I picked up skill fragments in the demon world.

Chapter 700 Bad News

After hearing Zhang Chen's explanation, Zhang nodded sensibly. Now Zhang Chen is the head of the family, shouldering the rise and fall of the entire family. He is the backbone of the entire family. Since Zhang Chen has spoken, Zhang certainly has no reason to object.

Zhang Chen summoned the two children again and distributed the elixir and water of the underworld that he had prepared yesterday. Zhang was also given a portion of food by Zhang Chen, the same treatment as the three children. After patiently instructing a few people, the family of four greeted the master's wife in the tearful eyes of the two children, and after saying goodbye to her, they walked all the way down the mountain.

"Brother, you really don't want to go with us? We are a family, and we will go together wherever we go." Zhang Taowei tugged at Zhang Chen's sleeve, his eyes full of reluctance and attachment.

"You just set out on the road first. Maybe I will catch up with you before you even reach Kyoto." Zhang Chen rubbed the little girl's head.

At this moment, Cheng Yu was like a little adult, patting his chest and assuring: "Zhang Chen, don't worry, I will definitely protect them."

Zhang Chen rubbed Cheng Yu's head. The little girl glared at Zhang Chen with displeasure: "I am an adult now, stop rubbing my head."

Zhang looked at Zhang Chen and said, "You are alone in Jinling City and you are weak. Be careful in everything you do."

"Don't worry." Zhang Chen nodded, took out four invisibility talismans and stuck them on the four people. Then the group came to the foot of the mountain, where Xie Daoyuan was standing in front of a carriage waiting.

After seeing the mysterious power of the invisibility talisman, his eyes lit up: "Not bad! What a good trick!"

She was already a ninth-rank warrior, so of course the invisibility talisman could not be hidden from him.

"I'll leave these blood relatives of mine in the care of my sister." Zhang Chen said solemnly to Xie Daoyuan.

"Don't worry, I will definitely give you a healthy and complete family. Given our friendship, why do you need to thank me?" Xie Lingyun lifted the car curtain:

"I have already eliminated all the spies in the vicinity. Let's get going. You have provoked too many enemies. If they react and send spies to target us, I don't know how much trouble we will cause along the way."

Zhang Chen nodded upon hearing this, turned his head to look at the three little ones and Zhang, and finally boarded the carriage amid everyone's reluctant gazes.

"See you in Kyoto!" Xie Lingyun said to Zhang Chen, waved his whip, turned around and left, and his figure disappeared from Zhang Chen's sight.

"See you in Kyoto!" Zhang Chen murmured, then turned around and returned to the academy.

The departure of the three little ones and Zhang made Zhang Chen feel much more relieved, as if some shackles had been cut off.

"If there is any big event in Jinling City in the future, I can let go and do a big job to test the power of my Sun True Fire." Zhang Chen muttered to himself.

Just as Zhang Chen was thinking about this, he suddenly heard hurried footsteps from afar. Zhang Chen turned his head and saw a man in ragged clothes and a dirty face rushing towards him. When he saw Zhang Chen, he called out from afar, "Sir, please stay!"

Zhang Chen looked at the man. The blood was flowing throughout his body and the blood was surging under his skin like thunder. Zhang Chen's heart moved. The man was definitely not a beggar. How could a beggar cultivate blood?
Moreover, the other party's speech had a northern accent, somewhere between the north and the south. Zhang Chen felt it was familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before.

So Zhang Chen paused and looked at the man quietly. Then he rushed to Zhang Chen and bowed respectfully: "Greetings, sir. Are you a scholar from Chongzheng Academy?"

Although the other party looked anxious, he did not lose his manners and his every move was quite standard. Zhang Chen could not help but nod secretly when he saw this.

"I am a student of the academy." Zhang Chen replied.

Hearing this, the man was overjoyed: "Do you know Jiang Nan?"

When Zhang Chen heard the other party mention Jiang Nan and heard the familiar accent, he finally knew where the other party came from, so he nodded and said, "I recognize him."

"Could you please tell Jiang Nan that someone from my hometown has come and is waiting for him at the foot of the mountain?" The man's eyes flashed with hope.

Zhang Chen smiled when he heard this and said, "Why do you need me to pass the message? Just follow me in."

"The people at the academy won't let me in." The man said helplessly, "I came from the north and encountered war and disasters along the way. I also encountered monsters and beasts causing chaos. I lost all my belongings. Now I am like a beggar. The people guarding the gate of the academy won't let me in."

"It's okay, just follow me in." Zhang Chen turned around and led the way.

The man hesitated for a moment after hearing that, and hurriedly followed Zhang Chen. The two of them came to the gate of the academy. Zhang Chen saw the academy's manager guarding the door. Seeing that the man was following Zhang Chen and trying to get in, Zhang Chen waved his hand from a distance to persuade them to leave.

The relationship between Zhang Chen and Zhou Qiucheng and Zhou Zhen had long been secretly spread in the academy. When the steward guarding the gate saw Zhang Chen waving his hand, he hurriedly retreated respectfully.

Zhang Chen led the man all the way to Linglong Tower. Zhang Chen asked him to wait in front of the tower. He walked into the tower, but did not see Jiang Nan. After asking someone, he found out that Jiang Nan's injuries had not improved since he was knocked unconscious by Zhang Gaoqiu last time, and he was lying in the house to recuperate.

Zhang Chen found out the location of Jiang Nan's house, then walked out of the Linglong Tower and led the man all the way to Jiang Nan's house. After passing through the mountain roads, they arrived in front of a house and could smell the scent of herbs spreading in the mountains and forests. Zhang Chen came to the yard and saw Shen Qiu squatting in the yard boiling medicine through the gap in the gate, while Jiang Nan was lying on a recliner, basking in the sun with a bruised face.

"Jiang Nan is in the yard, just go in." Zhang Chen didn't want to see Jiang Nan, nor did he want to have anything to do with Jiang Nan, so he quietly withdrew. However, before he could take a few steps, he saw the man crash into the door, and his wailing sound spread throughout the nearby mountains and forests:
"My lady, it's a disaster! It's a disaster!"

The man rushed into the yard, stumbled in front of Jiang Nan, his legs went weak and he fell to his knees and burst into tears.

Jiang Nan was startled by the crying and sat up. After carefully identifying the beggar in front of him, he stood up with disbelief in his eyes, rushed to the other party and helped him up: "Uncle Dali?"

"Miss, it's me! This old slave is Dali!" the man said in a crying voice.

"Aren't you in Guangji Prefecture? Why are you here?" Jiang Nan suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart.

"Miss, Guangji Prefecture was massacred by Huang Tiandao, and the master and brothers were all crushed to ashes by Huang Tiandao. I got the order from the master to come here to deliver a letter to you, and that's how I escaped." The middle-aged man's voice was full of misery.

"What?" Jiang Nan was shocked when he heard that. He looked at the middle-aged man in disbelief, "What did you say? Say it again?"

Jiang Nan's voice was full of disbelief, and she suspected that she had heard it wrongly.

"All 376 people in our family were slaughtered. They were all killed by Huang Tiandao's thieves!" Dali said.

"Why did Huang Tiandao do such a cruel thing? Aren't they afraid of the wrath of the imperial court?" Jiang Nan's voice was full of disbelief, and he fell to the ground.

outside the yard

When Zhang Chen heard the news, he had already made some guesses in his mind that it must be due to the Shen family's authority over water transportation. The location of Guangji Prefecture was important, and the Jiang family worked for the Shen family, so it would be strange if they were not massacred.

The Shen family was destroyed, and the Jiang family was naturally uprooted as well.

"What a poor little thing." Zhang Chen heard the cries in the yard without any fluctuations in his heart. He turned around and walked away.

Jiang Nan burst into tears in the yard, and Shen Qiu hurried forward to comfort her.

Three days later
When school was over, Zhang Chen walked out of Linglong Tower and met Jiang Nan, who looked haggard. Jiang Nan was standing in front of Linglong Tower with disheveled hair. When he saw Zhang Chen, he stepped forward and blocked Zhang Chen's way.

Zhang Chen paused and was about to walk around Jiang Nan, but the next moment Jiang Nan followed him like a shadow and blocked Zhang Chen's way again.

"Is there something?" Zhang Chen raised his eyebrows and asked, with a hint of alienation in his voice.

"I have something to ask you. This is not the place to talk. Please follow me..." Jiang Nan said to Zhang Chen, then turned around and led the way.

Zhang Chen just glanced at Jiang Nan, shook his head and ignored him, and parted ways with him.

Jiang Nan saw that Zhang Chen did not catch up and walked in another direction, so he quickly caught up with him and said, "Zhang Chen, I have something to tell you."

"Aren't you going to break off relations with me? We'll have nothing to do with each other and be strangers forever?" Zhang Chen said sarcastically.

Although he had slept with her, so what? Zhang Chen had slept with many women, so should he be held responsible for all of them?
It's just a fleeting relationship between us, so it's ridiculous to talk about gratitude.

"My family has been massacred. Please give me a chance to speak out of pity for me." Jiang Nan lowered his attitude and no longer had his previous arrogance.

Thinking of the favor he owed Jiang Nan on the boat, Zhang Chen glanced at Jiang Nan's dirty figure, and his heart couldn't help but soften.

Although this girl is a bit utilitarian, she is actually not a bad person.

So Zhang Chen nodded, and followed Jiang Nan to a secluded pavilion. Zhang Chen said to Jiang Nan, "What do you want to say to me? You don't want to marry me, do you? I'm just a poor boy with no power or influence. I'm afraid you don't like me."

Jiang Nan lowered his head in embarrassment when he heard this, and said in a hushed voice, "It's not about this. I... I... I want to ask, can you introduce the eldest son Zhou Zhen to me and give me a chance to meet the eldest son Zhou Zhen?"

Zhang Chen was stunned when he heard this. He stared at Jiang Nan blankly, his eyes widened in shock. He couldn't believe his ears: "Are you serious?"

(End of this chapter)