Chapter 6: Parents Enter the Sect

Country people rose early. Just as the sky began to brighten, thin curls of white smoke drifted up from every household kitchen. After breakfast, everyone in the family, men and women alike, would head down to the fields to work.

Old Wang’s family counted as one of the wealthy households in the village. His three sons had all made something of themselves outside, and the family had built a big three-story house. Only the fourth son, the youngest, still lived with them.

The Wang Xiao’er Chen Jiankang had mentioned, the one who had returned to the village to do livestream sales, was Old Wang’s second son.

Wang Xiaosi, also called Wang Pingyuan, had stayed up all night gaming. As usual, he was squatting on the balcony, gnawing on a steamed bun.

His gaze suddenly fixed on one spot. Then he jumped up and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Chen Yi, when did you get back? Where are you all going this early? Are those two you’re carrying your kids? They’re already that big?”

Chen Yi, who was passing in front of Old Wang’s big house on his way to the sect, looked over in the direction of the voice and saw Wang Pingyuan.

Wang Pingyuan and Chen Yi had been elementary school classmates, but because of the difference in their intelligence, the two had gone their separate ways once they reached middle school.

One had studied in town, finished middle school, tested into a vocational school for animal husbandry, then returned home and idled around ever since. Chen Yi, meanwhile, had been sent by the combined efforts of his entire family to a key middle school in the city, then gone from a key high school all the way to a key university. He had always been the pride of Old Chen’s family.

Only now, looking at it, they had both come home to live off their parents. Neither was any more capable than the other.

Looking at Wang Pingyuan, Chen Yi felt that his fifth candidate had just presented himself.

But now was not the time to greet him rashly. They had not been in contact for so many years. No one knew what kind of character that big, silly kid from back then had grown into. Chen Yi did want to complete missions and build the sect, but that did not mean he would accept just anyone.

So, in response to Wang Pingyuan’s questions, Chen Yi answered them one by one, then pointed toward his family’s orange grove and said, “I’m going over to inspect it. I’m thinking of trying your second brother’s old route. It’s hard to make a living out there.”

“Oh, give it up.” The moment Wang Pingyuan heard this, his whole face wrinkled. “I’ve eaten your family’s oranges. Even if you sold them for three mao a catty to make canned fruit, no one would take them. Don’t waste your effort. With my brother’s brains, he couldn’t even sell the best rice in the village, let alone your family’s oranges…”

Chen Yi cut him off with a smile. “Oh, right. Your third brother works with the Criminal Police Brigade, doesn’t he? When he comes back, could you let me know?”

Wang Pingyuan had still been wearing a look of disdain a moment ago. Now the frivolity on his face faded. He leaned half his body out over the balcony and lowered his voice. “Did something happen to you outside? What happened? Do you want me to call my brother?”

This guy, who did not seem all that likable at first glance, revealed his plain sincerity with just one sentence.

Chen Yi gave him a few extra points in his heart and explained, “It’s nothing. It’s not urgent. Just tell me when he comes back.”

“All right. Your WeChat and phone number haven’t changed, right?”

“No.”

“Then okay.” Wang Pingyuan withdrew his head again.

Talking to Wang Pingyuan delayed them a little. The sun had already leapt out from behind the mountain.

June was already hot. It was still fairly cool in the mountains, but the ultraviolet rays were strong. With the sun at their backs, the Old Chen family hurried up the mountain.

Terraced fields crisscrossed the slopes.

Xiang Lan and Chen Jiankang had been frightened by what happened last night. They were dazed and did not dare speak. Chen Yi carried one child in each arm, and the two children sat as steadily as if they were in a smooth-moving car, all their attention on the unfamiliar scenery before them.

They went up the mountain the whole way. People from the mountains walked fast. Yesterday, Chen Yi had spent more than twenty minutes going up the mountain. Today, in less than fifteen minutes, they were already standing in front of the orange grove.

Looking at the dense, flourishing orange grove that only failed in producing sweet fruit, Chen Jiankang could not even be bothered to feel distressed. He looked around curiously. “What are we doing here?”

Directly in front of Chen Yi was the orange tree that allowed entry into and exit from the sect. Returning to the old place, he inexplicably felt a little nervous.

He took a deep breath and said, “Next, whatever I tell you to do, just do it. Don’t make a fuss. Trust me.”

What reason did the Chen couple have not to trust him? Their son had always been their pride. Thinking back now to his still-thin back protecting them last night, their hearts were full of comfort.

Even if their son was only asking them to run into a tree…

All right, it was a little outrageous.

Chen Yi glanced around and saw no one, then urged his parents to walk toward the orange tree ahead.

The Chen couple looked at the orange tree, then at each other. In the end, Chen Jiankang gritted his teeth, stretched both hands forward, shut his eyes, and walked ahead.

Something marvelous happened.

The man who was clearly about to crash into the tree suddenly vanished before their eyes.

“Ah!”

Xiang Lan cried out in fright, then immediately clapped a hand hard over her mouth.

“Your, your dad, he…” She looked at Chen Yi in panic.

Chen Yi said, “We’ll talk after we go in. Once there are more people around, it’ll be inconvenient to enter and leave.”

“Go in?”

“Mm.”

With her husband’s example, Xiang Lan had at least a little confidence. She mustered her courage and stepped forward. Not only did she not hit the tree, her outstretched hands did not even feel like they had touched anything.

She carefully opened her eyes. Her vision was surrounded by white light, and she could clearly see the blue sky and white clouds. There were none of the encircling branches or aberration terror she had imagined.

Her husband was standing two steps higher than her on the stairs, staring upward in complete shock.

Just then, another person suddenly appeared beside her.

This time, Xiang Lan was not frightened. She turned to look at the son who had followed her in. “Youngest, what is this?”

“Wow!!!”

“Ahhh!”

“What? What?”

“Daddy, Daddy, again, again! That was so fun!”

Chen Yi had thought that carrying the children and running into a tree would scare them. In the end, he confirmed that he had underestimated the children’s trust in him, as well as the intelligence of children their age.

Seeing their grandfather and grandmother vanish before their eyes had not only failed to shock the children, it had instead turned into an interesting game.

The moment Chen Yi carried them through space, they clung to him and demanded to do it again.

Chen Yi comforted the two children in a few words, set them down, and let them climb the stairs by themselves. Then he straightened and looked at his parents. “This is what I wanted to bring you to see. A sect that can face chaotic times, practice cultivation methods, and even shelter us in peace.

“Dad, Mom, will you trust me and join this sect?”

Xiang Lan had already been shocked by this method. As soon as her son asked, she nodded without even thinking.

Chen Jiankang, on the other hand, had been village chief for so many years after all. Shock was shock, but his rationality was still there. “Is this a state method?”

“No. It’s my method. A bit of an opportunity. I’ll explain slowly later.”

“This… didn’t you say the outside world is popularizing something about spiritual energy revival?”

“I know. The outside world only knows now too.”

“?”

“Since I have this method, the state has it now too.”

“?”

Seeing that his father still looked completely baffled, Chen Yi sighed. “I want to cooperate with the state…”

“!” Chen Jiankang’s eyes lit up. “So that’s why you want to see Wang Xiaosan. He works at the Provincial Bureau?”

Chen Yi nodded.

At last, the first relieved smile since the aberration had appeared emerged on Chen Jiankang’s face.

Having set down his burden, Chen Jiankang climbed the steps. Chen Yi walked shoulder to shoulder with him.

The children ran ahead. Behind them was Xiang Lan, hurrying after them and worrying they might fall. Laughter and reminders rang out now and then. The whole family was happy and harmonious, giving even Chen Yi the feeling that the future would no longer be so difficult.

Only when they reached the mountain gate archway, Chen Jiankang looked at the three words “The Lurker Sect” carved on the ornately decorated white jade stone and fell into a period of contemplation.

Finally, he asked hesitantly, “Is this sect proper?”

“How did you get this sect?”

“Was it originally in our family’s land?”

“Does ‘The Lurker’ mean that new online slang? Then this sect can’t have been built long ago. Can it fight anomalous entities?”

Chen Yi: “…”

No!

I do not regret it!

The existence of the The Lurker Sect was meant to remind him to plan before acting, to be careful and cautious in the coming apocalypse.

This was not only the sect’s name. It was also the sect’s core philosophy. Its soul!!

Chen Yi trusted the two elders and explained how he had been chosen by the sect, how he needed to build the sect, recruit disciples, and complete missions in order to obtain the sect’s protection and practice cultivation methods.

“…I have reason to expect that after cultivating to a certain stage, we may even be able to fly by relying on ourselves. As for that aberration from yesterday, forget it hurting us. We could poke it to death with one finger.”

When the aberration from last night was mentioned, his parents had nothing more to say. After all, that had been a terrifying thing they had seen with their own eyes.

No one wanted to provoke something like that. And if they did provoke it, they would naturally hope it could be dealt with easily.

So no matter how one looked at it, the existence of this kind of sect was definitely far more trustworthy than that terrifying anomalous thing.

In this way, the Chen couple naturally both joined the sect smoothly.

Main Quest: Sect Master Appointment

Reward: One peach tree, low-grade spirit stone x5

Appoint the sect master: 1/1 complete

Sect master practices cultivation method to first stage of Qi Condensation: 0/1 incomplete

Widely Recruit Disciples II: 4/5 incomplete

Chen Yi’s anticipation for the peach tree surpassed everything else.

Peach trees warded off evil.

The human-head balloon aberration had targeted him. Under circumstances where he could not solve it with his fists, completing the mission and obtaining the peach tree was his only hope.

It was just that time was limited. He was still short one disciple, his Qi Condensation had not reached the first stage, and he could not split himself in two.

Chen Yi’s difficulty was written all over his face. After Chen Jiankang learned about it, he waved a hand. “I’ll help you find this one disciple. You cultivate.”

The old man adapted well. He immediately accepted his new identity, and after making plans for his son, he was about to go down the mountain.

Chen Yi held him back and said, “No rush. Come with me first.”

Chen Yi took his father toward the Scripture Pavilion. On the way, they passed his son and daughter, who were still exploring the main hall, as well as his mother Xiang Lan, who was responsible for watching the children. He called the three of them along too.

Cognition was contamination.

Last night, his parents had seen the aberration with their own eyes, and now they had come into contact with the sect’s secrets. They could no longer be treated as ordinary people. On top of that, the aberration had circled inside and outside the village countless times last night. Who knew what kind of hidden dangers it had left behind in this peaceful little mountain village?

His arrival had brought unknown changes to this world. Chen Yi urgently wanted himself and the people around him to become even stronger.

Chen Yi brought his family to the Scripture Pavilion.

Sure enough, it was just as he had thought. Disciples could all pick up the book Spirit Nurturing Art, and then, amid their expressions of utter horror, it transformed into a mass of blue light and entered their minds.

His father and mother closed their eyes and sensed it for a while. While marveling at this immortal-like method, they followed the cultivation method in their minds, sat cross-legged on the floor, and began cultivating.

At first, his son and daughter did the same. Their little faces were solemn, and they sat cross-legged in quite convincing fashion.

Unfortunately, children’s attention spans were truly poor. In less than five minutes, his son was the first to be unable to bear it. He stood up and began touching this and looking at that.

Another minute later, his daughter also opened her eyes.

Chen Yi glanced at his parents, who were meditating and cultivating. He knew that entry was crucial and that it would not be good to disturb them, so he took the two children out of the Scripture Pavilion.

He was just about to say they should take the opportunity to have a look around the sect’s main hall when he saw a yellow clump that absolutely should not have appeared here wagging its tail and running over.

Chen Yi: “?!!”

How could the family’s Da Huang dog be here?

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