Chapter 8: The Talk

The bright illumination of the full moon shone through the windows of the now closed Feng family restaurant, with no customers or staff in sight.

Well, all except for three people.

"So," Feng Long's face was hidden, his head against his curled fingers that was raised as he rested his elbows on the round table, but he sounded serious. Sitting next to him with a similar position was his wife Sheng Li. There was a grave and solemn atmosphere surrounding them. "Li'er here, just told me that you did something very...unexpected."

"Controversial more like it." Sheng Li scoffed but remained still.

"Honey." Feng Long sharply said.

She rolled her eyes. "Alright, alright. Sheesh. You can have your father and son bonding. It's not like I didn't endure nine months of carrying him and four gruesome hours of birthing him, but hey, men. Am I right?"

"...I'm sorry."

"Not enough. Choose. Either sleep an entire month in a wooden chair or get me those expensive imperial-shaped chocolates at the Heaven Dou Capital City."

"Ugh. But the budget..."

"Well, you should've learned how to make sweets when–"

"Oh, here we go again."

They were no longer hiding their faces and acting all grim and serious, instead, their conversation turned into an argument.

As the married couple were arguing, sitting across from with a flat expression was their son, Feng Qin.

'Ladies and gentlemen, my parents.'

He wasn't surprised at the sudden change of their behaviors towards each other. They were normally like this to each other in a daily basis. Practically anyone who knew them would know that they argue at almost everything whenever they have the time.

Some people would be worried about Feng Qin for having to live in such an environment and experience as his family slowly fell apart.

But it was so, so far from the truth. And so much worse even.

Why? Because their arguing wasn't out of malice or any ill intent towards each other. Oh no, no, no. It's quite the opposite. Their arguing was essentially what certain animals do when they're in a certain season.

They're hate fuck each other. For hours.

When the arguing kept on going for ten whole minutes, Feng Qin decided to finally put a stop to it or else he'd have a younger sibling. He would've been happy to have one but not when they do the deed right in front of him! He rose from his chair, slammed his hands onto the table that immediately caught his parents attention, and with a forced smile, he said, "Mom, dad. You guys said you had something important to tell me?"

The married couple blinked, then realized what they were doing, and from their necks up to their face they turned red. They looked away from each other and for a brief moment, there was only an awkward silence.

"Ahem." Then finally, Feng Long faked a cough into his right fist, still looking a bit flustered, he turned towards his son. "So, I heard that you were hanging out with an already taken girl?"

"We're just friends, dad." Feng Qin let out an irritated sigh. "Plus, I don't see a ring on any of her fingers so I'm pretty sure it's some arranged marriage by their families or something. So, she's not taken."

"How is she not taken?" Feng Long responded with wide eyes, bewildered by his son's logic.

"...Oh! I see what you mean." It took a moment before Sheng Li's eyes lit up. She closed her eyes, with a proud expression, nodded her head and gave a thumbs up to her son. "You shrewd little bastard. You really do take after me more!"

"You understand me, mom?!" Feng Qin gasped and smiled excitedly at his mother.

"Mm! This sincere, determined, and very cunning plan of yours is truly genius! Simple and easy yet so bold that no one would think it would work but would!"

"What?" Feng Long stared at his wife, dumbfounded.

'The longer I'm married to her, the more my intelligence wither and rot.' His eyes then turned towards his son. His gaze went back and forth between his wife and child. 'No, scratch that. The longer I'm with these two, the further I am to what common sense are.'

"Okay. I am absolutely lost here. Can either of you two care to explain what this genius plan of Xiao Qin," Feng Long raised his hands and sarcastically curled both index and middle fingers from his hands. "is all about?"

"Nope. You have to understand it for yourself dad."

"Figure it yourself, idiot."

The mother and son duo immediately refused to tell Feng Long.

"..." He blankly stared at him, feeling dead inside.

Both Feng Qin and Sheng Li fist bumped.

"Alright, don't tell me. I don't give a fuck anymore. Let's change the subject." Feng Long finally gave up and threw his hands up with a sigh. Suddenly, his expression turned earnest. "Let's talk about why we wanted to talk to you here after we closed shop."

Sheng Li's countenance copied her husband as she then faced her son.

"Xiao Qin, what are you going to do in the future?"

"Huh? Why are you asking this? Don't you guys already know?" Feng Qin blinked his eyes, confused.

"We just wanted to be certain." Feng Long firmly said with a stiff face.

Although strange, he shrugged his shoulders and complied. Maybe they overworked themselves a bit too much and was having a bit of trouble remembering stuff.

"I want to reach the summit of the world, follow the path–" Feng Qin opened his mouth to continue but, the words were stuck in his throat.

His eyes widened. The words, the sentences, he wanted to tell his parents. He couldn't understand why, but he couldn't for the life of him mutter them out of his mouth.

There was a moment of tense silence.

"...I see. As we expected." Both couples closed their eyes, hiding the pity, and Feng Long was the one who spoke with a sigh.

"Dad, what do you mean by that?" Feng Qin turned towards his father in question, his eyes wide and utterly confused. "You both knew about it already? Since when?!"

"Xiao Qin." Feng Qin turned towards his mother, who had a placating smile that was slowly calming him down. "We're your parents. If anyone were to find out a child's problems then their parents would be the first ones to notice. To be honest, we've already noticed your behavior a while back."

"Back after a couple weeks when Meng Liu and his father went to accompany that shady dean in the Balak Kingdom, you showed to be less interested and enthusiastic towards cultivation."

"But, that's not true! Even today, I continued to train and–" Feng Qin tried to argue but his father spoke up with a shake of his head.

"That's just physical training. You're only doing it because you do feel happy in doing it. But spirit energy cultivation? No. You've only gone through it all as some sort of cold machine finishing his tasks. You get into a sitting position, absorb the spirit energy, circulate it throughout the channels in your body then store them into your dantian, and repeat. There's no excitement, joy, or even a sense of accomplishment when you broke through rank 13."

"If I didn't know any better, it looks like you missed your best friend so much that you couldn't give a shit towards being a spirit master anymore. But that isn't true. Because you showed to us all that you're not chasing the summit of the world for anyone but yourself; you continue on this path because it's your goal and no one else's. Meng Liu is someone you strive to be and surpassed. So there's no reason for him to be the main reason for your waning drive. Son..." Feng Long's face softened and he let out a sigh as his son was looking down at the table, refusing to look up at his parents concerned faces.

"Do you really want to become a formidable spirit master?"

Feng Qin didn't answer. He didn't know anymore.

He was despondent. What his dad told him was true.

Feng Qin had noticed it for a while but he never really thought much of it. He wanted to continue training, training, cultivating, cultivating, and so on. Any unnecessary thoughts were put to the dark corners of his mind as he tirelessly pursue his goal as best as he could, even if it meant it tore him apart.

But as he continued doing this, pieces of his enthusiasm to advance his spirit energy ranks dwindled as he felt how slow it was going. By his estimation it would take at least seven months for him to advance towards the next rank.

To be honest, any kid with an inspiring goal like Feng Qin would immediately despair with such an estimation and even think of giving up.

But Feng Qin shrugged it off, thinking that it was just a small issue that he could overcome like the many trials he'd gone through. He could beat this. He would be lucky.

Unfortunately however, although he ignored it, his subconscious didn't. Slowly affecting his psyche, boiling and ready to explode. And all it needed, was just one emotional snap.

Feng Qin sat in his chair, unmoving, and he didn't know what to do next. Just like always.

Feng Qin and Sheng Li both looked at their son with clear concern. Both shared a look and they both stood up from their seats.

Sheng Li went to her son's side and engulfed him into a hug while Feng Long only stood at the other side of their son and tightly grasped his shoulder in a comforting way.

His mother rested her chin by his shoulder and muttered in his ears, "Xiao Qin, it's okay to give up and choose a different path in life. A person's life, cannot be made up into a single identity. An assassin can become a chef, a thief can be a performer, a doctor can be a martial artist, a bandit can be a parent, an emperor can be a teacher, a spirit master can be an assassin, a spirit master can be a thief, a spirit master can be a teacher, a spirit master can be an emperor, etc." Sheng Li let out a sigh and hurriedly took a breath in. "What I'm trying to say is that anyone can be whoever they are, they can't be tied into a single goal, dream or profession. Anyone can have the freedom to do what they want if they just take that opportunity."

"For now, take your time in deciding what you want to be in the future, you're still young. And we'll always stand by your decision son." Feng Long finally joined in. "But know that we have an obligation as your parents to lead you into a good path in life. If you want to live a normal life or as a formidable spirit master, we'll accept that with pride in our hearts that our son is a good and successful person. But if you go down a dark path, we will do anything in our power to get you back but if we can't..."

"Feng Long." Sheng Li cut him off with a sharp and intense glare. "That's enough."

"I, I..." Seeing the support and love his parents were giving him, Feng Qin let out a sob and broke down in tears as he hugged back his mother.

He continued crying for several minutes before passing out in his mother's arms, mentally exhausted of all he experienced that night.

....

AN: Only two chapters for this week, school work and some physical training for an upcoming sports event is taking its toll on me. Expect for only two chapters per week until the event ends and the usual updates will be back on track.

Tell me your honest thoughts on this chapter; hit that power stone button, put out a review, comment, and visit my Pa-treon if you want to read ahead. Currently at chapter 10 there.

Pa-treon link, just get rid of the dash: pa-treon.com/FroztDouluo