Just as Xiao Zhan was struggling with his troubled thoughts, that familiar, grating shout came from beyond the courtyard wall again. "Xiao Yan! Xiao Yan! Come check out my new Sky-Piercing Monkey seat! One press of a button and your ass shoots into the sky! What a rush!"
Crazy Ghost's voice was as energetic as ever, brimming with an incomprehensible enthusiasm. Normally, Xiao Yan would already have hidden himself away as though facing a formidable enemy.
Today, however, Xiao Yan merely sat dazed in his room, as though he had heard nothing, without the slightest reaction. Through a gap in the window, Xiao Zhan caught sight of his son's deathly stillness, and his heart suddenly sank.
Could even that "troublemaker" no longer stir the slightest ripple in his son? A tangle of emotions welled up in his heart. Once again, he recalled the youth who had fought a crowd single-handedly in the west of the city, beating a group of grown adults until they fled like rats with their hands over their heads. Crude, strange, deranged... but also fierce enough, and sufficiently... indifferent to the world's judgment.
Xiao Zhan's gaze flickered slightly. In this cruel world, once the halo of a former genius had faded, when bullying and malice loomed, might a "friend" who defied all convention and became so savage that he frightened even himself actually be the best person to keep Yan safe?
He needed someone who would not change their attitude just because Yan had lost his strength, a companion who could ward off every spear in the open and arrow in the dark through the most direct, even the "dirtiest," methods. Involuntarily, Xiao Zhan's gaze turned once more toward Crazy Ghost, who was still shouting tirelessly outside.
Xiao Zhan drew a deep breath, suppressed the emotions churning within him, straightened his robes, and walked out of Xiao Yan's courtyard with steady steps, heading toward the figure still making a racket beyond the wall.
In the sunlight, the nameless youth was squatting on the ground, fiddling with his oddly shaped "bicycle." A few more miscellaneous parts of unknown purpose seemed to have appeared on the handlebars, and he was muttering incomprehensible terms such as "extreme modding" and "nitrous boost."
Hearing footsteps behind him, Crazy Ghost continued tinkering with his bike without even looking up, merely raising his voice. "Hey! Xiao Yan! If you don't come out soon, you won't get a ride on my Land Aircraft! Miss out today, regret it for the rest of your life!"
Xiao Zhan stopped a few steps behind him. Looking at the youth's intent yet slovenly figure and that strange contraption, he felt a hundred emotions mingle within him. He cleared his throat, trying to keep his voice even. "You... seem to enjoy hanging around our Xiao Clan."
The sudden remark brought Crazy Ghost's hands to a halt. He turned around in confusion, and a trace of surprise crossed his face when he saw Xiao Zhan, the Xiao Clan's patriarch. Then his irreverent expression returned, and he grinned. "Well, well, the great Patriarch Xiao. What brings you here? Your Xiao Yan's a transmigrator just like me, so I came to reminisce with him, chat about the old days on Earth. Too bad he seems pretty scared of me."
Xiao Zhan ignored the baffling talk of transmigrators and Earth, simply watching him with a calm gaze. "You don't seem to have a permanent place to stay here, either. Have you ever considered settling down with our Xiao Clan?"
At those words, a huge question mark floated above Crazy Ghost's head. "Settle down? What do you mean? You want me to rent a place? I don't have any money..."
Xiao Zhan paused, as though reaching some decision, then added, "I wouldn't be opposed to taking another adopted son."
The moment those words left his mouth, the smile vanished from Crazy Ghost's face, replaced by scrutiny and wariness. He slowly stood, dusted off his hands, and looked Xiao Zhan up and down, his tone openly suspicious. "Take me as your adopted son? Patriarch Xiao, are you sure you haven't made a mistake?"
Xiao Zhan met his gaze frankly. A trace of weariness showed on his face, but he was utterly serious. "To be honest, this is mostly for my own selfish reasons. Consider it a transaction. My Xiao Clan can provide you with a place to stay, and even some cultivation resources. In return, all you need to do is stay by Yan's side. What do you say?"
After hearing him out, Crazy Ghost fell silent. The joking look disappeared from his face, and his eyes grew somewhat fathomless. He lowered his head to look at his grime-covered hands, seemingly thinking something over at speed.
A moment later, he raised his head and looked at Xiao Zhan, an inscrutable curve lifting the corner of his mouth. In a strangely inflected language entirely unfamiliar to Xiao Zhan, he clearly uttered a few words: "A clan that devours people."
Xiao Zhan knitted his brows, clearly unable to understand those peculiar syllables. "What did you say?"
Crazy Ghost waved a hand, that irreverent smile returning to his face, as though the mysterious remark had merely been some nonsense he had tossed out. "Nothing, nothing. Just reflecting on how unpredictable life is."
He nudged a pebble by his foot, glanced toward Xiao Yan's tightly shut door, then turned back to Xiao Zhan with a probing look. "So, Patriarch Xiao, are you... serious? Taking a trouble magnet like me as your adopted son?"
Xiao Zhan did not let him divert the conversation, his expression remaining solemn. "I don't understand what you just said, and I don't intend to pursue it." He looked at Crazy Ghost, his voice carrying an unmistakable gravity.
"In any case, I will raise the matter of adopting you at the clan meeting for discussion. This isn't something I can decide alone. It also depends on what the elders and the others think."
Xiao Zhan paused, his keen gaze sweeping over Crazy Ghost. "Of course, whether you stay in the end-or rather, whether you want to stay-is also your decision. It's not as though I absolutely must have another adopted son."
As he spoke, he took a step forward, closing the distance between them, and lowered his voice with a clear note of warning. "But if you choose to stay, there's one thing you must remember: when you fight people in the future, you must never use those... filthy methods again. Above all, no more flinging that stuff!"
Xiao Zhan's expression betrayed undisguised disgust. Clearly, Crazy Ghost's earlier "battle exploits" remained fresh in his memory. "The Xiao Clan may not be some illustrious great house, but we still have standing and a reputation. We cannot tolerate such disgraceful conduct."
With that, Xiao Zhan no longer waited to see Crazy Ghost's reaction. He cast a long look at his son's tightly shut door, a trace of worry crossing his face, then turned and left the little courtyard with steady steps. He still had many matters to handle: the clan meeting, reassuring the clansmen, finding doctors and medicine for Xiao Yan... Taking in this strange youth was merely one risky move he had made for his son's sake amid his many troubles.
Xiao Zhan disappeared through the courtyard gate, and quiet settled over the surroundings once more, leaving only the rustle of leaves in the breeze. Crazy Ghost's smile slowly faded. He stood where he was, looking in the direction Xiao Zhan had gone, then turned to glance at the still tightly shut door. The gravity of Xiao Zhan's words seemed to linger in the air, along with a faint scent of... a transaction.
Crazy Ghost looked down at his gaudily modified "bicycle." It was almost everything he owned, a symbol of his freedom and the endless trouble that came with it. Then he considered Xiao Zhan's words again-a place to stay, cultivation resources, and the status of an "adopted son"? Although it sounded like a transaction... having somewhere stable to settle, no longer having to hide here and there as before or live in constant dread of dealing with troublesome villagers and local thugs, seemed rather nice.
Inside the room, Xiao Yan remained like a lifeless statue, deaf to everything happening outside, as though the entire world no longer had anything to do with him.
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