Stormy Night; Tracking; Hunting . . .
Afterward, Cha-Eun Xiao prepared to retire for the night.
He had been tirelessly occupied for several consecutive nights, leaving him utterly drained. Now, at long last, he could indulge in a much-needed night of rest.
If he were still the former Xiao Monarch, a solitary figure aloof from the world, how could he have extended such courteous, yet insincere, treatment to the Crown Prince? His temperament wouldn't have allowed him to harbor so many concerns and allow situations to escalate. With his fiery disposition, he might have swiftly extracted retribution and put an end to the Crown Prince and his spouse once and for all.
Even if it meant going on the run, without a fixed abode, facing adversaries from all corners of the world, he would have done it. There would be no compromise.
But things were different now, and he was acutely aware of it.
He had newfound worries.
His father, his family, the steward, the loyal guards, Su Ye-Yue, Prince Hua-Yang, Lan Lang-Lang, Zuo Wu-Ji...
These were the individuals who occupied his thoughts and the ones who restrained him.
For the sake of these people, Cha-Eun Xiao had to be exceptionally prudent in choosing how to address the current predicament.
He was unwilling to lose any of them.
If any of them were to perish because of his actions...
It would be an unbearable weight on his conscience, a lifelong regret.
"Is this what they call family affection?" Cha-Eun Xiao lay in bed, his eyes half-closed. A warmth welled up in his heart, a slow and comforting sensation.
These people were willing to sacrifice anything for him, even their lives.
That was what true affection meant.
An affection he had never known before!
Since they were ready to lay down their lives for him, it became his duty to protect them.
That was a man's responsibility.
Something he, as a man, had to carry.
The night was shrouded in darkness, and an involuntary sigh escaped him.
He had embraced his new identity and family. Most surprisingly, since his rebirth, he hadn't even laid eyes on his present father, yet he had fully embraced his current identity and family.
It all seemed so absurd to him.
"Perhaps this marks the end of my solitary days from the past," he mused to himself. "Perhaps I grew weary of those lonely days filled with uncertainty... for such a long time..."
"Family affection... It's an extraordinary feeling... I endured so many solitary days in my previous life... I endured countless joys and sorrows, too many brutal battles and moments of madness... Who ever showed me the slightest bit of family affection?"
With that thought, he sighed deeply and whispered, "Why was I an orphan... in my previous life? I've asked myself that a million times. Why did my parents abandon me?"
A wave of sadness washed over him, halting his ruminations.
He closed his eyes, willing himself to fall into slumber.
And in that rare moment, he drifted into a dream...
In his dream, Cha-Eun Xiao found himself surrounded by mist, where a gentle woman stood, her gaze fixed lovingly upon him. She softly called out, "... Xiao-Er..."
Unbeknownst to Cha-Eun Xiao, he was asleep, and a single tear escaped his eye, falling onto his pillow.
It glistened with a translucent beauty, akin to a dewdrop. For a brief moment, it rested on the pillow, leaving behind only a tiny damp mark—a fleeting testament to its existence—before vanishing entirely.
Had he been awake, he would have fought fiercely to keep that tear at bay. But in this dream, he chose to release his pent-up emotions, allowing them to flow freely. He was purging the concealed feelings from his heart.
The woman's loving visage in the mist, her eyes filled with adoration, filled his mind. Then, he felt a gentle hand caressing his face...
A smile of genuine happiness graced his lips—a smile that had never adorned the face of the Xiao Monarch. It was a smile foreign to Cha Eun Xiao.
The dream world was tranquil...
...
In the midst of the night, Cha-Eun Xiao was ensconced in this sweet dream, not wanting to wake. However, a thunderous clap shattered the stillness, jolting him from his slumber!
— BOOM! —
It felt as if it had rent the very heavens, awakening countless denizens of the capital!
In the following moment, dark clouds converged from various directions...
Some of them even bore vibrant colors!
Cha-Eun Xiao gazed upon this spectacle, his astonishment growing. Rising from his bed, he realized that a torrential rain was pouring outside.
He observed the deluge with a nagging sense of unease, yet in his groggy state, he couldn't quite grasp what was amiss.
He hadn't witnessed the thunderclap's origin with his own eyes.
Had he seen it, he might have naturally discerned the truth.
But exhaustion had plunged him into deep slumber, a respite he'd long needed.
The thunderous roars continued, though now they were ordinary peals—Boom. Boom...
The rain intensified.
Cha-Eun Xiao watched for a while, detecting nothing overtly unusual. He contemplated returning to the blissful dream granted to him by the heavens. Then, another earth-shaking thunderclap resounded, cleaving the sky.
In an instant, lightning illuminated the heavens before vanishing as swiftly as it had appeared.
To an ordinary person or even a formidable cultivator in this world, it would appear as nothing more than a commonplace thunderstorm.
Yet a chilling sensation ran down Cha-Eun Xiao's spine.
It wasn't lightning; it was the movements of two formidable cultivators!
One was fleeing, while the other was in hot pursuit!
They moved at an astounding speed, the spiritual energy enveloping their bodies causing the air to rub together, generating the dazzling flashes. The combination of their incredible velocity and the flickering lights mimicked the appearance of thunder!
In Cha-Eun Xiao's assessment, these two individuals were, at a minimum, in the Grandmaster Levels of Tianyuan. They both clearly surpassed Guan Zheng-Wen in terms of strength.
He had once believed that with his Grade of Diyuan capabilities, he could overcome anyone he encountered. However, mere moments ago, he had clashed with Guan Zheng-Wen, and now, he faced these two formidable cultivators. Not to mention, even Steward Song had returned to the Grade of Tianyuan.
Cha-Eun Xiao contemplated for a moment, his gaze fixed on the direction of those illuminating flashes. His eyes brightened, and he reached for the bed. A set of black attire soared into his hand with a swish.
The next instant, he was clad in black attire, and with a puff, he leaped out of the window, drenched by the pouring rain.
He paid little mind to the rain, swiftly maneuvering to the rooftop. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared entirely.
...
This wasn't the Lunisolar Shadow he employed; it was the One Laughter in Skyline!
While the Lunisolar Shadow kept him hidden while moving at high speeds, the One Laughter in Skyline focused solely on enhancing his velocity, propelling him to the pinnacle of speed!
From merely standing at a tavern's door, one could traverse to the ends of the world with a single laugh.
One Laughter in Skyline.
It was universally acknowledged as the Qing-Yun Realm's fastest martial art!
In his previous life, this martial art had allowed him to elude pursuers for over 30,000 miles!
Within an instant, he had already covered 300 kilometers. The rain not only failed to hinder him but actually seemed to boost his speed.
He became like a gust of wind sweeping across the boundless sky.
Under his feet, the roofs of houses resembled fish scales, flashing by—shoot, shoot, shoot. Soon, he reached the city's outskirts. The city wall stood over 20 meters tall. Before the sentinels on the wall could react, Cha-Eun Xiao had vanished with a puff, reappearing beyond the wall.
In the distance, two more lightning flashes streaked across the sky, resembling silver serpents in their dance.
Cha-Eun Xiao's keen eyes detected sword lights amidst the flashes. Although he was far from the scene and couldn't see them clearly, he recognized these flashes as sword lights.
Cha-Eun Xiao was like a darting dragon as he rushed forward and entered the forest. There, he activated the Lunisolar Shadow...
While One Laughter in Skyline granted him unrivaled speed, it couldn't conceal his presence, a drawback of pure speed. In contrast, the Lunisolar Shadow covered both speed and stealth. It might be slower than One Laughter in Skyline, but it provided security during movement.
[Why did these two top cultivators choose to battle at night, let alone during a torrential downpour?]
At this point, he drew nearer and nearer.
—Dang!— The weapons of the two formidable cultivators clashed. Even from a distance, Cha-Eun Xiao could see dazzling lights shooting skyward—a spectacular sight.
Amid the heavy rain, the sounds of battle reverberated, and it was evident that some trees had fallen.
Cha-Eun Xiao furrowed his brow, observing the battle taking place about four miles away.
He waited, refraining from approaching. As he anticipated, after some time, another lightning bolt illuminated the sky, this time from a different direction, nearly a thousand kilometers from their previous location.
"They are indeed top-tier superior cultivators," Cha-Eun Xiao thought to himself, determination swelling as he activated the Lunisolar Shadow to draw closer to the confrontation.