Chapter 120 – This kid

“Dad, are you absolutely certain they are alive?” Tianxu asked as they ran through a wide stretch of grassland.

They were moving pretty slowly, as Tianxu was only an Innate warrior. But from Tianxu’s account, his wife and child shouldn’t be too far away.

“At least your daughter is,” Shu Yang answered.

“How do you know that? How do you know I have a daughter?” Tianxu asked.

“She’s my granddaughter; of course I’d know about her. Do you think I’m like you?” Shu Yang asked, raising a questioning eyebrow. “I’m still not certain you didn’t just impregnate some poor woman and then ran off.”

“Dad, how could I possibly do that? It’s just like I told you, Ximing and I are married. I was sure she died,” Tianxu said, looking a bit distressed.

Shu Yang just shook his head. When he found Tianxu a few hours ago, the boy had at first thought he was seeing things. When he finally realized that Shu Yang was truly there, he had broken down in tears and told him what he’d been through.

Shu Yang could hardly believe it. He wasn’t there, sure, but wouldn’t you at least search for your wife and not just immediately assume she was dead?

It was a good thing he had come looking for Tianxu when he did, or who knows what had become of his granddaughter, left on her own in a place like this.

“By the way, Dad,” Tianxu said after a while. “I think we are heading in the wrong direction. Our village is to the north. If Ximing got away, she should be in that area.”

‘Maybe it’s already changed if they are close by.’

Shu Yang came to a stop. He had already used his Bloodline Ability when he found Tianxu and determined that his granddaughter was to the east. But they had been traveling for a few hours now, and that might have changed.

He once again took a brief glance at his granddaughter with his Piercing Gaze.

‘Southwest? Looks like I overshot.’

He then looked at his son and shook his head. ‘This kid.’

“What with that look?” Tianxu asked.

“Nothing. Your daughter is to the southwest from here; let’s go,” Shu Yang said, changing direction and continuing to run. He was actually quite impatient himself. After everything he had seen in the Far West, he was a bit worried about his grandchild’s safety.

“No, what? Dad, I said north,” Tianxu said.

Shu Yang just rolled his eyes and continued running.

Tianxu also seemed to realize how ridiculous his statement was, and followed after him.

Shu Yang had managed to track down Tianxu, after all, so there shouldn’t be much doubt about his abilities. Besides, most of his children were used to him having somewhat inexplicable abilities. Tianxu had probably just been away for so long that he had forgotten about it.

“I’m sorry, Dad. For running away. If we really find them, I’ll come back home with you. I don’t want any more adventures; I just want to raise my child with Ximing in peace,” Tianxu said in a low voice.

Shu Yang smiled. “It’s fine. I understand the urge to go into the world. Being gone for so many years is a bit much, though. Just make sure to make it up to your mother when we get back. Giving her a granddaughter should soften her attitude, at least.”

“Yeah,” Tianxu said, smiling. “You know, I actually tried to return a few years ago. But crossing the Dust is really hard unless you’re willing to…Wait, Dad, how did you get so much blood?”

“Blood?” Shu Yang asked.

“Yeah, didn’t you use blood to cross the Dust?” Tianxu asked.

‘Has this kid been completely corrupted by this place? Why would you need blood?’

“We’ll just fly over it,” Shu Yang said, shaking his head.

“What, well, how…” Tianxu stumbled over his words.

“I’ll show you later,” Shu Yang said. He didn’t want to bring out the flying ship now, as it would definitely attract attention. He didn’t need any more complications; he just wanted to grab his granddaughter, and hopefully his daughter-in-law, before leaving this place and never looking back.

They continued to travel for another thirty minutes before Shu Yang slowed down. He hesitated slightly on whether to use his Bloodline Ability again.

‘No matter how briefly I look, I won’t be able to check more than twice today. Maybe I should look just once more, and try to see if I can get any context clues by zooming out and taking in the surroundings.’

Shu Yang had already activated his Bloodline Ability quite frequently trying to find Tianxu, so now he really didn’t have much power left to give.

“Why did we stop?” Tianxu asked.

“I’m thinking,” Shu Yang answered.

‘What context could there be? I know they are indoors, so probably a village somewhere. It’s better to use it twice and get the directions right.’

Shu Yang once again used his Bloodline Ability, and this time, he saw his granddaughter in the northeast.

‘We’re close! ‘

He must have passed the place they were staying within the past half hour. Probably just by a mile or so. He felt greatly relieved that he stopped to look when he had.

‘I should head east for a mile or so, and head back the same direction we came from.’

“Let’s go, it’s this way,” Shu Yang said, taking off running again.

“But didn’t you just say-” Tianxu began, but cut himself off and followed Shu Yang obediently.

Just ten minutes later, Shu Yang spotted a village on the other side of a small hill.

“This should be it,” Shu Yang said. “Let’s go around and take a look.”

Tianxu didn’t need any motivational speech; he ran off into the village and started yelling. “Ximing! Ximing!”

‘That works too, I guess.’

Shu Yang followed his son leisurely, and it wasn’t long until he saw a young woman run toward Tianxu with a baby in her arms.

“Tianxu!”

“Ximing!”

The two of them embraced each other and cried tears of joy.

“I knew you would find me, Tianxu,” Ximing said.

Shu Yang stayed away a bit to give them privacy, but he still heard what Ximing said and couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

‘Without me, when would that kid ever have found you, drinking away the day in that tavern?’

There were a few other villagers around who cast them curious looks, but that was all they did before moving on with their business. No one wanted to get involved in something that wasn’t their concern.

“Look, Tianxu, isn’t she lovely?” Ximing asked, lifting up the baby in her arms.

Tianxu took her from her, grinning widely. “I actually have a daughter.”

“I haven’t named her yet,” Ximing said. “What do you think, Tianxu?”

“Let’s name her Xinxi,” Tianxu said.

“You already have a niece with that name,” Shu Yang broke in.

“I do?” Tianxu asked.

“Tianxu, who is this?” Ximing asked, looking at Shu Yang curiously.

“This is my father,” Tianxu introduced. “Dad, this is Ximing, my wife.”

“Your father? He looks younger than you do, no?” Ximing questioned.

Shu Yang laughed and stepped forward. “That’s because Tianxu has been drinking too much lately. You should look after him in the future.”

“You’ve been drinking?” Ximing asked.

“That, well, it’s a bit complicated,” Tianxu said with an awkward smile.

“I’ll leave you two to catch up,” Shu Yang said, patting his son on the shoulder. “We’re not in that much of a hurry. I’ll wait on the hill over there.”

“Okay,” Tianxu said, nodding. But then he remembered his daughter’s name. “Wait, Dad! Who is Xinxi?”

“Tianhu’s daughter,” Shu Yang answered.

“Tianhu has a daughter? He’s married? To that Shen woman?” Tianxu asked.

“Let’s talk about it later,” Shu Yang said with a chuckle. “You have missed quite a few things.”

“Alright. Then…Shu Xinzi?” Tianxu asked hesitantly.

“Good name,” Shu Yang said with a nod. He then left the two of them alone to talk things out. Shu Yang guessed Ximing wouldn’t object to coming back home with them, but it would probably still need to be discussed.

“Pretty successful trip for once, wouldn’t you say, Xiaorong?” Shu Yang asked, sitting down on the ground and enjoying the sun on his face. The miserable state of the people he encountered along the way had put Shu Yang in a bit of a bad mood, but seeing his son again, and even getting the opportunity to reunite him with his wife and daughter, swept all those emotions away.

“Didn’t we succeed before?” Xiaorong asked, jumping down and walking around the grass. For some reason, she only seemed to like to move around when they actually weren’t heading anywhere.

“I guess we did,” Shu Yang said, smiling. He was just glad he didn’t have to deal with so many complications this time.

Even if those Saints were to discover him at the very last moment, Shu Yang wouldn’t worry much. He wasn’t afraid of a fellow body cultivator; considering he had his sword intent and Xiaorong, he doubted any of the leaders of the Three Great Clans could be his opponent.

Besides, Tianxu had shared a bit of what he knew about this place earlier. He wasn’t sure about all the details, but was pretty certain that the Saints here had propped up the Wen King in order to fight the Lishen Emperor for them. Once their battle was over, they would sweep in and take over the resources of Shu Yang’s home.

‘I need to get the Sword Sect involved before it gets to that.’

But either way, it showed that those Saints were pretty cowardly and wouldn’t take action easily.

‘I wonder how Zhangye is doing. Is he even still alive?’

It seemed more and more unlikely, but Shu Yang felt it was no use to look for him at the moment. His son hadn’t had any luck in over ten years. He would try to develop his Bloodline Ability instead, and hopefully be able to gain some clues once he could see him.

Zhangye was a friend he had known since childhood, after all. Even before he remembered living a previous life. He didn’t want to lose him.

“Dad! We’re ready to leave,” Tianxu called out as he came walking up the hill with his wife and daughter.

“Good,” Shu Yang said, rising to his feet.

“Do you need a good place to cross the Dust? I know a place where it's very narrow. It will probably take a while to get there, though,” Tianxu said.

“It’s fine,” Shu Yang said. “It should be fine to cross just about anywhere.”

Finding a narrow part would perhaps save some spirit stones, but he didn’t want to waste too much time. With Ximing and a baby, they would be moving incredibly slowly.

‘Guess we’ll move a little too slowly if we go on foot, even if we head straight east.’

Shu Yang shrugged and connected to his storage ring. While he would prefer not to attract any attention, he couldn’t just walk for several weeks. If people saw them flying by, so be it.

“Dad!”

“Ah!”

Tianxu and Ximing both cried out in shock as the flying ship appeared.

“Calm down. This is our ride,” Shu Yang explained.

“This…what is it? How is it flying?” Tianxu asked.

“Magic,” Shu Yang said, smiling teasingly.

“What…Just what has happened while I was gone?” Tianxu asked.

“Many things. Many, many things,” Shu Yang said, a bit wistful.

“Like what? Can you give me just the basics so I’m a bit more prepared?” Tianxu asked.

“Well, for starters,” Shu Yang said, thinking, “I’m a Saint now. Guess you didn’t know that, did you?”

“You’re a Saint? Like the Lishen Emperor is a Saint?” Tianxu asked.

“Right. Don’t be too shocked; your brother is even married to a Saint,” Shu Yang said with a laugh and jumped on board. “Let’s go. I’ll explain the rest on the way.”