Chapter 1: Return
Translator: GGP Editor: GGP
Jiang Prefecture was one of the world’s nineteen prefectures. It lay next to the East Sea, and contained many of the realm’s lakes.
This happened one day in the Jiang Prefecture, in Grand Dominance City.
Jinglou Street, situated in the western regions of Grand Dominance City, was packed with people and bustling with activity.
"It’s been six years." A cotton-clothed youth with a sword hanging by his waist lead a horse down the street. "I’m finally back. After being away for so long, home is indeed still the best."
Trot! Trot! Trot!
The sound of hastened hooves rang. A youth dressed in gorgeous clothes was riding atop a large horse that galloped through the crowded street. With as much agility as they could muster, people quickly leaped out of the horse’s way. Chasing after him were quite a few servants and guards who implored him: "Young Master, slow down. Slow down!"
When the cotton-clothed youth saw this, he led his horse to the side and watched as the youth in gorgeous clothes rode past.
"Whose brat is that? Oh, that’s right, I’ve been gone for six years. Six years ago, that kid was only seven or eight." The cotton-clothed youth smiled before proceeding forward.
In his familiar hometown, he even found a couple of shops that he remembered.
"It has been exactly six years. When I left, I was only fifteen. It’s been quite a while and I’ve changed a lot," the plain-clothed youth lamented.
When he was fifteen, he met with success at every turn and he was full of spirit!
He was labeled the number one person among Grand Dominance City’s younger generation.
However, after leaving home and wandering for six years, he realized how truly childish he used to be.
...
As he continued down the path, he saw familiar shops, restaurants, rivers, and bridges.
Finally, he led his horse to a manor.
Fear started to creep up on him as he approached the manor. He took a deep breath, and walked forward and knocked on the door.
"Creak."
The door opened only slightly, as an old man poked his head out of the crack. Immediately afterward, his eyes opened wide, "Second Young Master!" The young man before him dressed plainly and didn’t look particularly extraordinary. However, the old man had watched the second young master, Qin Yun, grow up. He only needed a glance to recognize his second young master!
"Uncle Li!" Qin Yun said with a smile.
"Second Young Master is back, Second Young Master is back!" Old Li yelled out. His voice resonated throughout the manor as he pushed open the manor’s doors.
"Give that to me. I’ll lead the horse." Old Li took the reins of the horse.
"Yun'er, Yun'er!" The entire manor was in an upheaval as a middle-aged woman came running out. Behind her were quite a few female maids that quickly followed. Upon seeing Qin Yun at the door, the middle-aged woman broke out in tears of excitement.
"Mother!"
Qin Yun’s eyes winced as he ran to her.
The middle-aged woman carefully looked over her son, touching his elbow and face as she said, "Great, great! It’s so great that you’ve come home. Huh, you’ve grown taller."
"Second Young Master, Madam has shed many tears for you. Every day, she prays before the bodhisattva for your safe return," a female butler quickly spoke up.
"For me to return only now, I haven't been a filial son." Qin Yun gave his mother a long look as well. He noticed that she not only had more white hair, but also more creases at the edges of her eyes. With a pained heart, he came to the realization that his mother was already almost fifty.
"Don’t say that. What matters is that you are now back." Although his mother’s eyes were full of tears, they were tears of joy. She quickly commanded, "Quick, inform the master, as well as first young master. "
"Yes."
The female butler quickly left to follow her orders.
...
The whole Qin Manor was in celebration as the head of Qin Manor, Qin Liehu also came back.
"Master."
"Master." The servants and maids in the manor all bowed respectfully; however, they were all bursting with excitement. The servants were also extremely happy that the second young master had returned.
The single-armed master nodded. His eyes shined like lightning and there was a single blade at his waist. His imposing presence commanded the respect of his servants and maids. He was the owner of the Qin Manor, Qin Liehu. He was also one of the three silver-badge constables in Grand Dominance City.
"Father." Qin Yun and his mother, Changlan, both came out to welcome him.
"Yun'er." When the single armed man, Qin Liehu, saw his son, his eyes warmed and moistened.
Mothers openly worry when their sons travel the world. Although Qin Liehu didn’t say anything, he was similarly concerned the whole time. He knew that he needed to let Qin Yun go out and explore the world to have a brighter future, but that didn’t stop him from worrying.
He feared that his son would perish and never return.
This world was massive, with countless tall mountains and deep valleys that were full of monsters. Exploring the world was not an easy task.
"It’s great that you’re back. Splendid." Qin Liehu looked at his son. Clearly, he was much more mature than he was before. His aura was also a lot more concentrated.
"Have you broken through?" Qin Liehu suddenly asked. He knew that his son was following the cultivation path of immortals. The difficulty of obtaining any success in cultivation was indescribable.
"I managed to break through two and a half years ago," Qin Yun said with a smile.
Qin Liehu’s eyes lit up. Breaking through meant the transformation of a fish into a dragon.
"Good. Very good. I, Qin Liehu, have an incredible son." Qin Liehu was extremely excited. There were great implications that resulted from this news, matters so serious that he didn't dare discuss them with his wife.
"Can't the two of you go inside instead of talking here?" Qin Yun's mother, Changlan said.
"Yes, let’s go in and have a seat." Qin Liehu quickly said.
...
After spending some time with his parents, Qin Yun heard voices coming from outside.
"Second Brother! Second Brother! Second Brother!" A call came from far away, filled with excitement.
"Brother." Qin Yun rose up. "Father, Mother, I’ll go welcome him."
"Go ahead, you and your brother haven’t seen each other in six years," Changlan said with a smile.
Qin Yun quickly exited the hall and immediately saw a large family walking over from afar. A colorful-robed youth with his beautiful wife and two children, one male and the other female, were coming towards him.
"Second Brother." When the colorful-robed youth saw Qin Yun, he ran over excitedly and hugged him.
"Brother," Qin Yun hugged his brother back.
His relationship with his brother had always been very good. Back when the Qin family was still rather insignificant, they both grew up in the village and went through many hardships. Qin Yun was still very young then, but his brother was already a teenager and would take care of him.
"You brat, you were gone for six years! Before you left, didn’t you say that you would only be gone for three? And then, years later, you send a letter saying that you would stay outside for another three years?" said the colorful-robed youth as he couldn’t control his feelings. "Three years, on top of the first three years. Seriously, you made the whole family worried."
"It’s all my fault," Qin Yun quickly said. "Hi, Sister! Brother, are these two little fellows the 'Shuyan' and 'Shubing' that you mentioned in your letter? Hello my dear nephew and niece, aren’t you a cute pair?" As Qin Yun said so, he bent down and pinched the faces of the two children, causing the children to cling to their parents’ legs in fear.
"Greet your uncle," the colorful-robed youth said. "Don’t be afraid, what is there to be afraid of? This is your uncle, stop hesitating and greet him."
"Uncle."
The two children were around three or four, and still easily impressed.
"Haha, I have two protection charms here with me. You can take them with you. Keep them carefully." Qin Yun had prepared for this moment long ago, and took out two colorful pouches. From them, he took out two jade talismans. They were completely white and had intricate carvings on them. The design gave anyone who looked at them a soothing feeling.
The colorful-robed youth, Qin An, was quite knowledgeable and knew that the two jade talismans were extraordinary. "Second Brother, that’s too much."
"Wear it around, it’s good for children," Qin Yun said.
...
At noon, the whole family was together and eating an extravagant lunch. The maids happily brought up plate after plate of food. The Qin family treated its servants and maids very well.
Qin Yun happily enjoyed the lunch with his parents and brother. He reveled in the happy, familial atmosphere.
"Sir, sir!"
After lunch, a constable came to the manor and yelled at the top of his lungs.
Everyone in the hall heard this.
"Yun'er just returned, can’t you take a break for a day or two?" Changlan was not too happy about the turn of events.
"Let me ask what happened first." Qin Liehu said before standing up and walking outside.
The constable at the door was almost eight feet tall. He was strongly-built and held a thick steel staff. At a glance, the staff was at least over a hundred pounds. Just brandishing it around could easily shatter a wall. However, this burly constable was patiently waiting outside.
"Old Xu, what happened?" Qin Liehu walked up close before asking in a hushed tone. Earlier that day, he had instructed his subordinates to not disturb him unless it was something important. After all, his son that had been away for six years had just returned.
"Sir, I didn’t want to come and disturb you. However, the county governor personally commanded that you come. There’s something important that might occupy you for the next one or two days." Constable Xu shook his head as he quickly said.
"The county governor? One to two days?" Qin Liehu furrowed his brows.
The county governor was in control of all military and political power in Grand Dominance City. As a result of demons and monsters wreaking havoc, he had the authority to persecute any official under the seventh grade without permission from his superiors. Thus, no one within Grand Dominance County dared to question the county governor’s authority.
Qin Liehu returned to the hall.
"The county governor has summoned me. I probably won’t be back for two days." Qin Liehu put on his coat and hung a blade by his waist.
"Be careful." Changlan quickly cautioned him.
"I’ll walk you out, Father." Qin Yun quickly stood up.
"Walk me out? Go be with your mother and the rest." Qin Liehu said to his son as Qin Yun accompanied him out.
"Second Young Master, it’s been six years since I last saw you. It's been a long time," Constable Xu smiled as he said.
"Uncle Xu, your Wind Fire Staff has gotten bigger. I reckon your strength has improved greatly," said Qin Yun.
"It’s not worth mentioning. Seriously, it's nothing at all," Constable Xu said.
Next to Qin Yun, who had been crowned the best of the younger generation in Grand Dominance City when he was only fifteen, Constable Xu naturally felt humbled.
"Father, is it serious, considering you can’t come back for two days? Do you need my help?" Qin Yun asked.
Qin Liehu looked at his son before saying, " Relax, the strongest force in Grand Dominance City is the government!"
"Alright." Qin Yun nodded.
Qin Yun followed his father until they reached the manor's entrance, where there were already horses prepared. Qin Liehu and Constable Xu both rode off.
As he watched his father leave, Qin Yun circulated the Quintessential Essence within him to begin the casting of Dharma powers.
"Dharma Eyes, behold!"
Deep in Qin Yun’s pupils, Dharma patterns were condensing. One would not notice any changes on the surface, but through Qin Yun's eyes, the world was changing drastically.
It was already afternoon with the sun hanging high. However, under Qin Yun’s gaze, the sky was full of azure-colored wisps. Riding in the distance, his father, Qin Liehu, had a few odd wispy auras lingering around him. There were pink ones, deep green ones, and blood red ones… There was a total of six different types of aura wisps. However, each of them was very weak and seemed like they would disappear with time.
"As one of the three silver-badged constables, Father probably encounters monsters every once in a while. It is completely normal for him to be slightly tainted by demonic auras." Qin Yun was relieved. The demonic auras only stained the surface of his father’s body and had yet to fully infiltrate. There were no hidden adverse effects.
Qin Yun turned around and returned to the manor.
With his Dharma Eyes, he saw that humans had their own distinctive auras, while plants had very different auras. All beings had their own auras and the strength of the auras varied. Nothing was concealed from his Dharma Eyes.
Obviously, when it came to the vital auras in his family manor, other than his own, his father was definitely at the top! The maids and servants had much weaker auras.
"Yun'er, come over here. Don’t worry about your father, he often needs to tend to official business." Changlan called out from within the hall.
Qin Yun turned his head and looked at the hall.
Thanks to his Dharma Eyes, the auras of everyone inside the hall appeared.
His mother, sister-in-law, his nephew and niece all had normal auras. However, the aura exuded by his brother….
"Huh?" Qin Yun's heart leaped.
He saw that his colorful-robed brother had a relatively weak aura. Furthermore, a thicker, more sinister green aura was seeping into Qin An’s body, intertwining with his own aura.
"Demonic aura! What a thick demonic aura! It has already penetrated deep into his organs. It is definitely not the first or second time this has happened to my brother. My brother’s vital aura is extremely weak and, if this continues, it will not be hidden any longer. He'll immediately fall sick and die!" Qin Yun’s heart palpitated as it filled with anger and killing intent. "Who is trying to kill my brother?"
Qin Yun’s heart was full of shock, anger, and a hint of lingering fear!
If he had returned just half a year later, he probably would not have seen his brother ever again.