Chapter 282 – The Old Affairs of the Mo Family

Under the gaze of everyone present, Su Ming appeared to be deep in thought, but in reality, he had been observing the expressions of the Mo siblings.

The siblings were staring intently at Su Ming, looking somewhat nervous and expectant, as if they were eager to learn how Su Ming had obtained the Xiong Wen in his possession.

Su Ming instinctively wanted to conceal the truth, but upon second thought, he felt it was unnecessary.

After all, he was currently using a disguise, and only Xu Qianqian knew the details of the Mo Family’s destruction in Longyao City. No one else knew that Su Ming was the one who had destroyed the Mo Family in Longyao City, and they didn’t even know that the members of the Mo Family in Longyao City were already dead.

So, even if Su Ming told the truth, as long as he didn’t reveal his identity, there would be no problem.

Of course, before that, Su Ming needed to understand what the Mo siblings truly intended.

“You said this question is very important to your Mo Family? Just how important is it?”

Su Ming asked this question as if he didn’t care much.

This made the Mo siblings exchange a glance and fall into silence.

They seemed to have some unspeakable difficulties or something they were reluctant to talk about.

Instead, Qin Qing chuckled lightly at this moment.

“The Mo Family just wants to find the location of the former traitor through the whereabouts of the Xiong Wen. Young Master Wang, you don’t need to be wary.”

These words made Su Ming turn his gaze to Qin Qing.

“A traitor?”

Su Ming pondered thoughtfully.

“That’s right.” Qin Qing nodded and said, “This is something almost all the upper echelons of Tianfeng City know about.”

Just as Qin Qing was about to explain, Mo Li stopped her.

“Let us explain it ourselves.”Mo Li sighed and said, “Twenty years ago, one of our Mo Family’s branch lines experienced bloodline depletion, losing the bloodline they had always been proud of, and were thus neglected by the family, gradually becoming marginalized.””

“At that time, the Family Head of that branch line tried countless methods to restore their Bloodline, sought out many famous Alchemists, and even attempted to form marriage alliances with many Families with excellent Bloodlines.”

“But unfortunately, they ultimately failed to restore their Bloodline and continued to decline until one day, they finally did something they shouldn’t have.”

Mo Li’s words made the atmosphere in the room somewhat oppressive, and Mo Zhu’s young face showed an unpleasant expression.

This was a disgrace for the Mo Family and an indelible stain in the history of this Super Family.

“What did they do?”

Su Ming narrowed his eyes and asked this question for the time being.

Mo Li lowered her eyes, hesitated for a moment, and then sighed.

“They targeted the Bloodline of the direct descendants.”

Mo Li said this.

“In order to restore their own Bloodline, rebuild the glory of their branch line, and to one day produce a Seven-Star Professional in their faction to lead their clansmen and occupy an important leading position in the Mo Family, or even dominate the entire Mo Family, replacing the direct line of the Mo Family and becoming the new pillar of the Mo Family, they secretly captured members of the direct line and prepared to use an evil ritual to seize their Bloodline and replace it with their own.”

This was undoubtedly a grave transgression.No, it would be more accurate to say they committed a grave crime.

For their own benefit, they actually targeted their direct blood relatives and planned to use such an evil ritual to usurp the throne and seize power. No matter how you look at it, this is an unforgivable act.

“After the incident was exposed, the direct lineage elders of the Mo Family were furious. They mobilized the entire clan’s strength to besiege that branch family, successfully executing the masterminds and all direct participants on the spot. Only those relatives who were less involved were spared, but they were still expelled from the family and even exiled outside the base city, left to fend for themselves.”

Mo Li’s explanation confirmed Su Ming’s thoughts.

The branch family that committed this grave crime, as mentioned by Mo Li, was indeed the Longyao City Mo Family.

The Longyao City Mo Family was precisely that external clan group that drifted to Longyao City twenty years ago, was accepted by the city, and thus settled there.

It was said they were a branch family of a super family from the mainland’s heartland, exiled for committing some offense, making their origins quite extraordinary.

Now it appeared the Longyao City Mo Family was indeed that branch family exiled by the Tianfeng City Mo Family.

“Looking at it this way, the Wang Family and Mo Family truly share a peculiar fate,” Su Ming thought.

The Tianfeng City Wang Family, along with the royal family they once served, jointly sealed the Spirit Demon Abyss King at the continent’s border, leaving behind a branch family there to become the tomb guardians, protecting the seal and establishing Longyao City above it.

Meanwhile, a branch family exiled by the Tianfeng City Mo Family for committing grave crimes also ended up in Longyao City. It was unclear whether this was mere coincidence or if there were other reasons.

While pondering this, Su Ming voiced the question in his heart.

“In that case, why did you bring Xiong Wen to find me?”

Hearing this, Mo Li’s expression suddenly turned cold.

“Because we need to find those ungrateful wretches.”

Mo Li appeared unusually furious.

Not just Mo Li – even Mo Zhu, standing nearby, snorted coldly, seeming equally resentful.

This piqued Su Ming’s curiosity.

“What did they do?”

Su Ming’s question received an immediate confirmation from Mo Li.

“Those people whose lives we spared not only failed to repent for their crimes or appreciate the family’s mercy, but on the night before their exile, they secretly infiltrated the Mo Family’s treasure vault and stole numerous treasures from there.”

With this explanation, Su Ming basically understood.

“So Xiong Wen was one of the treasures stolen by that branch family at that time?”

Su Ming’s speculation was correct.

“They probably realized that if they were exiled like that into the wilderness danger zones, eight or nine out of ten of them would die,” Mo Li said. “So, to survive, they decided to take the risk and steal a batch of treasures from the family vault to use as their lifeline in the wilderness danger zones.”

No wonder a branch family that had its masterminds and main participants executed could still survive after exile, trekking across long distances to successfully reach the continent’s border and be accepted by Longyao City.

So it turned out they relied on treasures stolen from the main family to overcome their difficulties?

“No wonder a alchemical weapon like Xiong Wen ended up in Mo Leng’s hands.”

Su Ming suddenly understood.Given Longyao City’s conditions and geographical location, even an ordinary alchemical weapon would be extremely precious. How could a divine weapon capable of ranking within the top hundred among all alchemical weapons worldwide inexplicably appear here?

Even if such a weapon existed, it should have fallen into the hands of those at the pinnacle of power in base cities, like the Six Great Families. There was no reason for it to be held by the Mo Family, which lacked even a single Six-Star Professional and had only the Family Head as a Five-Star Professional.

Previously, Su Ming had thought Mo Leng must have had some personal encounter that allowed him to obtain such a powerful alchemical weapon.

Now it appeared that Mo Leng’s personal weapon had simply been stolen.

The Mo Family from Tianfeng City also seemed to harbor deep resentment toward the Mo Family in Longyao City. Whenever the Mo siblings mentioned that branch family, their eyes were either filled with hatred or cold indifference.

After learning this, Su Ming understood why the siblings had been so eager to seek him out.

He had brought back the treasure once stolen by the branch family and even put it up for auction. Naturally, they could deduce that he had been in contact with the Family’s former traitors.

They wanted to use him to locate those ungrateful betrayers and personally deliver punishment.

Unfortunately…

“You’re probably going to be disappointed.” Su Ming grinned as he spoke. “Those traitors are all gone.”

“What?”

Mo Li was stunned.

“All gone?”

Mo Zhu also showed a surprised expression.

Qin Qing and Manager Yu exchanged glances.

In this atmosphere, Su Ming delivered his words with an utterly casual tone.

“Twenty years have passed. It seems they truly failed to learn their lesson. They provoked someone they shouldn’t have, and the consequence was naturally death.”

Though spoken lightly, his words made everyone understand his meaning.

“You mean…?”

Mo Li was both startled and uncertain.

But Su Ming didn’t elaborate further.

“That’s all I’ll say. I won’t share the details.” Su Ming waved his hand, then suddenly added with a meaningful smile, “Of course, you could assume I’m lying and consider me an accomplice of your branch family, then try to extract the truth through torture.”

“That way, you might learn their exact whereabouts.”

These words were practically a challenge.

Su Ming was clearly testing the Mo Family’s stance, seeing if they suspected him.

After all, by bringing Xiong Que here for auction, he might not necessarily be an enemy of that Mo Family branch—he could also be closely connected to them.

If the Mo Family truly suspected Su Ming, he would likely draw the attention of one of Tianfeng City’s eight Super Families.

If that were the case, Su Ming would need to make some preparations in advance.

Fortunately, after hearing Su Ming’s words, Mo Li shook her head.

“If you were truly an accomplice of those traitors, they would never have handed Xiong Que over to you.”

Mo Li stated this with certainty.

Beside her, Mo Zhu couldn’t help but speak up.

“Although Xiong Que only ranks ninety-ninth on the weapon leaderboard as a fine-grade alchemical weapon, it was the personal weapon our Mo Family ancestor used to establish our Family’s territory. It holds extraordinary symbolic significance for us. Knowing this, those traitors would never casually entrust such a meaningful treasure to someone else.”That’s how it is.

No matter what kind of alchemical weapon it is, they are all forged by people, not naturally grown.

Including the legendary Three Divine Artifacts, all alchemical weapons come from the hands of Alchemists.

Xiong Wen was born in an earlier era.

During the time of its creation, there weren’t many powerful alchemical weapons, so Xiong Wen was considered a top-tier Divine Artifact back then.

On the weapon rankings, Xiong Wen once broke into the top ten, becoming one of the renowned Sharp Weapons famous throughout the land.

Later, as times progressed, Alchemists’ techniques became increasingly refined, and more and more powerful alchemical weapons were successively created, causing Xiong Wen’s ranking to continuously drop until today, where it’s nearly fallen off the weapon rankings altogether.

Because of this, Xiong Wen is seen by others as merely a fine-grade alchemical weapon at the bottom of the weapon rankings, but in the eyes of the Mo Family, it’s a family heirloom passed down from their ancestors, carrying far greater symbolic meaning than its actual value.

This is precisely why the Mo siblings, upon seeing Xiong Wen being auctioned, immediately decided to spare no expense and bid for it at all costs.

It wasn’t just to find clues about the traitors, but also to bring the Mo Family’s heirloom back to the Family.

And precisely because Xiong Wen holds such extraordinary symbolic meaning, the Mo siblings were certain that those traitors wouldn’t casually hand over this family heirloom to others to be auctioned off.

Not because those traitors had any particular respect for the Family or their ancestors, but because this is the Mo Family’s treasured heirloom. Possessing it not only infuriates the main family but could also be used to manipulate situations, potentially helping them replace the main family and establish their legitimacy in the future.

Mo Li and Mo Zhu understood these intricacies perfectly well.

Given their perspective, Su Ming’s act of auctioning Xiong Wen actually proved he couldn’t be an accomplice of those traitors.

Of course, they still wanted to know exactly how Su Ming obtained Xiong Wen and what relationship he had with those traitors.

From the looks of it, Su Ming didn’t seem willing to say much.

“Can you really not tell us?” Mo Li thought for a moment before deciding to try once more, saying: “If Your Excellency is willing to tell us the truth, we will definitely prepare a generous gift for you.”

Hearing this, Su Ming, who had been determined to say nothing, became interested.

“What kind of generous gift?” Su Ming asked very bluntly: “Right now I’m only interested in Contribution Points, you know?”

How could Mo Li not understand what Su Ming meant?

“10,000 Contribution Points!”

Mo Li directly quoted a price.

Without question, this was for the information.

“Not enough!”

Su Ming’s eyes lit up, but he didn’t immediately agree, instead saying this.

“20,000!”

Mo Li frowned and quoted again.

“At least 100,000 Contribution Points!”

Su Ming simply made an exorbitant demand.

“100,000?” Mo Zhu immediately exclaimed: “Why don’t you just rob us instead?”

What kind of information is worth 100,000 Contribution Points? News about Nightmare Species Bloodlines? Or the whereabouts of Divine Artifacts?

Was this mysterious young master trying to take them for fools?

And truth be told, Su Ming really did have that intention.”I have the most detailed intelligence on those traitors you speak of—where they’ve been these past twenty years, what they’ve done, and their current status.”

Su Ming said with a grin.

“I can assure you that the information I provide is absolutely worth the price, at least for your Mo Family.”

These confident words genuinely stunned the siblings of the Mo Family.

Mo Li also furrowed her brow tightly, wrestling with the decision for a long time.

In the end, Mo Li still nodded.

“I hope Your Excellency’s intelligence is truly worth this price.”

Mo Li’s words carried implied meaning.

“Don’t worry, I guarantee you won’t feel shortchanged.”

Su Ming laughed, laughing with immense satisfaction.

(End of Chapter)