Yun Yang did not retort nor did he defend himself. He did not explain himself either, merely lapsing into silence.
Yun Xiaoyao paced around huffing and said angrily, "There"s absolutely no way if you"re thinking to go alone. At least… I"ll go with you!"
"Absolutely not!" Yun Yang blurted out in shock, breaking his supposed silence immediately.
Yun Xiaoyao wanted to go with him? Was this a joke? Facing the Four Seasons Tower"s full strength, it would be a guaranteed delivery of his head on a platter!
"There has to be someone collecting your corpse somehow." Yun Xiaoyao looked over in a rage. "Are you thinking to have no remains?"
Yun Yang took in a deep breath and said, "I won"t die. I"m confident of it!"
"Well, I"m confident as well!" Yun Xiaoyao roared in anger.
Then, both of them were quiet.
After a long time, Yun Yang spoke up, "I"m leaving."
Yun Xiaoyao snorted but said nothing. It was only when Yun Yang walked to the window that Yun Xiaoyao"s hoa.r.s.e voice came from his back, "All these years, I"ve been thinking – how nice it would have been if you were really my son… Why aren"t you my biological son?"
Yun Yang came to a complete halt.
"I really see you as my biological son." Yun Xiaoyao"s voice was resigned. "I just don"t know if, for a moment, you would ever have taken me as your actual father…"
Yun Yang did not say anything for some time.
Yun Xiaoyao waited for a reply in vain. Thinking that the youth had already left, he sighed softly. His voice sounded dreary. His state of mind had aged remarkably in that short period of time.
Murmuring, he said, "Whatever it is, don"t you dare die. I – I don"t want to collect your corpse…"
Yet, as he turned around, he was immediately stunned.
Yun Yang was still standing right before him. He had not left. As for his eyes, they were gleaming with unshed tears.
Yun Xiaoyao stared at his son by name helplessly.
"Actually, in my heart, you… have always been my father. What you"ve done for me all these years is much more than what many biological fathers would have done, so much more…"
Yun Yang"s voice was low, but his words were clear, sincerity lining every letter he spoke.
There was a glow that washed over Yun Xiaoyao"s eyes suddenly.
"You"ve fought for me, not minding to roam alone for years outside. For me, you didn"t mind keeping secrets from the emperor, for me…"
Yun Yang smiled bitterly. "I would very much want to be your actual son. Unfortunately, I would only bring harm to you that way."
"Nonetheless, you"re forever my father in my heart. You were in the past, you are now, you"ll be in the future. You are forever my father."
"Even when I find my biological father in the future, I will tell him that before him, I already have a father, a father who sincerely treats me, loves me and cares for me," Yun Yang spoke gently, "Even if I can"t find him, I still have you. I"m not alone in this lifetime!"
Yun Xiaoyao could only feel his mind buzzing, his vision a little blurry when he tried to look. At that very moment, he felt that whatever he had done in the past, everything that he had given, was all worth it – far from being just worth it!
Blurrily, he saw Yun Yang kneel down before him and bowed thrice, respectfully.
He wanted to say something, anything, but he could only feel the trembling of his lips, words unable to leave his mouth.
Then, he stared dazedly as Yun Yang stood up and said, "I"ll leave now."
The young man took two steps back and vanished without a trace.
Yun Xiaoyao was shaking all over, retreating two steps unconsciously, and fell unceremoniously on a chair. Not a sound was made for a long time. Tears streamed from his eyes but a genuine smile hung on his lips.
He could understand every word Yun Yang said, thus he could comfort himself.
He was happy, he was elated!
"I can only be your father by name to outsiders, I can only be your foster father in front of the emperor, the s.h.i.+eld you use to block any attack."
"Still, between you and I, we are truly father and son."
"That"s enough! It"s enough!"
…
At the Tower To Heaven Inn, the four n.o.ble young masters looked troubled.
They were now considering a very grim matter of life – what was their ultimate life goal?
To become a popinjay throughout this life?
To be delightfully enjoying all that the world had to offer?
To become a powerful pract.i.tioner and rein over the martial world?
To become a highly ranked minister and rule over the world?
To have a beautiful wife and consorts and endless romance?
This was an exceptionally serious subject. The various answers to these questions were initially far beyond reach, mostly musings they only occasionally ponder upon when they were bored to the extent of death. Yet, these questions were presented right before them currently today.
All four men were swept away by lost currents; helpless, their thoughts were all over the place.
Yun Yang could not help sighing inwardly.
His initial intention was only to ask them what plans the quad had for the future. After all, they had known each other for some time now and the four of them had been calling him their big brother, helping him a lot in various matters. If he could, he did not mind leaving them some resources in antic.i.p.ation that one day, they could meet again in the Bound of Universe, so that their relations.h.i.+p during this period of time would not go to waste.
However, seeing the expressions on the four of their faces, Yun Yang was. .h.i.t with many realizations.
"We… don"t know what to say for now."
Dong Tianleng broke the silence and said with a humorless chuckle, "Initially, we thought before that we could try working as hard as we can and follow you, achieve something in this world, so as not to waste this life away – leave some sort of legend behind. It"s delightful just thinking about it!"
"However, we really never expected your pace to be so wide, so fast. Until later, we only felt the inability to adapt and the difficulty to even imagine it."
"Now that you ask us about our futures… we don"t know how it"ll be. At the very least, our initial intention is already a wild wish."
Dong Tianleng was rarely so serious, but this time, he had honestly spoken his thoughts out loud, his voice sounding heavy and grim.
"All in all, we are still popinjays at heart. We"ve never lacked wealth and fame since our birth. In contrast, we lack the ability to become an imperial minister."
"Similarly, being an heir to our n.o.ble families is out of the question."
"As for beautiful wives and consorts and endless romance, we can achieve them without any hard work due to our status since birth. Obtaining them too easily, instead, becomes boring."
"Becoming a powerful pract.i.tioner and rein over the martial world, becoming unparalleled in the realm, or even going to another realm to fight for the ultimate t.i.tle… we"ve honestly thought very seriously about these grand ambitions. Alas, we know ourselves well; we can"t endure so much hards.h.i.+p. This is also the truth!"
Dong Tianleng laughed depreciatingly and said, "We live luxuriously since we were young – we"ve pa.s.sed so many years living in comfort… Asking us to toil now, maybe it"s doable for a moment, but the long journey of cultivation… we can"t maintain such ambition for long."
Chun Wanfeng sighed, "It"s difficult."
Xia Bingchuan laughed dryly, shaking his head. "Unless – unless we have no other way to go – unless we"re forced into a corner by the vicissitudes of life, maybe then it could be possible. However, if we still have another day we can waste away without any suffering, I probably wouldn"t work for anything…"