Chapter 8: That's Right, I've Already Wiped Out the Green Gang

“Don’t be sad. Go light some incense for your grandfather.”
Su Zhenguo gently patted his son’s back.
Su Yifan took a deep breath and lifted his head.
Seeing his son’s eyes swollen and red from crying, Su Zhenguo’s heart ached for him, but he said nothing more.
It was enough that his son had come home.
Before long, Su Yifan paid his respects to his grandfather with a stick of incense.
Only then did he turn to his father. “Dad, how’s my sister?”
“She… she hasn’t woken up yet.”
As soon as his daughter was mentioned, Su Zhenguo was filled with guilt.
As Su Meng’s father, he had failed to protect her.
If his son had not returned today, he dared not imagine what might have happened.
…
Su Yifan approached his sister’s room and pushed the door open.
The moment he stepped inside, his mother, Zhang Hong, who was sitting by the bed, immediately saw him.
“You… are you really my Yifan?”
Zhang Hong stood up and came to stand before him.
He looked so much like his father.
But it truly was her son—her own son.
“Mom, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for all you’ve been through.”
As Su Yifan spoke, he made to kneel.
Zhang Hong quickly grasped her son’s hand, stopping him. “It’s all right, as long as you’re back. That’s all that matters…”
She struggled to keep her emotions in check, but no matter how hard she tried, her voice trembled and tears spilled down her cheeks.
She had waited five whole years.
She thought she would never see her son again in this life, yet the heavens had been kind and her patience had not been in vain.
Now that her son was home, everything would be all right.
Su Yifan said nothing more.
He owed his family far too much over these five years, and he swore to himself that he would repay every bit of it.
He would prove everything with his actions.
Soon, Su Yifan approached his sister’s bedside and was about to take her pulse when, suddenly—
His sister, Su Meng, grabbed his hand.
“Brother… where are you? I miss you…”
“It’s all my fault, everything is my fault… Brother, please come home…”
Su Meng clung tightly to Su Yifan’s hand, a tear slipping from the corner of her eye as she mumbled in her sleep, calling for her brother again and again…
“Meng’er…”
Hearing his sister call for him even in her dreams, Su Yifan felt a sharp pain pierce his heart. His throat tightened, and it was hard to breathe.

His sister had not forgotten him.
She had always remembered her brother…
Su Yifan held her hand, watching her quietly.
His little sister had grown, still as beautiful as ever.
Just then, Su Meng’s eyelids fluttered open, and her gaze soon fell on Su Yifan before her.
“Meng’er, you’re awake,” Su Yifan said first.
At first, Su Meng was a little frightened, but she quickly saw that her parents were right there with her.
She looked at them, then focused on the stranger before her.
He looked so much like her brother.
“Who are you…?”
Su Yifan smiled. “Meng’er, I’m your brother—Su Yifan.”
“Brother?”
Su Meng thought she must be hearing things.
She looked quickly to her parents and saw them both nodding, smiles on their faces.
“Yes, I am your brother,” Su Yifan said again.
Seeing the joy on her parents’ faces, and looking at the man who resembled her brother so much, Su Meng’s voice trembled with weakness:
“Brother, is it really you?”
Su Yifan nodded frantically. “Yes, I’m back. I’ve come home to see you all.”
Seeing his sister like this filled him with sorrow.
He had spent these years on the mountain, enduring hardship in his training, always thinking he was the one who suffered most.
But he hadn’t realized it was his family who truly bore the pain—grieving for their lost loved one, weathering the oppression of other families, and enduring it all for five long years.
Compared to that, what were his struggles?
“Brother, it’s really you…”
Once she was certain it was him, Su Meng could no longer hold back her emotions.
She struggled to sit up, flinging her arms around Su Yifan’s neck as tears poured down her face.
“Brother, you came back. You finally came back. I thought… I thought I’d never see you again.”
“I’m sorry, brother, it’s all my fault… I’m so sorry…”
All the emotions she had suppressed for five years burst forth in that instant.
For five years, she had lived with guilt day after day.
She had constantly blamed herself, believing that if it weren’t for her, her brother would never have left home.
If not for her, their grandfather wouldn’t have fallen ill from worry. If not for her, the Su family wouldn’t have declined as it had.
She believed herself the true cause of it all.
“No, Meng’er. It was my fault. I’m the one who let you all down—Mom, Dad, and Grandpa…”

Su Yifan understood the meaning behind his sister’s words.
But he had never blamed her. Instead, he felt it was his own youthful recklessness years ago that had caused all this.
If only he hadn’t left home, perhaps none of this would have happened.
Brother and sister held each other for nearly ten minutes before Su Meng reluctantly let go.
“You’re still not well. Lie down and rest,” Su Yifan said gently.
Su Meng clutched his hand. “Brother, you’re not going to disappear again, are you?”
“Don’t worry, Meng’er. I’ll always be here,” Su Yifan promised, easing her down and tucking her in.
“Mom, please take care of Meng’er for a while. I need to speak with Dad.”
“Go on, then,” Zhang Hong replied with a nod.
Su Yifan and his father left the room and walked to the pavilion in the back garden.
Su Yifan spoke first: “Dad, I’ve already avenged Grandpa.”
“What? You went to the Green Gang just now?”
Su Zhenguo was stunned.
“That’s right. The Green Gang is no more,” Su Yifan said, and then changed the subject: “Dad, from what I learned, they came after our family because of an object. I want to know—what exactly is this thing?”
Because of it, his grandfather had lost his life.
The Su family had nearly been destroyed as well. He had to find out what it was.
Su Zhenguo shook his head with a sigh. “To be honest, I don’t know what the object is either.”
When trouble first came, he had asked his own father, Su Huaimin, but found out nothing.
“What? You don’t know either?”
Su Yifan was surprised.
By all rights, something that important should have been entrusted to his father, yet his grandfather had said nothing.
What could this mysterious thing be, and why would the old man not speak of it?
Su Yifan pondered for a while, but found no clue.
Suddenly, a thought struck him and he asked,
“Dad, I heard from the Green Gang that the Wang family was behind all this. Is that true?”
He recalled Long Batian’s words: the Wang family had orchestrated everything from the shadows, which meant the Wangs must know what this object was.
It seemed he would have to pay the Wang family a visit.
At these words, Su Zhenguo fell silent.
Because of this unknown object, his father had died and the Su family had nearly been destroyed.
Now that his son was home, he wanted only a peaceful life, no more entanglements. The Wang family was not one they could afford to cross.