153: Nalan Yanran

The guard commander bowed and departed.

Mo Yuhan stood in the shadow of the corridor pillar, his gaze calmly sweeping over his surroundings.

Inside the grand hall, lights blazed, figures bustled, and the clinking of cups and plates was incessant.

The main seat was still empty, clearly reserved for today's birthday celebrant, Mo Cheng.

Some powerful figures moved through the crowd, exchanging greetings, among them not a few Great Dou Shi level experts.

The core members of the Mo family also appeared one after another, maintaining order and receiving compliments from all sides.

Just then, a gaze filled with resentment and fury, like a tangible ice pick, fiercely stabbed towards Mo Yuhan.

He followed the sensation and looked over.

He saw Mo Linglin enter from a side door of the main hall, accompanied by a young man with an insidious demeanor and a face somewhat similar to Mo Cheng's.

She had changed into a more luxurious and exquisite fiery red palace gown, her makeup meticulously applied, and the crystal ornament on her forehead replaced with a more dazzling ruby, making her appear alluring.

However, her pretty face was now frosty, her eyes fixed on Mo Yuhan in the shadow of the corridor pillar, her hatred undisguised.

The young man beside her, around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, had a fairly handsome face, but his brows were clouded with an lingering gloom and hostility, his gaze sharp as a knife, carrying a superior scrutiny.

He followed Mo Linglin's gaze and also looked at Mo Yuhan, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly.

"Brother! It's him!"

Mo Linglin pointed at Mo Yuhan, her voice filled with uncontrollable anger and grievance, sounding exceptionally clear at the relatively quiet inner hall entrance, "Yesterday at the inn entrance, it was him! He ruined Linglin's whip and even injured our Mo family's guard captain! Utterly arrogant!"

She deliberately raised her voice, clearly wanting everyone around to hear.

The conversations among some of the surrounding guests instantly quieted down, their gazes uniformly turning towards Mo Yuhan, filled with curiosity, amusement, and a hint of schadenfreude. The Mo family's second young lady publicly accusing someone?

This was going to be a good show.

That insidious young man—Mo Li, Mo family's Great Elder Mo Cheng's most beloved grandson, and also the most powerful among the Mo family's younger generation—his gaze was like a cold blade, sizing up Mo Yuhan.

He did not immediately erupt, but that cold aura belonging to a Dou Shi Peak quietly permeated the air like a venomous snake, carrying a heavy sense of oppression.

"Oh?" Mo Li's voice was not loud, yet it clearly reached everyone's ears, carrying a bone-chilling coldness, "It was you, in the territory of Salt City, who dared to touch someone from my Mo family and make my sister suffer?"

The atmosphere instantly became tense.

The atmosphere at the inner hall entrance suddenly solidified, like a taut bowstring.

Mo Li's insidious gaze, like a poisoned icicle, was fixed on Mo Yuhan in the shadow of the corridor pillar.

That cold aura belonging to a Great Dou Shi expert surged towards Mo Yuhan like a tangible tide, carrying a heavy sense of oppression.

The air seemed to become viscous, and the surrounding guests subconsciously held their breath, watching the impending conflict with either curiosity or schadenfreude.

"It was you, in the territory of Salt City, who dared to touch someone from my Mo family and make my sister suffer?"

Mo Li's voice was not loud, but every word was like a knife, clearly cutting through the tense air.

He took half a step forward, releasing his Three-star Great Dou Shi aura without reservation, attempting to make this seemingly too young opponent embarrass himself on the spot with pure pressure.

Mo Linglin stood behind him, her pretty face full of vengeful satisfaction and resentment, her fiery red palace gown looking even more vibrant in the light from inside the hall, like burning flames, reflecting her distorted mood at this moment.

She looked at Mo Yuhan provocatively, as if saying: See how you die!

Facing this surging oppressive aura, Mo Yuhan remained as unmoving as a reef in a storm.

He didn't even move a single corner of his robe.

Beneath his dark green long robe, his body remained perfectly straight, his obsidian-like eyes calm and unruffled, as if Mo Li's aura, which was enough to make ordinary Great Dou Shi change their expression, was merely an insignificant breeze.

He didn't even have the interest to explain or retort, merely looking back at Mo Li with an almost indifferent gaze.

There was no anger, no fear in his eyes, only a kind of condescending... scrutiny.

As if watching a clown.

This silent contempt was more damaging than any vicious words.

Mo Li's face instantly turned ashen, and the veins on his forehead subtly throbbed.

How dare anyone in Salt City, or even the eastern part of the Empire, show such contempt for him, the dignified eldest young master of the Mo family, Mo Cheng's most beloved grandson?

A surge of wicked anger flared in his heart, and a cold Dou Qi churned in his palm, about to directly strike regardless of the occasion.

"What are you doing here?"

Just at this critical moment, a clear, melodious voice, like jade beads falling onto a plate, filled with an undeniable authority, clearly pierced through the tense atmosphere.

The voice came from the side corridor.

Everyone's gazes were instinctively drawn over.

They saw a woman, accompanied by two disciples wearing the Yunlan Sect's distinctive moon-white robes, slowly walking towards the inner hall entrance.

As soon as she appeared, it was as if even the boisterous air quieted down a bit.

The woman was tall, about seventeen or eighteen years old, dressed in a well-tailored moon-white long robe.

The robe was not a traditional wide-sleeved, loose-fitting garment, but rather featured a sleek design with narrow sleeves and a cinched waist, perfectly outlining her slender and graceful figure.

The wide cuffs tightened at the wrists, revealing two sections of fair, snow-like wrists. The hem of the robe trailed on the ground, flowing like drifting clouds as she walked, elegant and ethereal.

Most striking was the pale silver silk sash tied above her slender, delicate waist.

The sash was tied into an exquisite knot at her waist, perfectly accentuating the curves of her slender and supple waist, and adding a touch of cool, ethereal charm.

Her steps were unhurried, and as her waist swayed gently, the pale silver luster shifted with her, like the shimmering ripples of a clear spring under the moonlight.

Looking up, the woman's jade hands were like tender shoots in early spring, her skin as delicate as the finest mutton-fat jade, radiating a warm luster under the lamplight. Her head was slightly raised, revealing a face of exquisite beauty.

Her moth-like brows were lightly brushed, like distant mountains veiled in mist, and her eyes were clear and bright, as if containing the autumn waters of a cold pool, her gaze flowing with an innate coolness and detachment.

Her nose was straight and delicate, and her lips were a faint cherry blossom color, currently slightly pursed, conveying a hint of unapproachable indifference.

Her temperament was utterly unique. Her seemingly gentle and graceful features, though capable of charming smiles, exuded a faint, almost otherworldly and delicate aura, as if she didn't belong to the mortal world.

Yet beneath that delicacy, there was a clear layer of frost that kept others at a distance. This was a contradictory yet fatal charm, making people yearn for her, yet dare not easily profane her.

The person who arrived was none other than the Young Sect Master of the Yunlan Sect, Nalan Yanran.

Her appearance instantly drew all eyes in the hall.

Both her identity and her stunning beauty and temperament were enough to make her the center of attention in any setting.

The moment Mo Li heard the voice, the hostility on his face instantly froze, then quickly melted away like ice and snow, replaced by an eager, even slightly fawning smile.

He abruptly retracted the Dou Qi that was about to erupt, turned to Nalan Yanran, and bowed slightly, his tone becoming exceptionally gentle: "Junior Sister Yanran, why have you come out? Has the noise outside disturbed you?"