Book 4, Chapter 255: The Wind Blows All On Its Own

After Han Cheng put down the phone, he turned around and shivered, because he saw Han Kuang standing at the stairs. “D-Dad...” he stammered.

Han Kuang stared at him but didn’t fly into a rage like Han Cheng thought he would. Instead, he said, “Come to the study. I need to speak with you.”

Han Cheng followed him obediently. The truth was that he refused to come home because he was scared of his father. Han Kuang had always been stern with him and had high hopes for him, so he was under constant pressure. He had always wanted to break free of that weight of expectations, and whenever he had the chance to leave, he didn’t want to come back.

“Sit. You’ve seen your cousin, I presume?” Han Kuang asked him to take a seat once they were in the study.

“I did,” Han Cheng said as he sat down.

“How does he seem to you?”

“I couldn’t see through him.”

“That’s about right. It looks like you still don’t know anything about him,” Han Kuang said and handed the newspaper to Han Cheng before motioning for him to read the lines he had marked with a red pen. “Read it.”

Han Cheng did. “Chen Chuan, director... of the Defense Bureau?!”

He was so shocked that he whipped his head up at Han Kuang. His father motioned for him to calm down and continue reading, so he did, and his eyes became as wide as saucers. “A m-martial arts master?”

“Understand now?” Han Kuang asked.

“Yeah.” Han Cheng gulped. It was no wonder why Central City suddenly went into martial law in the morning and why everyone said that they were welcoming an important person into the city. That important person was his cousin.

Then, he suddenly remembered their conversation, and he started panicking.

“What’s wrong?” Han Kuang asked with a frown after noticing it.

Han Cheng’s face fell. “Dad, I might have... told Chen Chuan all about the garrison’s dirty laundry.”

Han Kuang fell silent for a while before saying, “Even if you said it, nothing is going to change.”

“It isn’t?”

“Do you really think the higher-ups don’t know anything about this? It’s just that they can’t deal with certain things right now, or should I say, it’s not the time yet,” Han Kuang said grimly.

Han Cheng was shocked, because he deciphered something extraordinary from his father’s words. “Are you saying...” he started tentatively.

“Be honest. Do you have any ties with them?” Han Kuang glared at him sternly.

“No, no. You know me. I’m too much of a coward. Some of those people did want to invest in my company, but I didn’t dare to accept their offer.” Han Cheng quickly shook his head in denial.

“That’d be for the best. If you do have any ties, cut them right now. I don’t know what the central government is thinking, but I have a feeling that things have become a little unusual. Behave for the time being,” Han Kuang warned him sternly.

Han Cheng nodded rapidly. He had never seen his father talk about the central government so seriously before, or rather, he had never spoken about such things with Han Cheng at all. After some hesitation, he said, “About my cousin...”

Han Kuang shook his head. “I don’t know whether he’s really here just to visit us, but with his current status and power, no matter where he goes, things won’t stay peaceful.”

***

Chen Chuan looked through some of the information and newspapers of Shannan Road in his guest room. Han Kuang had given all of them to him. Since he was already here, he might as well get to know the place.

The most distinctive thing about Shannan Road was the resistance group Han Cheng mentioned. Since Shannan Road was located at the center of the Great Shun Republic, it had a high population and a large number of peripheral cities, along with plenty of remnants from the old era.

During the age of the mega alliance, some of the militia had joined it, but after it collapsed, the militia was suppressed by the companies and government. Even so, they didn’t completely disappear and continued stubbornly fighting back. A big part of the reason behind it was the underground city.

It was different from Jibei Road’s lower city district in that it had underground tunnels that led to the peripheral cities. This was something unique to Shannan Road. The resistance groups used this environment to keep fighting against the companies and government. However, he had a feeling that their presence meant that neither the companies nor the government really wanted to get rid of them.

Mrs. Ling knocked on the door. “Young Master Chen, the madam asked me to deliver some snacks to you.”

“Please come in. The door’s not locked.”

Mrs. Ling came in and put a tray of soup dumplings in front of Chen Chuan.

“Thank you, Mrs. Ling,” he said.

“You’re welcome.”

Once Mrs. Ling left, Chen Chuan took a look at the tray of soup dumplings, but he didn’t immediately start eating them. Instead, he shifted the tray away to reveal a piece of paper underneath.

He picked it up and read it. Interest flickered in his eyes. After he finished reading it, he went over the signage.

Chang Shuyu, Shannan Road’s purity faction branch leader.

A ray of light shot out from his fingers, and the paper was reduced to ashes that fell on the table. Then, he picked up the spoon and bowl from the tray and slowly started to eat.

Fifteen minutes later, Mrs. Ling walked in. Despite seeing the ashes, she didn’t bat an eye. She simply wiped them off with a rag. After the tray was clean, she picked it up, bowed to Chen Chuan and left after shutting the door behind her.

Chen Chuan stood up and took a look at the map of Shannan Road in his room. Before he left, he had checked it and learned that there was a purity faction branch here, though most of its members were in the merged space. The martial arts master parked in the merged space was likely Chang Shuyu. There was no way of making sure of it, though, since every martial arts master’s work and personal life weren’t public.

Chen Chuan had a lot of autonomy. As long as the country’s safety wasn’t at stake, no one could force him to do something he didn’t want to do. However, he didn’t mind working together with Chang Shuyu on the things mentioned in the note.

He spent a bit more time memorizing the map before going to the door and locking it. Then, he opened his suitcase to take out the medicine he had brought with him. It was all from Eternal Shore.

Most of it was medicine under the country’s control, so only a limited supply if it was provided annually. Its price was also several times the ingredients’ price. Eternal Shore lived up to its name as the country’s firearms company. It had plenty of money and was generous with it. They gave so many resources to him that they would cover all the energy he was going to use over this period of time.

He grabbed one of the medicines and took it before lighting the artifact he got from Jenkar. Once he was done, he began the day’s training.

Over the next three days, he only moved around the residential area, since his status wouldn’t allow him to go to Central City. The moment he did, the entire place would get locked down, and he would have an entire motorcade escorting him. It wouldn’t look nice and gave other people trouble, so he decided not to go anywhere.

But he did find a training ground close to the lake, which had everything. It was also located near the residential area, so he decided to do his daily training there. After learning about it, the manager of the residential area made the training ground and the places around it forbidden territory, so no one bothered him over the next few days.

One day, after he finished training, he left the training ground and sat down in the pavilion next to the lake while drinking the nectar he got from Veshahan.

After a while, he saw a woman in white across the lake. She had a long sword in hand and was dressed in an outfit that looked like it came straight from the old era. Her robes had a crossed collar, wide sleeves, and a dress so long that it reached the floor. She walked across the water toward him while leaving ripples on the surface. The dress fluttered gently like a white lotus on the water.

The woman appeared to be young, but her biofield told Chen Chuan that she was actually ancient.

Once the woman made it across the lake and arrived in front of the pavilion, she introduced herself. “Please call me Aunty Bai, young man. I’m the security advisor of Shannan Road.”

“Have a seat, Senior Bai,” Chen Chuan said. She should be the martial arts master stationed in Shannan Road’s Central City. Since she seemed to be on the older side, it was likely that she had been in the city for a long time.

“I don't need to,” Aunty Bai said and cast a glance at the nectar beside Chen Chuan. Then, she removed a pouch from her waist and tossed it to him. “I haven’t drunk it before. Try it.”

Chen Chuan caught it and took a sniff of a thick fragrance coming out of it. It was some sort of calorie-dense nutritional fluid. He took a sip and nodded before commenting, “It’s good.”

Aunty Bai observed him for a while before saying, “I can see the determination to climb up in your eyes. I had the same spirit and drive as you did when I was younger.”

“What about now?” Chen Chuan asked.

“I no longer think of such impractical things,” Aunty Bai said with a shake of her head. She cast a glance at Chen Chuan. “Once you’ve experienced all that I have, you’ll understand what I’m saying. Listen to me. While you’re young, get all that you can. Don’t think about anything else.”

“You seem like you have something to say to me,” Chen Chuan stated after observing her for a while.

Aunty Bai sighed. “Can’t you tell? Your arrival here has affected us. Many people can’t do their things, so they want you to leave as soon as possible.”

“I believe I understand what you mean.” Chen Chuan nodded.

Aunty Bai was pleased with his reply and opened her palm. Something flew over to Chen Chuan. “Good. This is for you. I made it myself. Take it as a greeting gift.”

Chen Chuan took a look and found that it was a bag of incense. The smell was relaxing, so it should be something that could help with mental training.

“Also, it’s not as if Shannan Road doesn’t know any etiquette. When you leave, we’ll prepare a parting gift for you. We won’t let you leave empty-handed,” Aunty Bai said and turned around to leave. Clearly, she had no intention of staying.

“One moment, Senior Bai.”

Aunty Bai stopped and turned her head around.

The bag fell on the table as Chen Chuan stood up from his seat. While staring at her calmly, he said sincerely, “I understand what you mean, Senior Bai, so let me tell you what I think. Could you stay here and fight against me?”

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.