Lu Xiaoran approached him and said, "Father, I was really scared when you went missing. Mother is also worried about you."
He attempted to hug his father, but his father frowned and punched him on the back of his head. "You fool, why did you come here? You should have gone to another city. I already spoke to your uncle. You never listen to your parents. Now, you came to this dangerous place. You've decided to rebel. This time, I will beat you until your mother doesn't recognize you."
After saying this, he twisted Lu Xiaoran's ear and pulled out a stick to hit him. Watching this, I could finally confirm that he was indeed Lu Xiaoran's father. He was showing his love for his son. I thought it would be best to give them some time.
After a few minutes of beating, Lu Xiaoran's father stopped. Now, we sat facing each other in a semi-circle: Roman, Lu Xiaoran, his father, and me. Looking at both Roman and Lu Xiaoran, he said, "I already know that my son is a lunatic. But Roman, I don't expect this from you. You were given the responsibility to escort my son to his uncle's city and protect him, yet you came here with him."
Roman tried to explain, "Family head, we came here for important work. We really need to complete it."
He replied, "I know you two must have come for the miracle medicine that can heal Lu Xiaoran's condition. But you fools should have waited. I've already gathered it, and now I just need to get out of this place."
Apparently, he went missing because he knows about a medicine that can help Lu Xiaoran recover from his earlier injuries. He quietly moved to the Azure Mountains, then entered this secret realm to find that medicine. He had already found it, but just as he was about to get out, he ran into us, who came after Lin Chen.
I finally understood why he went missing. Now, unexpectedly, we have help. If he had been in this secret realm for months, he could definitely help us locate that treasure. To tell my disciples to ask him about it, I began writing words on the ground. Suddenly, he noticed me and shouted, "Lu Xiaoran, get away from there! There's a snake beside you. Stay away from it; it might be poisonous."
He seemed scared upon seeing the snake, which had been hiding in the bushes. Lu Xiaoran explained that I was the master of both him and Roman. He told his father about the attack he suffered on the way to another city, including Lin Chen's involvement and everything that happened.
After that, I introduced myself by writing on the ground, "Hi, I am Vik, master of Lu Xiaoran and Roman."
He introduced himself as well, saying, "I am Lu Ran, father of Lu Xiaoran, and head of the Lu Family. I owe you a debt of gratitude for saving my idiot son and teaching him so much. I cannot express how grateful I am to you. You must be a high-ranking beast for my fool of a son to catch your attention and become your disciple."
He bowed to me, and I wrote back, "It's nothing. This is something I have to do as a teacher."
We continued to discuss our current situation and Lin Chen's plans. Lu Ran looked angry after hearing about Lin Chen's actions. We asked him about this secret realm, and he said, "I can't believe Lin Chen would do such malicious things. When he crippled Lu Xiaoran in their fight, I didn't retaliate because I thought it was a matter between the younger generation. But now, he has crossed every line."
He looked at Lu Xiaoran with guilt in his eyes and said, "My son, you have been wronged. Don't worry. Now that your father is with you, we will take revenge for everything he has done."
He proceeded to explain the secret realm. "This realm is not what you think. It was created at the very dawn of the cataclysm. It is called the Heaven Suppressing Realm. In here, the laws revert to what they were before the cataclysm, forcing everyone back into their original forms, just like in the old world. This is all due to a treasure called the Heaven Suppressing Bead."
Lu Xiaoran asked, "Father, what is the Heaven Suppressing Bead, and how did it end up here? Mother also told me that our Lu Family has some connection to the Azure Mountains. What is that?"
Lu Xiaoran's impatience led him to ask several questions in quick succession, resulting in a slap to the back of his head from his father. Lu Ran scolded him, "You brat, let me finish my story first." I personally enjoyed seeing Lu Xiaoran get hit, especially after that kissing scene. I thought about telling his father about how he tricked that gullible girl Jessica, and now he was toying with her heart. I could picture the beating he would get after that.
Meanwhile, Lu Xiaoran felt a chill as if a cold wind had passed through him. His instincts warned him of impending misfortune, but he brushed it off. He saw his master smiling at him, and he smiled back, unaware that he was being played by his own master, the snake of singularity.
Lu Ran continued his story, "Actually, the ancestors of our Lu Family inhabited the Azure Mountains thousands of years ago. Back then, there was no spiritual energy, and money was the only power that controlled the world. Those times, while not peaceful, were much better than the current world. Then the cataclysm happened, and thousands of foreign species and dungeons began appearing all over the globe. It was a chaotic time."
"Our ancestors and the other inhabitants of this mountain barely survived the first wave, but they couldn't survive the next. The government at that time ignored their pleas for help, focusing instead on larger cities. No one cared about a simple mountain village. Desperate, they prayed for a miracle, asking the gods and the heavens to save them."
"Their pleas were answered, but not by the heavens or gods. A rift opened in the sky, and a huge, majestic dragon appeared with unparalleled strength. It was several miles long, and it killed every beast that dared to approach this mountain. In its hand was a treasure, a bead of dark obsidian. The dragon used it to change all the laws within thousands of miles of this mountain. Any beast that came near became docile, which is why the Azure Mountain city and any settlements around it have not faced disaster for thousands of years. They say the dragon returned to the rift, but it left the Heaven Suppressing Bead behind, still suppressing the laws of this world and protecting the mountain and the surrounding area."