"Oh," Joseph nodded firmly, his gaze resolute as he reached out to take back his belongings, but his aunt had already whisked them away. His little face tightened, a sense of unease creeping in as he mulled over her words, eventually bursting into tears and running to find his mother.
It seed his childhood was marked by a crucial lesson from the elders.
"Donna, you've been picking up bad habits from those cursed with demonic powers," Edward said darkly, looking at his sister. He missed the simplicity and kindness of the sister he first t, who used to be so ek. Now, she seed always to be scheming to bully others.
Donna, her eyes still innocently wide, smiled coyly. "Big brother, the elders say we need to follow them in their journeys. We can't just go empty-handed, right? When we return, we'll repay Joseph double."
"Alright then."
Later, Edward approached his son and his future wife. As he aged, he seed to truly understand the words of the great-grandfather from long ago.
"Edward, where are you guys headed next?" Betty asked tearfully, her eyes fixed on Edward.
Growing up, she had been raised on stories of the Blackwood clan. When she learned of Edward's identity and his aspiration to beco a swordsman like Lucas, she couldn't help but admire him. By the ti she had Joseph, despite her father's scolding, she was unsure if her actions were right.
Her father had said that the Blackwoods might be renowned, but they were unlikely to be competent fathers, husbands, wives, or mothers in their generation. Their children and many relatives were scattered, hiding from unknown dangers.
The descendants of Blackwood were like wolves scattered across the wilderness, each either alone or in small groups, always vigilant of the beasts around them or ready to bear scars in exchange for food.
Now, the man of her dreams had grown from a boy into a true Blackwood man.
"Sorry, Betty," Edward said, embracing his wife and child, his eyes filled with reluctance but also determination. He whispered in Betty's ear, "Betty, I was too young then. Grandfather said I didn't understand anything, didn't know what love was. He was right."
"Edward..."
Edward rubbed his cheek against Betty's ear, cutting her off, "I t the great-grandfather, and he told I was lucky to have a woman like you who cares for , and a child. I should cherish everything."
A wind seed to rise out of nowhere at the duke's mansion, making his eyes itch.
"Back then, he gave a choice to continue being a Blackwood child or to beco an ordinary person. But I... I chose the forr."
"As a child, I felt the burden of being a Blackwood descendant. Gradually, I understood everything that happened in our family. I've been to Erald Phoenix Peak, Thunderfire Demon Cave, and back to the duke's mansion, and even returned to our clan. I've t many elders."
"It turns out our family was never as strong as outsiders said. Our ancestors have always been protecting the clan, but our enemies won't let the Blackwoods live in peace."
"At the Thunderfire Demon Cave, I t our great-grandmother, a mischievous elder. She threw us into a terrifying pool, or so we thought for a while. Later, we learned that she had sacrificed her life for us."
"Our great-grandfather was always irritable. When we were cultivating psychic powers, we saw him forging every day. He was annoyed whenever he saw us, urging us to keep going. He felt guiltier than us."
Edward took a deep breath.
Donna and Nicholas were listening too, and they had known all along. The elders always treated them like children, but they understood more than they were given credit for... they just didn't know why they still hoped to be seen as children by the elders.
They were afraid that if the elders knew they weren't foolish, they might be ashad to the point of despair.
"In the Thunderfire Demon Cave, we left our marks on that dark red soil, sinking the ground by about three feet, and there we grew up—not just in body, but in heart as well."
"There, we realized that our family has always been fighting, always pushing their limits. We thought we had it tough, breaking our limits every day, but what about our relatives scattered throughout Cloudview County?"
"They all have a dream, dreaming that our whole family can gather under the sacred tree at the Ancestral Communion, enjoying a grand feast, listening to our great uncle's deep speeches, our cheeky great-grandma's laughter, and our great-grandfather's roars..."
"Betty."
By then, Betty's face was streaked with tears. He wiped them away, his smile radiant, "I'm sorry, I chose the family, chose those elders I once didn't understand. I've beco just like them."
They looked at each other, speechless, as if trying to imprint this mont in their hearts forever.
Little Joseph didn't understand, but he could feel the bitterness. His family's elders were very poor, so poor they had to leave their holand.
After a long while.
Betty watched Edward and her smiling younger siblings leave, and it took her a long ti to shout, "Edward, co back soon, take and Joseph ho!"
Hearing this, Edward stopped in his tracks, his body trembling, then he walked faster, afraid he would turn back.
At that mont, atop the walls of the Duke's mansion stood a dignified, portly man in a python robe.
If it had been before.
Once Edward left, he would have been shouting for days and nights. Now, he just quietly watched Edward's retreating figure.
He seed to see three grown wolves leaving the Duke's mansion, the Blackwood wolves.
These wolves would one day co together, and on that day, no one could stop these wildest of beasts, their firm beliefs capable of destroying everything!
Michael gritted his teeth and went to the treasury to find three suitable psychic tools and elixirs for them.
Just then, the mansion's steward said, "My lord, that Blackwood scoundrel has left, I've prepared a feast for you, and notified your friends in the city to co and drink."
The steward smiled obsequiously, as he usually did when cursing Edward with Michael, expecting the Duke to laugh heartily and reward him generously.
But this ti, Michael's reward did not co.
He silently handed over a Storage Ring, saying softly, "Give this Storage Ring to my son-in-law."
"Son-in-law???"
The steward was stunned.
But the Duke had already turned back, his steps light, as if a great burden had been lifted from his shoulders.
Then the Duke said sothing that almost made the steward slap himself and kneel.
"My son-in-law's na is Edward."
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