Bloodline Tree – [Clan Building]

“I don’t see how they could have hidden anywhere in this area. Do you think they might still be moving? Perhaps they are heading back?” Shen Ye asked.

“There has to be somewhere to hide,” Shu Yang said with a frown, looking around. But he really couldn’t spot any hiding place either. This was the northern plains of the Luo Kingdom, and the land was mostly flat, with most of the area being grassland. Not really ideal for hiding.

But in Shu Yang’s strange vision, he had seen Tianhu and Xiaoshi resting somewhere. He couldn’t make out the details, but it didn’t look like they were out in the open. 

‘Maybe they ran south and made it far enough for the landscape to change before hiding? Or did they just rest for a short moment, and I happened to see them at that moment?’

“I suppose they wouldn’t be in any shape to travel,” Shen Ye admitted, “Not to mention that they would have been afraid of being found by those Immortals. They should have been looking for a place to hide as quickly as possible.”

“I guess it’s not all bad that we can’t find them,” Shu Yang said.

“How so?” Shen Ye asked.

“It means the Immortals won’t easily find them either,” Shu Yang said.

“I suppose that’s true,” Shen Ye admitted.

Shu Yang was a little surprised. He had expected Shen Ye to say something like ‘Perhaps they already have.’ 

Then again, Shen Ye had been going along with a lot of Shu Yang’s ideas recently. 

‘I guess he must have noticed something. Should I just tell him? Shen Ye isn’t untrustworthy.’

Shu Yang obviously wouldn’t tell him about his Bloodline Tree or anything like that, but perhaps revealing Xiaorong’s existence wasn’t out of the question. That would explain how Shu Yang defeated the cultivator who had attacked him, and also how he could sense the presence of people earlier than Shen Ye all the time. 

‘But…Xiaorong is a bit special. And Shen Ye isn’t one to pry. It should be fine to hide things from him even if he has noticed.’

‘I just need to find his daughter for him.’

‘But how?’

Shu Yang connected to the Bloodline Tree and once again felt that his son was still alive. But that was it.

‘Should I use my new ability?’

It had been three days since Shu Yang last used it back at the place where Tianhu and Xiaoshi had battled the cultivators. The power in his bloodline had recharged back to the same level now.

But Shu Yang hadn’t used it because he knew it wasn’t fully charged yet. He felt it should still be a few days before he reached the same accumulation it had when he first used it after his bloodline advanced. 

If he used it now, he might just see Tianhu’s face again. That most likely wouldn’t help him much. 

But he also felt there was a chance his ability gave a different result this time around. It was somewhat unpredictable after all.

‘I’ll just use it. What if I wait for another three days and I mess things up? It’s better to try right away and see if I can get better at controlling it.’

Shen Ye was walking ahead, scouring the surroundings. Shu Yang didn’t know how to use his ability without alerting him.

‘I won’t risk using it while walking. I’ll just sit down and use it quickly. If he notices, he notices. It’s not like he hasn’t noticed how strange I am already.’

Shu Yang quietly took a seat on the ground while Shen Ye continued walking. He closed his eyes and focused on the power in his bloodline. Just like the previous two times, just a thought was enough to activate it. 

Shu Yang tried his best to focus on his connection to Tianhu and urged the strange power within him to show the direction he was in. But it was just too difficult to control. His eyes opened involuntarily, and the detailed view of the surroundings caught him off guard. Xiaorong gave off a strange feeling, pulling his attention. 

Before he knew it, the power ran out, and everything turned back to normal.

‘What was that!?’

Shu Yang could hardly believe it. He had done much worse than the last time. He didn’t even catch a glimpse of his son.

‘Was I not focused enough? I felt like I was.’

Shu Yang had been connected to his son through the Bloodline Tree, just like last time. It was just that that strange state was too unfamiliar, and he couldn’t think straight while in the middle of it. 

‘It seems like controlling this power is harder than I thought.’ Shu Yang thought with a sigh. 

He looked up and saw that Shen Ye had stopped walking and was staring at him. 

Shu Yang got up on his feet again and smiled apologetically. 

“Just thought I’d try something, but it didn’t work,” Shu Yang said, “Let’s continue.”

Shen Ye just nodded without saying anything, and the two of them continued. 

‘It might take several tries before I manage to direct that power toward Tianhu again. And even then, I might not be able to actually sense his direction.’

Shu Yang turned to look toward the south, feeling worried. The Lishen Empire’s forces had been advancing through the Luo Kingdom for almost two weeks now, and he was worried about his family back home. 

“What do you say we circle back?” Shen Ye suggested after a while, “Even if they ran this far, we would be unlikely to find them. Besides, it’s more likely they hid somewhere closer to the battlefield. I think we’re better off looking over there.”

‘He has a point.’

They hadn’t really gotten very far yet, as they weren’t traveling at full speed anymore but were carefully searching as they slowly made their way west. 

If Xiaoshi had run at full speed, it should have taken her almost ten hours to get to their current location. Shu Yang agreed that it seemed unlikely she would run that long. They had a better chance of finding them by going back and trying to search in a slightly different direction.

“I guess that’s true,” Shu Yang said with a nod. “Let’s do as you say.”

…

Another three days passed, and there was still no luck. 

Shu Yang was really getting impatient. Every hour he spent here was another hour for the Lishen Empire to advance toward the Yan Kingdom. 

The only thing that eased his worries slightly was that the Fugu Prefecture didn’t border the Luo Kingdom. If war reached the Yan Kingdom, his family should get word of it in time to escape to the Black Beast Mountain. 

Of course, he would prefer it not to get to that.

‘I guess I should try to use my ability again.’

Shu Yang wasn’t very confident in making it work, though. The experience when he used it three days ago had made him realize that he might just have been lucky the time he managed to see Tianhu. 

Shen Ye was behind him, but Shu Yang didn’t bother letting him pass before sitting down. He would notice his behavior either way.

Just like he thought, Shen Ye just stopped walking when he noticed Shu Yang sitting down, but he didn’t say anything.

Just as Shu Yang was prepared to activate the power in his bloodline, Xiaorong nudged his cheek.

Shu Yang opened his eyes and looked at her. ‘What? Are people approaching?’

They hadn’t run into any other people this entire time.

‘Maybe it’s reinforcements from the Lishen Empire. It’s better to be careful.’

Shu Yang abandoned his plan to use his new ability and rose to his feet again. 

“There might be people around; be careful,” Shu Yang said.

“Where?” Shen Ye asked.

Shu Yang looked at Xiaorong, who nudged his cheek again.

‘That way?’ Shu Yang was far from certain he had interpreted correctly.

“It’s-” Shu Yang was about to speak when Xiaorong jumped off his shoulder and ran off. 

“What?” Shen Ye asked.

“Wait. Let’s take a look,” Shu Yang said. He didn’t know what was going on either. But Xiaorong wouldn’t lead him into danger. 

The grassland stretched out in front of them, and while there weren’t any hills around exactly, the land still curved up and down slightly. 

Xiaorong kept sprinting forward, and Shu Yang followed, with Shen Ye close behind.

‘What’s that?’ Shu Yang thought as he made out a small shadow on the distant horizon. ‘A person?’

Getting closer, Shu Yang relaxed slightly. There were only two people, far from an army.

“Do you know how strong they are?” Shen Ye asked beside him, having spotted them as well.

“No idea,” Shu Yang said, “But it can’t be Saints, right?”

He really didn’t have the ability to tell their strength from this distance. Perhaps Xiaorong could, though. Anyway, she was still leading the way, so Shu Yang was confident it wouldn’t be dangerous.

“Are they running away?” Shen Ye suddenly asked.

“It seems so,” Shu Yang said, noticing the figures in the distance getting further away again.

“They might know something; we can’t let them go,” Shen Ye said, and really started sprinting. 

Shu Yang also quickened his pace. 

He soon noticed that one of the figures was trailing behind, and eventually stopped running completely. Then, the more distant figure came running back again.

‘An Innate warrior and a Master?’

Those strengths gave rise to an idea in Shu Yang’s head.

Almost on instinct, he activated the power in his bloodline.

His speed increased tremendously, and he could see further and more clearly than ever. A determined face appeared in his vision, meeting his gaze.

“Tianhu!” Shu Yang called out.

His voice seemed to reach his son, as he could see his expression change. 

The power within his bloodline ran out, and his speed slowed down once again.

He continued to run as fast as he could, but it still felt like forever before he reached his son.

“Dad!?” Tianhu called out in surprise when he saw his father, slowly lowering his sword.

“Son!” Shu Yang came to a stop in front of him, looking him up and down. The missing arm stood out, but otherwise, Tianhu seemed to be doing alright.

‘We actually found them?’

Shu Yang had wanted to, of course, but these past few days, he had begun to doubt himself.

“Xiaoshi!” Shen Ye came running from behind, passing Shu Yang and Tianhu and meeting up with his daughter further ahead.

“Are you alright? What are you doing here? I thought you’d be hiding,” Shu Yang said.

“I’m fine…Well, I lost an arm,” Tianhu said, lowering his head and looking guilty for some reason.

“I know,” Shu Yang said with a sigh. “Are you okay?”

“I’m okay,” Tianhu answered, putting on a smile happier than any Shu Yang had ever seen.

‘He’s…happy about losing an arm? Or to see me? Is it because his sword intent got more powerful?’

Somehow, Tianhu’s smile didn’t fit any of those explanations. He knew his son well enough to see something else must have happened.

“Is there any good news?” Shu Yang asked, and couldn’t help but smile himself. 

“Er,” Tianhu seemed a little stumped by the question, and turned around to take a quick look at Xiaoshi.

Shu Yang also looked over and saw that Shen Ye had turned to look at Tianhu with a small frown.

“Got the girl?” Shu Yang asked.

“Yeah,” Tianhu answered.

Shu Yang smiled happily.

‘As expected of my son!’

“Good job,” Shu Yang said, patting Tianhu’s shoulder. 

Shen Ye wasn’t as pleased, though. He came over with Xiaoshi and looked Tianhu up and down for a moment.

“Are you sure?” Shen Ye asked his daughter.

“Sure,” Xiaoshi answered without hesitation.

“Fine,” Shen Ye said, “I’ll convince your mother and grandfather.”

“Thank you, Dad,” Xiaoshi said.

“Thank you, Master Shen,” Tianhu said, bowing slightly.

“Well. You did well,” Shen Ye muttered. He then grabbed Xiaoshi and started walking away again, “Let’s go home.”

“You did well?” Shu Yang asked his son.

“I suppose so,” Tianhu answered. He then went on to explain how he had fought to protect Xiaoshi while she couldn’t move.

He wasn’t very detailed, but Shu Yang could tell how dangerous the situation had been. Well, just Tianhu’s lost arm was enough to understand how close a call it had been. 

“You really did do well,” Shu Yang said. He gave Tianhu another pat on the shoulder and turned around to follow Shen Ye and Xiaoshi.

“But you overdid it,” Shu Yang continued, “You had to lose an arm to get a girl? Back then, I got your mom just by telling stories and making her laugh. You still have a lot to learn.”

“Right,” Tianhu said, smiling slightly.

“Alright, we’ll go over it later. Tell me what happened, and make it slow and detailed. There is a long way back home, there is no rush,” Shu Yang said, deeply curious about the cultivators Tianhu had encountered. 

Tinahu started going through everything that had happened since they parted, and Shu Yang listened carefully. It was relaxing to hear his son’s voice. These past few days, he had started to wonder whether he would ever be able to hear it again.

‘Not only did I find Tianhu, but I found a daughter-in-law as well.’

Shu Yang smiled as he looked at Xiaoshi walking beside her father further ahead.

‘But…what’s this feeling?’

Shu Yang tilted his head slightly. 

‘How come I can feel a slight connection to Xiaoshi through the Bloodline Tree?’

‘Could it be?’

Shu Yang turned to look at his son again, more pleased than ever before.

‘As expected of my son!’