Soon the time had come for Lan Caolu to confront his son. Bai Caoren offered to accompany him during this grueling task. Although it felt somewhat wrong to involve a stranger in the private matters of the Lan family, he was in fact, grateful for her company, and accepted her offer after faking initial reluctance.

The meeting was supposed to take place in the inner courtyard of a large building complex that served as living quarters, training grounds, and meditation chambers for the cultivators of Songshu sect. Lan Caolu recognized the grounds as that of a former monastery; rebuild and refurnished into this new shape that was, frankly speaking, as practical as it was abhorrent.

The Songshu sect also employed a number of servants who would do mundane tasks unworthy of cultivators striving to reach immortality; most of them were beastfolk- or as people said in this day and age, “yaren”- as apparently their animal-esque bodies, stronger than bodies of regular humans, were capable of sustaining greater burdens, which made them perfectly fit for all sorts of menial and taxing jobs.

Lan Caolu initially looked down on such division of labor; back in his times the monks did all the work on their hallowed grounds, and outsiders weren’t welcome; but the monks were gone, and after meeting with a certain bright young lady, he began questioning the ways of old more and more frequently.

Which of course, didn’t mean he absolutely approved of how things are done nowadays either….thought the old man as a group of drunk youths wearing white robes adorned with green pine tree patterns passed them. There must be some other way…

“In that case, why don’t you do something about it?” asked Bai Caoren, who was walking by his side, and must have deduced his thoughts by meticulously studying his less than amused facial expressions.

“If only it was that easy!” he exclaimed dismissively, though he knew deep inside that she’s right; he, among all people, was the one who could actually make a change…and right now, he was merely making excuses not to.

Suddenly a commotion broke out in the middle of the plaza; some young man was kicking a dog mercilessly, and his friends formed a circle around and made were laughing and making mocking comments, seemingly enjoying the suffering their comrade brought upon the defenseless animal….a bottle of wine was passed from one to another, and they shared the joy, not caring at all about the scene they were making

Apparently, animals in general and stray dogs in particular were forbidden to encroach on sectarian grounds, as they were thought to be unclean. Thus, the youth in question was merely teaching the creature a “lesson”. Of course, a dog didn’t understand human language, and couldn’t learn anything from this event- if it even survived it in the first place, which judging on the intensity of kicks it received, seemed most unlikely.

Lan Caolu felt his heart skip a beat, as he examined the young man’s features; for a moment he imagined it was his son and was overtaken by despair; alas, upon closer examination it appeared it wasn’t so, and a sigh of audible relief followed.

Still, the fact remained, that the dog was being murdered right in front of their eyes; not being able to stand looking at such morbid spectacle, he reached for his sword; only to realize he had none.

Ah…old habits don’t die easily, do they? He threw away his weapon 80 years ago, on that faithful day when he left the assembly in rage and shame, figuring he wouldn’t have any more need of it; yet his body remembered what his mind wished to forget.

Perhaps it’s for the best…issues like these should be solved with diplomacy. It wouldn’t exactly make a good first impression if he spilled blood on his first visit to the Songshu district.

Just as he was approaching the group of young people with determined intent to give them a lecture about virtue and benevolence, Bai Caoren tagging some distance behind him, a new and unexpected development occurred.

Suddenly the man who was kicking the poor canine quite literally froze in terror. The leg, ready to take another swing just a moment ago, was now enshrined in a thick layer of ice, and it seemed to be slowly spreading up with every passing second.

No sooner than he realized what is wrong, a powerful punch sent him flying, his body rolling over the pavement like a ragdoll.

“What are you doing to that dog, you scoundrel!?” boomed a deep voice, belonging to a tall, muscular youth, whose stature and sheer muscle mass differentiated him so much from the usually lanky students of cultivation.

And his identity was….

“I-I’ll remember that, Lan Chaoxiang! I’ll tell on you to the master!”

“Did you say anything!?”

“Ahh, n-nothing!”

And so the offender limped away comically, supported by his friends, and soon enough they disappeared in the crowd, nervously looking behind their backs until they could no longer be seen.

“Is it ok? What if he’s permanently injured?” Inquired Bai Caoren, who appeared seemingly out of nowhere by Lan Chaoxiang side.

The young man picked up the scowling dog with just one hand and examined it.

“You have a point; we need to take it to a medic who’ll have a closer look at him….”

“…..”

“I don’t think she quite meant the dog there” interluded Lan Caolu, timidly coming out of the small crowd of onlookers that gathered around during the event. “At the very least you could have unfrozen that guy’s leg…”

“Huh? It can freeze away for all I care. Who are you to…”

Just when he was about to lash out, irritated, the youth recognized his father.

And so, in these most unusual circumstances, the two had their family reunion- meeting again for the first time in 8 years.

………

After making sure that the dog is going to be fine, the three of them went to a local teashop, and talked over various matters over Lan Caolu’s favorite black liquid.

His son preferred green tea, and Bai Caoren had…some boiled water.

Just…water.

“I did not spread the rumors about you; but I know who did, and it is partially my fault” the young man shook his head, and bowed pensively “the culprit responsible for leaking the secret of your identity is the current grandmaster of the sect, in whom I confined a lot of personal information during my initial years here, mistakenly believing him to be a good person; I didn’t have many adult role models in childhood, and looked up to him in childish innocence….”

That last line stung; Lan Caolu turned his gaze away, embarrassed. Seeing that, Lan Chaoxiang immediately retailed

“It’s not your fault, father! I know how stricken by grief you were after mother passed away; you honored her memory in most honorable way…”

Ah…so he understood.

Seeing what a responsible, kind, and strong young man his son grew up to be, old man Lan felt tears prickle his eyes, and as embarrassing as it was, he was about to start crying for real; until Lan Chaoxiang’s next question brought him back to reality.

“By the way, father…” he made a dramatic pause then pointed at Bai Caoren “who is this creep?”

“……”

“Ah, t-this…this is miss Bai Caoren, a woman of great intellect and…virtue…”

“And she’s accompanying you because…?”

“Uhh, after arriving in Yafan, we grew…close”

“I had no idea you have such tastes!”

“As scholars! In the library I mean! Miss Bai is a traveling scholar, and I was enamored by her..knowledge! And virtue!” despite his age, Lan Caolu felt frantic to quickly clear up any misunderstandings that might have arisen. He was doing it…to defend Bai Caoren’s honor, that’s right!

Meanwhile, the young lady in question was calmly sipping on water, seemingly not paying attention to the back and forth going between the two of them.

Ahh…you could at least say something, thought Lan Caolu bitterly. Why are you so calm about i!?

“And the bandages are…?” Inquired Lan Chaoxiang, seemingly still unconvinced of the woman’s “virtues”.

“My cat scratched me~” she answered with a forced, overly wide smile.

“And the black robes…?”

Hearing this question, her expression stiffened, and she answered seriously.

“I am not to be blamed for my sister’s actions”

Apparently, Wuyun sect got somewhat infamous in recent years. The current “Supreme Leader”, as their current grandmaster styled herself, was mercilessly subduing other sects, and quickly growing in power- supposedly there wasn’t a crime she wouldn’t commit in order to grow stronger and expand her domain…Lan Caolu couldn’t help but be reminded of Red Emperor, and he wondered how fickle human nature can get.

However….

“Miss Bai is not like that! She’s a traveling scholar, and she’s mundane!” he exclaimed, dedicated to clearing up the young girl’s name. “I was…frankly speaking quite nervous before talking to you, afraid you became like one of these young masters and counted on her calming presence to help me talk to you!”

“Young masters, huh…” Lan Chaoxiang seemingly dropped the investigation and changed the subject. “While the founder of the sect was alive, Songshu was a place of discipline and virtue; however, after he passed away, his son took over, and everything went wrong…”

And so, the sect was divided; between those who liked the new, lax rules; and those who wished to see the return on of old discipline. The latter was centered around a man named Yao Erzhan, who used to train directly under the founder, and was wildly known to be a person of unblemished character; however, he still didn’t have enough support to peacefully usurp power and restore the old order.

“Then perhaps he should do it non-peacefully~?” suggested Bai Caoren, still casually sipping on her water. Is this cup bottomless?

“That is not an option….neither master Yao Erzhan, nor his followers will stand for needless bloodshed” proclaimed the young man in a tone that left no place for further argument.

A resolution was born within the old man’s heart. He stood up, even though he didn’t really have to, and said in a strong, if ever so slightly trembling voice.

“But what if…a venerable war hero appeared…and offered his support to this Yao Erzhan?”

Lan Chaoxiang looked at him with disbelief in his eyes, while Bai Caoren nodded approvingly over her cup of water. Did she know he was going to reach this conclusion sooner or later? No matter…..

“Think about it…” continued the old man “the rumors about my survival had already spread beyond Yafan, and many new people flocked to Chenfei, attracted by my reputation. Perhaps I could be of use…”

“That’s not the issue!” exclaimed his son, seemingly agitated “I know how you value your secluded life in tranquility! The peace and quiet! You will not be able to get any of that for a long time if you go this route! Is this truly what you want!?”

Lan Caolu gulped. True, peace and quiet are precious things, that people grow to appreciate with age. He’d love nothing more than to have more of it…but….

He remembered his shameful, prideful retreat from the assembly hall all these years ago. If only he took responsibility back then…perhaps this age wouldn’t have come! So…

“This is something I have to do. Consider it the final great act of war hero, Lan Caolu! And if we fail to fix Songshu….” he hit his fist against the table, which attracted unwarranted attention of several other customers “…then I will start my own sect, in Chenfei, and teach the proper cultivation methods and values to the next generation, even if I have to do it myself!”