Chen Chuan said candidly, "I learned of your situation from Senior Fang, and then asked around elsewhere to find that you were living here. As for my purpose in seeking you out, I have some questions regarding my elders. Please do not doubt my intentions; I have something here to prove my identity."
He brought over the bag he had set down earlier, untied it, took out a notebook from within, and handed it to He Zhilan as she stepped forward.
Taking it in her hands, He Zhilan recognized it at once with pleasant surprise. "This is... Senior Sister Zhen's notebook? The keepsake she gave to Teacher back then—it can't be mistaken!" She turned to look at He Ruihai sitting there and waved it excitedly. "I even helped her buy this notebook back then! Look, this page is missing a corner. I offered to replace it back then, but Senior Sister Zhen said there was no need. She said the Wujian School seeks the seamless only because there is flaw, and since she had flaws herself, having a flaw in the notebook was only fitting... It's been so many years..."
As she spoke, her gaze shifted to Chen Chuan, a sudden light kindling in her eyes. "Senior Sister Zhen's notebook is with you... You—you're Senior Sister Zhen's son. You're Xiao Chuan, aren't you?"
Chen Chuan said, "Yes, Senior, it's me."
"It really is you! I knew it!" He Zhilan grew agitated, her pitch instantly rising. "You look so much like Senior Sister Zhen! Your features are almost identical. Your eyebrows are just as neat and handsome, pitch-black like they were drawn with an ink brush, and your eyes carry that exact same vitality—so bright!"
He Ruihai, however, barely moved from his seat. Looking at Chen Chuan, he said, "The notebook is genuine, but I still cannot trust you."
"Brother, you..." He Zhilan protested at once, but He Ruihai shook his head at her and turned his gaze back to Chen Chuan. "Do you have anything else?"
Seeing how cautious he was, Chen Chuan was even more certain that there was a hidden story here. Fortunately, he had made some preparations before setting out. From his bag, he retrieved some photographs taken during his childhood and at his aunt's home.
He Zhilan took them immediately. At the sight of the figures in the pictures, her eyes reddened. "It's Senior Sister Zhen, and her husband, and you, Xiao Chuan... And this—this is Senior Sister Zhen's younger sister, isn't it?"
Chen Chuan said, "Yes, that is my aunt, Yu Wan."
He Ruihai looked over the photographs and was finally convinced. Such items were not easily forged, especially the finer details that only close acquaintances could identify.
He gathered the photographs, handed them back to Chen Chuan, told He Zhilan to wash her face, and asked her to bring over some candied fruit and sugarcane while she was at it. Then he said to Chen Chuan, "You don't mind if I call you Xiao Chuan, do you?"
Chen Chuan replied, "Both of you are my seniors. There's no problem addressing me that way."
He Zhilan sat down beside them and asked with concern, "Xiao Chuan, you came all the way here looking for us. Is this..."
Chen Chuan said, "More than a decade ago, my mother and father went missing. Afterwards, I was taken in and raised by my aunt and uncle. It wasn't until a few years ago that I found some items left behind by my parents and realized their disappearance might not have been so simple. I wanted to uncover the truth, but found that many crucial clues were missing.
"Later, I saw from the records they left that they had once arranged a fighting instructor for me, yet I never saw that teacher appear. Recently, I traveled to the Biesa Khanate and found Senior Fang, who was running a school and teaching disciples there. After speaking with him, I learned that the instructor might have been the two of you. So after tracking down your whereabouts, I hurried over."
He noticed that when he mentioned his parents finding an instructor for him, looks of guilt appeared on both of their faces.
After a moment, He Zhilan spoke first. "Xiao Chuan, to be completely honest, we did agree with Senior Sister Zhen back then to be your martial arts teachers. But... that matter was very complicated. We..." As she spoke, hesitation resurfaced on her face.
At this point, He Ruihai said, "Xiao Chuan, looking at you, you must have trained in fighting arts as well?"
Chen Chuan nodded. "I learned a bit."
"Did you study under an instructor at a martial arts gym?"
Chen Chuan said, "I was admitted into Wuyi Academy."
Hearing this, the He siblings couldn't help but look at each other in surprise. Gaining entry to Wuyi was no simple feat; beyond talent, it required a solid foundation. And the latter, in particular, demanded reliable instruction where not the slightest error was permitted.
He Zhilan asked, "Xiao Chuan, entering Wuyi requires an assessment. Did someone teach you beforehand?"
Chen Chuan said, "My uncle found a teacher for me."
"No wonder. It seems your uncle and aunt treated you well."
Chen Chuan said, "Yes, my aunt and uncle treated me very well. They were the ones who raised me to adulthood."
Once He Zhilan started asking, she couldn't stop. She inquired warmly, "Xiao Chuan, at your current age... you haven't turned twenty yet, right? Then you must have graduated from Wuyi by now? Are you still in Yangzhi?"
Chen Chuan said, "I graduated some time ago. Currently, I am in Jibei Circuit Center City."
"So you went to Center City..."
The He siblings nodded. A peripheral city like Yangzhi simply had too few resources and was far too isolated; anyone with the ambition to make a name for themselves in the world would head to Center City.
He Zhilan said from the bottom of her heart, "That's wonderful. If Senior Sister Zhen saw how accomplished you are now, Xiao Chuan, she would be overjoyed."
He Ruihai looked at Chen Chuan and said in a heavy voice, "Xiao Chuan, you studied fighting arts and made your way to Center City. From what I see, you must be doing fairly well for yourself. What happened back then was complicated. It's best if you don't get involved. That will be for the good of you, as well as your aunt and uncle."
Chen Chuan looked at them both and said, "Seniors, let me share something with you. Back in the year I graduated from middle school, I was attacked by someone. I barely escaped with my life, and to this day, I still don't know who was behind it."
The He siblings were both startled upon hearing this. He Zhilan looked at him with heightened urgency, asking, "Child, are you alright? Were there any lasting injuries?"
Chen Chuan said, "My recovery went well enough afterwards, but whoever struck back then was unquestionably out to take my life."
He Zhilan gritted her teeth and turned to He Ruihai. "Was it them?"
He Ruihai frowned deeply. "The year Xiao Chuan graduated from middle school... That must have been four or five years ago. After all that time, how could..."
Chen Chuan looked steadily at them both. "It might just be a coincidence, or it might be connected to the events of that year. But so long as there is even a slight possibility, I will not leave things to chance."
A sharp glint appeared in his eyes. "I am determined to get to the bottom of this. There may be powerful forces involved behind it, but I believe I now possess the ability to protect myself."
He Ruihai said gravely, "Xiao Chuan, it's not that simple. Since you graduated from Wuyi, you should be at the Second Limit by now, right? Perhaps in a few more years, you might reach the third limit. But even if you become a third-limit fighter, that level of martial power won't be of much help against what you would have to face."
Chen Chuan agreed with his assessment. "A third-limit fighter is indeed not enough." He paused, lifting his gaze. "But what if it were a martial artist?"
"A martial artist..."
Both He Ruihai and He Zhilan froze at that word. They stared blankly at Chen Chuan, taking in his calm, composed demeanor. Suddenly, He Zhilan's eyes lit up, and she asked with eager excitement, "Xiao Chuan, could it be... you found a martial artist to be your master?"
He Ruihai sat upright as well. If a martial artist intervened in this matter, there truly would be far less reason to fear. Even if the underlying issue could not be resolved, Chen Chuan's safety would at least be guaranteed.
Yet immediately afterward, they saw Chen Chuan shake his head. A wave of disappointment inevitably rose in their hearts; thinking about it, they had probably gotten ahead of themselves. How could a martial artist be encountered so easily, let alone take Chen Chuan as a disciple?
Then they heard Chen Chuan say calmly, "Among the seniors I have met, there are indeed quite a few martial artists. But right now, I do not need to rely on them. Because I am a martial artist myself."
Hearing those words, a look of pure shock and disbelief appeared in both of their eyes. "You... Xiao Chuan, you..."
Immediately afterward, they felt a tremendous, oppressive aura emanate from Chen Chuan. In that instant, the mutated tissues within their bodies began sounding frantic alarms, and all ambient sound around them seemed to vanish in a flash.
Chen Chuan no longer restrained the power of his field, letting a fraction of it spill forth. He said slowly, "Seniors, this junior has yet to formally introduce himself. I am Chen Chuan, national-level fighter, currently serving as Director of the Jibei Circuit Center City Security Defense Department, member of the Center City Security Decision-Making Group, and member of the Military Advisory Committee of the Confluence."
The He siblings were stunned beyond measure. Subconsciously, they believed such a thing to be impossible, yet the shuddering tremors surging through the mutated tissues in their bodies were undeniable reality, plunging them into a dizzying discordance between perception and fact.
After releasing his field for a brief moment, Chen Chuan drew it back, then said to the two of them, "Seniors, my apologies."
It took a long while for the siblings to recover their wits, but their faces remained plastered with utter shock.
He Ruihai took several deep breaths to steady himself, and in a voice laced with emotion, said, "Senior Sister Zhen's son... has actually become a martial artist?"
He then exhaled heavily and said decisively, "A'lan, go bring out the things Senior Sister Zhen left behind and give them to Xiao Chuan."
"This..." He Zhilan still hesitated.
He Ruihai said solemnly, "Regardless of what Xiao Chuan decides to do, in this matter, we no longer have the right to make decisions for him. Those things belong to him, so they should be returned to him."
He Zhilan nodded solemnly. She stood up and headed to the second floor. After a while, she carried a case down and placed it carefully on the table before Chen Chuan.
Chen Chuan looked at it and found that it was a small sealed cipher case, identical to the one he had retrieved from Wansheng Financial Firm before. Recalling the previous cipher, he entered it. With a click, the case popped open, revealing its contents: a blue syringe vial.
He stared at the item.
Was this... another bottle of memory potion?
Chapter 839