10 Yun Che Past

--Xiao Clan Mansion, Yun Che Room--

"Father, where did little Che and that unknown person go?" Xiao Lingxi asks, she was restless and has no clue about what happened to this whole event.

Xiao Lie can only silently pondering where did Yun Che goes, just as about he wants to stand. Two people of the same age come into the room.

Xiao Lie walked over and across his entire face was an emotionally stirred up expression: "Che'er…. Where... Where did you go? And who is this person?"

Yun Che glance at Duo Tian, and the latter nodded, "Grandfather, his name is Duo Tian, he is my brother from afar. I recently know some of my background from him. But, I still want to ask you whether his story was real or not." Yun Che expressed his own heart.

"….." Xiao Lie nodded, and politely bow to Duo Tian. Maybe this is the right time to tell the growing boy his own truth, he deserves to know more than anyone else.

Yun Che sat facing Xiao Lie in front of the stone table. Next to him, Xiao Lingxi's hands both held tightly and clung onto his arms as her small head leaned against his shoulder. She didn't care that Xiao Lie was also next to them and wasn't willing to loosen her grip, as if afraid that he would yet again disappear from her world.

"After I leave for a while with my brother, did the clan do anything to both of you?" Yun Che anxiously asked.

Xiao Lie shook his head and comfortably laughed: "Be at ease. Your brother already said that he will not forgive anyone who harms us. With the backing of his powerful great ancestor, how could they dare to injure me or Xi'er? After the Xiao Sect get massacred and the other attendants leave, they would even more not dare to; after all, I do have the reputation of being Floating Cloud City's number one expert here, heh heh."

"That's good." Yun Che nodded, as his heart felt a bit more grateful to Duo Tian and his Great Ancestor.

"Grandfather, I want to know…."

"You want to ask who your biological parents were, right?" Xiao Lie said as he immediately continued the sentence with a tranquil expression on his face.

"En," Yun Che nodded as his eyes solidly concentrated at Xiao Lie: " I believe I wasn't randomly picked up without good cause…. Grandfather, you do know something, right?"

Xiao Lingxi also raised her eyes as she stared in astonishment at Xiao Lie.

Xiao Lie silently watched Yun Che for a long time until he lightly sighed, and slowly closed his eyes.

"I had originally thought that this secret would stay in my heart for an entire lifetime, and that a second person would never know of it…. Now that the truth already known, and that you have already grown up, knowing this could be considered a good thing; finding one's original roots, is also the role of the offspring."

"Your biological father; his surname is Yun…."

Yun? Yun Che was stunned. In the Azure Cloud Continent, the surname his master had given him was also Yun, this was a truly strange coincidence. His Brother Tian told him that he is surnamed Yun too, so he didn't lie at all. Yun Che respect to Duo Tian increased several times.

"Aside from your biological father's surname is Yun, I do not have any other information; for example, I have no idea what his name was or where he came from. Xiao Ying met your father during the days he traveled throughout the Blue Wind Empire. That year, your father had saved Xiao Ying's life when he was being attacked by a strong profound beast. Later on, the two started to travel together and after finding out that they were compatible, became sworn brothers right before they went their separate ways."

Xiao Lie slowly raised his head as if he was reminiscing about the past and fondly said: "After Xiao Ying came back, he described your father to me and kept on praising him; saying that he was not only handsome but was also forthright and uninhibited. Furthermore, he had an incomparable and astonishing talent, and was truly an exceptionally unmatched man. At that time, Xiao Ying's talent could be said to be matchless in Floating Cloud City; when he frankly admitted that his talent wan't worth mentioning when compared with your father's.… I didn't believe that so I asked him which realm he had reached, but Xiao Ying just smiled and stayed silent about it. He said that I wouldn't believe him even if he told me."

"No one knows my son's personality better than myself. He would never say a lie. At that time your father was confirmed to be a exceptional talent; at a young age, his profound strength had already reached an astonishing level. You can clearly see his magnanimity and bearing when such an exceptional talent was willing to become sworn brothers with Xiao Ying, who was beneath him in profound strength. That was why it was not surprising that Xiao Ying kept praising your father, and was so honored to have become sworn brothers with him."

"After that, Xiao Ying got married and had a child… and two months after the child was born, he saw your father again… together with your mother."

Xiao Lie's emotions had now significantly changed. Yun Che held back his breath and continued to listen silently.

"… But at that time, both your father and mother were completely drenched in blood, and in their hands was you, who was also drenched in blood. You were only about two months old as well at that time, unconscious in your mother's embrace. When Xiao Ying stopped them and brought them to a secret location. Their bodies were entirely covered with wounds, and all their profound strength had been depleted.… They stayed only for awhile before insisting on leaving, because the people chasing after their lives were too powerful, so powerful that even the entire Floating Cloud City could not possibly contend against. If they stayed, they will only implicate Xiao Ying with a burden."

"Xiao Ying couldn't stop them from leaving and he knew he had no capability to fight against the enemies that even your parents could not handle. At that time, he saw an inflexible and stubborn will in your parents' eyes… Obviously, your parents has exhausted all their energy trying to escape and they already had no hope of running from the people that were after them… Therefore, Xiao Ying used the excuse of carrying you… and secretly swapped his own son, my grandson, into your bloodied blankets… and hid you within his son's blanket."

Yun Che's gaze suddenly shuddered while Xiao Lingxi gave a small "Ah" cry.

"… At that time, your parents were in a hurry to leave, so after taking back the protected baby from Xiao Ying, when would they have the time to check if it was actually their son… After your parents had left, Xiao Ying found me, knelt down in front of me, and begged me for forgiveness… He said he was still young, so even if he lost a son, he could still give birth to many more; however if you had died, his brother, who is also your father, will completely lose his bloodline. If that happened, no one would be able to avenge him!"

"Even though the pain in my heart was like being pierced by a thousand arrows at that time, however… facing such an affectionate and righteous son, how could I bear to blame him? Other than us father and son, no one else knew that my grandson had been swapped with you. At that time, the two months old you had already suffered bodily damage and finally recovered after half a month… The reason why your profound vein ended up being deformed was also clearly due to the damages you had taken. In the middle of that level of aggression, it was fortunate that only your profound veins had been damaged and not your life."

Xiao Lie's voice faintly paused. He tried his best not to show any signs of pain as he clenched his hands and continued: "Not half a month after that, Xiao Ying was assassinated and the veins in his entire body had been shattered… When I had heard about it and rushed there, with his last breath, he told me that the person who had assassinated him was the very one who was also after your parents at that time. He didn't know where the person had gotten information about him offering shelter to a young couple who carried a baby and were covered in blood. The person that had assassinated him went there to try to force him into revealing where your parents had escaped to… Before taking his last breath, Xiao Ying was actually smiling, because the words that the person who assassinated him had said… proved that he had not found your parents yet, which meant that they could possibly still be alive!"

"….." Yun Che heart started to stir, like a huge overflowing unquenchable wave that was unable to be suppressed. Looking at Xiao Lie's white hair, he felt an sour and immeasurable crack in his heart.… No one was aware of his deep sorrow of losing his son and his daughter in law. He had even lost his only grandson, the last of his bloodline, long ago. At the knee, was another's child who was exchanged with the life of his grandson. No wonder he had white hair when he was still in his middle ages… Under wave and wave of emotional setbacks, if an ordinary person took his place, not only would white hair appear… but perhaps he would have already collapsed long ago."

Xiao Che had only discovered the sorrowful truth today; that the source who had brought all these troubles was unexpectedly he, himself!!

If the real Xiao Che's life wasn't used in exchange for his own, why would Xiao Ying get assassinated? How would Xiao Ying's wife have followed her love? How would Xiao Lie's wife then die of depression? How would Xiao Ying's son be laughed at as if he was a failure? Their entire family could have been safe and secured, could have lived happily and peacefully. With Xiao Ying unrivaled talent in Floating Cloud City and his father's incomparable power and prestige in Floating Cloud City, his position in the Xiao Clan would have been extremely high. Perhaps he would have been the master of the Xiao Clan by now. Xiao Lie wouldn't have to suffer from other people's supercilious looks and instead be in a superior position. Not only would the four elder's not humiliate him, if they faced him, they would probably be as timid as a rat….

Xiao Ying had used his son's life to save him.… While he let himself, and his entire family suffer a cruel fate.

However these past sixteen years, Xiao Lie had never released any anger or hatred on him, the "main offender", but instead he protected and kept him safe without a word. He gave him unconditional love, even after knowing that his profound veins were disabled and even knowing that he would be a useless good for nothing for the rest of his life, he still loved him like usual. Perhaps, that was common for a grandfather to treat his own grandson like this; however, to treat another person's child like this, especially the one who had caused the ruin of his family, would demand an extremely large heart and open-mindedness…

Yun Che's inner heart trembled and his nose soured … Like father like son. Being such a great man, it was no wonder he had such a righteous son like Xiao Ying. He could never repay this debt that he and his parents had owed them during his entire lifetime.

Yun Che placed both of his hands on the side of the stone table as his fingers gripped it more and more tightly. Seeing the sorrowful eyes of Xiao Lie in front of him, for a moment, he didn't know how to thank this person he had called grandfather all these years. After a while, he finally said with a trembling voice: "Grandfather, I… I… Your affection and kindness, for my entire life, I will always… will always…"

"Heh heh," Xiao Lie gently chuckled and affectionately replied: "Che'er, I have looked after you since a young age. Even if you're not one of my own, since long ago, you were no different from my biological grandson in my heart. You also had said that even if we weren't related by blood, we would still eternally be like family. Since we're family, all these that had happened, ought to have happened. I have no need for your gratitude or repayment as long as you are safe and sound from now on; even if I were to be locked in here my entire life, I would still be free of worries."

Yun Che closed his mouth as his words of gratitude could no longer be spoken and after awhile, he then heavily nodded. That's right, he's my grandfather, now… and will be forever! While he's still around, I need to be filial to him. When he's not around, I'll mourn for him and do whatever a grandson ought to do.

As he watched him, Xiao Lie gratifyingly nodded his head and continued: "You must want to know more about what had happened that time. However, Xiao Ying didn't say much about your parents. As for why they were being hunted, Xiao Ying only told me that it was because they had one of the 'Heavenly Profound Treasure' on them. He even informed me that three words 'Heavenly Profound Treasure" were a grave taboo, and must never be said in the presence of outsiders."

Heavenly Profound Treasure? Yun Che firmly beared this name in mind.

"From the time after your parents had left, I've never received any information from them these past sixteen years. I once thought that if they were still alive, they would have found out that the baby they carried away wasn't their own son, and would come back here to exchange the child they had when it was safe… I've always told you to never remove that pendant from your neck. That was because when Xiao Ying swapped you with his own son, it was the only thing on your body. If your parents are still alive, perhaps it may possibly become an opportunity and help you guys recognize each other…"

Again, his Brother Tian didn't lie about his pendant, and his trust of him only grew stronger and stronger. Indeed, if they were still alive, they would've come back to Floating Cloud City already and exchanged their child. However they had not come back for an entire sixteen years, so the probability of them still being in this world… was fundamentally uncertain. But, Brother Tian said that this pendant will be my link to meets my parents, so they are probably still alive.

If they were actually still in this world, then most probably Xiao Ying's child from that time, still alive!

.

.

.

*Author note, please tell me what do you think about this story and if I miss anything to the novel.