Yun Yang moved forward.
Handicapped and raggedly-clothed people were everywhere but everyone here felt warm and content as if they had no other wish other than to be alive.
“Compared to our brothers who had fallen on the battlefield, we are indeed fortunate.”
This was what a blind veteran who had lost one of his legs told an armless veteran beside him as they lounged under the sun by the corner of a wall. His voice was low and his eyes were closed, as he continued to reminisce. Sunlight poured upon them, illuminating the serenity that was exclusive to a world without strife.
As Yun Yang walked past them, he stopped to take the scene in, his gaze envious.
On the street were also fierce-looking thugs who had their clothes left loose, roaming around with idle hands.
Yun Yang’s gaze shifted onto them as well, and the envy that was there turned icy cold in contempt. These were healthy and well-built individuals who possessed strength and martial skills, yet they took the despicable path to feed their family. Not only did they refuse to serve the nation nor volunteer themselves in the battlefield, they did not care to settle down peacefully nor help to maintain the safety of a less fortunate group. What they did instead were to steal and rob with their brute force, bullying the weak. These people had no consciences whatsoever.
They did not commit large sins but small, collective crimes and their deaths would be the first to be warranted in this world!
It was a plain courtyard. The wall was made of stacked rocks, five rooms were inside in addition to side-rooms on both the left and right. There was also a storeroom for junk on the south side. This family was not rich by the looks of it but it was obvious that they were better off than most of the others.
The door was half-opened, a girl of about two to three years was seen squatting on the block of stone by the door; her face rested on her hands, the thoughts in her mind solely her own.
A young, beautiful woman dressed in a plain robe came out from inside the house. “Nannan1, come back inside. Why did you run out to sit here again?”
The little girl did not move, her childish voice ringing out shrilly, “I’m here to wait for daddy to return. Mummy, where did daddy go? Why isn’t he back yet?”
The young woman froze, her eyes started to tear immediately as she lifted her head to look at the black evocation bell hung by the door. She murmured, “When my Nannan grows up big and smart, daddy will be back again.”
“Oh…” The little girl pouted and retorted, “But Nannan has already grown up…”
The young woman nodded forcefully, holding in her sobs as she said, “Yes, Daddy will be back soon…”
As she spoke, the dam finally broke, and her tears streamed down soundlessly.
Yun Yang stood concealed in a corner, feeling his eyes prickling at the sight of the mother and daughter pining after their husband and father. This young woman was the one he had saved the other night – Assistant General Wang Zhuang’s wife, Juan’er. However, the little girl had suddenly cheered in delight, “Hey, where did this kitten come from? It’s adorable!”
Somehow, a snow-white fur ball of a kitten had appeared by their doorway. The kitten was sparkling clean, not a single speck of dust was on its body; its round emerald eyes looked at the girl curiously from where it sat not far away from her.
The little girl Nannan instantly fell in love with it, tottering over. “Hey kitty, are you here to be friends with me?”
The kitten’s fur stood rose in alarm but then it abruptly grew relaxed as it looked at Nannan and actually nodded elegantly.
The girl crowed loudly with glee, “Wow, wow, this is great!”
Her mother was about to chide her, feeling amused from her child’s innocent words. The kitten’s just gotten here and it means that it wants to be friends with you? Does it even understand what you said?
What happened next had the young woman’s eyes widen like saucers; she clearly saw the kitten nod, as if in reply to her daughter. It then walked gracefully towards Nannan and extended a snow-white paw to shake her hand.
“Oh my…” The young woman simply could not believe her eyes.
“Great! You’ll play with me from now on, alright?” Nannan hugged the kitten happily, stroking it gently like it was a gem, her eyes turning into little crescent moons.
It was obvious that the kitten was rather reluctant but somehow, it did not resist and stayed in Nannan’s arms. Its delicate little paw raised hesitantly and lowered, as it mewled.
Nannan was absolutely taken with the kitten, hugging it all the way back to her house. “Mummy mummy, is there anything to feed it? Do we still have my biscuits? Do we still have my fish jerky? My…”
The kitten wrinkled its nose.
The young woman quickly followed, her voice faintly heard, “There, there, Nannan, put it down. Whose cat is this? Maybe it has an owner, you can’t simply take it, although I must say this kitten looks really adorable…”
Yun Yang smiled, leaving without a single word.
A pitiful meow could be heard emanating from the house.
“Henceforth, you shall be the guardian of this home… Whoever or whatever threatens to harm this place, I need you to attack without mercy.”
“This place, where the families of my brothers and my handicapped brothers stay… I need you to preserve its safety. Every night, you’re allowed to come back to the courtyard, I’ll double all the cultivation resources and food for you. But the moment you complete a mission badly, even if it’s just once, all these will be taken away forever! Do you understand?”
“Meow…”
“If any of those scoundrels threaten anyone, don’t hold back. Understood?”
“Meow!”
“Good.”
This cat was the same Eclipse Panther that had achieved the third level of a mystical beast. Yun Yang directed a flow of air of vitality and added another layer of camouflage before assigning it such a heavy task. Following on the execution of cultivation, this Eclipse Panther would improve by leaps and bounds. With a future ninth level mystical beast here to protect the families of his brothers, Yun Yang felt vastly more relieved.
Before he could take on the external forces, he had to protect and stabilize the internal ones first.
“My abilities are still weak, I am only doing what I can. My brothers, please do not judge me harshly. If I succeed in avenging you and remain alive in the process, I shall continue protecting my brothers’ families. If I were to fail… what I can do now is to have them live carefree for these five years and not worry about their safety for at least a hundred years with this panther here!”
“I’m so sorry, brothers, for this is all I can do for now.”
Yun Yang left, resolute and with conviction. As the Endless Divine Art surged through his body, Yun Yang felt energized, his blood boiling with power. Although only at most a fifth of his ability was recovered, Yun Yang felt impatient.
If I can’t beat them, my scheme will surely work against them.
Ji Ling had left the Residence of Yun, feeling wronged and so saddened that her tears dropped all along the way.
“What a nuisance! Such an absolute jerk! I’m ignoring you next time!”
The more she thought about it, the more she felt maligned; she became increasingly saddened and grew increasingly convinced of Yun Yang’s unreasonableness.
“You think I’m attracted to you… Hmph! Pfft! You’re even worried that I’d stick around you!”
“Is it so very impressive that you’re Dugu Chou’s disciple? Hmph…”
“It’s people like you that I hate the most in life!”
Even when she had reached the tavern, she was still very much angered, her tears could not stop flowing like a gushing tap.
She had only the slightest liking towards Yun Yang, far from the deep depth of love that women felt for potential husbands. Yun Yang’s attitude, however, annoyed her beyond belief and made her feel inexplicably wronged.
“You dare to bully me? I’ll show you! Hmph!”
Even as these events transpired, waves of people from the martial arts world were headed towards Tiantang City.
A man dressed all in emerald green, emerald green robe, emerald green shoes, emerald green hat, emerald green belt, and even had an emerald green bamboo stick sticking out of his head, swaggered through the city gate with an emerald green rucksack on his back and a long emerald green object clutched in his hand.
This person looked young, he was only about twenty years of age but insolence could be felt seeping through each and every pore of his skin.
He was green from head to toe. The only other color was the small black lion by his side. What made the difference even more startling was that the black lion had two heads. It was obvious that it was just a baby mystical beast but it still had an extremely ferocious look.
Such strange clothing on a man was a rare sight, turning heads wherever he passed. He was surprisingly unperturbed by the attention, making his way through the city with haughty arrogance and actually heaved a large sigh of relief when he arrived at his destination.
“F*ck this! Tiantang City, your father2 is finally here!”
Two middle-aged men who were walking beside him with straight faces the entire time could take it no longer and said, “Now young master can avenge the previous humiliation here, and take off this… this…”
Both men were wary that their words would offend their young master.
“Why do you feel embarrassed to say it?” The youth snorted, “This time, your father must win! Your father lost the last time and wore this clothing for a year; I admit my defeat, this is nothing! But if your father wins this time, none of them can even dream of being let off lightly, all of them have to wear this! F*ck! Your father will not have endured such misery this whole year for nothing! They should also taste what your father has gone through this year!” The man spat mercilessly, a look of absolute menace on his countenance.
The two middle-aged guards were speechless.
Let’s not talk about other things, just your catchphrase of ‘your father’… Couldn’t you use some other form of reference? It doesn’t bother you in the slightest that you’ve been beaten up so often…
The last time you addressed yourself as your father when speaking to your elder brother, you were beaten until you couldn’t get out of bed for three days; the head of the family then came to see you, your insolence infuriated your father, the twenty-four slaps almost gave you a concussion but you still didn’t change. Your great grandfather then came to see you, you ‘your father is fine’ had your father’s father’s father - your great grandfather leave right away.
Even though you are ungrounded and can come out to roam, you’re still an endless pit of ‘your father’…
This madman is indeed one of a kind.
“Quickly find a place to eat and drink.” The green-clothed youth waved his hand, “Your father is starving, your father is about to die of thirst as well!”
The two guards were sullenly silent; they really itched to beat him up even though he was far more superior. Who the f*ck are you calling your father?
“Your father’s baby is also hungry!” The green-clothed youth patted the two-headed black lion beside him; the cub actually shook its head to fend off his hand, both its furry faces wore the same look of contempt for him.
“Even this bastard despises your father!” The man in green was livid with anger, “If you weren’t the least bit useful, your father will braise you tonight!”
The small lion roll all of its four eyes at once, quickened its steps and ran to the front.
“F*ck!” The young man in green cursed, “Your father’s own pet actually behaves like this! When your father’s ability advances, I shall beat it to death and eat it! Do you hear me? Braise it into soup today, chew on its hind leg tomorrow, the day after tomorrow…”
“Woo!”
The two-headed lion charged over fiercely, tearing a big hole in the green-clothed youth’s robe near the buttocks with a howl and turned to run away.
“F*ck you!”
The man jumped up while covering his bare bottoms, fuming. “One day, your father will eat you…”
The two-headed lion turned and growled, charging towards him menacingly; its aim this time was clearly his crotch. The young man in green took on a frightened mien, “Dear sir, dear sir, your father calls you dear sir… have mercy… Owner! I’ll call you owner, alright? Alright?”
The cub rolled its eyes and swaggered proudly to the front while the youth in green covered his buttocks and walked at the back with a pale face. “Find your father an inn or buy a new set of clothes… What is the meaning of this, exposing half of my buttocks?”
Both guards gave each other a side-long glance; they had nothing to say. Is this not your own fault, you loon? Are you simply too free, to provoke that aggressive lion?
You really have nothing else better to do!
The youth in green was continuing his journey when he looked towards the front with a questioning sound.
“This… is quite interesting.”
Yun Yang was making his way back. He would reach the main street in front of him and arrive at the Residence of Yun right after the next turn.
Just as he was about to move along, shouts of chiding and scolding burst out from nowhere and a shadow of a figure was thrown out from the door in front of him with a loud swoosh. The person fell solidly on the ground, and lay still, unable to pick himself up.
Yun Yang angled his body subconsciously and took a step back, his eyes sweeping his sides and back while one of his hands already gripped the hilt of the Divine Edge.
Translator Note:
1Nannan (囡囡nān nān): term of endearment used to address a child, typically a girl; used here as a term of endearment and nickname of Assistant General Wang Zhuang and Juan’er’s daughter.
2your father (老子lǎo zi): used as a first person pronoun/ to refer to oneself in arrogance and contempt.