89: Chapter 85 eting in the Middle of Star River_1 89: Chapter 85 eting in the Middle of Star River_1 After a long ti had passed, the mbers of the Lin Clan near the archway were silent as cicadas in winter, no one spoke or moved.
The atmosphere was eerily oppressive.
“Are we really going to let him go just like that?” Lin Zhengli spoke out, “Allow such a Ninth Grade Circulation Realm fellow to strut around the Lin Family unchallenged?”
“Everyone,” Lin Zhengren turned back, and spoke indifferently, “disperse.”
The crowd scattered, and even Lin Duanxing, Lin Zhengren’s father, didn’t hesitate, a testant to Lin Zhengren’s prestige within the clan.
The old Lin patriarch glanced at Lin Zhengli and said, “Zhengli, co, help Grandfather back to the room.”
Lin Zhengli forced a smile, “Grandfather, let the servants help you back.
I still have sothing to discuss with my brother.”
The old Lin patriarch looked as if he had more to say but ultimately shook his head and left with the support of the servants.
Soon, the vicinity of the archway was completely deserted, with only a few winter leaves swirling in the wind.
“Brother!” Lin Zhengli was unable to suppress his indignation, “Are we just going to let this slide?”
Lin Zhengren glanced at him, “Or what?
You want to chase after him and kill him?”
“The Lin Family isn’t lacking Zhoutian Realm masters!”
“Those are the Lin Family’s, not yours.”
“I’m not doing this for myself!
Am I not considering the reputation of our Lin Family?”
“For our Lin Family?” Lin Zhengren looked at him with an unusually cold gaze, “Do you think I don’t know what you’ve been up to?”
“You took over Lin Zhenglun’s booth, but you mishandled it.
When Grandfather asked you to invite him back, you insulted him and even tried to take advantage of his wife!
Are you that desperate for won, so unable to control your urges?”
“I just wanted him to understand his place, to make him realize what he is!” Lin Zhengli said urgently, “Is there any use in propping up such a person?
Just look at today, even Grandfather spoke kindly to him, what was his attitude?
Didn’t he snap at us the mont he could?
Is he really grateful?
Even if the Lin Family’s business fails, we can’t use him!”
Lin Zhengren pointed at Lin Zhengli without saying a word for a mont.
“Brother, listen to , send soone to kill them on their way back!” Lin Zhengli pleaded, “If Jiang Wang doesn’t die, where does that leave the face of our Lin Family?”
Slap!
Lin Zhengren backhanded Lin Zhengli to the ground.
“The face of the Lin Family isn’t important.
My face, Lin Zhengren’s face, is what’s important!”
Lin Zhengren pointed at Lin Zhengli who was staring back at him furiously from the ground, “But because of you, I’ve been disgraced.”
Lin Zhengli lay on the ground, first in disbelief and then in rage.
He almost leaped up, “You can’t beat Zhu Weiwo, and you bla ?
Fine!
Tie up and take to Fenglin City to apologize to Zhu Weiwo, let the Jiangs kill !
I won’t be the reason you lose face!”
He rushed up to Lin Zhengren, his neck stiff as he roared, “You send there!”
“I warn you!” Lin Zhengren grabbed his neck and lifted him up, “I’m only warning you this once, my dear brother.”
As he watched Lin Zhengli’s face gradually turn red from the struggle to breathe, he spoke slowly, “You don’t need to pretend to be this shallow, short-sighted, and impulsive.
You don’t have to perform your immaturity and incompetence in front of .
I handed the Lin Clan over to you, and I won’t take it back.
The vast assets that seem endless to you, in my eyes, they’re nothing at all.
You also don’t need to feign ignorance, worried that I might see you as a threat!”
He tightened his grip, and only when Lin Zhengli’s eyes started to roll back did he say, “Do you understand?”
After speaking, he didn’t wait for a response and let go, then turned and walked away.
Leaving Lin Zhengli to fall to the ground, kneel-coughing incessantly.
…
By the ti he returned to Fenglin City, it was late into the night.
Huang Azhan was waiting for them at the city gate, holding the sleeping Jiang Anan in his arms.
“You’re finally back!” Huang Azhan lowered his voice, “The little ancestor has been crying all day.
I’ve talked until my lips are raw, and she wouldn’t be comforted!
She insisted on waiting for you, and only fell asleep from exhaustion well after midnight.”
Jiang Wang carefully took Anan into his arms and told the others, “You go back first.
We can talk about other matters tomorrow.”
The crowd dispersed, and Jiang Wang, holding little Anan, returned to their ho in Flying Horse Lane.
He didn’t go straight inside, instead, he leaped onto the roof, dangling his legs over the eaves, and just sat down.
The night was cool as water, and Anan, wrapped in her little cotton-padded jacket, slept deeply in his embrace.
Her eyes were swollen, and even in her sleep, her little mouth seed troubled.
A five-year-old child doesn’t understand everything, but their world is relatively simple, and their sadness is sotis even purer.
This night, Jiang Wang didn’t engage in his usual cultivation practices.
He stared blankly in the direction of Fengxi Town.
For so reason, his mind was filled with countless images.
He wasn’t new to feeling lonely, but at that mont, he truly realized: in this world, only he and Jiang Anan relied on each other for life.
They both had no father anymore, nor did they have a mother.
“Brother…” Anan woke up at so point, and with her slightly swollen eyes, she looked up at Jiang Wang’s chin and asked, “Did you go looking for my mom?”
Jiang Wang was silent for a while, then said, “Do you rember I told you about the stars?
Dad is there, and Auntie Song has also gone there.”
Anan heaved a soft sigh, as if afraid of crushing sothing delicate, “It’s so far away.”
Jiang Wang suddenly felt the urge to cry.
“Yeah, it’s very far.”
“Brother, will you be able to pick the stars in the future?” In Jiang Anan’s eyes shone a light, “Mom said, you might beco an Immortal one day.”
Immortal…
Looking at Jiang Anan’s little face, Jiang Wang could not bear to tell her.
The distance between him and becoming an Immortal was even greater than the distance between them and the stars at that mont.
She might think that on the day when she could pick the stars, she would be able to see her parents again.
She did not yet know, so farewells are truly forever.
No matter how high one flies, no matter how strong one becos, there are those “forevers” that one can never et again.
“In ancient tis, when humans first looked up and saw the stars, they began to move toward them,” Jiang Wang finally said.
“Across the deepest rivers, up the tallest mountains, and when there were absolutely no more paths to follow, they built their ladders…
that is cultivation.”
“Brother doesn’t know what the end of the path of cultivation is but I think, reaching for the stars and the moon is definitely not the end.”
“Then, I…” Jiang Anan bit her lip and cautiously asked, “Can I cultivate too?”
“Of course!” Jiang Wang ruffled her little head.
“Can I fly too?”
“Of course!”
“Can I pick the stars too?”
“Mm-hmm!”
“Can I go and bring back Dad and Mom too?”
“…
Mm!”
This was a beautiful lie.
Even Jiang Wang himself wished to be deceived by it.
“So, starting tomorrow, in addition to reading and writing, you’ll also need to recite the Taoist scriptures…”
“No problem!” Anan was full of enthusiasm.
“And you’ll need to carve out half an hour to train in martial arts basics, which will be very tiring…”
“Anan is not afraid of being tired!”
“Alright then, we have a deal.
When you can reach for the stars and the moon, we will chase the stars together.”
Jiang Anan clenched her little fist: “Chasing the stars!”
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