Dinners over, Wu Junjie suggested giving the two girls a ride home. Although he was talking to both girls in the group, his eyes were fixated only on one of them: Yu Wenjin.
Yu Wenjin refused the ride politely.
To everyone’s surprise, Chen Fan had refused the ride as well and insisted on walking home with Yu Wenjin.
As soon as Chen Fan made his decision, suspicion flashed across his friend’s face for a brief second. Wu Junjie was not only shocked by Chen Fan’s decision but also confused by it. In the end, he decided to let the matter slide and drove away for old times sake.
Chen Fan and Yu Wenjin quietly walked on the sidewalk.
“You looked so different after staying in Chu Zhou City for six months.” Yu Wenjin’s voice was laced with agitation.
“Everyone changes given a different environment for so long.” Chen Fan said quietly.
After his friends were gone, Chen Fan put away the rare smile he had and returned to his cold and aloof normal-self.
Yu Wenjin kept her silence and continued walking alongside Chen Fan. Many pedestrians on the sidewalk stared at the young girl with amazement. She was only sixteen years old, yet her budding beauty was noticeable. Her radiating skin was particularly fair in complexion and was impeccably smooth. It was as if an anime princess had walked off the silver screen. In comparison, Chen Fan looked nothing extraordinary if not below average.
After a while, Yu Wenjin could no longer bear the awkward silence and finally broke the spell. “Chen Fan, is there anything you want to tell me?”
She stopped walking and stared at Chen Fan with a pair of sparkling eyes. “If you want to ask me out, then forget it. We are in the final years of our high school; we barely have time to sleep, much less dating.”
“You thought I was going to ask you out ?” Chen Fan asked calmly.
“Aren’t you?” Yu Wenjin was taken aback by the turn of events.
All the boys that approached her in private, they had only one goal. Let it be Wu Junjie’s honey words, Xu Haoxuan’s passive-aggressive confession, or Yan Xiaobai’s surreptitious glances… they all meant to tell her the same message. It’s not their fault either; after all, her beauty would be exceptional even in the Chu Zhou City.
Appearance wise, she was not that much prettier than Jiang Churan and Xu Rongfei; however, there was a unique quality about her that could catch everyone’s attention immediately.
Only Chen Fan knew that her ability to attract attention was a benefit of her cultivation.
“Do you still remember what I told you at the dining table?” Chen Fan asked somberly.
“You mean…” Yu Wenjin panicked again.
She thought Chen Fan was just playing hero to attract her attention; however, it seemed that Chen Fan was serious about what he said.
“Yes. No matter what kind of trouble you are in, come find me and I will sort it out for you.” Chen Fan’s eyes pierced into her pools of innocence.
Yu Wenjin could only hold his gaze for a brief second before she wrenched her eyes away. As she looked over Chen Fan’s shoulder, she saw a middle age man across the street. The sight nearly paralyzed her, and she hurried to say: “My uncle is here to pick me up. I will be off now.”
She darted across the street in a few steps, turned around and then cracked a smile at Chen Fan. “Thank you, Chen Fan. I appreciate it.”
She then turned around and rushed toward the middle age man.
Chen Fan looked across the street and saw a scrawny man with tanned skin.
When the scrawny man held Chen Fan’s gaze, Chen Fan registered a deadly coldness in his beady eyes: it was a warning.
“An Internal Force use of phenomenal success?
“I knew Yu Wenjin was not an ordinary person.”
Chen Fan was taken aback by the development; nonetheless, he turned around and started home.
Unknown to neither Yu Wenjin nor the scrawny man, Chen Fan had cast a spell on Yu Wenjin that protected her with magical inscriptions.
Althgouh Chen Fan’s Immortal Will had only a few hundred meters of effective range, Chen Fan should be able to detect the girl from miles away with the branding.
As long as Yu Wenjin was in the county, he would be able to monitor her safety.
After Chen Fan had disappeared in the street, the middle age man grunted and said: “Just an Average Joe. If I was not worried about attracting attention, I would drive him away myself.”
He then turned toward Yu Wenjin and castigated her: “I told you to stay away from boys from your school. If I see his sorry ass again, I will do away with him.”
The man’s voice was laced with malicious intent and was a far cry from any normal conversation between an uncle and a niece.
Yu Wenjin shivered slightly and replied: “Yes.”
Then the man left the street with Yu Wenjin in tow. Yu Menjin glanced back at Chen Fan’s back and bemoaned in her mind: “Xiao Fan, I am so sorry. I can’t tell you the truth. This is beyond your capability, and I don’t want to drag you into this mess.”
After Chen Fan finished casting a spell on Yu Wenjin, Chen Fan returned to his home.
His father was a well-off upper class in the town and owned a small two-story house in the county. Although life in the countryside was not as exciting as that in the city, it was much quieter and more relaxing here.
On the way to home, Chen Fan was greeted by many neighbors. Chen Fan smiled back at them. All of them had known him ever since he was born.
When he was finally home, Brother Sun opened the gate and scolded him right off the bat.
“Your dad waited for you to join him for lunch, but you never showed up!”
“I had lunch with Junjie.” Chen Fan said with an apologetic smile. He looked into the room and saw a middle-aged man sitting on a sofa.
He was scholarly looking with a touch of grey on both sideburns. He looked more like a professor than a local leader. He was absorbed by the content in the newspaper in front of him.
“Dad…” Chen Fan’s words held the emotions that had been festering inside of him for five hundred years. Hearing the words coming out from his mouth gave Chen Fan a chill.
“You are back?” Chen Ge put down the paper and looked toward his son with a severe but loving expression on his face. “You have already met with Junjie?”
“Yea.” Chen Fan nodded.
He sat on the sofa and Brother Sun hurried to prepare tea for the two of them.
“How did your studies go during the half year you were in Chu Zhou City?” Chen Ge asked.
“It was fine.” As a Celestial Lord, Chen Fan was able to gather himself from the sudden outburst of emotion quickly.
He studied his father that he hadn’t seen in five hundred years.
He remembered that when the news of his mother’s car accident reached father, half of his dark hair turned grey. From then on, he was no longer the hard working and spirited local leader he used to be. Chen Fan remembered hearing many times that his father regretted ever letting his wife go to Zhong Hai City all by herself.
“I have let you down in my past life, but this time, I will not repeat my failure, even if it meant that I have to butt heads against the entire world.”
Resolution glinted in Chen Fan’s eyes.
“Very well; I trust you that you have been focusing on your studies.” Chen Ge was taken aback by his son’s unusual behavior since his son had never been so obedient before. “When your mother is back, I will ask her to test you. Don’t say that I didn’t warn you.”
“No problem.” Chen Fan said with a smile.
If not for the unwanted attention at school, he could easily take the number one spot in the final exam. Not only he had already done all of the tests in his past life, but he had also gained tremendous knowledge in the five hundred years.
Brother Sun sat in a corner and watched the father and son converse with each other with a smile.
Chen Fan’s parents rarely had time for him. The lack of attention had somewhat affected his personality. Although he looked quiet, he was a very defiant and unruly child.
However, after staying in the Chu Zhou City for half a year, he seemed to have matured a lot. Personality wise, he might as well be a completely different person.
“Boss, you remember that meeting in the afternoon? Do you want me to push it?” Brother Sun hazarded.
“It’s OK.” Chen Ge got up and was ready to leave for work.
Before Chen Ge left, he said: “Both your mother and sister won’t be home for another five or six days. Stay away from trouble, will you?”
“Roger that.”Chen Fan said with a smile.
When Chen Fan was alone in the house, he furrowed his brows as he registered that the signal coming off from Yu Wenjin was moving further away.
“Is she leaving now?”
Chen Fan thought for a second and decided to investigate.