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Chapter 110 Returning Home
……

Although bringing two extra children made it a bit of an overload, fortunately, Feng County was right next to Chang'an City, and Lin Qing still managed to safely deliver everyone to a place not far from the Zhang family.

After getting off the helicopter, Tu Bo's legs trembled, and his gaze towards Chen Xuan changed... from respect to fear.

Ah Jiu and Ah Hua were also shocked, but being children, they quickly adapted to new things and now called it the Fairy Boat.

It was just past four in the afternoon, and the sun was setting behind the Qinling Mountains, casting huge shadows on the distant peaks and dense forests. This was considered the edge of Feng County, quite different from a typical "town," with only a few scattered houses visible at the foot of the mountains. According to Ajiu, it would take half a day to reach the county seat from here.

The Zhang family was located on a high hillside.

It took the group another thirty minutes to walk from the helicopter landing point to the entrance of the Zhang family compound—this was also to avoid alerting the locals to the presence of the aircraft.

Chen Xuan noticed that although the courtyard was somewhat secluded, it was quite large. The courtyard wall stretched for about a hundred meters, and there was a proper gate at the entrance.

Ordinary villagers could never afford such a mansion.

And aren't they afraid of being targeted by bandits and outlaws? The security in Feng County certainly doesn't cover this area, so such a large courtyard must mean the owner is quite wealthy.

Tu Bo knocked on the door for a moment, and the door was quickly opened.

"Quickly, go and inform the master," he urged, "The Wei family children have been found, and they have even become disciples of a true immortal!"

Then Tu Bo turned to Chen Xuan and the others and said, "Please follow me, everyone. I will take you to the reception room."

The so-called reception room was a spacious wooden bungalow with bright red tiles on top, and a sign hanging at the entrance read: Gathering Hall. If Chen Xuan hadn't known this was the Zhang family's residence, he would have thought he had entered some bandit camp.

The interior furnishings were quite simple; there were no bricks on the floor, just bare mud. A dozen or so chairs, a square table, and two weapon racks were all the furniture.

They didn't have to wait long before the sound of footsteps could be heard outside.

Clearly, more than one person came.

Sure enough, eight members of the Zhang family walked in. This group included people of all ages and genders. The first thing they did upon entering was to grab Ah Xuan and Ah Hua and examine them closely.

"Hahahaha... That's great, I'm glad you're all alright!" The leading man was probably in his early twenties, with a burly build and a rugged face. Even though it was almost winter, he was still wearing a sleeveless short-sleeved shirt, and the muscles in his exposed arms were clearly defined, like marble statues.

"Brother Tie... Brother Tie Gong?" A-Jiu recognized him. Not only that, the brother and sister also called out the names of other people one after another, "Uncle Dahai... Sister Yao... Grandpa Zhang?"

As she spoke, Ajiu suddenly choked up, then burst into tears, "Brother Tiegong... my parents are gone!"

His crying caused Ahua to burst into tears as well.

Everyone quickly offered words of comfort.

"It seems that Uncle Tu wasn't lying," Chen Xuan thought to himself. "The Zhang family is indeed quite concerned about the safety of the Wei family."

It took the siblings more than ten minutes to manage to control their emotions.

“My name is Zhang Shouyan. Are these three... the true immortals who saved the Wei family’s children?” The old man, who was called Grandpa Zhang, bowed deeply to Chen Xuan and the others. “The immortals are so kind... Thanks to you, the Wei family was spared from extinction.”

"Ah Jiu, tell me quickly, what exactly happened that night?" Zhang Tiegong asked impatiently.

“It was cultivators… I don’t know where they came from… They killed my whole family…” A-Jiu sobbed as she recounted the events of that day in as much detail as possible. “My master always said that Feng County was controlled by sect cultivators, and it would be extremely dangerous to clash with them, so I took my sister and ran away to Chang’an City…”

Upon hearing that it was a cultivator who had made the move, everyone fell silent for a moment.

Even Zhang Shouyan turned his head away and sighed, "Sigh, I've said it before, taking in those rogue cultivators isn't a good thing... Wei Qingheng is still too soft-hearted." "Yes!" a similarly robust woman exclaimed, "In the eyes of cultivators, we're probably like cattle and sheep on the roadside. If we don't interfere with each other, we can pretend we don't see them. But if we get involved in their conflicts, we won't even know how to spell death!"

Liu Shuyue frowned deeply as she listened. "Outrageous! Don't the lives of ordinary people matter? They're killing innocent people like this, isn't anyone going to do anything about it?"

Everyone looked at Liu Shuyue, and for a moment they didn't dare to say anything.

It was Ah Jiu who broke the eerie silence, saying, "The Immortal Master is different from those sect cultivators... she won't make things difficult for you."

Zhang Tiegong then replied, "Reporting to Immortal Master, the Immortal Alliance will still take care of things, but the extent of their care depends on their distance from Chang'an City. If people like us who live in remote mountain areas suddenly disappear one day, the Immortal Alliance will not care at all."

“Your Excellency, you may not know this, but the people can only truly live in peace and prosperity once they enter Chang’an City,” Zhang Shouyan added. “This mountainous area originally had over a hundred households, but now only four or five remain. They have either moved to Chang’an or to Feng County. Your Excellency, you have seen the scene outside Chang’an City, haven’t you? Those people gathered by the city walls… they have all come from various places. Their greatest hope is that when Chang’an expands its city walls next time, they can be included as well.”

Once you enter Chang'an, will you truly be able to live a peaceful and prosperous life? Chen Xuan couldn't help but think of that street where people were separated, and the opposite districts where cultivators and ordinary people went.

"Then why don't you move to Chang'an?" Lin Qing asked curiously.

Zhang Shouyan shook his head. "The Zhang family only knows how to hunt for a living. Leaving this mountain would be cutting off our own path... Chang'an City may be nice, but it is not a place for us to stay."

“But it seems to me that you are not ordinary hunters.” Chen Xuan had wanted to bring this up for a while. These people were very well-mannered and did not seem like real country bumpkins at all. “Could you tell me about the Zhang family’s origins?”

The group exchanged glances, and finally the eldest, Zhang Shouyan, spoke up, “Since the Immortal Master has asked, we naturally dare not hide it. In fact, this is not a secret; many people in the vicinity know it… The Zhang family’s ancestors were originally a guard of Chang’an’s Imperial Guard. They fought a great battle against the cultivators who were trying to seize power, and were ultimately defeated and fled all the way here.”

"Are you descendants of soldiers?" Chen Xuan asked in surprise.

The defeated garrison of Chang'an meant that their ancestors had witnessed the historical turning point where the secular imperial power was replaced by the Immortal Alliance, and they themselves were historical symbols.

No wonder even servants like Tu Bo had calloused hands; these so-called servants must have been descendants of soldiers from that time.

Moreover, the fall of the Tang Dynasty must have happened more than four hundred years ago. For the Zhang family, at least ten generations have passed. But it seems that they still inherit the traditions of their ancestors, learning to draw a bow and wield a sword day after day, without completely abandoning their skills.

“Exactly,” Zhang Shouyan replied. “In fact, when the cultivators’ power expanded to this place, they did not regard the defeated army as a threat. At that time, the officials of all ranks in Chang’an City quickly adapted to the new government offices and began to serve the various sects. Only the army completely lost its meaning, so the Zhang family settled here.”

His answer didn't contain much bitterness, as if he had already accepted this fact.

"So how did you get acquainted with the Wei family?"

"Reporting to the Immortal Master... It's inevitable to get injured when hunting in the mountains. Sixty years ago, my grandfather almost died in the mountains after falling, but was eventually saved by the Wei family who were gathering herbs. From then on, my grandfather insisted that we repay this life-saving grace, and that's how we became friends."

"I see." Chen Xuan looked at Ajiu. "No wonder you went looking for him."

Because it was to repay the kindness of their ancestors, the relationship naturally faded after the second generation. However, even so, the descendants of the Zhang and Wei families continued this friendship of mutual support.

"The Wei family has ultimately done us a favor. Now that we know their child didn't die on the spot, we should at least search for him. That's how we live up to our ancestors' instructions."

Ah Jiu and Ah Hua immediately knelt down and kowtowed three times to the Zhang family.

"No, no, no!" Zhang Shouyan gave Zhang Tiegong a wink, and the latter immediately helped the brother and sister up. "You are already disciples of the True Immortal Sect, and we cannot accept such a grand gesture from you two. We are already content to know that you are still alive."

"Grandpa Zhang, Brother Tie Gong, could you tell me where my family is buried? I want to go and see them..." Ajiu said, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Sigh...it's just halfway up the mountain. Come with me." Zhang Tiegong sighed.

(End of this chapter)