Chapter 10: Idiot Son

Pang Xiaolei drove Chen Jiankang home. They went straight to Lishui Village the whole way and did not have to detour like the bus did, so it was actually very fast.

A little after seven, they had already reached the boundary of Lishui Village.

At this time, the sky had not gone completely dark. Deep in the mountains, everything was peaceful and quiet. The westering sun lit up the clouds on the horizon, the orange-red color making it look as if half the sky were burning.

It was hot and stuffy in the county town. Pang Xiaolei opened the window and let the cool, fresh air blow in. As he sped along the winding mountain road, he quietly observed the old village chief in the passenger seat.

He was very nervous. It was fear born from the depths of his heart, displayed on that honest, simple face with almost no concealment.

The source of his fear seemed to be time. Along the way, Village Chief Chen had spoken four times in total. Aside from the first time, when he added a word of thanks, everything else had been about darkness and speed. In the end, it was all related to time.

What could happen in a village deep in these mountains that would make someone feel fear? Pang Xiaolei had only sensed this kind of situation from victims whose lives were under threat, or criminals whose death sentences had been confirmed. If it was not a matter of life and death, an ordinary person might never experience this in their entire life.

Pang Xiaolei’s professional sensitivity left him full of doubts. In his mind, he had already gone over Chen Jiankang’s every word and action since they met, again and again.

In the end, what came to Pang Xiaolei’s mind was Chen Jiankang’s insistence on seeing Wang Ping’an, as well as the special department Wang Ping’an was now in, a department even he could not dig up any information about.

They arrived at the entrance to Lishui Village. As soon as the car came to a steady stop, Chen Jiankang hurriedly got out. He was eager to leave, but then remembered something and leaned against the car door. “Thank you, Officer Pang. You should hurry back too. The mountain roads are hard to walk once it gets dark. Don’t stay in the mountains. Get back to the county town early.”

Pang Xiaolei smiled and nodded. He watched Chen Jiankang hurry into the village. His rushed steps looked especially flustered.

On this side, Pang Xiaolei had already turned off the engine. He opened the door and got out. After glancing left and right, he followed.

There was something strange about Chen Jiankang’s every movement. Pang Xiaolei’s professional training would not allow him to pretend he had not seen it. Besides, once anything became connected to that strange department, Pang Xiaolei’s curiosity became unbearable.

His father worked in the provincial brigade, and the occasional hints he let slip made Pang Xiaolei sense that something was wrong. The higher-ups were going to make a major move and were currently screening officers. He received outstanding evaluations every year and had cracked several major cases, so why was he not included? What exactly were the screening criteria?

He had not been able to find anything out in the provincial capital. Who would have thought he would gain a clue in a village? There was no reason for him to give up so easily.

At the very least, he had to know what was making this old village chief so afraid and anxious.

If Pang Xiaolei wanted to tail someone, how could Chen Jiankang possibly notice? That was not even mentioning the fact that Chen Jiankang had something weighing on his mind and was moving like a storm.

The physical condition of someone who had just entered qi refining made things somewhat difficult for Pang Xiaolei. He had not expected Village Chief Chen, who looked nearly fifty, to actually have such good physical fitness.

Pang Xiaolei panted as he followed Chen Jiankang into a private residence. Judging by its exterior, the building was not among the best in the village, but it was still spacious. Seeing how calmly Chen Jiankang entered, it was obvious this was his home.

Before Pang Xiaolei could take a closer look, Chen Jiankang, who had entered the yard, pushed open the gate again and locked it behind him. Under his arm was a rolled-up bundle. After leaving the house, he hurried even deeper into the village.

This time, Chen Jiankang’s expression was clearly different. He was sneaky, glancing left and right, as if he did not want anyone to see him going out at this hour.

Pang Xiaolei frowned. He understood Chen Jiankang’s actions less and less.

One after the other, they took a small path through the village and arrived at the terraced fields on the west side.

Chen Jiankang was still walking forward. Pang Xiaolei followed for two more steps, then gradually stopped.

A young man went up to meet Chen Jiankang. When Chen Jiankang saw him, he visibly let out a breath of relief. Pang Xiaolei looked at that young man, and his pupils contracted.

He had received professional training and had a very good memory. He recognized this young man at a glance, especially since the other party had not even changed clothes.

Finally, Pang Xiaolei’s gaze fell on the sword-shaped weapon in the young man’s hand. It looked light and airy, as if it were made of wood. Thoughtfully, he wondered, so this Village Chief Chen had rushed back to the village because he was looking for his idiot son?

…

“Dad, someone’s following you.”

When Chen Yi said this, Chen Jiankang was currently working to settle the chaotic mass of qi in his chest. He had hurried the whole way back, frightened and terrified, as if there really were a strange entity chasing him.

Now that he had finally met up with his son, hearing him say that someone was following behind him made his hair stand on end in fright. He hastily turned to look back.

Compared to Chen Jiankang’s random scanning, Chen Yi’s gaze fixed with great precision behind a tree.

At this moment, the sky had just begun to darken. A person could already hide behind a tree trunk, but they could not avoid his perception. After beginning cultivation, his five senses had become much sharper. Besides, the other party seemingly had not expected there to be someone here too, and Chen Yi, who had come to pick someone up, had spotted his figure at a glance.

“Who, who, who is it?”

Chen Jiankang mustered up his courage and shouted.

One breath later, sure enough, a figure walked out from behind the tree.

When he saw that professional uniform, Chen Jiankang’s raised heart instantly settled back down. Narrowing his eyes, he asked with seventy percent certainty, “Officer Pang, why are you here?”

Since he had been discovered, Pang Xiaolei could only steel himself and step forward.

His feet landed on the ground, his steps rustling as the sound spread delicately through the dusk.

When he came close, Pang Xiaolei calmly continued sizing up Chen Yi, as well as the wooden sword in his hand. Then he said, “I saw it was getting dark and felt worried, so I wanted to escort you a little farther. It’s just that at this hour, did you come to the fields because the farmwork at home isn’t finished today?”

Both sides knew this was an excuse, but there was absolutely no need to expose it.

Chen Yi did not know enough about Pang Xiaolei and did not want too much contact with him, so he said politely, “There is indeed some work at home that isn’t finished. Thank you for your concern. It’s not convenient to keep guests after dark, so you can send us this far. Next time you come, we’ll treat you to a meal.”

Chen Jiankang repeated the same thing as before. “Officer Pang, truly, thank you. It’s almost dark. Hurry back. Don’t stay in the mountains. Get back to the county town early.”

Pang Xiaolei knew there would be no opportunity today, so he could only nod and say goodbye.

Before leaving, he looked deeply at Chen Yi again.

This person, at first, had seemed like someone grandstanding for attention. Later, Pang Xiaolei had wondered whether he might be intellectually impaired. But after this brief contact, not only were his eyes clear, but his posture was upright and contained inner strength. He had quite an air of righteousness. What felt out of place was the wariness in his eyes.

As a public servant, Pang Xiaolei had seen this kind of wariness many times, but it would not appear on a good citizen who obeyed the law.

This father and son of the Chen family clearly had secrets.

Chen Yi watched Pang Xiaolei leave while listening to his father explain the man’s background.

When he heard his father say that this time, no matter what he did after going down the mountain, he could not get in touch with the Wang family’s third son, Chen Yi guessed that the Watchmen Special Action Team might already have been established.

The strange entity he had encountered already possessed the ability to break through reality and attack humans. In those big cities where desires were even more complicated, he feared that strange entities had already had their first confrontation with humanity.

The process was even faster than he had imagined. It was said that when humanity first fought against the strange entities, they had suffered a great loss and many martyrs had been honored.

If possible, Chen Yi hoped everyone would be well.

He had to contact the authorities as soon as possible.

Chen Jiankang also thought of this point. At the same time, he was very worried about Pang Xiaolei’s safety. “It’ll definitely be dark by the time he gets down the mountain. Will Officer Pang be all right?”

Chen Yi explained, “Cognition is pollution. Even if you tell him there’s an strange entity at Yingchi Hotel, as long as he doesn’t believe it, he won’t be polluted.

“Other than that, there is contact with spiritual energy, lingering for a long time in areas where strange entities appear, and accepting the detailed descriptions you provide.

“Did you describe exactly what that strange entity looked like to him?”

Chen Jiankang shook his head hard.

“Then it’s fine. Let’s go back.”

Chen Yi accompanied his father back to the sect. The sect was in another space. It was dark outside, but here it was still bright.

There was no sun overhead. It was as if this space were like a luminous pearl, giving off light by itself.

Entering a bright place from the ghostly darkness, Chen Jiankang only felt completely at ease.

“This place is good. The light is good, the air is good. I really hope that once we contact the state, we can move in openly and live here long-term.”

After sighing with emotion, Chen Jiankang added, “If we live here, will it implicate the villagers? If that thing can’t find us, will it take its anger out on the villagers? You have to tell me the truth so I can feel at ease.”

Chen Yi did not know how to answer.

Although he had a god’s-eye view, he had only followed the protagonist’s path and did not know clearly what had happened in Lishui Village. Thinking about it, his appearance in the story had been as a grave, and back then, the text had not described Lishui Village’s environment in detail. It was like Schrödinger’s cat. Maybe when the protagonist appeared, Lishui Village was still a hidden paradise. Or maybe it had long since fallen desolate. No one knew the truth. After all, the state of the world at that time was already bad.

However, he had provoked the strange entity and brought it back, exposing Lishui Village to the risk of being polluted. That was indeed his responsibility.

Thinking this, Chen Yi came to a decision.

When they returned to the sect, his mother had already made beds in the sect hall. On the square outside the hall doors, a gas stove had been set up, and a pot of noodles had already been cooked. The two children had already finished eating and were leaning against the Da Huang dog, reading picture books together with the big white goose.

Seeing her husband return safely, Xiang Lan let out a breath of relief. Then she lit the stove again, boiled water, and put in more noodles.

Chen Yi did not help. He found a place and continued polishing the peachwood sword. Just then, the water mirror before his eyes rippled, and a line of words appeared in front of him.

Ding!

Sword Manipulation Technique has reached proficiency.

Chen Yi froze for a moment. Sensing his body, he discovered that he had unexpectedly gained quite a bit of understanding toward Sword Manipulation Technique.

He hurriedly put down the small knife in his hand, picked up the peachwood sword, and began to practice the sword according to the memories in his body and mind.

His moves were precise, and his strength was steady and accurate. It was as if he had already spent a year or two practicing the same set of sword moves, to the point that muscle memory had completely formed. The great sword rolled and turned in his hands. This weapon that had felt awkward to even hold just a moment ago could now be wielded as if it were an extension of his arm, the sword forms flowing continuously.

He executed the whole set of sword moves with exhilarating ease, and a thin layer of sweat broke out over his body.

Chen Yi had just steadied himself when he heard a burst of applause.

“Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!”

“Daddy’s so handsome!”

“I want to, I want to!”

The children jumped up and applauded. Even Da Huang joined in the excitement, barking, “Woof, woof, woof!”

His parents watched, dumbstruck. If they had not known their son was a proper university student, they would have thought he had studied at a martial arts school.

After seeing this set of sword moves, even if they did not understand it, they knew whether it was good or bad.

“This, this is really amazing.” Chen Jiankang came before Chen Yi with a face full of amazement. He looked at him, then took the great sword from Chen Yi’s hand.

The great sword, which was over one and a half meters long, was not heavy in his hands, but it was still very inconvenient to swing. Yet his son could use this great sword to perform continuous sword moves, perfectly fusing strength and beauty before their eyes.

Xiang Lan, however, knew about it. Her son had explained it today. While smiling proudly, she explained to her husband, “There are five more cultivation books in the Scripture Pavilion. No need to look at your son with envy. If you go practice, sooner or later you’ll reach this level too.”

“Really?” Chen Jiankang’s eyes lit up, and he was about to head to the Scripture Pavilion.

Xiang Lan called him back. “Eat first. Go after you finish eating.”

But Chen Jiankang said, “I’ll go take a look. If I really can learn a few methods, then we’ll have a way to deal with that strange entity. Our family can hide here and be fine, but I really can’t stop worrying about the village.”

Once he said this, Xiang Lan had nothing more to say. The atmosphere suddenly sank.

At this moment, a hand reached over and picked up the noodles. Xiang Lan looked toward her son and heard him say, “I’ll eat, then go out and patrol. My cultivation is higher than yours, and my sword technique is proficient now too. If that thing comes again, I’m confident I can destroy it.”

Xiang Lan opened her mouth, then closed it again. Whether it was her husband or her son, she did not want either of them to take risks. But this matter had been brought here by their family. They had to face it.

Thinking of how last night, her son had shown such great divine might and sent that terrifying thing flying with one punch, scaring it so badly that it had not dared to come back all night, she felt slightly more at ease.

“All right. Eat quickly.” Xiang Lan gritted her teeth and agreed.

Chen Yi ate the noodles and, while he was at it, studied the newly appeared functions on the water mirror.

First was cultivation technique idling. The spirit stone did not seem to have suffered much loss. It had been more than three hours since he set it up. Sword Manipulation Technique was proficient, and Spirit-Nurturing Art was at thirteen percent. It looked like it would not level up until tomorrow morning.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Yi hung Spirit-Charge Fist on the spirit stone as well, just in case.

Afterward, Chen Yi discovered that Disciple Aptitude Query was very interesting.

At present, not counting him, there were five people in the sect. Everyone had their own individual profile.

Name: Chen Jiankang

Age: 48

Aptitude: Ordinary

Name: Xiang Lan

Age: 45

Aptitude: Congenitally Deficient

Name: Unknown

Age: 8

Aptitude: Unknown

This unknown one should be Da Huang’s profile.

Next were his son and daughter.

Name: Chen Yiqian

Age: 3

Aptitude: Dragon Among Men

Name: Chen Yilin

Age: 3

Aptitude: As Rare as Phoenix Feathers and Qilin Horns

After all, they were villains who would go against the protagonist in the middle and later stages. They could not have ordinary talent and fade into the crowd. It was not surprising that their aptitudes were good.

It had to be known that when Chen Yiqian, as a villain, defected to the ancient lifeforms, although he sold Blue Star’s intelligence, he himself also had outstanding aptitude. Only then was he able to obtain the other party’s inheritance and cultivate their methods.

His younger sister’s aptitude evaluation seemed a little worse, but fortunately, not by much. So why did she have to rely on a man to live? Even if she wanted to avenge her older brother, she still had to read a man’s expression. Only by becoming strong and asking no one for help, living freely and unrestrainedly, would she not waste her youth.

Chen Yi looked at his pair of children, who still knew nothing of the world, with the gaze of an old father. Seeing the innocent smiles on their faces, the corners of his mouth also lifted.

Then he swallowed the last bite of noodles, stood, picked up the peachwood great sword, and said, “I’m going.”

“Where are you going?”

“To kill strange entities.”

Then, without looking back, he disappeared into the thin white mist.

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