Xun Ding had imagined what it would be like to reunite with his own father after years apart, but it certainly wasn't a scene like this. His pupils widened in shock. His father, meanwhile, seemed to have three parts confusion, three parts bewilderment, three parts unfamiliarity, and one part thoughtful scrutiny in his eyes...
The next instant, he raised a hand and cast a Word Spirit on Shen Tang.
As its target, Xun Ding nearly got knocked off the city wall by a sword.
He looked up and met Shen Tang's faintly amused gaze.
As if she were saying—
A gentleman's revenge could wait a few hours.
Xun Ding: "..."
He admitted that he'd run away from home many years ago, and that, as time passed, he'd grown up and advanced in cultivation. His features were quite different from those of his green, youthful self back then, but surely they hadn't changed so much that his own father couldn't recognize him at a glance???
Actually, it wasn't Xun Zhen's fault that he hadn't recognized him immediately.
The son in his memories was a refined, handsome young man, obedient and well-behaved most of the time, with the occasional childish tantrum. He'd dressed like a sweet, well-behaved little darling. As his lord put it, his son was like a deer glimpsed in the depths of the forest: innocent, pure, naive, and guileless, untouched by the filth of the world, carrying the pristine whiteness of a newborn child.
But what about Xun Ding now?
The fact that he hadn't been mistaken for a bandit was already thanks to his parents' reliably strong genes. His face was still the same, and yes, he was still refined and handsome. But with half a Great Insect pelt draped over him, a thin layer of stubble on