Chapter 45: The Resourceful Little Money-Maker Who Knows When to Yield and When to Stand Tall

After hearing the general story from Yun He and Yuan An, Mo Xie couldn’t help but fall silent. His eldest nephew really was quite unlucky.

But thinking about it, maybe this wasn’t without warning signs. From the moment his eldest nephew was born, he’d been plagued by mishaps—always running into accidents and trouble, never without a few scrapes and bruises.

He used to think it was his nephew’s brothers playing tricks behind his back, but now it seemed he might have wrongly accused them. Maybe his nephew was just naturally this unlucky!

“Who would’ve thought! Your journey to Exile Star was way more exciting than ours…” Pei Yu cackled from the side, laughing so hard his whole body shook, even shaking the mud off his face.

Wu Xingyu’s expression grew colder and colder. Even through a layer of mud, you could see the dark aura swirling around him.

His silver, icy eyes shot a murderous glare at Pei Yu. “You laugh like a drake—so grating. Shut up.”

Pei Yu choked, not daring to keep laughing under the little ancestor’s murderous gaze. He wilted, shrinking his neck and closing his mouth.

Wu Xingyu snorted coldly, his chilly gaze shifting to the woman on the side, who was munching on a cucumber and watching the show.

Yun Qimu took another bite of cucumber, wondering when she should ask the main brain for some sunflower seeds, when she suddenly met several pairs of complicated, hard-to-read eyes.

Yun Qimu: ???

She blinked innocently, a bit puzzled, and urged, “Go on, keep talking! Don’t mind me, I’m just a bystander enjoying the show. Once I’ve had my fill, I’ll leave on my own. You can totally ignore me.”

Pei Yu: ……

A “bystander” this big, sitting there with her legs crossed and eating a cucumber—they really couldn’t ignore her!

Mo Xie glanced at his nephew, who was practically a walking generator of dark energy, and felt a second of sympathy. Then, not minding the dirt, he patted his nephew’s shoulder and asked, “What about the people who came with you?”

Wu Xingyu paused, frowning. “After we got swept away by the magnetic core storm, we got separated. I told them about you, Uncle—they should be heading to Molan City to regroup.”

As he spoke, he looked around. Corpses everywhere, chaos and devastation—nothing like a city. But seeing his uncle and Pei Yu standing here, he wasn’t so sure anymore.

“Wait, is this Molan City?”

His eyes were full of obvious disdain as he shot Mo Xie a look: Uncle, is this really all you’ve got?

Yun He and Yuan An looked conflicted too. Was Exile Star really this miserable? The Empire’s youngest former major general, reduced to this!

Suddenly, they were filled with dread about their future lives.

Pei Yu rolled his eyes. “Of course not! This is the North District. Molan City is in the South. Honestly, your luck is terrible—not only did you land in the most dangerous infected zone on Exile Star, you also ran into a magnetic core storm. Tsk, tsk…”

Wu Xingyu’s face darkened again. Was this topic never going to end?

He ground his teeth. “Maybe you need another beating to learn how to use your mouth properly.”

“Yow!” Pei Yu instantly jumped up like a cat with its tail stepped on and darted behind Mo Xie, muttering that this brat was getting more and more violent. His punches were hard as a kid, and now he was even more ruthless—one wrong word and he’d start swinging, and it hurt even more now, tut tut.

But this time, he had backup—he wasn’t afraid.

Hiding behind Mo Xie, he even stuck his head out provocatively, his tone especially fake and syrupy: “Cousin, look! Little Xingxing is threatening me. Does he even respect his elders anymore? Cousin, you really need to discipline him. If he keeps being this fierce, he’ll never find a wife.”

“Ai, I’m just looking out for you, Little Xingxing. Why can’t you appreciate it? You can’t go through life with such a bad temper. Be calm—harmony brings wealth, you know…”

“Pfft.” Yun Qimu almost choked on her cucumber.

Wu Xingyu’s face turned even darker, disgusted by Pei Yu’s fake concern. He immediately rolled up his sleeves, sidestepped Mo Xie, and grabbed Pei Yu by the scruff of the neck.

A flurry of punches landed on Pei Yu’s face, leaving his muddy features completely deformed before Wu Xingyu finally stopped.

Pei Yu lay on the ground, clutching his face and whimpering, his swollen eyes shooting a resentful glance at Mo Xie.

So tragic! Cousin didn’t even pity him.

Mo Xie: ……

Ignoring him, Mo Xie stood there with his hands behind his back, face cold and expressionless, as if he hadn’t seen this blatant act of “rebellion and disrespect.”

Wu Xingyu snorted, feeling much better after the beating.

Yun He seized the moment to sidle over, raising his hand to ask, “Major Mo, are we going back to Molan City now?”

“No.”

“No.”

Pei Yu and Mo Xie answered in unison.

“Huh? Why not?” Yun He was confused. Wasn’t this the dangerous infected zone? Why stay here?

Pei Yu, still holding his face, stubbornly replied, “I haven’t saved enough spirit coins to exchange for the Light Elixir yet. No way I’m going back.”

Mo Xie’s handsome face was serious. “I haven’t finished planting my orchids here. Unless something major happens in Molan City, I won’t be leaving.”

“Light Elixir?”

“Planting flowers?”

“And what are spirit coins?”

Wu Xingyu, Yun He, and Yuan An—all newcomers—looked totally baffled.

Mo Xie planting flowers didn’t shock them much. After all, the Mo family had become nobility by cultivating rare orchids, and that story was in the Empire’s history textbooks.

A few years ago, the great Emperor Argus had even used the Mo family as an example to inspire capable commoners, promoting several outstanding families to nobility and injecting new blood into the stagnant Empire.

So now, the Mo family’s orchid-growing legend was known throughout the Empire. Mo Xie planting orchids? No problem.

But… could such delicate orchids really grow in a harsh infected zone?

Yun Qimu stuffed the last bite of cucumber into her mouth, thinking it was time for her to step in.

She smiled before she spoke. “You three newcomers probably don’t know—spirit coins and the Light Elixir are unique to our Earth Village. And as for land where orchids can grow, you won’t find another place like Earth Village anywhere else.”

Wu Xingyu’s silver eyes looked at her coldly.

Yun Qimu raised an eyebrow, her starry eyes full of amusement. “What, you don’t believe me? Ask your uncle—he’s joined our Earth Village now. He’s one of us.”

Mo Xie nodded solemnly. “Just as the village chief said, I am now a resident of Earth Village.”"