Chapter 1: Returning Home (Part 1)
The courtyard wall of Alice's family estate was only two meters high. Linley walked up to the wall, pushed off the ground with his foot, lightly tapped the wall, and then, like an eagle spreading its wings, landed on Alice's balcony.
"Hurry, crouch down." Alice quickly pulled Linley down.
Linley, puzzled, crouched down.
"Shh." Alice cautiously glanced down below, then let out a long sigh of relief and said to Linley, "Luckily the gatekeeper fell asleep. If he had seen you, I would have been in trouble."
Linley understood.
"Let's sit down and talk. The balcony railing blocks us from view." Alice smiled smugly, like a sly little fox. She casually wiped the floor with a piece of burlap on the balcony, and she and Linley sat down right there.
Seeing Alice made Linley very happy.
"Brother Linley, it's already late at night. Why were you still out on the street? And by the way, didn't you say you were from Ernst Academy? How come you're in Fenlai City?" Alice asked curiously, firing off several questions in one breath.
Why was he in Fenlai City?
Linley felt awkward inside. He couldn't exactly say he had gone to the Azure Paradise with his three brothers.
"I came to Fenlai City to have some fun with a few of my brothers. I was feeling a bit bored at night, so I came out for a stroll." Linley could only give a vague answer.
Alice nodded.
"Alice, it's already late at night. Why aren't you asleep?" Linley asked, puzzled.
Alice pouted helplessly. "I went to bed early, but just when I was sleeping soundly, my father, dead drunk from drinking, ruined my sweet dreams. You have no idea how awful my father is—gambling every day, drinking every day, and when he's drunk, he makes a huge scene at home. It's so annoying."
"Having a father like that, I'm really unlucky. Brother Linley, what about you? What's your father like?" Alice looked at Linley sitting beside her.
"My father?" Linley's mind involuntarily recalled various memories with his father from childhood to now. "My father doesn't gamble, and even when he drinks, he never gets drunk. But he was very strict with my education, ever since I was little."
Alice sighed enviously. "Brother Linley, you're so lucky. Not like me."
Under the moonlight of the late night, the young man and the young girl chatted idly on the balcony. They talked about fathers, then about education, then about their academies, then about their good friends, and then about amusing anecdotes with those friends...
Linley talked happily. As the conversation stretched on, he became more and more familiar with Alice's life.
Gradually, the long night passed. On the eastern horizon, a faint hint of fish-belly white appeared, and the whole earth was filled with the fresh air of early morning. Linley and Alice, who had been talking for half the night, hadn't noticed the passage of time at all. Only when dawn broke did they both realize it.
"Ah, it's already dawn." Linley only then noticed the time.
Alice also just then came to her senses. "I'm sorry for making you keep me company for half the night, Brother Linley."
Suddenly, both Linley and Alice fell silent, sharing an awkward pause.
"Hmm, I should go." Sensing the unusual atmosphere, Linley felt a bit flustered and stood up directly.
"Brother Linley, will you come to Fenlai City again?" Alice pressed.
"I will. I'll come when I have time." After saying this, Linley pushed off the balcony with both hands, did a somersault in the air, landed on the courtyard wall, lightly tapped it, and leaped out. He landed on the street more than ten meters away.
Without looking back, Linley waved casually behind him in farewell.
Alice watched Linley's figure disappear at the end of the street, then, feeling a sense of loss, entered her own room.
******
The sun in late August was like a huge fireball, scorching hot. After having lunch with his three brothers, Linley set off directly for his hometown, Wushan Town. On the road, Linley carried a bundle containing magic crystals worth over seventy thousand gold coins.
"Squeak squeak~~" Bebe, on Linley's shoulder, squeaked excitedly.
Linley glanced at Bebe and smiled, communicating through their soul link: "Bebe, are you happy to be going back to Wushan Town? By the way, I've never asked you—how did you end up in our family's abandoned ancestral home back then?"
"I don't know, yep." Bebe shook his head helplessly. "Ever since I can remember, I've been in Big Brother's family's ancestral home. I don't know who my parents are, but I've always had a voice in my memory, like it was saying, 'Stay here, don't run around.'"
"Stay here, don't run around?" Linley's heart stirred.
Could this voice have been left by Bebe's parents?
"At first, I just ate stones, following that voice and not daring to leave your family's ancestral home. Later, Big Brother gave me wild chickens and rabbits to eat. In this world, only Big Brother has been the kindest to me. I don't want to leave Big Brother." Bebe wrinkled his little nose.
Linley also recalled that scene back then.
At that time, Bebe had indeed hesitated at the entrance of Wushan Town. In the end, seeing that Linley was really about to leave, he bit Linley to form a soul contract.
"Alright, Bebe, we'll be together forever." Linley affectionately rubbed Bebe's head, and Bebe squinted his eyes in comfort.
Linley's walking speed wasn't too fast—about ten miles per hour. By the time he reached the edge of Wushan Town, it was already dusk. As he approached Wushan Town, he heard a familiar voice—
"All of you, straighten your backs! Don't bend! Whoever's butt touches the branches below and gets paint on it is breaking the rules. Double the training!" Uncle Hillman's voice could be heard from far away.
Linley looked not far away.
On the familiar open ground east of Wushan Town, beside the row of poplar trees, a group of children aged from six or seven to fifteen or sixteen were divided into three teams. Under the strict supervision of Hillman and two other instructors, they trained hard, sweat soaking every young person's clothes.
"Back then, I trained like this too." Seeing this scene, Linley felt deeply moved.
"Linley?" Hillman spotted Linley from a distance. He casually gave some instructions to Roray and Roger beside him, then immediately ran over to Linley and gave him a bear hug.
"Uncle Hillman, long time no see." Linley was also very happy.
"Haha, come on, let's go home first. Lord Hogg will be very happy to see you." Hillman said cheerfully, and then he and Linley walked into Wushan Town.
"Master Linley." Roray and Roger also called out warmly from afar.
"Uncle Roray, Uncle Roger." Linley waved back, then walked with Hillman toward his family estate.
"Linley, you're carrying a bundle back. It's so bulging. What's inside?" Hillman couldn't help but notice the bundle on Linley's back and asked with a smile.
Linley smiled mysteriously. "A gift. A gift for my father!"