Your Name Will Be Qin Ze from Now On!

Everyone watched the old woman leave. Only after who knew how long did they finally look away.

The old woman's name was Zhu Xiyan, and she was already over sixty this year.

The reason everyone was surprised by her appearance was that Zhu Xiyan's son was the person from Maple Leaf Village who had awakened his martial soul thirty years ago and possessed Innate Soul Power.

The reason they felt sorrow and shock was that her son was already dead. He had fallen in battle several years ago, during a war between the Heaven Dou Empire and the Sun Moon Empire.

That day, everyone in Maple Leaf Village learned that their pride had left them forever.

Later, when his body was sent back to the village, everyone attended that funeral.

The old woman, who had once been full of spirit and vitality, had also become frail and aged, as if she did not have many days left.

After that, Zhu Xiyan rarely appeared in the villagers' sight. Of course, the people in the village still went to visit the old woman. Food and other necessities were never lacking. Although the empire's pension was not small, the old woman had handed all of it over to the village to improve its basic facilities.

On a small path in Maple Leaf Village.

Zhu Xiyan walked quietly. The cool evening wind kept blowing against her, and her bright eyes looked at this village where she had lived for decades.

She had lost her husband in middle age and her son in her later years! This was what she had experienced over these sixty-odd years.

Until today, she could feel that her life was almost at its end. It just so happened that today was the day of the Martial Soul Awakening ceremony, so she had walked out of her house to watch for a while.

"Let's go take a look at the old place. I'm afraid there won't be another chance in the future," Zhu Xiyan murmured in a low voice beneath the trees.

She followed the small path toward a watery meadow by a river in Maple Leaf Village.

The environment of Maple Leaf Village was truly beautiful. Apart from the maple forest that had given the village its name, there were also many beautiful trees and clusters of flowers.

A few minutes later, Zhu Xiyan arrived beside a watery meadow by a river called the Zeshui River.

The river here was clear, and small fish could be seen swimming within it. A few lotus flowers floated on the river's surface, and several dragonflies flitted about. On the riverbank, emerald grass swayed continuously in the evening breeze. In the woods on both sides of the small path, countless fireflies gave off light, like stars filling the sky.

Zhu Xiyan leaned on the cane in her hand, her stooped body facing the place where her son had loved to play most when he was young.

"You brat, it's already night and you're still playing here. Are you coming or not? If you don't, your mother is going to get rough!"

"Mother! I was wrong. Put down the stick and I'll go back."

"Your wings have hardened, have they? You dare bargain with your mother now."

"No, that's not what I meant."

"I think that's exactly what you meant!"

"Let's go. Home for dinner. I made your favorite mushroom stir-fried chicken."

"Hehe, Mother is the best!"

"That mouth of yours is the only thing that's clever!"

On the riverbank, the memories in Zhu Xiyan's eyes gradually withdrew as night descended.

It was late, and it was about time to go back.

With that thought, she gently rubbed her eyes. It seemed some sand had gotten into them.

She turned around, lifted her feet, and began walking back.

Buzz!

Suddenly, just as she had walked less than ten meters, a trembling vibration rang out without warning.

Ripples suddenly spread through space, layer after layer.

A ball of Golden Light slowly fell into the watery meadow.

Then!

"Waa! Waa! Waa!"

An infant's cry rang out in alarm.

Zhu Xiyan thought her old ears had misheard. She shook her head, but when the crying grew clearer and clearer, her steps stopped.

Because she did not know when beams of dazzling light had illuminated the small path she had just left.

Zhu Xiyan turned back in confusion. She saw that, at some point, a ball of Golden Light had inexplicably appeared near the shore of the watery meadow.

The ball of Golden Light was extremely conspicuous in the dim surroundings. With its appearance, an invisible aura of life instantly spread out, covering the entire Maple Leaf Village almost in the blink of an eye.

Leaning on her cane, Zhu Xiyan hurriedly walked back to the shore, then looked toward the ball of light.

At once, she froze, because at some point an infant had actually appeared in the watery meadow.

"Who abandoned a child here!" Zhu Xiyan stared in shock at the crying infant. How had this child appeared here?

Very soon, Zhu Xiyan seemed to think of something. She hurried over and lowered her head to look at this infant, who looked as if he had been carved from jade and dusted with powder.

Looking at the infant whose back was soaked in the shallow river water, a trace of tenderness and heartache flashed through her eyes. Then she picked him up.

Whoosh!

With that one embrace, the ball of Golden Light floating beside the infant instantly vanished. In an invisible and eerie manner, it surged into the infant's body.

At the same time, a wisp of light silently entered Zhu Xiyan's body. Her originally frail, aging frame unexpectedly gained a bit more vitality at that moment.

But she knew nothing of any of this.

Holding the infant, Zhu Xiyan walked back to the shore. Her bright eyes stared at the baby's face in her arms.

Perhaps because he was being held, the infant stopped crying and opened his eyes. His eyes kept studying the elder who was holding him.

The two looked at each other. Zhu Xiyan carefully reached out and touched the infant's cheek. It was tender and smooth.

After being stroked, the infant suddenly opened his little mouth and laughed.

Seeing this, a smile immediately appeared on Zhu Xiyan's aged face.

In Maple Leaf Village, there was a rumor that if an infant smiled at an old person, the old person's lifespan would increase. Although it was only a rumor, for some inexplicable reason, she felt that the strength in her body had increased a little, and her mind was no longer so sluggish.

"I don't know who was cruel enough to abandon you here," Zhu Xiyan said, carefully holding the infant. Some anger also rose in her heart.

Afterward, she looked around again. The sky was nearly completely dark now. Thinking of this, Zhu Xiyan had originally wanted to see whether there was anyone else nearby, but after looking for a while and finding no one, she could only bring the infant back with her.

Fortunately, although the sky had already darkened, she had walked this road for decades and was long since so familiar with it that she could not be more familiar. On top of that, for some unknown reason, the vitality in her body had increased, and walking was far easier than before. She even did not need her cane's support much anymore.

However, Zhu Xiyan clearly did not think too much about this. She simply hurried back in the direction of home.

Zhu Xiyan's home was on the east side of the village, only about seven hundred meters from this little river.

By the time she returned home, she lowered her head and glanced at the infant, then smiled kindly, because the infant had already fallen asleep.

She carefully placed the infant on her own bed, then took a thin blanket from the cabinet and gently covered him with it.

Standing by the bed, Zhu Xiyan silently looked at the infant's adorable sleeping face.

She could feel that the infant was extraordinary. That ball of Golden Light just now was the best proof, but she also did not know where the infant's parents had gone.

As she thought about it, Zhu Xiyan suddenly said:

"I don't know where your parents have gone... My son's surname was Qin, and you were found at the Zeshui River. From now on, your name will be Qin Ze."

This time, the naming was still a little more solemn than the last time.