Chapter 29: A Son Returns 2
Lu Cheng paused. “…What?”
Lu Tian’s gaze met his steadily. “This place,” he said, “is no longer the same.”
There was no anger or bitterness in his tone.
A faint ripple passed through the onlookers because something felt off.
Lu Cheng frowned slightly, his earlier confidence faltering for just a moment. “…Then why are you here?” he asked.
Lu Tian did not look at him again. Instead, his gaze shifted briefly toward his parents, taking in the condition they had been left in, the years of quiet neglect written into every detail of their surroundings.
Around them, a few lesser clan members glanced toward the gathering, smirking quietly, their whispers carrying faintly through the air, as if confirming the senior member’s scorn. “So weak… so foolish,” one muttered, barely concealing amusement.
Lu Tian’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly, but his voice remained calm, quiet, measured. “I see that news travels faster than respect.”
The member laughed lightly, a sound that carried the weight of arrogance. “Respect? For a cripple? Do you know how your absence and your injury have reflected upon this family? How much we’ve had to bear because our heir lost all value? Your parents have suffered quietly, yet we could do nothing because their son…the so-called future of the Lu Clan…has failed them.”
His mother’s eyes filled with tears, and his father’s jaw tightened, but neither dared to interrupt. Their son stood silentwith his expression deceptively calm.
Behind Lu Tian, the disciples stiffened. Han Yue’s hand moved subtly toward her sword, Xiang Feng’s fingers tightened around the spear, while Luo Qingshan’s eyes narrowed, already calculating the angles from which confrontation might come if it turned violent. Even the usually distant Mei Ru’s illusions shimmered faintly at the edges of the courtyard, instinctively responding to the tension.
But Lu Tian did not move to strike. Not yet.
Instead, he allowed the moment to linger, letting every word, every glance, every whisper of disdain sink into the consciousness of the clan member who had dared to speak, embedding it like a seed that would later bear consequence.
“My parents have suffered,” Lu Tian said slowly, his voice low and controlled, “because those who should have protected them measured my worth by strength alone. And yet it seems they were never the ones at fault.”
Lu Cheng scoffed. “And now? What do you intend? To flaunt your meager strength? To reclaim what little remains of your standing?”
A cold smile tugged at the corner of Lu Tian’s lips, though it did not reach his eyes. “I have no interest in standing where others wish me to. My strength is not for display. And my return is not to prove my value to you…but to ensure that no one treats my family badly.”
The words cut through the tension like a blade. For a moment, the courtyard fell silent. Even the wind seemed to hesitate.
Some of the lesser clan members shifted nervously, their smirks fading. They had expected a weak, broken man not someone who radiated quiet power, a presence that did not need to move to demand attention.
Lu Tian turned his gaze to his parents, the calm exterior breaking slightly as the faintest trace of warmth flickered in his eyes. “I will not abandon you again,” he said. “Not for anyone.”
And then, just as quietly, he added, “But I also will not stay to suffer what I have already endured. We leave soon. There is work to be done, and I intend to claim what is rightly mine…not to satisfy your judgment, but to protect what I value.”
The senior clan member’s lips twitched, uncertain now, as the air around Lu Tian seemed to hum faintly with restrained energy, subtle yet unmistakable.
His parents, though visibly shaken, stepped forward, their hands trembling slightly as they reached toward their son. Relief, gratitude, and fear mingled in their expressions, yet they did not speak. Words were unnecessary.
Lu Tian’s eyes swept over the disciples behind him, his gaze briefly resting on each of them: Han Yue, Xiang Feng, Luo Qingshan, Zhao Lian, Chen Ran, Wu Zhen, Feng Xiang, Mei Ru, Tang Bo, and Liang Jie, injured but unwavering. Each had chosen to follow him into danger, into uncertainty, yet none had faltered.
That sight, more than the clan’s disdain or the forest’s perils, reminded him why he must rise beyond what others expected.
Then he turned. “We’re leaving,” he said.
The words caught everyone off guard.
“…Leaving?” Chen Ran repeated.
Lu Tian nodded once. “There’s nothing here worth staying for.”
The statement was not directed at Lu Cheng or the others but it struck harder than any insult because it dismissed them completely.
Lu Cheng’s expression darkened instantly. “You think you can just walk in and walk out?” he said sharply. “Do you even remember where you are?”
Lu Tian paused briefly, then without turning back, he spoke. “I remember enough.”
And with that he walked forward. Behind him, the others followed without hesitation.
They had barely reached the outer gates of the Lu Clan estate when the commotion began.
At first, it was only a faint stir among the guards and servants stationed near the entrance, a ripple of hushed voices that carried a certain anticipation, as though something of importance was about to unfold. Then came the sound of approaching footsteps and soon, the source of that disturbance revealed itself.
A small group entered through the main path, their attire refined, their bearing unmistakably that of a family accustomed to status, and at their center walked a young woman whose presence drew the gaze of nearly everyone nearby.
She was dressed in light azure robes that flowed gracefully with each step, her posture straight, her expression composed, though her eyes carried a faint sharpness that suggested a mind far more calculating than her elegant appearance might imply. There was confidence in the way she moved, the kind that came not only from personal strength, but from the knowledge of one’s value within the eyes of others.
Chen Ran leaned slightly toward Xiang Feng, lowering his voice just enough to avoid drawing attention.
“…Don’t tell me that’s—”
“It is,” Xiang Feng replied quietly.
Even without introduction, the tension in the air made it clearthat this was not a coincidence.
She stopped a short distance away, her gaze settling on Lu Tian with a calm detachment, as though she were observing something that had already been measured and judged long before this moment.
For a brief instant, neither of them spoke.
Then she inclined her head slightly. “Lu Tian,” she said, her voice smooth, controlled, carrying neither warmth nor hostility, but something far more distant. “It seems the rumors were true. You have returned.”
Lu Tian regarded her quietly. In his previous life, this scene had unfolded differently. Not here in his clan but the outcome had been the same.
“You’ve come for a reason,” he said.
It was not a question.
Her lips curved faintly, though the expression did not reach her eyes.
“I have,” she replied.
Behind her, a few members of the Lu Clan had begun to gather again, drawn by the unfolding scene, their earlier indifference replaced with a renewed interest, as though they sensed something worth witnessing.
Lu Cheng was among them and this time he was smiling.