Book 3, Chapter 227: Visit

Book 3, Chapter 227: Visit

Two days later, it was New Year’s Eve.

As snow fell from the sky, fireworks were set off outside the houses. They crackled nonstop and created a lively atmosphere.

Chen Chuan’s house was full of warmth as he sat with his family at the food-covered dining table. As they ate, they chattered while listening to the happy, celebratory programs on the radio.

Unfortunately, Nian Qian had gone off to an island nation with the army to carry out a mission. Once again, he was only able to send a telegram back.

After lunch, Chen Chuan walked out with his hands in his pockets. As he stood in the courtyard, he looked up at the snowflakes falling from the sky. The colorful fireworks were still sparkling and dancing in the air.

Even though the sights in Central City were dazzling and beautiful, when he stood in front of those light shows, he felt as if he was looking at another world. But now, the occasional fireworks lighting up the area made him sense vibrant life and a feeling of realism.

“Chen Chuan, let’s light fireworks!”

Nian Mo and Nian Lu ran out happily from the house, and Chen Chuan smiled when he saw them. “Sure, let’s light them together.”

Amid the noisy fireworks, the ninety-fourth year of the Development and Order Era passed.

After the New Year, a lot of Nian Fuli’s subordinates came to visit him. Even Guan Yuming called to wish them a Happy New Year.

This was mainly because of Chen Chuan. After all, his rank was even higher than Guan Yuming’s now. Even though they didn’t belong in the same organization, Guan Yuming still had to obey certain rules.

The third day of the New Year passed, and once Chen Chuan visited all of Nian Fuli’s trusted colleagues and friends with his uncle, he went to visit Wen Tong.

Since Wen Tong wasn’t a Yangzhi City local, his family wasn’t around. The Constabulary had assigned a housekeeper for him to cook and clean the house so that he could spend more time guiding and training the constables.

However, during the New Year, he was the only one at home. When Chen Chuan entered his house, it looked quite deserted.

Once he stepped into the living room, Chen Chuan handed over the gift he brought with him. “Mr. Wen, I brought this from Central City. It’s a small token of my appreciation.”

The techniques Wen Tong taught him had helped him a lot, so Chen Chuan had prepared some gifts for Wen Tong as well. They were mainly high-end teaware and protective gear from Central City.

With a smile, Wen Tong took the gifts. “Thanks.”

Then, he set them aside and picked up a can of tea leaves. Once he brewed two cups of tea, he set one cup in front of Chen Chuan.

“An old friend of mine planted the leaves for this tea. It can calm you down. Take a can with you back.”

“Thank you, Mr. Wen.”

The moment they settled down, Wen Tong asked, “How long are you going to stay this time?”

“I’ll go back before the start of the new semester in February,” Chen Chuan answered.

“Some time ago, someone came to Yangzhi City to ask about you. Director Guan asked me to keep an eye out, but no one came snooping after that,” Wen Tong supplied.

“Thank you, Mr. Wen. I need to thank Director Guan for taking care of me so much. Those people are after my life. I’ve gotten rid of some of them, but not all,” Chen Chuan said.

“Some weeds won’t disappear on their own. You need to pull them out by the roots. Only then will you find your garden a much nicer sight,” Wen Tong said with a smile.

“I understand, Mr. Wen,” Chen Chuan replied with a nod.

As Wen Tong watched him, he seemed to have noticed something, but he wasn’t too sure. With a pensive expression, he asked, “Have you taken special medicine already?”

“Yes.”

“I was right, then. Looks like you’ve already participated in a World Ring defense mission. We can’t control the change of the world, but we can control ourselves,” Wen Tong said with a nod. “You’ll soon experience the hardest stage in your life as a martial artist. It really isn’t that hard to reach the First to Third Limits. As long as you have enough resources and talent, you can reach them with no problems. But it won’t be that easy to continue forward. There is a real threshold you need to cross now, and you can’t make it through with just talent.”

Chen Chuan felt a faint stir in his heart.

“One second,” Wen Tong said.

He stood up and went to another room. After a moment, he came back with a handwritten notebook, which he handed to Chen Chuan. “Don’t rush to read it. Only do it once you’ve figured out how to continue down your path as a martial artist.”

Chen Chuan took the book. It reminded him of the book He Xiaoxing had given him in the past. They looked similar, so he guessed that it was passed around internally within the purity faction.

There had to be a reason behind why Wen Tong asked him to not read it right away, so Chen Chuan put it away and thanked him earnestly.

He stayed at Wen Tong’s place until he finished his cup of tea before saying goodbye.

He had quite a number of people he had to visit for the New Year. Before coming back, he had called Cheng Zitong, only to learn that plenty of people had invited him out for banquets for the New Year, so he would only have free time to see Chen Chuan after the sixth. Hence, Chen Chuan decided to visit Lei Guangcheng first.

After the New Year, Lei Guangcheng was going to join Central City’s Cult Investigation Bureau, so they might be able to leave together.

Chen Chuan went back home to grab his car before driving out of the constables’ residential area. While fireworks continued crackling around him, he drove to Lei Guangcheng’s place.

Before this, he had called Lei Guangcheng to wish him a Happy New Year and told him that he was going to visit, so when Chen Chuan arrived, the gate was already open. Lei Guangcheng and He Nan came out while holding Lei Ying’s hand.

After getting out of his car, Chen Chuan exchanged a few pleasantries with them at the gate before going inside.

Once they settled down, He Nan poured tea for them. Lei Guangcheng said, “Do you remember the case from half a year ago?”

“Yeah,” Chen Chuan said with a nod.

“Soon after I submitted the report, someone came to warn me to not meddle and tried to suppress it. I expected this, so I took a secret channel and sent the report to someone even higher up before submitting the suppressed report. They’ve been looking into this for months, and things only settled down before the New Year,” Lei Guangcheng said.

“You told me before that some of our people might be part of the Sun Worshiping Cult, and they were likely to have high statuses,” Chen Chuan recalled.

𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

“Their positions are far higher than I thought they would be,” Lei Guangcheng said grimly.

“Did it affect you?” Chen Chuan watched him closely.

Lei Guangcheng shook his head. “Things progressed pretty smoothly, and those people were arrested in secret. The central government doesn’t want this matter to cause a ruckus, so they did not make a clear verdict. Instead, they indicted these people with another excuse.

“In the current day and age, the more things related to cults are publicized, the more people will try to imitate them. Dealing with them this way is the best method.

“Central City might be asking me to join them because the cult problem in the lower city district has become even worse. Many foreign forces of power have infiltrated their midst, and it has now reached a point where the problem needs to be dealt with.”

Chen Chuan had a feeling that the Cult Investigation Bureau was not calling Lei Guangcheng to Central City for such a simple problem. He was likely going to deal with something much larger.

“When are you going there?” he asked.

“I need to report before the end of February, but I intend to leave ahead of time. I need to settle some matters beforehand,” Lei Guangcheng answered.

“Do you want to go there with me?” Chen Chuan offered.

Lei Guangcheng cast him a glance before nodding. “Alright.”

He Nan came over with snacks and grumbled at Lei Guangcheng. “Lao Lei, it’s the New Year, and you finally got to meet Chen Chuan again. Why are you only talking about official matters?”

Then, she turned to Chen Chuan. “This is the jujube white fungus soup I made. Try it.”

Lei Guangcheng smiled at that. “It’s been a long while since you had your senior sister’s cooking, hasn’t it?”

“I still haven’t forgotten about the food I ate here last time,” Chen Chuan praised her and picked up the bowl. After taking a sip, he found that it tasted refreshingly sweet and smooth. He nodded at that. “Your cooking is amazing, Senior Sister He.”

Once Chen Chuan finished drinking the soup, they no longer talked about official matters. Instead, they talked about Chen Chuan’s recent experiences in Central City. Since he had signed an NDA regarding the merged space, he didn’t say a single thing about it.

Considering Lei Guangcheng’s rank and the things he got involved with, once he went to Central City, he would soon learn about the World Ring.

Chen Chuan stayed until the afternoon. After having lunch, they settled on a date to go back to Central City before Chen Chuan left.

Then, he drove to the west of the city to Wei Dong’s apartment. Once he parked his car, he went upstairs and knocked on Wei Dong’s door. “Wei Dong, it’s me.”

“Coming!”

He heard loud thuds, and then Wei Dong opened the door with a swift tug. When he saw Chen Chuan, he was delighted and looked ready for a fight.

But after taking a few more looks at Chen Chuan, he suddenly wilted and admitted honestly, “I can’t win.”

Chen Chuan smiled at that. He had released a bit of his biofield, and Wei Dong immediately noticed it. His instincts were as sharp as ever. Chen Chuan walked into the apartment and asked, “What are you doing?”

Wei Dong scratched his head and said, “I’m going to Central City after the New Year, but my training equipment is going to be left here. I can’t maintain them anymore, so I’m thinking about wiping them down before wrapping them all up.”

After Wei Dong started his breathing training, he seldom used the equipment the old man had left behind for him anymore. Once he became a proper martial artist, the training equipment could only serve as a memento. Still, he kept them all and wiped them down as well as maintained them whenever he was free.

“I’ll help,” Chen Chuan said.

He started helping Wei Dong, but after wrapping up some of the equipment, Wei Dong suddenly whipped his head up, and his eyes shone with burning fighting spirit. “I can’t hold it in anymore! Chen Chuan, I still want to fight you!”

He raised a bandage-wrapped fist.

Chen Chuan answered with a light shove that sent Wei Dong flying into another room before crashing into the wall behind him.

Boom!

Chen Chuan wouldn’t be surprised if everyone in the apartment building heard it.

A moment later, Wei Dong charged out of the room with a shout. The next second, he was sent flying again.

Obviously.

Chen Chuan set down a helmet and started wiping down a grip trainer.

What happened next was Wei Dong charging out of the room again and again. Every time, before he could even finish shouting, he was sent flying back.

Ten minutes later, Wei Dong lay sprawled on the floor while hissing and grimacing.

While he was pretty skilled in body hardening, Chen Chuan’s attacks weren’t simple. He had used refined force, which caused Wei Dong’s body to ache.

As Chen Chuan finished wiping the final training equipment and set it aside, he said, “You’ve improved, Wei Dong.”

Wei Dong lay still for a while before sitting up and rubbing his head as well as his back. “Can I learn what you just did in Central City?”

“You sure can, but the path I’ve chosen is different from yours. I think it’s better for you to keep refining your body hardening technique,” Chen Chuan answered with a grin.

Wei Dong sat still for a moment. From just those few sentences, all his aches and pains disappeared, and he became full of energy again. He bumped his fists together. “I think so too! Just watch me, Chen Chuan! I’ll catch up to you.”