Green Valley Town.

  The Li family estate.

  At this moment, Li Kuangtu, Li Kuanghua, and the two Buddhist cultivators returo their homend once again.

  Gazing at the peaceful Green Valley Town, plex emotions welled up within them. When they left, they were still naive children, pro and throwing tantrums. Now, they had grown up, following in the footsteps of their elders.

  Li Kuangtu didn't know what his elder siblings were thinking.

  He felt that Green Valley Town now seemed small to him. He didn't know why, but when he saw the vilgers and people he used to know, it felt strange. He eve awkward talking to them, so he simply avoided meeting his old friends.

  It was small, but it was also warm and f. They returo the family estate, visited the pce where the Primordial Blood Tree had taken root, went to the aral hall, and then revisited the Silver Iron Forest.

  An unpreted sense of security washed over him, making him want to cry.

  As he wandered around, a figure came into view. It was... Qingyu, his childhood sweetheart!

  Qingyu was still as beautiful as she was back then. She now wore a white robe simir to Huang Xiujin's, and experts from the Cloudsea Pavilion were proteg her.

  "Kuangtu!"

  "Sister Qingyu!"

  Seeing Qingyu, Li Kuangtu rushed towards her without hesitation and embraced her without any reservation. If it were before, he would surely have shouted, "Sister Qingyu, I'm a man now!"

  But now, he simply held Qingyu quietly, feelirembling with excitement in his arms. "Sister Qingyu," he whispered, "I'm back."

  "In broad daylight, how shameless."

  Li Kuanghua was also present, and seeing them ag so intimately in public made her roll her eyes. However, with her younger brother and his fiancée present, she refrained from saying anything insulting. She simply instructed, "Don't do anything foolish, you brat. Some things should only be doer marriage. Don't follow your elder brother's example."

  "Kissing and hugging, even toug where you shouldn't, I'll let it slide this time. But after you're married, you do whatever you want."

  With that, she left with the two monks, who were walking with their heads bowed, tinuously ting scriptures.

  "..."

  Li Kuangtu's lips twitched. He didn't even blush anymore. He felt a bit grateful that at least his elder sister hadn't called him "useless."

  Qingyu looked at Li Kuanghua's retreating figure, walking sideways like a crab, with astonishment. "What happeo Kuanghua?" she wondered. "Was... was she possessed by someone else?"

  If she remembered correctly, when Li Kuanghua left, she was timid and reserved, speaking softly aly, a truly pitiful sight.

  But now, Li Kuanghua dared to say anything, just like those seven incredibly straightforward uncles of hers, as she had heard in the rumors.

  "Ahem."

  Li Kuangtu touched his nose. "My sister," he said, "she's spent too much time with those demon cultivators. You'll get used to it."

  The two of them sat beside the swing that Li Kuangtu used to py on as a child. But now, he no longer wao sit on the swing. He just wao quietly watch.

  It was as if he could see that small child sitting there, being pushed by Grandpa Huang and Qingyu, cheering in the wind.

  Li Kuangtu reted his experiences over the years iail. Every time he mentioned a dangerous situation, Qingyu's grip on his hand would tighten.

  Wheold her about his exploits at the Azure artial Pavilion, how he had eveed Yan Xiao, Qingyu wept with joy. "Grandpa Huang said it," she excimed, "Kuangtu would definitely return with glory worthy of praise!"

  But as soon as she finished speaking, both of them fell silent.

  After a long while...

  Li Kuangtu finally spoke. "Qingyu," he said, "I'm sorry, but our family couldn't find Grandpa Huang. Freat-grandaunt has been using Dawn to search for him all these years. This time, she eveo the Azure Cloud Pavilion."

  "It's alright," Qingyu replied. "As long as we keep searg, we'll find him one day."

  Qingyu spoke softly.

  That day, Grandpa Huang, who had raised her, left the Li family to find a pce to peacefully pass away and leave his final iao the Cloudsea Pavilion. But on that same day, he disappeared without a trace.

  Despite numerous searches, Dawn, with its influehroughout the Azure Clion, could only find information about Huang Xiujin's meeting with Yu Xian, the former Pavilion Master of the Azure Cloud Pavilion.

  That was the st trace of him.

  But the more Dawn iigated, the more terrifying it became. It turned out that Yu Xian had always been a member of a mysterious anization, the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion. He had been hiding within the Azure Cloud Pavilion, and no one knew his true purpose.

  Just as the two of them were lost in thought, their heads bowed, someone from the Cloudsea Pavilion arrived on a flying sword, evidently in a hurry.

  His expression was a mix of surprise and bewilderment.

  "Miss Qingyu," he announced, "Tower Master... he's back! He's right outside Green Valley Town!"

  "What?!"

  Joy spread across the faces of Li Kuangtu and Qingyu. They didn't dare dey and, hand in hand, flew down and nded outside Green Valley Town.

  After many years, their Grandpa Huang had not passed away. Instead, he stood straight as an arrow before the gates of Green Valley Town, seemingly lost in thought.

  But as the two drew closer, the joy on their faces gradually faded, repced by a solemn expression.

  Huang Xiujin's expression was gloomy as he gazed at everything within Green Valley Town, sighiedly.

  Seeing the two most important people in his life approag, he took a deep breath and said in a grave tone, "Inform the Cloudsea Pavilion, inform the elders of the Li family. Return immediately."

  "They..."

  "...are ing!"

  ---

  Loving the story? Fuel the adventure! ??

  Unlock chapters: Donate on Ko-fi ?? [https://ko-fi./darktea] ?? Progress: [Progress: [0/15]]Get Early Access to 30 Chapters: Search for "Dark Tea" on Ko-fi (Explore tab) and join my membership to read ahead!