Chapter 5: Spring Grass's Father

Days passed one after another.

The weather grew colder, and still Father had not returned. The Ji clan's West Mansion had long since dispatched a squad of Black Arm Guards to be permanently stationed at Wing Snake Lake.

Inside the training grounds.

Shadows of swords whistled through the air as Ji Ning practiced the 'Waterdrop Sutra' alone. By now, neither the Black Arm Guards nor the fearsome demon beasts were of any use in honing his swordsmanship. And since his father Ji Yichuan had yet to return, Ji Ning had no choice but to train by himself.

"Young master." Qiuye spoke softly.

"Hm?" Ji Ning looked at Qiuye, whose face was full of unease.

Frowning, Ji Ning sheathed his Northmoon sword. "Qiuye, what is it?"

"Young master." Qiuye lowered her voice. "Spring Grass's father requests an audience."

"Who?" Ji Ning was taken aback.

"Spring Grass's father!" Qiuye raised her voice slightly. "Her birth father!"

Ji Ning asked in surprise, "Spring Grass has a father?"

Both of his personal maids were of slave origin, bought into the Ji clan's West Mansion when they were very young.

"Where is Spring Grass?" Ji Ning asked.

"Spring Grass didn't dare come to see you, young master." The maid Qiuye said softly. "I could tell that she actually wanted to see her father, but her status... made her afraid to speak up."

Ji Ning nodded thoughtfully.

Indeed, strictly speaking, Spring Grass and Qiuye were his maids, their lives completely under his control. From the day they were sold, they had no connection to their parents. But humans are not grass or trees—who can be heartless?

"Go, bring Spring Grass's father in." Ji Ning said with a smile. "Since he wants to see me, I'll meet him."

"Yes." Qiuye's face lit up with joy, and she hurriedly ran out.

Ji Ning called out to the courtyard, "Spring Grass, come in." A figure in animal skins, a maid, stood nervously outside the courtyard. Hearing the young master's voice, she could only enter. Her face was full of anxiety and unease... Spring Grass's heart was a tangled mess of emotions: excitement, joy, nervousness, shame, guilt, and restlessness.

"Young master." Spring Grass looked at Ji Ning.

"If your father comes, you can see him if you want." Ji Ning said with a smile.

"But, but I was bought by the Ji clan." Chuncao bit her lip.

"Hm?" Ji Ning frowned slightly. "Are my words useless now?"

"Yes, young master." Chuncao glanced at Ji Ning, her heart full of gratitude. She could sense that this most brilliant youth of the Ji clan's Western Mansion, who would one day become its lord, treated her and Qiuye not like ordinary masters treated servants.

"They're here." Ji Ning looked outside and saw two figures walking into the courtyard. The one in front was Qiuye, followed by a tall, sturdy middle-aged man in black animal hide. The man had a scarred face and kept his head lowered, appearing somewhat ill at ease.

"Young master, the person has arrived." Qiuye said respectfully.

The scarred middle-aged man hurried forward and knelt, his head touching the ground, his hands also placed on the ground, extremely deferential: "Blacktooth pays respects to the great young master."

Seeing this, Chuncao's eyes could not help but redden.

Ji Ning glanced at Chuncao, then said, "Rise."

"Yes." The scarred middle-aged man stood up and saw Chuncao standing beside Ji Ning. Their eyes met, and tears immediately streamed down their faces.

The scarred middle-aged man quickly came to his senses and wiped away his tears.

"What brings you to me?" Ji Ning asked.

The scarred middle-aged man took a deep breath: "Blacktooth has come to the young master to redeem my child 'Miva.'"

"Redeem?" Ji Ning was startled.

Redeem?

In the years since coming to this world, there were few people he had feelings for, but he already regarded Chuncao and Qiuye as sisters in his heart.

"Father." Chuncao could not help but shout. It was possible for ordinary slaves to be redeemed at a certain price, but what status did the young master of the Ji clan have? How could her father possibly redeem her? If he angered the young master, her father might lose his life on the spot.

At the same time, she fell to her knees with a thud and kowtowed: "Young master, my father knows nothing. Please forgive his disrespect."

"Let him speak." Ji Ning looked at the scarred middle-aged man. "Say everything you have to say. If you convince me, I will agree. If you fail to convince me... hmph."

The scarred middle-aged man's heart trembled.

He understood how great the power of the youth before him was, and that taking his life would be effortless. But since he had chosen to come, he was prepared.

"Great young master," said the scarred middle-aged man respectfully. "Blacktooth will speak all that is in his heart."

Ji Ning merely looked at him.

"I, Blacktooth, was originally the son of a tribal chief," the scarred man said slowly. "In a mountain forest, our Blacktooth tribe lived a peaceful life. We raised wild beasts, and I led the tribe's strong warriors to hunt the demonic beasts around our territory... One day, we discovered a large patch of naturally growing millet in a remote valley."

"Our entire tribe was overjoyed. With that millet, our tribe would fare much better and could support more clansmen. But the news soon reached another powerful tribe, the Blood Mosquito Tribe. One morning, just before dawn, while many clansmen were still asleep..." The scarred man's eyes showed pain. "They raided our tribe, slaughtering our people madly. Our strength was far inferior to the Blood Mosquito Tribe's, and we were caught off guard. The few survivors could only flee."

"I took Miwa and fled. Along the way, we faced countless life-and-death crises, until we finally reached West Prefecture City." The scarred man's body trembled slightly. "But my beloved wife, my tribal brothers—they all died. I must take revenge, even if it costs my life. But Miwa is innocent. I wanted her to live... so I sold her to the Ji clan. In the Ji clan, she could at least live a stable life."

Chuncao trembled, tears streaming: "Father, Father..."

She could not forget...

Could not forget the days of flight. Though she was young, she could not forget how one by one her relatives died, how her childhood companions died. She could not forget how her father brought her through countless dangers to reach West Prefecture City. At the time, he only said to her: 'Miwa, Father has to do what he must. And Miwa must live on well.'

"Father, don't leave Miwa. Father, Father..." the young Chuncao wept bitterly.

Blacktooth, then still a youth, gritted his teeth and left.

He set foot on the path of revenge!

"I hated," the scarred man said, his body shaking. "I wanted revenge. Though I was a Nine-Fang Warrior, I was nothing to the Blood Mosquito Tribe. After I killed four of my enemies, a great demon with fiery red fur attacked the Blood Mosquito Tribe... The ugly bastard who led the raid that destroyed my home was devoured by that great demon. The Blood Mosquito Tribe was thus destroyed, and the survivors joined other tribes."

"My enemies were gone."

"Having nothing left, I couldn't redeem Miwa. So I became a traveling merchant," the scarred man said. "After countless life-and-death journeys, I found some of my Blacktooth tribe's surviving clansmen. The merchant band grew, and I gained wealth. I gathered some refugees and founded a new tribe—the Blacktooth Tribe! And I became the new Blacktooth."

"During my time as a traveling merchant," the scarred man looked at Ji Ning, "I talked with some Ji clan servants and learned that Miwa had become your maidservant, Young Master Ji Ning."

"Now that I've founded the Blacktooth Tribe and done what I should, I have honored my father and all the past Blacktooths." The scarred man looked at Ji Ning. "So I came. I came to see Miwa, the child I've dreamed of for ten years. Even if I must die, I want to see Miwa."

"My Miwa, my child, I want to be with her. She is my only family in this world." The scarred man's face was streaked with tears.

Chuncao was already weeping uncontrollably, sobbing loudly.

"Father!" Chuncao ran over and embraced her suffering father.

"Miwa," the scarred man held his daughter, having longed for this day.

Qiuye, too, could not help crying.

Ji Ning listened, deeply moved.

Tribal people fought against heaven, against earth, against demons. And Chuncao's father, Blacktooth, was just one example.

"Chuncao," Ji Ning spoke. "Do you want to be with your father?"

Chuncao bit her lip, tears uncontrollable. She knelt directly: "Young master, please forgive Chuncao! I truly want to be with my father, truly!"

"Great young master," the scarred man also knelt quickly.

Ji Ning looked at the father and daughter. After so long together, Chuncao and Qiuye had become like sisters to him. He did not want Chuncao to leave, but even less did he want her to suffer inside: "Chuncao, from today, you are free. Go with your father."

"Ah!" Chuncao and Blacktooth were both stunned.

Just like that, he agreed?

They could be together?

"Thank you, great young master. Blacktooth will forever remember your great kindness." Blacktooth knelt, trembling with gratitude.

...

Under Ji Ning's arrangements, Chuncao regained her freedom. Her father Blacktooth took her away. As she left, Chuncao called out: "Young master, Chuncao will always remember your kindness. In the Blacktooth Tribe, I will silently pray for you. If you ever pass by the Blacktooth Tribe, I hope you will come see Chuncao."

"I will," Ji Ning replied.

"We will definitely come," Qiuye said through tears. She and Chuncao were indeed like sisters.

The sky grew colder.

Ji Ning's thoughts were also changing.

Chuncao's departure, her father's story, the Winged Serpent's attack, his father going to slay a great demon, having no worthy opponent within the Ji clan to hone his sword arts... a series of events stirred Ji Ning's mind.

He began to feel that West Prefecture City was too small.

He wanted to go out, to see the wider world! He wanted to see how tribes like the Blacktooth Tribe survived! He wanted to fight great demons like his father... He wanted to roam and take risks across this land...

"Ning'er, your father is back." One snowy day, Yuchi Xue called to her son.

Ji Ning saw his father in the high sky, returning atop the Cyan Flame Bird.