bookpower Chapter 97 MO TAO ENERGY
Chapter 97 MO TAO ENERGY
"Mo Xing! Best friend! Most magnificent brother of my heart!" Each variation of the name came out with increasing dramatic flair as he clutched his chest. "You bring a maiden to our humble abode without warning? And such a young—" His theatrical gasp cut off abruptly as Mo Xing's foot connected with his shin, though somehow the movement looked as elegant as a dance step.
"Mo Tao," Mo Xing's voice carried that familiar mix of exasperation and fondness, "if you could control your natural impulse to be... yourself... for just a moment?"
"Control myself? When you appear with a mysterious girl after disappearing for days?" Mo Tao pressed the back of his hand to his forehead in an exaggerated swoon. "Next you'll ask me not to breathe! Not to—ow!" He hopped on one foot as Mo Xing's elegant footwork found his other shin.
From inside the room, Mian Mian's voice carried a note of resigned amusement. "And here I thought we might have one peaceful evening..."
Mo Tao suddenly froze mid-dramatic pose, his eyes narrowing as he finally registered Mo Xing's transformed appearance. "Wait... wait, wait, wait—" He circled them like an overexcited crane, his robes swirling with each turn. "You've taken your younger form? The one from the Academy days?"
Before either could respond, he launched into a rapid-fire barrage of questions, somehow managing to speak without seeming to breathe: "Anyways, who is she? Where did you find her? Why are you carrying her? Also, why did you change your form? Are those celestial diamonds in her ears? Is she from a noble family? Which realm? Why does her spiritual essence feel so strange? Is she your disciple? Or wait—" he gasped dramatically, "—is she your secret daughter from that time you disappeared for a century? No, impossible, the timing's wrong. Unless—"
Li Hua's head spun trying to keep up with his questions. Even Li Hao at his most excitable had never achieved this level of overwhelming enthusiasm. Where her brother's curiosity came in playful bursts, Mo Tao's seemed to pour out like a waterfall, each question spawning three more before the first could be answered.
"There," he said, though he remained standing close enough that she could feel the warmth radiating from his body. "Safe and sound, my little tempest. Though I believe there are still many dangers you should be protected from..."
Mo Tao, who had been practically vibrating with contained questions this entire time, finally burst out: "Now will you explain why you're in your younger form? And who is she? And why—" He cut himself off with a yelp as both Mo Xing and Mian Mian fixed him with warning glares.
"You could answer his questions," Mo Xing suggested to Li Hua, his eyes still glaring daggers at Mo Tao. His younger form leaned casually against one of the room's ornate pillars, somehow making the simple position look elegant. He turned to face her then, his eyes catching hers. "Or we could ignore him entirely. He's quite used to that."
"Hey!" Mo Tao protested, but his indignation was cut short by another warning look from Mian Mian, whose dark feathers rippled with barely contained curiosity as she studied Li Hua from her perch.
Li Hua took in her surroundings with careful assessment. The room was deceptively simple at first glance—a large bed, a few chairs, a wooden table near the window where Mian Mian perched.
"I need to find my brothers," she said finally, ignoring Mo Tao's curious stare. "Old Xiao was supposed to return for me but never did." Her hands unconsciously tightened at her sides.
At the mention of Old Xiao, both Mo Tao and Mian Mian's expressions shifted subtly. Mo Tao's perpetual enthusiasm dimmed for just a moment, while Mian Mian's feathers rustled with what might have been concern.
"Old Xiao?" Mo Tao asked, his voice unusually serious. "Tall fellow, always wearing those hooded robes, carries a staff made of black wood?"