Mount Yunmeng, also known as Qingyan Mountain, was the hermitage of Gui Guzi during the Warring States period. It served as a sacred land of learning for students like Su Qin, Zhang Yi, Sun Bin, Pang Juan, Mao Sui, and Li Mu, and was considered the premier ancient military academy of the Yan and Huang eras.

Part of the Taihang Mountain Range, Mount Yunmeng has always been a popular tourist destination. It is home to many poems, cliff inscriptions, and steles left by scholars and literati throughout the dynasties. At its peak lies an elevated grassland—the Yunmeng Prairie—offering a view reminiscent of the northern frontiers.

This was the extent of Wu Tian’s knowledge of Mount Yunmeng.

I’ll have to see if Ghost Valley is really up there. And if my sword scabbard is there, I’m taking it back. If they won’t return it? Death. Annihilation. Perdition. Checkmate.

“What’s wrong?” Murong Yezi asked as she cleared the dishes.

“Wu Fa and Wang Cai have been taken away,” Wu Tian explained. “But don’t worry, the ones who took them are from Ghost Valley. They won’t be harmed.”

If those people had wanted to kill Wu Fa and Wang Cai, they would have done so already. Instead, they had only taken them away. This meant that even if they intended to cause trouble for Wu Fa and Wang Cai, they wouldn’t kill them.

Wu Tian didn’t hide this from Murong Yezi. After concealing things from her once before, he had learned that his mother could be quite sensitive. She could forgive someone once, but forgiving them a second time was much harder.

“I see.” Murong Yezi nodded, masking her feelings well, but Wu Tian’s sharp gaze instantly detected the sorrow in her eyes.

Wu Fa was taken, and no one can save him! But Wu Tian… he will definitely bring him back.

“Dad, are you going out? Take me with you! Take me!” the little one cried out excitedly. The door to adventure has opened! The theme song from “Digimon” blared in her mind.

Qin Yuhan shook her head. “You can’t. You have school.”

“I want to take a leave of absence,” the little one said, her attitude firm.

Qin Yuhan had a headache. “But will the principal and your teachers agree? Unless we get sick leave, but that would require a fake doctor’s note or something.”

The little one giggled slyly, thinking she wouldn’t need one.

Wu Tian thought about it and agreed. If she were to change schools, Kong Zhiyuan would probably cry his eyes out. Wu Tian was sure of it.

He then recounted the events at Jixia Academy from that morning. Murong Yezi and Qin Yuhan listened in stunned silence. They knew the little one was clever, but they never imagined she was so advanced that she could already take the middle school entrance exam at just four years old. That level of intelligence was simply beyond belief.

Geniuses certainly existed; stories of children attending Harvard at a young age were common enough. The key difference was that those children had been taught, whereas no one had ever formally educated the little one.

“Take her with you. Let her have some fun,” Qin Yuhan finally said after a moment of contemplation. After all, playing is in a four-year-old’s nature.

She looked at Wu Tian earnestly. “You must protect her.”

Wu Tian nodded.

“Awesome!” The little one danced with joy, her tiny hands and feet flailing in a way that was both adorable and comically reminiscent of a goofy husky.

That night, the little one slept with Qin Yuhan. As the night deepened, Wu Tian slipped out of his room and went to Qin Yuhan’s. Though she had locked the door, it posed no challenge for him to open it silently.

“What are you doing?” Qin Yuhan was taken aback when Wu Tian gently woke her.

“Eat this.” Wu Tian handed her an Elixir.

Unlike Wang Dawan, Qin Yuhan didn’t hesitate for a second. Filled with absolute trust in Wu Tian, she swallowed the Elixir. Instantly, she felt a change and sat down cross-legged to begin cultivating.

Wu Tian stood quietly to the side. An hour later, Qin Yuhan opened her eyes. Seeing him still there, her heart warmed.

“When you leave, I’ll… I’ll prepare myself,” she said suddenly in a low voice, a mix of shyness and fear in her tone. “When you come back from Mount Yunmeng, if you still want me… then I’m yours.”

Wu Tian’s expression remained calm. He understood what she meant, gave a single nod, and left.

Qin Yuhan’s heart sank. He didn’t react at all? Am I that unattractive to him?

「The next day」

Qin Yuhan and Murong Yezi had already packed some clothes for Wu Tian. Wu Tian had Cui Chong pick them up for delivery to Cui Tian at Mount Yunmeng.

Cui Chong smiled and said, “I’ve already called my nephew. In the Mount Yunmeng area, he’s a man of great influence. Mr. Wu Tian, you can stay there as long as you like.”

Wu Tian nodded, then left with an easy grace, holding the little one in his arms. His luggage had already been sent ahead. This spur-of-the-moment trip was truly carefree.

Wu Tian took the little one to the airport, choosing the nearly empty first-class cabin. After a short while, a woman entered. She looked to be in her twenties, fashionably dressed with a stylish short bob. She wore sunglasses, as if to avoid being recognized. One could tell, however, that she was a round-faced beauty.

As she entered first class, she was about to take a seat when she noticed Wu Tian. She took off her sunglasses, rubbed her eyes, and looked again. After confirming it was him, she excitedly took the empty seat beside them. “Wu Tian? Is that you? It really is! It’s been forever!”

“Chen Meiling? Is that you?” Looking at the meticulously made-up, stylish woman before him, Wu Tian couldn’t help but recall a girl from his elementary school days.

Back then, even wearing jeans was rare for girls in his school. She hadn’t been so fashionable, running around everywhere like a wild tomboy. He and she had been great friends. They had even bathed together as children.

At the time, she had asked curiously, “What’s that extra thing you have down there?”

But things were different now. Seeing her like this, Wu Tian figured that if she walked down the street, most people would probably call her a goddess.

“Is this your daughter? She’s so cute,” Chen Meiling said after greeting Wu Tian, her attention shifting to the little one by his side.

Wu Tian smiled slightly and told the little one, “Be good, call her auntie.”

The little one rolled her eyes at her dad’s lack of social grace, then turned to Chen Meiling with a sweet smile. “Sister.”

“Good girl, such a good girl.” Chen Meiling was overjoyed, thinking the little one was much cuter than Wu Tian. “Little one, tell Sister your name.”

“Gugu!”

“What about your full name?” Chen Meiling asked.

“We haven’t decided on one yet,” Wu Tian said.

Chen Meiling nodded. This little one’s mother must be extraordinary. Why else wouldn’t a child have a formal name? An ordinary family wouldn’t do something like that. As for Wu Tian’s family background? Ha! What background could he possibly have?

“By the way, what have you been up to lately?” When old classmates met, this question was inevitable, regardless of their intentions.

Wu Tian looked surprised. “You don’t know?”

Chen Meiling chuckled. “I don’t.”

“You must have been living under a rock,” Wu Tian said with a grin, shaking his head. If Chen Meiling were still in Yang City, she would have definitely known about him.

“Living under a rock? Are you kidding? Don’t you know what I do for a living?” Chen Meiling was equally surprised that Wu Tian was unaware of her profession.

The two of them suddenly felt that something was off.

They locked eyes and asked in unison, “What exactly do you do?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep