Other Side, Manager and Servants

Back within the Guozhi Capital, the Mo Compound was still awake, despite it being the middle of the night.

People were still getting busy, every empty room was searched, and every clan member was questioned. At least the members that could be found anyway...

Mo Qiao was a lot more helpful than most, but she also didn't seem to know where her cousin and new boss had gone.

How could she? Not like their 'exalted sage' would tell anyone what he was up to. 

At his desk, Mo Weisheng also couldn't help but put his hands in his dishevelled hair.

The past few days had been nothing short of a nightmare for him, from dealing with a displeased king to dealing with his displeased clansmen who failed to understand why Mo Yangling had suddenly become such an important person.

Really, the Mo Clan Head would've thought the King had gone crazy for giving his son such a title... But he couldn't think in that way, as he had also benefited from his son's wisdom, much like anyone talented enough within that grand hall during the family gathering.

At first, he thought that fortune had smiled on his Mo Family to birth such a genius, but when thinking of the logistics of it, as well as his son's apparent unreliability... It was more like a nightmare than a dream. 

There was also the issue of lifespan...

'For millennia, humans have been struggling to develop and refine techniques to extend their lifespans... And what does my son do? He uses the one method of cultivation that does the exact opposite!' 

He couldn't help but be mad. It was one of the reasons he had started searching for his son the moment he had woken up.

He wanted to, no he needed to talk to his son. To have a proper conversation with him.

To cultivators, mortality and natural death were not really a worry. But Mo Yangling's words and state of being had managed to remind Mo Weisheng that he was, at the end of the day, still just a human.

They all were. They couldn't even call themselves immortals. 

Maybe, through some stroke of luck, some would reach immortality, the Celestial Realm... But what exactly were the chances of that?

'Zero, close to none. Most won't even reach the Golden Core Realm, let alone the Nascent Soul One and the Mind Palace Realm.

Celestial Realm? That's a heaven damnned pipe dream...' 

Still, that didn't mean cultivators would stop trying. It was in their nature to defy fate, it was what made them what they were... Immortals.

Unfortunately for Mo Weisheng, he didn't even have time to fully ponder his son's words and the meaning behind them, as the door to his office was swung open with force, making way for an enraged blonde woman to enter.

"I don't get it! I still don't understand where that ungrateful brat could have gone!"

It was none other than Mo Liqin, the clan head's current head wife. The so-called First Lady of the Mo Clan, a position that had been held by Mo Yangling's mother before her unfortunate demise.

Mo Liqin had not been there during the Grand Family Assembly, all of the first ladies and concubines were left behind to tend to their respective clans.

So not only having questions about his whereabouts, Liqin was also very much unwilling to comprehend just how important Mo Yangling had become.

"Don't call him an ungrateful brat..." Mo Weisheng already had enough with her too. His eyes narrowed as he looked at his wife with a bit of concealed anger.

It was because of her, after all, that his relationship with his son was so strained. Sure, he shared part of the blame for wanting to avoid conflict so badly, but her outright hostile behaviour with his oldest son was a huge problem.

Especially now that said 'Oldest Son' was in a position second only to the King himself.

"Why shouldn't I call him ungrateful?! After all the resources the clan put into him, the moment he sways the king into giving him a big title he forgets about us and goes off on his own!" 

Mo Liqin's pearly green eyes shined with just a hint of malice as she spoke about Mo Yangling. It was clear that she didn't fancy him, but Mo Weisheng started seeing that she genuinely detested him...

"... You do realize that the Grand Elder would have your head on display in the courtyard if he heard you insult Mo Yangling, right?" 

Mo Weisheng's cold words washed over his wife. Her spine seemed to tremble a bit with fear as she locked eyes with her husband, whose gaze was just as cold as his tongue. 

She knew he wasn't just joking around.

Mo Ling, the Grand Elder, had benefitted a lot from Mo Yangling's words during the gathering. He had damn near broken through to the Nascent Soul Realm. 

He would likely be willing to do anything for Mo Yangling to share even another fragment of his understanding of the 'Universal Law' he had mastered. 

Aside, Mo Yangling's status was so high, that Mo Ling would likely even have the justification to execute the First Lady of their clan for so much as insulting him.

Insulting a Sage ordained by the King was akin to insulting the King himself. 

"Y-you'd protect me though, right?" Mo Liqin's tone still sounded hopeful though, she seemed to have some trust in her husband's influence and powers.

"... Just watch your mouth and hope that it doesn't get to that." Unfortunately for her, Mo Weisheng's stress and resentment still needed an outlet.

And she was the closest source of frustration to him. 

Her green eyes widened when she heard her husband's dismissive tone. She had likely expected him to jump up and proclaim that none could ever touch a hair on her head.

"Huh? Is that how little you care about your wife? The mother of your two children!?" She immediately called him out on it as well, she was very much used to Mo Weisheng just folding like a lawn chair when she applied the slightest bit of pressure.

But this time, his tired and cold gaze seemed to almost assure her that it wouldn't go her way. 

He was not in the mood to tend to her sensibilities. 

"If that is all you wanted to say then please leave. The Mo Clan is facing huge trouble right now, I don't have time for this." He then turned his attention back to his desk, which was filled with paperwork he needed to sign, and letters he needed to write.

He didn't even turn his head to look as his wife stormed out of the office, cussing him out and slamming the door behind her.

It wasn't the first time she had such a temper tantrum, she would eventually come around even if he didn't try to go after her and pamper her. He had too much work to even worry about that type of thing anyway. 

He needed to write to just about every delegation that had come to interview his son. He had essentially taken on the role of a celebrity manager in his son's absence.

'It's the absolute minimum I can do... If I want to still call myself a father.'

With the help of the King, he had already arranged for a sort of festival to occur within 3 days, to keep the Scholars entertained and all-in-one place.

He just hoped that his son was going to show up in time. 

And he wasn't the only one praying for his swift return either.

Near one of the walls of the Inner Ring, nestled within the best residential area of the Middle Rings, Mo Yangling's mansion still stood tall and squeaky clean.

It was bustling with a lot more life than before, Mo Qiao having taken it upon herself to start hiring some staff to take care of things using the massive budget her stupid cousin had left her just for clothes before disappearing with all the wine.

'That bastard didn't even let me have a taste of the wine...' 

"Big Sis Qiao, when do you think big bro Mo will get back?" Little Liao's voice flowed through the swordswoman's ears, it was as soothing as being bathed in a spring breeze. 

The little black-haired girl was the rock that held the place together... At least she held Mo Qiao's sanity intact as she struggled to manage so many people, something she wasn't used to in the past. 

Liao looked much better now that she wore proper clothing, not rags. She had a nice little yellow robe similar to those other servants wore. She also wore a small bandana, which covered her little forehead neatly. 

They didn't have any sigil to identify themselves with, they only wore yellow and red robes because Mo Qiao observed her cousin liked wearing those colours as well. 

"I'm sure Mo Yangling won't be out much longer. He knows how to stay safe in the wild." Mo Qiao spoke with plenty of confidence, though she could only really just assume that her Cousin was doing well for himself no matter the environment. 

"Still, Boss Mo is pretty insensible... Leaving so abruptly after hiring us..." Liang was also looking a lot better when clean. His purple eyes, much like his sister's seemed to have regained some light.

Mo Qiao was a comforting presence to the two children, the three of them had bonded quite a bit for the last few days. And he helped as much as he could for a child who hardly knew how to read, he was steadily improving, however.

His clothes were the same as his sister's a mix of yellow and red, his hair was short and covered by a yellow bandana, similar to the one his sister was wearing. 

"Just be happy you've got a place to sleep in, brat..." Mo Qiao still treated Liang with more sarcasm, liking to poke fun at him whenever it suited her.

"Ah, just like you are then? You must've hated your bedroom in the Mo Clan if you're this adamant about staying here..." Liang was quite proficient at biting back at her too.

"Big bro! No fighting!" Unfortunately for Liang, his little sister rarely took his side.

"Heh... You heard her 'big bro'!" Mo Qiao grabbed him and immediately started ruffling his hair and shaking him around like he owed her money. 

Meanwhile, Liao was just cheering them on, her thoughts taken away from their missing benefactor for the moment.

But Mo Qiao's mind was still fixated on that.

'Cousin Mo... I don't know what you're doing, but I hope you get home safe... And soon, the King might literally pop a blood vessel at this point.' 

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Heyy, took me a while to write today, my bad. Also kinda forgot to upload the second chapter yesterday, so yea, here it is :))

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