City Lord Mansion, Ye Zong Residence.
Small footsteps echoed through the hallway. Every step was like a steady heartbeat, giving the surroundings a sense of unease.
It didn't help that Xue Hui, to whom those footsteps belonged to, was currently leaking a cold aura.
A residual from the frost chill he had released not too long ago.
Although Xue Hui's expression itself carried a hint of coldness on to them, Xue Hui continued forward, his keen sense could pinpoint the source of a malignant aura drifting in the air.
Frowning, Xue Hui detected a faint smell of nether poison the closer he got to the city lord's bedroom, clear indication of its source.
Xue Hui could already tell that the nether poison was the cause of Madame Ye Yurou's illness.
"Another poisoning?" Xue Hui muttered
quietly. As he pondered "There's no way this is a coincidence. Two members of two major families were inflicted with poison in such a short time?"
Halting, Xue Hui tried to connect the two incidents. Although he had some theories behind them, he quickly shook them off since he had no evidence to prove anything.
"What a troublesome matter," Xue Hui whispered.
"So you can detect it as well?"
Startled, Xue Hui jumped in surprise as he suddenly heard Ye Mo speak behind him.
Steadying his breathing, Xue Hui looked behind him, as he saw Ye Mo standing right next to him.
Sighing inwardly, Xue Hui hated how huge the gap between their strength was. He couldn't even sense any aura around him when Ye Mo approached him.
"Lord Ye Mo, why did the Snow Wind Family say it was an infliction?" Curious, Xue Hui asked the matter at hand, noting how Ye Mo looked more exhausted than the first time they met. "If you already knew that it's actually a poison?" Xue Hui finished.
Ye Mo didn't answer right away. He kept his gaze forward, the shadows on his face hiding some unknown emotions.
Sighing, Ye Mo looked at Xue Hui and told the boy the reason why. "Because Glory City couldn't afford to lose their City Lord."
Placing his fingers on his chin, Xue Hui took a moment to ponder Ye Mo's words before nodding.
Seeing that Xue Hui didn't ask the question, Ye Mo continued "If Zong'er, my son ever finds out about his wife's poisoning.."
Shifting his gaze, Ye Mo's eyes met with Xue Hui's curious gaze.
"That would ruin him, Zong'er would undoubtedly blame himself for failing to protect his wife," Ye Mo said with a grim expression, his gaze shifted back to the room where his daughter-in-law lay resting. "And most likely end up consumed by thoughts of revenge."
Xue Hui nodded. That was indeed a possibility.
"Revenge is a dangerous path," Ye Mo continued. "Even if Zong'er manages to find the culprit, it wouldn't do him any good. Worse, his actions might bring catastrophe to Glory City." Ye Mo let out a bitter laugh. In this matter, Ye Mo was choosing the well-being of Glory City over his son's own feelings. "What kind of a father does that make me?"
Xue Hui remained quiet. He neither denied nor agreed to Ye Mo's words.
Although the position of City Lord could theoretically be handed to anyone, the process of consolidating that authority under another person would be a serious problem.
The Snow Wind Family had held the position of City Lord for hundreds of years.
Their status in Glory City had been solidified for so long that people would find it strange if another family suddenly took the position.
Even Ye Mo himself, who originally came from a commoner family, had been adopted into the Snow Wind Family and married to the daughter of the City Lord at the time.
Thus, the people had easily accepted Ye Mo as their previous City Lord.
If Ye Zong were to ruin himself in pursuit of revenge and become unfit to rule, not only the Snow Wind Family but the entire Glory City would fall into disarray.
The next in line for the City Lord position after Ye Zong was his only daughter. However, she was still too young and lacked the strength required for such a position.
Strength was a crucial factor in becoming the City Lord. Ye Zong possessed power second only to Ye Mo, which gave him the authority not only to command the people but also to fight for them when necessary.
If a new City Lord were to be chosen purely based on strength comparable to Ye Zong, then the candidates would be Chen Zhenlong of the Divine Family and Shen Hong of the Sacred Family.
While both men were indeed strong enough for the position, neither possessed the same level of prestige as Ye Zong has.
Shen Hong was a notorious figure, and unsurprisingly, many people would agree with that assessment.
Many families had already suffered under the Sacred Family's doing. They were known as arrogant bullies who suppressed others for their own gain.
As for Chen Zhenlong and the Divine Family, although they were far better characters compared to the Sacred Family, it was still not enough for the people to fully place their trust in them.
The people of Glory City simply don't have the confidence in those two families to lead them.
That left only one option of passing the City Lord position back to Ye Mo.
But everyone knew that Ye Mo was not getting any younger. Despite his Legend Rank strength, the time would eventually come when Ye Mo's health and cultivation would begin to decline.
While Ye Mo could take the position again, the lack of a suitable successor would place the future of Glory City safety in difficult circumstances.
For that reason, Lord Ye Mo decided to hide the truth about his daughter-in-law's condition to his son.
Glory City simply could not afford to lose Ye Zong as its City Lord right now.
"Definitely cruel, but necessary," Xue Hui said with a shrug as he continued walking toward the room. He fully understood why Ye Mo was doing such a thing, it's neither wrong nor right, but necessary.
Well it's almost necessary, since Xue Hui already knew the cause of Ye Yurou illness, it's just a matter of him healing her. "You're lucky I'm here." Xue Hui Said with at most confidence.
Ye Mo halted his footsteps after hearing Xue Hui's confident declaration.
His gaze lingered on Xue Hui's back, a glint of hope flashing within his eyes.
Reaching the entrance, Lord Ye Mo enveloped Xue Hui with his aura, hiding him from everyone's perception.
Entering the room, their sudden appearance startled everyone inside, breaking the mournful silence.
"Ye Gu, bring your men and leave the room!"
It took a moment before everyone reacted to Ye Mo's command.
"L-Lord Ye Mo, Madame Yurou's condition is critical. We nee-"
Ye Gu, the head physician of the Snow Wind Family, immediately panicked. He knew very well how delicate Ye Yurou's condition was. If they left and stopped the treatment, she would undoubtedly succumb to her illness.
"I understand," Ye Mo interjected. "I have my reasons."
While Lord Ye Mo appreciated their hard work, he knew very well that Ye Gu's treatment was merely stalling the inevitable.
One by one, all the physicians left, leaving only Ye Yurou's closest family members in the room.
Ye Mo glanced at Xue Yin, his son's other lover, before looking toward his granddaughter, Ye Ziyun.
The poor child had already run out of tears to shed and simply clung to her mother's side, refusing to let go.
His son, Ye Zong, was not doing any better either. He looked far more worn out than he should have been.
Sighing, Ye Mo decided to ask Xue Yin to leave the room with his granddaughter as well, since Xue Hui had asked him to keep his identity a secret. " Yin'er, bring Yun'er outside so I can begin with the treatment."
"No!"
Hearing her grandfather's words, Ye Ziyun clung even tighter to her mother, refusing to let go.
The little girl had an unsettling feeling that if she let go of her, she might never see her mother again.
But before Ye Mo could convince Ye Ziyun to leave, they heard the door shut.
"It's fine, Lord Ye Mo, if it's just them."
Stepping out of Ye Mo's aura, Xue Hui appeared in front of everyone, surprising Ye Zong, Xue Yin and Ye Ziyun.
"F-Father, who's this boy?" Ye Zong asked, curious as to why his father had brought such a young boy with him.
"Zhenlong's boy. They came here to see Rou'er's condition," Ye Mo replied, watching Xue Hui approach Ye Yurou's side.
Both Xue Yin and Ye Zong looked visibly confused. They didn't understand why Ye Mo had brought the boy with him.
"Uhm, little miss, can you step aside a little so I can begin the treatment?"
Xue Hui approached Ye Ziyun and asked her to move, since her small body was blocking some of Ye Yurou's acupoints.
Ye Ziyun had short violet hair, a round face, flushed cheeks, and a pair of big watery eyes, her expression furrowed as she refused to go.
"No!"
The little girl buried her small face in her mother's embrace, muffling her cries.
With a troubled expression, Xue Hui scratched his head. Ye Ziyun was in the way, but pulling her away from her mother felt wronged to him.
"Fine," Xue Hui sighed in acceptance. "You can stay. Just... sit beside her, okay?"
Sniffling, Ye Ziyun's wet eyes met Xue Hui's gaze. Looking into those shining orbs, she felt an indescribable feeling that the boy in front of her was not normal.
Nodding slowly, Ye Ziyun scooched down and sat on the side of the bed, giving Xue Hui access to Ye Yurou's acupoints.
Climbing onto the bed, Xue Hui sat beside the unconscious woman and began examining her body, checking her vitals, life veins, and meridians.
Sensing something amiss, Xue Hui gently rested his small palm on top of Ye Yurou's stomach.
Frowning, Xue Hui took out a couple of Nine Transformation Pills from his interspatial ring and made Ye Yurou consume them. He then used a small amount of his soul force to refine the medicinal pills inside her body, so she could absorb it.
Ye, Mo, Ye Zong and Xue Yin watched the entire procedure with bated breath.
Xue Hui's movements showed expert swiftness and finesse. If it weren't for his small stature, the entire process wouldn't have looked so strange.
But the moment Xue Hui took out an unknown pill and fed them to Ye Yurou, both Ye Zong and Xue Yin grew worried.
Darting forward, they tried to stop Xue Hui from what he was doing, only to be halted by Ye Mo, whose aura held them firmly in place.
Watching the scene in front of her, Ye Ziyun had stopped crying. She was mesmerized by Xue Hui's actions.
She was curious how a boy, who's the same age as her was able to use his soul force when even she couldn't release even a tiny wisp of her soul force yet.
Unknowingly, Ye Ziyun's attention shifted from her mother to the boy in front of her.
After three hours of continuously circulating his spiritual energy through Ye Yurou's body, Xue Hui could already feel that the procedure was taking a toll on him.
Xue Hui's soul force was steadily being drained, and both his physical and mental strength were nearing exhaustion.
The sweat drenching Xue Hui's clothes was enough to show how much he was pushing himself.
But Xue Hui couldn't stop. The treatment had turned out to be far more complicated than he had expected.
Xue Hui was lost in concentration, when suddenly, he felt a piece of cloth wiping the sweat on his face.
Caught off guard Xue Hui looked beside him to see who It was, only to see Ye Ziyun leaning slightly on him, cloth on her hand.
He had been so focused on the treatment that Xue Hui didn't notice when the little girl had moved beside him.
Ye Ziyun hesitated when Xue Hui looked at her. Her hand holding the cloth slowly withdrew.
Seeing her hesitant expression, Xue Hui gave her an appreciative smile.
"Thanks. It's getting hard to see with all the sweat hitting my eyes."
"Eh... um... mhmm..."
Stammering, Ye Ziyun's cheeks flushed red, but she didn't move from her spot and continued wiping Xue Hui's face.
The two children stayed in their positions for another hour, doing their tasks without uttering a single word.
The sky had long been swallowed by darkness. Ye Zong, Ye Mo, and Chen Zhenlong were sitting on the other side of the room, watching the treatment in silence.
Xue Yin, along with Ye Xiu and Ye Shuo, had left the room an hour ago. They had gone out to handle some matters related to the work Ye Zong had left behind.
Lowering his hands, Xue Hui let out a sigh of relief. Now that the crucial part had been handled, all he needed to do was remove the remaining nether poison inside Ye Yurou's body.
While catching his breath, Xue Hui felt a tug on his sleeve.
Looking to his side, he was met with the hopeful gaze of Ye Ziyun.
"M-Mother… is she going to wake up now?" Her lips trembled with uncertainty.
Seeing her expression, Xue Hui smiled and gently patted her head.
"Not yet," he said, causing everyone in the room to look at him expectantly. "But she will be… after this."
Finishing his words, Xue pushed himself up and stood on top of the bed. Offering his hand, Ye Ziyun hesitated for a moment before accepting it, allowing herself to be pulled up by him.
Standing side by side, Xue Hui raised both of his arms and placed them in front of him.
Ye Ziyun watched as ten porcelain-like needles with small golden dragon heads curved at their tips appeared before her, dancing in the air like dragonflies.
With a flick of his finger, an aura of pure water attribute filled the room, making everyone feel as though they were submerged in the purest lake.
Controlling the needles, the ten Whisker Water Attribute Needles descended toward Ye Yurou's body and gently landed on her acupoints.
Moments later, blackish, murky liquid flowed into the maw of each dragon head, floating in the air like ominous bubbles.
Chen Zhenlong had seen this kind of scene before, and yet he was still fascinated witnessing it again.
Standing from his seat, Ye Zong could sense that the aura of death surrounding his wife's body gradually dissipated.
Without showing any emotions, Ye Mo remained silent, watching Xue Hui as several thoughts drifted through his mind.
Several minutes later, Xue Hui took out several bottles from his interspatial ring and guided all the extracted nether poison into them. After sealing the bottles, he handed them to Ye Mo.
The old man caught the bottles and quickly stored them inside his interspatial ring for safekeeping.
Done with the treatment, Xue Hui steadied his breathing, he waited for his soul force to stabilize before addressing everyone.
Although, judging by Ye Zong and Ye Mo's expressions alone, he could already tell that they already knew that Ye Yurou was no longer in danger.
Still, it was proper etiquette to wait for the doctor to deliver the news, so they patiently waited for Xue Hui to speak.
Steadying himself, Xue Hui looked at everyone and gave them a relieving smile.
"I have already removed all the impurities from Madame Yurou's body."
Ye Zong, Ye Mo, and even Chen Zhenlong all showed relieved expressions upon hearing the great news.
But Xue Hui had one more thing to add.
"She and the baby in her belly are now out of danger."
"HER WHAT!?"
"HER WHAT!?"
"HER WHAT!?"
All three men dropped their jaws in unison.
End of Chapter 32.