Chapter 511: Dark Oath

"What happened then?" Yun Che asked urgently, his hands quietly clenching.

"Later... under the pursuit of the Heavenly Might Sword Region, my wife and I could still manage with composure, constantly looking for opportunities to return to Heavenly Sword Villa to find my father. But then, another group of forces suddenly appeared, and we both became afflicted with ice poison. On top of that, Yuerou was pregnant and dared not use too much profound energy, making our escape incredibly difficult and perilous. At that point, we no longer dared to hope of returning to Heavenly Sword Villa; even staying alive became extraordinarily challenging. I protected Yuerou, and Yuerou protected the child in her womb. For six months, until the child was born, we fiercely persevered."

"My wife and I had been married for decades when we finally had a child, yet we felt no joy, because our child was born into immense danger. What pained us most was that despite Yuerou's desperate protection, the ice poison still infiltrated the child's body. The only comfort was that Yuerou's six months of painful protection bore good fruit: the ice poison the child contracted was very shallow, not immediately life-threatening..."

At this point, Yun Qinghong's face showed no trace of relief. He closed his eyes and sighed sadly, "But it couldn't be forced out of his body. In desperation, my wife and I had to make a painful choice... We used profound energy to force the small amount of ice poison in his body into his nascent, tender profound veins, and then used lightning profound energy to annihilate the ice poison. However... this completely destroyed his profound veins."

Yun Che's chest heaved violently. Only now did he realize that his crippled profound veins weren't caused by an injury from another person, but rather... by ice poison!

Although more than twenty years had passed, Yun Qinghong's expression was still pained at the memory. To personally destroy his child's profound veins was akin to destroying his entire life, a million times more painful and difficult than crippling himself. He sighed, "That child had just been born, and his profound veins hadn't fully developed. To destroy them at that age meant his life was destined to be that of a cripple... But that was the only way to save his life. Otherwise, if the ice poison spread, he might not even have lived for seven days."

"I understand..." Yun Che murmured softly, "When that child grows up, he will surely comprehend your difficult circumstances and will never blame you."

Yun Qinghong shook his head. "Regrettably, although we saved his life, we have almost no chance of seeing him again in this lifetime, because twenty-two years ago, he was left on the Heaven Profound Continent..."

Yun Che already knew the subsequent events for the most part. He quietly listened to Yun Qinghong's narrative...

"My wife and I desperately fled with our child, completely without direction. One day, we passed through a familiar place, entered a small city, and surprisingly encountered my sworn brother, Xiao Ying. Only then did I realize that it was Flowing Cloud City, where he resided. At that time, my wife and I were covered in blood, our profound energy nearly depleted. We had already resigned ourselves to death. But when we met Brother Xiao Ying, he scolded me, telling me that even if it meant our child would grow up without parents, we must fight to survive and escape. Then, in the shortest time possible, he prepared a large amount of clothing, food, and medicine for us. He even drew a map by hand, pointing out an excellent escape route and a hidden location for us..."

"My wife and I were completely unfamiliar with the Heaven Profound Continent; our previous escape was like a headless fly. With Brother Xiao Ying's guidance, we successfully shook off our pursuers and hid beneath a waterfall... Without Brother Xiao Ying's help and direction, my wife and I would never have escaped, nor would we be alive today. Both our lives were granted by him... Furthermore, during the brief hour he sheltered us, he secretly swapped our newborn child with his own, without our knowledge. We only discovered this after we had fled with all our might and reached that hidden place..."

Yun Che was speechless.

"Actually, after meeting Brother Xiao Ying, I had considered leaving our child with him and facing death ourselves, but I deeply feared that doing so would bring calamity upon Xiao Ying's family. I never expected that Brother Xiao Ying, to preserve our bloodline, would secretly swap our children..." Yun Qinghong closed his eyes, his eyelids trembling continuously. "For Yun Qinghong to have such a brother in this life is the greatest blessing Heaven has bestowed upon me."

"So, your child was left on the Heaven Profound Continent, in a place called Flowing Cloud City, and Uncle Xiao's child... is Yun Xiao?" Yun Che asked softly.

"Yes..." Yun Qinghong nodded slowly. "That is Xiao'er's true origin. After escaping the pursuit, we did consider returning to Flowing Cloud City, but at that time, my wife and I were severely injured, afflicted with ice poison, and only had enough strength to barely survive. If we rashly returned to Flowing Cloud City and were exposed, our deaths would be inconsequential, but it would bring immense disaster upon Xiao Ying and his family. Therefore, all we could do was strive with all our might to live... and no matter what, protect his child. I understood then that Brother Xiao Ying swapped our children partly to preserve our bloodline, and partly to ignite our will to fight to survive."

"How did you escape later?" Yun Che asked.

"Our Yun family possesses a secret artifact capable of traversing space. However, each use of this artifact requires a three-year recovery period for its power. Three months later, the artifact finally regained its power, and we used it to return to the Illusionary Demon Realm."

"Since you have this secret artifact that can directly access the Heaven Profound Continent, did you ever use it again to go back and retrieve your child?"

Yun Qinghong shook his head, a faint, helpless smile on his face. "Having been infiltrated by our Illusionary Demon Realm multiple times, the Heaven Profound Continent has become highly vigilant and prepared. Our Yun family's secret artifact can indeed be used again, but once it enters the Heaven Profound Continent, those on that side would immediately detect us. Both my wife and I are crippled; using the artifact again would simply be a suicide mission. As for others... how could they possibly risk their lives for our child? Therefore, we could only treat Xiao'er as our own son and conceal his true identity... However, all sons of our Yun family possess the power of Profound Core within their bloodline. As he grows, his true parentage is bound to be questioned, and he will grow up amidst countless criticisms... We anticipated this long ago, but there was nothing we could do."

Yun Che had learned the general truth of those events over the years, but listening to Yun Qinghong recount the past in detail, his heart still surged with unrest. The ambitions of the Four Sacred Grounds had dealt a severe blow to the Demon Emperor Clan, leading to the tragedies of both the Yun and Xiao families. His and Yun Xiao's lives had been turned upside down as a result.

"...Are you telling me all this because you hope that one day, I can go to the Heaven Profound Continent with Yun Xiao to find his true family?" Yun Che asked softly.

Yun Qinghong nodded slowly. "Although I don't know why you are so good to our family, your kindness towards Yun Xiao, and even your calling us 'father' and 'mother,' shows no pretense whatsoever. Furthermore, while I have many questions about you, I cannot bring myself to feel any repulsion; instead, there's an inexplicable sense of familiarity and trust." He smiled, seemingly enjoying this inexplicable feeling. "Because Xiao'er is suspected of being from the Heaven Profound Continent, he has been shunned by everyone and had no friends since childhood. He is nearly twenty-two this year, and you are the only one willing to be his brother... Though it might be asking a lot of you, Xiao'er's cultivation talent isn't top-tier. In the future, you are the only one who can help him return to the Heaven Profound Continent and acknowledge his ancestors. He should return there someday; after all, that is his home, and Xiao Ying's family must be waiting for him day and night..."

"...Do you miss your own biological child?" Yun Che asked in a low voice.

Yun Qinghong closed his eyes, his voice soft as a breeze. "I'm alright. After all, I believe Brother Xiao Ying would never mistreat my son. With Brother Xiao Ying, he won't be bullied and will live happily; I've never doubted that. But Yuerou... these past years, she has longed for him day and night, shedding countless tears, sometimes even waking up crying from dreams... She worries if something happened to him, with his profound veins crippled. She worries if he's being bullied and ridiculed. At the same time, she often blames and hates herself... So many years have passed, and her worries haven't lessened; instead, the knots in her heart have grown heavier. She has fallen ill many times over these years; others thought it was her ice poison acting up, but only I knew she was sick from sorrow and longing. What has always sustained her is Xiao'er. She treats Xiao'er as her own biological son, doting on him doubly, hoping that however well she treats Xiao'er, our own child will be treated just as well..."

After the poison was purged from Yun Qinghong, darkness had fallen. As a side effect of the ice poison's removal, both Yun Qinghong and his wife had fallen into a deep slumber. Yun Che stepped out of the room and stood in the middle of the courtyard, looking up at the crescent moon that had long appeared in the sky. The night wind brushed past him, stirring the hair on his forehead.

"Why don't you tell them your identity? You have many ways to prove you are their son... Blood fusion, Profound Core, the Samsara Mirror – any of them would work!" Jasmine asked indifferently.

"...Now is not the time," Yun Che said, gazing silently ahead. "At the very least, it wouldn't be fair to Yun Xiao."

"Time? Hmph, so what do you plan to do next?"

Yun Che slightly raised his head, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. "Since fate has brought me to this place, allowing me to find my own family and biological parents, then of course I must act... Back then, to allow me to escape, Grandpa severed his own lifelines. My life was exchanged for Grandpa's life, and I will fulfill his wishes and his legacy on his behalf!"

"Grandpa endured a century of suffering for the Demon Emperor Clan before passing away, but what he got in return was a false accusation and condemnation for the entire Yun family... Why!?" Yun Che gnashed his teeth forcefully. "Because of the Demon Emperor Clan, I lost my Grandpa. Because of Grandpa, my father and mother have been crippled for over twenty years, enduring cold gazes just like I did when I was crippled... I am Yun Canghai's grandson, Yun Qinghong's son. They show unswerving loyalty to the Illusionary Demon Royal Family... but I don't!! All I see is what they owe our family!! What the Illusionary Demon Royal Family owes my Grandpa, owes my father and mother, owes me... I want them... to repay it tenfold, a hundredfold!!"