This aura was so oppressive that Ye Xuan couldn’t help but want to kneel.
SHING! He plunged his Spirit-tier longsword into the ground, using it to prop up his body.
But the middle-aged man’s aura was simply too overwhelming. The blade began to bend. Blood trickled from the corner of Ye Xuan’s mouth. Despite this, he refused to kneel. He couldn’t lose his dignity in front of a woman.
"Xuan..." To the side, Ye Ling’Er was so terrified she was on the verge of tears. She had no idea what was going on or what this middle-aged man was trying to do!
At this moment, the middle-aged man raised his palm again. This time, he aimed straight for Ye Xuan’s head, looking as if he intended to crush it completely.
Weakness. Ye Xuan lamented once again that he was still far too weak. This was the price of weakness!
It was also the reason why Cultivators had to strive constantly and never slack off. If one couldn’t continuously grow stronger, they could never change their fate. From ancient times until now, it had always been as difficult as ascending to the heavens for a nobody to rise to greatness. This was because the ones controlling the world’s resources were always the great families. To them, nobodies were nothing more than weeds.
But Ye Xuan refused to accept this. Even a puddle of mud could look up at the vast starry sky if it just raised its head. Even a stubborn rock could become the brightest star in the heavens if it stood at the highest peak!
Even knowing he was no match for his opponent, Ye Xuan’s body erupted with Spiritual Light. Within him, his bloodline surged like a dragon. He had to fight back! He absolutely had to.
He could not die here; if he died, his sister would die too. As her older brother, he had to protect her. He couldn’t count on this woman. Thus, he could only fight back against this unjust fate himself.
Fight! Fight! For the weak, there was no other choice but to fight. To fight might mean death, but to not fight meant certain death!
A monstrous battle intent suddenly surged from Ye Xuan.
"Let the Dragon Blood boil completely!" he thought.
This time, Ye Xuan planned to fully unleash his Dragon Soul Power, no longer hiding behind the Hidden Dragon Technique. He didn’t even know if this would be enough to block the opponent’s attack.
"Emerge, Five-Clawed Golden Dragon!" he roared inwardly.
But just as Ye Xuan prepared to fight to the death, a sigh suddenly echoed through the air.
"Qingyue, you win."
The elegant middle-aged man’s palm came to an abrupt halt right above Ye Xuan’s forehead. The sheer force of the resulting gale distorted the skin on Ye Xuan’s face. However, he was still alive.
"Hahahaha! Yanran, have you finally admitted it? I truly never expected you to have illegitimate children. I wonder how the rest of the clan will react when they hear this news. But I’m certain they will all be furious. After all, bearing the bastards of some rural bumpkin is an absolute joke to our Gongsun Family! I imagine Father will want to speak with you very soon. I won’t disturb you any longer; I’ll give you some time for a touching mother-child reunion."
The middle-aged man swiftly departed.
Only Ye Xuan, Ye Ling’Er, and Gongsun Yanran remained in the courtyard. Gongsun Yanran no longer possessed her previous cold and arrogant demeanor. In a flash, she appeared in front of Ye Xuan and helped him up, her face filled with heartache.
"Xuan’Er, are you alright?"
Ye Xuan was completely stunned. The name "Xuan’Er" echoed endlessly in his mind. To the side, Ye Ling’Er finally gritted her teeth and spoke up. "Are... are you really our mother?"
Gongsun Yanran smiled and gently touched Ye Ling’Er’s cheek. "You must be Ling’Er. You’ve grown so much. It’s Mother’s fault; I left right after you were born. Your face looks just like your father’s."
"You... you really are my mother!"
"Yes, I am your mother. I know you must have a lot of questions. Let’s go inside, and I’ll explain everything to you."
Three minutes later, inside the pink bedroom.
"Now, I will answer your questions. I am the daughter of the City Lord of Dapeng City. Twenty-six years ago, I fled Dapeng City to escape an arranged marriage.
"But I didn’t run far. Instead, I stopped near Hongtu Town, which isn’t too far from Dapeng City. I figured that the closer I was, the safer I’d be. My father would simply assume I had fled Dapeng City’s territory for another city entirely. Because I had told them many times before that I wanted to visit Red Maple City to see the autumn leaves, they likely all thought I had gone far away.
"Facts proved my decision was correct. It took them a full six years to find me, simply because they searched in the wrong direction from the start. And it was during those six years that I met your father, Ye Yizhou, and fell in love with him.
"However, both your father and I knew that, one day, I would have to leave."
Hearing this, Ye Ling’Er couldn’t help but interject. "So that’s what happened. Dad and the two of us all thought you were dead! So, Mother, you didn’t leave us willingly?"
Gongsun Yanran smiled and said, "Of course not."
Ye Xuan, however, asked coldly, "Even if you didn’t leave willingly, why haven’t you come back to see us once in twenty years? Could you really not find a single opportunity?"
"Xuan’Er, are you blaming me? It wasn’t that Mother didn’t want to come back to see you; it was that I didn’t dare! When I found out my clan had begun searching for me with full force within their own territory, I knew I had to leave. Otherwise, if they found out I had a family—that I had you two—the entire Ye Family would have been wiped out. It was true back then, and it remains true now. I don’t even know if acknowledging you today will bring you harm, but I had no choice."
Ye Xuan furrowed his brows. "You mean to say that by acknowledging us now, the Ye Family will still be implicated?"
"Yes. Furthermore, Gongsun Qingyue definitely doesn’t have good intentions in bringing you here."
"Gongsun Qingyue... that middle-aged man?"
"Yes, he is my older brother. Strictly speaking, you should call him Uncle Qingyue. By the way, how did he find you? For the past twenty years, I haven’t dared to ask for any news about you, terrified that they would discover your existence. I was genuinely afraid something would happen to you. You don’t know this, but when I first returned, rumors circulated that I had illegitimate children on the outside.
"I was terrified at the time, but fortunately, no one had any evidence. It was just people intentionally trying to demean me and test my reaction. But I’m very confused. Since we’ve had twenty years of peace, why would Gongsun Qingyue suddenly discover you? Even though Hongtu Town isn’t terribly remote, members of the Gongsun Family wouldn’t normally go to such a small place."
Ye Xuan sighed. "On my way to the main town, I ran into two members of the Gongsun Family. They must have noticed the resemblance between us."
"Such a coincidence? It seems this is fate. The heavens themselves wanted our family to be reunited."
Gongsun Yanran let out a heavy sigh. As her words fell, tears streamed down Ye Ling’Er’s face.
"Mother, does that mean you didn’t abandon us?"
"Silly child, how could any mother in this world ever abandon her own children? You two are the precious babies I carried for ten months and painstakingly brought into this world."
"WAAAH... Mother!"
Unable to hold back any longer, Ye Ling’Er threw herself into Gongsun Yanran’s arms. She had thought her mother was dead, never expecting her to still be alive.
This was wonderful. Who in this world wouldn’t want a mother?