Luo Sulan smiled and said, "Technically, there are two problems. First, I was exiled from my family for running off to marry your father. As such, I can hardly be considered a part of the Luo family. Second, you're asking why we were bullied by our second uncles and aunties? That's a little harder to explain. We owe them; let's leave it at that."
"We owe them? What is that supposed to mean?" Han Sen didn't expect that answer, and he ended up looking at Luo Sulan with surprise.
"I'm not sure. But that is what your father told me, actually. He never told me the details, however." Luo Sulan smiled as she spoke.
"My father... did he really die?" Han Sen's heart always held onto the glimmer of hope his father might still be alive. Following his accident, no body had actually been retrieved, after all.
"Honestly? I don't know. I have spent many years investigating his death myself, but I have yet to unearth another truth. Still, I do believe your father is alive." Luo Sulan's eyes displayed certainty in this belief.
Han Sen moved his lips as if to say something, but those words never came. Instead, he ended up saying, "Mom, your fighting skills must be powerful."
"They're okay. Your grandfather taught me fairly well," Luo Sulan smiled and said.
"Then why don't you teach me what grandfather taught you?" Han Sen asked Luo Sulan with vibrant eyes, that possessed a hint of disappointment he hadn't been offered such teachings before.
Luo Sulan smiled at Han Sen and suggestively asked, "Are you sure I did not teach you?"
"Of course. I think I would know if you had taught me something," Han Sen said.
Luo Sulan reached out her hand to grab Han Sen by the ear and said, "My stupid son, I cannot believe you have no clue about what I taught you. Do you think your decision-making abilities, fighting abilities, learning abilities, timing abilities, predictive abilities, thinking abilities, your world-view, your attitude to do things, the principles of being a human, and your reactive abilities were self-taught or natural attributes which you were born possessing?"
Han Sen was shocked, having always believed himself to be supremely talented through self-education. Now he understood that ever since he was small, the reason his mother left him to his own devices often was so he could become more independent. Even when it came to playing games, she had trained his abilities on the sly.
Han Sen then remembered the game of Red Hands, which he frequently played with his mother. They played it more than anything together, and only now did he realize that this was what had enabled him to have such good timing and reactions, and also allowed him to read other people so well.
There were a lot of other similar things. And he was now flabbergasted to realize that throughout his childhood, his mother had taught and guided him seamlessly, without making the training an apparent chore. Luo Sulan had a great influence in his youth and had a bigger hand in shaping his personality than he had previously given her credit for.
But still, these powers she had taught were fairly ordinary. There was nothing special or exclusive about what she had taught him, yet it was his excellence in these departments that allowed him to later standout amongst others.
"But you never taught me the Luo family's hyper geno art." Saying this, Han Sen sounded upset again.
"In this world, what makes you strong? You. If you are powerful enough, it does not matter which hyper geno art you learn; if you are strong, you are strong. If I instead opted to teach you the most powerful Qi Gong there is, it wouldn't have mattered. With low base traits, you'd be a noob no matter what. Who you are as a person is what defines your ultimate power, and you have done just fine without that hyper geno art. I taught you the necessities for becoming a powerful figure in this crazy world, and from what I can tell, it paid off. That was the task I gave myself, and teaching that hyper geno art was not in my interest."
Luo Sulan stopped talking for a brief moment. She sighed, then continued to say, "And I left the Luo family, anyway. I have no association with them, if you disregard my name. The last thing I wanted was you getting involved with them, needlessly."
Han Sen noticed Luo Sulan had no desire to talk about the Luo family she had left behind, so he didn't push the subject further. Instead, he asked, "Are these really the relics from my great grandfather?"
Luo Sulan nodded and said, "Yes. Your father gave them to me."
"So, great grandfather really is Instructor Han?" Han Sen went silent after asking the question, and simply stared at his mother.
Luo Sulan had a wry smile and responded by saying, "I would like to know this, too. I thought your father was just an average, funny guy. He doesn't quite seem so average anymore, does he?"
Han Sen found it difficult to believe that she knew so little about his father. If she did know more than she was letting on, he suspected there was something she thought best not to mention.
But Han Sen knew he wasn't going to get any answers, so he didn't ask anything else about him.
"Mom, do you know what super geno points are?" Right now, they were back home. And feeling like a door-to-door, sleazy salesman, Han Sen popped the sneaky question.
Luo Sulan gave Han Sen a complicated look and said, "I have taught you many things. But what I have taught you all goes to aid you in achieving an easy life for yourself. Your cleverness and abilities have exceeded all my wildest expectations. As good as this may be, it is not without its downsides. If you were merely an ordinary person, you'd be safe. By being someone special, more often than not, you may find yourself facing death."
Han Sen wasn't quite sure what she was getting at, so he just looked at her.
"If you have willingly selected the road you currently tread, then by all means advance and keep going. But it is a lonely road, a less-traveled path that only holds room for one. Even your dearest person in this world will be unable to help you. But if you think you cannot go any further, then by all means stop. At least that way you'll live longer."
Luo Sulan stroked Han Sen's head with love and said, "I wish you the best of luck, my son. Perhaps one day you will indeed become someone of much renown."
"Mom, I never studied much. Could you say what you just said in a simpler way?" Han Sen's face looked very embarrassed, as he couldn't understand a thing.
"There is no need for you to understand. Just be who you are. You have always followed your heart, in the deeds of the past and present. Adhere to this simple philosophy as you continue your march, now and into the future." Luo Sulan ruffled Han Sen's hair into a mess, pinched his cheek, smiled, and then said, "I actually have high expectations of you."
Han Sen felt so helpless. His mother was overall reluctant to say much and didn't provide many answers to the questions for which he sought resolution. All he had learned was how powerful his mother's family had actually been, but it did not help. The details were scarce, and in regards to his father, Han Sen was still unsure whether he was dead or alive. He ended up with more questions than answers.
But the engagement plans went well, and that took a load off Han Sen's shoulders. Now, he could finally place his name on Ji Yanran.
"Hm, next up; how do I get rid of this troublesome fairy?" Han Sen had been kept busy for two weeks. When he returned to the shelter in the desert, the fairy was still vigilant outside the walls of the Yellowstone City. It looked like he had no choice, and they'd have to fight each other until one of them dropped, no matter what.