693: Chapter 104 Tang Kun's Worries

Inside the Tang Family Fortress living room.

After listening to Meng Li, Jing Tian, and Ding Shiyan’s purpose for coming, Tang Kun showed an apologetic expression.

“Mr. Meng, you once treated this old man and taught Xue Jian the Five Treasures Bodyguard Technique. You have shown kindness to this old man, to Xue Jian, and even to the Tang Family Fortress. Little Brother Jing Tian now has a successful career and is a talented young man of his generation. Mr. Ding has been at Yongan Pawnshop for many years and enjoys a good reputation.”

“Logically speaking, I should not refuse your marriage proposal.”

“However, Xue Jian’s situation is special, and this old man still needs to consider it. Please forgive me for not being able to agree at the moment.”

Hearing this, Jing Tian immediately became anxious, stood up, and asked, “Why?”

Meng Li raised his hand, signaling him to calm down, then followed up with a question: “Fortress Master Tang, what are your concerns? Please speak frankly. If the matter is impossible, we will naturally retreat. But if the matter can be resolved, we hope Fortress Master Tang can help us achieve this beautiful union.”

Ding Shiyan added, “That’s right, if there’s anything, we can discuss it together.”

Tang Kun stroked his beard and said, “To be honest, when Xue Jian was three years old, she contracted a strange illness. No medicine could cure it, and she was so weak she didn't even have the strength to walk. One day, a bamboo flute sound suddenly drifted in from outside, and Xue Jian actually started dancing to it. Her illness immediately got better.”

“I immediately carried Xue Jian out to look for the person playing the bamboo flute.”

“That person didn’t leave a name, but just looked at the jade pendant Xue Jian had always carried since childhood and said that the jade pendant was originally a Yin and Yang pair. The other half was on Xue Jian’s fated person. Once the two jade pendants met, they would merge into one. Xue Jian and her fated person would stick together and could not be separated no matter what.”

“If an ordinary person said this, this old man naturally wouldn’t care.”

“But that person truly cured Xue Jian’s illness; he was a Master with real abilities.”

“This old man has no choice but to believe his words.”

“However, until now, Xue Jian’s fated person has not appeared...”

Before he finished speaking, Jing Tian exclaimed in surprise, “Who says he hasn’t appeared? He has appeared, and that’s me!”

“You?” Tang Kun looked suspicious.

Jing Tian hurriedly said, “That’s right. The incident where I and Pig... Xue Jian got entangled on the street wasn’t because I intentionally molested her, but because I went to watch a meteor shower the night before and unexpectedly obtained a jade pendant from the sky.”

“Elder Brother Meng, Uncle Ding, and Mao Mao and Biping all know about this.”

Meng Li and Ding Shiyan nodded in unison.

Jing Tian continued, “The next day, I went shopping with the jade pendant, and it suddenly reacted, pulling Xue Jian and me together.”

Tang Kun frowned and said, “But I searched you afterwards and didn’t find the jade pendant.”

“That’s because after Xue Jian and I separated, and before I was brought to the Tang Clan, a mysterious person suddenly appeared and snatched the jade pendant away,” Jing Tian said.

Tang Kun pondered for a moment and questioned, “According to you, this is too much of a coincidence. You got involved with Xue Jian because of the jade pendant, and then someone immediately snatched it away. Could it be that person could foresee the future and deliberately obstruct your marriage with Xue Jian?”

“Even if what you say is true, that jade pendant was in your hands for less than two days, which means it doesn’t belong to you.”

“In other words, Xue Jian’s fated person should not be you, but the person who snatched the jade pendant.”

According to normal logic, there was nothing wrong with this statement.

Therefore, for a moment, Jing Tian was speechless and secretly annoyed.

He suddenly remembered that the mysterious person had snatched the jade pendant because he was about to sell it, and the person specifically stopped him. Although he didn't know what the jade pendant was for, if he hadn't intended to sell it at the time, the other party might not have snatched it.

Then his marriage proposal wouldn't have encountered this obstacle.

Meng Li, who was beside him, heard this and thought of Li Xiaoyao.

The person who snatched the jade pendant was Li Xiaoyao, the male protagonist of Chinese Paladin 1, who possessed the ability to travel through time.

In the original plot, after Li Xiaoyao snatched the jade pendant, he returned it to Jing Tian at the end to help the latter eliminate the Evil Sword Immortal.

Now that the Evil Sword Immortal is gone, there’s no need for the jade pendant. Will Li Xiaoyao still return it to Jing Tian?

...

Meanwhile, in a certain spatial-temporal tunnel.

Li Xiaoyao, clad in a cloak, fell into thought as he looked at the distorted and blurry scene ahead.

“How could this be?”

“Could it be that someone else traveled through time and changed the course of events?”

“But aren’t I the only one who possesses the ability to travel through time?”

No sooner had he spoken than some images and information related to two timelines suddenly flashed through his mind.

His Master Mo Yixi once said that the incident where Jiang Ming caused Shushan to decline from its peak happened over a hundred years ago.

And Senior Martial Uncle Yin Ruozhuo personally witnessed that upheaval.

However, inferring from the situation of his father Li Sansi and mother Lin Qinger, the event of Grandmaster Jing Tian eliminating the Evil Sword Immortal must have happened at most fifty-odd years ago.

Comparing the two, when the Evil Sword Immortal incident occurred, Senior Martial Uncle Yin should have already joined Shushan, and even Master Mo Yixi would have entered Shushan.

But the actual situation was not like this.

For a moment, Li Xiaoyao couldn’t help but mutter to himself.

Did he travel to the wrong place again, to a parallel timeline, or was there a problem with his original timeline?

Before he could draw a conclusion, Li Xiaoyao began to blur and become ethereal, as if an invisible force was erasing him.

Sensing this, he vaguely understood.

Not time, but worlds!

The two stories belonged to different worlds; some things were only similar, not connected.

He didn't travel to the wrong time, but to the wrong world!

...

On the other side, Tang Family Fortress.

Tang Kun’s words made it difficult for Jing Tian to refute, and Meng Li’s thoughts drifted.

The scene immediately fell silent.

After a moment, Ding Shiyan slowly spoke, “Fortress Master Tang, Jing Tian’s jade pendant was snatched away, and its whereabouts are unknown. So, let’s not discuss that for now. To my knowledge, Jing Tian and Young Miss Tang are deeply in love and perfectly matched, which is truly rare.”

“It would truly be a pity if a pair of lovers couldn’t be together because of half a jade pendant.”

“Furthermore, according to the Fortress Master, the fated person with the other half of the jade pendant has not appeared to this day.”

“Perhaps what that person said back then was mistaken.”

“Stepping back further, if that fated person never appears, must Young Miss Tang wait a lifetime?”

Tang Kun sighed, “Mr. Ding, this old man understands what you mean.”

“But that person indeed cured Xue Jian and had real abilities. This old man finds it hard not to believe his words.”

“This old man’s refusal of this marriage is not intentional obstruction, but rather worry. What if, what if Jing Tian and Xue Jian get married, and then the fated person with the other half of the jade pendant appears, and something happens between them according to that mysterious Heavenly Will?”

“How would Jing Tian conduct himself then?”

“And Xue Jian... what would she do?”

Ding Shiyan froze.

He wanted to say it was unlikely, but he couldn't be sure.

He hadn't achieved much in his life, but having lived this long, he had seen some mystical things and knew that there were cultivation Masters in the world, and there was such a thing as Heavenly Will.

And these things were unpredictable, especially for ordinary people.

Therefore, Tang Kun’s worries were not unfounded.

If things really developed as he said, it would not only be difficult to handle but also unsightly.

“Impossible! Absolutely impossible!”

...