ETR | Chapter 34

As long as they could keep him here, everything else would be fine.

Shen Guan also knew Nan An. He also knew how well she treated Xiao Xueman. Judging by the situation, it looked like they weren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Honestly, he didn’t really care where he stayed. Now that they were in Wangtian Immortal Sect, no matter how bold the fox clan was, they wouldn’t dare come looking here. He also knew Lin Yuan and even shot her a glance, but Lin Yuan was currently staring at Xiao Xueman with a gaze that held… a hint of greed.

It was kind of creepy.

Lin Yuan had once been a member of the “Silver Eagle” squad, but after Xiao Xueman left, Silver Eagle disbanded, and for whatever reasons, everyone had fallen out pretty badly.

Too many things had happened from the Second Heaven to the First Heaven within Wangtian Immortal Sect. And it just so happened Shen Guan hadn’t been around for that stretch. Xiao Xueman had glossed over it all, but now that they were back together, the air between them was just… too delicate.

Xiao Wan had picked up on it too. But after finally reuniting with Daddy, all the other stuff didn’t matter as much to him.

Xiao Xueman was supporting Nan An. This wasn’t the place to talk, but he quickly realized—he couldn’t find anywhere around here to even sit.

Nan An noticed it too.

As the Empress, there was a palace for him, but Xiao Xueman had never stepped foot in it. Probably didn’t want to live there, either.

“Come with me,” she said, a gentle smile on her face. “I’ve got a courtyard of my own. It’s nice and quiet.”

Xiao Xueman thought about it for a second, then nodded.

Nan An’s courtyard looked quite different from the others. Not grand at all, but it gave off a peaceful vibe. Xiao Xueman brought his son and Shen Guan inside. Nan An turned around and shut the door behind them.

Outside the courtyard, Qin Lou, Yin Ying, and Lin Yuan: “……”

The courtyard gate was super flimsy, just a simple wooden fence. Any one of them could smash it with a flick of their wrist. But no one dared. They just stood there and stared longingly at the shut door.

“I’m just catching up with Xueman, so there’s no need to trouble the Dijun, Elders, or Sect Leaders,” Nan An said, still wearing that gentle smile. “I think… that’s what Xueman wants, too.”

Though they all wanted to follow in, none of them dared force their way. But they didn’t want to leave either, so they just stood by the gate, waiting.

Once Nan An settled down, Xiao Xueman reached out to check her pulse again. Shen Guan tried as well, his eyes flashing with a bit of regret. He shook his head at Xiao Xueman.

“Don’t bother,” Nan An pulled her hand back. “It’s no use. Being able to live this long and see you again… that’s already a huge blessing. I have no regrets left in this life.”

Xiao Xueman didn’t reply. He figured if he used his spiritual power to slowly nurse her back to health, maybe… just maybe it could help.

Nan An lowered her head to glance at the child in his arms, her eyes softening even more. “Is this Xiao Wan? How old is he now?”

Xiao Wan sniffled and answered in his soft little voice, “I’m ten.”

“Sect Leader Lin already told me,” Nan An sighed. “Poor thing, he must’ve been scared. People around here are always like this, acting all high and mighty, right?”

Shen Guan felt like that line had some hidden meaning to it—and it was dead on.

Xiao Xueman didn’t agree nor disagree.

Wangtian Immortal Sect was a place full of trouble. If it hadn’t been absolutely necessary, Xiao Xueman wouldn’t have stayed.

First for Xiao Wan, now for Nan An.

He still wanted to try helping Nan An’s condition. A few days at most. If he could really help her live a few more years, that’d be great. If not, at least he wouldn’t regret not trying.

“It’s only a few days. If I want to leave, they can’t stop me. That’s always been the case,” Xiao Xueman said. “You don’t need to worry so much.”

Nan An shook her head and sighed lightly. Xiao Xueman took her hand again and slowly poured in his spiritual power.

His wood-type spiritual power was gentle and comforting. After a while, Nan An closed her eyes and fell asleep. Xiao Xueman laid her down on the couch. Her aged face slowly regained a faint flush of color.

Xiao Wan was well-behaved too. He knew Daddy was trying to save someone, so he didn’t disturb him. Shen Guan led him to the side and asked softly, “After all this fuss, are you hungry?”

Now that he mentioned it, Xiao Wan was kind of hungry. Spirit practitioners still needed to eat. In fact, eating often helped replenish stamina and increase spiritual power. Before meeting Xiao Xueman again, he hadn’t dared eat a single thing in Wangtian Immortal Sect.

Shen Guan saw a plate of pastries on the table and brought it over to him.

Xiao Wan took a bite and immediately froze.

“These taste like Daddy’s,” he mumbled.

Nan An had always known how to cook. After traveling with Xiao Xueman, her cooking gradually came to resemble his. Some of these pastries were even ones Xiao Xueman had personally taught her to make.

“Xueman taught her,” Shen Guan explained, then added with a sigh, “Your daddy… really knows how to do everything.”

Xiao Wan ate a few more pastries and wasn’t as hungry anymore. He looked over at Nan An sleeping on the couch, then at Xiao Xueman, and finally tugged Shen Guan’s sleeve.

“What is it?”

Xiao Wan said, “Uncle Shen, I know Daddy is the Empress now, and that Sect Leader also told me a little…”

But Lin Yuan’s explanations were always so vague and hard to follow. Xiao Wan didn’t really get it.

He hesitated for a bit, then quietly asked, “Back then… what really happened? I don’t know what Daddy used to be like. I’m a little older now, can you tell me?”

Shen Guan froze. He wasn’t sure how to respond.

They were already inside Wangtian Immortal Sect, and Xiao Wan had learned a bit from others. Back then, they hadn’t told him anything because he was too young and they didn’t want him to overthink. But now… now he even knew about the Empress stuff, and they were already here—no point in hiding it anymore.

After all, he was Xiao Xueman’s child. Shen Guan knew Xueman must’ve heard too, so he looked over at him to check his reaction.

Xiao Xueman did hear. He was still treating Nan An and couldn’t move, but when Shen Guan glanced over, he gave a small nod.

Since it had all come to light already, hiding it any further was pointless. Better for Xiao Wan to hear the truth from them than to guess on his own.

Shen Guan kept it brief, carefully picking through Xueman’s past to share with Xiao Wan—how incredible he was, how he helped Wangtian Immortal Sect rise step by step. No exaggeration, just the truth. But even so, one story after another made it sound straight-up legendary.

“Daddy’s amazing!” Xiao Wan’s eyes sparkled as he listened, unable to hold back a gasp. “Wow!”

Xiao Xueman: “……”

Listening to others talk about himself gave him this weird sense of embarrassment.

Shen Guan wrapped up the tales of Xueman’s glory days and naturally transitioned into the story of the final battle. Xueman had told him before—it was Tianshu Academy’s ambush that left him badly wounded. After he recovered, he had Xiao Wan.

Shen Guan deliberately skipped over Qin Lou, but in truth, Xiao Wan already had an idea. The special fire-type spiritual power in his body practically shouted who it came from.

He also knew what people said about the end—that the Empress had died in the final battle. Hearing the real story, he still couldn’t help but feel sad.

Xiao Wan had always been very empathetic, especially when it came to Xiao Xueman. His mood shifted seamlessly from “Daddy is amazing!” to “Daddy is so pitiful,” and he couldn’t resist hugging Xueman.

At that moment, Xueman just happened to pull his hand back. Nan An’s condition wasn’t something that could be rushed—today’s treatment had gone as far as it could. She was still sleeping on the couch, likely the most peaceful sleep she’d had in years.

Xiao Wan clung to his waist and wouldn’t let go. Xueman had no choice but to sit beside him and playfully tug his nose. “Such a clingy little thing.”

Shen Guan had been recounting stories from the past—some of which even Xueman barely remembered anymore.

While they were reminiscing in the courtyard, things outside weren’t exactly calm either. More and more people started showing up.

The original “Yin Ying” squad no longer existed. Of the seven members, two had died, one had stormed off, Yin Ying had become an Elder in the sect and never gave up on finding Xiao Xueman, and the remaining three had become Sect Leaders—Lin Yuan of Ji Yun Pavilion, and two others in charge of Dan Pavilion and Artifact Pavilion.

Ji Yun Pavilion and the other two were some of the strongest inner sect divisions. Ji Yun had a massive number of disciples with strong power, and the Dan and Artifact Pavilions—well, everyone knew spiritual herbs and instruments were essentials on the cultivation path.

Each pavilion was filled with elite talents—Six-Star Alchemists and Six-Star Artifact Forgers. Just one of these pavilions could rival entire guilds like the Alchemist Association.

These three Sect Leaders were big names, not just in Wangtian Immortal Sect, but across the entire Spirit Realm Continent. And all of them were brought up by Xiao Xueman. Especially Dan Pavilion’s Sect Leader Su Mingming—her alchemy skills were taught directly by Xueman.

Su Mingming showed up quickly. Her spiritual power wasn’t that high—she didn’t specialize in fighting. Among the group of Spirit Gods present, she’d barely made it to Spirit Lord, lagging two tiers behind. But her temper? Explosive.

She jumped down from the Artifact Pavilion Leader’s flying spirit instrument and marched up to Lin Yuan, full of rage.

“You knew Xueman was back and didn’t tell me immediately?!” she yelled. “You betrayed me!”

Lin Yuan didn’t even blink. “Did we ever agree I’d tell you? Besides, didn’t I call you all here now?”

“You ungrateful traitor!”

“Say whatever you want,” Lin Yuan shrugged, then turned to the Artifact Pavilion Leader Jiang Yan and muttered, “Control your wife.”

These two were the only couple that came out of the Yin Ying squad—and honestly, one of the very few among Wangtian Immortal Sect’s early crowd that made it through to the end.

Funny thing was, Su Mingming and Jiang Yan had started off totally at odds. She was fiery, he was cold. They clashed hard in the beginning, but somehow stumbled their way into a relationship. Lots of ups and downs, yet their bond only grew stronger.

Qin Lou and Xiao Xueman, though? Perfect harmony, mutual support, no fights, shared goals. They looked like a match made in heaven when they first met. But in the end… it turned out like this.

Jiang Yan had only just heard that Xiao Xueman had shown up at Ji Yun Pavilion. He didn’t even know the details.

They’d been hearing rumors for years that the Dijun was still looking for someone. But to actually see him now? Everyone found it pretty unbelievable.

Lin Yuan, Su Mingming, Jiang Yan—they were different from Qin Lou and Yin Ying. They hadn’t really wronged Xiao Xueman. Mostly, they just missed him. The only guilt they had was not thinking a little more back then—maybe if they had stayed by his side, things wouldn’t have gone that way.

Especially Su Mingming and Jiang Yan. As alchemist and artifact forger, they weren’t strong enough to fight in the final battle and were stationed at the rear. They kept their heads down and worked, not knowing anything. It was only long after the victory that they learned what had happened to Xueman.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing,” Su Mingming narrowed her eyes at Lin Yuan. “You used Aunt An to keep him here, and now you’re scared he’ll get mad, so you called us over to take the heat. Otherwise, you’d want to be the only one to see him.”

Busted, and very possibly about to get beat up by Xueman, Lin Yuan didn’t even flinch.

Author’s note:

We’re gonna start getting into what happened in the past~