Father's Visitor

When the gate was knocked on, Lu Qinghe was winding the hemp rope around the handle of a hoe. He stopped as he wrapped the rope around the third loop, his fingers rubbing against the calluses.

The footsteps were light, but each step was firm; they were from a stranger.

He put down the hemp rope, picked up the jujube wood carrying pole leaning against the wall, and walked to the back of the courtyard gate. "Who's there?"

"Excuse me, is this Lu Yuan's home?" A female voice answered from outside the door, her tone clear and steady. "Shen Moxin, Teaching Assistant at the Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy."

Lu Qinghe's heart tightened. He remembered the name; his son had mentioned it in a letter. But why would a college teacher come to his door in the dark?

He unlatched the courtyard gate.

A woman stood outside the door. She wore a gray-blue robe, her hair was tied up with a wooden hairpin, and she wore crystal glasses. Her shoulders were wet from the rain, and her shoes were covered in mud. A deep weariness was etched between her brows, her lips were tightly pursed, but her eyes were sharp.

"Teacher Shen?" Lu Qinghe opened the door a little, still blocking the way with his body. "Come in and talk, it's raining and chilly outside."

The words were polite, but the attitude was clear—they weren't inviting anyone in.

Shen Moxin nodded, stepped over the threshold, and stood under the eaves of the courtyard. "I've come to see Lu Yuan," she said bluntly, "It's urgent and must be discussed in person."

"He's not home." Lu Qinghe rubbed the hemp rope scraps. "He went traveling, he's been gone for almost half a year. He doesn't send letters often, we don't know where he is."

That's half true and half false.

Shen Moxin listened quietly. Rain dripped from the eaves, splashing water at her feet.

"I guessed so." She sighed, her voice tinged with helplessness. "I can't find him at the college; the work-study dorms are all empty. I asked some students I know, and they all said he hasn't been back since he left Nuoding City."

She paused, then looked up at Lu Qinghe. Her gaze was so direct, it seemed to pierce through his skin.

"Mr. Lu, I'm not here to cause trouble."

She took a brown paper envelope from her bosom and placed it on the broken wooden stool under the eaves. The edges of the envelope were frayed, and the seal was stamped with the college emblem, but a hideous tear had been made diagonally in the center.

"This is my termination notice." Shen Moxin's voice was calm, so calm it sent a chill down one's spine. "The academy has officially dismissed me. The reason given is that I was too deeply involved with 'dangerous heretical doctrines,' which damaged the academy's reputation and misled students."

Lu Qinghe's throat was dry.

"This letter," she pointed to the tear, "Was thrown at me by the Supervision Office. They said it was a notification, a warning. They told me to shut up, stay away from Nuoding City, and stop talking about those 'fallacies' with the students."

The corner of her mouth twitched very slightly.

"Nonsense and heresy." She repeated the four words, as if squeezing them out from between her teeth. "They're referring to the Soul Power theories that Lu Yuan and I discussed back in the academy. Those conjectures about the nature of Soul Power and the possible paths to its cultivation."

Lu Qinghe recalled the complex "breathing method" his son had used to help him break through his bottleneck, a method so intricate it made him dizzy. A cold sweat suddenly broke out on his back.

Those things... are they "heresy"?

"Teacher Shen," his voice deepened, "What exactly are you trying to say?"

Shen Moxin took off her glasses and wiped the lenses with her sleeve. After putting them back on, she spoke.

"Lu Yuan's theory is very dangerous," she said. "It's not the theory itself that's dangerous, but that it threatens some people's livelihoods and exposes their true colors. Some within the academy can't tolerate it, and those above the academy... probably even less so."

She reached out and lightly touched the tear with her fingertips.

"I can't find Lu Yuan, but he needs to know these things." She raised her head, her eyes even more resolute. "Also, there's something else."

The rain seems to have gotten heavier.

"There are a few kids in the academy," Shen Moxin a little faster, "They're all from common backgrounds, their talent isn't top-tier, but they're hardworking. They've attended my classes and are very interested in Lu Yuan's thought processes... They've asked me about them a few times in private."

Lu Qinghe was on edge.

"Then what?"

"Then, they were also implicated." Shen Moxin took a deep breath. "They were ostracized, given the cold shoulder, and had their training resources withheld. Two of them, one with the Martial Soul ' Anvil ' and a level three innate talent; the other with 'Reed Grass' and a level two innate talent... were effectively forced to quit."

Her voice lowered.

"The reason given is 'insufficient talent, unable to keep up with the teaching pace.' But I know they just lack an opportunity, lack someone to teach them how to use their strength correctly." Shen Moxin looked at Lu Qinghe, her eyes filled with complex emotions. "Those two kids have nowhere to go now. Their families are poor and can't afford to send them to other academies. Go back to farming? They're not willing to do that."

That's where I stopped talking.

Only the sound of rain remained in the courtyard.

Lu Qinghe remained motionless. He stared at the torn envelope on the wooden stool, at the glaring crack. His mind was a jumbled mess, one moment recalling his son's excessively bright eyes when he left home, the next flashing images of "danger," "heretic," and "discouragement."

And then there are those two children who have nowhere to go.

He recalled those years when he was stuck at level nineteen, staring blankly at the night sky every night. Back then, he also longed for an opportunity, for someone to lend a hand. But no one did.

Until his son stuffed that set of "fallacies and heresies" into his hands.

"Teacher Shen," Lu Qinghe finally spoke, his voice hoarse, "You're telling me all this so I can pass on a message to Yuanzi?"

Shen Moxin shook her head.

"Passing on a message is one thing," she said, "But on the other hand... I want to confirm some things."

She took half a step forward. The light under the eaves was dim, but her eyes behind her glasses shone brightly.

"Mr. Lu, you broke through to the Soul Grandmaster level with Lu Yuan's help, right?" she asked, her tone certain. "The method he used wasn't the traditional, step-by-step accumulation of Soul Master, but rather a... more direct path, more based on an understanding of the essence of Soul Power?"

Lu Qinghe froze.

He never told anyone outside the details of this matter.

He remained silent.

Silence is the answer.

Shen Moxin nodded, as if she had breathed a sigh of relief, but also as if her heart was heavy.

"I guessed so," she said softly. "That boy Lu Yuan... the path he's taken is different from everyone else's. I've seen the drawings he made, the questions he asked... those weren't just wild guesses, they had a complete framework."

She turned around and looked out at the fields shrouded in rain outside the courtyard gate.

"This path will be difficult," she said. "The academy dismissing me is just the beginning. More people will jump out and say it's wrong, it's a heretical path, it's a trend that must be nipped in the bud. If Lu Yuan continues down this path, he will encounter more 'trouble' like me, and he will also implicate more people like those two children who want to seize opportunities but have nowhere to go."

As Lu Qinghe listened, his fingers rubbed their calluses again.

He remembered his son's words before he left. "Dad, I have to go out and see the world. This world shouldn't be like this."

He didn't understand it all then. Now he seems to understand a little bit.

"Teacher Shen," he asked, "Where do you plan to go next?"

Shen Moxin turned around.

"I don't know," she said frankly. "I can't go back to the academy, and home... there's nothing worth going back to. I plan to find a place to stay first, finish my research notes, and then..."

She paused, not continuing.

Lu Qinghe sensed the unspoken meaning.

The rain is gradually subsiding.

He bent down and picked up the envelope from the wooden stool. The kraft paper was a little soft from the rain, and the tears felt rough to the touch. Turning it over, he saw an address written in tiny print on the back, the ink blurred by the rain, but still legible.

It's the address of a remote neighborhood in Nuoding City.

"This is?"

"The two children's temporary accommodation," Shen Moxin said. "They're currently crammed into a cheap inn, and they're running out of money. I gave them some before I left, but it won't last more than a few days."

After she finished speaking, she took a step back and bowed slightly to Lu Qinghe.

"Excuse me, Mr. Lu. I've delivered the message, and the letter is here as well. If Lu Yuan returns with any news, please be sure to pass this on to him."

She turned and walked towards the courtyard gate.

His steps were still steady, but his silhouette looked frail in the rainy night.

"Teacher Shen," Lu Qinghe suddenly called out to her.

Shen Moxin stopped and turned around.

Lu Qinghe gripped the envelope tightly. His lips moved, as if he wanted to say something, but the words lingered in his throat, and he finally managed to squeeze out only, "Take care on the road."

Shen Moxin looked at him for several seconds. Then, she nodded very slightly.

"Thanks."

She pushed open the courtyard gate, her figure disappearing into the rain.

Lu Qinghe stood under the eaves, motionless for a long time.

The envelope in his hand felt heavy, like a red-hot coal. He looked down at the crack, his mind replaying those words—dismissal, warning, the children implicated, nowhere to go.

The rain stopped completely. A crack appeared in the clouds, letting in a pale sliver of moonlight.

He turned and went inside, carefully slipping the envelope deep into the hole in the wall where money was hidden by the stove. Then he went back to the main room, sat on the threshold, and looked out at the empty courtyard.

The night wind swept through, carrying the earthy smell of rain-soaked soil.

Lu Qinghe slowly curled his fingers, pressing his thumb hard on the callus on his index finger until it hurt.

He thought of his son, the two children he had never met, and Shen Moxin's frail figure as she left.

This world really shouldn't be like this.

But how to change it? He didn't know. He only knew that once some things are cracked, they can never be patched up again.

Like the jagged tear on that envelope.

Just like the heavy, suffocating feeling in his heart right now.