Chapter 62

Seeing that everyone had no appetite, Le Finn took up the chopsticks and urged them.

"Elder Zaner is back now, the Mansion will be safe, everybody..." As Le Finn said this, he felt bitterness in his heart and released a low sigh.

Elder Zaner could detect the tinge of bitterness in Le Finn's voice and found himself helplessly guilty. After all these years as the Le family's retainer, at such a moment of life and death, he was transferred away by the City Government employing official reasons. However, when he arrived at their destination, a mountain next to the Northern Ice Ocean, they encountered nothing but wandered around aimlessly.

This really made Elder Zaner confused and upset to tell the truth.

"Since the blockade is lifted, everything will return to normal." Le Xaan said, "Those peculiar things have all ended. And we have to go on living. From now on, security measures in the Mansion should be strengthened with the guards patrolling on a tighter schedule." 

"What Brother Xaan says is right. Let's start to eat. The dishes are turning cold..." Le Yinin, seated in her seat, echoed Le Xaan's words.

"Why are you calling your eldest brother Brother Xaan? Just call Eldest Brother! Eat? Is eating all you ever think about?" Fifth Mother, seated beside Le Yinin, was already stretching out her hand to smack her daughter, but when it dawned on her that they were in the dining room, her movements froze before she withdrew her hand slowly. 

Le Yinin pulled back her head and didn't dare to speak anymore.

Only by then did all of them start to eat.

After dinner, Le Xaan went back to his room and started cultivating the inner body Qi cultivation methods.

Two hours after sitting on the bed and meditating, he sensed that his body was at its peak.

"Deep Blue!" he called under his breath.

The cheat tool's virtual instantly interface emerged before him.

Le Xaan scrutinized it for a while. As expected, Dark Shadow was at the Second Level. If it was elevated by one more level, it would reach the highest accessible level, the Third Level.

Even though the manual recorded the cultivation methods spanning from the First Level to the Fifth Level, Le Xaan believed that he could only train in the first three. He could tell that the cultivation methods for the last two levels couldn't align well with the first three levels and were not original. He doubted the authenticity of the parts. He wouldn't dare to risk his health cultivating in the suspicious sections.

As his eyes were fixed on the stats of Dark Shadow, Le Xaan smoothed his breathing and focused his mind on the button 'Modify.'

"Dark Shadow, up by one level!" Le Xaan muttered inwardly.

The cheat tool's window flashed a little. 

"Swish."

After the sound died out, Le Xaan found the stats of Dark Shadow blurring before it changed from 'The Second Level' to 'The Third Level'.

"This is how the Third Level feels like?" Le Xaan waited for some time but didn't find any significant alterations within his body.

As he studied Dark Shadow Qi more attentively, he discovered that it was turning increasingly thicker sluggishly.

Before the modification, it appeared more like a haze of mist, but now it was becoming black droplets of water.

"It seems that my body isn't strained at all." Le Xaan opened his eyes and remarked, "Is it because my body..."

"Pff!"

A gush of blood ejected from his mouth and dyed his chest dark red. A rank odor pervaded the bedroom now.

Le Xaan sensed his skin turning hot and smiled bitterly.

"I thought that my body could sustain the side-effects sound as a bell this time, but who would have thought..."

He shook his head and began to feel his body intently.

After Dark Shadow reached the Third Level, Le Xaan had to rest at home for an entire month before he could walk around as previously.

The Jade Crane Skill played a significant part in the recovery, accelerating the process by healing Le Xaan's wounds.

From that day forth, no more bizarre occurrences were heard by the residents in Gourain City. After Youny Geey's group left, the usual bustle and peace were restored in the city. All the events not long ago seemed nothing but a dream.

Le Cinci, now demented, was an attestation to them, though.

By then, Le Finn asked Le Xaan if he still wanted to head for Mountainside City.

"I have arranged everything for you. In Mountainside City, our family owns a house. You can live in it when you arrives there. And the Annual National Examination is about to start. Since you love martial arts, I would encourage you to gain a Martial Distinction by achieving a good ranking position. With it, if you want to secure an official position in the future, it will be easier."

"Martial Distinction..."

"Of course, a Scholarly Distinction is better. But I won't make any demands on you. You can pursue anything you're interested in. Our family has a shop in Mountainside City. You can try your hand at running it. All its profits are at your disposal." 

Apparently, Le Finn had arranged everything for Le Xaan.

"Gourian City is too small. I have signed you up for East Hill School. When you arrive there, you can decide by yourself whether to pursue martial arts or study hard for a Distinction." After he said all these, Le Finn could not help but let out a sigh. All the events over the past few months made him visibly careworn. By now, he believed that, no matter how much money he had, in a life-threatening moment, only his family was reliable.

"East Hill School..." Le Xaan murmured as a piece of general knowledge struck him: in this world, sending one's children to another city to study was akin to studying overseas in his previous life, and, similarly, only families with considerable wealth could afford it.

"Zein Sanki and his younger sister will also go to East Hill School, and Yinin will go there along with you. As for Yeeli and Cinsin, they will go to another school." Le Finn continued.

Le Xaan pondered before nodding in acknowledgment.

Gourian was indeed too small to allow for his search for stronger martial arts. He could only obtain third-rate martial arts like Dark Tiger Blade Style here. Mountainside City was a bigger metropolis where stronger martial arts experts packed. If Scarlet Whale Sect was indeed the strongest gang in the region, it would undoubtedly have a stronghold there.

"When will we set off?" Le Xaan asked.

Le Finn pondered for moments before answering, "You can decide on it yourself. I will ask your Eldest Uncle arrange some men to escort you."

"...Okay. I have some businesses to attend to before the departure..." Le Xaan sighed.

In the city, he had a few masters who imparted martial arts to him. By courtesy, he was expected to visit each of them before his journey.

Le Finn surely would not object to such trivial matters.

Although his body had not completely recovered yet, on the next morning, Le Xaan got up early and headed to many places throughout the city.

Across the city, many people were seen mourning their loved ones, and humble funerals were going on everywhere.

The pavement on the streets was rugged and pitted. It was unknown what hit the ground to produce such pit-holes.

After taking in all these sights, Le Xaan realized that Gourian City was currently half-devastated.

As he wandered around the city, he made visits to his masters. They were all alert souls, protecting themselves well enough from tragic incidents. Le Xaan gifted every one of them some money. And then, he dropped by the Zein Mansion.

"Snap!"

Zein Sanki banged his palm on the table.

"Brother Xaan, I and Yoeri want to go along with you! Would you like us to follow you? Damn! Having soldiers as an escort is a privilege reserved for a County Head or those of higher rank!"

Le Xaan was speechless upon hearing this. He surveyed the surroundings, discovering that the Mansion was now largely charred. It seemed evident that the Zein family had incurred many troubles.

"Only you and Yoeri?" Le Xaan asked.

"Yes. Like your family, our family's later-generation will head to different cities in separate groups. My father is currently desperate to escape from Gourian City. In case in the future that kind of things take place once more, we might not have the luck to survive. Brother Xaan, had you not introduced Reverend Youny to us, our family must would have suffered far greater losses."

Then, Zein Sanki paused for a moment and sighed, "What a shame about your younger sister, Cinci..."

Le Xaan fell silent.

A while later, Le Xaan asked, "So, your whole family is unscathed?"

Upon hearing this question, Zein Sanki was dumbfounded. Then, he looked around and gave his reply in a low voice, "My eldest brother is gone..."

"Well... this is something beneficial to you." Le Xaan said, "If you want to go along with us, let's embark on our journey tomorrow. Now, you have to inform Yoeri of this and prepare yourselves."

"Okay!" Zein Sanki nodded. Now, both he and Le Xaan were well aware of their families' plans to move away from Gourian City in the wake of all these events.

After he left the Zein Mansion and returned home, Le Xaan asked Qiki to pack up his stuff. On this journey, Le Xaaan would not take Qiki along with him. The rules of East Hill School were rather strict and dictated that no students should bring their servants along with them on the campus. So, Qiki had to stay in Gourian City.

After some hasty preparations, Le Finn gave Le Xaan a stack of gold certificates, the equivalent of ten thousand gold coins, before seeing Le Xaan and Le Yinin to the city gate. At that spot, the siblings departed under the escort of a column of soldiers along with Zein Sanki and Zein Yoeri.

Before Le Xaan's departure, he heard of the word that Soan Danqy, the City Head, had been stricken by a severe illness a few days ago and was currently terminally ill.

Thinking back to the massive explosion, Le Xaan surmised that Soan Danqi must have been an innocent victim who got accidentally involved. In this vein, the City Head seemed quite pathetic....

They chose to set off on an early morning when the sky was barely lit up.

While standing in the column, Le Xaan's face remained ashen. He wrapped himself in a pure white fox fur coat, providing for warmth and a luxurious appearance. This fox fur coat demanded up to a thousand silver coins. 

Le Xaan looked over his shoulder and cast a glance at Gourian City behind him, knowing that he might well never return to this place. Before Le Xaan left, Le Finn had clearly laid out for him that he planned to move the entire Le family to a larger city.

"Brother Xaan, what's wrong?" Zein Yoeri asked as she stood beside Zein Sanki.

"Nothing. I am just feeling a bit emotional... Cough... Cough..." Le Xaan started to cough uncontrollably once more, a result of the modification on Dark Shadow.

"Better go back to the carriage now, Young Master Xaan. We're going to start off." A veteran soldier walked up and said, who was the team leader responsible for the escort.

Le Xaan nodded and cast one last glance at Gourian City before turning around and getting into a carriage.

"Alright, let's embark on our journey! Everybody!" Zein Sanki yelled, with what sounded like impatience.

In Mountainside City, on a day in February.

Spring had arrived, dyeing vast stretches of Spring-Heralding Trees on the city outskirts with a hue reminiscent of the twilight. Countless small blossoms fell from the branches, blanketing the ground with their rosy petals.

Beside a creek to the south of the city, an octagonal pavilion was erected, and under it were seated a few scholarly-looking, neatly dressed students.

All of them were attired in pale-gray robes, their hair tied with black sashes, and they had the same folding fan in hand.

"Brother Le? Brother Le??"

A warm-hearted voice drew Le Xaan back from his reverie.

Le Xaan looked away from the expanses of blossoming Spring-Heralding Trees sprawling the mountains and turned to face the few people in the pavilion.

The man calling him was named Soan Jingor, who had also come here from a remote city in Northern Realm to study at East Hill School. He was a scion of a wealthy family who knew his way around how to indulge in all kinds of luxuries and had an attractive appearance. Every so often, Soan Jingor would gather his friends for an excursion.

Le Xaan got to know Soan Jingor through Zein Sanki. Currently, the students present were mostly from Northern Realm. Since they were from the same region, it's hardly surprising that they were more inclined to go on an outing together.

"Brother Soan, forgive me for zoning out." Le Xaan said with a smile.