Shortly after the guards left and the door was closed, Shen An instantly jumped and embraced Shen Tian Yi with eyes full of tears as she cried.

  "Xiao Tian, what happened? Who hurt you? Which beast and dog was so heartless as to beat an eight year old boy?"

  Shen An asked with extreme anger and sadness which shocked Shen Tian Yi quite a bit.

  'To think she was worried about me this much. Sorry aunt, no, mom, I'm such a bad son for making you cried.'

  Shen Tian Yi was silence for a moment as he was sorting his thoughts and process her emotions. He then said everything was fined in an attempt to calm his crying mother down but it seems to backfired.

  His mother sob even harder and didn't even ask him questions anymore as she was unable too. Then, Shen Jin stepped forward and knelt down with one leg as he looked at Shen Tian Yi with a gentle smile.

  "Tian Er, it's fine, everything is fine. Father is here, your mother is here, even your sister is here, nobody can harm you while we're here. I can swear this on my life."

  Shen Jin said with honest eyes, with heart more precious than gold.

  His daughter who was hiding behind him also stuck out her head and nodded.

  Shen Tian Yi was touched by their compassion and confessed the truth. Shen Jin facial expression twitch slightly, but still kept his gentle smile and comforted Shen Tian Yi as they all got back into the living room and eat some food, took a bath and went to sleep.

  At least that's what Shen Tian Yi thought until he heard a loud sound of door shutting not long after his parents sent him and Shen Ai to sleep.

  Shen Tian Yi decided to not do anything about it and continue sleeping as he was too tired and beaten, literally. He had a rough idea what's happening.

  Morning came and Shen Tian Yi woke up feeling sore all over his body. He noticed that Shen Ai was still sleeping soundly beside him so he decided not to wake her up. He went to wash his face, rinse his mouth and take a shower with servants tending to him.

  After he finished washing himself, Shen Tian Yi went to the kitchen to find something to eat before heading to school, but found his parents at the dinner table instead.

  They smiled gently after noticing him, they then told him to come sit with them at the table.

  "Tian Er, no need to worry, everything is fine. Father took care of it, nobody is going to to hurt you anymore, I promise. So why don't you and Xiao Ai not go to school and rest for today? Father already told the school about this, so we can spend time together as much as we want today, how does that sound?" Shen Jin said with a warm and reassuring smile.

  Although he felt that this father of his was not as confidence in his words from the look in his eyes, he chose to ignore it a he thought maybe it was just his brain messing with him. He smiled and nodded happily as innocent as possible at his adoptive father's word.

  The father and son talked some more while waiting for Shen Ai to wake up and Shen An to finish cooking. After while, the whole family had breakfast together when the food was ready and Shen Ai woke up.

  When the family finally finished breakfast, Shen Ai went back to her room as she said she has homework to do. Shen Tian Yi was about to do the same when his father told him to stay a bit more as there was something he wanted to talk about.

  "Tian Er, do you remember the day you gave us all those Core Essence stone and two bamboo house with servants of four family that the clan bestowed to you?" Shen Jin asked with a gentle smile as he always has done.

  "Yes, father."

  "At first I was very surprised, who wouldn't be when someone offered them such a huge sum for no reason? I thought you might not know the value of those thing, so I asked you how many bowl of noodle can you buy with these fortunes, but your answer shocked me even more. I remembered it was something like-"

  Before Shen Jin could finished his words, he was cut by Shen Tian Yi who then spoke:

  "Core essence is a necessary resource for Meng cultivation as well as Meng. While Meng itself is hard to get, you can buy it from the clan or travelling merchants from caravans. Average price of a rank one Meng is around one or two hundreds fifty to three hundreds core essence stone, rank two is five hundreds to two thousands while rank three can range from three thousands to ten thousands of Core Essence stone. As for rank four and five, I have no idea what their prices are."

  "What do know is that one Core Essence is enough for an average rank one family to sustain their lives for about a month if they used it sparingly, two if they eat one meal a day. As for how much Core Essence a Meng cultivator need to sustain their livelihood, I have no idea as I am not one yet."

  "However, I do know that six hundred thousands Core Essence stones is definitely a huge sum, it's too much, even for two elite elders of the clan. The reason clan leader gave me this much compensation was either because some reason unknown or my parents' lives just worth that much, or it could even be both. I am not clear of the exact detail. The way I am now, I have no way to utilize it nor do I have anyway to protect it, so it's best to give them to you, my father's best friend, and also my adoptive father."

  Stolen story; please report.

  "What I ask in exchange is that you treat me well, you don't have to treat me if I'm your son if you don't want to. Having three meals a day with a place to sleep is already enough for me."

  Shen Tian Yi said expressionlessly back then, leaving his adoptive father in momentary shock while his adoptive mother was smiling lightly as if she has expected it.

  Shen Jin regained his composure shortly after. For a moment, he saw a figure of his best friend overlapping with Shen Tian Yi. The way they talked, straight forward with confidence couple with their intelligence, the similarity is just uncanny.

  Three years ago he asked Shen Tian Yi if he knew the values of these fortunes he was giving away so easily, the answer he received back then was the same as he received now, not one word more or one word less.

  He was so shocked then, even more shocked now. This was not his first time witnessing such a scene, but precisely because it's not that he felt even more shocked and amazed.

  "Guess you're a genius after all."

  Shen Jin said with a soft smile after he calmed down.

  "I'm just good at memorizing."

  Shen Tian Yi closed his eyes and said with a smile innocently.

  Shen Jin's expression turned slightly weird, but he still tried to keep his smile as he mumbled under his breath:

  "You said this back then too..."

  Shen Jin shook his head softly to clear his mind and gather his thoughts, then spoke in a happy and carefree manner again:

  "Anyway, since you know the value of Core Essence stones, then I won't say much. This two bags contained five hundred Core Essence stones each, they are yours."

  Saying so, Shen Jin waved his hand lightly in the air. Immediately after, four servants brought one bag of Core Essence stones each and placed them on the table before respectfully took their leave.

  Shen Tian Yi was about to say something when Shen Jin raised his right hand and stopped him.

  "I know what you want to say, but these Core Essence stones are not mine. They're from the person who harmed you, Shen Wu. Or more accurately, his grandfather. He want give you this one thousand Core Essence stones as an apology and promised something like this would never happen again. He won't take them back either even if we return them so just accept it, ok? It's all yours."

  Shen Tian Yi was stunned. He had expected there would be some compensation, but he didn't expect it to be this much. After all, in his eyes, what happened back there was just a kid fight. Even if there was some age differences and was hardly a fight, the compensation should not be this much.

  What does this amount of Core Essence stones mean? For average rank one family, one Core Essence stone meant a month worth of expense, a thousand of core Essence stones meant that they got their expense covered roughly for about eighty years!

  For a rank one Meng Cultivator, it meant at least two or three rank one Meng, or even one rank two Meng of their choice!

  Shen Tian Yi only was stunned for a short moment before he bowed down, thanked his parents and took his leave with the bags of Core Essence stones.

  "Shen Jiang...." Shen Jin mumbled softly under his breath with eyes full of nostalgia.

  Many years ago, on this very table, sat four people, drinking and eating together. They were the best of friends for each other, nothing could get between them. They would often came here and sit for a cup of tea or maybe a game with drinks on the side and chat about their lives. Sometimes they would drink together nonstop without any regards for missions and work, yet their performance still came out on top.

  They would spent their times in here many days in their youth, talking about their own adversities with one another, chatting their worries away.

  Time past quickly like water flowing in the sea, it cannot be stopped. They grew up slowly and got caught up with their lives, their families. They didn't meet up as much as they used to, but their friendship remain unchanged. If not for the other two's sudden death, the four of them might still be sitting on this very table.

  "Oh Shen Jiang, why must you left me so? Why must you left your son all alone in this world? Did you know, Tian Er is growing up healthily, he looks like you more and more with each passing day, I even mistook him for you sometimes. As your best friend, I swore to myself to protect and raise him well for you like he is my own child, but with the child's intelligence, I'm afraid I can't fill the void in his heart even if I want to." Shen Jin sighed with , deep emotion. Being independent was not easy, being a father was even harder.

  "Did you know? Tian Er got beat up the other day and I didn't even know where, when or even why he got beaten up to such a state. Until he came back to me with bruises and wounds all over his body, he was just eight years old! You would have protect him and make sure whoever did this to him got what they deserved, not some measely Core Essence stones... I'm just a useless incompetent friend..." Shen Jin closed his eyes in shame and guilt. Shame because was not able to get reveng for Shen Tian, guilt because he accepted Shen Wu's grandfather's so called apology and his friendship in exchange for burying this matter.

  People say old wave cannot resist new tide, but did they know the hardship of the young fighting against the old? He has just recently rise from the war and stabilize his power and status while the opponent has been doing it for years.

  "It's ok, you don't have to blame yourself. You tried your best and did everything you can, that's all that matters."

  For a moment, Shen Jin felt like he misheard and quickly turned his head to take a look. What he thought was his best friend's voice was instead his wife who spoken to him. Unbeknown to him, tears has been running down his face the entire time while he talked to himself. Shen An wiped tears from his face gently while speaking words of comfort.

  "I know how you feel, I miss them just as much as you do, but we need to let go of the past and live the present. The best we can do is raising the kids and live our lives well, so that their sacrifice will not be in vain."

  "... You're right, I should not dwell too much on the past. I will look forward to the future instead, who knows? Maybe our kids will grow up to be incredible people someday, even greater than us."

  Shen An giggled softly before putting her forehead against her husband's chest.

  "I'm sure they will"

  In the back yard of the house stood a man with his arms crossed under the shade of a ginkgo tree, leaves fell upon him. He has stood here, listened and observed them through the back door from the backyard to the kitchen from start to finish, but he still has no idea what this thing was about other than the kid named Shen Tian Yi's life so far.

  The wind of autumn blew pushing the ginkgo leaves into the air, creating a beautiful sight. The wind gradually picked up speed as more leaves were swirling in the air, the world was filled with ginkgo leaves before long.