# Chapter 503: Yun Qinghong
The Yun Family estate wasn't large. After walking for only a short while, Yun Xiao stopped in front of an elegant courtyard.
"This is where my father lives," Yun Xiao said, stepping aside. "Because of his health, he rarely goes out. At this time of day, he should be inside."
The courtyard wasn't big. As the residence of the family head, it looked no different from the surrounding courtyards. Yun Che swept his gaze around—the footprints and traces of people were sparse, clearly indicating that few people usually came here. A prominent family's head should have had his residence frequently visited, but that wasn't the case here.
"Let's go in."
Yun Xiao slowly adjusted his breathing to make his complexion look better. He reached behind him to confirm that his new clothes were free of bloodstains before finally relaxing. He took two steps forward, but just as he was about to step into the courtyard, he noticed that Yun Che hadn't followed. Turning around, he saw Yun Che staring straight ahead, seemingly lost in thought.
"Brother Yun, what's wrong?" Yun Xiao asked suspiciously.
Yun Che's gaze refocused, and he shook his head faintly. "Nothing. Let's go in... I hope I won't disturb your father's rest."
"You won't. My father doesn't usually rest at this time," Yun Xiao said with a smile, then quietly reminded, "Whatever you do, don't tell my father that my injuries are serious. If my parents find out, they'll be unable to sleep peacefully for several days."
"Mm." Yun Che agreed, lifting his foot to step forward. Even Yun Xiao could tell that he seemed distracted.
The small courtyard had a low pavilion, a stone table, four stone stools, and a small patch of verdant grape trellis. Beside the trellis was an old-looking rattan chair, and next to that, an even older weapon rack—but nothing hung on it, not even traces of weapons having been hung there.
This was everything Yun Che saw in the courtyard.
Yun Xiao stopped in front of the main house and said softly, "Dad, are you inside? I've brought a friend who wants to see you."
A slight noise came from inside the room, followed by a middle-aged man's voice: "Oh? A friend? Heh, this seems to be the first time Xiao'er has brought a friend. Come in."
The voice was gentle but lacked substance, carrying an obvious weakness and fatigue. As a physician, Yun Che could determine from that voice alone just how terrible the speaker's physical condition was. His heart involuntarily clenched sharply—the pain stabbed at his very core like needles. Unconsciously, he raised his hand and pressed it against his chest...
He had always thought that only his grandfather, his little aunt, and his wife Cang Yue could make him feel this way. He couldn't understand why the weakness in the voice of a man he had never met, someone he had even secretly resented before, would cause such a slight yet piercing ache in his heart...
Could this be... that legendary feeling... of blood ties...
The man now separated from him by only a single wall, just a few simple steps away... was he truly... truly...
"Then we'll go in. Brother Yun... ah? Brother Yun? Brother Yun?"
Yun Che stared blankly ahead, his gaze vacant, his limbs tense, as if his soul had suddenly left his body. Yun Xiao called him three times before he snapped back to reality... The man who dared to destroy the Fen Tian Gate alone, who dared to storm the Fenghuang God Sect alone—now, facing the slightly ajar door only three steps away, his heart pounded wildly with an unfamiliar, unprecedented agitation and trepidation. It was a feeling he couldn't interpret or describe...
He had lived two lives. In one, his master raised him. In the other, Grandpa Xiao raised him. In neither life did he have parents. Even in this life, his foster parents had both passed away before he could remember them.
The concept of "father," so familiar to ordinary people, had always been utterly foreign and distant to him. From his grandfather Yun Canghai, he had learned his biological parents' identities and names, and the reason they left him back then. All his resentment toward them had vanished, and subconsciously, he yearned to meet them.
But now, facing the moment... the man who believed his heart was as tough as steel found his mind in chaos, unable to cope.
"I'm fine," Yun Che forced a smile. He clenched his hands and found his palms soaked with sweat. "I've long admired Senior Yun from afar. Suddenly meeting him... I'm a bit too excited... Let me calm down for a moment."
"Uh... is it really that dramatic?" Yun Xiao scratched his forehead, not quite understanding.
Yun Che pressed his hand against his chest, took a few deep breaths, and let out a long exhale. His expression finally calmed somewhat. He stared at the door for a moment, then said, "Yun Xiao, let's go in."
The door was pushed open. Yun Xiao entered first, followed by Yun Che, who walked in slowly. The door closed behind them. At a hardwood desk facing sideways, a figure in green robes slowly turned around.
It was a middle-aged man who appeared to be around fifty. His face was pale and beardless, but the paleness was clearly the unhealthy pallor that anyone could recognize. As a powerful practitioner, his body should have remained very youthful, but he bore the heavy marks of age. Even his hair was at least thirty percent white.
Yet none of this could obscure his extraordinary, transcendent aura. Between his brows was a gentle, serene elegance. Though his face bore the traces of age, his features still revealed a handsome handsomeness that was hard to hide. No one would doubt that in his youth, he must have been a rare and striking man.
"Xiao'er greets Father... Are you painting, Father?" Yun Xiao looked at the rice paper on the desk.
After entering, Yun Che's gaze fixed unblinkingly on the man in green. The man also studied him. Instead of directly answering Yun Xiao, he smiled and nodded. "Xiao'er, this is the friend you mentioned? Extraordinary appearance, and an uncommon temperament and bearing... May I ask your name?"
After entering, Yun Che had not immediately greeted him. When addressed, he stood frozen for several more breaths. Finally, he managed to calm himself, slightly bowed, and said politely, "This junior's surname is Yun, given name Che. I have long admired the Yun Family of Yao Huang City, so meeting Senior Yun for the first time, I was somewhat rude. Please forgive me."
"Oh? You're also a Yun?" Yun Qinghong's brow relaxed, and he smiled faintly. "Yun... Che, heh, a good name, truly a good name. Your parents must have given you this name hoping you would live a life without sickness, without worries, carefree, hmm? Heh... cough, cough, cough cough..."
Yun Qinghong had only smiled lightly, but then he immediately began to cough violently. Yun Xiao quickly stepped forward and asked anxiously, "Dad, are you okay?... Have you taken your medicine today?"
Yun Qinghong soon recovered, waved his hand lightly, and said with a smile, "Dad is fine, and of course I've taken all my medicine. Otherwise, your mother would never forgive me... Oh?"
Yun Qinghong's expression suddenly shifted slightly as he grabbed Yun Xiao's hand. "You're injured. What happened?"
"Uh, it's not a serious injury..." Yun Xiao hesitated at first, but knowing he couldn't hide it, he briefly recounted the assassination attempt outside the city when he met with Tianxia Diqi, downplaying the severity. "...They wanted to kill Seventh Sister, and they specifically said they wouldn't hurt me. But the situation was really dangerous. Fortunately..." Yun Xiao pointed at Yun Che, "Fortunately, Brother Yun Che saved us. Otherwise, the outcome would have been unimaginable. Their target was Seventh Sister. I only suffered a minor scratch. It's nothing serious. See, I'm perfectly fine and kicking."
Yun Xiao's injuries were not light. If his clothes were torn off, a bloody hole would still be visible on his back. But outwardly, it was just an external wound, already stabilized, and would heal within a month. What worried Yun Che more was Yun Qinghong—he hadn't even noticed Yun Xiao's injuries until he got close, which showed how dull his senses had become. Yun Xiao couldn't see how dire Yun Qinghong's condition really was, and Yun Qinghong naturally wouldn't let him know, but it couldn't escape Yun Che's eyes...
He was certain that at this rate, Yun Qinghong wouldn't live more than three years.
Yun Qinghong himself must have been well aware.
After listening to Yun Xiao's account, Yun Qinghong's brows furrowed deeply. He was silent for a long time, as if pondering something. Then, he smiled at Yun Che and raised his hand. "Young friend, thank you for saving my son's life. My body is not well, so I..."
The moment Yun Qinghong raised his hand, Yun Che was so startled he jumped aside. He would dare to accept a salute from the Heavenly King himself, but before this man, he absolutely could not bear it. Before Yun Qinghong could finish, Yun Che hurriedly said, "Senior... please don't. Saving Yun Xiao was just a small effort on my part. It's completely unworthy of such a grand gesture from you. Please don't give it another thought."
Yun Qinghong was slightly taken aback. He had only made a simple cupped-fist salute—nothing close to a "grand gesture." Moreover, the other had saved his son's life; a hundred such salutes would not be excessive. Yun Che's reaction truly surprised and puzzled him.
Yun Xiao was also baffled by Yun Che's exaggerated response. But after a moment's thought, he suddenly understood and quickly explained to Yun Qinghong, "Dad, actually, it's like this. On the way here, we agreed that after meeting you, Brother Yun and I would become sworn brothers. That way, my parents would also be Brother Yun's parents... So Brother Yun naturally wouldn't dare to accept your salute."
"Oh? Sworn brothers?" Yun Qinghong looked at Yun Che, then nodded with a smile. "I see. Good... very good. Xiao'er has a stubborn nature and usually walks alone. If he can have a friend he can rely on, that would be wonderful. As parents, we would be deeply comforted and at ease."
Though Yun Qinghong expressed approval and joy, Yun Che saw clear doubt in his eyes. Indeed, a sudden stranger of unknown identity and origin, known for only a day... suspicion and caution were the most natural reactions.
"Dad, let me tell you, Brother Yun is really amazing! The three people who attacked Seventh Sister and me were all first-level Overlord Emperors. But Brother Yun killed one of them with a single move, so easily that the other two were scared out of their wits and fled with their tails between their legs. And Brother Yun is only twenty-two, just a few months older than me. I bet even Su Zhibi of the Su Family wasn't as strong as Brother Yun when he was twenty-two... Uh, Dad? Dad, what are you thinking about?"
Yun Xiao was speaking excitedly when he noticed Yun Qinghong staring directly at Yun Che with a somewhat dazed expression. At Yun Xiao's call, Yun Qinghong withdrew his gaze and said with a smile, "Nothing. I just suddenly felt that Young Brother Yun looks somewhat familiar."
Yun Che: "..."
"Familiar? Uh, that's impossible... Brother Yun is out training for the first time since leaving his sect, and this is his first time in Yao Huang City. Dad, you must have mistaken him for someone else," Yun Xiao said.
"Heh, what Dad means by familiar is that Young Brother Yun reminds me of myself when I was young. Now that I think about it, the more I look at him, the more similar he seems."
Yun Che: "..."
"Really?" Yun Xiao glanced at Yun Qinghong, then at Yun Che, and suddenly grinned. "Hey! Dad, you said earlier that Brother Yun had an extraordinary appearance, and now you suddenly say he looks like you when you were young... You're clearly praising yourself in a roundabout way! Mom said you were very vain when you were young—she was absolutely right!"
"Hahahaha..." Yun Qinghong burst into laughter at Yun Xiao's words. But after only two laughs, he suddenly gasped and began coughing violently. "Cough... cough cough... cough cough cough..."
"Ah! Dad!" Yun Xiao was startled and pressed his palm against Yun Qinghong's back. But as soon as he channeled his profound energy, sharp pain shot through his back and internal organs. His face turned pale, his body swayed, and the wound on his back nearly burst open with blood.
Fortunately, Yun Qinghong didn't notice his distress. He waved his hand and said, "It's nothing. This is an old ailment of mine. You know that... Young Brother Yun, my health has been poor for many years. I'm afraid I haven't been a good host. Please don't laugh at me."
Yun Che shook his head. "Senior, you're too kind..." Watching Yun Qinghong's condition, his hands trembled. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, he stepped forward and said, "Senior Yun, would you allow me to examine your injuries? This junior has studied medicine with my master and have achieved some modest success. Perhaps I can alleviate your condition."
...