Chapter 221: Your Dad He......
Almost instantly, Jin Zhi’s face turned bright red, and then his nostrils and ears released a large amount of white steam like a boiling kettle!
"This!"
Qin Zi was stunned.
"I’ll go down and take a dip first!"
Jin Zhi leaped off the Flying Ship like a meteor, plunging into a small blue lake below.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
As he hit the water, there was a massive explosion in the lake, sending fish and shrimp flying, with white steam rising from the water.
The lake even began boiling!
Before long, many fish and shrimp turned red and floated up.
Then, Jin Zhi floated to the surface, looking like a "big" character, face down, back facing the sky, motionless...
"This is..."
Qin Zi was shocked, and then he looked blankly at the equally stunned Elder from the Purple Cloud Academy.
"Quick, get him out, he can’t swim!"
The elder suddenly remembered something, his face changed dramatically, and he quickly retrieved Jin Zhi with his energy.
Very quickly.
Jin Zhi was laid flat on the deck of the Flying Ship, soaking wet, his face pale, barely conscious.
Qin Zi and the elder both watched him with concern.
He slowly opened his eyes and weakly asked, "What did you just... say..."
Qin Zi was taken aback, was he still concerned about this at a time like this?
But he honestly replied, "Senior Brother Jin, would you like to be friends with me?"
"Ah, that... um... alright..."
Jin Zhi mumbled incoherently, and his face seemed like it was going to turn red again, but perhaps because he was too weak, his face remained pale.
Perhaps he had calculated in advance,
after saying this, it seemed he just used up the last of his strength, closed his eyes, and passed out.
"This..."
Qin Zi looked on in confusion.
However, the elder from Purple Cloud Academy smiled kindly and said with a mix of amusement,
"That’s just his nature. Maybe things happened too suddenly for him, making him feel a bit embarrassed, not knowing what to do for the moment. On this ship, he had no way to leave, so he used sleep as a buffer."
Qin Zi understood instantly.
Senior Brother Jin seemed cold on the outside, but in truth, he was very thin-skinned. After agreeing to be friends, he needed to escape in a state of faint to avoid social ’death’.
The elder sighed,
"Alas, the boy is good in every way; whether it’s talent or character, he is outstanding. But he is too aloof... Before this, he never had any friends. I hope that might change in the future."
Qin Zi thought for a moment and asked,
"Senior, what is the background of Senior Brother Jin? That kind of personality is very unusual, how did it develop?"
Senior Brother Jin was indeed peculiar.
On one hand, he was as proud as the heavens, looking down on everything, yet on the other hand, he was humble to the extreme, even afraid to associate with people.
"This..."
The elder contemplated for a moment and then smiled wryly,
"Actually, I don’t know either. Back then, he came to the Purple Cloud Academy alone, and we couldn’t find out anything about his past. He claimed to be a Loose Cultivator, without parents, and other than that, there were truly no clues."
Qin Zi frowned.
With Senior Brother Jin’s innate divine power and a physique as vast as an ocean’s blood, how could he be the child of an ordinary family?
There surely must be a significant background.
Suddenly, Qin Zi realized that inquiring about someone’s background behind their back was very inappropriate, especially when... the person was lying right there.
He smiled wryly and shook his head, "Forget it, I’ll ask him myself in the future."
Then he suddenly thought of something and asked, "Senior, why did you come to rescue me, where is my father??"
Indeed!
Where was his father!!
If Senior Brother Jin came to save him, it meant that the news of his situation in the Broken Star Demon Realm had already reached the Purple Cloud Academy, so why wasn’t there any movement from his father?
Logically, if he was in danger, his father should be at the forefront of the rescue, right? Why hasn’t he shown up yet?
This didn’t make sense!!
"This..."
The elder hesitated a bit and then spoke in a low tone, "Before I say more, I hope you prepare yourself mentally..."
Thud!!
Qin Zi’s heart skipped a beat, and his emotions shifted from a wronged and stubborn air of blaming others to one of panic.
Prepare mentally?
What does this mean? Could it be that something happened to his father?
In an instant, countless thoughts surged through his mind, making his vision go dark and feel like the sky was crashing down.
"What on earth happened? Speak quickly!!"
He suddenly grabbed the elder’s arm tightly, staring fiercely at him like a man-eating beast.
His strength was immense.
But it wasn’t enough to harm a pinnacle Emperor, and the elder didn’t get angry, only sighed deeply.
"Alas... your father went missing over half a year ago. Later, when we entered his palace, we found a piece of paper..."
"He said he encountered problems in his cultivation, facing a mortal crisis, and if he didn’t come back in the end, we’d look after you, as you are also a disciple of the Purple Cloud Academy."
Hearing this, Qin Zi felt as if he had been struck by lightning!!
"Father...something really happened to him...how could this be, how could it be like this... it’s impossible...how could this happen..."
He staggered back a few steps, becoming lost in disarray, incoherent, with his eyes turning hollow and lifeless.
Past memories kept surfacing.
That man had always been strong and gentle in his heart, his greatest source of confidence.
That man always cared for him, loved him, even indulged him when he got into trouble.
No matter what happened, that man would stand in front of him, calmly saying... don’t be afraid, your father is here.
He thought time would continue like this, forever.
But suddenly, the figure that shielded him seemed to fall, so abruptly, so unexpectedly.
He suddenly realized.
His greatest regret wasn’t that his father couldn’t protect him anymore, but that all along... he cared too little for his father.
He always basked in the pride of being the son of a strong man, enjoyed the protection his father gave him, yet always overlooked the pain his father endured!
His father had long said that forcibly restoring his strength would damage his foundation.
He clearly knew! He clearly knew!!
Thunk!
Unknowingly, he sank to his knees, tears streaming down, and started heavily bowing his head to the horizon.
"Father, it is I who is unfilial, it is I who is unfilial..."
Thud! Thud! Thud!
His forehead continuously hit the deck of the Flying Ship, soon causing his head to bleed.
The elder sighed upon witnessing this.
This wasn’t something he could advise on.
He remembered, long ago, when his own father passed away, he too wept bitterly and knelt down to bow.
Who can escape the joys and sorrows of life?
It is something everyone is destined to experience.
The difference is, some fulfill their filial piety, leaving only sadness and reluctance at that time.
While others neglect many things in their daily lives, so at the end, when kneeling on the ground, only guilt and regret remain...
"I’m not dead yet!!"
Above the skies, the invisible Qin Chuan watched what was happening below, feeling a mix of amusement and helplessness.
He had left that note merely to explain why he wasn’t in the Academy, why he didn’t come to save his son.
Unexpectedly, his cheap son was so sentimental, directly accepting he was dead and even arranging his posthumous matters...
He suspected the kid of cursing him.
This kneeling and bowing, could it be hiding some cursed artifact on the Flying Ship?
Half a month passed in a flash.
The Flying Ship left the Broken Star Demon Realm and returned to the realm of the Purple Cloud Domain.
And after getting through the initial period of sadness, Qin Zi was back to his lively self—he believed his father wasn’t that easy to kill.
But Jin Zhi remained lying on the Flying Ship, showing no signs of waking.
Perhaps he had long woken up.
Just too embarrassed to show his face for now, unwilling to open his eyes.
Sure enough, when the Flying Ship landed at the entrance of the Purple Cloud Academy.
Jin Zhi suddenly flipped up, and with a "whoosh," darted into the Academy, disappearing without a trace.
"Senior Brother Qin Zi!"
"Brother Qin!"
"Senior Brother Qin!"
"Brother Zi!"
At this moment, many people were gathered at the entrance of the Academy, including unfamiliar disciples and old acquaintances from the Fragment Continent.