What Happened Back Then

Chen Feng and Flender exchanged a glance and went into the village chief's house.

"Please have a seat, everyone." Village Chief Ma laid out the stools one by one.

After Chen Feng and the other three sat down, Flender spoke up, "Village Chief Ma, it seems you do know something about Hongjun. Why didn't you tell me back then?"

Village Chief Ma sat down and sighed, "I really don't want to tell anyone about this, as it might affect Hongjun's entire life."

"Oh?" Flender frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "Village Chief Ma, as you can see, we deliberately left Hongjun out of our way to find you, precisely because of this. Please tell us what you know, and we will definitely not let Hongjun know about this."

"But what's the use of knowing about the past? It's all in the past," Village Chief Ma said, puzzled.

"Village Chief Ma, the past may not truly be the past. If we don't know the details of Hongjun's situation, what if there are any hidden dangers he might have? We'll be caught off guard if they erupt. A person without foresight will have immediate troubles," Chen Feng said.

"That's right, Village Chief Ma. Hongjun is my direct disciple. I need to understand his background to ensure that no trouble will affect him," Flender said earnestly.

"Troublesome—" Village Chief Ma seemed to have an idea.

He considered for a moment, then nodded and said, "Alright, I don't know much about Soul Master, so I can't judge what exactly happened back then. I'll just tell you Lord Soul Master what happened."

Then, Village Chief Ma began his recollections and narration.

What Village Chief Ma said during the day was not a lie. Ma Hongjun's mother, Li Hong, was indeed Work-Study Student in the village that year. However, Village Chief Ma also concealed something, namely the situation of Ma Hongjun's father.

A Hong attended the Suotuo City Junior Soul Master Academy and successfully became a Soul Master. Of course, her talent wasn't particularly outstanding, so she couldn't attend the Intermediate Soul Master Academy. However, this girl had excellent cooking skills, and she even specially obtained Fire Soul Ring for it, so she simply became a chef, and her life was relatively stable.

"She would come back every year, bringing small gifts for people she knew in the village. She was a very cheerful and optimistic girl, and everyone in the village liked her very much. Once, when she came back, she brought back a one-armed young man. A Hong said that he was her savior. She encountered danger when she was obtaining her Second Soul Ring, and this young man saved her."

Chen Feng asked, "Is that Hongjun's father?"

Village Chief Ma nodded. "Yes, this young man is quite easy to get along with. He's said to be from Crimson Sand City and a fairly powerful Lord Soul Master, but he always helps the villagers without any airs of a Lord Soul Master. He told us to call him A Yan, but he didn't say his surname. Once I asked him about his missing arm, and he said it was because he failed an important test and lost his right arm. I didn't delve into it further, since I don't know much about Lord Soul Master."

"What happened next?" Flender asked.

"After that..." Village Chief Ma, "A Hong's feelings for A Yan gradually deepened, but A Yan seemed to have some concerns and was unwilling to accept A Hong. So A Hong left the village sadly, and A Yan left as well. But a few years later, the two of them came to find me again. By then, their relationship had become very good."

"During my conversation with them, I learned that A Hong actually wanted to settle down in Suotuo City, but A Yan insisted on returning to the village. Moreover, he didn't want to live in A Hong's original house, but instead wanted to find a place to live in seclusion in the mountains behind the village. A Hong finally agreed to his suggestion, and the two of them returned together. They even came to find me at night, without letting the villagers know."

Flender stroked his chin. "This behavior... it feels like they're avoiding some kind of trouble?"

Village Chief Ma closed his eyes, a hint of sadness showing on his wrinkled face, and said, "I felt the same way back then, so I asked A Yan if something had happened outside. His expression was complicated. He said it wasn't because of anything outside, but because he himself was a troublemaker, so he shouldn't have too much contact with others. He also said he didn't know if being with A Hong was a mistake. A Hong was right there, smiling and saying that we would definitely overcome the difficulties, and that she wouldn't regret it no matter what happened in the end. But now, looking back, I should have stopped them from being together."

"After they went to live in seclusion on the mountain behind the village, A Yan and A Hong built a Little Wooden House there and cultivated a plot of land to grow vegetables. They could also ask me to buy some daily necessities in the city. At first, life was quite leisurely, and A Hong soon became pregnant. Her belly grew bigger day by day, but one day when I went to deliver cloth to them, I found blood everywhere in the Wooden House."

At this point, Village Chief Ma suddenly fell silent, his eyes reddening slightly, and his face twitching as he forced out a sentence: "They... they were actually all very good children. They should have been living happy and joyful lives. I don't know, I don't know why things turned out that way."

"Could it be that some outside Soul Master are attacking them?" A hint of murderous intent flashed across Liu Erlong's face.

Flender and the Grandmaster also became serious, but Village Chief Ma shook his head and said, "No, no one knew that they had been living in seclusion here. Even the villagers didn't know they had returned."

"What happened?" Liu Erlong asked, puzzled.

"It was A Yan. I don't know why he suddenly went mad. I was so scared by the blood all over the room that my legs went weak. Then I saw A Yan come out of the inner room with a sword. He was like a completely different person. He even raised his sword to kill me. But just then, I heard the sound of a baby crying from the inner room. A Yan seemed to have come to his senses. He called out A Hong's name and rushed into the inner room." The Village Chief Ma's voice was very deep.

This development left Flender and his two companions looking at each other in bewilderment, while Chen Feng's face remained ashen.

He suddenly spoke up and asked, "Village chief, what did you say A Yan was holding?"

"A sword."

What kind of sword?

"It was a black sword with flames burning on it. The sword disappeared after A Yan woke up. I think it must have been Martial Soul," Village Chief Ma recalled.

"Black..." Flender looked at Chen Feng in astonishment, and the Grandmaster also frowned.

Liu Erlong subconsciously said, "That's not..."

"Erlong!" the Grandmaster said softly, "We're talking about Hongjun."

Liu Erlong shut her mouth, but couldn't help glancing at Chen Feng.

"Lord Soul Master, what's wrong?" Village Chief Ma asked Flender in confusion.

"It's alright, village chief, please continue." Flender forced a somewhat awkward smile.

Village Chief Ma sighed, "Actually, there's not much to say. You Lord Soul Master should be able to tell that A Hong was giving birth that day. After the child was born, A Yan suddenly went insane for some reason and killed A Hong. But the child's cries woke A Yan up. I was so scared that I didn't dare to move until A Yan came out of the inner room with the child in his arms. He was muttering things like, 'It was a mistake, the initial success was just a coincidence,' but I couldn't quite understand what he was saying."

"Then A Yan handed the child to me. He apologized to me, saying he was sorry to A Hong and hoped that the village would raise the child and not tell the child about him and A Hong. After I took the child, he said he wanted me to bury him and A Hong together, and then he went back to the inner room. When I went back in, I found that A Yan had died by A Hong's bedside."

"I didn't dare stay there any longer, so I took the child back first. After recovering for two days, I came back to handle the funeral arrangements for A Yan and A Hong. I buried them together and didn't dare to erect any tombstone. Later, following A Yan's instructions, I gave the child my surname. I originally wanted to name him Ma Hongyan, but I was afraid that the villagers would have too many associations, so I named him Ma Hongjun. Because I was worried that Hongjun would ask about his background when he grew up, I pretended that he was an orphan that I had taken in, and asked the villagers to take care of him as well, just to confuse the issue."

"After all, I really didn't know how to tell this child what happened back then. If it weren't for the several Lord Soul Master coming to question me overnight, I was planning to take the matter to the underworld."

After Village Chief Ma finished speaking, the room was quiet for a long while as Chen Feng and the other three were processing the information they had heard.

After a while, Chen Feng asked a question that puzzled Village Chief Ma: "Village Chief, do you think that A Yan looks like me?"

Village Chief Ma shook his head, somewhat puzzled. "Doesn't seem like it."

"How long did Hongjun's parents live here before the incident happened?"

"About two or three years."

Chen Feng nodded slightly and didn't ask any more questions.

But then Village Chief Ma suddenly made a connection, "Could it be that you and A Yan..."

"Perhaps it's an elder from the clan," Chen Feng sighed softly.

Village Chief Ma nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

Chen Feng made this judgment instead of considering the far-fetched possibility that he and Ma Hongjun were brothers because the timing didn't match up.

Although Chen Feng's listed age is definitely a bit younger than his actual age because he was picked up by Old Jack, his bone age can be determined.

He wouldn't be much older than Ma Hongjun, maybe only a few months older.

A Yan A Hong had lived here for two or three years, which obviously didn't match up.

Moreover, the letter that Old Jack gave to Chen Feng shows that the person who abandoned Chen Feng was already in a bad mental state and knew to take strict precautions against the Martial Soul that Chen Feng might awaken, which clearly shows that he was quite aware of the dangers of the Demonic Sword Spirit.

Although A Yan's behavior showed some concern, it also contained a sense of wishful thinking, which shows that although he knew there was something wrong with his Bloodline, he didn't know it deeply.

He didn't even give any instructions to Village Chief Ma before he died, which is completely different from the way those who abandoned Chen Feng did.

Of course, it's also possible that A Yan was already mentally broken at the time and had no time to care about anything else. After all, such a tragedy is something no normal person could accept.

However, A Yan's existence still suggests that there may still be survivors in Chen Feng's lineage.

Because what Village Chief Ma just said mentioned "test".

A Yan lost his arm because he failed a certain "test," which means he had some kind of inheritance.

It's unclear whether this inheritance is Bloodline Inheritance or Master-Disciple Inheritance.

Regardless, this is at least a clue. According to the village chief, A Yan comes from Crimson Sand City. If Village Chief Ma and A Yan are telling the truth, then Crimson Sand City might be able to find traces of Chen Feng's lineage of the Chen Clan members.

As Chen Feng was pondering this, he heard Flender say, "Village Chief Ma, thank you for informing us. We will keep this matter confidential. There is no doubt that Hongjun's mother died of illness."

"That's good, that's good." Village Chief Ma nodded repeatedly.

"Now that the matter is settled, we'll take our leave," the Grandmaster said.

"Then I'll see you off."

"No need, we can just leave quietly."

After leaving Village Chief Ma's house, Flender looked at Chen Feng and asked, "Xiao Feng, are you going back to sleep?"

I want to leave the village for a walk.

"Shall we go together?"

"Good."

Chen Feng and Flender walked side by side out of the village, with the Grandmaster following closely behind, and Liu Erlong also silently following.

After leaving the village for a while, Flender suddenly spoke up, "Xiao Feng, what are you thinking about right now?"

"I was wondering if you, Dean, would Clean House and get rid of this potential future threat," Chen Feng said jokingly.

Flender shook his head. "I won't do that. As long as you're still you, even if you ever have a problem like A Yan, I'll choose to lock you up and find a way to help you get back to normal, because you're my student."

"I'm afraid it will be too late," Chen Feng said.

To be honest, it's impossible for him not to feel lost after hearing A Yan's story.

Will he really not follow in the footsteps of his predecessors?

Will this Old Deng really be able to make a difference at this Shi Nian?

Even if this old thing can be of some use, what if it can't hold on anymore?

Filters can break down too, and the soul of an old man isn't something eternal either. If Old Deng gets played to death one day, where will Chen Feng find a replacement?

Chen Feng seems perfectly normal now, but wasn't A Yan perfectly normal back then too? And yet, he still caused a tragedy in the end.

If that day comes, Chen Feng doesn't know what he might do to those around him.

"Xiao Feng, do you sense anything is wrong with this Martial Soul?" the Grandmaster asked from the side.

No at the moment.

"For now..." the Grandmaster sighed softly.

"Isn't there a reliable solution?" Liu Erlong couldn't help but ask. "Even Xiao Gang's Martial Soul defect could be resolved. I think with your intelligence, Xiao Feng, you can definitely solve this Martial Soul problem."

She really didn't want to see such a brilliant and outstanding young man end up like A Yan.

Grandmaster and Flender both looked at Chen Feng, Chen Feng stopped and said, "I only have a temporary solution, I don't know if it will work. As for a permanent solution... unless we can develop a technology to Martial Soul Replacement, I won't consider it."