Two Years Fly By

"Fellow traveler?"

Bandit Brother's face twitched, and he lowered his head, smiling obsequiously. "Good sir, this old one only knows a bit of the jargon; how could I possibly be on the same level as a hero like you... This is truly putting this old one to shame..."

Bandit Brother wanted to pay to avoid disaster, not wanting to reveal his true identity.

Since this Flying Thief has set his sights on me, he must have scouted the location and knows I am the proprietor of Yanhe Pavilion... If he finds out who I really am before I know who he is or where he hides, I will be at his mercy, doomed to eternal ruin...

Bandit Brother did not want to talk, and he turned around very slowly to prove he had no intention of resisting. "Good sir, this old one will go get the money for you right now..."

"Not on the same level?" Chen Guan believed him after hearing these words. However, a strange feeling suddenly arose—a sense of awkwardness. This feeling made Chen Guan suspect that he was not telling the truth.

"Since we are not on the same level, there is no point in saying more." To bluff him and to figure out where this feeling came from, Chen Guan's large hand suddenly seized the back of his neck, gradually applying force, appearing as if he were about to kill him on the spot.

Why did he suddenly decide to kill me?

Feeling the dizziness and suffocation, Bandit Brother was caught between life and death. He no longer cared about secrets or leverage; in order to survive, he hurriedly begged for mercy. "Good... sir... yes... I am... a fellow traveler..." He gasped out the words intermittently through the suffocation.

"A fellow traveler again?" Chen Guan did not loosen his grip, but he stopped increasing the pressure, maintaining just enough to keep him on the brink of death. "How can I know if you are just lying to me to save your life?"

"No... no..." Bandit Brother said anxiously. "My... name... is Wei Jiheng... more than twenty years ago... I was the... the head of Lingzi Stronghold..."

"Wei Jiheng?" Chen Guan asked again. "I visited your tavern a few months ago and remember your surname was Sun; this is also Sun Mansion."

"No... no..." Bandit Brother explained. "I... I changed my name and surname. About... eighteen years ago, Constable Yan was investigating me... I escaped from prison..."

"Escaped from prison?" Chen Guan suddenly paused. He felt that the prison break, the mountain bandits, and the pursuit eighteen years ago all pointed to one person. It seemed to be the very same "Bandit Brother" who had killed his first life. At the same time, as he connected these events and understood this person, Chen Guan suddenly realized where the awkward feeling had come from.

At this moment, the Scroll in his mind suddenly unfurled, revealing the scene from his first life. It was the image of Bandit Brother killing him. Now, the Bandit Brother in the ink painting faintly pulled on a black thread that was tied to the Bandit Brother standing before him.

[You have discovered the "Karma of Killing Tribulation" of your first life.]
[Note: When killing a person with whom you share a karmic bond, if their "Realm, Physique, Soul" and other average values are lower than yours, you may choose one of their legacy talents as the fruit of this tribulation.]

"This is... reaping the fruit from the cause of killing?" Chen Guan had been practicing Daoist arts for ten years and had read some theoretical texts on cultivation. Combined with the many films and shows about Daoism and Buddhism from his past life, he was familiar with the concept of "Karma." In short, it was "sowing the cause to reap the fruit."

But at this moment, Chen Guan looked at Bandit Brother, who was already gasping for air in his grip. Then, with a jolt of his palm, he knocked him unconscious. He couldn't kill him yet. He had to keep him alive to see if he could "lure out" his own grandson. According to the "afterword" recorded in the Scroll, in at most two years, his grandson would return to his hometown to track down the murderer who killed his first life. Since he could not know his grandson's itinerary for certain, he had to wait.

Bandit Brother was the "best node" to make contact with him.

Because in the memories of the first life, there was no specific address for "himself."

Otherwise, he could have just stayed at his home from the first life and waited like a rabbit waiting for a tree stump.

But now, Bandit Brother was a different kind of "fishing."

He wanted to see if he could fish out the grandson.

After all, he was a genuine Qi Refiner with a formal sect.

To be honest, he also wanted to see if he could extract some benefits from it to deepen his own foundation.

While pondering.

Chen Guan looked at the unconscious Bandit Brother, then threw the two of them off the bed, took out the banknotes inside, jumped out the window in a few strides, and vanished into the night.

The next day, evening.

Yanhe Pavilion, private room.

"It truly infuriates me!"

Bandit Brother paced back and forth in the private room, clenching his fists from time to time, the anger in his eyes seemingly ready to spew flames.

But more than that, there was worry and fear.

"Damn that Flying Thief! He knows my identity now!

This person! I must find out where he is, I must find him!"

Thinking of this, Bandit Brother looked toward the direction of Zhennan.

"After finding that Flying Thief, I must also find an opportunity during this time to see if I can ask Young Hero Chen for help to eliminate this person.

That Flying Thief's martial arts should not be low.

But if I have Young Hero Chen helping me, then this person will surely be doomed!"

Bandit Brother was filled with resentment, but he was not slow to act, contacting people to have them buy some secret manuals.

He heard that the Zhao Family was collecting secret manuals like this, and it seemed Young Hero Chen needed them.

So this was an excellent opportunity to give a gift.

Furthermore, Bandit Brother specifically sought out a few people; besides having them look for the Flying Thief, he also had them go to other towns to see if they could contact Ruyi Star.

Ruyi Star had many connections and many ideas; he was an expert at finding people.

However.

Winter passed and autumn came.

Ruyi Star seemed to have vanished, not showing his face in any of the nearby counties or towns.

He was still hiding from Chen Guan.

Including the Flying Thief that Bandit Brother wanted to find, it was as if he had left this town as well.

No matter how Bandit Brother inquired, he could not find the whereabouts of the Flying Thief.

Living in such anxiety of being exposed by the Flying Thief at any moment.

Bandit Brother spent the next two years in constant fear, losing a lot of weight without realizing it.

The only good thing.

Was that he had gifted over a dozen secret manuals to the Zhao Family and established a good relationship with Young Hero Chen.

This was the only thing he felt fortunate about.

And Chen Guan, during these two years, used his family's financial resources to steadily practice his martial arts at home and grind his proficiency.

He was striving to step into the level of "Houtian Perfection" as soon as possible.

Also during these two years.

Chen Guan, perhaps by leveraging his own strength, also felt the warmth of a family.

He learned what it was like to be pampered, with "clothes brought to him and food fed to him."

But what was interesting was.

With the help of Bandit Brother's network, and the gratuitous funding from those thousands of taels of banknotes that night.

The Zhao Family had indeed acquired some shops belonging to the Liu Family over these two years and even opened a small restaurant.

The Zhao Family could now be considered a name in the town.

They were no longer just ordinary rice merchants, but were trying to step into other industries.

However, Constable Yan and the others perhaps felt that Chen Guan had not "committed any crimes again" in recent years, so they did not deliberately try to contact Chen Guan.

Instead, sometimes at the Zhao Family's small restaurant.

Constable Yan might, in order to befriend this expert, have his subordinates occasionally look after the place, but they always paid, unlike the free-loading at places like Yanhe Pavilion.

It was also in the autumn, two years later.

It was early that morning.

Chen Guan stepped out of a large house, watching the six servants cleaning the courtyard.

The Zhao family was no longer the small residence it once was, but a grand estate that rivaled that of Bandit Brother.

"Greetings, Young Master..."

Seeing the young master emerge, the six of them greeted him almost in unison.

"Fifth Young Master!" Two sturdy guards at the courtyard gate also greeted Chen Guan.

These two were the very same guards who had once blocked the courtyard wall.

In his spare time, Chen Guan had taught them a few moves and provided them with plenty of meat and drink.

Now, both men were physically robust, easily handling four or five strong men without breaking a sweat.

"Mm."

Chen Guan nodded slightly at everyone, feeling quite satisfied.

This was what a young master of a family should look like.

For the past few years, this was how Chen Guan had lived.

Chen Guan was quite content with this; at the very least, he had someone to wash his feet and warm his bed at night, no longer falling short of the prestige enjoyed by Bandit Brother.

"Guan'er!"

Just as Chen Guan was savoring the feeling of being a young master, a voice called out from outside the courtyard. Patriarch Zhao, his hair even whiter than before, walked over with a smile and said to Chen Guan:

"Your sixth brother has been recommended by Mr. Qi from the town's academy, and he will be able to take the provincial examination next year."

When Patriarch Zhao smiled, the wrinkles on his face were already quite prominent.

"Look at me, his father, and you, his elder brother—what should we prepare for him?"

Nowadays, Patriarch Zhao liked to ask for Chen Guan's opinion on many matters.

It could be said that after the events of the past few years, everyone in the Zhao family had subconsciously come to regard Chen Guan as their backbone.

However, the "arrival time" of his grandson, Chen Changhong, was drawing ever closer.

And if he were to truly touch upon the cultivation of gods and ghosts, Chen Guan felt that this world was ever-changing, and his own safety could hardly be guaranteed.

It was very possible that he might meet with an accident and die, only to be reincarnated as an infant, or perhaps an insect or beast.

Furthermore, if the distance of his reincarnation were vast, then once he departed, it might be many years before he could return home again.

Therefore, upon hearing his father's question, Chen Guan looked at his father's graying hair and thought of the carefree life the family had enjoyed over the past two years. After a few moments of silence, he spoke:

"Father, I may be going on a long journey in a few days.

From now on... you... you should be the one to make the decisions.

And if I do not return, I ask that you please prepare my share of the gifts for my sixth brother as well."