"Xin'er, Chen'er."
Chu Feng beckoned, and the two children ran over cheerfully.
Whoosh!
Two streaks of light flashed and disappeared, and the next moment, they were in Chu Feng's arms.
It was fortunate that Chu Feng was a Peak Martial Emperor, for if it had been an ordinary person, they would likely have been smashed to smithereens by that impact.
"Daddy."
The children rubbed Chu Feng's cheeks with their smooth, tender faces from both sides, their childish and affectionate voices nearly sounding at the same time in his ears.
Chu Feng thoroughly enjoyed this sensation, his smile stretching almost to his ears, and it took him a while to speak, "Daddy has to go away for a while."
"Daddy, are you going to Imperial City to save Mommy?"
Dressed in a bright red dress, with red lips and white teeth, her hair in a ponytail, Chu Xin clasped Chu Feng's head with her little white hands and forcefully pulled it towards her, her round eyes filled with hope.
Chen'er, wearing white clothes and with two bun-styled hairdos, his face plump and very festive-looking, turned Chu Feng's head toward him using his chubby hands and asked with a longing expression, "Daddy, I want to go save Mommy too."
Previously, the siblings would ask daily where their mother was, and Chu Feng could only lie that their mother was held in Imperial City.
Since then, their daily question turned into when they were going to save their mother.
Chu Feng shook his head and said, "I'm not going to save Mommy, and I'll be back very soon. It's very dangerous outside the village, and you two have no cultivation. Don't leave the village. Grandfather village chief will take care of you. Be good and wait at home for my return."
"Daddy is going out to play alone again, not taking us; bad Daddy, I'm not talking to you anymore." Chen'er pouted and angrily turned his face to one side.
"Daddy will be back soon, and then I'll buy you lots and lots of tasty and fun things, okay?" Chu Feng gently pinched Chen'er's chubby face and spoke tenderly.
"I don't want that; I just want to go with Daddy," Chen'er stubbornly said, his chubby little hands crossed in front of his chest, wearing an expression that said you can't cajole me.
Slap!
Chu Feng was about to say more when a small white hand reached out and slapped Chen'er's head.
"Little brother, why can't you behave? Daddy must have important matters to handle when he goes out; don't cling to him."
Chu Xin lectured Chen'er seriously, perhaps benefiting from the Divine Runes within them, though they were only three years old, they sometimes spoke and acted like little adults.
Though Chen'er had been obstinate with Chu Feng, he rubbed his head and looked aggrieved, yet he didn't dare talk back.
This little guy might not listen to Chu Feng, but he absolutely listened to his sister Chu Xin.
Sometimes Chu Feng felt his authority as a father was even less than that of little Chu Xin.
Of course, it was also because Chu Feng generally didn't show his stern face to the children; once he did, the two little ones didn't dare to say a word.
"Alright, be good and wait for me at home. If you dare sneak out, I'll come back and spank your butts until they bloom." Chu Feng threatened.
"Got it, Daddy; go ahead," Chu Xin waved her small hands, urging him.
"Hmm?"
Chu Feng's eyelid twitched, why did it feel like the girl couldn't wait for him to leave?
"Wu wu, Daddy, please come back early. We will miss you."
Chu Xin, sensing that her tone might have been off, suddenly showed a reluctant expression on her delicate face, her eyes brimming with tears.
That's more like it.
Chu Feng nodded in satisfaction, patted the children's heads, pacified them a few more times, then turned and left, embarking on the path of Crossing the Divine Tribulation.
The siblings sent him off all the way to the village entrance, warming Chu Feng's heart immensely.
Unfortunately, he had already left the range of the Array he had set in the village and couldn't hear any sounds from within the Array.
Otherwise, he might have been infuriated by the siblings' quiet conversation.
"Sister, why did you stop me earlier? If I just cried for a while longer, Daddy might have softened his heart and agreed to take us with him," Chen'er complained as he rubbed the spot where his sister had hit him.
"Don't be silly; when has that trick ever worked?"
Chu Xin rolled her eyes at him, then said excitedly, "Wait until Daddy leaves, and then we'll sneak out ourselves."
"Ah? Isn't that a bad idea?"
Chen'er hesitated. Although he liked to act stubborn in front of Chu Feng, the idea of sneaking away from home still scared him.
"What's so bad about that, if Daddy won't take us to save Mom, we'll go by ourselves."
Chu Xin's eyes twinkled with excitement. "Do you remember the stories Daddy told us about Yang Jian splitting Peach Mountain to save his mother, and Chen Xiang splitting Hua Mountain to rescue his mother? This time, we siblings will split open Imperial City to save Mom."
"Very good, very good, this sounds great."
Upon hearing this, Chu Chen immediately clapped his chubby little hands joyously, clapping so hard that his round cheeks quivered.
"But..."
He quickly furrowed his brow again. "Daddy won't let us go out. He says we have no cultivation and it would be very dangerous outside."
"No, no,"
Chu Xin extended her snow-white right index finger and waved it from side to side, analyzing like an adult. "The village chief grandpa told us that cultivators are ranked as Martial Artists, martial masters, Martial Kings, Martial Emperors, Martial Arts Sects, Martial Venerates, Martial Saints, Martial Emperors, Martial Gods. He also said that it's quite impressive for ordinary people to reach the level of martial master, and within thousands of miles, besides him, there is only one Martial King. Grandpa is also a Martial King but he cannot beat us and even calls us little monsters. So, we might not have cultivation, but we are still very formidable. Dad is just scaring us to prevent us from going out."
"It does seem like it."
Chu Chen thought for a moment and finally nodded his head.
Chu Xin lifted her left hand and shook the beautiful red ring on her index finger, grinning and saying, "We also have the treasures Daddy gave us. Even if we can't win, we can throw talismans, enough talismans to fill over a dozen big mountains, should be enough for us to throw for many days. Even if the talismans can't win, we can still summon Daddy's spirit body."
Chu Chen also looked at his chubby little hand, which also had a ring, but it was white.
These two rings were given by Chu Feng and could not be destroyed unless one's cultivation surpassed Chu Feng's.
The rings themselves contained a small world, filled with talismans, elixirs, array stones for instantly laying out arrays, and various treasures that Chu Feng had refined over the years.
Even the clothes the two children wore were defensive Holy Artifacts.
Of course, among the most important were the two Summoning Orders, which could summon Chu Feng's spirit body nine times.
His spirit body was as powerful as a Martial Emperor at the early stage.
For the safety of the two children, Chu Feng had spared no effort and racked his brains.
"Sister is right."
Chu Chen finally made up his mind, urging excitedly, "Then let's go quickly."
"Don't rush, let's wait until Daddy has gone far away."
Chu Xin watched as the figure about to disappear from view, excitement also filling her round big eyes.
Chu Feng looked back and saw the two children standing at the entrance to the village watching him, feeling deeply moved and reluctant to leave, almost tempted to go back.
But thinking that he must overcome the Divine Tribulation to find A Rou, he hardened his heart, tore through the void, and disappeared.
"Yay! Daddy's gone, let's go too."
Seeing Chu Feng disappear, the two adorable kids cheered joyfully, gone was the reluctant demeanor from before.
"Wait, let's leave a note for the village chief grandpa before we go, to tell him we are going to find Mom, so he won't worry," Chu Xin thought aloud.
"Okay, I'll write it."
Chu Chen volunteered eagerly; the two adorable kids then ran back home in a flash, grabbed paper and pen, and began to write.
Chu Xin glanced over and frowned disapprovingly, pushing Chu Chen aside: "All the times Daddy told you to practice your writing and you wouldn't listen. Look at what you've written; is this supposed to be hieroglyphics?"
Chu Chen chuckled sheepishly twice, obediently standing aside without another word.
Writing was not as fun as practicing with a sword, nor as simple as roasting meat.
"Done!"
After finishing, Chu Xin looked at her own masterpiece very satisfied; it had to be said, her handwriting was quite beautiful.
Carefully placing the ink stone on the note to weigh it down, she turned and, pulling Chu Chen along, sneaked out of the village while the villagers weren't watching.
Seeing no one around, Chu Xin's snow-white little hand quickly formed a hand seal, and she cried out in a tender voice, "Heavenly Sword, appear!"
As soon as her voice fell, a circular energy array materialized behind her, and a red long sword emerged from the array, flickering with terrifying Sword Intent.
Simultaneously, Chu Chen formed a hand seal and summoned his own pitch-black Sky-breaking Saber, its domineering Sword Intent shaking the area.
The two tiny bodies leapt up and landed steadily on their respective weapons.
"Let's go!"
The siblings shouted in unison, Divine Runes appearing on the two Emperor's Artifacts, and then they turned into two streaks of light, vanishing in the blink of an eye.