NOVEL NEXT Chapter 370 – Reunion of Father and Son, Husband and Wife; the Whole Family Ascends to Cloudpeak Province - Part 3
Ping'an froze. The fire in his eyes crystallized into murderous ice.0
No more words. He sheathed his sword, fixed his gaze, and drew again.0
This time the draw birthed countless Ping'an. It was as if every millisecond of the young man's motion was captured by an impossibly fast shutter and frozen in its own slice of spacetime, each copy rushing forward in a seamless, lethal procession…0
Whoever faced this skill had to survive not one strike, but the combined weight of dozens of Ping'ans super-imposed in the same instant.0
The earlier 34 clones had been 34 separate fighters; now those 34 snapshots were compressed into one.0
Ping'an's peak combat power still remained at 7,880, yet every iota of that power was being squeezed for all it was worth. He was furious.0
Yet it still wasn't enough.0
Li Yuan raised the sycamore twig. It became an unscalable mountain. Ping'an's clones burst like soap bubbles against it.0
Unwilling to yield, he slashed again. Li Yuan split the attack with another casual tap, then yawned.0
At last, Ping'an stopped.0
"I concede. You're far stronger than I am. You must be the watcher who's followed me for years." He squared his shoulders. "But why mock my late father? Had I a few more years—"0
Li Yuan removed the mask and spoke in his own voice. "Cry-baby, I am your father."0
Ping'an snorted, but his gaze slid over…and froze. Tricks? Instead of bursting into anger, his mind cooled down and he became more focused.A Yin disguise? No. High ranking martial artists can't use Yin disguises. Looking more closely, he really does look like my old man when he was young, but…0
"Powerful as you are, why impersonate the dead?" he finally asked after some hesitation.I won't be fooled… It must be some sort of ghost item! I saw my old man wither away with my own eyes. Why would he suddenly show up in front of me young again!?0
"Heh… I guess all those lessons didn't go to waste." Li Yuan liked the boy's wariness. "Let's see… I guess you might've been too young, but do you remember that time Sheng'er accidentally socked you in the face with a crow? After that, it took ages to get you to stop bawling every time you saw one.0
"Oh, and what about those silly books you used to like so much? What was it called again,Reincarnated as The Strongest Sword Emperor, Overpower All Schemes With Power!There was that other one too…Assassin Village, Demon Fox Kid Aims to Become The Assassin King!You even snatched Xiao Ju's underwear from the washing line and wore it over your head, pretending to be an assassin.2
"Remember the conversation we had when I was whipping you into shape? I told you…" He rattled off secrets only father and son would know, then explained why he'd come, and that Xue Ning was still alive, waiting in Cloudpeak Province.0
Finally, the young man's eyes reddened; tears spilled as he whispered, "Dad, you're alive…"0
Li Yuan pressed on. "You're peak fifth rank. Fourth rank lies ahead in blood and sweat, not by staying sheltered under the umbrella of the Holy Tree Temple. Work with Yao Jue. Smuggle your wives and daughters out, then meet up with your mother in Cloudpeak Province."0
"My master—"0
"I'll deal with her."0
"But the coming war—"0
THWACK!A knuckle slammed down on his head. "Your mother's ill. If not now, when?"0
"Y-yes, sir."0
A heartbeat later. "Father, how are you…this strong?"0
"You're my blood. Where do you think your own talent came from?"0
"And the white hair?"0
"Broke into fifth rank, reversed the years. Enough talk. Make arrangements. Swing by Yao Jue's manor too. I'll forge you a new weapon. Then take it, collect your family, and leave quietly. No extras."0
Ping'an nodded, then exhaled. "All these years…have you been watching me?"0
"Just arrived. Never saw a thing before today."0
"Then who—?"0
Li Yuan's brow creased. "When did you last feel that gaze?"0
"Moments before you appeared."0
"And now?"0
"Gone."0
"You asked your master to trace it?"0
"She tried, the temple master too. Neither sensed a thing."0
Li Yuan felt nothing either, which worried him. "Hurry back. I'll see you all to Cloudpeak Province myself. While you're setting things up, spend time with your aunt Yao Jue. I'll fetch Huayin and Shuixiang."1
˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙0
One month later.0
On the desolate border of Skygarden Prefecture a hefty carriage waited, roomy enough for a small parlor.0
Inside sat a dashing man, three lovely women, a boy, and a girl.0
The driver looked like a plain maid, but a closer look betrayed the disguise.0
Dust rose in the ravine. A man with flowing black hair emerged, a woman slung over each shoulder.0
On the left was a snow robed goddess who was beautiful enough to topple kingdoms. On the right was a petite fairy in an ink-black dress, collar stitched with shy-blush blossoms. Both were limp and clearly unconscious.0
The man, of course, was Li Yuan, and the family reunion was about to begin.0
Over the past month, he had scoured every back-alley inn and private estate outside the Holy Tree Temple before he finally tracked down Cui Huayin and Jing Shuixiang.0
First he tried courtesy, then reason. Neither worked. Both wives insisted on staying. Cui Huayin wanted to keep her position as an elder. Jing Shuixiang even planned to summon Gu Xuejian and clear Qing Hancheng's name.2
Time was running short. Explanations would take a week; the storm would hit in days. So Li Yuan simply knocked them out, slung one beauty over each shoulder, and bolted.2
Ordinarily he would respect their choice. But right nowrespectmeant letting them die on the frontlines.1
Additionally, as the former Yin Consort, Cui Huayin would sooner or later clash with the Emperor himself.0
Li Yuan believed it was better to uproot the trouble while it was still a seed.0
He vaulted onto the waiting carriage, passed the limp ladies to Yao Jue, and took the reins.0
"Hide their weapons," he told her. "I'll drive."0
"Understood, Master," Yao Jue said, sticking her tongue out at the unconscious pair. "Don't blame him too much when you wake up, all right?"0
Inside the roomy coach, three other women were clinging to Ping'an with starry eyes.0
The pregnant one sighed. "I've longed to leave all that chaos behind."0
The other two chimed in.0
"Where my husband goes, I go."0
"I'll stay with you forever, Ping'an."0
When Li Yuan lifted the curtain, they greeted him with a graceful, "Father-in-law."0
Then, apart from the expectant mother, each woman nudged her child forward. "Call him Grandpa."0
Two pairs of bright eyes, about four or five years old, blinked up. "Grandpa!"0
The little girl added, "Mama, can we ever go back?"0
The boy looked at him solemnly and asked, "They say Grandpa's the most famous weaponsmith in the land. Will we get to see your work?"0
Li Yuan chuckled. "Certainly. All in good time."0
He let the curtain fall, shifted his face to something nondescript, snapped the whip, and the horses thundered off. Above, a dozen birds scattered into the sky, their senses linked to his own. This was his moving early-warning net stretching almost 200 kilometers.0
He skirted every town, and when the road gave out he simply hauled the entire carriage into the air, leapt the obstacle, and set it down again.0
Jing Shuixiang was the first to regain consciousness.0
"Li Yuan, what are you?" she demanded.0
"Your husband," he answered. "I won't watch you die, so I'm taking you away."0
"Who wins or loses is far from settled!" she snapped.0
"How did I beat you, then?"0
"No weapon, cheap shot!"0
"When we stop for the night, we'll spar again. Touch me once and I'll let you go back."0
A little later Cui Huayin awoke. She glanced at Yao Jue, at Jing Shuixiang, who was practically smoking with fury, then at Ping'an and the well-born girls around him. She didn't struggle; instead she curved her lips into a cool smile and quoted softly:0
"Bright moon over the sea—though far apart, we share this light…Is this your idea ofsharingthe light?"0
Li Yuan answered, "Back then, I asked if you'd come with me; you refused, so I left you at the Holy Tree Temple. Circumstances have changed."0
"You still want me in some frontier backwater." Cui Huayin's tone was calm. "No one will believe Qing Hancheng colluded with the Lotus Cult."0
"I do," Yao Jue said.0
Cui Huayin raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you afraid of betraying your sworn sister, Gu Xuejian?"0
"I believe it too," Ping'an put in.0
Cui Huayin looked surprised. "Because your father told you your mother's alive, so you trust him?"0
Ping'an shook his head. "No. My old man has no need to lie."0
"Why?" Jing Shuixiang asked, her petite figure vibrating with suppressed power.0
Ping'an gave a crooked grin. "Because he can still beat me like he did 14 years ago, and I haven't even seen his true strength yet."0
"Impossible!" Jing Shuixiang blurted, her petite figure trembling.0
Cui Huayin's eyes narrowed in thought. "Li Yuan, what do you want? Convince me and I'll come willingly. Fail, and you'll have to carry me off again, power or no power."2
Li Yuan laughed. "Fair enough. Shuixiang wants a duel, Huayin wants answers. Once we cross into the borders of Cloudpeak Province, we'll settle both."0
Jing Shuixiang folded her arms, pushing up her modest chest, and growled, "Hurry up!"1
Li Yuan, ever patient with family, smiled. "As you wish, my lady. No need for anger…"0
The carriage rolled on through twilight toward Cloudpeak Province—one reluctant clan in tow, but together and, for now, safe.0