Let the true energy circulate for a while

……

Xincheng, Winter Solstice.

Snowflakes were falling from the sky.

Room 303, Building 1, Xianghe Garden Residential Complex.

The heating was on full blast in the living room, where a father and son were sitting.

The middle-aged man smoked a cigarette, his phone screen displaying various explanations about time travel... After a long silence, he finally spoke:

"So, you're my son, Chen Ye? You've traveled from another world?"

"Yes, Father."

Across from me sat a young man in his early twenties, with a serious expression, wearing a worn-out Taoist robe, and with long, handsome hair, looking like someone from ancient times.

The middle-aged man exhaled a smoke ring, then blew a stick through it...

"I think I should call the police first."

"..."

Chen Ye: "I really am your son!"

The middle-aged man pulled up a photo on his phone; it was of his eight-year-old son.

"Is this you?"

Chen Ye glanced at his phone, moved it to the side of the screen, and said confidently, "This is me."

"But...my son is only eight years old..."

With a whoosh, Chen Ye stood up, a tall man over 1.8 meters!

"This guy's eight years old?!"

"Father, do I need to explain again?"

When Chen Ye came out of his bedroom just now, he looked like this: long hair, wearing an ancient coarse cloth Taoist robe, and his appearance was somewhat similar to that of him when he was eight years old, especially his eyebrows and eyes.

At first, Chen Ye's father thought a thief had broken into the house. In the middle of the day, an adult in a Taoist robe suddenly appeared in the house. Who wouldn't be confused!

Chen Ye said in a deep voice, "Your name is Chen Jianbin, my mother's name is Sun Xiaojuan, I am a second-grade student in Class 4. On the first day of school, you took me to school on your Yadea electric bike. When you picked me up after school, you brought me a box of Kangshifu 3+2 biscuits. I remember, they were mango flavored."

"When I was four and a half years old, I think it was because of money I borrowed for my uncle's wedding that you and Mom argued. That was the first time I saw you two argue, and I was very scared!"

"When Er Mao was five years old, he came to our house to play and broke my Ultraman Zero's arm. You were the one who glued it back together with super glue."

"On my sixth birthday, you got drunk and peed a few words in the snow: 'My son has the bearing of an emperor!'"

"Last summer vacation, I had the same nightmare every day, dreaming that I went to a world of swords and shadows. At that time, you took me to hospitals all over the country to see a doctor. We went to Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan, and also saw some traditional Chinese medicine doctors..."

"Once, we took a slow train to save money. I woke up hungry in the middle of the night, and you asked the train attendant to lend me hot water to make noodles."

The Taoist priest in front of him recounted many details of the father and son's personal experiences, which made Chen Jianbin even more frightened.

Chen Jianbin stared wide-eyed at his phone, "Impossible! Absolutely impossible!!"

Because his phone contained the room's security camera video, which he had just watched in its entirety.

The surveillance footage showed a portal appearing in the son's room, somewhat similar to those AI special effects videos online. The eight-year-old son was then sucked into it and disappeared, leaving the room completely empty.

Looking at the time on the monitor, 16 minutes later, the portal reappeared, and a person wearing a tattered Taoist robe walked out. Was this the "son" in front of them?!

Eight-year-old Chen Ye was transported to another world, where he lived for 16 years. When the portal opened again, Chen Ye was transported back.

In reality, only 16 minutes had passed!

Sixteen years have passed, and many memories have become blurred... But what Chen Ye just mentioned are unforgettable childhood memories.

At that moment, Chen Jianbin's mind went blank, his body stiffened, and his legs went numb...

"Father."

Chen Jianbin's eyes widened, a mixture of confusion, shock, bewilderment, and fear swirling within him. As a normal person, he needed time to process this.

Chen Jianbin stood up and paced back and forth in the room; his legs were no longer numb.

"It's all an illusion! It won't scare me!"

Chen Jianbin paced around the living room, looking flustered and somewhat incoherent:

"Huh? My legs are all better? I can jog now? I can jump, hey, I can even jump high! I can jump high again!"

Chen Jianbin jumped several times and took more than a dozen deep breaths before forcing himself to calm down. This is a normal human reaction and it's perfectly reasonable!

"Father, I know this is hard for people to accept." Chen Ye's eyes were sincere.

"Don't call me father anymore, just... call me dad."

"Dad, I've missed you so much these past 16 years. Where's Mom?"

"Your mom went downstairs to the supermarket to buy groceries. She'll be back soon to make dumplings. I wonder what she'll think when she sees her son suddenly in his twenties." Chen Jianbin's expression was complicated.

"Dad, do we have any Coke?"

"Yes, I'll go get it."

The taste of cola is so nostalgic.

Chen Ye took a big gulp of cola, a very comfortable expression on his face.

"How did you spend those 16 years over there?"

Chen Ye thought for a moment, a look of reminiscence appearing in his eyes:

"At first, when I woke up, I was with a group of refugees fleeing famine, along with a few children about my age. We encountered bandits on the road, but I wasn't scared at all. I thought I was just having one of those weird dreams about fighting and killing again..."

"Later I found that I couldn't wake up from this dream. In the end, I met my master, who saved me. My master taught me cultivation and the principles of being a good person."

Chen Jianbin listened quietly, as if he were in a dream.

The father and son chatted for a while longer. Chen Jianbin could tell from his son's words that he had missed his parents and the time he spent at home and school over the past 16 years.

The ancient world he spoke of did not seem to belong to any dynasty recorded in history. For the past 16 years, he had been cultivating, working, and experiencing life on the mountain with his master. His life was hard, but he had learned a great deal of skills.

The WeChat group on my phone buzzed. It was Chen Ye's class group, and parents were sharing videos of their children doing homework and reciting poems...

"Hiss..." Chen Jianbin gasped, suddenly remembering, "My son is still an eight-year-old boy, in second grade this year."

"You definitely won't be able to go to school anymore. You time-traveled at the age of 8, and 16 years later, you're 26 years old. But your household registration still says you're 8. It'll be hard to even get an ID card."

Chen Ye corrected, "It should be 24 years old."

"How much? 8 + 16 is clearly... Okay, Dad got too excited."

Parents of elementary school students in China often experience stress when helping with homework...

"But you don't even have an elementary school diploma, how are you going to find a job in the future?"

Chen Ye said, "Dad, don't worry. My master not only taught me cultivation, but also taught me to read, numerology, and some traditional Chinese medicine."

Chen Jianbin asked, "You said your master taught you cultivation? What kind of cultivation?"

Chen Ye thought for a moment and said, "Inner alchemy includes the 'Longevity Skill,' and in martial arts, I'm skilled in 'Small Dragon-Capturing Hand,' 'Great Shift of Heaven and Earth,' 'Vajra Tiger-Taming Fist,' 'Eighteen Mad Saber Slashes,' and so on..."

Chen Jianbin interrupted, "Stop, stop, stop! Son, what are you babbling about? Show me."

Chen Ye looked around and said, "Our house is too small; we'll break the furniture."

"Okay, then, you can show us a little something by punching this wall."

"Dad, maybe we should just forget about it, we'll break the wall."

"No! You have to fight!"

"Dad, step back a bit, lest you be killed by my internal force."

Chen Jianbin subconsciously took a few steps back.

"Step back a little more."

"Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration?"

"Step back a little further!!"

"If we back down any further, we'll fall."

Chen Jianbin was pressed against the window, with nowhere left to retreat.

He noticed that the air around his son was distorted, similar to the outward release of internal energy in martial arts films...

Chen Ye looked at the wall in front of him, channeled his energy, and a gust of wind rose around his body—he raised his hand and threw a punch!

Bang! He slammed his fist into the wall!

Stones flying everywhere!

A dent the size of a soccer ball was punched into the wall...

Overwhelmingly powerful!

Chen Jianbin jumped up and quickly checked his son's hand, finding that his skin was completely unharmed.

The concrete wall cracked with a single punch? The key point is that Chen Ye didn't seem to use much force at all; he just casually threw it like that.

"Dad, I'm sorry, the wall cracked. I was very careful."

Chen Jianbin covered his head, his eyes wide with shock. "I'm about to burst!!" He pinched his thigh hard and found it hurt. He was sure this wasn't a dream!

"How did you do that?"

Chen Ye said, "Dad, this is nothing. Back then, when my senior sister was kidnapped by Bai Laosan of the Ten Thousand Demon Cave, I killed more than a hundred demonic cult members by myself with just one sword..."

"Have you killed someone?"

"In these 16 years, I have killed many people and saved many people."

Just then, the sound of a lock being opened could be heard...

Chen Jianbin turned his head to look: "Your mother is back from grocery shopping."

"Explain to your mom slowly; she doesn't have your dad's resilience!"

Sun Xiaojuan pushed open the door and saw that guests had arrived.

Wait, something's not right with this guest. Why is he wearing a Taoist robe? And his eyes are red. Has he been crying?

Wait a minute! My wall?!