After a long time, the Lin family members near the archway remained silent and motionless. "Are we just going to let him go like this?" Lin Zhengli spoke up, "Let a mere ninth-grade Meridian Realm guy show off in the Lin family?" sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ n0vᴇl(ꜰ)ire.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.
"Everyone," Lin Zhengren turned around and said calmly, "disperse."
Everyone left, even Lin Duanxing, Lin Zhengren's father, did not hesitate, showing Lin Zhengren's prestige in the family.
Lin's grandfather glanced at Lin Zhengli and said, "Zhengli, come, help grandpa back to the house."
Lin Zhengli forced a smile, "Grandpa, let the servants help you. I have something to discuss with my brother."
Soon, the people near the archway were gone, leaving only a few withered leaves spinning in the wind.
"Brother!" Lin Zhengli was still angry, "Are we just going to let it go like this?"
Lin Zhengren glanced at him coldly, "What else can we do? Chase after him and kill him?"
"But the Lin family has high-level experts in the Circulating Realm!"
"That's the Lin family's, not yours."
"I'm not doing this for myself! I'm doing this for the reputation of the Lin family!"
"For the Lin family?" Lin Zhengren looked at him with unusual indifference, "What have you done for the Lin family? Do you think I don't know?"
"You took over Lin Zhonglun's business, but managed it poorly. Grandpa asked you to bring him back, but you humiliated him and even tried to take advantage of him! Are you so lacking in women and so uncontrollable?"
"I just wanted him to understand his place and what he was! This kind of person is useless. Look at him today, even when Grandpa spoke kindly to him, he still bit back. Is he familiar with us? Even if the Lin family's business fails, we can't use him!"
Lin Zhengren pointed at Lin Zhengli on the ground, who was glaring at him with anger, "But because of you, I lost face."
Lin Zhengli lay on the ground, first in disbelief, then in anger. He almost jumped up, "You can't beat Zhu Weiwo, so you blame me? Fine! You can tie me up and take me to Maple City to apologize to Zhu Weiwo and let the guy surnamed Jiang kill me! I won't embarrass you anymore!"
He rushed to Lin Zhengren and shouted, "Take me there!""I warn you!" Lin Zhengren grabbed his neck and lifted him up. "I'm only warning you this once, my dear brother."
He looked at Lin Zhengli's gradually reddening face due to difficulty breathing, and slowly said, "You don't have to pretend to be so shallow, short-sighted, and impulsive. You don't have to perform your childish incompetence in front of me. Since I have given the Lin family to you, I will not take it back. In your eyes, the vast industry is nothing, but in my eyes, it is nothing. You don't have to deliberately hide your abilities and worry that I will be jealous of you!"
He lifted his hand, and when Lin Zhengli began to roll his eyes, he said, "Do you understand?"
Without waiting for his response, he turned and left.
Leaving Lin Zhengli falling to the ground, half kneeling and coughing uncontrollably.
...
When they returned to Fenglin City, it was already late at night.
Huang Azhan was waiting for them at the city gate, holding the sleeping Anan in his arms.
"You finally came back!" Huang Azhan lowered his voice. "The little ancestor cried all day long. I've worn out my mouth and still couldn't calm her down. I had to wait for you until the middle of the night when she finally fell asleep."
Jiang Wang carefully took Anan over and said to the others, "You guys go back first. We'll talk about other things tomorrow."
The others dispersed, and Jiang Wang carried Anan back to their home in Feima Alley.
Instead of going straight into the house, he jumped onto the roof and sat down with his feet hanging down from the eaves.
The night was cool, and Anan was sleeping soundly in his arms, wrapped in a small cotton jacket. Her eyes were swollen, and even in her dreams, her little mouth was pursed in sadness.
Although they were only five years old, children were not completely ignorant. Although their world was relatively simple, their sadness was sometimes more pure.
Tonight, Jiang Wang did not practice, but stared in the direction of Fengxi Town, lost in thought.
For some reason, there were many images in his mind.
He was not the first to feel lonely, but at this moment, he truly realized that in this world, only he and Jiang Anan depended on each other.
They had no father, no mother.
"Brother..." Anan woke up at some point, and she looked at Jiang Wang's chin and asked, "Did you go find my mother?"
Jiang Wang was silent for a moment and said, "Do you remember when I told you about the stars? Dad is there, and Aunt Song has gone there too."
Anan sighed lightly, as if afraid of breaking something. "It's so far away."
Jiang Wang suddenly had the urge to cry. "Yes, it's far away."
"Brother, will you be able to pick the stars in the future?" Anan's eyes seemed to be shining. "Mom said you might become a fairy in the future."
A fairy...
(Note: The character name "Jiang Wang" corresponds to the character introduction of "Jiang Wang" in the beginning of the text.)Looking at Jiang An'an's little face, Jiang Wang couldn't bear to tell her that the distance between him and the immortals was even farther than the distance between them and the stars.
She might think that the day she could pick the stars, she would be able to see her parents again. She didn't know yet that some farewells were truly forever.
No matter how high they fly or how strong they become, they will never be able to meet again - that "forever."
"In ancient times, when humans first looked up and saw the stars, they began to approach them," Jiang Wang finally said. "Crossing the deepest rivers, climbing the highest mountains, and when there is no more road, they build their own ladders... that's cultivation."
"I don't know what the end of the cultivation path is, but I think picking stars and taking the moon is definitely not the end."
"Can I... cultivate too?" Jiang An'an bit her lip and asked cautiously.
"Of course!" Jiang Wang rubbed her little head.
"Can I fly too?"
"Of course!"
"Can I pick stars too?"
"Yes, yes!"
"Can I go pick up my parents?"
"...Yes!"
This is a beautiful lie. Even Jiang Wang himself wanted to be deceived by it.
"So, starting tomorrow, in addition to reading and writing, you'll need to recite the Dao scriptures..."
"No problem!" An'an was full of enthusiasm.
"You also need to spend half an hour practicing martial arts for the foundation, it will be very tiring..."
"An'an is not afraid of being tired!"
"Alright, let's promise that when you can pick stars and take the moon, we'll chase the stars together."
Jiang An'an clenched her little fist: "Chase the stars!"