Why Worry?
The winds were calm, and the waves were smooth (1) by the time Ye Mo arrived.
... of course not.
He could hear the sounds of breaking stones and blades clashing. As he approached, he could even hear the sounds of wood being crushed and heavy grunts of the people fighting.
Three courtyards inside his manor were destroyed; the gardens and the entrance a mess. Ye Mo's heart was bleeding blood at the sight.
The hundred-year-old constructions, rare stones and building materials, the defense and spirit-gathering arrays, the trees his mother once planted...
How much would fixing them cost? How could he explain this to his parents' souls?!
His salary as an elder only amounted to a hundred spirit stones a month... even if he, Ye Hua and Wu Xuan'er pool their money together—
Then, he remembered the loot that Little Yin got from the Ming Yue Sect. He had seen the treasures inside the pouch that the little brat called Zhi Ruo's 'dowry'. If he sells them or auctions them off...
No, no, no!
That brat was just joking around. He would return that 'dowry' pouch to Zhi Ruo.
A-And he could not ask money from the woman he's supposed to be taking care of, ah! At least, not in that rascally way.
Ye Mo's face could be seen to flash between red and purple.
Thankfully, the damage seemed to be contained away from the central part where the shrine housing the ancestral tablets of the other members of the Second Lineage is located, or else he wouldn't know how he would explain himself in front of his ancestors on the way to the Yellow Springs.
"Tenth elder!"
"Tenth elder!"
The Elite disciples of the Battle Court were giving the fight between Nascent Divinity cultivators a wide berth. Their tasks were to only secure the area so no one from outside could get hurt, limiting the casualties, and to make sure that there were no other demonic cultivators lurking around the area who could possibly turn the tables and affect the fight.
As they were only at most at the late Foundational Spirit realm, Battle Court Elite disciples could not participate in the fight even if they want to. Just the winds caused by the fight would be enough to slice them apart.
Looking around, Ye Mo could not see his nephew.
"Leader Nao, what is the situation? Where is Ye Hua?" he asked one of the four team leaders securing the place. The slightly plump young man who was in the late Foundational Spirit realm was called Ye Gonao.
"Reporting to Tenth elder, there is only one known enemy. Based on the suppression of his cultivation and mine, I feel like he's stronger than any of the elders of our sect," Ye Gonao reported promptly.
Being disciples used to fights and dealing with the outside world, discipline and intelligence-gathering were things elites from the Battle Court picked up from experience.
"Five cultivators claiming to be from the Imperial Capital are fighting against that person. They are of inferior cultivation, but their numbers were able to suppress the enemy. However, they could not seem to defeat him. Leader Hua is in charge of the west side of the manor. He has sent word that Young Miss Yin is safe."
"That's good to hear." Ye Mo nodded before checking on Ye Gonao's team's battle formation.
Afterward, he then proceeded to check with the other leaders, Ye Xuntong and Ye Nian, before finally heading towards where Ye Hua is staying.
All these seemed long to explain, but in truth, he only spent less than several breaths of time per team before he turned to fly in a hurry towards the west side.
The source of the fight was in there. His family was with her. How could he not be worried?
By the time he found Ye Hua, his vision immediately zeroed on the little girl sitting on top of a rock, who seemed to be leisurely snacking on... a stick of tanghulu.
What the he—
Seeing her happily eating as she watched the destruction caused by cultivators fighting over her like she's a patron seeing a play, Ye Mo felt like he wanted to puke out blood in anger.
Why was he even worried in the first place?
She's the strongest existence in here, ah!
"Why are you just sitting there?!" he shouted with a trembling finger pointing at her. "Stop eating and at least help out before they thoroughly destroy my house!"
"Why?"
Little Yin chomped down on the last candied fruit and unhappily waved the stick in her hand.
"Why reject free labor from these good people? Let them demolish your lousy, old-fashioned house."
Lousy?! Old-fashioned?!
Not only Ye Mo, even Ye Hua, Wu Xuan'er and the members of Ye Hua's team were flabbergasted by her words.
Yin continued, "Besides, I want to build a larger one once you and the Phoenix girl are married. That'll be my gift for you and your children. I'll even shoulder all the costs! Eh, why is your face so purple? Should you not be overflowing with happiness at my generous offer? Aiya, aiya, stop! Stop! Don't pinch my cheeks!"
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(1) "The winds were calm, and the waves were smooth"; everything seemed peaceful and calm