Chapter 297 – Uncle

A voice suddenly broke the silence, startling Chen Fan and Nangong Yue.

“I knew it. It really is you.”

A gust of wind swept through, and in the blink of an eye, Nangong Baxiong appeared in the courtyard.

Nangong Baxiong stood tall and imposing. A fierce light flickered in his eyes as he looked at Chen Fan.

“Nangong Baxiong!” Nangong Yue exclaimed in shock. A look of desperation crossed her face as she pleaded, “Nangong Baxiong, he’s my child, your nephew. Can you truly bring yourself to harm him? Please, let Xiaofan go.”

Chen Fan, too, stared at Nangong Baxiong, caught off guard by his sudden appearance. It seemed he had been under suspicion for quite some time.

Chen Fan hurriedly said, “Mother, no need to beg him.”

Chen Fan faced Nangong Baxiong with a steady gaze, remarkably calm under the circumstances. “Bloodline Leader Baxiong, when did you start suspecting me?”

He knew panic would solve nothing. His mind raced, searching for a way out.

𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

“Can't you even call me Uncle once?” Nangong Baxiong looked at Chen Fan, his voice slightly deep. "My suspicions began the day Wan’er introduced you to me."

“Yue'er is right. The corners of your eyes and your lips resemble your father too much. They’re practically the same.”

Nangong Baxiong and Chen Zhengqing used to be close friends. They hadn’t met in the last eighteen years, but the second he saw Chen Fan, the face of his brave old friend popped up in his mind.

That encounter planted a seed of suspicion in him.

Tonight, everyone from the Moon Bloodline was celebrating, but Chen Fan had excused himself, claiming he needed to leave.

He had been keeping an eye on Chen Fan. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw Chen Fan sneaking out of his living quarters and walking toward a restricted area.

Piecing things together, Chen Fan understood the sequence of events that led to his discovery. “Then, Bloodline Leader Baxiong, now that you've uncovered who I am, what's your plan? Will you detain me and hand me over to those rigid old goats for judgment? Or will you send me to the Qin Clan to claim merits?”

Nangong Baxiong’s gaze immediately turned sharp.

Chen Fan, undeterred and fearless, matched Nangong Baxiong’s stare.

Although he was frantically trying to devise a way out of this situation, he couldn’t come up with anything practical.

Nangong Baxiong was at the fourth level of the Core Formation realm. Chen Fan couldn’t escape from him even if he used his true cultivation. The difference in strength was too much.

“Nangong Baxiong, you can’t do that!” exclaimed Nangong Yue, her face darkening with worry. She quickly stood in front of Chen Fan, protective and defiant.

Looking at Nangong Yue and Chen Fan, Nangong Baxiong momentarily fell silent. Then, he looked to the sky, sighed, and smiled bitterly. “Forget it. I kept myself out of that matter back then, which made you hate me for eighteen years, and for just as long, I've been living with my own guilt."

Nangong Yue and Chen Zhengqing’s scandal had caused a huge storm in the imperial city. The Sun Bloodline, the Star Bloodline, and the Qin Clan had forced the Moon Bloodline to abandon Nangong Yue and offer her no help.

Nangong Baxiong and Chen Zhengqing were close friends back then. He was among the first to learn of his sister's relationship with his friend and did not oppose their union.

However, the events that followed unfolded at a startling speed.

Under pressure from the Moon Bloodline's elders, he could only stand by as Chen Zhengqing and the young Chen Fan were forced to flee the imperial city, pursued by their adversaries, eventually disappearing without a trace.

This matter had been a thorn in his heart for eighteen years.

He held himself responsible for it all this time, and so did Nangong Yue.

When Chen Fan asked him if he would send him to the clan elders or the Qin Clan, Nangong Baxiong realized that he had truly failed as an uncle.

“Xiaoyue, I let you down back then and made you suffer for eighteen years. It’s only right that you resent an older brother like me.”

Nangong Baxiong looked at Nangong Yue with a gentle gaze.

When their parents had been on their deathbeds, they had asked him to protect his younger sister—a vow he had faithfully kept since their childhood. Whenever someone dared to bully Nangong Yue, he was always there to make the perpetrator pay twice over.

However, that commitment wavered eighteen years ago.

He just watched as his younger sister was separated from her flesh and blood. He just watched as she was placed under house arrest eighteen years ago. As she suffered for eighteen years, silently longing for her husband and her child, he could only silently watch.

Ultimately, he realized he had failed to keep his promise to their parents.

Addressing Chen Fan, he softened his tone and said, “And you, kid, I'm not the villain you imagine. I only came to verify my doubts.”

As his voice fell, Nangong Baxiong turned to leave. His back seemed somewhat sad.

“Brother!” Nangong Yue cried out.

He briefly halted at her call but then resumed his departure without returning.

Chen Fan looked at Nangong Baxiong’s back. His eyes flickered momentarily, and he called out, “Uncle.”

Nangong Baxiong paused again, a sign of acknowledgment, perhaps, but he didn't turn around. In the next moment, he vanished from their sight.

In the quiet that followed Nangong Baxiong's departure, Nangong Yue and Chen Fan exhaled deeply, relieved.

“Perhaps I was wrong to blame him for eighteen years,” Nangong Yue lamented.

Back then, she had pleaded with Nangong Baxiong for help, but he had chosen to stand aside. From that moment on, Nangong Yue blamed her brother, who doted on her a lot.

Nangong Baxiong often visited her during these eighteen years, but she never treated him kindly.

However, she realized that she might have blamed Nangong Baxiong erroneously.

Maybe Nangong Baxiong didn’t help her because of circumstances that were beyond his control.

Chen Fan also used to resent Nangong Baxiong a little in his heart. However, after hearing what Nangong Baxiong said, he began to doubt his initial judgment. They might have misunderstood Nangong Baxiong's intentions.

“Mother, perhaps he’s a good uncle.”

Nangong Yue nodded and said, “And a good brother.”

Nangong Baxiong overheard them outside the courtyard and let out a long sigh.

......

“Tell me, Xiaofan, how is your father doing now? He suffered heavy injuries while fleeing with you. I heard that they’d damaged his primeval vessel.”

After Nangong Baxiong left, Nangong Yue and Chen Fan could finally converse peacefully.

Chen Fan told Nangong Yue all about Chen Zhengqing’s current condition. She smiled and said, “Great, wonderful. Both you and your father are fine. It’s such a relief.”

“Rest assured, Mother. In no more than two years, I will bring you out of the Nangong Clan openly. By then, no one will be able to stop our family from reuniting, and I will ensure that everyone who has wronged you and my father faces retribution."

Toward the end of his sentence, Chen Fan’s gaze appeared incomparably fierce. His tone was also very sharp.

Those people did not only include the Qin Clan and the Zhao Clan but also some people from the Nangong Clan!