"Ah... right. Thank you..." She responded after looking blankly at him for a minute.
"Xue… Mei..." Long Chen shifted his gaze to the side and gazed at Xue and Mei.
"Young Master" They both nodded their heads as tears finally appeared in their eyes.
"I'm sorry that I wasn't able to come back sooner." Long Chen shook his head as he said.
"It's fine, Young Master. We understand. At Least now you will be back with us. " Xue said as she rubbed her eyes that were wet with tears.
"I..." Long Chen stood there blankly as he found it hard to speak. He wasn't sure how to say the things that he wanted to.
"I can't come back." He clenched his fist tightly and finally gathered enough courage as he said.
"Hmm? What are you talking about? You still don't want to come back? Do you not have a single ounce of worry for your mother?" Long Ren's face turned red in anger as he said.
"I...I still have something important to do... so I can't go back to Dragon City. My destination is somewhere else..." Long Chen said as he looked down.
"What? Is roaming around the world like a homeless person more important to you than me and your mother?" Long Ren let out with a look of disbelief on his face.
"It's... it's not that… I… I... Can't tell you what it is, but I can't come back with you right now. I can only say that what I'm doing is for our family." Long Chen looked down as he said.
"Xue, Mei... I wish I could take you with me, but my mother needs someone to take care of her. Unfortunately, her unfilial son isn't there for her. I hope you will care for her." He continued as he looked towards Xue and Mei.
"You... " Long Ren couldn't find words to speak as he couldn't understand what Long Chen was talking about. All he could see was that he was determined to not come back.
"We understand, Master" Xue and Mei nodded their heads at the same time without saying anything else.
"I'm really sorry." Long Chen muttered.
"Ying! Patriarch! I looked everywhere for you!" Came a voice from behind. Long Ren and the others looked back.
"You're here! Teach this grandson of mine some common sense! He's refusing to come back with..." Long Ren said to Grand Elder Long Mu, but as soon as he turned back to point towards Long Chen, the spot was empty. He looked around, but he couldn't find Long Chen anywhere.
"Did something happen? What are you talking about?" Long Mu asked as he walked closer, but none of them replied. They just stood there with blank looks on their faces.
Long Chen walked back to his hotel room. His fists were still clenched so hard that it had started bleeding. His face looked expressionless, but if someone carefully looked at him, they would be able to see the melancholy hidden deep within his eyes.
"You're back! Where did you… g.." Mingyu was standing inside the room when the door opened and Long Chen entered. She walked towards him and was about to ask him something when she stopped midway.
"Is that a tear? I've never seen a tear in your eyes in reality? What happened?" She asked as she noticed the wet eyes of Long Chen.
Long Chen didn't say anything and just hugged her. There was silence in the room as Long Chen remained in her embrace to calm his mind.
After about 5 minutes, he separated from her.
"I'm sorry for that... It's nothing to worry about." He said as he smiled, but Mingyu could see a hidden sadness behind that smile.
"You know you can tell me everything..." She said to Long Chen in a caring tone. Long Chen gazed at her face for a moment before he started talking.
"I went and talked to my family... and told them that I am not coming back." Long Chen said softly as he looked towards the window.
"I was just a little sad about it. I'm fine now." He said as he walked towards the window and looked outside.
As soon as he looked outside the window, he saw Long Ren, Long Mu, Long Xue Ying, Xue, and Mei walking back.
Their eyes looked around in the hopes of catching a glimpse of Long Chen again, but they weren't able to find him.
At one point, Xue even looked towards the hotel Long Chen was staying at. Her gaze roamed around all the windows.
Thankfully, the windows of the hotel were dark from the outside. It was possible to see outside from the inside, but it wasn't possible to see inside from the outside.
Her gaze passed by the window, on the other side of which Long Chen was standing, without realizing as she continued ahead.
"I will be back… I promise..." Long Chen muttered as he looked outside.
"Are they your family?" Mingyu stood beside Long Chen and noticed the people he was looking at. She could feel that these were the people he was talking about a few moments ago.
"Yeah." Long Chen said with a smile.
"The one walking in the lead is my grandfather... he loves me quite a lot. He might act strict sometimes but he's quite a softie. The one beside him is the Grand Elder of our clan, Long Mu. Quite a nice guy." Long Chen explained to Mingyu.
"And the girls?" Mingyu asked with a smile.
"The one in the yellow dress is the daughter of the Grand Elder. Her name is Long Xue Ying. You must have seen her in the Sect Entrance Exams. The girl walking behind her is Xue and the last girl is Mei. They're both my women." Long Chen said with a chuckle. He didn't want to hide them from Mingyu.
"Hahaha... yeah right. I believe you." Mingyu laughed as she heard Long Chen's last words, but Long Chen clearly understood from her reaction that she clearly didn't believe him. He didn't bother explaining either.