Chapter Eighty Three - When Jin Li met with his Grandfather

Crossing paths with his maternal grandfather was actually mostly a coincidence; the eccentric Cultivator happened to have business connections with various villages dealing with herbs, wild beasts, ores and such like in this realm as well as many others. His connections didn't just linger amongst commoners; he also had created friendships and acquaintances with kings, queens, emperors and dukes. It was not that he had a thing for money either, he'd long since been wealthy for as a youth he stumbled across an ancient legacy and inherited the riches of its last owner. It was just that he was not a man that could remain in one place for any length of time.

The longest he'd settled in an area was about a decade, when he reacquainted with a woman he'd once tangled with and met for the first time his then five year old daughter. Her mother was married, but the man disliked the fact that she already had a daughter, despite being a widow with two sons himself. He was not kind to his wife's daughter and while the woman tried hard to maintain a balance, it was hard for her to care for her husband and his sons as well as the illegitimate child. It really didn't help that her daughter was very gifted and outshone her two older step-brothers.

Thus when crossing paths with her daughters real father, she begged him to take care of her.

Jian Juren had gazed upon his small daughter and she had stared back with hard, fearless eyes and he'd become smitten with the idea of being a dad. He purchased a villa nearby, hired a cook and a maid to take care of their daily needs and showered his child with dresses and jewellery. He also commissioned a weapon smith to provide the girl with her first sword. He taught her to read and write and how to cultivate.

She broke through to secondary stage at the precocious age of ten and to tertiary stage at sixteen. Just this excellence alone would have her stepfather regretting his choices had he known, but father and daughter had already left town by then.

For more than three hundred and fifty years (as based on the higher realm's calendar), they travelled from place to place, with his daughter honing her sword arts and he dabbling in business, alchemy and whatever else took his attention.  And then her heart was captured by a 'rogue' and he'd had to return to his bachelor's life.  Of course, there were the three grandsons, but none of them were as cute and adorable and didn't seem keen on the wandering life-style.

When Jin Li had vanished not long after his seventeenth birthday, Jian Juren had not learned about it until he happened to stop in for a visit some weeks later.  Rumours were rampant, effecting the reputation of his grandson as well as the whole family. His son-in-law's expression was more or less the same, but his brows were a whole milli-metre lower than usual and there was a tint of shadow beneath his eyes.  The two older grandsons had organised searches using their personal forces, but to no avail.  Jian Juren's daughter had destroyed a courtyard of 'indestructible' mannequins attempting to keep her temper small and her mind clear.

Jian Juren could only promise to keep an eye out for his youngest grandson as well as contact his numerous connections.  But it was a coincidence that had them reunite; a party that he hadn't really the mood to attend, but couldn't think of an excuse to avoid and the conversation of two brothers upon a balcony, overheard while seeking air to clear his alcohol fuddled mind.

After that was a simple matter, getting in contact with his old friend, who just happened to be the Headmaster of the Ascending Mountain Institute and awaiting the opportunity...

Didn't think that Jin Li would actually be reluctant to go back!

"How did you come to be in this realm?" Jian Juren had inquired the first evening of reuniting with the youth, over a mountain of supper; the incident clearly had not dented his grandson's large appetite in any manner.

Jin Li had politely swallowed the mouthful of noodles he had been consuming before answering. "This... I have yet to discover the cause." Actually, after becoming comfortable sponging off of his small lover and enjoying the fruits of Leon's labour, he'd lost interest in the why's. Just deemed it fate. "I recall heading towards Uncle's compound... despite the late hour, I wished to return something to him... I heard a sound from behind a tree. My vision became... distorted, the air felt icy cold and it felt as if I was being pinched and dragged backwards by unrelenting fingers."

"Uncontrolled temporal distortion," Jian Juren had stroked his chin as he had made this conclusion. His eyes narrowed. "You say you were on the way to your Uncle's compound? What were you returning?"

"Ah? A small Concubine, well her corpse at least," Jin Li had muttered, glad that his small alchemist was not around to hear this confession.

It hadn't been the first time one of his Uncle's many, many concubines had tired of a widow's existence and attempted to climb into another 'master's' bed, but it had been the first time one had had the audacity to attempt to climb into his. Disturbed from his cultivation, he'd lashed out with the sword ever at his side and killed her instantly. He wouldn't lie to himself and claim he felt regretful, irritated would be closer to the truth, especially as he'd had to traipse across several acres of garden with the body towards his Uncle's compound. Only, he had never made it there in the end.

Jian Juren had not been shaken by his confession, just nodded as if it were of no consequence. As cruel as it was, Jin Li's uncle would not have missed that small Concubine, who'd once been wooed with sweet words and loving gestures to marry into the scorpion pit of a backyard. Though Jian Juren disliked the man, he respected the fact that the man had never forced a woman; they all chose their fate. Who hadn't heard of the infamous Jin who collected flowers as others collected gold and silver? Any woman who thought they might actually change and win the heart of this man permanently was in for a harsh awakening.

"I feel that there is more to the circumstances of your disappearance than a natural phenomenon," Jian Juren had sighed as he poured to cups of wine and passed one to his grandson, before savouring the aroma of his own for a moment. He tossed the potent liquid back, enjoying the burn as it slid down his throat before pouring another cup.

"What do you mean?" Jin Li had queried.

"Temporal distortions do indeed occur naturally, but they are extremely rare, this you are aware?" Jin Li had nodded in response so Jian Juren had continued. "Not only are they rare, but they vary in size and of course how long a period they remain in existence. I've heard that some ten hundred years ago, a man lost his head thanks to one opening at his neck. Then there was a villager who once claimed that he'd witnessed his numerous of his famed pumpkins implode as well as many vines severed as a spat of anomalies plagued his fields. And then there was the historical collapse of the City of Atlas, in which a temporal distortion appeared above the city and swallowed much of it, leaving nothing but a ruin in its wake. So how is it that one opened that was the perfect size of one person, which only claimed him alone and caused him to vanish without a trace of him remaining?"

"You suspect foul play?"

"That small concubine's corpse didn't come through with you?" Jin Li denied this. "As well, there was no mention of discovering one in the garden's either. In fact, it was your Uncle who claimed you eloped with his Concubine! Such made your mother very unhappy." Jin Li's face at that point had unknowingly altered to reveal a similar expression.