AGM 0007 – Iron Bond between Father and Son
Talon thought that the reason for Mustang’s presence at the Qin Clan was the same as his. And as such, he couldn’t help but to feel a slight sense of pressure. Turning to Qin Yao, he asked, ” Yao`er, who’s the lucky guy that had the marriage engagement with Autumn Snow?”
“This…” An reluctant looked appeared on Qin Yao’s face, as her beautiful eyes flicked towards Qin Wentian before she replied, ”Teacher, this matter… I’m afraid to say that something unexpected occurred.”
“Huh? Something unexpected?” Talon froze.
Qin Wentian glanced at Qin Chuan, as if seeking for help as she stood there awkwardly. She too had only heard the vague rumors, but had not ascertained what was the truth yet. And thus, she didn’t dare to inform Talon, for fear of misleading her esteemed teacher.
“Wentian, come over here.” Qin Chuan beckoned to Qin Wentian. After Qin Wentian arrived by his side, Qin Chuan began addressing the two representatives of the prestigious academies, “Brother Mustang, Brother Talon, this is my son, Qin Wentian. The one with the marriage engagement with Bai Autumn Snow, is him precisely. The circumstances surrounding my son are somewhat special, despite him having godsent talent, he was unable to cultivate. Dear brothers, based on your immense amounts of experiences, do you think there are any solution for my son?
“Big brother, he was born with crippled meridians, what bullsh*t godsent talent?” Qin He interjected.
“Silence. Wentian was not born with crippled meridians, it was caused by an accident. His talent and sensory abilities towards the Astral Constellations are both immeasurably high.” Qin Chuan berated, as anger suffused his features. At this moment, both Talon and Mustang narrowed their eyes, as if they understood something. Though their actions might be the same, the thoughts behind the actions were not similar.
“Let me take a look.” Both Mustang and Talon said at the same time. As they extended each of their hands and placed them upon each wrist of Qin Wentian.
“Indeed, a human with broken meridians.” Talon’s heart shuddered slightly with disappointment as a nasty look reflected on his visage. Withdrawing his hands, he lightly laughed and stated “What a waste of my time, I expected a dragon to be matched with the phoenix, but to think that the dragon was a snake instead.”
Qin Chuan’s pupils contracted as his countenance turned cold. “You, your words, they seem a little inappropriate. You better watch what you say.”
“Hmm?” After Talon heard how Qin Chuan rebutted him, killing intent appeared in his eyes. How insolent.The authority of the Qin Clan diminished with each generation. Were it not for the talent of Autumn Snow and Qin Yao, he would never have stepped into the Qin Residence. To think that a has-been dared to use such a tone when addressing him.
Suppressing his anger, Talon let out a sarcastic laugh, “Qin Chuan, look at how pathetic the Qin Clan is now. Stop your foolish daydreams and face reality.”
“If you have nothing else to add, get out of here.” Qin Chuan said coldly. This made Qin Yao felt as if she was sandwiched between a rock and a hardplace. “Teacher, my dad has always been impulsive, please don’t take it to heart.”
“Qin Yao, this father of yours, he lacks proper understanding of the current state of affairs.” Talon said icily.
“Yao`er, in the future, you are not to acknowledge this person as your teacher.” Qin Chuan interjected, causing Qin Yao to turn pale with fright. Anger apparent on his features, Talon muttered “Excellent. Very good!”
Looking at these proceedings unfolding before him, Qin Wentian couldn’t help but feel a stab of guilt to his heart. All this while, for the sake of him, Qin Chuan had knowingly offended many people. And now, he had even caused Qin Chuan to have a falling out with the esteemed teacher of Qin Yao.
However, the thoughts of Mustang travelled down a totally different path compared to Talon. Glancing at Qin Wentian, Mustang let out a slight smile before asking, “Brother Qin, when was it that his meridians were crippled?”
“When he was 6.” Qin Chuan replied, “Initially, we thought that the accident was a one-off occurrence. Who would have thought that there were intermittent effects, as the intensity increased overtime, and ultimately leading to all the pathways of his meridians getting destroyed.”
“6 years old.” Mustang breathed. Staring intently at Qin Wentian, he withdrew his hand. If what he guessed was right… “What frightening tenacity, what frightening willpower.”
Thinking of Talon’s earlier display, Mustang couldn’t help but to sneer disdainfully. What a foolish boor.
“Dang, dang, dang.” At this moment, all the spectators could feel the earth tremble beneath their feet, as the sound of horses galloping could be heard. The members of the Qin Clan all had expressions ranging from shock, rage, and astonishment on their faces. Who would dare to ride their horses, and barge into the Qin Clan?
Very quickly, they could see a warrior wielding a long spear in his hand, mounted on a war horse, galloping in their direction. Other than being equipped with armor, this warrior had a long black cloak that seemed to gleam with a dim light, fluttering along with the movements of the wind. His gaze, was as sharp as sword, emitting a chilly air.
“Icehawk.” The pupils of Qin Chuan widened in hatred. To think that his Qin Residence would be such a popular place today. Icehawk, was the vice general under his father back during the days when they had fought for the country. His personality was sinister and ruthless, and always had disagreements with Qin Wu. After that, he defected to the Ye Clan, and using his knowledge gained from the time they were working together, relentlessly suppressed the Qin Clan.
“Young Master, long time no see.” Icehawk replied, looking straight at Qin Chuan. The gaze of Icehawk was akin to that of an actual hawk eyeing its prey.
“Icehawk, you actually dared to storm the Qin Residence with so many people. It seems like you’re truly getting more and more unruly.” Qin Chuan coldly exclaimed as killing intent surged in his eyes.
Icehawk didn’t even put Qin Chuan’s words in his eyes — the Qin Clan now was no longer the Qin Clan of the past. A crippled tiger, how could Icehawk fear it? He was the one working in the shadows, pulling strings to influence the major powers into suppressing the Qin Clan. But as long as Qin Wu was still alive, he still had some fear of clashing directly with the Qin Clan. Well, it didn’t matter to him, who suppressed the Qin Clan, as long as the Qin Clan was suppressed.
“There are two reason why I’m here today. First, is to respectfully inquire about the health of my previous respected commander. Second, I’m here to tell the Qin Clan that two days later, representatives from the Chu Country will all be invited to the Bai Clan, where Autumn Snow will join one of the prestigious academies from the Royal Capital. That, and the matter regarding the marriage engagement between the Bai Clan and the Qin Clan, can be settled then. I truly hope that the Qin Clan will be there, and not hide in the Qin Residence like a cowardly rat. If not… don’t blame me for being ruthless.” Icehawk leered threateningly.
After saying what he wanted to say, Icehawk mounted onto his warhorse before galloping in the direction of the exit. Just as he was galloping away, one could hear his cold laughter resounding out loud in the distance, while his eyes stared daggers at Qin Chuan.
The members of Qin Clan all stared at the silhouette far off in the horizon, while Qin Chuan was shaking from anger. If Autumn Snow was enrolled into the Emperor Star Academy, the Bai Clan could jolly well use this as an excuse to annul the marriage agreement. Because if that really happened, everyone would think that this was to be expected. After all, a trash like Qin Wentian who was unable to cultivate, would never be worthy enough to marry Autumn Snow. If they persisted, the Qin Clan would only be humiliated.
“The Bai Clan, how overbearing.” Qin Chuan had never expected that the Bai Clan would repay his kindness with enmity. He truly wanted to see with his own eyes what the Bai Clan would say two days later.
“So this is the reason.” Talon coldly smiled. “Qin Chuan, I will just wait for your Qin Clan to be embarrassed. Farewell.”
After he finished speaking, Talon lept to the top of the huge eagle, after which, the huge eagle intentionally circled around the Qin Residence as if it was mocking them, before soaring away through the skies.
Silence descended, as all the members of the Qin Clan had ugly looks on their face. Never had they faced such a grave humiliation before.
“Big brother,” Qin He suddenly stated, “the situation is against us. As you can see, both the Bai Clan and the Ye Clan are joining forces against our Qin Clan. Two days later, we shouldn’t attend. If we do, all our face and prestige will be wiped clean.”
“You mean I should stay in the Qin Residence just like a cowardly rat?” Qin Chuan coldly interjected.
“All these years, Qin Wentian has squandered our clan’s cultivation resources, wasting the valuable Yuan Meteor Stones we had, and I have never spoken a word in protest. But however, now, this thing concerns the hope and future of our Qin Clan. I suggest we kick him out. After all, taking good care of him all this years, we have already done more than we were supposed to.” Qin He lowly intoned.
It seems that there were many members of the Qin Clan who were opposed to Qin Wentian. Taking into account that Qin Wentian was someone with broken meridians and was unable to cultivate, they felt that Qin Chuan expended too much effort on just a foster son, overly pampering Qin Wentian.
“Third Brother, what do you think?” Qin Chuan motioned to another elder that was standing next to Qin He. This person was the 3rd son of Qin Wu, Qin Ye.
“Qin Wentian, he should just live an ordinary life.” Qin Ye concurred with Qin He.
Qin Chuan silently contemplated for a moment, sweeping his gaze through the members of the Qin Clan before saying, “Back in the days, our ancestor enjoyed the grace and kindness of the former emperor. To repay that, our ancestor participated in over 80 great battles, and suffered critical injuries 18 times. Back when the Alliance of the 10 countries trapped the emperor, without any regards to his own life, using his own body as a shield, Ancestor Qin travelled 1,000 miles in a single day, frenziedly slaughtering his way out of the encirclement, rescuing the former emperor. When they both returned back to the safety of Chu Country, our ancestor didn’t even ask for a single reward. How heroic was he.”
“To think that now, my Qin Clan has really degenerated. Just because of a little pressure, most of you want to abandon the descendant of our Qin Clan’s benefactor, severing all ties, and cast him out of the Qin Clan. Just the very thought of it, causes me to feel endless disgust. If our Ancestor were to know of this, he would surely turn in his grave.
“My decision is this. The Qin Clan shall live or die together with Qin Wentian. Two days later, summon all our available troops to accompany us as we go to the Bai Clan. If there is one more word about abandoning Wentian, no matter who the person is, I will kill him myself.”
After that, Qin Chuan slammed his palms down onto the stone chair, causing it to disintegrate into pieces. While the members of the Qin Clan glanced down at their feet, not daring to look him in the eye or make any sounds in protest.
The voice of Qin Chuan permeated the whole of the training grounds, while he stood erect. When looking at him, one would feel as if they could witness the valiantness and heroism that was exhibited by their ancestor.
“Just what did Qin Wentian’s ancestors do for our Qin Clan? To think that the clan leader would actually act this way.” The other members of the Qin Clan didn’t know the exact reason. They only knew that Qin Chuan was repaying a debt of gratitude.
And for this debt of gratitude, Qin Chuan would unhesitatingly sacrifice himself if need be. This sort of unbending love, and spirit of valiantness, caused respect to bloom in their hearts, as everyone too, seemed to unconsciously stood up straighter, as respect straightened their spine.
“Wentian, you needn’t bother regarding this matter. Foster father will seek justice for you.” The reply of Qin Chuan was tinged with gentleness.
Qin Wentian sighed in his heart. Initially, he wanted to inform Qin Chuan, after becoming a Stellar Martial Cultivator. But to think that now, even before he got the chance to do so, the entire Qin Clan would be affected.
Qin Wentian did not know the story about the circumstances behind his birth, nor did he understood the debt of gratitude owned by the Qin Clan to his parents. He only knew that he had to repay the gratitude shown towards him by Qin Chuan no matter how difficult it was in this lifetime.
Qin Chuan was stunned into silence. On the training grounds, it could be seen that Qin Wentian had both knees upon the ground, as he looked at Qin Chuan, saying,”Foster faster, this matter arose because of me, I will settle it myself, so there’s no need for the Qin Clan to be involved. The Bai Clan, even if they humiliate me a thousand times, I’d be fine with it, but as long as the matter involves the prestige of the Qin Clan, there’s no way that I’d agree to it. This matter, I will take sole responsibility for it.”
“Father.” Qin Wentian shouted, as he knelt down heavily onto the ground, kowtowing.
Only by kneeling, could Qin Wentian fully express the gratitude towards Qin Chuan he felt in his heart.
Qin Chuan slowly approached Qin Wentian, as he helped him to his feet. As their gaze crossed, both of them had a smile broken out upon their faces. This time around, in Qin Wentian’s speech, he no longer referred to Qin Chuan as his foster father. He referred Qin Chuan as his father instead!.
“I have always believed in you son. One day, you will definitely be able to accomplish things that others never would before.” Qin Chuan look at Qin Wentian with determination apparent in his gaze.
Standing at the side, with laughter suffusing his features, Mustang beamed. In comparison to Autumn Snow, he preferred the youth standing in front of him 10 times more. Godly talent, a frightening amount of tenacity, combined together with an iron will of determination — there was no doubt that in the future, the youth before him would definitely amount to great things.
It seemed like, two days later, during the gathering of the powers in the Bai Clan, there would be a good show to watch!