173: Chapter 173 Returning to Qiunan

Shen Xingchen walked down the mountain along the mountain trail.

On the way, he received a text message on his phone: "Your package has been delivered. Sender: Yu Juezhi."

Shen Xingchen felt a surge of joy in his heart.

Yu Juezhi had finally fulfilled his promise.

While eating at the peak, Xue Hezai had already given him four spirit candle fruits. Combined with Yu Juezhi's, it was enough for him to complete his marrow cleansing.

Regarding how to refine pills, Shen Xingchen had already looked up the information beforehand.

This was the age of technology, so pill refining naturally kept pace with the times. He could just rent an electronic pill furnace.

Passing by the villa dormitory,

Shen Xingchen signed for the package.

Opening it up to take a look,

there were seven spirit candle fruits, twelve deep emerald dark blue flowers, and fourteen jingshen grasses...

Combined with the materials he had collected previously,

Shen Xingchen roughly estimated that he could refine twelve or thirteen marrow cleansing pills.

At the very bottom of the package was also a storage ring.

Shen Xingchen briefly inspected it and found that it was filled with the promised tier-nine weapons.

He took out most of the weapons from the storage ring and put them into his own gilded bracelet, leaving only two tier-nine long spears.

Then he handed the storage ring to Qiyuan nearby, saying, "This is a little gadget from our era. You can make do with it."

Yu Juezhi was quite generous; the space inside the storage ring was the size of a whole warehouse, yet he casually gave it away as a freebie.

Qiyuan checked the ring, took out a long spear to look at it, and appeared quite satisfied.

Watching Qiyuan holding the long spear, Shen Xingchen momentarily caught a glimpse of the demeanor of an "adult Valkyrie".

This time when returning home,

Shen Xingchen intended to bring Qiyuan back with him.

Firstly, it was to prevent people from the Crimson Church from targeting him again; secondly, the Valkyrie did not yet have a clear enough understanding of the modern world.

...

Taking a taxi to the high-speed rail station,

while checking his tickets, Shen Xingchen happened to bump into a familiar figure—Ye Jingjing.

Ye Jingjing also noticed Shen Xingchen.

The two nodded in greeting.

Actually, in terms of their relationship, they were not particularly close, but because they were fellow townsfolk, there was a bit more warmth between them.

At least, that was what Shen Xingchen thought.

Ye Jingjing looked at the little girl beside Shen Xingchen and asked, "Who is this little sister?"

Shen Xingchen thought for a moment and explained, "This is my distant cousin from Shangjing, Qiyuan."

Qiyuan rolled her eyes at Shen Xingchen, seeming quite dissatisfied with the title "cousin".

Shen Xingchen turned his head away. As long as he didn't look at her, he couldn't sense her anger.

Seeing this scene, Ye Jingjing thought they really looked quite like a pair of "cousins".

She smiled amicably and said, "Hello, little sister Qi."

Ye Jingjing's first reaction upon seeing Qiyuan was that this little girl had an ethereal temperament.

Qiyuan simply nodded slightly and began curiously sizing up the design of the "high-speed rail".

Ye Jingjing assumed the child was just shy and continued speaking to Shen Xingchen, "I heard that the Crimson Church was forcefully purged by someone."

"Oh?" Shen Xingchen uttered.

Ye Jingjing explained, "A few days after you saved me last time, the Crimson Church targeted a proud son of heaven highly valued by the country, which infuriated the higher-ups and led to this purge."

Shen Xingchen's gaze narrowed.

Last time Yu Juezhi also mentioned doing some "cleanup work"—could it be that time?

Ye Jingjing sighed with emotion, "After being purged, the Crimson Church has behaved a lot more. Come to think of it, I should thank that 'proud son of heaven'."

Shen Xingchen replied, "No need for that; that guy probably didn't want to be assassinated either."

Ye Jingjing was amused: "It seems so. But traveling outside now really is a lot safer for me."

The two chatted all the way before boarding their respective trains.

Looking at the scenery outside the train window, Shen Xingchen's thoughts drifted far away.

...

By the time Shen Xingchen rushed back home, it was already dusk.

The front door of his house was wide open, as if there were guests over.

Shen Xingchen walked back into the house,

and saw a middle-aged man chatting leisurely with his father, Shen Zhennan.

The middle-aged man was dressed in expensive-looking clothes, his temples were slightly gray, and his belly was bulging, looking a bit out of shape.

Shen Xingchen had seen him when they were moving; he was the wealthy man who had given Shen Zhennan the villa, and his name seemed to be... Luo Yicheng.

Seeing Shen Xingchen return, Shen Zhennan smiled and beckoned, "Chen'er is back. Your Uncle Luo is really good at Chinese chess; come quickly and help me take a look."

Because Shen Xingchen had given a heads-up beforehand, Shen Zhennan wasn't surprised by his son's appearance.

Luo Yicheng looked at Shen Xingchen with a chuckle: "As expected of a tiger father without a dog son. Little Shen's aura feels even stronger than the head of a major family."

Shen Xingchen said with a smile, "Hello, Uncle Luo."

During previous phone calls with home, he had heard that this Uncle Luo was a very good-tempered uncle.

Being neighbors, he often sent over snacks, fruits, and vegetables.

Luo Yicheng chuckled again: "Little Shen is too polite. Anyone who can get into Shangjing University is a proud son of heaven. I really envy your father."

At this moment, Jiang Li walked out from the house and took Shen Xingchen's luggage.

Shen Xingchen walked over to the chessboard.

Just this approaching movement made Shen Zhennan's gaze freeze.

He could sense the extremely, extremely deep-hidden sharp edge on Chen'er.

Chen'er had indeed improved again; it wouldn't be many years before he surpassed himself!

Shen Xingchen looked at the chessboard and simply moved a pawn forward.

Actually, his Chinese chess level was just average; he was just playing casually.

After a few moves, his disadvantage became even greater.

Seizing the opportunity to shift the blame, Shen Xingchen said, "Old Dad, I think that horse-jumping move of yours before the thirtieth move was problematic. Look, even I can't save the situation."

Shen Zhennan fell silent for a moment, then laughed out of anger: "Why don't you just say that my opening head-on cannon move was wrong?"

Shen Xingchen just smiled and didn't speak.

After making a few more moves,

seeing that they were just a few moves away from losing,

Shen Xingchen asked toward the house, "Mom, why isn't Keke back yet? I'll go pick her up from school."

Without waiting for Jiang Li to respond, he walked directly out the door.

Leaving only Shen Zhennan staring at the hopeless chessboard, frozen in place.

...

Shen Xingchen walked in the dusk.

When they left Qiunan, although his father had recovered his strength, there was always a kind of dormant senility about him.

That was the shadow left behind by years of illness.

Returning this time,

Shen Xingchen could clearly feel that his father had fully recovered, reaching an unprecedented peak in both mindset and strength.

He heard that during this period, with Director Li Tianshuo's help, he had even snagged the position of deputy director.

Walking along,

Shen Xingchen passed by Jiang Qingyao's home.

The lights inside were still dark.

Jiang Qingyao had said her flight would arrive late.

Shen Xingchen continued on his way to Shen Keke's school.

The junior high school Shen Keke attended was the best in Qiunan City, called Xinghan Middle School.

It was said that Bai Chenyue, Tang Chen, and others had studied at this school, and its internal decorations and equipment were extremely luxurious.

It was a prestigious private school in every sense of the word.

By the time Shen Xingchen arrived, Xinghan Middle School had already dismissed classes.

Shen Xingchen didn't see Shen Keke at the school gate.

Therefore, he walked toward the direction of his younger sister's classroom.

On the way, he happened to see a familiar little girl—Li Kerou.

She was Teacher Li You's daughter.

But why did she look so flustered?

Shen Xingchen asked, "Xiaorou, have you seen Keke?"

Li Kerou turned her head to look over, dazed at first, feeling that the person coming was both familiar and unfamiliar.

Once she snapped back to reality, her eyes suddenly lit up, as if she had grabbed hold of a savior:

"Brother Shen Xingchen, hurry to the alley on the east side of the school, Keke... something happened!"