan fell into thought upon hearing this: Sister Immortal is concerned about me…
It seemed oath in this world were truly bound by some kind of law. Su Mo felt somewhat reassured.
Led by Yun Fei, the three stepped through the drawn door.
Without any fancy effects, they immediately found themselves in a spacious cave.
The cave was filled with lamps and candles. With a wave of Yun Fei’s sleeve, the surroundings instantly brightened.
“Miss Su, this way.”
Following Yun Fei’s direction, Su Mo walked forward and was soon stunned by the scene before him: two coiled stone dragons with five claws each were depicted scramble a luminous pearl.
This itself wasn’t particularly strange, but what was astonishing was that his body felt an inexplicable connection to the pearl.
It felt like a part of him, yearning to return but held back by some barrier, making it difficult to achieve.
The pearl began to tremble slightly.
Yun Fei was overjoyed. “Exactly! Only the immortal mentioned by Master Yu can resonate with this pearl.”
Su Mo shifted his gaze to Yun Fei. “So you brought our blood here to test it?”
“Exactly.” Yun Fei was in high spirits and sighed deeply. “For centuries, our Yun clan has waited here, and we’ve finally accomplished the task Master Yu entrusted to us. We haven’t failed our ancestors!”
It was clear he was genuinely happy—a city lord so delighted he couldn’t hide his emotions.
Su Mo wasn’t in a hurry to take the pearl. Instead, he asked, “City Lord Yun, didn’t you have something to say earlier? Now that we’re here…”
“Right, right! I almost forgot the main point.”
He calmed his excitement and said, “Actually, the reason Master Yu saved us back then was because our four clans were blessed with the aura of the heavens, inherently connected to immortals. Otherwise, no ordinary family or person would qualify to fulfill the task he left behind, especially since it involves immortals.”
Su Mo’s expression turned peculiar. He wondered if Master Yu had time-traveled to the modern era to study “pyramid schemes and scams,” given how convincingly he deceived people.
Not only did he make others work for him, but he made them willing and even proud of it.
Well… now that’s skill!
Seeing Su Mo’s skepticism, Yun Fei continued, “According to his account, the immortal seemed to be ill—gravely ill. To prevent the world he protected from falling into ruin, he divided his essence into four parts and entrusted them to Master Yu, who then passed them to our ancestors.”
“And they believed him?”
“I don’t know how Master Yu convinced our ancestors, but since it was our forebears’ entrusted task, we descendants couldn’t simply ignore it. We had to take it seriously. Besides, Master Yu saved us. Serving him is our way of repaying that debt.”
At this, Yun Fei led Su Mo to a stone wall behind the twin dragon statues, engraved with ancient text.
Su Mo couldn’t read it, so Yun Fei translated for him. The gist was that Master Yu was incredibly powerful—capable of soaring to the heavens, diving into the earth, and vanishing without a trace. The purpose was to warn future generations to stay true to their mission, or else the old master would return to teach them a lesson…
He showed Su Mo other artifacts, all serving as proof of the story’s authenticity.
Su Mo believed it, but now he had a new doubt—one Yun Fei likely couldn’t resolve.
Who exactly was this so-called “immortal”? Himself or Ye Qingyi?
If blood was the criterion, it should be Ye Qingyi. But since he was standing here now, and the pearl was reacting to him, resonating with his consciousness, it was still a mystery.
Well, he could explore that later after meeting her outside.
Ah, the problem was how to get out…
He wanted to ask Yun Fei but didn’t know how to bring it up.
Probably, Yun Fei wouldn’t know either. Su Mo decided to drop it for now.
“Father, our Yun clan guarded a pearl. What about the other families?” Yun Shan asked curiously.
Yun Fei shook his head. “According to your grandfather, Master Yu entrusted each of the four clans with one item separately. None of them knew what the others received.”
“Alright.”
That made sense. Master Yu likely did this to prevent the four clans from comparing themselves, especially since each item would benefit their respective families.
“By the way,” Su Mo suddenly remembered another question. “I recall City Lord Yun wanted to tell me about Luo Xiu. Where did she go?”
Yun Fei frowned, his expression darkening.
“On the afternoon you two arrived in Yun City, she disappeared for a while. She actually sneaked into the manor to replace her blood, but I was prepared, so she failed.”
“Later, during the beast tide attack, she took advantage of the empty manor and tried to steal the pearl. In the end, she took a counterfeit I had placed on purpose.”
Huh?
Su Mo hadn’t expected so many “interesting” events to have unfolded. It was almost unbelievable.
Then again, who could have guessed that the door to this place needed to be drawn?
It was understandable.
“What I mean is, if you ever encounter her in the future, Miss Su, keep your distance. Your… acquaintance is shrewd and ruthless, and she might harm you.”
Su Mo smiled. “City Lord Yun, don’t worry. Not only are we not friends, we’re enemies. Naturally, I wouldn’t bare my heart to an enemy.”
“Good.” Yun Fei didn’t press further and reminded him to retrieve the pearl.
Perhaps because he had guarded it for so long, he felt a sense of reluctance.
Su Mo reached for the pearl. The cool touch sent a shiver through his body.
So comforting…