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Looking up from his desk, Chen Shi's jaw dropped in shock. He instinctively stood up at the same time and made an open mouth as though wanting to talk but having no words. It had been ten years since he last saw the little boy, but he could remember him even if his appearance had matured over the years.

"Y-you… you finally came back," Chen Shi breathlessly said while trying to calm himself.

Nodding and quietly speaking, Xuan Yueji responded with, "Yeah. Ten years."

"How have you been in the past decade?" Chen Shi automatically asked, wanting to know what the boy has been up to for the past years while also gesturing his hand to tell Xuan Yueji to take a seat.

"Good," Xuan Yueji answered. "It was adventurous… to say the least."

"That's great," Chen Shi breathed out. "You don't know how sad your grandma had been when you left."

Facing Chen Shi with a wry smile, Xuan Yueji said, "She must have cried for days."

"Indeed, she did. It took my mother days to calm down the old lady," Chen Shi told him. "My residence almost passed out from trying to make her stay happy and move on from your disappearance."

Smiling with a soft expression, Xuan Yueji thanked, "Thank you for taking care of my grandmother. She is the only family left I have."

"Aigh… No need. In fact, you helped us out a lot," Chen Shi said. "After you left, the emperor ordered for another secret internal investigation. It was such a pain to have to look through every official, but it was too important to slack on."

"Oh?" Xuan Yueji moaned out in curiosity.

Shaking his head, Chen Shi explained, "We found out that it was not only that Bai clan that had slip ups but many other clans and small officials. Truly… Is the palace not paying them enough?"

"People who are too greedy, will never be fulfilled," Xuan Yueji said.

With a deep sigh, Chen Shi lamented, "Is it so hard to be satisfied with what you already have? I mean… can you even use all that you have collected?"

Giving a light chuckle at Chen Shi's remark, Xuan Yueji answered, "The ones that commit evil deeds to get what they want, will eventually be punished. However, there are many that merely want to spoil the next generation of their family."

Sighing again, Chen Shi said, "Alright. Who cares about that old matter. What are you here for?"

"I want to enlist in the military," Xuan Yueji immediately answered.

"Eh? Why? You don't want to reunite with your grandmother?" Chen Shi asked with surprise and curiosity.

"When it's time to meet, we'll meet. However, I still have something to do," Xuan Yueji told him.

"Wow… You're saying that same phrase again," Chen Shi remarked.

Scrunching his brows in thought, Xuan Yueji asked, "I've said those words before?"

"You said every time I asked you why you were leaving the capital back then," Chen Shi answered.

"Oh," Xuan Yueji replied. "Well, I really do have something to do."

"What is it?" Chen Shi asked with a face that stated that he would not help unless Xuan Yueji told him why.

"I have a condition that makes me bloodthirsty. If I don't kill, I won't feel calm nor humane," Xuan Yueji answered.

Dropping his brush that was in his hand, Chen Shi asked, "What did you say?"

"I don't know since when this started, but if I do not see blood before falling asleep, I'll want to go crazy," Xuan Yueji tried to explain even further.

"That… that is strange. You really don't know when it started? Then, how did you deal with it in these passing years?" Chen Shi asked.

"I've been killing animals in mountains and forests for villages, killing mercenaries that were ordered to spy on the empire, killing bandits here and there, and dealing with people who bring pain to others," Xuan Yueji answered. "Of course, there are more, but these are the basics."

"Then, why can you not continue that?" Chen Shi continued to ask.

"Killing those small numbers of people doesn't seem to be enough these days. Lately, I've been going to sleep more and more in order to stop myself from killing an innocent person," Xuan Yueji answered with a sigh filled full of worry.

"I see, since that is so, then you really have no choice," Chen Shi replied. "Wait… does that mean that you want me to ask them to put you in the warring troops?"

"Yes," Xuan Yueji nodded.

Putting a hand under his chin, Chen Shi went into thought. Lately, there have been no huge wars going on. The only events that are of major importance include only the inner politics between the state officials.

If it was true like Xuan Yueji said, then that meant he needed to switch teams everyday in order to be able to kill freely. It may be weird to send someone to constantly kill. Not only that, he disliked attracting attention, so by telling the commander to send him here and there would only do the opposite of what he liked.

"I can help you enlist, but I only have one method that can help you considering what I've heard," Chen Shi told him. "The only thing is that it might go opposite of what you like on a daily basis."

"What is it?" Xuan Yueji asked.

"I can ask the commander to rotate you so that you can join whichever garrison is preparing to fight for that day. However, there are no soldiers that can rotate at a whim, so this will attract attention. Another thing is…" staring Xuan Yueji up and down, Chen Shi continued, "though you look thin and weak, I'm sure you must have profound martials arts considering the fact that you go out on a daily basis to kill mercenaries and bandits, right?"

"It's fine," Xuan Yueji said, knowing what Chen Shi was trying to tell him. "Since I'm already going to attract attention later on, then might as well exploit it now."

"Huh? What do you want to do?" Chen Shi asked, surprised at Xuan Yueji's quick decision.

"I want to wear a mask so that no one knows who I am," Xuan Yueji said. "The only thing they would know is that my name is Xuan Yueji and I am probably related to Grand Advisor Chen."

"Wait, wait… why probably and not definitely?" Chen Shi asked.

"Because people would think that if I was really related to you, I would not be in the military, but in school," Xuan Yueji said.

"Oh, right," Chen Shi sullenly replied. "I forget that the state thinks of me as a weak scholar."

"Are you not?" Xuan Yueji responded with a tone of wanting to rub in some salt on the wound.

"Hey! Don't think that I've been idle while you left the capital! I've been training everyday! Even if I do not call myself a master, I can say that I'm not an apprentice!" Chen Shi exclaimed with a red face.

"I am jesting," Xuan Yueji said with a joking smile on his face.

Calming down, Chen Shi said, "Honestly, I think that a mask wouldn't be too bad either. Attract too many bees and butterflies and you will have people hunting you down. I'm speaking this from personal experience."

Giving a deep chuckle again, Xuan Yueji replied, "Okay. I know. I'll get some rest now."

As soon as he said that, he laid down on the bench in the study and closed his eyes.

"Wait, you're sleeping here?" Chen Shi asked in shock.

"Where am I supposed to sleep if not here?" Xuan Yueji asked in a relaxed voice with his eyes closed.

"There's a freaking room prepared for you!" Chen Shi quietly shouted while walking up to Xuan Yueji.

"You prepared a room for me?" Xuan Yueji opened his eyes upon hearing the loud voice state.

Sighing, Chen Shi explained, "It's been there since the day your grandmother joined the residence. It was the only way we could keep her happy. Everything that belonged in your room in the Bai residence was moved to that room. It was my mother that suggested we do that. Somehow, it's just a part of the residence now and the perfect place for you."

"Oh, I see…" Xuan Yueji said.

"That's it? You're not going to ask more?" Chen Shi asked with an arched brow.

"Where is it?" Xuan Yueji asked when hearing Chen Shi's question.

Shaking his head and sighing at the same time, Chen Shi said, "Follow me. It's going to take longer than normal to reach your room, but I'm sure you don't want to attract attention, so we're taking detours."

Humming a sound in understanding, Xuan Yueji followed Chen Shi in deep thought. He did not expect the Chen family to be so thoughtful to Su Guang and he did not expect her to be so emotional. This worried him.

How would Su Guang react in the future if she learned of his plans? What would she do if she learned about Bai Shuixian's condition? Not only that, if she met Lu Lianhua, what would she say?