nucmednet Chapter 555 The Grown-Up Child
Chapter 555 The Grown-Up Child
"Brother Yi! They beat someone up." A thin man squeezed through the crowd, holding his obviously swollen and red face in his hands, and complained to Zhao Yi.
"That's right, you hurt our brothers and you think you can just run away!" Zhuang Er led his men to stand behind Shouhou and Zhao Yizhi. The group of ronin instantly raised the temperature around them.
Guan Tianlai remained silent, merely glancing at them sideways before arrogantly turning to leave. His clansmen beside him followed suit, all with their noses in the air.
Are they planning to leave directly? Everyone looked at Zhao Yizhi, waiting to see what he would say, and even Li Changbai, who was standing to the side, remained silent.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Zhao Yizhi spoke up as expected, blocking Guan Tianlai's way.
"Patriarch Guan, your people assaulted someone, shouldn't you offer some compensation? Hmm?"
Guan Tianlai gave him a cold look, then looked at the crowd of people glaring at them, and finally said, "Song-ge'er, give him some silver."
Guan Song, the eldest grandson of the Guan family, immediately took out a few loose silver coins from his sleeve and threw them on the ground. This action made everyone even angrier, and they wished they could just rush up and fight.
"Forget it! There's a big funeral in the city today, let's not cause any more trouble." Zhao Yizhi gestured to stop him.
The thought of the vast expanse of white cloth filled everyone with sadness, and they stopped what they were doing.
Guan Tianlai turned his face away and led the group away.
The matter was resolved perfectly, and Zhang Yuntai was very satisfied with Zhao Yizhi. He then turned around and rode back to his residence.
At the general's mansion, Lin Er, dressed in white, received the remains of many soldiers. All the bright colors in the mansion had been removed and replaced with the attire appropriate for mourning.
Nearly a hundred coffins were placed in the courtyard, and the fact that so many brothers had died was like a heavy gloom that made it hard to breathe.
It wasn't until the afternoon of the next day that Brother Nie, who had been chasing her all night, returned and told everyone an even harder-to-accept but obvious truth: no clues had been found, and Madam Chen had been taken away and hidden.
This news was colder than the sky. Chen Xuanyu and the others, who had been obediently following the adults in their worship, could no longer hold back.
“Sir, I’m a grown man now, and I need to go find my mother! Please give me your permission!” Dressed in white with bright black eyes, Chen Xuanyu stood sharply in front of Lin Er, whose temples were slightly gray.
“Yes, we want to go too.” The two little ones, Wang Hao and Shiwu, who were equally determined, stood together stubbornly.
The children Chen Xuanyu had brought back looked at the three of them timidly, their eyes filled with envy and a little incomprehension.
Apart from Chen Xuanyu, the other two were not their biological mothers, so why would they be like this?
Chen Xuanyu felt those gazes, glanced at them, and ignored them. As for Xiao Hao and the others, they had never liked these kids.
These children were different from the simple and honest children in Wangjiazhuang. Chen Xuanyu had known this all along the way, so even after arriving at the mansion, he did not get close to them. He just treated them as a few more pairs of chopsticks to eat. There was no nursing home in Youzhou City. His mother said that she would build one next year when the crops had a bumper harvest.
“No!” Brother Nie, looking exhausted and having not slept all night, refused with red eyes.
"Why not? My mother is all alone and doesn't know martial arts. What are you going to do with her? I don't want to stay in the manor, and I don't want to study at the school anymore. I'm grown up now. I want to go out and gain experience like my brother Chu Yi, and then join the army and become a great general like my father!" Chen Xuan Yu looked directly into his eyes, fearless and undaunted, his chest held high, firmly expressing his thoughts.
Looking at the young man in front of him, Brother Nie realized that the boy was only thirteen years old, but he was already as tall as an adult. Ignoring the childishness on his face, he really looked like a grown-up. The other two were a little shorter, but not much shorter.
Brother Nie sighed and said earnestly, "Have you ever thought about how heartbroken your father would be if he came back and found that his wife was missing, and then his child was missing too?" He couldn't win with nice words, so he had to play the sympathy card.
Chen Xuanyu was stunned for a moment, thinking about how good Wang Erniu had been to him, and then about his mother's loneliness. He quickly realized that his mother had the upper hand. He was a grown man, so it was okay to be sad. It wasn't a big deal.
"I still think my mother's safety is more important, I want to go!"
Wang Hao rolled his eyes at him, saying, "Why are you speaking such obvious truths?"
He stepped forward and said, “Uncle Nie, my father once took me, a three-year-old child, all over the south to find my mother. To be honest, this mother treated me even better than my other mother. I think if my father were here, he would definitely want to go and find my mother himself.”
Upon hearing this, Brother Nie's mind stirred, and he looked at Lin Er. Zhang Hu, Zhang Biao, and the Tian brothers also looked at him.
Lin Er didn't speak, but just looked at Xiao Hao, waiting for him to finish speaking.
Xiao Hao looked at him and bowed respectfully. "Mr. Lin, if you are worried, you can send the Qi Battalion to accompany us. If I am not mistaken, they definitely want to capture Mother to threaten Father. They must hide Mother in a very safe place, which can only be their stronghold, the Qinglan Sect. Therefore, we must make a trip to Mount Emei. Moreover, given the Qinglan Sect's heinous deeds, we will eradicate this cancer sooner or later."
Lin Er nodded. Indeed, since the incident involving Madam Chen, he had made up his mind to eliminate the Qinglan Sect. Although he would inevitably have to clash with the Emei Sect, he was not afraid of Wang Erniu's current military strength, not to mention that Wang Erniu was on good terms with Wudang.
"So we'll go first, find out the situation, and be able to contribute more in the future. With the Qi Battalion protecting us, you don't need to worry about us getting into trouble." Xiao Hao spoke clearly and logically, every word making perfect sense.
Brother Nie looked at the three of them again; these kids had really grown up.
"Let them go. It's not good to keep them locked up in the mansion forever," Brother Nie said to Lin Er, relenting.
Just as Lin Er was about to speak, Sister-in-law Nie, who hadn't said anything yet, spoke up, "Then remember, the ones who took your mother away were two women. One was tall and charming with eyes like peach blossoms, and the other was short and thin with a smile like a crescent moon. In short, neither of them was bad, and their martial arts skills were also high. You must be careful."
Brother Nie and the others stared at her in astonishment, not expecting that she was the one who agreed.
Lulu also stood up. "Xiao Hao, you can go without worry. We'll take good care of things at the manor. The old lady used to manage the wasteland, and I'll be overseeing the planting at the beginning of the year with some people."
"Yes." The three of them nodded heavily.
Zhang Biao and the others sighed inwardly, wondering how Madam Chen could raise her children so well. They were all so mature and sensible, excelling in both academics and martial arts.
After the seventh day after the death, Chen Xuanyu and his companions, carrying the entrustment of the crowd, followed several members of the Qi Battalion eastward into Sichuan, as news from the past few days had confirmed that Chen Wenfang had indeed been taken to Emei Mountain.
At the same time, Sister-in-law Nie discovered that Fangcao had left a letter, saying that she had also mysteriously passed away due to excessive grief.