Lord Zhang Fei

Chapter 13: A Life Of One, A Life Of None

The soft light of the blazing star shone on the grass through the dense sieves of the leaves. There was a burst of fragrance in the air that came from the tree and flowers, which was refreshing.

The morning mist had not yet cleared, and the wisps of smoke in the air entangled like ribbons in the valley, reflecting this small tribe as if it was in a fairyland.

Listening to the misty insects in the grass from time to time, watching the birds soar and chirp freely in the sky, stepping on the soft and fluffy ground, Zhang Fei could only feel comfortable and content.

It had been almost five years since he had left his previous life that was polluted by civilization behind, but Zhang Fei still had the memories of his previous life, for a long time now.

Maybe, it was more of him missing his first mother in the other world. He knew that without support, his mother would be left alone in the closed mountain village. He didn’t know how his mother would have survived the past few years.

How wonderful would it be if she could also come to live with him in this new world, but he guessed it would never happen.

Zhang Fei couldn’t help sighing lightly, and led the two girls straight to the largest yurt in the tribe. The yurt of the patriarch and matriarch of the ironwood clan.

.....

Despite being the clan mother of the tribe, Zhang Xuan’er never puts on airs in the clan. Just like the women in the clan, she would always take the lead in any work and rarely ask others to help.

Zhang Fei saw her mother and the waiting girl cleaning the furs of the newly killed monsters outside the yurt, from afar. There were already three neatly arranged furs beside them. It seemed that her mother had been busy with the cleaning for quite a while now.

“Mother!” Zhang Fei walked quickly to her mother, and gave her a kneeling ceremony upright. “Your child is here to honor you!”

This was a daily routine since Zhang Fei separated himself from his parents. Since accepting the fact that crossing over to this new world made it his new home, Zhang Fei had been very grateful to his current parents from the bottom of his heart.

Without him crossing over, without his current parents, he would have died in the gas station explosion.

When Zhang Xuan’er saw her son coming over to please her, she smiled and asked passionately. “Fei, why are you here so late today? Come here and let your mother take a look at you.”

She took her son’s hand, and couldn’t help looking thoroughly at him. Wang Jing and her husband really love him with all their hearts.

Zhang Fei suddenly felt a little awkward at being inspected like a baby by his mother. In any case, he might be a child, but his mental age was not a few years younger than his new mother.

Two years ago, because he was still very young, even though he saw his parents being tender and affectionate every day, he could only endure it. But after growing up, Zhang Fei asked for a yurt of his own to start his own life.

In this regard, his mother unwilling to let him go stay on his own, but had to agree with time. However, she asked her adopted daugthers, Qiu Shuang and Qiu Hong, to stay by Zhang Fei’s side and help look after him.

Due to his mother’s enthusiastic gaze, Zhang Fei couldn’t help saying. “Mother, your child just went around the periphery with his two sisters, so I came a little late. Sorry, mother.”

After hearing this, Zhang Xuan’er rubbed Zhang Fei’s little cheek, and said with a happy face. “It’s alright. It looks like you have eaten well recently, and your little cheek is already fat again. Yesterday, your father brought back a lot of delicious food. Wait while I get you some more.”

Zhang Fei murmured. If I’m getting too fat, why would I need more food? He smiled and said “Thank you mother for caring, but you don’t need to always worry about your child, your child is already able to take care of himself. You need more food yourself, mother.”

“My son is talented and intelligent, of course your mother can relax with peace of mind.” Zhang Xuan’er nodded in satisfaction.She drew him closer to her blossom and continued. “Still, I’m not asking you to exert yourself. Other children of your age are still at home acting like the babies they are. Remember that you’re still a child yourself.”

Zhang Fei couldn’t help but feel embarrassed, and really wished he could teleport and escaped his mother’s intimacy straight away. The contradicting mentality of being a child and adult always make him feel very nervous.

Although only a few years had passed in this world, it felt as if his mind had long been tortured by this feeling.

After hesitating for a while, Zhang Fei immediately asked, “Mother, is my father in the house? I haven’t gone to honor him yet.”

Zhang Xuan’er didn’t want to leave her son just yet, so she immediately replied. “Oh, your father took the people to the riverside to fish earlier this morning. It’s not far from here. If you want to go, you’ll have to let Qiu Shuang and Qiu Hong take you with them.”

Zhang Xuan’er had long been accustomed to her son’s unsettled emotions, but only if she knew her son’s true thoughts. She knew over-treating him as a child was not healthy for his mentality, but she’s his mother. Sooner or later, he wouldn’t have enough time for her anymore.

***

Not far from the valley where the Ironwood tribe was located, one could see a flat and vast plain when one turn a mountain beam. This valley was another entrance to the large forest of relics from there.

Not far from the valley, there was a big river twenty to thirty meters wide. Due to the fact that the terrain was relatively flat, the river did not flow in a rush.

Beside the river, due to the low-lying ground, a large pond with a radius of more than hundred meters was naturally formed, with only a gap of fifty meters wide connected to the river.

From afar, he saw his father, patriarch Zhang Mu Tuo, leading dozens of tribesmen to catch fish in this massive river. Most people in the clan caught fish mainly with harpoons.

One person stood quietly in the river with the harpoon in his hand. Whenever a big fish swam by, he quickly threw the harpoon out. Although there were not many big fish on this day, the small fish in the rock crevice was the difference.

There was quite a lot of them.