Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
When Chu Le’er said that, everyone was startled.
Everyone’s eyes, as though bright headlights, turned to this little miss in red who shone like a brilliant pearl and was as beautiful as jade. Hmm, actually she wasn’t that little anymore; the current Mo Qingwu was taller than Chu Le’er by a whole head. She stood slender and tall and already had the makings of a peerless beauty.
The so-called ‘makings’ was, hmm, because… she had already grown into one but was still lacking something.
Yang Ruolan looked at Mo Qingwu, her mouth becoming bigger and bigger bit by bit.
She turned to her son slowly and stared at him, her gaze fixated.
She recalled what her son’s words back when the two families had wanted to arrange a marriage for him —”I already have a lover. She’s Ning Tianya and Bu Liuqing’s disciple…”
Yang Ruolan staggered.
She had wondered how old Supremacy Ning’s disciple was. In her imagination, she had to be at least eighteen years old, maybe over twenty…
She didn’t expect her to be such a young girl…
This difference in expectations was simply too great.
“Nice to meet you, Mama Chu.” Mo Qingwu went over very docilely to pay her respects. She tried her best to project the image of a calm and dignified daughter of an eminent family so that she could gain the favor of her future mother-in-law.
“Ah, nice, nice, nice…” Yang Ruolan nodded stiffly, her mouth agape.
“Nice to meet you too, Daddy Chu.” Mo Qingwu looked at Chu Feiling.
Chu Feiling’s face was also contorted. “Nice… nice nice nice nice nice…”
After Chu Yang was done with the introductions, everyone sat down for some tea in the main hall.
“Come with me.” Yang Ruolan glared at her son.
Chu Yang rubbed his nose and followed after her.
“What’s the meaning of this?!” When they reached a secluded area, Yang Ruolan’s face turned icy and she asked right at the beginning.
“The… meaning of what?” Chu Yang was stupefied.
“That… Xiaowu…” said Yang Ruolan furiously.
“Nothing’s the issue.” Chu Yang said in confusion, “Mother, you don’t think she’s good-looking? Not adorable? Not pretty? Or… what are you dissatisfied with?”
“She’s good-looking! And cute and even prettier! Everything is satisfactory!” Yang Ruolan continued madly, “But isn’t she a little too young?!”
“What’s the problem?” Chu Yang didn’t think of it. “Isn’t it very normal to have an age difference of a few years? Martial artists’ lifespans are very long these days; married couples with an age difference of a few hundred years are not unheard of in this world… Is there something wrong?”
He thought inwardly, “Something just like this and you already can’t stand it? In the future, I’m going to find you a daughter-in-law who’s older than me by tens of thousands of years…”
Yang Ruolan was rather speechless. “Then what you said in the past… That girl whom you’ve given your heart to… is her?”
“Yes.” Chu Yang was very proud.
Immediately, the way Yang Ruolan looked at her son turned rather strange. “How old is she?”
Chu Yang felt somewhat sheepish. “Cough… She looks to be thirteen years old…”
Thirteen years old in slightly over half a year.
“Yes, which is to say, when you fell in love with her, she was only nine to ten years old?” There was a piercing gleam in Yang Ruolan’s eyes.
“Cough!” Chu Yang rubbed his nose. “I… think so?”
“And the two of you have already decided to stick with each other through life and death? Exchanged vows of eternal love as high as the mountains and as deep as the oceans?” Yang Ruolan stared at her son, a few black lines forming clearly between her brows.
“Cough! …This…” Chu Yang was in a rather pathetic state. “This… err… Isn’t this very normal?”
“Very normal?” Yang Ruolan was lost for words.
No wonder he was unwilling even though so many beauties were chasing him, so this… is how it is. Toward young girls… He has a kind of… Cough cough cough…
Yang Ruolan immediately felt that she should bear a heavy responsibility for this. Her son looked like such a sunshine boy and was so dashing, how did he come to have such a… that kind of… thing that people find contemptuous?
Not being by his parents’ side since he was young has caused him to… Sigh.
Yang Ruolan sighed inwardly. She pulled her son to sit with her and started to educate him earnestly and patiently. “Yang Yang, by right, your father should be the one telling you this but… Your father doesn’t have a way with words, so… When you look at girls… This…”
She spoke about a lot of things at great length.
At first, Chu Yang was very puzzled and couldn’t make head or tail of the situation. Then, he became horrified and then later, enlightened. And subsequently… he became completely stunned and dazed, as though a duck that had been struck silly by lightning.
Minister Chu wanted to cry.
I, I, I, I… When have I ever had such preferences? Young girls? Unhealthy mindset? A little twisted? Perverted habits? …
Chu Yang stared at his mother who was berating him non-stop, his eyes dazed.
Since Yang Ruolan had already started on the topic, she had nothing to be embarrassed about anymore. She went on without stopping, telling him how it could jeopardize him and talking about his reputation and the consequences…
At last, with his eyes dazed and slack-jawed, Chu Yang’s head crashed onto the stone table in front of him with a loud bam, smashing a hole in the sturdy stone table.
Yang Ruolan got a fright and hurriedly helped him up. She comforted him and said, “Actually, it’s nothing much, you don’t need to be so dejected…”
“Huhu…” Minister Chu really started to cry.
Yang Ruolan panicked immediately. “I do like the little girl. She just needs to grow up a little… Yes, then we can strictly keep this a secret and just say that you only got to know her after she grew up… Who would dare say otherwise?”
A teary-eyed Chu Yang said, “Mom… You’re so brilliant…”
Yang Ruolan clapped and said, “Great, we’ll do just that.”
Suddenly, something came to her mind and she was stunned for a moment. “Oh no! I forgot to tell you something important.”
A listless Chu Yang asked, “What important thing?”
Yang Ruolan looked around before she lowered her voice and leaned close to her son’s ear. She said cryptically, “You’ll have to promise me that you can’t divulge that it’s me who told you. Otherwise, the consequences would be terrible.”
Seeing that his mother was speaking gravely, Chu Yang immediately sobered up. He asked sternly, “What is it?”
Yang Ruolan lowered her voice even further. “When your father and I went to the Lower Three Heavens to look for you, we met my Junior Sister. Do you know? My Junior Sister is the current emperor of Iron Cloud Empire… I heard that you’ve always thought that she was a man? …It’s like this… I’ll tell you, after that time, my Junior Sister became pregnant… You silly boy! I have a grandson now… Understand?!”
Chu Yang stared blankly at Yang Ruolan.
“Why are you looking at me like that?!” Yang Ruolan said furiously, “She’s such a good girl! For you, she was willing to sacrifice her chastity; for you, she was willing to give birth to a child before she was even married; for you, she was willing…”
“Err…” Chu Yang rubbed his temples.
“What’s there to ‘err’ about!” Yang Ruolan continued angrily, “You’d better fetch both mother and son up here as soon as possible! What’s the meaning of letting my grandson wander about outside? Can you still call yourself a man?!”
Chu Yang said weakly, “But the Nine Heavens are locked now…”
“Go and fetch them once it’s unlocked! My poor daughter-in-law and grandson…” Yang Ruolan became distracted for a moment before she warned him, “You’d better not say that it was me who told you!”
“Understood.”
“Now you can go.”
“Uhh, Mother, if she comes, will she call you Senior Sister or…”
“Get lost!”
“Bam!”
“Ahh…”
That night, the Chu Clan hosted a banquet. To outsiders, they naturally cited the reason as the return of their eldest grandson but the true reason was, of course, only known among the higher-ups of the Chu Clan.
After the banquet, everyone dispersed and took up residence in a large side-manor which the Chu Clan had specially prepared for them.
After being away from home for so long, Chu Yang naturally wanted to catch up with his parents. When he started to step out, Mo Qingwu came up to him stealthily. “Wait, wait.”
“What’s wrong?” Chu Yang looked back. The little girl had been strangely quiet the entire day. Her every action was refined and graceful, elegant and noble, and she smiled without showing her teeth, the very model of a daughter of a noble and respectable family.
But she dashed over right now with her hands holding her skirts up.
“I… You know… Does Mama Chu think well of me?” Mo Qingwu raised her head and looked at him, asking in a very hopeful and tentative manner.
“Yes, very much!” Chu Yang nodded affirmatively. “But of course, if Xiaowu were to revert to her true nature and her adorable and lively personality, she would be even more lovable!”
“Really?” Mo Qingwu was in high spirits at once. She turned, left behind a coy ‘hmph!’ and went off humming a tune.
Chu Yang rubbed his nose, a wry smile on his face.
Just as he was about to turn, an arm suddenly reached out from the side and pulled him into a secluded corner in the shadows. Chu Yang turned back and yup, it was his father, Chu Feiling.
“I have something important to tell you!” Chu Feiling’s expression was solemn.
“What is it?” Chu Yang was taken aback.
“You mustn’t say that it’s me who told you!” Chu Feiling said sternly, “You must remember that!”
“Errr?” Chu Yang blinked at him.
“Now that you have brought home a girl whom you like, both your mother and I are very happy.” Chu Feiling’s expression was very grave, wanting to speak yet hesitating, as though he had some kind of reservations. “But I thought about it for very long and there’s something that I think you should know!”
“So what is it exactly?” Chu Yang continued to blink.
“You mustn’t say that it’s me who told you! It’s like this… Back then, your mother and I went to the Lower Three Heavens to look for you and we met your mother’s Junior Sister, Little Tian Tian… It turns out that she is…”
Chu Feiling lowered his voice and spoke mysteriously.
Chu Yang’s eyes widened. “Errrrrr, huh?”
“And that’s what happened.” When Chu Feiling finished, he stroked his beard and smiled at him. “Understand?”
“Yes.” Chu Yang nodded vehemently like a little chick pecking at corn.
Chu Feiling’s heart was finally at ease and he turned to go. Then, he looked back and reminded him once more, “Remember, don’t say that it’s me who told you!”
As he watched the figure of his father disappear into the shadows, Chu Yang held his head with both hands and squatted on the ground. He muttered to himself as if he was having a toothache, “Oh gosh, my mother, oh gosh, my father…”
He seriously didn’t expect that even his parents had already become aware of it and that each of them would come to him in such a cryptic way and drop a bomb on him. Chu Yang felt that he was about to lose it…
When he returned to the little compound, Yang Ruolan and Chu Feiling were already waiting there since long ago. When they saw their son, both of them were very stern and kind. “You’re back? Yes, let’s talk, hurhur…”
Both husband and wife were sanctimonious but they also acted like they had a guilty conscience, which made Chu Yang secretly very amused!
In the next few days, Chu Yang went to pay a visit to Sha Xinliang and Qin Baoshan respectively. Everyone was happy to reunite but both of them secretly warned Chu Yang — You must not trust the law-enforcement officers!
Right now, a kind of clamor was spreading among the law-enforcement officers — Eliminate Chu Yang!
Both Sha Xinliang and Qin Baoshan were extremely worried about this.
When Chu Yang heard this, his first reaction was — So the Dharma Supreme was really still alive!
