"Little brother, could he be..." Looking at the middle-aged man, whose appearance was about seventy percent similar to Ye Qingzhou's, Ye Lingling had already guessed the gist of it.
She instinctively lowered her head to look at her little brother.
She was afraid he might react badly.
Ye Qingzhou spoke calmly. "It's all right, Sister."
His tone made it sound like he was talking about something trivial.
Ye Qingzhou took Ye Lingling by the hand and strode toward the clinic.
The discussion between Ye Shuyuan and the middle-aged man grew clearer and clearer.
"You really shouldn't have come back at a time like this."
"I wanted to come back when he awakened his Martial Soul, too, but, Dad, you know how demanding our Angel Legion's missions have been lately..."
At that moment, Ye Shuyuan noticed Ye Lingling and Ye Qingzhou.
He felt utterly helpless.
Now things had become even more troublesome.
Feeling someone approaching from behind, the middle-aged man who had been talking with Ye Shuyuan turned around.
He regarded Ye Qingzhou and Ye Lingling with a kindly gaze.
Seeing the two children before him, he froze in place, staring blankly. When he finally came to his senses, he slowly spoke:
"It's been so long. I never imagined you'd grown so much, Lingling and Qingzhou."
After he said this, Ye Qingzhou and Ye Lingling gave no reply. They simply looked at him with indifference.
The situation grew awkward.
Seeing this, Ye Shuyuan hurried to smooth things over.
"Qingzhou, this is your father, whom you've never met before, Luo Feng. He's also the leader of the Spirit Hall's Angel Legion."
"Lingling, you should call him Uncle."
After hearing the middle-aged man's identity, Ye Qingzhou and Ye Lingling were only mildly surprised. Neither said anything more.
They didn't even want to acknowledge Luo Feng.
Luo Feng was extremely embarrassed, but he had already anticipated their attitude toward him.
"Dad, let Qingzhou and me talk alone."
Hearing this, Ye Shuyuan stepped aside to make way for Luo Feng. "Then go to my study."
"Lingling, let's go. We shouldn't disturb them for now."
With that, Ye Shuyuan led Ye Lingling away.
After they left, only Ye Qingzhou and Luo Feng remained.
Seeing Ye Qingzhou's silence, Luo Feng glanced back at the clinic.
"Let's go inside."
Ye Qingzhou immediately refused.
"If you have something to say, say it here. There's nothing we need to hide, is there?"
Luo Feng froze mid-step.
This child...
Luo Feng looked at Ye Qingzhou, a trace of guilt flashing in his eyes. "All right, we'll talk here."
"I came back this time to take you to the Spirit Hall."
Before Luo Feng could say another word, Ye Qingzhou refused outright. "Then you can leave."
He gave Luo Feng no time to respond and continued:
"If all you came back for was to take me to the Spirit Hall, then I can tell you, loud and clear: it's not happening."
"Who do you think you are? You think you can just show up and take me away?"
"But I'm your..." Luo Feng had barely begun to say the word "father" when Ye Qingzhou cut him off.
"Enough." Ye Qingzhou snorted and looked at Luo Feng mockingly. "You want to say you're my father, is that it?"
"Are you even worthy of being my father?"
"I can understand the lack of a mother's love. The Nine Heart Begonia line passes down a single heir, and that can't be helped."
"But what about you?"
"You were my father, yet after Mother died, you abandoned me at once and left me to grow up alone. I've never once seen this so-called father of mine in all my memories."
You think I'm Tang San?
Those words never left Ye Qingzhou's lips.
He kept them to himself.
Whenever he thought of Tang San, he couldn't help but laugh in disbelief.
From the age of three, Tang San had to cook for Tang Hao and handle every filthy, exhausting chore.
Tang Hao had practically worked him to death, without giving him the slightest bit of fatherly love.
Only after Tang San awakened his Martial Soul—his Twin Martial Souls, Blue Silver Grass and Clear Sky Hammer—and showed Tang Hao the Clear Sky Hammer did Tang Hao give him any fatherly affection.
If it had been anyone else, they would have secretly held a grudge against Tang Hao by then, wouldn't they?
But Tang San? Simply because he had never known a father's love in his previous life, he willingly took care of Tang Hao's affairs after his death.
Ye Qingzhou wasn't Tang San. He remembered that Luo Feng had abandoned him.
He had come back, all right, but he'd waited until after Ye Qingzhou's Martial Soul Awakening.
Seeing the utter seriousness in Ye Qingzhou's expression and the sharp edge in his eyes, Luo Feng realized just how well his son had turned out under his father-in-law's care.
It seemed he really shouldn't have come back at a time like this.
He looked at Ye Qingzhou and said, "Since you insist on not coming back to the Spirit Hall with me, I won't force you."
He wanted to talk more with Ye Qingzhou, but after being absent for so long and never being there for him, he couldn't find anything to say as a father.
Luo Feng sighed, his heart aching.
If only he'd taken his son to the Spirit Hall back then.
Once you make the wrong decision, everything that follows goes wrong, too.
Still, seeing how healthy and capable his son was left him satisfied.
Just then, a soldier in white armor walked over and murmured in Luo Feng's ear:
"Captain, it's time."
Luo Feng nodded. "All right. You go on ahead."
"Yes, Captain." The soldier answered and left the Ye Family Clinic.
Luo Feng took a long look at the taciturn Ye Qingzhou and shook his head. "Dad, Lingling, come out."
Ye Shuyuan emerged from the shadows with Ye Lingling.
"I'll head back first. There are important matters to take care of at the Spirit Hall."
Watching Luo Feng about to leave, Ye Shuyuan said no more. "All right. By the way, give the Spirit Hall's Pope a message for me: I, Ye Shuyuan, won't be joining any faction for the time being."
"Fine. I'll come back once things have settled down."
Leaving those final words behind, Luo Feng headed for the gates of Heaven Dou City.
Throughout the entire exchange, Ye Qingzhou never once looked Luo Feng in the eye.
Seeing the deep rift between father and son, Ye Shuyuan didn't know how to get involved.
They would have to resolve this matter themselves.
A few days later.
After Luo Feng left, Ye Qingzhou devoted himself to cultivation.
At the same time, he quietly awaited his divine trial.
For some reason, ever since the God of Life had taken notice of him on the day of his Martial Soul Awakening, he hadn't received any news of a divine trial.
Looking at the invitation Ye Shuyuan held out to him, Ye Qingzhou was a little confused.
"Hmm, the eldest prince of the Heaven Dou Empire invited me to the Crown Prince Mansion?"
Even Ye Shuyuan hadn't expected the dignified eldest prince, Xue Qinghe, to take an interest in his precious grandson.
"That's more or less what the letter says. Go and see what he wants."
Even Dugu Bo's granddaughter had never received this kind of treatment.
Besides the invitation, Xue Qinghe had sent a pass, too.
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