Chapter 270: Homecoming

"Young Master!"

Fei Yu's eyes snapped open as she sat up in bed, her forehead drenched in sweat.

She looked at the empty space beside her, disoriented for a moment.

"Coming, coming!"

Yan Jing, who had been waiting outside the door, pushed it open and stepped up to the bed, holding up the oil-paper bags in his hands.

"In my left hand are steamed buns from that shop in the west of the city, and in my right are pan-fried dumplings from the south. Which do you want to eat?"

Fei Yu reached out and wrapped her arms around Yan Jing.

"Understood."

Yan Jing nodded and smiled. "A bit of both."

"Young Master, yesterday—"

"Mhm, yes."

Yan Jing nodded.

"I've already claimed your body, Xiao Yu."

"Huh???"

Fei Yu looked down blankly and lifted the quilt.

She soon realized she had been tricked, and a deep blush rushed to her cheeks.

"Eat up."

Yan Jing chuckled, patting Fei Yu's head.

"Everything will be fine. Your young master has found a solution."

"W-what solution?"

Fei Yu pursed her lips.

"A solution that doesn't require my maid to throw her life away."

Yan Jing smiled. "Mr. Yi Ji has already sent a letter to Advisor Yan. The advisor will come in and help us soon."

"You eat first, Xiao Yu. I'm going to chat with Lord Bi outside for a bit."

Yan Jing gently pried away the two hands wrapped around his waist and said softly, "I'll be right outside. Call me and I'll come in."

He slowly walked to the door and spoke quietly, "Xiao Yu, if you sneak off, your young master will be truly angry. You know that, right?"

"I know."

Fei Yu buried her head deep in the covers and mumbled, "Naggy young master—"

Yan Jing nodded and walked out the door.

Bi Jie and Liu Ye were sitting in the courtyard, each on a wooden bench. Seeing Yan Jing come out, they asked, "She's awake?"

"She's awake."

Yan Jing nodded. "Thank you for your concern, sirs."

"It's good that she's alright."

Bi Jie offered a word of comfort, then asked anxiously, "So, County Magistrate Luo, where do you think Old Liu went?"

"He's a grown man, and he said he was going to solve the problem. But how? He can't even solve his own! Do you think he went looking for Xu Chengyi after finding out about what happened back then—?"

Liu Ye, who was sitting to the side, also spoke up. "And it's the same with Mr. Tiger. From yesterday until today, he hasn't had a single drop of water. He's just been locked in his room, muttering some spell."

Yan Jing's expression was calm as he replied indifferently, "Before Master Liu left yesterday, he only told me that he was going to undertake the Heavenly Gate Challenge."

"As for what the Heavenly Gate Challenge is, he didn't say."

"He told me to trust him, so I trust him."

Bi Jie frowned at Yan Jing's words. He had heard Yan Jing say this before, but he truly didn't know what the Heavenly Gate Challenge was.

Both he and Liu Ye had already reached out to their connections within the Martial Dao to ask, and now all they could do was wait for a reply.

"Please be patient, sirs."

Yan Jing was completely unfazed.

"We have to trust Master Liu. From beginning to end, that is my only stance."

"I'm not worried in the slightest."

Xiao Xin looked at Old Master Liu sitting bolt upright on the train and scratched its head in exasperation.

This red egg was so boring. He had been like this ever since getting on the train last night—eyes closed, not talking to anyone, and ignoring the scenery.

It didn't have much fondness for this guy who had tried to kill it last time, but its master had ordered it to keep an eye on him.

It was to report back if anything happened.

"Yiya, yaya~"

It lazily crossed its legs and shook the bundle on its body.

All things considered, following its new master was pretty good.

Aside from moving that very heavy thing last time, every task had been easy.

Unlike before, when it always had to deliver letters to those terrifying figures.

Suddenly, its gaze shifted from the roof of the green train car, and its spirits jolted. He moved! The red egg had finally moved!

Old Master Liu opened his eyes.

He had caught that familiar yet foreign fishy scent—the scent of lake water, the unique water of the Third Lake Prefecture.

It was mixed with the smell of old paint from the hulls of steamships, wood soaked in seawater, and the sweat of bare-chested trackers along the shore.

He had arrived.

His former home.

Before long, the train pulled into the station, and the old man got off.

Walking out of the crowded station, he looked at the massive vermilion city gates towering into the clouds before him, feeling as if a lifetime had passed.

How long had it been since he was last here?

He could no longer remember clearly.

He only remembered that the last time he left, he had been just forty-one—not yet an old man by any means.

The number '3' on the city gate was just as vibrant as it had been back then, though it now carried a sense of age—the look of paint peeling, being patched up, and peeling again.

No matter how well it was patched up, it ultimately looked a bit older.

The scene at the city gate, however, was much the same as in past years.

Whenever a martial gathering approached, every martial arts gym would gather all their disciples together, just as they were doing now, lining them up beneath the city gate for a lecture. Once the lecture was over, they would board the train to fight for first place.

He still remembered when he was eleven or twelve. Whenever a day like this came, he would quietly sneak out of the city gates to listen to the gym leaders' lectures, imagining that one day he, too, would stand beneath this gate.

It had been even more bustling back then. If several gyms were holding lectures at the same time, they would secretly compete with each other to see whose voice was louder.

The gym with the loudest voice would not only reap the glory of winning without fighting but would also earn thunderous applause from the surrounding crowds.

The Martial Guild back then, although no longer at its peak, was not as desolate as it was now.

The old man stared blankly at a gym that was currently giving a lecture.

Their Martial Instructor uniforms were a uniform sky-blue, styled like long robes, paired with indigo trousers—loose and light, not hindering their movements in the slightest.

He wondered what color his own sect's custom gym uniforms would be.

The thought suddenly popped into his mind.

Years ago, before challenging the dojos, he, Xu Chengyi, and their master had been drinking and chatting. The old man had said that if they opened a gym in the future, it would be called Yiqi Martial Arts Gym, and if they custom-ordered Martial Instructor uniforms, they would be a uniform white.

He wondered if those two youngsters were wearing them now.

As he was lost in thought, the gym giving the lecture finished up and started walking toward the station.

The group passed by the old man. One of the disciples, noticing the long robe and the military overcoat the old man wore over it, laughed.

"Old man, do you practice martial arts too? But that overcoat on the outside looks a bit out of place, doesn't it?"

His words drew the attention of a companion, who spoke up, "Shh—cut it out. The gym leader just told us to be careful this time. Are you asking for a beating?"

"This old man must have suffered some hidden injuries in his youth. Did you forget Senior Brother Wang? He's the same. After turning seventy, he always has to dress thicker than others because he's afraid of the cold."

"Let's go, let's go—"

Prompted by his companion, the man quieted down. He just cast a glance at Old Master Liu before hurrying away.

The old man watched the two depart. There was neither joy nor sorrow in his eyes, only a profound depth, as if he were reminiscing about his own youth.

After a long time, he stepped forward and walked toward the vermilion gates.

To the side of the vermilion gates was a small door, which served as the daily access passage.

Two people wearing Martial Instructor uniforms stood guard at the door. They were disciples on rotation from the gyms, assigned to check the Lake Prefecture Permits of all who passed through.

If one had a Lake Prefecture Permit from this specific lake prefecture, they could stay for an unlimited amount of time.

If one possessed a Lake Prefecture Permit from any other lake prefecture, they only needed to go to the administrative office to get it stamped at regular intervals, depending on which prefecture they were in.

If one had neither, they had to spend money to buy a temporary pass.

The old man bought a pass and entered the lake prefecture.

His original Lake Prefecture Permit had long since become unusable. If he pulled it out, not only would he be denied entry, but he would also take a severe beating.

Once through the gates, the prosperity that met his eyes far surpassed anything in Bianliu County.

The asphalt roads were bustling with traffic. The signboards of various shops crowded into the sky; the wealthier ones even hung banners and massive posters featuring popular actresses from within the lake prefecture.

The most eye-catching of all was a signboard spanning the rooftops of two buildings. The characters for 'Three Lakes Dance Hall' were connected by iron plates. At night, it would be hooked up to electricity and glow.

This was the most famous dance hall in the Third Lake Prefecture—or rather, it used to be.

As for whether it still was—the old man noticed that the signboard had gathered quite a bit of dust. It likely hadn't been wiped in a very long time.

There were also fewer people on the streets than before, adding a touch of desolation to the air.

The old man pulled his military overcoat tighter around himself and walked in the direction of his memories.

Soon, he arrived in front of a small courtyard.

The courtyard was located in an alley, squeezed between two grocery stores. The signboards of the two stores both tilted inward, forming an 'archway,' and the courtyard sat right within this 'archway.'

The heavily built old man had to bend his waist to nearly a ninety-degree angle just to step into the 'archway.'

This action caught the attention of one of the store owners.

Even though the old man's figure flashed by in an instant, the owner was reminded of someone from his memories, someone who also had to bend like that to enter the 'archway' back in the day.

"It couldn't be," the nearly seventy-year-old owner shook his head, thinking it was utter nonsense.

Everyone knew that that man was already dead.

"But he really does look a bit like him," he muttered, recalling some events from the past.

The old man walked into the archway. In the palm-sized courtyard, two children around the age of ten were playing and chasing each other. Seeing the old man, both the boy and the girl turned their heads curiously to look at him.

"Who are you?"

"I—I am—"

The old man moved his lips and said softly, "This used to be my home. I just came back to take a look."

He pointed to the empty, desolate-looking house on the right side of the courtyard.

The slightly rotting wooden window frames were already covered in spiderwebs.

"Oh~~ you're from the Qiao family."

The boy said a name that caused the old man's body to tremble.

"Do you know where she went?"

He bent down and looked at the boy.

"She went over there!"

The boy pointed up into the sky at a slanted angle, toward a white roof.

"Auntie Qiao got married many years ago. After getting married, she was taken there by her new husband! I was still very young then,"

"but the procession was huge, I still remember! Salutes, this big! Firecrackers, this many!"

The boy held out his hands to gesture.

"Do you know Big Brother Liu Meng? The martial arts genius of our courtyard!!! At the time, he was the one who led Auntie Qiao into her new husband's car!"

"A car, you know! A sedan! A black one!"

The boy spoke with absolute certainty, making it sound as if the car were his own. But suddenly, he panicked.

"Ah, Grandpa, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"