Chapter 796 Under the Thunder Yang Tree
“Good girl.”
Zhang Han grinned and held Mengmeng in his arms.
The little girl pouted and said, “PaPa, MaMa, where have you been? Why did you leave me here for so long?”
“Er… Dad just gave your mom a ma.s.sage. She’s a little tired. Ahem,” Zhang Han said with a smile.
Zi Yan rolled her eyes at him, and her face became more florid.
Zi Yan, who was wearing a cheongsam, seemed to have changed her style into that of s.e.xiness. This cheongsam flattered her curvy figure to the fullest extent.
If the others took a closer look at her, they would be instantly turned on. However, none of the people presents dared to look at her directly. On the one hand, they felt it rude, and on the other hand, they were afraid of embarra.s.sing themselves.
With their social status, they were surrounded by beautiful women all the time. However, couples like Zhang Han and Zi Yan, who both had a successful career and a beautiful relations.h.i.+p, were really scarce.
In particular, Zhang Han’s affection for Mengmeng made many of the fathers present feel dwarfed. They had seen parents who spoiled their children, but they had never seen parents spoil their children so much.
“He doesn’t worry that he’ll spoil his daughter?”
Many people had this idea in their minds, but when they saw the lovely Mengmeng, they found their kids more pampered.
“Alas…”
They now regretted comparing themselves to this family.
“Let’s go and have a seat.”
Zi Yan smiled and led them to Zhang Guangyou’s table.
“Uncle… Dad, don’t drink too much.”
Zi Yan made to call Zhang Guangyou uncle out of habit. She was not used to calling her dad now, but she adjusted quickly to the situation and changed her word.
“I can still drink some. Today, I’m so happy. I must, must, must drink all I want to drink. I’m not drunk, not drunk at all. Come on, Zi Yan’s father, let’s clink gla.s.ses!”
With a red face, Zi Qiang raised his gla.s.s and clinked it with Zhang Guangyou’s.
“Take one sip at a time. Drink slowly.”
Zhang Guangyou said in a hurry.
Zhang Guangyou found Zi Qiang a little funny. He was not good at drinking, but he had to drink with the others.
Zi Yan shook her head helplessly and looked at Xu Xinyu. The mother and daughter exchanged a look but said nothing in the end.
Zi Yan felt that maybe her father was a little upset and wanted to drown his sorrows with wine.
At a wedding, it was normal for the brides’ parents to have this kind of emotion. He would be fine in a couple of days. Moreover, they’ve seen that their son-in-law was excellent and had already accepted their marriage deep down.
Zhang Han sat next to them with Mengmeng in his arms. After looking at everyone with a smile, he lowered his head and asked, “Do you want some fruit?”
“Sure,” Mengmeng replied with a chuckle.
So, Zhang Han filled Mengmeng’s plate with a small piece of banana, apple, orange, grape, strawberry, and so on.
After a few bites, Mengmeng couldn’t eat anymore.
At this time, Zi Qiang and Zi Long began a new round of mutual complimenting.
“Zhang Han’s dad, let me tell you something. Han will be our son since today. He’s, he’s… too brilliant. I’ve never seen such a great son-in-law,” Zi Qiang said seriously.
Zi Yan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
It sounded as if he had seen many sons-in-law before.
“Yes, yes, yes. He is quite filial. He treats Zi Yan and Mengmeng well. We all see that.” Zhang Guangyou nodded repeatedly.
“Certainly. He’s powerful, handsome, and has a good character.” Zi Long sighed. “It’s the first time that I’ve seen someone like Zhang Han. I simply can’t find any flaws in him.”
“Like we’ve seen men like him before.” Zi Hu laughed and said, “We’re all family now. You don’t have to be so complimentary. You can be totally frank with us. We also think that Zhang Han is awesome.”
“Yan is also very nice.” Rong Jiali said with a smile, “She is so pretty, and also gentle, caring, and dignified. We didn’t expect that Han could find such a good daughter-in-law for us.”
“Yes, yes.” Zhang Guangyou echoed, “She’s great.”
Like this, the two parties, one led by Zhang Guangyou and the other led by Zi Qiang, began to compliment each other as if in a compet.i.tion.
The subject of complimenting went from Zhang Han and Zi Yan to themselves. As if playing chess, they each took turns to say nice things about the other party, and the compet.i.tion was extraordinarily fierce.
After watching this for a while, Zhang Han and Zi Yan took Mengmeng to other tables.
“Aunt Tang, Uncle Hong, please pardon us for this humble treat,” Zi Yan took Tang Jiayi’s hand and said with a smile.
“No, it’s a very good treat.” Tang Jiayi answered with a smile, “Yan, you’re so beautiful today. I’m very happy to see you enter the wedding hall. It’s really incredible. You give us a great treat today. You don’t need to be so courteous to me.”
“That’s right.” Hong Qitao nodded and said, “Yan, don’t be too courteous. That will make us look like outsiders, won’t it?”
Hong Li and his girlfriend, Nini, also stood up and greeted the newlyweds.
In the end, Zi Yan shook her head and said, “Well, then I won’t stand on ceremony. Aunt Tang and everyone, help yourselves to all the food and drinks. If you’re free in the afternoon, stay here to attend the dinner party.”
“That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
Hong Qitao nodded with a smile.
Among all the people present, there were many people with high status. Adding that Tang Jiayi had a relatively close relations.h.i.+p with Zi Yan, most people gave them face, which also had some good auxiliary effects in their business.
“Changqing, entertain the guests.”
Zhang Han also said to Chen Changqing, who was sitting at the next table.
“Don’t worry, Brother Han.”
Chen Changqing nodded.
After that, accompanied by Zi Yan, Zhang Han walked to the dining table on the side with Mengmeng in his arms. There sat those of the Heavenly Knights Sect.
w.a.n.g Xiaowu, Yun Feiyang, and others were giving him sort of complicated looks. They never knew that though the young master was so young, his achievements in martial arts were already so high.
Dong Chen and the others also looked over. Among them, Third Elder reminded nonchalantly—
“Don’t forget the thing you’re gonna do tomorrow.”
“I won’t.”
Zhang Han didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
The reason why Zhang Han didn’t give them new cultivation methods before was that he was customizing the methods to make sure they get the most suitable ones. He needed some time to observe them, and it would also take a lot of effort to improve the cultivation methods in detail.
But those masters didn’t know that. They just thought that Zhang Han was too busy and had forgotten it.
To be a competent third generation of martial arts family, how could Zhang Han forget the top forces of the Heavenly Knights Sect?
After greeting them, Zhang Han continued to hail the next table.
The Rong family didn’t pay much attention to Zhang Han at first, but now they found that anyone in his league was a bigshot that they had to look up to in awe. While sighing with emotion in their minds, they all sent blessings to him one after another.
Then, the new couple came to greet the many guests from the Zi family, the w.a.n.g family, the local Luo family, as well as Lei Tiannan, Ji Wushuang, and some people on behalf of the government.
The guests were numerous, but there was still a lot of time, too. Zhang Han’s family of three took their time to greet all of them.
The representatives of the government were particularly enthusiastic.
Among them, a man in a high position took Zhang Han’s hand and smiled bitterly.
“General Zhang, Mount New Moon is already big enough. Don’t continue to expand it. If you occupy a few more mountains, the map of South Island will need to be altered. If you have any plans, at least discuss it with us before you carry it out…”
By far, there was no voice of objection toward Zhang Han. He had made friends with the w.a.n.g family, the Zi family, and Liu Qingfeng, which formed a very large business empire. He also invited many instructors in the army, who came from the Wolf-fang Troop. They were the backbone of the detachments. In addition, Zhang Han was not an ambitious man, nor did he do anything evil. Therefore, though the official officials had some conflicts with him from the beginning, now they had already made peace with him.
For that reason, they’d invited six martial artists at the Heaven Peak Stage to escort the motorcade along the way, which expressed their att.i.tude clearly—We might not have control in other places, but in Xiangjiang, no one shall lay hands on Zhang Hanyang.
Of course, it was only for today. They could not make those six martial artists at the Heaven Peak Stage guard Zhang Han and his family like this forever.
There was another reason that they wanted Zhang Han to stay in Xiangjiang. The fact that Zhang Han had the back of Heavenly Knights Sect and was their Young Lord was no secret for the high authorities.
The Heavenly Knights Sect was also a powerful force. When they resisted the attack launched by the alliance of the Wind Snow School and the other seven sects and even fought back, everyone was astounded.
All these factors made Zhang Han more and more important to them.
Hearing the old man’s words, Zhang Han’s mouth quivered.
“I suppose we won’t expand anymore.”
Mount New Moon was big enough. The magical park prepared for Mengmeng as well as other planned locations had all been reserved. The three chances of transformation the thunder yang tree could provide had all been used. It would take another 500 years before it had such abilities again. And when that time came, the world might not still be like this anymore.
But this time, after the transformation, Mount New Moon became a whole piece of land. When it became a thunder yang treasure land in the future, it would be a portable treasure land.
As for whether Zhang Han would stay in Xiangjiang for long, Zhang Han reckoned the answer was positive. To say the least, Mengmeng had just started her life in kindergarten. Then, she still had to attend middle cla.s.s and top cla.s.s for two years, and then primary school, junior high, and high school.
There was still a long way to go, so Zhang Han didn’t want to think about such a remote thing. He just wanted to accompany Mengmeng. Childhood was too fast. He still remembered that last year, Mengmeng always spoke in a childish voice. But now, the trace of naiveness in her voice had faded a lot.
After greeting all the guest table by table, Zhang Han’s family of three went back to the main table. After more than half an hour of guest entertaining, the show already began.
To everyone’s surprise, the first person to get on the stage was Liu Qingfeng, who came late that day.
“Wow, there are so many people here today. And the weather is good. The sky is clear and the sun is s.h.i.+ning brightly. Here, I want to wish today’s newlyweds, Zhang Han and Zi Yan, a long and happy life together. Well, there is no need to wish you a beautiful baby. You already have a little cutie. So, without further ado, let’s watch the show and have fun!”
After saying that, Liu Qingfeng waved at the guests with a smile and stepped down quickly.
He was such a person with a rough and straightforward temperament. Even when there were many big shots that he must look at in awe under the stage, he was not scared, having no stage fright. He was the bold and honest kind. According to Zhang Han’s words, Liu Qingfeng had the demeanor of a general.
Liu Qingfeng got off the stage, went straight to Zhang Han, and sent him a blessing again. Then he ran to Zhang Guangyou to talk about the old days.
They had once cooperated with each other in business, so they knew each other.
After talking to Zhang Guangyou, Liu Qingfeng took Liu Jiaran to the empty seats on the side table and sat down.
Ah Hu raised his eyes and watched them for a while. Then, he walked over with a beaming face, holding a gla.s.s of wine in his hand.
After all, Liu Qingfeng was his father-in-law. Although he hadn’t approved the couple, he still had to pamper him.
This scene made Zhang Han and Zi Yan smile at each other. It was indeed difficult for a man to get his father-in-law to like him. Before their smiles faded away, a voice came from beside them.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa…”
He turned his head and found that it was Dahei, who was holding a red wine bottle. He barked at Zhang Han several times before gulping down all the wine.
From his actions and posture, it seemed that he was giving Zhang Han blessings, too.
“Didn’t you just have a drink?”
Zhang Han patted Dahei’s hand with a smile, picked up a gla.s.s of wine, and drained it.
Little Hei was still sneezing, but it still came over with a bowl of wine in its mouth. Tiny Tot, who always followed the other two, could not help joining them. It came over carefully holding the wine gla.s.s with its wings and began to take one sip after another.
“Huh?”
Mengmeng was stunned at this. “Tiny Tot, why are you drinking at such a young age?”
“Koo-chee, koo-chee.”
Tiny Tot thought that Mengmeng was praising it, so it threw away the empty bottle and flapped its wings with joy.
“Oh, PaPa, Tiny Tot had a drink. Didn’t you say that kids can’t drink wine?”
“Uh… It’s okay for them to drink a little. They are animals. But kids can’t do it, especially little girls. They shall not drink with others. Think about it. If Tiny Tot is drunk, it’ll just sleep on the mountain. But what if you get drunk? Others might take advantage of you. Don’t you think so? Thus, you shouldn’t drink even a drop of wine…”
After another round of explanation, Mengmeng’s big eyes stopped blinking. After a while, she nodded and said, “Well, I get it, PaPa. I can’t drink.”
“That’s my girl.”
“…”
They sat there and watched the performance for a while. There were magic shows, comic dialogue, and singings. Some people in the audience perked up as the shows went on. For instance, Instructor Liu also performed magic on the stage.
There came performances of fetching objects or hitting objects without touching them…
The magician was confused. “What the h.e.l.l is this?”
But there were constant cheers from the audience.
Happy time always pa.s.sed very quickly. Before long, the sky gradually darkened.
“Buzz, buzz, buzz!”
One by one, the lights were lit up, lighting up the whole Mount New Moon.
If someone was looked at it from the sky, he would find that the lights formed a heart shape.
Of course, Zi Yan also saw it.
Zhang Han seized an opportunity to take Zi Yan to the dense forest at the back of the mountain. She thought that Zhang Han was up to something out of bounds, but it turned out that he brought her to the air with him.
Looking at the heart-shaped lights below, Zi Yan was very touched and nestled in Zhang Han’s arms.
For a very, very long time…
At about seven o’clock, the banquet ended and the guests left one after another.
There was no traditional game of teasing the bride and the bridegroom on the wedding night that evening. Zhang Han didn’t like it anyway.
He lay quietly on the big bed with Zi Yan and Mengmeng. At about eight o’clock, the mother and daughter fell asleep while listening to Zhang Han’s story.
As they were exhausted from doing the event during the day, they went to bed a little earlier.
Although Zhang Han was not tired, he held Zi Yan and Mengmeng in his arms and took a rest at ease. It was not until Zi Yan got up at 12 o’clock at night that Zhang Han opened his eyes and gazed at the back of the beautiful woman with a smile.
But then he looked at the window. After Zi Yan came back and fell into a deep sleep, he got up gently, put on his pajamas, and jumped down from the balcony.
In a small pavilion under the thunder yang tree, Zhang Guangyou and Dong Chen were drinking Chinese alcohol. Rong Jiali was sitting quietly beside them.
When they saw Zhang Han coming over, they all turned to look at him.
“It’s so late. Why haven’t you turned in yet?” Zhang Han took a seat and asked with a smile.
“I have something on my mind. So we stay here and had a little chat,” Zhang Guangyou replied.
“You’re the groom. Why didn’t you accompany Yan and your girl? What are you doing here?” Rong Jiali smiled and reached out to stroke Zhang Han’s messy hair.
“They’re sleeping soundly. I saw you guys chatting here, so I came over to check on you.”
“In fact, we were also talking about you just now,” Dong Chen said, and then his eyes became all serious. He slowly continued, “Zhang Han, I have been observing you for a long time. But the longer I observe you, the more frightened I become. They say that you’ve obtained amazing opportunities, the inheritance of powerful figures in centuries, and a vast amount of treasures. But I can tell that it’s not like that. I admit that there is perhaps a shortcut to gain power, but there is certainly no shortcut to such a state of mind.”
“Alas.”
Dong Chen abruptly heaved a sigh. “Many times when I was with you, I subconsciously felt as if I was facing an old monster who had lived for a long time instead of a young man. Because I didn’t find any panic or fear in your eyes. You were still quite composed even when you entered the Wind Snow School as if you were walking on flat ground. It seemed that there was nothing in the world that could cause you to panic.”
“Buzz!”
His words made Zhang Han’s pupils freeze for a moment.
“How shrewd he is!”
Zhang Han was a little surprised. He also knew that he couldn’t control the aura that leaked out inadvertently, because it was his own aura.
When he just came back, he regarded the people of the world as nonent.i.ties, which was an indisputable fact. But now, because of Mengmeng and Zi Yan, Zhang Han changed quite a lot. The anger and indifference in his heart were compressed in a corner. Maybe when no one teased him, he would be able to hide it. But once someone provoked him, it would instantly expand and erupted into a kind of great horror.
“That’s why I suspect…”
Dong Chen looked at Zhang Han with a complicated look in his eyes. These were all his true thoughts, and that was exactly what they were talking about just now.
Before he could finish his words, Zhang Guangyou also sighed.
“Son, don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Your strength, the formation, and the elixir-refining are all abnormally excellent. Is there anything wrong with your body?”
“Ah?”
Zhang Han was stupefied at his words.
He didn’t expect that they would think about it in this way. But he actually kind of understood that. The heaven-defying ability often came with great pain.
“No.”
Zhang Han shook his head and said, “I told you. I got the 500 years’ memory of a mighty master.”
This was also the reason why Zhang Han didn’t tell them about his rebirth. There were some things that were too complicated even for him to understand, and he didn’t want his relatives to worry about him.
“A powerful figure who lived for 500 years old. Could he be a master from the Kunlun Immortal World?”
Dong Chen’s eyes narrowed.
As soon as he said that, Zhang Guangyou and Rong Jiali looked at each other and felt that it might be true.
Zhang Han saw their expressions. He shook his head slightly, stood up, looked up at the starry sky, and slowly remarked, “Uncle Dong, although you’re fairly talented, your mind is still limited to this small place. You don’t know how vast the world is, and you don’t even know what the world you live in is. Compared with the vast starry sky, this place we’re living in is too small. Whether it’s the earth or the Kunlun Immortal World, it’s like a speck of dust in comparison with the universe.”
“Vast… Starry-Sky? How did you know? Could it be that there are martial artists in the depths of the universe?” Dong Chen’s face was full of shock and disbelief.
Even Zhang Guangyou and Rong Jiali widened their eyes in surprise.
“The vastness of the universe is beyond imagination. They are not called martial artists, but cultivators. Many years ago, the human cultivators suppressed the heavens and realms. But there were too many races in the universe, such as dwarfs, beasts, elves, ancient demonic beasts, and so on. Thousands of races competed for glory in the universe. And that is called the Cultivation World. The Heaven Peak Stage is just the bottom level of the Cultivation World. Even some newborn children are stronger than those in the Heaven Realm.”
“Of course, when your strength reaches a certain level, you will know these things. The martial arts heritage I get comes from the top experts of the Cultivation World. Therefore, the cultivation methods I give you may not be the most advanced but are certainly the most suitable for you at the present.”
“One more thing, I’m this strong because I obtained the martial arts heritage of some predecessor. It’s not like that I’ve been possessed. I’m still myself. Don’t worry about that.”
After finis.h.i.+ng his words, Zhang Han smiled and turned around, only to see three dumbstruck faces.