Chapter 22: Mu Yuanshan Returns (Part 1)

“Mother, are you worried about your identity being exposed?” Seeing his mother looking worried, Mu Xian asked softly.

Tang Qiluo was taken aback by the question. She glanced at Mu Xian, then at Ling Tian and Ling Zhan, hesitating to speak, unsure how to respond.

After all, only Mu Yuanshan knew about her identity as a member of the Demonic Race before. Now that Qian Tian Wang had exposed it, everyone in the courtyard knew.

“Mother, there’s really no need to worry so much about this. Qian Tian Wang knows you’re from the Demonic Race but hasn’t taken action against you. That shows he simply doesn’t care about your identity from the Demonic Race. Within Qian Tian Wang’s Territory, as long as Qian Tian Wang doesn’t want to deal with you, you are safe. As for Uncle Ling, A Chou, and the others, they stood by our side even when the family was facing ruin. Their loyalty is beyond doubt, so they won’t gossip and expose your secret.” Mu Xian saw right through his mother’s concerns. He smiled as he analyzed the situation.

As he spoke, Mu Xian cast his gaze toward Ling Tian and Ling Zhan and the others.

Although Ling Tian and Ling Zhan were quite surprised by Tang Qiluo’s identity as a member of the Demonic Race, they didn’t mind it at all. When they saw the mother and son looking at them, they nodded repeatedly in agreement.

The reason Mu Xian dared to assert that Qian Tian Wang wouldn’t care about his mother’s Demonic Race identity was because he knew that Qian Tian Wang had a consort who was also a member of the Demonic Race, and one of Qian Tian Wang’s capable generals was also from the Demonic Race. Therefore, Qian Tian Wang did not hold the same strong prejudice against the Demonic Race as other princes and generals in the Sheng Zhou Dynasty.

Mu Xian couldn’t conveniently reveal Qian Tian Wang’s secret, so he could only pretend to have inferred this conclusion based on Qian Tian Wang’s behavior.

Listening to Mu Xian’s orderly analysis, Tang Qiluo’s eyes grew brighter. By the end, the anxious look on her face had completely vanished, replaced by admiration and pleasant surprise.

Tang Qiluo was naturally clever. She had just been too caught up in the situation earlier, so she hadn’t realized Qian Tian Wang’s attitude toward her. After calming down now, she realized that when Qian Tian Wang had exposed her identity, his manner was intimidating, but he hadn’t actually directed any killing intent toward her. It was only later, when Mu Xian defied Qian Tian Wang and said Qian Tian Wang wanted to kill their orphaned mother and son, that Qian Tian Wang truly showed his killing intent.

“Xian’er, you’ve grown up. If you hadn’t handled the situation well today, our family would likely be gone.” After sorting through everything in her mind, Tang Qiluo felt exceptionally satisfied with her son. She couldn’t help but lovingly pull Mu Xian into her arms.

Caught off guard by his mother pulling him into her embrace, his head pressed against her full and firm bosom, and his nose filled with the alluring fragrance emanating from her, Mu Xian’s body stiffened involuntarily.

After all, though Mu Xian’s body was only fifteen years old at this time, it housed a soul from over twenty thousand years in the future. This body had no experience with matters between men and women, but the soul from twenty thousand years later had experienced everything, and was fairly considered a playboy.

Tang Qiluo also noticed Mu Xian’s unnatural stiffness, but she simply thought her son was older now and too embarrassed to be close to her. A mischievous smile appeared on her face, and she hugged Mu Xian even tighter.

Feeling the incredible elasticity and smoothness of his mother’s skin, Mu Xian inwardly groaned. He was thinking, embarrassed, about how to escape his mother’s well-intentioned mischief when urgent knocking suddenly came from outside the Mu Family courtyard. At the same time, a sharp voice clearly reached everyone’s ears.

“Sister-in-law, Big Brother is back! My father and Uncle Qing rescued Big Brother!”

Hearing the voice, Tang Qiluo trembled. She instinctively loosened her arms from around Mu Xian and rushed swiftly toward the courtyard gate.

Mu Xian, Ling Tian, and Ling Zhan also showed extremely joyous expressions on their faces. They quickly followed behind Tang Qiluo.

Outside the main gate of the Mu Family courtyard, a tall, thin young man was panting as he knocked. He was drenched in sweat, and his face was flushed red from the heat, but his eyes revealed unconcealed excitement and happiness.

This tall, thin young man was Mu Xian’s clan uncle, Mu Yuanfei. Mu Yuanfei’s cultivation aptitude was average, but he was extremely clever. He was always in charge of collecting all kinds of information for the family.

Mu Yuanfei and Mu Yuanshan had a very close bond, closer than real brothers.

After Mu Yuanshan entered the Poison Mist Swamp and failed to return for a long time, Tang Qiluo dispatched Mu Yuanfei to find out what was happening inside the Poison Mist Swamp. She then recalled the two Elders responsible for external business operations back to the family and sent them deep into the Poison Mist Swamp to search for Mu Yuanshan.

The two Elders who entered the Poison Mist Swamp shortly after Mu Yuanfei were the Mu Family’s Second Elder and Fifth Elder. The Second Elder, Mu Dewu, was Mu Yuanfei’s father. The Fifth Elder, Mu Deqing, was Mu Dewu’s younger brother. Both were at the high stage of the Condensed Essence Realm.

The reason Tang Qiluo sent Mu Dewu and Mu Deqing into the Poison Mist Swamp to rescue Mu Yuanshan was because they were Mu Yuanshan’s paternal uncles. Their loyalty was unquestionable; they couldn’t possibly harbor any murderous intentions toward Mu Yuanshan.

“Sister-in-law, Big Brother is alive! My father and Uncle Qing rescued him! They’ll be home soon.” As the Mu Family courtyard gate swung open and he saw Tang Qiluo and the others, Mu Yuanfei couldn’t help but shout out again.

Tang Qiluo nodded repeatedly when she heard this, her eyes brimming with happy tears, yet she couldn’t say a word.

It had been a full month since Mu Yuanfei and the others entered the Poison Mist Swamp with no news returning. Tang Qiluo’s heart had almost sunk to the bottom. Now, suddenly hearing such good news, she was naturally overjoyed.

“I knew Big Brother, blessed by fortune, would be fine.” Hearing this, Ling Tian’s eyes also welled up with tears, and he kept repeating this phrase.

Although Mu Xian and Ling Zhan were also very excited, the two of them didn’t speak. Mu Xian had already calculated that Mu Yuanshan wouldn’t be in mortal danger, while Ling Zhan wasn’t good at expressing his feelings.

“Xian’er is back too? Excellent! Three years, and you’ve grown so tall! Big Brother will definitely be very happy to see you.” Mu Yuanfei quickly noticed Mu Xian beside Tang Qiluo. He greeted him warmly, then couldn’t resist rubbing Mu Xian’s head.

“Hello, Little Uncle.” Feeling Mu Yuanfei’s warmth, Mu Xian also greeted him warmly. Although Mu Yuanfei was Mu Xian’s clan uncle, he was only seven years older than Mu Xian, just in his twenties now. This made it hard for Mu Xian to treat Mu Yuanfei as a senior; instead, he mostly treated him like a peer.

“Hmm? Why are there so few people from the family here? Where are the others?” After greeting everyone at the gate one by one, Mu Yuanfei suddenly felt something was off. He asked, looking puzzled.

At Mu Yuanfei’s question, the smiles on Tang Qiluo and the others’ faces froze, and their joyful mood faded considerably.

“Was it those bastards, Mu Deyu and his lot, causing trouble again? Where are they? I’ll go deal with them! I always said those guys had ulterior motives, they’re no good…” Mu Yuanfei was a perceptive person. After glancing at the expressions on the faces of those at the gate, he immediately guessed the general situation and then erupted in anger.

“Little Uncle, Mu Deyu and the others are dead. After you entered the Poison Mist Swamp, there was no news for a long time, so some turmoil occurred in the family. I’ll explain the details to you in full after your big brother returns. First, tell us about your situation in the Poison Mist Swamp.” Knowing Mu Yuanfei’s fiery temper, Tang Qiluo didn’t blame him for anything. Instead, she gently interrupted him and asked softly.

“Dead… dead?” Mu Yuanfei was stunned, taking a long moment to process this. Although he had just been saying he wanted to deal with Mu Deyu, Mu Yuanfei knew perfectly well that in a real fight, ten of him might not be a match for Mu Deyu. In fact, within the entire family, besides his big brother Mu Yuanshan, almost no one could confidently and surely defeat Mu Deyu. So when he suddenly heard Mu Deyu was dead, Mu Yuanshan thought he had misheard.

But seeing that Tang Qiluo wasn’t in the mood to explain in detail, he had to bury his curiosity and proceed to recount what their group had experienced in the Poison Mist Swamp.

The Poison Mist Swamp was vast, seemingly endless. So far, no team of adventurers had managed to fully explore it.

Moreover, thick mist shrouded the Poison Mist Swamp year-round. This mist was highly toxic. The terrain of the Poison Mist Swamp was also rugged and uneven, with the constant risk of falling into a swampy abyss from which one could never climb out. Poisonous creatures roamed the Poison Mist Swamp; flying in the sky, crawling on the ground, swimming in the water—they were all there.

Faced with such dangers in the Poison Mist Swamp, Mu Yuanfei naturally couldn’t recklessly charge in to search for Mu Yuanshan. In fact, during the first few days, he didn’t enter the Poison Mist Swamp at all. Instead, he set up outside the swamp’s exit, offering high prices to buy the prey that adventurers brought out from the Poison Mist Swamp, casually asking them about various situations inside the swamp.

If Mu Yuanfei had merely asked the adventurers about the situation in the Poison Mist Swamp, they probably wouldn’t have paid him any attention. However, since he was asking casually after purchasing their goods, the adventurers held no suspicions and almost always answered whatever he asked.

After several days, Mu Yuanfei had gathered a pretty good picture of the situation in the Poison Mist Swamp and even pieced together a map. At just that time, Mu Dewu and Mu Deqing arrived at the Poison Mist Swamp, so the three of them entered together.

From the mouths of the adventuring teams, Mu Yuanfei had roughly determined the direction where Mu Yuanshan might be. Therefore, upon entering the Poison Mist Swamp, they headed straight for that area.

Unexpectedly for the three of them, in the area the adventuring teams had described as having little danger—the area Mu Yuanshan had passed through—there were now inexplicably many third-tier marsh rats. These marsh rats were not only adept at hiding, but also incredibly agile, with sharp, highly toxic teeth.

The three of them had barely entered that area when they faced a fatal assault. Just as they prepared to retreat, Mu Yuanfei keenly spotted a unique family mark left by Mu Yuanshan in that area. The mark actually pointed them to continue deeper into the Poison Mist Swamp.