Father!

A few hours had passed. They rode in silence, not saying a word. Huan Chao was leading the way. They were a long way from the town. When people found Huan Kong's body, they would have no trouble figuring out who had killed him. The battlefield was littered with stone fragments, showing that the fight had lasted a long time.

 

Their life in Bitter Sea Town was over. They would never return there again. Huan Fu would probably send word to other nearby towns to inform them of murderers of Huan Kong.

 

Huan Wei walked along, scratching his left palm. It had itched ever since they left Huan Kong's side. Now it was almost peeling off his skin.

 

The young man had never been to this area. They were heading north of Bitter Sea Town. Towards the Bright Forest.

 

The Bright Forest was famous for the powerful natural monsters that lived in it, and for the variety of valuable plants. It was an area often visited by cultivators. It was also dangerous. It was not a place that could only be crossed with the second stage of Body Tempering and the second step of Path of the Earth.

 

Their walk took them through the trees. The young man saw rocky mountains stretching off to their right. Some of them led up to the clouds.

 

To their left was a plain stretching as far as the eye could see. A wide river bisected the plain, winding its way through the mountains towards the ocean.

 

Huan Chao had no doubts about where he was going. He made his way towards the mountains. Huan Wei, on the other hand, only observed this place for the first time.

 

Looking ahead, he saw tall trees. The trees in the forest in Bitter Sea Town were a quarter the size of these. He saw a variety of flowers and plants he had never seen before. The branches of the trees danced with the wind. Fireflies roamed the forest, glowing everywhere. Huan Wei understood why it was called the Bright Forest.

 

The young man broke the silence. "Where are we going? I've heard that the Bright Forest is dangerous."

 

Huan Chao continued walking without answering him. The riverbank was like a swamp. They walked with their feet in the mud. Soon Huan Wei saw a bridge ahead.

 

The suspension bridge was tied to many stakes in a row. Apparently they kept pining them until they hit hard soil. The bridge looked very old. It was hard to tell if the planks were rotting. Even the ropes were linting.

 

"Do you know a road through the forest?" Huan Wei spoke. "There must be a road to Broken Mountain Town. Otherwise people wouldn't be able to travel."

 

Huan Chao didn't even bother to turn his head to look at him. Huan Wei was starting to get frustrated. He couldn't stand this man ignoring him so much. When they reached the bridge, he spoke again.

 

"I'm talking to you, can't you hear me?"

 

Instead of answering him, Huan Chao stretched out his foot and pressed a little against the bridge. He was testing how long the planks would hold. With one hand he pulled the rope. It seemed like he hadn't been here for a long time.

 

He took a step and started walking across the bridge. Huan Wei followed him with quick steps. He knew that his father had entered the Bright Forest before. But apparently he hadn't been here for 14 years.

 

"Have you gone deaf?"

 

"When will you shut the fuck up?"

 

"When you stop ignoring me." Huan Wei stepped in front of him and blocked his path. "After all these years, you suddenly act differently and don't answer me."

 

Huan Chao grabbed him by the collar and threw him back. Huan Wei, who had fallen on the rotten boards, carefully stood up when he heard a few of them crack. His brow was furrowed. He needed an answer. His father had no right to leave him in the dark. He was tired of it.

 

Huan Chao calmly crossed to the opposite shore. He was behind him. The young man was going to try once more to start a conversation, but he gave up. He hated it when this man was silent. It was like talking to a wall. He would never stop being stubborn and start talking.

 

Huan Wei looked at the forest ahead of them. In a few minutes they would be among the trees. Huan Chao seemed to know where he was going. The young man had no idea. He didn't know which way the road was, nor what was in the direction they were going.

 

As they entered the trees, Huan Chao stopped and put his hand on a tree. He lowered his head for a few seconds as he looked at the bark. Huan Wei asked him, "What happened?" but he did not answer. Was he using some kind of navigation method? The fireflies were running away from them.

 

When dawn came, sunlight seeped through the dense foliage of the trees and fell on the ground. Huan Chao put his hands to his mouth and let out a loud scream.

 

At that moment the young man saw many creatures running away from them through the bushes and over the trees. By the time his father shouted once more, there was literally nothing left nearby.

 

Huan Wei kept scratching his left hand. When he looked inside his hand, he saw that it was bleeding. Now it stopped itching and started to hurt.

 

He followed Huan Chao as he looked at the trees in the Bright Forest. The huge trees must have been almost 20 meters tall. There were many taller ones.

 

Every few steps Huan Wei saw a plant he had never seen before. Some were a lovely blue, others a menacing red. Some looked like the herbs sold in the market, made into salads. Others were colorful, as if they had been painted over.

 

After a few hours of Huan Wei looking around, they finally arrived at a campsite. It was empty because Huan Chao had been scaring the animals with his occasional shouts. At first, Huan Wei had thought that the shouts would attract natural monsters, but none came.

 

There were two big rocks in the campsite. In the middle of them was a fire pit. Huan Chao took a metal-like stick out of his pocket and threw it to Huan Wei. "Make a fire."

 

Huan Wei looked at the stick he caught in the air. "How do you use this thing?"

 

"Collect some dry grass. Put the stick against them and rub one of your weapons hard against it."

 

Huan Wei did as he was told. He gathered some dry grass and twigs and placed them in the fire pit. Then he held a stick against them and rubbed one of his daggers hard. Sparks flew. Soon one of the grasses caught fire. Huan Wei blew on it to make it blaze.

 

When he looked up at his father, he saw Huan Chao looking at the rock he was sitting on. He wasn't even looking at him. Naturally, he was not going to appreciate his skill.

 

The young man stopped for a moment. He realized that he had come to expect this man's appreciation too much. He had to distance himself from this. He knew Huan Chao best. He was not someone to expect appreciation from.

 

After the fire was lit, Huan Wei sat on the other rock and waited. His father was staring fixedly at a spot on the rock. For the second time, the young man saw that his father's eyes were wet.

 

"I will give you the chance to live the life you have always wanted." Huan Chao suddenly spoke.

 

"What?"

 

He turned his head to look at his son. His brow was furrowed. "Now you can live the life you've always dreamed of. I won't be by your side."

 

Huan Wei swallowed. He didn't know what to say. Where had this come from? Everything was so sudden.

 

"What are you trying to say, Father? Is this the place to talk about this?" There was a fear inside him that he couldn't make sense of. Something was very disturbing to his soul.

 

Huan Chao stood up. The young man stood up immediately.

 

"Isn't this what you wanted? A life without your father living on your back. Now you have that chance."

 

Huan Wei swallowed involuntarily again. Before he could say anything, Huan Chao took out a necklace he was wearing around his neck. On the tip was a tiny box. He detached the box from the chain and threw it in front of the young man. Huan Wei looked at the box for a moment, but then turned back to his father.

 

"Your mother and I bought it for you. It will help you enter the first tier of Body Tempering."

 

The young man looked at the box in amazement. It was a gift from a time when his parents were still happy. Slowly he bent down, picked it up and opened it. Inside was a large pill. It had a green color more vibrant than the leaves.

 

At that moment, all the bad things he could remember for the past 14 years came flooding back to him. His angry eyes met Huan Chao's as he squeezed the box in his hand.

 

"My whole life would have been easier if you had given me this earlier."

 

"I don't care." Huan Chao turned his back on him. "Don't get the feeling that I love you. Nothing in this life has ever hurt me as much as you have."

 

Huan Chao started walking into the trees. "It's over, Wei. I'm out of your life. You're on your own from now on."

 

Huan Wei walked after him. "Are you out of your mind? What are you trying to do? Are you going to go alone? Do you think they'll forgive you or something?"

 

"What happens to me is none of your business."

 

"You..." Huan Wei understood at that moment. Huan Chao had nothing to live for. Maybe that's why he drank and drank. He couldn't escape his thoughts and his pain. He had to silence his mind. But now he had given up. "You want to die."

 

"I've wanted to die since the day you were born. More than I want you to die."

 

"At least let's go somewhere safe. Then you can do whatever you want. They won't let you die easily if you come back from here."

 

"None of your business." Huan Chao started walking deeper into the forest. "You are now alone with your own fate. This is the last favor I will do you."

 

When Huan Chao disappeared into the trees, the young man wanted to follow him. But he took one step and fell to the ground. His legs gave out. His eyes filled with tears. "Father!" he shouted after him. Yet he couldn't stop him. "FATHER!"

 

When Huan Chao disappeared from sight, the young man was lying on the ground. He had one hand outstretched towards him. At that moment he was not sure if this was what he had dreamed of. The sunlight that was born to illuminate the world had left him in darkness. The fear he felt inside dominated his body.

 

"FATHER!"