What was it like to lose your child? Fa Min Juan and Hua Ning Shun had never thought they would need to find out. The road of cultivation might be fraught with danger but with the background of their family, their children should have been as safe as possible. Now, something like this had happened.

Hua Ning Shun closed his eyes while he held his wife’s hands, trying to keep his emotions in check. “Then the person who came …” He had a rough guess but he still wanted to hear it from Hua Lin Rong himself.

“It’s that god he was originally. He told me what happened. It … it did sound like he was there so I believe it.” He sat down, taking a deep breath himself before he slowly exhaled. “He said his name is Xiang Yu. He …” He shook his head, not sure how to say it.

Fa Min Juan looked at her older son and finally pulled her hand from her husband’s grip. She got up and walked over to Hua Lin Rong, pulling him into her arms and holding him for a moment. “I am sorry. We shouldn’t have sent you to check it out.”

Hua Lin Rong shook his head even though he still pulled her closer for comfort. “No, it’s … it’s alright.” Anyway, no matter who went, it wouldn’t change what had happened to his brother. And he also didn’t want to do this to his parents.

The family members all kept quiet for a few moments, thinking of Hua Lin Yu and what had happened.

Finally, Helian Nuan couldn’t help but speak up. “What do you mean, Xin Lan buried him? Shouldn’t he be brought back? And he didn’t even come here to inform us!”

Hua Lin Rong raised his head and shook it. “I can’t say. I only know what Xiang Yu just told me. He didn’t seem to mind. But then, I guess it doesn’t matter much to him.”

Hua Ming Jun took his wife’s hand and patted it. “Don’t think about it. Xin Lan is probably just as distraught as we are. He will come here sooner or later. Since he went to the dragon realm, let’s be patient.”

Helian Nuan really didn’t want to let go of this matter. This was her grandson’s body, after all! But then, she also knew that there was nothing they could do so, in the end, she could only nod reluctantly. “We’ll wait then.” Turning back to Hua Lin Rong, she motioned to the door. “That Xiang Yu, is he still there?”

Hua Lin Rong nodded. “He should be. He … actually, I don’t think he has completely gotten rid of the … feeling of being Xiao Yu or whatever it is they do.”

The Hua family actually knew more than others when it came to the immortal races but Tian’s curse was not something that was talked about often. Unless an ascended deity got very close to a trueborn god and maybe even married one, it was unlikely for them to get the full story. Thus, even long-standing cultivation families with members that had long settled down in the Nine Heavens weren’t always aware of the trials and only knew some rough information.

Helian Nuan nodded. “Then we should probably go and see him. I want to know everything from the beginning to end.” Even if it couldn’t bring her grandson back, she still needed to know. Otherwise, she didn’t think that she would be able to find peace again.

Hua Lin Rong nodded. “I’ll go and get him.” He left the hall again and returned to the room where he had left Xiang Yu. When he stepped in, he couldn’t see him though. Blinking his eyes, he looked around everywhere and even called out but his surroundings stayed silent.

Hua Lin Rong’s brows furrowed. Just where had he gone? And why? Hadn’t he wanted to meet his family? But then, thinking back, it seemed as if he had been disappointed by his reaction. So maybe that was why he hadn’t stayed around. He simply hadn’t been able to deal with it.

Hua Lin Rong sighed but there was nothing he could do. It seemed that they could only wait for either Xiang Yu to come back or for Xin Lan to appear and inform them. With that thought, he went back to tell the rest of the family.

Of course, when Fei Bai Mu finally arrived later that day, they also couldn’t tell her where Xiang Yu had gone, cutting her off from the only opportunity to drag Xiang Yu over to where Qiu Ling was and where the gods maybe could have gathered to try and deal with this fallen god.

When she realized this, Fei Bai Mu could only shake her head. But then, maybe this was fate. And even though she was worried about what Xiang Yu would do, there was no way to say whether he would actually get violent or not. If not … then maybe all these preparations she had wanted to do would have been for naught and might have actually enraged him in the first place.

Yes, looking at it this way, she felt that she had thought too much. She should just leave matters up to fate and see what happened. Anyway, she couldn’t stop a fallen god in the first place and maybe she also shouldn’t make a judgment call on how to deal with one.

Coming to this conclusion, Fei Bai Mu bid farewell to the Hua family and returned to her sect. The question of whether Xiang Yu might have gone there crossed her thought for a moment but she didn’t rush there the same way she had before. Anyway, she couldn’t change the outcome.

No, now, she should just get back to her regular life. Everyone else would do the same whenever they were ready. Whether it was the Hua family, Xin Lan, or Xiang Yu himself, they would all need time to adjust but then, life would simply continue. There was no reason to obsess before.

« ToC »