Staying temporarily within Gu Xintangâs reisdence, Jiang Chen took meticulous care of his father every day. Under his attentive ministrations, Jiang Fengâs wounds healed very quickly. He was mostly healed after roughly four days. Physically and psychologically, he was no different from most other cultivators.
During this entire time, Jiang Chen kept completely silent. He told the older man nothing of their current circumstances. Jiang Feng cooperated by reciprocating that silence, asking no questions whatsoever. He knew that his son urgently wanted to treat his injuries.
The silence lasted until the day of Jiang Fengâs recovery. On that day, he let out a soft sigh. âChen'er, I didnât expect us to reunite here, of all places. Why did they take me to the Moon God Sect? Why did they just toss me into the Sable Cells? I only went to the Heavensfall Society to gather some information. Is there something different about the Tilted Moon Region?â Jiang Feng was still utterly lost as to the reasons for having been put through this entire experience.
Heâd drifted about the Upper Eight Regions for numerous years, making contacts through an entire gamut of channels. Though he had often been deceived, this kind of ordeal was new to him. Simple information-gathering had led to him being mired in unexpected trouble.
Jiang Chen tossed his father a complicated look. âFather, perhaps you still have the wool over your eyes. You donât know that you came too close to the truth for comfort.â
âWhat do you mean?â Jiang Fengâs face froze.
âWhat youâve been seeking for all these years⊠is with the Moon God Sect. You stumbled upon their secrets. What better reason could they toss you into the Sable Cells for?â
Jiang Fengâs expression changed drastically as he jumped out of his chair. âChenâer, what did you just say? What Iâve been looking for⊠is with the Moon God Sect? Your mother, is she really from here?â
Jiang Chen nodded. âIndeed.â
Jiang Feng was in literal shock. He was in a great disarray, punctuated by outbreaks of foolish giggles, incomprehensible mutters, and stoic stares. He recovered himself a little only after a long while. âChen'er, are you sure that your mother is at the Moon God Sect still?â He grabbed his sonâs hand. âHow did you find out?â
Jiang Chen cut straight to the chase. âWhen I was at Veluriyam Capital, I heard a certain piece of news. Several decades ago, a holy maiden from the Moon God Sect was lost to the mundane world. This inspired me to come to the Tilted Moon Region in search of more information. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that youâd come as well, nor that you wouldnât know mother was with the Moon God Sect!â
âThis must be the will of heaven! Chen'er, heaven itself wants our family to get back together. Who can refuse the decree of the divine?â Jiang Fengâs lips trembled and he was greatly excited. He badly wanted to grow a pair of wings and set out right this moment to find his wife again.
Jiang Chen, on the other hand, looked more conflicted. âFather, thatâs only part of it.â He let out a long sigh.
âOh? What else is there? Is your mother⊠not doing well?â Jiang Fengâs voice trailed off, shaking. He was most worried not about not being able to find his wife again, but rather finding her in unhappiness. Or worse, that sheâd forgotten about him altogether.
âI donât think⊠ânot doing wellâ is the right way to put it, but I canât say that sheâs amazingly well either. Perhaps she pines for you every day, father, just like you do her. But she has no control over her own fate, and canât leave the Moon God Sect.â
âWhy?â Jiang Feng was incensed. âThe people at the Moon God Sect are a bunch of bullies. If your mother isnât willing to stay, why are they stopping her from leaving? Donât they know that you canât force a horse to drink water? Donât they understand that she doesnât care about being some holy maiden?â
Jiang Chen hastily tried to calm his passionate father down. âDad, take a deep breath and relax. Mother isnât their holy maiden at the moment.â
âOh? How do you know? If sheâs not, all the better. There should be much less resistance for our family reunion, then.â Jiang Feng was visibly pleased.
Jiang Chen knew that it was his fatherâs dream to see that happen. However, what he didnât know was that their family didnât quite include the number of people that heâd expect.
Technically, they were now a family of five.
The complexity of Jiang Chenâs expression did not escape his father. Jiang Fengâs voice cracked. âChen'er, are you keeping something important from me? Is⊠your motherâŠâ
âNo, no. Sheâs with the Moon God Sect, and not as their holy maiden. But, er, thereâs someone else who is, who makes it very hard for mother to leave them.â
âWhy should that person matter to her?â Jiang Feng shook his head.
âNot just to her, but to us as well. Because⊠the current holy maiden of the Blues is your daughter and my sister. And mother, well, she was originally supposed to be the holy maiden for the Blue Moon factionâŠâ
âWhat? Whatâd you just say? Your sister? My daughter?â Jiang Fengâs eyes widened. What heâd just heard was absolutely astounding. Without a doubt, this information was simply too incredible. Jiang Chen had experienced similar emotions when heâd first heard about it as well, so this was nothing unexpected. Jiang Feng positively reeled with confusion.
âHow can you have a sister?! How would your mother have married someone else and have children with him? Youâre lying, this is all fake, Chen'er, it must be!â He sounded like a raving madman.
Jiang Chen smiled wryly. âFather, I didnât say anything like that. Her child is also yours, but no one knew about it back when you first separated. Thereâs another thing, actually. Mother gave birth to fraternal twins, one boy and one girl.â
This revelation hit Jiang Feng on the head like a hefty club. He saw stars in front of his eyes. Should he be feeling happy? Bewildered? He was still for a long while before coming to his senses. Excitement flared in his eyes. âChen'er, is everything youâve said true?â
âYou can trust it completely. Iâve verified these secrets with many people. The Moon God Sect prefers to keep them hidden, but even secrets have keepers.â
âGood, great, amazing!â Suddenly, Jiang Feng began to cackle loudly. The skin around his eyes became reddened, and tears pooled at their corners. Though men were usually stoic and unyielding, there were certain soft subjects that could bring them to tears.
Jiang Feng had gone through a great deal. He had planned for and anticipated the worst. Hearing that his wife was still alive cheered him up quite a bit. Not only that, but sheâd also given him a pair of children. Two pieces of wonderful news! In that moment, he felt that every trial and tribulation had been worth it.
âSo youâre saying, Chen'er, that weâre not a family of three anymore? Instead, weâre a family of five?! What excellent news. Letâs go find your mother immediately!â Jiang Feng was being very impulsive.
âEasy, father,â Jiang Chen cautioned hastily. âMother is the previous holy maiden of the Blue Moon faction, and younger sister is the current. They surely have a formidable amount of protection around them. If we just go looking for them willy-nilly, then we wonât be able to see them at all. Worse, weâll have given away our goal, lowering our chances to be reunited with them.â
Having seen a fair bit himself, Jiang Chen knew well the barriers for relationships between those of different social classes. His father was just some origin realm cultivator. The Moon God Sect cared little for individuals of that caliber. The Blues, for one, was less than willing for their two generations of holy maidens to have any connections with such a man. Thus, recklessly heading in could only result in closing off future paths towards his mother and sister. That was a much graver matter than just not being able to see them for the time being. To achieve a proper family reunion, they needed to wait for the right time and approach.
Jiang Feng had made the rash suggestion based on his emotions alone. Cooling off was enough for him to agree with his son. Going now would result only in the opposite of what they wanted.
âWhat do you think, Chen'er? My head is a little messed up. Iâd rather listen to your ideas,â Jiang Feng declared decisively.
âWe need to be in this for the long haul. Father, I promise that no matter how much resistance, Iâll see this through and get you and mother back together. Iâll make our family whole again. And Iâll find my younger brotherâŠâ Jiang Chen hadnât wanted to add the last part, but he decided that it was too important to omit.
âFind your younger brother? What do you mean?â Jiang Fengâs tone darkened. Jiang Chen let out a soft sigh. He laid out whatâd happened.
Jiang Feng adopted an ugly look at the situation. âIs the Moon God Sect this cold-blooded?â
âThey are. As is any first rank sect. Donât worry, father. The heavens are watching over our entire family. Even if my little brother has been exiled from the Tilted Moon Region, Iâm sure heâs safe and sound elsewhere. Itâs very possible that these troubles are only trials on his road to greatness.â Jiang Chen could only try to comfort his father this way.
Jiang Feng nodded. âYouâre right. Back in Jiang Han province, you wallowed in ignorance under my protecting eye. After you went to the capital, you suddenly wisened up. And look how well youâve turned out, now! You know, Iâve been hearing about your exploits at the Precious Tree Sect, then the Regal Pill Palace, and then your grudge with Eternal Celestial Capital⊠a first rank sect even has a bounty on your head, eh? Is all of this true?â
As a wanderer, Jiang Feng had been privy to a reasonable amount of information from the jianghu while on the road. The size of the bounty on Jiang Chenâs head had alerted the entire world to his existence. Heâd thought that it was merely someone with the same name at first, but a cursory examination revealed that the Jiang Chen on Eternal Celestial Capitalâs hit-list was his son!
This had scared him into a cold fright. He had to start hiding his name and identity because of it. It wasnât that he was scared of being captured by the Eternal Celestial Capital, but that he was worried that he would be used to blackmail his son. Thankfully, Jiang Feng was so insignificant that few people even noticed him. He managed to avoid the most unfavorable outcomes.
He hadnât heard any more news of Jiang Chen, after that. He thought constantly of his son, but the presence of the bounty from Eternal Celestial Capital remained an assuring sight. As long as the bounty was still there, his son was safe. Truthfully, Jiang Feng sometimes felt proud of his son. A first rank sect hadnât managed to touch his son after how many years? He didnât know where his son had ended up, but heâd maintained a strong faith that his son was alright!
Previous Chapter Next Chapteretvolare's Thoughts
They have much more of a conversation in this chapter, I think that might address thoughts that their reunion seemed too simple in the last two chapters?
Also, this chapter celebrates History's Strongest Senior Brother reaching 1000 chapters!! Woot woot for another big 1000!
"With his brain full of rare books and classics from the era of peak prosperity, Yan Zhaogeâs second crossing over to the present era was like a gamer who was used to playing hell mode suddenly finding himself playing the game on easy.
That was just way too awesome.
But before that, he will have to fix a certain problem.âIâm not a main character? In fact, Iâm actually the the main characterâs love rival and the antagonistic Mr. Perfect senior-apprentice brother? This script is flawed!â"