Chapter 23

Time passed day by day.

The weather gradually grew colder, and Father still hadn't returned. The Western Manor of the Ji family had long dispatched a group of black-armored guards to permanently station at the Winged Serpent Lake.

Inside the training ground.

Sword shadows whistled past, and Ji Ning practiced the "Dripping Water Scripture" alone. Nowadays, whether it was the black-armored guards or powerful beasts, they were no longer useful for honing his sword skills. And with Father Ji Yichuan still not returning, Ji Ning could only practice his sword skills alone.

"Master." Qiuye whispered.

"Hmm?" Ji Ning looked at Qiuye, who appeared very anxious.

Ji Ning frowned and sheathed the Beimeng Sword: "Qiuye, what is it?"

"Master." Qiuye said softly, "Chuncao's father has come to see you."

"Who?" Ji Ning was taken aback.

"Chuncao's father!" Qiuye's voice was slightly louder, "Her biological father!"

Ji Ning was surprised: "Chuncao has a father?"

Both of his personal maids were slaves and had been bought into the Western Manor of the Ji family when they were very young.

"Where is Chuncao?" Ji Ning asked.

"Chuncao didn't dare to come and see you, Master." The maid Qiuye said softly, "I can tell that Chuncao really wants to see her father, but her status... makes her too afraid to speak up."

Ji Ning nodded thoughtfully.

Yes, strictly speaking, Chuncao and Qiuye were his maids, and their lives were under his control. From the day they were sold, they had no longer been related to their parents. However, humans are not plants; who could be without feelings?

"Go, bring Chuncao's father in." Ji Ning smiled, "If he wants to see me, let him."

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

Ji Ning then shouted to the courtyard outside: "Chuncao, come in." Outside the courtyard, a maid dressed in animal skins stood anxiously. Hearing the master's voice, she had no choice but to walk in, her face full of unease... Chuncao's heart was very complex and chaotic, filled with excitement, joy, nervousness, shame, guilt, and unease.

"Master." Chuncao looked at Ji Ning.

"You can see your father if you want to." Ji Ning said with a smile.

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

"Hmm?" Ji Ning frowned, "My words are no longer effective?"

"Yes, Master." Chuncao glanced at Ji Ning, her heart full of gratitude. In fact, she could feel that this most talented and future Manor Lord of the Western Manor of the Ji family treated her and Qiuye differently from how a typical master treated their servants.

"They're here." Ji Ning looked outside and saw two figures walking into the courtyard. The one in front was Qiuye, and the one behind was a tall, middle-aged man dressed in black animal skins. This man had a scar on his face and looked somewhat nervous, his head lowered.

"Master, he's here." Qiuye said respectfully.

The scarred middle-aged man immediately knelt down, his head bowed to the ground, his hands on the ground, showing utmost respect: "Blacktooth pays respects to the great Master."

Chuncao's eyes couldn't help but turn red.

Ji Ning glanced at Chuncao and then said, "Stand up."

"Yes." The scarred middle-aged man stood up and saw Chuncao standing beside Ji Ning. The moment their eyes met, they couldn't help but shed tears.

The scarred middle-aged man quickly regained his composure and wiped away his tears.

"Why have you come to see me?" Ji Ning asked.

The scarred middle-aged man took a deep breath: "Blacktooth has come to see you, Master, to redeem my child, Miwa."

"Redeem?" Ji Ning was surprised.

Redeem?

In the years since he came to this world, there were not many people he had developed feelings for, and Chuncao and Qiuye, in his heart, were like sisters.

"Father." Chuncao couldn't help but exclaim. Generally, slaves could be redeemed for a price, but what was the status of a Ji family master? Could her father really redeem her? If she angered the master, her father might lose his life.

At the same time, she knelt down and kowtowed, "Master, my father knows nothing. Please forgive his disrespect."

"Let him speak." Ji Ning looked at the scarred middle-aged man, "Say everything. If you can convince me, I will agree. If you can't... hmm."

The scarred middle-aged man's heart trembled.

He understood the immense power of the young man before him and how easily he could take his life. But since he had chosen to come... he was prepared!

"Great Master." The scarred middle-aged man said respectfully, "Blacktooth will speak from the heart."

Ji Ning just looked at him.

"I, Blacktooth, was the son of a tribal leader." The scarred middle-aged man said slowly, "In a forest, our Blacktooth tribe lived a peaceful life. We raised wild animals, and I led the strong warriors of the tribe to hunt the beasts around us... One day, we discovered a large amount of naturally grown millet in a secluded valley."

"Our entire tribe was excited and rejoiced. With this millet, our tribe would be much better off and could support more people. However, this news was soon known by another powerful tribe, the Blood Mosquito Tribe. One early morning, while it was still dim and many of our people were still asleep..." The scarred middle-aged man's eyes showed pain, "They ambushed our tribe, brutally slaughtering our people. Our strength was far inferior to the Blood Mosquito Tribe, and we were caught off guard. Some of our surviving people could only flee."

"I took Miwa and fled. We faced countless life-and-death situations, and finally, we escaped to the Western Manor City." The scarred middle-aged man's body trembled slightly, "But my beloved wife, my tribal brothers, they all died. I had to avenge them, even if it meant dying. But Miwa was innocent, and I wanted her to live... So I sold her to the Ji family. At least in the Ji family, she could live a stable life."

Chuncao trembled, tears streaming down her face: "Father, father..."

She couldn't forget...

She couldn't forget the days of fleeing, even though she was young, she couldn't forget the deaths of her relatives and peers. She couldn't forget how her father led her through countless dangers to reach the Western Manor City, and at that time, her father only told her, "Miwa, Father has to do what he must, and Miwa must live on."

"Father, don't leave Miwa, father, father..." The young Chuncao cried.

The young Blacktooth, then a young man, left with determination.

He embarked on the path of revenge!

"I hate." The scarred middle-aged man's body trembled, "I wanted revenge. Although I was a Ninefang Warrior, I was nothing to the Blood Mosquito Tribe! After killing four of my enemies, a large beast with fiery red fur attacked the Blood Mosquito Tribe... The ugly creature that led the group that destroyed my hometown was swallowed by the beast, and the Blood Mosquito Tribe was destroyed. The surviving members of the Blood Mosquito Tribe joined other tribes."

"My enemies are gone."

"Having nothing, I could not redeem Miwa, so I became a merchant." The scarred middle-aged man said, "Through countless life-and-death journeys, I found some of the survivors of the Blacktooth tribe. My merchant group grew stronger, and I accumulated wealth. I then gathered some of the survivors and established a new tribe—the Blacktooth Tribe! And I became the new Blacktooth."

"During my time as a merchant." The scarred middle-aged man looked at Ji Ning, "I talked to some of the Ji family's servants and learned that Miwa had become your maid, Master Ji Ning."

"When I established the Blacktooth Tribe, I had done what I needed to do. I had no regrets towards my father and the previous Blacktooths." The scarred middle-aged man looked at Ji Ning, "So I came. I came to see my child, Miwa, whom I have dreamed of for ten years. Even if I die, I must see Miwa."

"My Miwa, my child, I want to be with her. She is the only family I have left in this world." The scarred middle-aged man's face was wet with tears.

Chuncao was already in tears, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Father." Chuncao ran over and hugged her suffering father.

"Miwa." The scarred middle-aged man also hugged his daughter, a moment he had longed for.

Qiuye couldn't help but shed tears as well.

Ji Ning listened, moved.

The people of the tribes struggled against the heavens, the earth, and the beasts. And Chuncao's father, Blacktooth, was just one of many such stories.

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

Chuncao bit her lip, tears streaming down her face, and she knelt down, "Master, please forgive Chuncao! I really want to be with my father, I really do!"

"Great Master." The scarred middle-aged man also knelt down.

Ji Ning looked at the father and daughter. After so much time together, Chuncao and Qiuye had developed a bond like sisters. He didn't want Chuncao to leave, but he didn't want her to be unhappy either: "Chuncao, from today on, 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 Master. Blacktooth will forever remember your great kindness." Blacktooth knelt down, moved to tears.

...

Under Ji Ning's arrangement, Chuncao was freed, and her father Blacktooth took her away. As they left, Chuncao called out, "Master, Chuncao will always remember your kindness. Chuncao will pray for you in the Blacktooth Tribe. If Master ever passes by the Blacktooth Tribe, I hope you will come to see me."

"Of course." Ji Ning replied.

"We will definitely come." Qiuye was in tears, as she and Chuncao were like sisters.

The weather grew colder.

Ji Ning's thoughts were also changing.

Chuncao's departure, her father's story, the Winged Serpent's attack, Father's battle with the great beast, and the lack of strong opponents to hone his sword skills within the Ji family... All these events made Ji Ning's thoughts fluctuate.

He felt that the Western Manor City was too small.

He wanted to go out, to see a broader world! He wanted to see how tribes like the Blacktooth Tribe survived! He wanted to fight great beasts like his father... He wanted to explore and adventure in this vast land...

"Ning'er, your father has returned." On a snowy day, Weichi Xue called out to her son.

Ji Ning saw his father returning on a green-flamed bird from the sky.