8. Adopted?

There was a knock on my door the next morning. Luckily I was in my room going over a book from the vault of the snow wind family.

"Come in." I say calmly.

In walks the matron with a large smile.

"There are some people here to see you." She says. "They seem to be interested in adopting."

Adopting? Fuck I forgot I'm just a 6 year old orphan.

"Alright." I nod following her out if the room only to freeze when I see Ye Zong and His wife Ye Mu sitting there.

"Didnt think we would see you again so fast eh brat?" Ye Zong says with a grin.

Ah I was found out. The matron already left the room closing the door behind her.

"What do you want you old gorilla. Here for me to beat your ass?" I say raising my spiritual force damn near making him choke.

"Black Gold?!?!" He shouts in shock.

"If you are here to cause me problem or try to steal back the items I took, you'll have to fight me for it." I roll up my sleeves calmly.

If it was Ye Mo at legendary rank I might have worried a bit, but it's just Ye Zong at maybe Black Gold rank. I don't know what cultivation his wife has but...

And then the pressure hits me.

Legendary rank, coming from the pale smiling woman sitting on the couch. So she wasnt just a trophy wife, she was stronger than her husband, that's why they resorted to poison.

"We arent here to fight, we are here to invite you to live at the city lords manor, or adopt you into the family." Ye Mu says with a smile dropping the pressure.

"Not going to lie, that doesnt sound too tempting. You already had a life or death situation at the manor, what's to stop them from trying to kill me if they find out my abilities? If I do go I want my skills to be kept 100% a secret. If you want you can tell Ye Mo but that's it. If anyone else finds out such as the other families and tries to cause me problems do you believe that I won't carve a bloody path through this city?" I say with narrowed eyes. "The name Ye Ryan sounds stupid also, so you can just make me a noble and give me the last name Grim."

Ye Mu nods. "That is understandable, security had been raised around the manor, food is checked, people are monitored, it's much more strict than it was before we made sure of that. If we cant feel safe in our own home how can we expect others to do the same?" She says as Ye Zong frowns but nods. "We can easily come up for an explanation as to why you are staying in the city lords manor, the best option would be adoption, you don't have to take the Ye last name though. We can just say due to me getting poisoned I can no longer have children so we decided to adopt."

That does seem pretty logical.

"And you arent going to try to rob me?" I ask with narrowed eyes.

She shakes her head. "No, it's a good lesson to my dear husband about thinking before acting." she smiles at Ye Zong who flinches.

He had gotten far too arrogant once he became the city lord.

"I'll come with however I still want my cultivation to be hid and any other information about me. As far as anyone will know I'm just a smart 6 year old." I agree with some simple terms.

"We agree." Ye Mu says with a smile.

"Well I guess that settles it then." I shrug.

"Zong go and tell the matron we are adopting him." Ye Mu says with a smile.

"Why me...?" He quickly shuts up seeing his wife glare at him. He is still being punished for his screw up.

"Come along Ryan. Do you have everything that belongs to you?" Ye Mu asks leading me from the room.

"Yeah."

"Then let's go find you a nice courtyard at the manor." She says with a smile as we leave the orphanage.

We get a couple of curious looks as the city lords wife is well known.

"I didnt think there was another legend rank in the city." I admit.

"Only a few people know about my cultivation. I keep it a secret for the most part. I was raised by Lord Ye Mo to protect the city in his absence." She explains.

Seems logical, you cant just have the highest ranked cultivator in the city off fucking around doing who knows what and leaving the city unprotected.

"And you married the idiot because???" I ask.

"He wasnt always an idiot, he was a hard working man, hes just not had many set backs and became a bit arrogant. The poisoning was the first real crisis he has had to face. I must thank you for teaching him a valuable lesson though, as he has started taking his cultivation seriously again." She says with a smile.

"No problem."

"You know you dont seem like a child. If it wasnt for a few key points I would think you were an evil reincarnator." She says looking at me.

Evil reincarnators do exist in this world. Basically once they get old, they take over the body of a younger person, mostly a baby. They have to reset thier cultivation but they can live a long life and gather up knowledge and resources without having to die. However there are some telling signs such as pale pale white skin and red eyes.

Well yes and no I guess. "No, I just have a few secrets. This is 100% my own body though." I explain.

"So you have heard of reincarnators." She confirms.

"Yes, they steal the bodies of babies so they can easily take over their minds and souls." I shrug.

"So are you going to tell me what you are?" she asks.

Ah this is annoying.

"I am just myself with more knowledge." I admit.

"Hmm."

After that we arrive at the mansion and she shows me to a nice looking courtyard. "This will be your home. If there is anything you need feel free to have the maids or servants get it for you." She passes me a token of the snow wind family.