The night was quiet, and the wind carried the faint scent of pine and wet earth.
Liang Yu sat outside the small wooden house, watching the dim lamps flicker through the window. The children had finally fallen asleep after insisting that " Yu Gege" tell them another bedtime story.
He smiled faintly, remembering how Feng Lian had scolded them for staying up late but ended up sitting beside them, listening just as attentively.
It felt like a family — something Yu had never thought he would have again.
But tonight, something was different.
Feng Lian had been distant all day. He had trained longer, stared into the forest for too long, and seemed lost in thought.
When Liang Yu quietly approached him near the edge of the yard, Lian didn't turn immediately.
Only after a pause did he say, voice low,
"Yu… there's something I should have told you long ago."
---
Third person's pov
Lian didn't know where to start. The words were heavy, years of silence pressing on his chest.
Every night he told himself he would tell Yu — and every morning, he couldn't.
Because for the first time since that blood-soaked night in the Northern Continent, Feng Lian felt… safe.
And the reason was sitting beside him now, calm eyes reflecting the moonlight.
He glanced at Yu — the soft curve of his face, the faint glow of his mana that he pretended didn't exist.
"He doesn't know how much he's changed my life," Lian thought, clenching his fists.
The truth, however, couldn't be hidden forever.
"Yu," he began quietly, "I wasn't born here. I'm not a simple villager from the east. I came from the Northern Continent, from a clan called the Feng family… one of the Five Great Houses."
Liang Yu's eyes widened slightly but he didn't interrupt. He just listened — like he always did.
"The family had internal struggles," Lian continued. "For generations, the main and branch families existed side by side. But greed spreads faster than rot. The branch family… they wanted everything — power, wealth, bloodline purity.
One night, they came with fire and poison. The halls that once echoed with children's laughter turned to screams."
His voice broke for a moment.
"My elder brother and sister-in-law were killed that night. Only their children survived… my niece and nephew. The ones you've been caring for."
He looked up, eyes burning faintly red under the moonlight.
"I ran. I took them and ran, leaving everything behind. The sword, the title, the home that once felt eternal. For years I've been hunted. Every breath I take, I expect to hear their assassins behind me."
Silence stretched between them.
Then Lian turned his head slightly, eyes narrowing,
"That's why I came to the Eastern Continent. To hide them. To give them a life far away from that blood feud."
---
Yu's chest tightened. He had seen pain before, but not like this — not a man who carried it so quietly.
All the times Feng Lian had looked at the children with fierce protectiveness now made sense.
"So that's why you avoid traveling to nearby towns…" Yu murmured softly.
Feng Lian gave a faint, humorless smile.
"Yes. I don't want to risk being recognized. They think I'm dead — I need to keep it that way."
Yu reached out and placed a hand on Lian's arm.
"You've done so much alone… You don't have to anymore."
The warmth of that simple touch made Lian's heart stumble.
It was too much — too dangerous — to let himself hope for peace again.
"No," he told himself. "Don't drag him into this."
But when he looked at Yu — those determined eyes that glowed faintly with otherworldly power — something in him shifted.
"This human… no, this Ger… is mine," Lian thought fiercely.
"If danger comes again, I'll protect them — Yu, the children, this fragile peace. Even if I have to stand against the world."
---
Later That Night
Lian stood outside, watching the sky darken, the stars hidden by thin clouds.
Behind him, Yu tucked the children under their blanket, whispering something about dreams and magic fireflies.
For a fleeting moment, Lian imagined this was how life was always meant to be — warmth, laughter, and a quiet home.
Then reality whispered in his ear:
"They will come for you again."
He clenched his jaw.
"Let them. This time, I have something to protect."
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