Chapter 37, Reunion

The horse rattled past another row of houses before pulling up to the door   of a large and imposing two stories building.   A small sign with an elegant scroll work design hung in front, announcing it as *Spiritual Tavern.* below it has the words *Close.*

The horse had only just stopped when Li Jain who was riding on it called, "We have arrived."  He stepped down off its back with the children, then took hold of its reins, leading it around the side of the building toward a long, low stable. The horses' hooves clattered against wooden planks, echoing loudly.    

"This is not Longxu village. Where are we going?"    Yujian asked as he walked alongside his brother, keeping close to him so that he could protect him from any sudden surprises. 

Li Jain took notice of this scene and smiled.    His eyes were full of mischief.  "You will see soon enough. You must keep up with me if you want to find out." He laughed at the twin puzzled faces and reached out to open the gate.  

Yujian, looking nervous, hesitantly followed him. As they entered the yard through the stable door, the first thing they saw was a little boy sitting under the pavilion, writing on a slate. He looked around as they approached and immediately smiled.  He stood and ran over to meet them.  " Daddy, you're back. "

The boy ran into his arms, hugging him tightly. Li Jain held him for a moment, letting the child hug him back. "Yeah, I'm back with your brothers."

Li Juanxin pulled away, beaming from ear to ear. "Eldest brother, brother Han, welcome home. I missed you so much."

Li Yujian was slightly put off by how cheerful Juanxin seemed and spoke up first. "Thanks Xin,  we missed you too."   

'I told you things had changed over the years. Look at how cheerful Xin is now.' Yujian said  inwardly through sound transmission.

Li Yuhan nodded along and spoke, 'You might be right. When Xin threw himself into father's arms, I was slightly taken aback. But seeing how naturally the other party picked him up,  I suppose it wasn't entirely unexpected. 'He thought. Then added more seriously, 'If things are really better, then the days to my retirement would no longer be a dream.'

'Retirement? You don't have a job.' Yujian pointed out dryly.    

'Come on, A person like you who knows nothing of show business is not expected to understand anyway.' Li Yuhan scoffed.

'Give me a break. No one cares about the real you; why would they care about the fake Li Yuhan?' Yujian retorted.

'You need to be adjusted. There's absolutely no need for you to direct all the time.' Li Yuhan sighed

"Come in." Li Jain called out snapping the twin out of their thoughts.

The twin had been communicating through sound transmission since he met them. Li Jain was amazed at the fact that the twins were able to use such an advanced sound technique at their level. He wanted to sneak a peek from time to time, but was worried that he might startle them and their guard towards him would be very high. 

They both followed Li Jain into the house. Yujian and Yuhan were surprised by the cleanliness, neatness and order of everything inside the mansion.  The rooms were all arranged and decorated neatly without clutter or messiness; not that they had ever seen a place like that. Yujian and Yuhan were stunned by their surroundings, they had overlooked the house from its outer appearance.

"Xiao Xin, where are your brothers?" Li Jain asked while looking around for them.

"Oh," Xin replied, "Brother Cheng and brother Sheng are training at the other side of the house. Brother Zhang and Xuan are playing games in their room." He answered, pointing in the direction of a closed off hallway.  They could hear giggling from within the room.

"Alright, tell them that their older brothers are back." Li Jain instructed.

Xin nodded. "Yes sir!" Before scampering off down the hallway. 

Yujian and Yuhan stared at each other in awe.  

Li Jain smiled again and turned to face them. "Your room is the second one on the left.  I am going outside for a few minutes, I will come get you when it's time for dinner. '' He gestured with his head towards the room, indicating that they should go in.

Li Yuhan followed Li Yujian inside, still looking in wonder at the mansion. Yuhan couldn't believe the size of the house and the beautiful furniture and decorations.  In contrast  to the house, their room had plain white walls, simple but comfortable furniture and a window that opened to a large, spacious garden.

Yuhan flopped onto the bed and stared out the window into the backyard.  "Jian, Cheng and Zhang were brought back as well."   He commented, turning to look at Yujian.

Yujian nodded his head.  "That makes sense logically. They were sold to a restaurant and should have been easy to redeem. After some observation, this new father of ours doesn't seem to have ill intentions towards us, which worries me more." Yujian admitted, looking uncomfortable with the idea of being separated once more.

"Oh, brother. Do you have to make things so complicated? Or are you unwilling to let me retire and live a simple life?"  Yuhan exclaimed.

"You suck as a performer, why are you still proud?" Yujian snapped back. " Even with your mask on, I can still see what's underneath it. "

"Eldest brothers, welcome back." The five children entered and greeted.

Yuhan smiled widely at them and went straight over to hug his younger brothers. After not seeing each other for a year, they were excited to be reunited again.

...

After the excitement,  they began talking with each other as usual.  "So when did you notice Father's change?" Li Yujian asked.

"About a month ago. When he stood up for me at the time, Xi Han came to collect his money. After that, he began to work hard and treated us  better than normal. We also received a lot of gifts." Jing Sheng answered.

"He talked about memory loss after his illness. What's that about?" Yujian asked.

Jing Sheng responded. "Daddy was seriously sick a month ago. Which was why I credited money.  Even so, the doctor said he wouldn't survive because his internal organs were damaged due to the use of his spiritual energy. We were all surprised when he woke up."

"From then, he took Sheng up the mountain and brought back lots of delicious food that I didn't know existed. Not to mention his cooking is out of this world so delicious." Jing Xuan  continued excitedly.

"Speaking of which, he sold a rare recipe to boss Lan when he came to redeem us." Li Cheng interjected.

"I think the most astonishing part was that he knew how to make talismen. I only found out when we went to sell the jam." Jing Sheng said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his bag. Opening it up, he took out a small jar filled with jam. 

"The jam is my favorite. It tastes very good." Juanxin said eagerly. "After our living conditions became better in the village, the villagers were all envious of us. The matchmaker came to our house to propose marriage. Daddy wasn't around and brother Zhang told the aunty matchmaker that daddy was into men and couldn't marry a lady." He said smiling.

"What! really?' Li Yuhan was horrified at the revelation.   

" I said he likes men not into men." Li Zhang replied defensively.

"What's the difference?" Juanxin didn't understand.

Li Zhang shook his head in disapproval. "Like is good but *into* makes it sound a bit ambitious."

"How was your dad's reaction when you told him that?" Yujian inquired.

"He didn't find out."

"After all, father is a really nice man. He built an obstacle course for us to train, beat Xi Han who came to bully us, bought us new clothes, fed us three meals a day and refined bloodline awakening potion for us. Right now apart from Xin who's physique is weak, we have all awakened our bloodline." Li Cheng stated proudly.

Li Yujian looked shocked at the statement; never once had he thought of that possibility. His mind flashed to when the two were born; neither were able to manifest their bloodline.

'For someone who was spoiled and never put a pot on a fire to become a great cook. Also an alchemist and a talismen maker, unusual fondness of children? You were right Jing, He's not the same person. Do you think it's soul replacement?' Li Yuhan asked quietly in their mind.

'It doesn't matter. He treats the brothers very well, unlike the selfless dad, he knows the value of children and treats them as his own. Since he'd accept us, we should do the same.' Li Yujian responded firmly.

Yuhan looked at him curiously. "But...?"  He questioned skeptically.

'There's no but. Do you think he owns us? He could have left the brothers to Longxu village the moment he woke up, instead he decided to care for them. Besides, which man nowadays would give up ancenting alone, and decide to keep a branch of children with lots of responsibilities?' Li Yujian explained.

Yuhan thought about it for several seconds. 'You're right, I was mistaken.'

Yujian observed how happy his brothers looked when they spoke about Li Jain. Knowing them for many years, he could tell how much they acknowledge Li Jain. And as the oldest, it'll be good to study the other party before making a rush decision.

The children all know about their eldest brother's ability to sound transmission. Therefore, when the two were staring at each other in a daze with only emotions exchanged, they knew that they were communicating.