Chapter 388: The Change |
Months passed after my children were born, and the hot winds of summer arrived before I even noticed the seasons changing.
Fatherhood had been… interesting.
Life slowly returned to a schedule again. Or at least, a new schedule, the kind that formed after two loud infants entered your household. The noise didn't really bother me, as I could stay up for weeks without much trouble, but this strange feeling of worrying about everything about them felt strange.
I cared about Wu Yan in a similar manner when we first met, but she was not an infant who could have fallen over and bumped her head at any time.
Tingfeng sat cross-legged beside the library pagoda. For some reason, that place had now become the favorite breakthrough spot for my disciples.
As expected from his monstrous talent and terrifying comprehension of his element, he was on the verge of becoming a two-star Foundation Establishment cultivator.
He had asked me to be present... Mostly because he didn’t trust Jiang Yeming not to pull something.
The Misty Mountain incident had poisoned their relationship beyond repair, no matter how much Jiang Yeming tried to make amends.
Speaking of breakthroughs, there was someone else who had been on the edge recently.
“Even though I reached Foundation Establishment before him, it’s better not to compare ourselves to monsters like that,” Jiang Yeming said, the corner of her lip twitching upward into something resembling a smile. “Otherwise we’ll just end up feeling extremely demotivated.”
Despite the whole Misty Mountain mess, Jiang Yeming and I had actually grown somewhat closer.
Though at the same time, I was pretty sure she was investigating me. Was she trying to confirm something from her future? Either way, I was too busy caring about other things, and she also seemed distracted by many things.
These days, she came by frequently, helping take care of the children and lifting quite a bit of the burden from Fu Yating’s shoulders.
Liu Ma and Liu Sha were good kids. But like most children, they were noisy.
As for why Jiang Yeming was so eager to help raise them, my best guess was that she had known them in her original timeline.
Hopefully not too well.
The way she sometimes looked at Liu Sha carried a strange excitement.
It was creepy as fuck.
“Anyway, have you thought about creating an organization?” Jiang Yeming asked.
“Not really,” I shrugged, my gaze still fixed on Tingfeng as Qi swirled around him like steam pouring from an engine.
“Well, you probably should,” she continued. “Every parent eventually thinks about leaving something behind for their children.”
Even a blind man could see how blatant her attempt at manipulation was.
She was trying to nudge the future toward a direction that suited her.
“Even if I build an organization,” I said calmly, “it won’t be the kind where my children inherit power just because they carry my family name.”
That would be like putting a bullet through my own ideals.
If I ever built something like that, it would be an organization structured around reason and logic, and one that valued curiosity and people willing to push cultivation forward to the next stage. Not some lame fancy club where only those I got along or those who shared my genes could advance.
“True,” she smiled. “But what if one of your sons steps up and proves capable of carrying your legacy or even surpassing the shadow your knowledge will cast over them?”
“If they can earn it, then they deserve it,” I shrugged. “My role as a scholar and my role as a father belong to two different worlds. They should never mix together. Otherwise, if the day comes when I must choose between them, I might end up failing both.”
“That really is an answer perfectly in line with your personality,” Jiang Yeming chuckled, clearly amused by some private joke only she understood. “Still, the sects of this era are outdated. Even the great sects barely have any Nascent Soul cultivators among them.”
She spoke with a quiet sense of superiority about whatever organization she had belonged to in the future. It was the same attitude many arrogant young masters from great factions carried, until they were inevitably crushed by some heaven’s chosen prodigy.
Even the great sects of the present meant little to her. Her pride ran so deep that she had refused to formally join the Blazing Sun Sect as an elder, not even temporarily.
“Anyway,” I said, “you’ve been sitting at the peak of one-star Foundation Establishment for a while now. Don’t you think it’s time to take the next step?”
Even if she kept delaying it, I was fairly certain Jiang Yeming could break through whenever she wanted.
“Waiting a couple more years doesn’t matter,” she replied. “It’s better this way. The last thing I want is to reach Nascent Soul only to find myself unable to advance even a single star afterward.”
She stared absentmindedly in the distance before saying, “For people aiming for the peak, the pace of progress through Foundation Establishment doesn’t matter much. At worst, it’s just a difference of a decade or two.”
Well, she certainly had a high opinion of me. The way she spoke made it sound as if she had already decided I would reach Nascent Soul, despite everything holding me back, like my talent.
The Qi around Tingfeng pulsed with controlled force. The ground beneath him trembled slightly as a soft wind burst outward, flattening the grass while slicing cleanly through the blades. Within moments, a perfect circle had been carved into the ground around him.
“It seems he broke through without any problems,” Jiang Yeming said. “Which was expected, though we do have a rather hardheaded teacher who worries too much.”
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I hadn’t told her that Tingfeng didn’t trust her at all, that the only reason he had asked me to be here was because of her. That secret would stay with me for a little while longer.
Though I wasn't sure how much of a secret that was, since Jiang Yeming was quite observant when she wanted to be, and the only reason I could sometimes read her intentions was that I always thought of her as a regressor.
“It’s surprising he broke through this quickly without any serious bottlenecks,” I nodded.
Tingfeng’s raw talent technically belonged to the same category as Song Song’s: top-grade.
But she stood at the absolute peak of that category, with a perfect one hundred spirit root branches.
Tingfeng, however, possessed something different that gave him a slight edge that might equal the scale. His comprehension of his foundation element was even greater than hers, allowing him to almost match Song Song’s cultivation speed.
“Oh well, my job here is done, so I’ll head back home. After all, I have a family to look after,” I said, lifting slightly off the ground.
Tingfeng simply nodded and stood up, heading off to do his own thing without saying a word.
“Oh, I’ll come along,” Jiang Yeming said as she flew beside me.
I nodded, and the two of us soon reached my home. The stone house had grown a little larger since the children were born, at least the first floor had.
We stepped inside and walked toward the newer room on the first floor, next to the kitchen and beside the staircase.
Originally, our bedroom and the children’s room were meant to be upstairs. But stairs were a hazard once the kids started walking.
That realization had come after the twins were born.
So the first floor it was.
The room now held a plain red couch and a large crib. Wooden toys were scattered across the floor.
I had kind of rushed into buying them toys... they were a bit too young to play with them.
Originally, a large bed had been meant to occupy this room. But I preferred letting Fu Yating sleep through the night while I stayed awake and watched over the children.
Thankfully, the twins were well-behaved infants and rarely cried at night. Most evenings, I simply sat on the couch with a book in hand.
A bit boring perhaps, but it was part of my duties as a father, and Fu Yating needed the rest.
I walked toward the couch where Fu Yating sat, cooing softly at the children and trying to get them to say “mama.”
It was adorable.
The twins babbled happily, as cute as always.
I had already made sure neither of them were some reincarnated soul. They were simply well-behaved children by nature. At least during the night, they were.
Fu Yating believed they took after her. But I knew better.
They clearly took after me. Fu Yating might be clever, but she could also be reckless at times.
“Oh, where are my cute darlings?” Jiang Yeming said, rushing past me and immediately grabbing Liu Sha’s chubby cheeks. “Who is your favorite big sister? Me, of course!”
Even though she spoke about both of them, her attention was clearly focused on Liu Sha.
She had even bought the children toys from some rather remote places. I planned to put a stop to that eventually, the last thing I wanted was for my children to grow up into spoiled young masters.
Though, admittedly, I wasn’t entirely sure if buying them toys counted as spoiling them.
Being a new father was a learning process.
Fu Yating didn’t mind the situation at all. She simply focused on playing with Liu Ma instead.
Since they were twins, handling them both alone was difficult. Having Jiang Yeming around to help so often was convenient.
“How are the kids coming along?” I asked, lifting Liu Ma from my wife’s arms. I kissed him on the forehead and hugged the little guy. He stayed quiet the whole time, just staring at me with curious dark eyes.
“Why do you ask about your children like you’re checking on how the potatoes are growing?” Fu Yating said.
I wasn’t sure if it was post-motherhood or something else, but lately she seemed more eager to pick arguments. It almost felt like the way I had been overly considerate during her pregnancy didn’t suit her tastes.
Still, I ignored the bait.
I rocked Liu Ma gently in my arms. He kept staring up at me with those big, curious eyes.
Seeing I wasn’t going to argue, Fu Yating changed the topic.
“What do you think we should do about the babies’ election anniversary?” she asked.
“Honey… that’s nine months away,” I said.
The election anniversary was an old tradition. People placed toys in front of the child, usually small swords, books, coins, tools, and whichever one the child grabbed first was supposed to hint at their future path.
I didn’t believe in any of that.
But Fu Yating insisted we would have to do it once the boys began crawling or turned one year old.
I had never taken her for someone so traditional, but motherhood seemed to have changed her. I was also beginning to suspect she might become a helicopter parent.
“Brrr,” Liu Ma babbled suddenly before bursting into a laugh.
Jiang Yeming finally stopped focusing entirely on her favorite nephew and glanced upstairs, sensing the other person living in the house.
“Isn’t she a bit old to still be lying around here?” Jiang Yeming asked.
By she, Jiang Yeming meant my other female disciple, Wu Yan.
“Why? Are you worried you won’t be the favorite aunt anymore once Wu Yan starts spending more time with them?” I asked with a shrug. “Besides, I don’t mind her being here. My sons could use some older-sister energy in their lives.”
Back in my previous life, I had a friend with an older sister. There were many words to describe her, but the first that came to mind were violent and mean-spirited.
At least toward her brother.
She was actually pretty nice to me when we hung out.
Were all older siblings like that?
Older brothers weren’t much different either. But after a while, they mellowed out and turned into supportive, protective figures like entirely different people.
As for Wu Yan, she was currently staying in a room reinforced with arrays designed to stabilize her cultivation and seal the area if anything went wrong.
After all, I had children now.
Thankfully, Wu Yan had broken through to Foundation Establishment normally this time. Her element remained the same as before: Change.
…
After spending an hour or two at home playing with the kids, I headed off to do some research and stayed in my secret lab until evening.
By the time I returned, Jiang Yeming had already left.
I walked into the bedroom and found Fu Yating asleep on one side of the bed, with the two babies curled up beside her, right where I usually slept.
I quietly set up a soft array around the bed so the kids wouldn’t roll over and fall off.
A small smile crept onto my face.
Better not disturb them. I could just sleep in my old room upstairs tonight, since my wife and children had completely taken over the bed.
I climbed the creaking stairs, my mind still foggy from the day and the research I had been working on.
Just as I opened the door to my room, I heard a strange sound from the room next to mine, Wu Yan’s room.
It sounded like grunting. Or maybe someone in pain.
I frowned.
Closing my own door again, I cautiously began circulating my Qi, preparing for anything. Then I walked over to her room and pushed the door open.
What I saw inside was completely beyond anything I had imagined.
What the actual fuck was that?!
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