In a backroom deep inside the Liu clan's headquarters.
Liu Hao and Liu Han both opened the door and entered inside, going each to the bedside as they checked on their old man.
The room was mostly empty, beside the bed in the middle, only a few shelves with some furniture placed on them were present.
Liu Dan was inclined on his bed, looking even paler than usual, but otherwise there wasn't much change about him.
"How do you feel?" Liu Hao asked, concerned.
"After you fainted, you slept for nearly a day." Liu Han added, anxious.
"Who do you boys take me for, I just overexerted myself a bit and fell due to exhaustion. I am not that young anymore after all, without sleeping and barely eating at my age, it's natural something like this would happen."
"Don't worry about me, sons, in a few hours I will leave this bed completely recovered. Rather, tell me how the situation evolved in my absence."
Liu Dan quickly changed the subject.
He didn't want his sons worrying about him and he loathed being treated like a frail and weak thing that needed help from others. Back in his prime, he could say the word and ten thousand would answer his call, he handled every matter without faltering and his enemies would fall for his schemes without even knowing he was behind it.
He battled a rank 2 blood beast to the death and valorously fought against the last beast tide.
Alas, now time caught up with him and he was left confined to this bed checking his breath come out constant and steady.
These days, all he thought about was how to deal with this little demon that was haunting his clan.
Liu Hao quickly summarized how he brought every member back and reinforced the defenses of the clan.
"I know you really want to catch Ye Mo, at least as much as I do, but I didn't have much of a choice, we lost too many forces in the jungle and someone could strike at any moment. We can't lose a single more member." Liu Hao explained himself.
He knew the temperament of his father, since he left his retreat, he placed all his efforts and worked solely to catch the kid and obtain answers about Liu Huan and Liu Hualing's deaths.
Liu Hao was afraid that, learning everyone was called back while no one found their target, he would flare up and fall ill again.
Instead, Liu Dan shook his head, reassuring his son, "You made the right decision, we can't leave our base defenseless, it would be stupid to find fault with it. We must not forget these hungry clans are our true enemies, the kid is just a trivial matter, motivated by our own personal grudge, what can he achieve by himself?"
"What should we do now, are we really going to let Ye Mo go scot-free?" Liu Han intervened at his mention, gritting his teeth. He was unwilling to abandon his hatred after it accumulated through weeks and months, they had to kill him at all costs!
The losses they incurred in trying to capture him only made Liu Han wish to rip him apart more than ever before. When his imagination ran wild, he imagined Ye Mo's family still alive so he could pull their tendons, carve their skin, and burn them alive in front of him.
"The principal now is to grow our forces and hold strong against any attacks. As for Ye Mo, not everything was lost in this expedition, don't forget we have our own source now. With him, we can monitor the kid and learn about all of his movements in the institute, we can strike or retreat at the most opportune time. The situation is still under our control."
Liu Dan was confident, as long as their spy in the Tiger Martial Institute remained unsuspected, they would have the edge in this confrontation.
"That's right, our members told us they didn't see him back in the jungle so he might not even be aware he was betrayed and that squads were sent against him. As long as Fang Jishen isn't revealed, Ye Mo won't be able to hide anything from us and we don't lose anything by retrieving the members that were left spotting at the entrance of the institute." Liu Hao added, assured.
Liu clan members didn't need to wait near the institute's gates for Ye Mo to appear, with their spy left inside, they would be informed directly the moment he took a step outside. These free squads returning were much-needed manpower in the Liu clan present circumstances.
The atmosphere of the room eased up as the three continued talking for a bit before each returned to their own occupations.
In the meantime, on his way towards the Tiger Martial Institute...
"Fang Jishen is the one who betrayed me." Ye Mo thought calmly as he walked among the pedestrians.
When he contemplated the issue logically, it couldn't be anyone else but him.
The Liu clan didn't know how solitary Ye Mo was so in their mind, there was no way for him to find the culprit.
There were thousands of members in the institute, it was akin to looking for a single leaf in a forest, how could he know who sold him?
However, although Ye Mo remained nearly eleven months there, he spent most of his time cultivating behind closed doors and the rest training his battle skills by himself.
He seldom interacted with people and the number of times he talked with one could be counted on the fingers of one hand. Among them, only Fang Jishen could have colluded with his enemies.
He was the only one who knew a bit of his history with the Liu clan and hated him enough without having the courage to confront him. He's also not anyone powerful or influential in the institute, so he can move around and observe people without attracting attention to himself.
"But this situation, I can also take advantage of it." Ye Mo chuckled as he passed the gate of the institute after showing his token to the guards.
He quickly reached the disciples' district and kept going northeast.
Fang Jishen was still sleeping when a servant informed him of a guest waiting for him at the entrance.
He stood up half-asleep and walked down the stairs while rubbing his eyes before he opened the door on the ground floor.
When he saw Ye Mo's face on the other side, he took a second to react before he jerked back violently, falling on his butt in shock.
"Why are you so surprised to see me? Come, let's sit, I have something to tell you." Ye Mo said with squinted, suspicious eyes.
He didn't wait for anyone to invite him as he stepped inside the house, taking care to close the door behind him.
Fang Jishen was still on the ground, looking at him like he was a ghost while Ye Mo made his way to a study room and sat on the main seat behind a desk.
"How is he still alive? Did he come to kill me?" Fang Jishen's heart was filled with fear and trepidation.
His eyes were wide open and not a trace of drowsiness was left in his body as the shock completely awoke him.
The night when Ye Mo set out, he was in the vicinity.
Since his disillusionment of last time, Fang Jishen was disconcerted and his aspirations were broken. At this time, he took the habit of passing by the stone house when going out of his house or returning.
He wished to see for himself if Ye Mo left the cultivation pagoda and how strong his cultivation progressed, most of all, he wished to find some secret to explain his formidable growth or maybe a weakness to exploit against him.
He didn't want to speak to him directly, still bitter and hateful, but simply sneak a peek from a distance.
He was desperate, he didn't wish to remain in Ye Mo's shadow or become some goon to be ordered around. Most of all, he was very disheartened after discovering someone with lower talent surpassed him so easily, even after all the efforts he put in, thus, he started to spy on the surroundings from time to time.
However, Ye Mo was always secretive, working by himself behind four walls, whether in the pagoda or his house, nothing could be found from the outside.
That is, until this night when Fang Jishen passed by as usual and noticed him leaving his house from afar.
He immediately found something was amiss after seeing this person always holed up in some places, leaving his dwelling in the middle of the night.
He decided to follow him but remained at a great distance. He was still inwardly afraid of Ye Mo, even if he wouldn't admit it, he preferred to stand so far away there was a chance he would lose him than to stand a bit closer, taking the risk to be noticed and incurring his wrath.
He used the trees paving the side of the road or the various buildings in the way to take cover and continued to pursue his target.
Fang Jishen was before a small bridge and could observe Ye Mo being close to the gate of the institute in the distance when the latter started to look around for any witnesses.
He was so scared to have been found out at this time that he threw himself on the ground and used the mound of the bridge to remain hidden.
When he found the courage after a minute to raise his head and take a look, Ye Mo had already disappeared.
However, it was easy to understand where he went from his last position and the direction he moved to—he left the institute!
"This might be my chance, the Liu clan hates him to the core. If I tell them about this, Ye Mo is as good as dead!" With this understanding, Fang Jishen left in turn and informed Ye Mo's enemies of his departure, gleeful and proud of himself.
He knew if Ye Mo survived, there were great chances he would find out what he did, but in his perspective, he was just one kid by himself against a whole clan that abhorred him.
They would probably deploy at least one elder and many forces to exterminate him, there was no chance he would return from this expedition.
Even Fang Jishen, despite all his prying, didn't know Ye Mo learned a concealment battle skill.
Now that he was here and seemed completely well, Fang Jishen couldn't help but be frightened.
"No wonder the Liu clan deteriorated so much and even Ye Mo could play them, these retarded bastards, incompetent swines, they can't even deal with one guy alone even after I risked myself. I shouldn't have counted on them, now he definitely came to kill me!" Fang Jishen's mind was in turmoil.
He looked around him at the windows, the door, any way he could escape. He glanced at the calm and quiet servants going about their menial tasks around the house while shooting him questioning gazes, unaware of the danger.
"No wait, he didn't mention anything, he might not be aware I betrayed him. I must act natural, let's pacify him first, understand the situation, then deal with anything as it comes!" That was Fang Jishen's thought as he stood up, straightened his loose inner robes, and joined Ye Mo in the study room. He sat in front of him, on the other side of the desk.
Ye Mo leisurely smiled as he said "Fang Jishen, I am short in gold, give me two thousand coins."
Fang Jishen was stupefied by his demand.
What kind of request was this?
Who would give you this sum without saying anything?
But in the end, he was relieved that it wasn't about the Liu clan's affair and answered, "I don't have this much gold, I am short on money too."
Fang Jishen reminisced about the gold he spent so he could quickly attain the 7th layer and defeat Ye Mo. His brows tightened into a sharp furrow.
Ye Mo laughed lightly, adding "I know you don't have the gold, but your Fang family does, take it from them."
Fang Jishen looked down with a dim gaze as he told him, "Even if I ask, they won't lend me the gold just like that."
Hmph, what are you taking my family for, some kind of money farm?! If I could receive this amount so easily, I wouldn't need to expand all the monthly allowances I saved up till now just for a small breakthrough in my cultivation!
Fang Jishen complained in his heart.
He received only fifty gold coins each month from his family, sometimes he could take a bit more but this amount would be deducted from his next allowance, he couldn't push further.
Without being a genius or highly seen by anyone but only an ordinary member, you can't obtain any more than the others and the amount given was strictly regulated by the head of the family.
Actually, the Fang family was willing to raise his allowance when Fang Jishen was able to join the Tiger Martial Institute, feeling he was set to become a powerful expert in that environment. But seeing that his cultivation barely advanced after months and that Fang Jishen became a lazy and negligent cultivator, they didn't increase his funds.
"I am not asking your family to give it to me for free, I am just borrowing the gold. I can even sign a receipt for a loan under the rules of the Tiger Martial Institute." Ye Mo said with 'sincerity'.
Fang Jishen pondered, "If he signs the receipt, he will have no choice but to pay up at some point. The longer he takes to do so, the more interest accumulates over his debt and after half a year, if he still can't pay, his belongings will be sold until he can repay everything, and if it's not enough, he will be forced to work as a servant of my Fang family till he completely clears his debt. No one would sign without being assured of paying back everything soon after, obviously, he must have his own ways."
"Even if you say so, it's still a bit much..." In the end, Fang Jishen still tried to refuse. He was unwilling to help Ye Mo, actually, he didn't want him to profit from his family even if the deal was also advantageous to them or lend a hand in any situation that could benefit him.
"This is a nice pendant you got there." Ye Mo suddenly said, pointing at the chain embedded with a blue gem around Fang Jishen's neck.
When the latter heard this, his heart skipped a beat.
This gem was a little reward from the Liu clan for selling Ye Mo, it was engraved with small formations that increased the density of the qi around the wearer.
Although it couldn't be compared to the rooms of the pagoda, one was a drop of water while the other was the sea, it still gave a small advantage and over time and efforts in his cultivation, the difference would be seen.
Ye Mo noticed it because Fang Jishen never wore this before.
"Since there is no disadvantage, I will do it." Fang Jishen, fretful and at a lack of words, quickly returned to the previous subject to avoid suspicion and spontaneously agreed to Ye Mo's request.
He knew his family would probably accept as well, if the receipt loan was signed then they didn't lose anything by momentarily handing over the gold and if Ye Mo was just a bit slow to pay back then they would even gain money through this transaction.
Arriving at this conclusion, he picked up a brush and paper from the drawer.
Ye Mo wrote the receipt for loan and signed with a drop of blood.
Fang Jishen placed it in his pouch, and both of them made a trip to the Fang family.
Ye Mo stood by in front of the mansion while Fang Jishen went inside and talked to his family.
It didn't take long for him to return and transfer two thousand gold coins in Ye Mo's pouch.
In less than an hour, he was back to the streets, making his way towards the Ironheart Weaponsmiths' establishment.
"I have finally succeeded." Ye Mo satisfiedly nodded his head, feeling the ten thousand gold coins lying in the space of his pouch.
As for paying his debt, hehe...
If everything goes as planned, he won't be in Azure Water City anymore at this time.