83: Chapter 83 Heading to Jianzhou

Returning home, Chen Fan carefully put the wooden box away and pushed open the bedroom door.

Lin Wan was sitting by the bedside, holding the soundly sleeping Nuannuan in her arms, softly humming a tuneless lullaby.

Hearing the movement, she looked up, her gentle eyes reflecting the candlelight and Chen Fan's figure.

"You're back."

Her voice was very soft, for fear of waking the child.

Chen Fan nodded, walked over to sit beside her, and took off his outer robe. The atmosphere in the room was peaceful—so peaceful that he couldn't bear to speak.

But he had to.

"Wan'er."

"Hmm?" Lin Wan responded, continuing to gently pat her daughter's back.

"There is a mission from the sect," Chen Fan said in a calm voice. "I need to go on a long journey."

Lin Wan's hand, which had been patting her daughter, suddenly paused.

She slowly looked up, and her originally calm eyes were instantly flooded with astonishment and unease.

"A long journey?" she repeated, her voice carrying an imperceptible tremor. "Where to?"

"Jian Prefecture."

These two words instantly drained the color from Lin Wan's face.

She was not a person of the Jianghu, but she knew where Jian Prefecture was. Separated by thousands of mountains and rivers, it was a place so distant that she had only ever heard of it from storytellers.

"Go… what are you going there for?"

"To participate in the Sword Testing Conference," Chen Fan said, trying to make his tone sound lighter. "It is a sect assignment; I cannot refuse."

Lin Wan's breathing became rapid. She held Nuannuan tighter in her arms, as if she could draw some strength from doing so.

"Is… is it dangerous?"

Her voice was very soft, almost inaudible, filled with cautious panic.

Chen Fan was silent.

What could he say? Say it wasn't dangerous? That would be lying to her. The Sword Testing Conference, the hero ranking list—one didn't need to think hard to know that it was a place where people climbed up by stepping on the corpses of others.

His silence was the best answer.

Lin Wan's body began to tremble slightly. She lowered her head, not daring to look at Chen Fan again.

"Must you go?" she asked, almost pleading. "Can you… tell Master that you aren't going? We don't need to fight for any fame. We can just stay in Yanzhou and live a peaceful life. Isn't that good enough?"

"Wan'er." Chen Fan reached out and held her cold fingers. "This is a sect order. Besides, I just achieved a Breakthrough to the seventh rank. The sect values me, which is why they gave me this opportunity. This is for our family."

"I don't want any opportunities!" Lin Wan's emotions finally broke. She suddenly raised her head, tears welling up in her eyes. "I just want you to be safe! Husband, I just want you to be safe!"

Nuannuan seemed to be disturbed by her mother's agitated emotions. She moved uneasily in her sleep, her little mouth pouting as if she were about to cry.

Lin Wan hurriedly restrained her emotions and lowered her head, gently rubbing her cheek against her daughter's face, forcing back the tears that were about to fall.

The room once again fell into a suffocating silence.

After a long while.

Chen Fan sighed softly and pulled her and the child into his arms.

"I'm sorry."

He didn't know what else to say; he could only utter those three words.

Lin Wan buried her head in his chest, her shoulders trembling slightly as she suppressed her sobs.

"How long will you be gone?" Her voice was muffled and carried a heavy nasal tone.

"I don't know. Once I finish what I need to do, I will come back."

"Will you write to me?"

"I will."

"Don't lie to me."

"I won't."

"When you're out there, don't… don't go flirting with other women."

Chen Fan chuckled and held her tighter. "Rest assured. With a wife as beautiful as you at home, how could I ever look at the mediocre women outside?"

The joke made Lin Wan's tense body relax a little.

She raised her head from his arms. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, making her look pitiful.

"Then promise me that you will be careful. If you can't win, run. Don't be stubborn. Forget about the hero ranking list and the reputation. I just need you to come back."

"Okay, I promise you." Chen Fan nodded solemnly and reached out to wipe the tear stains from her cheeks. "I promise you that I will definitely come back alive to see you and Nuannuan."

That night, the oil lamp burned for a long time before it was extinguished.

In the darkness, clothes were shed, and skin pressed against skin.

There were no words, only rapid breathing and a frantic desire for one another.

This wasn't like their usual tenderness; it was more like a farewell where they used all their strength.

Lin Wan went from initial awkwardness to taking the initiative later on. She used everything she had to cater to him and entangle with him, as if she wanted to imprint his body and scent deep into her Soul.

Sweat soaked the bedsheets and blurred their vision.

After the madness came a boundless sense of emptiness and fatigue.

Chen Fan held her warm, soft body in his arms, the tip of his nose filled with her pleasant scent of soap, but beneath his calm exterior, his heart was a turbulent undercurrent.

Such attachment is fatal.

Three days passed in a flash.

During these three days, Chen Fan did not go to the Longxing Sect, nor did he practice martial arts. He just stayed quietly at home, accompanying his wife and daughter.

He would hold Nuannuan in the yard to sunbathe, using a foxtail grass to make the little one giggle.

He would accompany Lin Wan to the market to buy vegetables, listening to her argue with the vegetable vendor over a few coins until her face turned red.

He would fill the water vat and chop the firewood, as if he wanted to finish all the chores before he left.

Lin Wan became very quiet. She just followed silently behind him, wiping his sweat and handing him water, her eyes never leaving him.

The moment of parting finally arrived.

On the morning of the third day, before the sky was fully bright.

Chen Fan was already dressed, wearing a set of blue martial arts attire with a long sword strapped to his back.

Lin Wan stood quietly at the door holding Nuannuan. Her face was somewhat pale, having not slept all night.

Chen Fan took a deep breath and walked up to her.

"Wan'er, there is something I must solemnly tell you."

Lin Wan nodded, her lips pressed tightly together.

"I have a close friend, who is also my sworn brother," Chen Fan said, looking into her eyes, enunciating every word. "His name is Chen Fan."

A trace of confusion appeared on Lin Wan's face.

"If… if I have an accident while I'm away and cannot return," Chen Fan's voice was very calm, yet it made Lin Wan's heart tighten instantly. "Do not be afraid. This brother of mine will come to find you. When that time comes, if you have any difficulties, just tell him, and he will help you."

Tears silently slid from the corners of Lin Wan's eyes.

"Don't say such things…"

"Listen to me finish," Chen Fan interrupted, his expression unprecedentedly serious. "People's hearts are treacherous; you cannot easily trust anyone. To prove his identity, there is a code between us that only we two know."

He leaned into Lin Wan's ear and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear.

"You ask him: 'Odd changes, even stays'."

"If he can answer the next sentence: 'Signs follow the quadrant', then he is the person I spoke of. Remember, this code must absolutely not be revealed to a third person, not even my Master! Do you understand?"

Lin Wan was already weeping. She bit her lip hard and nodded forcefully.

Chen Fan sighed inwardly.

He didn't know who he would reincarnate into after he died—whether male or female, old or young. Leaving this math mnemonic from his past life was the only proof he could think of that wouldn't be cracked by this world.

This was also the last guarantee he could leave for this mother and daughter.

"I'm leaving."

He reached out and pulled his weeping wife and his daughter, who was sleeping in swaddling clothes, into his arms.

Silence was the best farewell at this moment.

After a long time, he let go. He took one last look at that tear-stained face, then turned resolutely, strode out the courtyard gate, and never looked back.

Longxing Sect.

The sky was bright, and there were already Disciples practicing on the martial arts field.

Chen Fan arrived at the inner hall, where Master Liu Cang and a sturdy-looking middle-aged man were already waiting.

That middle-aged man was none other than Uncle Song, who was leading the team.

When Liu Cang saw him, he didn't waste words, simply nodding.

"You're here."

Uncle Song looked Chen Fan up and down, a trace of approval in his eyes.

"Not bad. Your Foundation is solid, and your aura is steady. You are a good seedling."

Liu Cang took a money bag from his robe and handed it to Chen Fan.

"For the road."

He paused, then added:

"Go."

Chen Fan took the money bag and bowed deeply to the two elders.

"Master, Junior Martial Uncle, this Disciple is leaving."

Uncle Song waved his hand.

"Let's go. We can talk on the road."

He turned and began walking toward the mountain gate. Chen Fan followed behind him. The two of them passed through the martial arts field and, facing the morning sun, walked out of the Longxing Sect's gate.