Heavenly Star

“Chen’er, let’s go and see your grandfather first. After you had an accident, he always thought it’s him who had ruined your life. He has been suffering and blaming himself all these years. After what happened, he gave up on everything. The only thing he has been doing is taking care of his garden. Now that you’re back, he can…” When thinking about his father Ye Nu, Ye Wei felt incredibly sad.

Ye Wuchen nodded, “father, indeed, let us go together.”

The design of Ye Nu’s courtyard was relatively simple, but it’s much quieter than what Ye Wuchen had expected. After they entered, there was no sight of anyone. They did hear the sounds of different birds.

Ye Nu was sitting on a chair made of hardwood, he was concentrated on feeding a bird in the cage. He didn’t realize that his son and grandson had approached him. Ye Wei bent down and said in a low voice, “father.”

“What?” Without even raising his head, he just said plainly. At this time, Ye Wuchen had noticed that his grandfather had grown much older than before. After three years, it seemed that Ye Nu had become ten years older. He started to wonder whether he had brought happiness or damage to the Ye family. For Ye Nu who did not need a lot of material things, the most significant damage for him would not be death, but the disappearance of a family member.

“Grandpa, I am back.” Ye Wuchen, who was feeling guilty, called his grandfather with a very light voice, he wanted to avoid shocking him.

Ye Nu shuddered, his hands and body were all petrified, and he stopped moving altogether. He made a light noise, making sure that he’s not in his dream. Then, he just stayed there as if time had stopped.

Ye Wei felt gratified, yet he also felt bitter at the same time. He wasn’t sure how his father had gone through these three years of sheer pain and self-blaming. Every time he looked at his father, he felt a sharp pain in his heart.

Ye Nu looked up, his eyes flashing at Ye Wuchen and his body shivering. At this moment, there was no way he could believe his eyes. General Ye, who was once respected and feared by millions of people, who fought bravely in battles, lost all his calmness and seriousness this day. His old eyes quickly became blurred, and he felt as if something was stuck in his throat. His lips trembled – he couldn’t say anything, nor make a sound.

“Father, Chen’er is back! He is not dead! Chen’er did not die! He fell off from the Duanhun Cliff, but he survived. And he’s right in front of you! Father, can you believe this? Chen’er is not dead!” In front of his father who still did not react, Ye Wei shouted hard. He wanted to remind his father that he did not have an illusion. He also needed to release the endless excitement in his heart.

Ye Wuchen also repeated, “Grandpa, I’m back.”

Ye Nu ‘woke up’, and got himself together. He extended his hand. After three years, his hand had gotten so old and skinny. He nodded his head hard and answered weakly, “it’s good that you’re back, it’s good…”,

He slammed his palm in front of his forehead and wiped his eyes hard, to get rid of his tears. It’s also to make his vision clearer and to remind himself that he’s not in his illusion, that Ye Wuchen was for real. Seeing the sword ring on his grandson’s hand and Ningxue, he could not be surer. He still felt surreal, and mumbled, “do you…do you hate Grandpa?”

Ye Nu still had that deep remorse and was blaming himself daily. If he hadn’t convinced Ye Shuiyao to get married in Big Wind Country, all these incidents wouldn’t have happened. For him, this was the biggest mistake he had ever made. If he didn’t interfere, Ye Wuchen wouldn’t ‘die’ in Big Wind Country because of Ye Shuiyao. He’d always thought that Ye Wuchen’s death was his punishment, as he had abandoned his family member. For the whole three years, he had been blaming himself painfully. And after three years, it was as if he had gotten ten years older.

“Oh? Why should I hate Grandpa?” Ye Wuchen asked.

He smiled a little and said, “In my Tianlong Country, everyone had a peaceful and happy life. No one had to worry about not having food to eat. There were even no beggars and thieves. Even after the numerous battles with Big Wind Country, things were still stable. Who had contributed the most? It’s certainly Grandpa. Without Grandpa, the Emperor of Tianlong might not even be on his throne. My Grandpa spent half of his life in battlefields, and he even got married in a battlefield, yet you’ve saved so many civilians in Tianlong Country, giving them a happy life. Who else in Tianlong Country had the same amount of contribution and reputation? There is no one that my Grandpa owes to in the whole of Tianlong Country. Why would I resent such an amazing Grandpa?”

Ye Wuchen sighed and continued thoughtfully, “I understand Grandpa’s pain in the past few years. Grandpa, you are wrong. You should not feel remorse; you should not blame yourself. In the beginning, you needed to choose between the country and your family, you chose your country, and that is something admirable. And me, I was just someone who abandoned my country for my interests. I would rather hate myself. I shall blame myself for being impulsive, letting my father, my Grandfather and so many others sad for me for such a long time. So, why would I hate Grandpa? I only hope that Grandpa can forgive me for my mistakes, and be happy from now on. Then, I will also be less guilty.”

Ye Wei showed a smile, and he believed that this was enough to unravel the struggles of Ye Nu. Sure enough, Ye Nu stayed for a little while, before he laughed happily, “my grandson is always so smart. I can never talk him out of anything. Haha…”

For the first time in three years, it was Ye Wei’s first time to see Ye Nu laugh so happily. He and Ye Wuchen showed a pleasant smile at the same time. With a laugh, the old man finally came out of the shackles of self-blame, the abyss of pain, he finally got out of everything that had tortured him for so long.

Wang Wenshu walked out of the courtyard of Ye Nu, and made various delicious meals for Ye Wuchen. When she saw them out, she hurriedly went forward and greeted, “Chen’er, Xue’er, you’ve just been back, and you must be starving. I’ve prepared you so many dishes, come and eat. And we shall chat a bit.”

She was desperate to know what Ye Wuchen had experienced in the past three years. Same for Ye Wei, he was also dying to know… Indeed, there have been many people who fell into the Duanhun Cliff, or who have tried to explore the Cliff with a rope. Nobody survived. No one knew either how high the Cliff is. The Big Wind Country once made a 3000-meter long rope and tested the height with a rock, and they never got to the bottom. It would be a mere miracle if someone survived after falling.

But then again, is it so strange that a miracle happened on Ye Wuchen?

“I haven’t eaten anything prepared by Mom for a long time. I miss it… but before that, I want to see my sister first.” After that, he turned and looked at the direction of Ye Shuiyao’s courtyard. Now the news of his return was all spread in the entire Tianlong City, the whole of Ye Family was beyond excited. However, Ye Shuiyao had not appeared, and there was no news of her.

“Right, go see Yao’er, These years, she has been…she will be thrilled to see you.” Wang Wenshu quickly added.

“I am going to go with Xue’er and Tongxin. Will Mom cook me a few dishes?” Ye Wuchen smiled.

How could she refuse such a request from her dead son? She agreed with joy. And just when Ye Wuchen was about to leave, he turned and asked, “where is Ye Wuyun?

He always called Ye Wuyun by his full name. If possible, he didn’t even want to call his name.

“He went to the north of the city to purchase some stuff, and he will come back soon. Now he should know that you are back.” Wang Wenshu replied.

“Purchasing?” Ye Wuchen’s mouth curled up, and he was quite sarcastic, “he’s even doing a job of a servant. How diligent he is.”

Wang Wenshu did not understand the sarcasm, and nodded with relief, “there years, without you, everyone in the family had been depressed. Yun’er took care of almost everything. I was quite worried whether he worked too much. He always said that he’d rather do it himself than giving the tasks to the others. Sigh…”

Ye Wuchen nodded and smiled, then headed toward Ye Shuiyao’s courtyard along with Ningxue and Tongxin. Looking at his back, Ye Wei was put into deep thoughts. After three years, Ye Wuchen was now 20 years old. Although he was always sitting down, he apparently grew taller. He also seemed more mature. Ye Wei also noticed something significantly different in him, but he could not tell exactly what it was.

The setting of Ye Shuiyao’s courtyard was still the same. For many years, nothing had been changed.

This time, Ye Wuchen entered her bedroom directly. Once he opened the door, he could smell a cold but sweet air immediately. There was no movement in the room. When the door closed itself, a stunning figure walked approached him. This person bent down and hugged him dearly, her lips lightly pressed against his forehead, “Xiaochen, you’re finally home.”

“Sister, aren’t you afraid that Mum will see us?” Ye Wuchen touched the area that had just been kissed and smiled.

Ye Shuiyao liked the way he called her sister. Although she believed that they were not real sister and brother, every time Ye Wuchen called her like this, she felt very pleased and satisfied, like breaking a taboo.

“I don’t care.” Ye Shuiyao smiled lightly. Ye Wuchen once said that when she laughed, she looked gorgeous. Any beautiful scenes in the world had to give way to her smile. Therefore, she had always kept her smile just for Ye Wuchen. Since the first day he returned, there was no reason for her not to be happy.

“Then, sister will start kissing me in front of mother.” Ye Wuchen said playfully.

Ye Shuiyao’s face turned red, and she hit him gently.