Realms In The Firmament

“Not bad.” Ye Nan-Tian couldn’t help but praise, “You truly are one of the men in Ye Clan. I feel comforted that you cherish fellowships.” He squinted at Song Jue and said, “Brother, how do you like my son?”

Song Jue was moved and he tried to control his emotions. He answered, “He is surely good, big brother. It truly is my first time to be given care by the young generation… I feel regret though, that I didn’t marry a woman and have a son. If I have a son, he may be as good as Xiao Xiao.”

Ye Nan-Tian was proud and he laughed loudly.

He then spoke, “You two have made a terrible lie to everyone this time. You are making a huge disturbance in the kingdom. I was so pissed. However, now as I see Xiao-Er become a real man… I feel comforted.”

“Most important thing is… what a man means, what responsibility means and what protection means…” Ye Nan-Tian looked at Ye Xiao, “You now understand it.”

Ye Xiao was a bit embarrassed. He just nodded.

He had actually just understood all that recently.

That was correct.

“It is worth coming back all the long way this time, since I can see what a man you have become.” Ye Nan-Tian smiled blandly.

Ye Xiao nodded and his heart was full of admiration.

Ye Nan-Tian was concerning about the war in the north though.

Yet in his heart, he cared much more about what he should protect.

Maybe there would be people talking about how he ignored the country and sacrificed endless families for his son… However, it was always a difficult thing to choose.

Ye Nan-Tian chose to come home and he was bound to carry the shame.

That shame was the life-long flaw of the invincible great general.

Ye Nan-Tian just didn’t care.

People might think that those who kept staying in the battle and put their families behind were the true heroes… However, if one could not protect his own parents, wife and children, how could he be a good man?

What was the purpose of fighting?

Home country was of course the noble reason, but… getting promoted and bringing good lives to their wives and children, wasn’t that a reasonable reason too?

Wasn’t it good enough?

When their families got seriously ill, those heroes may want to get home. But… because of the principles or the military regulations… they just couldn’t. Who could clearly describe such complex situation though?

So that was always a question without an answer.

However, one should hold on with his own spirit and just ignore all others.

“Well I truly need father… to come home this time.” When Ye Xiao said ‘father’, he obviously paused.

He just couldn’t get used to it.

It was a weird feeling.

Yet he kept persuading himself, [If my father in my previous life could care about me this much… I wouldn’t want anything more. Now I have this body and have this father, why should I ask for more?

Isn’t it the true love that I long for?]

“Oh?” Ye Nan-Tian looked at his son and said, “I wonder what your reason is. If I don’t think it is reasonable enough, you will get your punishment for sure.”

He was surely proud that his son became such a real man. Yet his son had actually stirred up quite a big problem this time. Since Ye Xiao wanted to explain, he surely wanted him to give a good reason.

“First, the Kingdom of Chen seems wealthy and powerful in the world. In face, it has been facing enemies from all sides. Once the war began, it needed the good men to support the kingdom.”

“Second, inside harmony comes prior than the outside. Now that the kingdom was surrounded by enemies, it is dire that corruption still exists inside the city. The dead soldiers’ souls will never get peace. Their families are all living miserably. The evil men have seized the key positions. The noble ones failed to have a chance to serve their country. If the situation remains to be the same, even though we have an invincible general and millions of soldiers, we will still be destroyed. It is simply the truth.”

Ye Xiao smiled and continued, “Now that the battles are on heat, it is surely an important moment for the country, and there are opportunities to win the war. It is a good time to clean up the court.”

“Father, you were restrained here for some reason in the old days, but I am sure you now have feelings for this country… It is your duty and responsibility to protect the country. If you can keep the country in peace, when we leave here, we can feel peaceful too… It is…”

Ye Xiao stopped for a while and said, “It is… that I have done all the best that I can and I leave with no shame. The days and nights here after I leave will have nothing to do with me…”

“It is a complete peace in the heart.”

“This peace will concern our cultivations. It will make great influence to us with our great achievements.”

Ye Xiao spoke seriously, “If we just let the court of the kingdom collapse with corruption, even if we defeat the enemies outside, we will feel regret to see the families of the sacrificed soldiers living in misery. It is surely the honor of a soldier to win the battle, yet it is also a general’s responsibility to keep these families safe and well.”

“If you can ignore it, you are still a good general though. But you will only be a war maniac. If you want to be better than that, we should begin with it now.”

“We need to wipe out the evils in the court.”

Ye Xiao spoke peacefully with a solemn tone.

Ye Nan-Tian sighed and said, “That is reasonable. However, it is normal for a country to have such corruption when it gets strong and powerful enough. Even if we try so hard to make it right for justice, after a few years, there will be some other evils… When can it be stopped though?”

“When we need to leave, that will be the end of our responsibility.”

Ye Xiao spoke blandly, “We only want to feel a clear conscience. You have to not let the soldiers who have been following you down, right?”

He raised his head and looked at Ye Nan-Tian.

It was his first time to look into the eyes of his father.

He continued, “With your cultivation capability, Uncle Song’s cultivation capability, my cultivation capability… how many years do you think we will stay in this world?”

Ye Nan-Tian was touched. He looked at his son like it was his first time to truly know who he was.

What Ye Xiao said showed that Ye Xiao knew a lot of things.

“Since we will leave this world sooner or later, why not just leave good names behind us here?” Ye Xiao spoke sincerely, “A man leaves his name while the birds leave their sounds… If we just try to live with dreams, there will surely be our names in the history of this world.”

“Of course, I don’t really care about the names. What I care about is that there is something I can do better, and if I don’t try to make it better, it will be a flaw in my life.”

“If there is a flaw in my life, it will be a regret for me.”

Ye Xiao continued, “It is surely meaningful to do it.”

“Father, you have finally returned. It looks like the kingdom is in danger and our country is going to fall down. In fact, the kingdom stays firm. It is still far from being totally defeated. As long as you can do something in the capital and clean up those mistakes in the capital, it will be quite a stimulant thing for the soldiers in the battles. All men in the battles have been concerning their homes back here, not just you.”

“The war will still go on. Yet the last thing we should be afraid of is the war.”

Ye Xiao smiled confidently.

“Prince Hua-Yang cannot do the cleaning in the capital, because he will stay here and his clan need to last here. You are different. Me too.”

Ye Xiao said.

Ye Nan-Tian was pacing in the room with his hands on his back. After a while, he said, “Since so, you need to keep faking your illness.”

That meant there was an answer for the future.

Ye Xiao felt relieved.

When Ye Nan-Tian and Song Jue left the room, Ye Xiao was alone in the room feeling happy.

[That is the feeling of being cared about by family.

That is the feeling to have family.]

Ye Xiao clearly knew how far it was from the north battle to the capital.

It must have taken a huge effort of Ye Nan-Tian to get back home within such a short time.

Ye Xiao felt that he must be the most wonderful father in the world.

And Ye Nan-Tian had been through endless traps and slaughter.

He would have died on the way if he had been just a bit careless…

“I am satisfied.” Ye Xiao spoke to himself.

…

“Talk to me! What exactly happened?” Ye Nan-Tian looked at Song Jue and asked all of a sudden.

Song Jue was surprised. He asked, “What do you mean what happened?”

“Don’t play fool in front of me. How come Xiao Xiao has suddenly become so strong in cultivation? In such age having such a powerful cultivation capability, that means he is a genius even in the Qing-Yun Realm. You surely understand this… Most importantly, I have just been away for two and a half years. Within only two and a half years, Xiao Xiao actually improved that much? Don’t you feel it’s strange?”

…

1st guaranteed chapter of the week.

From XianXiaWorld