Lantern Festival Visitor

February 16. Clear skies.

Today was the Lantern Festival.

Three days had passed since Lu Hao completed his third bone tempering.

Over those three days, Lu Hao practiced combat techniques alone in the Martial Arts Training Room each morning and continued going to the slaughterhouse each afternoon. The owner was an ordinary person and hadn't noticed his breakthrough.

Lu Hao had spent all the Slaughter Points he earned on Vital Blood, raising it to 209 points—the limit for a third bone tempering. He planned to save another thousand Slaughter Points for emergencies, then make his preparations to break through to first-rank martial artist.

That morning, Lu Hao was practicing basic leg techniques in the Martial Arts Training Room after breakfast when he suddenly heard a knock at the door.

Who could it be at this hour?

Puzzled, Lu Hao opened the door and froze. He had never expected to see the man standing before him now.

His heart gave a violent jolt, as if an electric current had struck him.

"Dad!"

Lu Hao cried out and stepped forward without thinking. Tears glistened in his eyes as he wrapped his arms around his father.

"Don't cry, Hao. You're too old for that."

Lu Jingxuan spoke when he saw the tears in Lu Hao's eyes.

"I'm not crying! Dad, what are you doing back?"

Lu Hao rubbed his eyes as he protested.

"To spend the Lantern Festival with you, of course. I came back without telling you because I wanted it to be a surprise."

As Lu Jingxuan spoke, he studied how his son had changed. His last visit had been half a year ago, when he had returned because his eldest son had died. With the Earth Cave's attacks easing for the moment, he had managed to arrange time off to spend the Lantern Festival with his younger son.

"Come in, Dad. How many days can you stay this time?" Lu Hao asked as he ushered his father inside.

"Three days. I'll leave after we've spent the festival together. Wait, with that Vital Blood of yours... have you completed your third bone tempering?"

Lu Jingxuan did not want to dwell on when he would have to leave, so he changed the subject. He had sensed Lu Hao's unusually strong Vital Blood the moment his son came out. Lu Hao was not even a martial artist, yet his Vital Blood was almost on par with that of a high-stage first-rank martial artist.

He had only been gone for half a year. In that time, Lu Hao had gone from one bone tempering to three. Wasn't that a little too prodigious?

"Huh? Yeah. Dad, I came across a lucky opportunity, and that's how I managed to complete my third bone tempering."

Lu Hao offered an explanation for his sudden leap in progress.

"Oh? Is that so? I never thought you'd find an opportunity of your own. I'd planned to take you to a training room at Martial University to see if you could break through, assuming you were still stuck trying for a second bone tempering."

"But you've done well for yourself! Those old fellows I work with won't be able to brag about how wonderful their sons and grandsons are anymore. Haha! My Hao completed three bone temperings. You might not see even one person do that in a whole year."

The more Lu Jingxuan spoke, the happier he became for his son. Completing three bone temperings did not mean Lu Hao's path of cultivation would be entirely smooth, but it would be much easier.

As for the opportunity Lu Hao had mentioned, Lu Jingxuan was not concerned. With his wife around, it could hardly have come from some dubious source. What martial artist had not encountered a few opportunities? Those who reached the rank of grandmaster had usually found quite a few.

"Since you've completed your third bone tempering, there's no need for my original plan. From here on, you can follow the path you want."

"Uh... Dad, what was your original plan?"

Lu Hao asked out of curiosity.

"Back when you'd only completed one bone tempering, I thought you didn't have much talent for martial arts. So I planned to support you in starting a business. With your grandmaster father backing you, a company would have had a bright future."

Lu Jingxuan said it with a smile.

"Huh? Then I'm afraid I'll have to let you down. I'm planning to go to Magic City Martial Arts University and look for traces of my brother."

Once his initial excitement had passed, Lu Hao slipped back into the easy way he usually spoke with his father. They did not see each other often, but they got along well.

Whenever his father came home, he would take Lu Hao to all sorts of interesting places to do all sorts of interesting things. They had made plenty of funny memories together, too.

"Your brother... sigh. He was the pride of our whole family. I won't stop you from following in his footsteps, but his path might not be right for you."

At the mention of Lu Tianbai, Lu Jingxuan fell quiet. He had thought his eldest son might become the family's next grandmaster. Instead, Tianbai had died in the Magic City Abyss.

This man-eating world. This damned world.

"Dad, don't worry. I'm not going there to throw my life away. I'll be careful—extremely careful. I know we must be fighting something, and that's what got my brother killed. I want to see what the enemy really is. It can't be as simple as the Evil Cult."

Lu Hao looked his father in the eye as he spoke. He knew his brother had died in the Earth Cave, but what he said was sincere. He wanted to see where his brother had died and fight the people of the Earth Cave himself.

If he could, he wanted to pacify the Earth Cave with his own hands and avenge his brother.

"Lu Hao, what are you talking about? Your brother was killed by the Evil Cult. What other enemy could there be?"

Lu Jingxuan did not want Lu Hao to face the truth about the world so soon, so he denied it outright. He knew his son would learn the truth as he grew stronger, but for now, he wanted to let Lu Hao hold on to his innocence.

Lu Jingxuan did not realize that Lu Hao already knew everything. Lu Hao knew what his father knew—and things his father did not.

"Dad, I'm not stupid. Every time the news reports earth tremors, Mom gets especially nervous. And what kind of job keeps a grandmaster like you from coming home even once a year?"

"Besides, I don't believe you'd sit back and do nothing if the Evil Cult killed my brother. You must all be hiding something huge. But whatever it is, I'll find out once I reach third rank."

Lu Hao voiced some of the suspicions his original self had held. He had not known about the Earth Cave, but he had thought humanity might be fighting aliens or something of the sort.

"Sigh... Hao, you'll understand when you reach third rank. Being a martial artist isn't as wonderful as you imagine."

Lu Jingxuan had not expected his son to have guessed so much. But it was true that Lu Hao would have to face it once he reached third rank. Lu Jingxuan only hoped to delay that moment, so he did not answer him directly.

"Enough of that. I don't get to come back often. Get ready, and I'll take you out for some fun this afternoon."

Lu Jingxuan hurriedly changed the subject.

"Okay."

Lu Hao did not press him. He knew what burdens his parents carried and what humanity was facing. More questions would only make things harder for his father.

While his father washed up, Lu Hao messaged the slaughterhouse owner to ask for three days off because his father had come home.

He had expected the owner to refuse, but the man agreed right away. Lu Hao had already been prepared to find another slaughterhouse, so the answer surprised him. He put it down to the good relationship he had built with the owner.

The owner, meanwhile, believed Lu Hao's father worked away from home all year and that they barely saw each other. That, together with the tragic family story Lu Hao had made up, was why he had agreed.