Volume One: A Thousand Years of the Stream Chapter 44: Returning Home

Bypassing and meandering along the way, Sun Zikai returned first to Ansheng Pass. The pass had seen an influx of new faces, all of them practitioners arranged here by Cui Qingrui.

Coming in from outside the pass, Sun Zikai found Old Zhang chewing on dried apricots against the wall. Sun Zikai tapped him on the shoulder and called out, "Old Zhang."

Old Zhang turned around, looking quite surprised, and said, "What a coincidence, your sister just left, and here you are."

"Sister?" Sun Zikai uttered an "oh" and asked, "When did she arrive? Did she come alone?"

"Not alone. She brought a boy along, named Ma Kaiyu. He seems to be from a prominent and wealthy family. Your sister is really something else."

Sun Zikai had no intention of concealing his situation with Yang Youshi, so he said, "She is no longer called Yang Youshi; her current name is Yang Huanman. She belongs to the Ma family now. We have severed our ties and are strangers to each other."

"Ah?" Old Zhang slapped his forehead and said, "I did feel that the girl was stammering and beating around the bush when she came back, as if she was hiding something. How big of a falling-out did the two of you have?"

"We'll talk about that later. Where is Old Yang?"

Before long, the guardians of the pass gathered in Old Yang's room. Those practitioners also entered, but stood leaning against the door frame, silent and still. Sun Zikai frowned; this was hardly guardianship—it was blatant surveillance. He said to those men, "We need to discuss some private matters. A fire has been lit in the courtyard, so please, good men, go and enjoy some wine and meat."

The men wore stern expressions, likely feeling a sense of resentment in their hearts. After all, they were practitioners hailing from various prominent clans, yet they had been dispatched by Cui Qingrui to keep day-and-night watch over these useless bumpkins. Ignorant of Sun Zikai's background, they merely cast cold glances at this punk in the first stage of Qi Refining.

When Sun Zikai asked them to leave once more, one of them finally spoke up coldly, "Get whatever business you have done quickly. Spare us the nonsense."

A flash of killing intent crossed Sun Zikai's mind, but after all, these men were neither barbarians nor members of the Ma family. He could not resort to such measures here, so he had no choice but to invoke his status, saying, "I am a disciple of Sect Master Fu Zhe. Please grant me a modicum of respect, gentlemen."

"Oh?" They were utterly surprised. "We had long heard that Sect Master Fu Zhe had taken on a disciple; so it turns out to be you." The expressions on the men's faces shifted instantly. After exchanging a few polite pleasantries, they walked out the door one after another.

Once they were gone, Liu Zi let out a long sigh of relief and complained, "We're finally out of the same room with them. What are we, prisoners? Even prisoners aren't watched this closely. This is truly damned torment!"

Old Yang asked Sun Zikai, "Why are there practitioners here watching us? Do you know the reason?"

Sun Zikai replied, "It's a long story."

Old Zhang chimed in, "Then make it short. Tell us quickly what happened to you in the Yanming Sect, and also, what on earth is going on between you and your sister."

"He and his sister? What happened?"

---

"Those two kids have grown capable, and they've cut ties."

"Ah?" "Ah?" The grown men were utterly astonished.

Sun Zikai then recounted the whole story in detail, during which he mentioned, "Jiang Yujin and I gave up our chance to enter the inner sect and let Youshi have it instead. Relying on Jiang Yujin's magical treasure, Youshi entered the tutelage of Ma Dairan, the Sect Master of the Yanming Sect. The Ma family acts as tyrants in the Yanming Sect and commits all sorts of atrocities, but they truly take good care of Youshi. That girl Youshi must have grown too accustomed to hardship; once she stepped into that pampered life, she couldn't let go of it anymore, and even changed her name to Yang Huanman. After I had a falling-out with the Ma family, our relationship was severed."

"Why did you have to fall out with the Ma family?" Old Zhang asked. "Since the Ma family's influence is so vast, why did you go looking for trouble with them?"

"The Yanming Sect doesn't belong to the Ma family. Right now, it's split into two factions: one is the Ma family faction, and the other is the Sect Master's faction. Both are contending for power and influence. I became a disciple under Fu Zhe, and my master belongs to the Sect Master's faction. Naturally, we are at odds with the Ma family."

"Oh my, grievances between the masters' generation—why are the two of you youngsters blindly taking it so seriously? Affections built from growing up together since childhood, why make such a fuss?" Old Yang was very angry. Yang Youshi was his adopted daughter, and Sun Zikai was also like his own child; yet they had arbitrarily severed their ties.

Sun Zikai remained silent for a long time, casting only a glance at Old Yang. While the others still held fast to their respective opinions, only Old Yang perceived what Sun Zikai was truly thinking. Half an hour later, Old Yang said, "Everyone out. Let the two of us have a chat."

The others walked out of the room. Old Yang put the kettle on to boil water, sat by the hearth snapping dried meat into pieces, and said, "This winter is bound to be cold. We don't plan on going out."

"Are there barbarians?"

"A batch came by a few days ago. I had Liu Zi lead men out to wipe them out completely."

"To think there are still savages daring to come. I'll venture out of the pass in a few days and slaughter another round."

"Very well." Old Yang poked at the charcoal as the water gradually began to bubble.

Sun Zikai finally spoke, "Old Yang, the Ma family has the blood of my father and mother on their hands. I will definitely kill every single member of the Ma family. I tried to persuade Youshi to return to my side, but she was unwilling."

Old Yang was extremely surprised by this; Sun Zikai had never spoken of his biological parents before. He opened his mouth to ask, "Are you certain? You were too young back then."

"Certain."

"There are so many people in the Ma family; why kill all of them?"

"Those who caused the tragic deaths of my father and mother are all guilty. They all deserve to die."

Old Yang sighed and replied, "Kill those who deserve to be killed."

---

Sun Zikai said coldly, "All of them deserve to die."

"Does Youshi count?"

"If her surname is Ma, then yes."

"Xiaokai," Old Yang looked at him with deep concern, "child, you are only thirteen, yet your heart is as hard as iron."

"In that purgatory outside the pass, anyone would turn into iron. Why must one root out the weed and pull up the back when killing savages? Back then, they humiliated and slaughtered my father and mother, yet forgot to kill me. Today, I will show no mercy. One by one, not a single one will escape."

"Can you actually kill them all? The prerequisite for revenge is preserving your own life."

"I can. Old Yang, do you think I am doing the right thing?"

Old Yang gazed at the bonfire for a long time, the flames reflecting in his eyes, before he finally said, "Right. You have never made a wrong choice. I believe that you must be right."

"Really?" Sun Zikai was deeply moved, because everyone else who learned of his bitter hatred believed his methods and thoughts were wrong; only Old Yang still supported him.

A ruthless glint showed in Old Yang's gaze as he said, "In killing, one must not leave room for regret; when taking revenge, one must do it cleanly. Eradicating the roots along with the weeds—this is the compulsory path for a guardian of the pass. But you must have the certainty of withdrawing unscathed; otherwise, trading your life for theirs is a failed revenge."

"Alright, I understand."

"And another thing," Old Yang's face showed sorrow, "that girl Youshi has never enjoyed true blessings, but she shouldn't have to endure suffering either. She, unlike you, is still immature in mind. It is normal for her to be swayed by temptations. She is a good child, and sooner or later she will come to her senses. Do not hurt her, and even more so, do not kill her!"

"Rest assured, I won't harm a hair on her head."

"Child, you've grown up." Old Yang looked at the firelight. "Both of you have grown up."

Sun Zikai smiled with a sense of relief and replied, "It's you who raised us, Old Yang. All of you raised the two of us. This Ansheng Pass is my home, and sooner or later, I will return."

"Forget about coming back. Go live in the city instead." Old Yang raised his head, though what he saw in his mind was simply that child at five years old.