Chapter 252: A Mother’s Love for a Wandering Son

Qin Haoxuan had distinguished himself during this period, so the elder at the registration office certainly knew who he was. An outstanding disciple like him was indeed qualified to request a leave of absence.

However, doing so required a certain number of spirit stones to be paid to the sect as a security deposit.

The more stones paid, the longer the leave. This was a form of privilege for excellent disciples; they could use money to buy freedom.

The deposit was not low. At Qin Haoxuan’s current cultivation realm, he could take a one-year leave of absence for a deposit of ten thousand low third-grade spirit stones.

The elder nodded. “According to the rules, you must pay a security deposit.”

Without hesitation, Qin Haoxuan took out ten thousand low third-grade spirit stones. “Elder, is this enough?”

Even the elder was shocked by his generosity. Ten thousand stones was no small sum even for him. “These stones are enough for you to take a year’s leave.”

Qin Haoxuan smiled faintly. “It’s no matter. Please trouble yourself to register it. If I return in less than a year, I will come back to you to retrieve the remainder.”

After leaving the registration office, he went back to his tent to pack some clothes.

Xing asked with surprise, “You’ve taken a leave. Where are you planning to go?”

“It has been almost two years since I joined the Taichu Sect, and I have not once returned home. I want to take this opportunity to go back. I want to see my father and my mother. I really miss them,” he said, packing his clothes. He then looked at Xing and Lan Yan. “Are you coming with me?”

Xing, of course, would go with him. Lan Yan, whose entire hope of returning home now rested on him, also said without hesitation, “I’ll go.”

Seeing him pack his things, Ye Yiming, who was standing to the side with a smile, instructed, “Cultivation is a lonely path. While your parents are still here, it is good to go and spend some time with them. Be safe on the road.” From his expression and tone, Qin Haoxuan could see a trace of sadness and secretly guessed that his senior brother’s family was likely no longer around.

“Rest assured, Senior Brother. You take care as well,” he said, looking at him with gratitude. In his more than a year at the sect, his two senior brothers and his Master had given him so much warmth.

Xing once again transformed into a suit of soft armor and put himself on Qin Haoxuan. Qin Haoxuan, with Lan Yan, walked out of the main camp. Ye Yiming saw them all the way to the exit of the formation.

“This is far enough, Senior Brother,” he said, bidding him farewell. “I will be back after visiting my family.”

As they had agreed before, Lan Yan climbed onto his back so that he could activate the Thousand-Mile Talisman.

After activating it, the immense wind pressure caused his Dragon Demon Golden Body to automatically manifest.

His current cultivation realm was not high enough to actively cultivate it, but during this period, it seemed to have progressed on its own along with his strength.

He had originally planned to have Xing use it to protect Lan Yan from being injured by the wind, but it now seemed unnecessary, as his own was protecting her as well.

In half a day, he saw Little Islet Mountain in the distance. The feeling of a wanderer returning home, a mixture of eagerness and trepidation, rose in his heart. No matter how strong he was now, he was, after all, a youth not yet eighteen.

The hometown he had been away from for two years, the parents he had been away from for two years, made him feel a reverence from the bottom of his heart. He was afraid the changes would be too great, so great that he would not be able to find his childhood memories. He was afraid to see the new wrinkles on his parents’ faces.

He walked into Datian Town but did not go straight home. He hid in the shadows, trying to calm himself, looking at the familiar faces, his heart gradually filling with joy.

“My hometown, which I’ve dreamed of day and night, the familiar air, and my dear parents whom I can see at any moment. I’m finally back,” he murmured.

Stepping on the familiar stone-paved road, he soon found his home. In the year-plus that he had been away, there had been quite a few changes.

The originally not-so-large house had been completely renovated and now had a large courtyard built with green tiles. In Datian Town, it could be called a grand residence. It seemed that in the year he had been away, his parents had been living well.

He knew, however, that no matter how much money he gave them, it could not compare to being by their side. Just then, he saw his mother, sitting in the warm sunlight, staring lost in thought at the distance.

In these nearly two years, although her clothes were much better than before, and she looked more well-fed, time had still left its merciless mark on her face. She looked older. He knew she must be thinking of him, her only son. But he did not dare to go and see her…

“Why don’t you go see your mother?” Xing finally couldn’t hold it in any longer. “To come all this way and not even go in the door.”

He sighed, his expression bleak. “In just two years, my mother has aged so much. The immortal path is merciless. I can obtain a long life, but she will grow old… If I go and see her now, I will still have to leave. Unless I don’t leave… otherwise, I cannot bear the sad look in her eyes when we part again.” The separation from over a year ago had set them on different paths, one immortal, one mortal.

“Go and see them,” Xing said. “Seeing them is better than not seeing them. They miss you too.” His words struck the softest spot in his heart.

His steps were as if filled with lead, each one as heavy as a thousand jin.

“Mother!”

He stepped through the main gate, and looking at his mother, a thousand thoughts swirled in his heart.

His mother’s face showed a look of astonishment. She turned her head to look at him, thinking she was seeing things, until he called out to her again.

CRASH!

The teacup in her hand fell, shattering with a crisp sound. She stood up, trembling, her once-dull eyes suddenly filled with color, then instantly clouded with a mist of tears. “Xuan’er, Xuan’er…” she opened her arms and walked unsteadily towards him, towards the child who had never left her side since he was small, and who had now been away for two years.

“Is it really you?” she said, hugging his shoulders tightly, as if afraid he would run away if she let go. Just then, she suddenly remembered what an old fortune-teller in town had said: “Once a mortal cultivates, they can never come back. If they do, it means their cultivation has failed, and they can only continue to be a mortal.”

Her face turned deathly pale. “Xuan’er, have you failed in your cultivation?”

He was also hugging his mother, too emotional to even notice what she was saying. Her face grew even paler. She patted her son’s back, just as she had when he was a baby and had choked on his milk. “It’s alright, Xuan’er. If you’ve failed, then just come back and live your life. If you don’t cultivate, then you don’t cultivate.”

Only then did he hear her clearly. He laughed. “Mother, I am still cultivating! I am doing very well in the sect. I just missed you and father very much and came back especially to see you.”

“Really? That’s good, that’s good!” Her eyes lit up. Knowing that her son’s path was continuing and that he could live a long life, she was inexplicably happy again. Pity the hearts of parents under heaven; their children are their everything. She would rather endure the torment of missing her only son, as long as he could cultivate and live a long life.

She released him but still held his hand. “Are you all very busy with your cultivation? Are you leaving now, or will you stay for a while?”

“I want to stay for a few days to be with you and father.”

“That’s good, that’s good!” she said, her face wreathed in a joyful smile. “What would you like to eat?”

“As long as you’re the one making it, it will be good,” he said, also smiling happily. “By the way, Mother, these are my two friends, Lan Yan and Xing. They are also cultivators.”

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