Mo Jiuye fixed his eyes and took a look. He recognized several people.
They were all his former subordinates.
As they walked, they said, "We haven't come to pay respects to the Mo Family's generals for a long time."
"Alas... we can't blame ourselves. They keep such a close eye on us that if they find out we've come to pay respects to the Mo Family's generals, they will definitely use it against us."
"If I didn't have a shred of passion left for defending my country, I really wouldn't want to stay here any longer."
As they spoke, all of them were stunned into silence.
After a long while, one soldier forcibly swallowed a mouthful of saliva before pointing to the grave in front of him and saying, "What...what exactly is going on here?"
"That's right. The Mo Family has been loyal and righteous for generations. Why desecrate their graves even after their deaths?"
"I heard Old Duke Mo's family was exiled to the northwest. I'm thinking of finding an opportunity to go over and join them."
"We don't know the situation with the ninth master's family right now. If we go, won't we cause them trouble?"
"What trouble could we cause them? If we go, we can find work and help the ninth master out a bit. He has to provide for such a huge family on his own. I doubt he can manage it alone."
"......"
The unconcealable grief and indignation on the soldiers' faces was evident as they slowly stepped forward and filled in the soil of the graves with their bare hands.
Seeing these people, Mo Jiuye felt an urge to reveal himself to them.
But he couldn't show himself for the time being. After all, he was secretly traveling, and the fewer people who knew about it the better.
If those former subordinates really went to the northwest to find him as they intended, that would be perfect.
Right now, the entire national treasury's silver was with him and He Zhiran. Supporting a few brothers who had lived and died alongside him should be no problem.
Besides, with his current status, he felt that he couldn't be of any help to these soldiers, so revealing himself would be meaningless.
After watching for a while and seeing that the soldiers kept filling in the soil, He Zhiran glanced at him as if asking for his opinion. The two then slipped into the space.
The first thing He Zhiran wanted to do was run a DNA test.
The conclusion shocked both of them to some extent.
The DNA comparisons showed that none of the three sets were biologically related to Mo Jiuye.
What did this mean?
It meant that it was very likely his three brothers were also still alive...
Mo Jiuye was instantly petrified. He couldn't understand why his brothers had disappeared one after another. What kind of conspiracy was behind all this?
If that mysterious man was really the one Mother had spoken of who had liked Yuan Meng, then his treatment of the Mo Family made sense. He was getting revenge for Yuan Meng in a completely twisted way. It showed how dark that man's heart was.
In any case, it was good news that his brothers hadn't died on the battlefield. It meant there was a high chance they were still alive.
Mo Jiuye now deeply felt that he had an arduous task ahead of him. Not only did he have to find his eldest and second brothers, he also had to make every effort to track down clues about his other brothers.
Ultimately, the only shortcut was to find that mysterious man.
However, He Zhiran had no intention of stopping there.
"Since we're here already, why not check your father's remains as well?"
Mo Jiuye had thought of this too. Now that it was proven these graves didn't contain the Mo Family members, even if he was condemned for filial impiety, he still wanted to examine them.
"Alright, let's see if those people have left first."
They had entered the space from the tree, and Mo Jiuye was worried He Zhiran would exit in the wrong spot. He immediately put his arm around her waist, the same way as when they had entered the space.
The two reappeared in the tree, just in time to see the soldiers' retreating backs.
After the people had walked far away, the couple came to Old Duke Mo's grave.
Mo Jiuye knelt down and kowtowed again.
"Father, your unfilial son must commit this offense to verify whether you are still alive. Please forgive me."
After speaking, Mo Jiuye stood up. Through his earlier observations, he had already learned to operate the miniature excavator. So without He Zhiran lifting a finger, he took the initiative and started digging.
An hour later in the space—
"Zhiran, you didn't get the test wrong, did you? This isn't father's corpse?"
He Zhiran's tone was indisputable. "Of course not. I can definitively tell you the corpse in the grave is not biologically related to you at all."
Mo Jiuye was instantly petrified again. Though his brothers' bizarre disappearances could still be reasoned out somehow, his father had already passed away for so long. Where could he be?
He Zhiran now felt that what had happened to the Mo Family was just too convoluted. Although they still hadn't been able to find out everything, based on what they knew about those few brothers, it seemed they were all still alive.
Even someone as steady and calm as Mo Jiuye normally would have a blank mind when encountering something like this.
He Zhiran could understand his feelings. It was good news that his family was alive, but they currently had no idea of their whereabouts or even a lead to start searching.
She went up and took Mo Jiuye's arm, and gently said, "Since we're already in the South Borderlands, let's start looking for clues here first."
Mo Jiuye nodded. "Alright, this is all we can do for now."
In fact, He Zhiran didn't know that at this moment, his heart was bleeding. He couldn't imagine what kind of circumstances his father and brothers were in right now. The wretched state of his third, fifth and eighth brothers was still vivid in his mind.
His fists were clenched tight now. No matter what, he had to find his missing father and brothers.
He Zhiran looked at the large wall clock. It was already 4 p.m.
They would definitely need to take some action after nightfall when entering the South Borderlands. She went to the kitchen to simply stir-fry two small dishes, and the couple had a simple meal.
Before leaving the space, the two changed disguises again. Mo Jiuye once again became that ugly man with sideburns.
Seeing Mo Jiuye like this now, He Zhiran couldn't laugh at all even though she was usually in a heavier mood.
She quickly changed into men's clothing and left the space hand-in-hand with Mo Jiuye.
To cover their tracks, Mo Jiuye first filled in the opened grave. Only then did the couple walk down the mountain hand in hand.
Night had just fallen when the husband and wife arrived at the entrance to the South Borderlands.
Perhaps because of the frequent battles recently, security was extremely tight at the entrance to the South Borderlands, and there were hardly any travelers coming and going.
Mo Jiuye pulled He Zhiran up onto a thick tree and softly explained,
"The South Borderland people are very cautious. During times of war, to prevent spies from sneaking in, they station heavy troops to guard the entrance."
He Zhiran took a telescope out of the space and peered towards the entrance to the South Borderlands.
Sure enough, just as Mo Jiuye had said, they could clearly see with the naked eye several patrols grasping weapons while patrolling back and forth outside the entrance.
And this was just what was visible to the naked eye. Looking further away, there were nearly a thousand soldiers. Not only that, there was also a group of about fifty people, each leading a dog.
The dogs' build looked somewhat like greyhounds from the previous world, not seeming very big yet extremely fierce.
With such strict security, passing smoothly into the South Borderlands would really take some effort.
No wonder Mo Jiuye had suggested sneaking in under the cover of night early on.
