68: Chapter 68 Going Home

The next morning, as the first light of dawn appeared.

The carriages and horses of the Righteous Alliance had finished gathering in front of Fuwei Inn, ready to set out.

The atmosphere of parting permeated the cool morning breeze.

Chen Fan stood in the ranks, watching Zhang Shan walk up to him with that simple, ancient longsword on his back.

Having not seen him for a few days, the youth's face had lost much of its naive greenness.

In its place was a feigned, deep world-weariness, as if he had been baptized by the bustling world.

"Senior Brother Chen," Zhang Shan said, solemnly cupping his fists toward Chen Fan.

"This journey to Tianchi is long and arduous. I don't know when we shall meet again."

"Take care, Senior Brother."

Chen Fan patted his shoulder and smiled. "You too."

He lowered his voice and leaned into Zhang Shan's ear.

"Although Tianchi is a famous and great Sect, there definitely won't be a Yihong Brothel on the mountain."

"Junior Brother, you must learn to endure the loneliness in the future."

Zhang Shan's world-weary expression, which he had worked so hard to maintain, crumbled instantly.

His face turned red, and he coughed twice.

"Senior Brother, you must be joking."

"As martial artists, we should prioritize our cultivation. How could we indulge in feminine charms?"

He spoke with such righteousness and conviction that his words seemed to ring out.

Hearing this, several nearby Disciples of the Longxing Sect cast admiring glances.

As expected of a Genius favored by Tianchi; his Heart-Nature is truly firm.

Chen Fan only smiled and said nothing.

This kid, in just a few days, hadn't learned much else, but he had mastered the art of putting on an act.

Not only that, he had even learned how to trick people.

"Jinzhong, let's go."

From not far away, Master Liu Cang's voice called out.

Chen Fan responded and gave Zhang Shan a final nod.

"Until we meet again."

"Until we meet again."

The two said no more, each turning to join their respective groups and heading in completely opposite directions.

One was heading toward the Tianchi Holy Land, the path to the Peak of the martial way.

The other was returning to the mundane Longxing Sect.

The carriage slowly started moving and drove out of Xiushan City.

Chen Fan sat in the carriage, listening to the rolling wheels as his thoughts drifted away.

Master Liu Cang sat opposite him, took a sip of strong liquor from his waterskin, and suddenly spoke.

"Jinzhong."

"You've been away from home for over a year now."

Chen Fan snapped back to reality and looked at this 'cheap' master of his.

Master Liu Cang's face held the complex expression of someone who had been through it all.

"Your wife has been raising the child all by herself; it hasn't been easy."

"When you left without a word back then, she likely built up a lot of resentment in her heart."

"After you get back, comfort her well and speak more gently."

"Between husband and wife, there are no grudges that can't be settled overnight."

Chen Fan remained silent.

A blurry figure emerged from the depths of his memory.

Gentle, virtuous, yet possessing a streak of stubbornness.

And a babbling infant in swaddling clothes.

He had intentionally ignored these memories until now.

Because they were too distant, and too... unreal.

"Master, I..."

Chen Fan opened his mouth but found he couldn't say anything.

What could he say?

That he wasn't Chen Jinzhong?

That the woman and child had nothing to do with him?

Carefully recalling Chen Jinzhong's memories, he had married over two years ago, and it was Chen Jinzhong himself who had shamelessly pursued her.

After they married and Lin Wan became pregnant, Chen Jinzhong grew tired of the old and sought the new, eventually setting his sights on the White Lotus Saintess, Su Xin.

Then he left for nearly two years, not even returning when the child was born.

What a damn scumbag!

Chen Fan criticized Chen Jinzhong in his heart.

Master Liu Cang assumed he was just nervous about returning home and sighed.

"Alright, don't think too much about it."

"A real man takes responsibility for the romantic debts he incurs."

Chen Fan: "..."

This conversation was going nowhere.

He simply shut his mouth, leaned against the carriage wall, and closed his eyes to rest.

However, his chaotic thoughts refused to settle.

The Longxing Sect was located in Yanzhou, adjacent to Xiushan Prefecture.

After two days of tiring travel, the group finally arrived at the Yan Prefecture Capital.

The headquarters of the Longxing Sect was situated within this bustling city.

Upon returning to the Sect, Chen Fan did not go home immediately.

He was taken directly to the Disciplinary Hall by Master Liu Cang.

Leaving the Sect without permission to join a demonic cult.

No matter the reason, this was a grave crime.

Inside the Disciplinary Hall, several white-haired elders sat with solemn expressions.

Master Liu Cang recounted the entire sequence of events from beginning to end.

Including how Chen Fan had returned to the right path and his great contributions during the operation to suppress the White Lotus Sect.

However, merits are merits, and faults are faults.

"Chen Jinzhong," the leading Elder of Discipline said, his voice devoid of emotion.

"Do you plead guilty?"

Chen Fan bowed, his attitude sincere.

"This Disciple pleads guilty."

"Considering you were young and ignorant, were bewitched by a temptress, and have now contributed to the Righteous Path," the Elder of Discipline said slowly, "you shall be spared the death penalty, but punishment is unavoidable."

"Thirty strokes of the cane and one month of solitary confinement."

"Do you have any objections?"

"This Disciple accepts the punishment."

No excuses, no begging for mercy.

Thirty strokes, for an 8th Grade Martial Artist, wasn't heavy, but it wasn't light either.

It was enough to tear his flesh open and keep him bedridden for ten days to half a month.

Two disciplinary Disciples pressed him down onto a long bench.

The cold punishment canes, whistling through the air, fell upon his back one after another.

Chen Fan gritted his teeth, not making a sound.

This bit of pain was nothing to him.

He was just thinking that perhaps this was paying back the debt for that unlucky fellow, Chen Jinzhong.

After the thirty strokes were finished, Chen Fan's back was a bloody mess.

He was supported by two fellow Disciples as he walked out of the Disciplinary Hall.

The solitary confinement would be served after his wounds healed.

Master Liu Cang was waiting for him at the door and handed him a bottle of Golden Sore Ointment.

"Go on home."

"Your wife must be waiting anxiously."

Chen Fan took the bottle and nodded.

He declined his fellow Disciples' help and, following those both familiar and foreign memories, limped alone toward home.

It was a small courtyard located in the south of the city.

With blue bricks and black tiles, an old locust tree was planted by the entrance.

A very ordinary, common residence.

Chen Fan stood at the entrance, lingering for a long while.

He could smell the faint aroma of food wafting from the courtyard.

He could also hear a woman softly humming a nursery rhyme, coaxing a child.

Everything seemed so warm, yet so... out of place.

He took a deep breath, raised his hand, and knocked on the courtyard gate.

Knock, knock, knock.

The sound of the nursery rhyme inside the courtyard stopped abruptly.

A moment later, the sound of light footsteps approached.

With a creak.

The gate was pulled open a crack from the inside.

A clean and beautiful face appeared behind the door.

Willow-leaf eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes, fair skin, and long hair held up by a simple wooden hairpin.

She wore a cloth skirt that had faded from washing, but it couldn't hide her gentle and virtuous temperament.

It was exactly the face from his memories.

Lin Wan.

In her arms, she held a delicate, doll-like baby girl.

The baby girl, barely over a year old, was staring with large, dark eyes, curiously at the stranger outside the door.

At the moment she saw Chen Fan.

Lin Wan's body suddenly stiffened.

Her previously calm eyes were instantly flooded with countless complex emotions.

There was surprise and disbelief.

There was the daze of a long-awaited reunion.

And even more so, there was a deep resentment that had been suppressed for a year, now nearly overflowing.

Tears fell uncontrollably from her eyes.

Drop by drop, they splashed onto her daughter's swaddling clothes.

She just stared at him, her lips trembling, but she couldn't utter a single word.

Chen Fan also looked at her.

Looking at this wife in name, and looking at the daughter who shared a Bloodline connection with his current self.

He didn't know how to speak.

Any words at this moment seemed pale and powerless.

He could only remain silent.

The air seemed to have frozen.

Only the leaves of the old locust tree rustled in the wind.

After a long time.

Lin Wan finally moved.

She didn't interrogate him, nor did she cry out.

She simply, silently, opened the courtyard gate completely.

She stepped aside to make a path, her voice carrying a hint of hoarseness from crying and a barely perceptible tremble.

"...Come in and eat."