Originated from mountains and seas, life never ends

"By the way, don't relax on Wang Ji's side. The people there are all top-notch experts."

Before the man left, Nangong Huaxue thought of something and casually explained it.

"Don't let him notice."

The man paused and nodded.

After the man left, Nangong Huaxue was still excited, her high spirits could not be calmed down, and she was even so excited that she walked around the desk.

"It's him...is it really him?" Nangong Huaxue clenched his fists, his eyes flickering. Suddenly, as if he thought of something, he stopped.

"No, that's not right...what if it's not?" Thinking of this possibility, Nangong Huaxue's face immediately turned bad. He frowned and said anxiously.

"I just confirmed him..." Nangong Huaxue whispered, suppressing her excited heart and said calmly, "I can't... confirm that he is Xiao."

"It still requires an opportunity..." As he spoke, his expression darkened.

Nangong Huaxue sat back in the chair, staring at the metal block in front of him, closed his eyes, and forced himself to calm down: "Yes, I need another opportunity to confirm it."

"...No rush, it's been eighteen years." Nangong Huaxue opened his eyes, his eyes dimmed, "It doesn't matter if there's just a little more time."

……

"How's the investigation going?" Wang Ji walked out of the palace gate, along the corridor, and talked to the person beside him.

"It has been collected clearly." The person beside him lowered his head, took out a piece of paper from his pocket, and read, "Rongcheng Qin Family, Qin Xiao."

Wang Ji paused: "Qin Xiao, is he Qin Xiuyun's third son?"

"Yes."

Wang Ji's face darkened.

Three years ago, the imperial teacher had a secret conversation with the emperor. After that conversation, the emperor asked him to privately look for a child who was born seven years ago and whose name contained the character "Xiao".

Wang Ji didn’t know what the emperor wanted this for, maybe he could ask next time.

Wang Ji was thinking about it, when he saw from the corner of his eye that the person next to him trembled his hand, and the short piece of paper suddenly flipped open from the inside and fell to the ground.

"There are also Feng Luxiao from Qingcheng and Huang Xiaojie from the Huang family of Zhoucheng..."

Wang Ji: …

The subordinate beside him calmly read the entire piece of paper and looked at Wang Ji expressionlessly: "Master, there are a total of 392 children in Yuhua who were born ten years ago and whose names contain the word owl."

Wang Ji: …

……

Wang Ji left the palace and walked to the brothel with ease. When he came in, the gorgeous beauties inside immediately came to greet him.

"Old rules." Wang Ji took out a bag of gold coins, said calmly, and looked up at the roof.

In the brothel, geishas plucked the strings of the zither, some of which had the properties of a musical instrument. The audience were intoxicated by her performance, as if in a dream. The fragrance was rich but not pungent. Petals of various colors occasionally fell from the sky, dancing in the sky as the musicians played, and were reluctant to fall.

In the private room on the second floor, Wang Ji was half leaning on the couch, holding a metal panel in his hand, still flipping through something. Occasionally, he would pick up the wine glass in front of him and take a sip. The light sweetness of the flower wine mixed with the mellowness of the wine had a special taste in his mouth.

Listening to the soothing music playing outside the door, Wang Ji finally put down the panel and sighed: "Why are you here?"

"Did you find out?"

As a voice sounded, a figure appeared, sat down on the couch next to him, and looked at him with a frown.

"What else?" Wang Ji put down the wine in his glass and said calmly, "Mo Hanshang, I remember you should be in Rongcheng now."

"Oh...something happened, you know that." Mo Hanshang scratched his head, leaned back in annoyance, and leaned on the soft pillow, "My brother is back."

"...I can't believe he actually came back."

Wang Ji glanced at him: "Are you happy or unhappy?"

Mo Hanshang slapped his thigh and said, "Of course I'm happy. Think about it, I was ignorant when I was a child, but now I've grown up——"

"Still ignorant." Wang Ji said lightly.

Mo Hanshang: ...

Mo Hanshang: "...No, how did I offend you?"

"Something happened in Rongcheng yesterday, didn't you know?" Wang Ji raised his eyes.

"I heard from your people that some kind of monster appeared and several people died." Mo Hanshang watched him pour himself a glass of wine, "So what? Are you unhappy that they died?"

"Then do you know that the monster is related to the Qin family?"

"...What?" Mo Hanshang paused and turned his head suddenly.

"To be precise, it's not the Qin family..." Wang Ji's eyes dimmed, "How is your brother going home?"

"...It's okay." Mo Hanshang's mood suddenly darkened when he mentioned this. "I really didn't know at the time. I didn't even know when he passed away... He feels cold all over now. He won't say anything when asked. He has so many injuries on his body. Fortunately, there are no sequelae-"

"It's already very good that he could get out of that place. His character can be cultivated in the future." Wang Ji was not lying. Some people who went into the mountains had changed drastically in their personalities after coming out. Some were timid and cowardly, while others were bloodthirsty, as if they were possessed.

Mo Hanshang did not respond. He was not in a very good mood, but then he thought of something else: "Don't change the subject. What exactly is that monster——"

"How should I know?" Wang Ji said unhappily, "The monster disappeared after eating the people. It appeared twice but no one followed it. You ran away before that."

Hearing this, Mo Hanshang felt a little guilty.

"I remember you told me before that you had something to do in Rongcheng, and I specifically asked you to keep an eye on things in Rongcheng. How did you do it?" Wang Ji's voice was indifferent, but Mo Hanshang heard a hint of murderous intent in it.

"I——" Mo Hanshang was about to say something.

"You don't have to go there anymore. Leave Rongcheng alone for now. There's something here that you need to go do..."

……

"The master of the house is back."

Someone reported outside the door.

"Where are the people?" Qin Jinyi asked.

"Now I am talking to a guest in the front hall."

Qin Jinyi nodded, thinking that people outside couldn't see it, so he said, "I know, let's go down."

The shadow at the door gradually faded away, and Qin Xiao turned to Qin Jinyi: "When is the Fishing Festival?"

Qin Jinyi thought for a moment and said, "Maybe half a month later."

Qin Xiao nodded and said nothing more.

Qiongqi shook his ears, jumped onto Qin Xiao's shoulder and sat down.

Qin Xiao was puzzled and looked at him, only to see that he was just scratching himself with his hind paws and did nothing else.

Qin Xiuyun is back.

For some reason, Qin Xiao felt a little nervous.

He frowned slightly and pressed his chest in confusion, feeling his heart beating violently in his chest, as if it was worried about something.

Qin Xiao frowned and had to pick up the tea beside him and take a sip. The hot tea seemed to soothe his unstable emotions. The slightly bitter taste spread in his mouth. He couldn't help but lick his palate with the tip of his tongue, trying to suppress this complicated taste.

The surroundings seemed to be quiet for a long time, but it also seemed like only a moment.

The wooden door made a slight sound and a man pushed it open and walked in. At the same time, the two people beside him called out his name at the same time.

"Father."

"father."

Qin Xiao raised his head and looked at the man who was walking in from the door.

After only a few years, Qin Xiuyun actually had white hair.

The man had a calm expression, with shallow wrinkles on his face, a look of composure between his brows, and an aura that kept strangers away from him.

Qin Xiuyun still had her black hair tied up in a high ponytail, with a few eye-catching white strands in between.

Qin Xiao put down his teacup, stood up with Qin Jinyi, and greeted Qin Xiuyun: "Dad."

Hearing his voice, Qin Xiuyun paused and turned his head slowly. His eyes were complicated and indescribable. His watery eyes seemed to contain thousands of words, but in the end he only uttered one dry sentence: "You're back."

Qin Xiao nodded slightly: "Yes."

Qin Xiuyun learned the news after entering the house. He was in a daze all the way. Even when he was talking to the people sent by various families in the front hall, his consciousness was vague and he could not concentrate.

Standing in front of the door, he hesitated for a long time, pushed the door back and forth several times, adjusted his hair, straightened his clothes, but still felt that something was wrong.

Before pushing the door, he read the draft that he had revised a thousand times in his mind several times, and estimated several scenarios of reunion and corresponding methods.

As I pushed the door open, all the preparations I had made before seemed to be meaningless.

Qin Xiao followed Qin Jichen and Qin Jinyi in calling him, stood up calmly and nodded to him.

Everything was so calm and peaceful that it was unbelievable. It was as if nothing had happened. Qin Xiao had not been away for four years, and he had never mentioned letting Qin Xiao go to the dangerous mountains.

Looking into Qin Xiao's calm gaze, Qin Xiuyun suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

The apology and consolation he prepared before seemed like a joke. Qin Xiao did not need his hypocritical compensation, nor did he need him to pretend to comfort him with that pitying look. Qin Xiao's calm eyes seemed to tell himself that it was nothing great, and he did not need those so-called compensations.

Qin Xiuyun's expression was complicated. He hesitated for a moment and could only utter one sentence from his dry throat: "You're back."

Qin Xiao's answer was as calm as ever, exactly the same as it was four years ago. It seemed that his experiences in the mountains had not changed him at all.

Qin Xiuyun didn't know why, but his heart suddenly sank.

Qiongqi had a strange look in his eyes. He looked back and forth between the two of them, and suddenly gave a slightly sarcastic smile.

Qin Xiuyun looked at Qin Xiao. He knew clearly what he should say, but when he opened his mouth, he seemed to be choked by something and couldn't speak.

Qin Xiao was not a talkative person. Seeing that Qin Xiuyun was silent, he didn't know what to say.

The atmosphere just froze.

"Those people finally left... By the way, Qin——"

Suddenly, there was a sound of jumping for joy outside the door. Halfway through the conversation, he saw Qin Xiuyun's back and suddenly stopped. He braked suddenly and stopped next to Qin Xiuyun. He was just a little bit away from Qin Xiuyun.

Just as Qin Xiuyun turned his head, the man who suddenly jumped out of his peripheral vision suddenly turned around and covered his face, as if he didn't want him to see his face.

Qin Xiuyun: ...

Qin Xiuyun took a half step back and looked the visitor up and down. He found that his figure was strange and secretive, and he couldn't help feeling a little confused.

"Who are you--?" Qin Xiuyun frowned and looked at Qin Xiao.

Qin Xiao: ...

Qin Xiao turned his head away, unable to look straight at him. He truly disliked Qin Yun'an.

"I don't know." Qin Xiao looked at Qin Xiuyun calmly, "He came here with me, and he said his name is Qin Yun'an."

Qin Yun'an felt something was wrong when he heard the first half of Qin Xiao's sentence. He wanted to stop him, but he was too busy to do so. He could only listen to the child speaking in an extremely calm voice.

Qin Xiuyun was stunned for a moment as if struck by lightning, and then turned his head suddenly, his eyes like lightning, falling directly on Qin Yunan. Qin Yunan suddenly felt a burning sensation on his back.

Qin Xiuyun was silent.

Qin Jichen was a little worried. Qin Jinyi didn't understand and looked at them in confusion.

The few people who knew about the situation fell silent at the same time, and the atmosphere dropped to freezing point.

Qin Xiuyun was silent for a moment, then suddenly took a big step forward and looked at the sun in the sky.

Qin Yunan:?

Qin Xiao: ...

Qin Xiuyun made sure that the sun was still rising from the east, took another step back, pulled Qin Yun'an in, and closed the door with a clang.

"Qin Yun'an???" There was even a trace of distortion on Qin Xiuyun's face.

Qin Yun'an paused, as if he had made a decision, and suddenly put his hand down. He turned around and grinned at Qin Xiuyun: "Yes, hahaha, you didn't expect it... I'm still alive..."

By the end, Qin Yun'an couldn't hold back his smile anymore. He forced the corners of his mouth to fall.

Qin Xiuyun's pupils kept shrinking, and finally an incredible expression appeared on his face: "You——"

Qin Xiuyun opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but met Qin Yun'an's complicated eyes. For some reason, the tears that had been firmly in his eyes suddenly fell.

Qin Jinyi's eyes widened.

Qin Xiao tactfully held Qiongqi in one hand and pulled Qin Jinyi out with the other.

Qin Jichen even closed the door considerately after he left.

Qin Jinyi followed Qin Xiao obediently, staring at Qin Yun'an, wishing he could engrave disbelief on his face.

"He...exactly--?" Only after they walked a long distance out of the door did Qin Jinyi turn around and ask Qin Xiao in a daze.

"Dad once had an elder brother named Qin Yun'an." Qin Jichen explained this doubt to him.

"Brother, brother?" Qin Jinyi was even more shocked, "But he looks younger than dad."

"…It's okay. Dad is worried every day. There have been a lot of troubles in recent years. His face will naturally be different due to different experiences." Qin Jichen said in a low voice.

Qin Jinyi stopped talking.

Qiongqi easily escaped from Qin Xiao's arms, sat on his shoulder, and glanced at him disdainfully.

Qin Xiao remained silent.

"How... is this possible?"

Inside the room, Qin Xiuyun frowned and stared at Qin Yunan uncertainly: "Are you still alive?"

Qin Yun'an met Qin Xiuyun's gaze and instinctively smiled.

Although Qin Xiuyun was very different from what he remembered, he still recognized him at a glance.

"...Then why don't you come back?!" Unexpectedly, Qin Xiuyun suddenly shouted angrily, pulling his collar tightly, "You know these years... these years——"

Qin Xiuyun was halfway through his speech when he became choked with sobs and became speechless.

Qin Yun'an looked at him and suddenly understood something. He took a step back and hugged him.

"sorry."

Qin Yun'an didn't explain and patted Qin Xiuyun's back gently.

"I didn't keep my promise."

As soon as he finished speaking, a faint wet mark was left on Qin Yun'an's collar.