On the other side, Gu Yun gave Chief Chen and the others a rough summary of what had happened.
Of course, he omitted the part where Yuan Ruoshen unleashed his full power. After all, who would believe that a person could suddenly turn into a bird? A sudden human-to-bird transformation was a bit too difficult to accept. Aside from the demon race that existed three thousand years ago and perished during that great calamity, there were no such things left in this world. Therefore, it was best to keep Yuan Ruoshen’s situation under wraps to save them from any unnecessary complications or ugly situations.
Gu Yun also knew that Yan Qinyu had just woken up and lacked a proper legal identity. Back at the Yanshan Imperial Mausoleum, Yan Qinyu had explicitly asked him to help arrange one. After weighing his options, Gu Yun told Chief Chen that Yan Qinyu was an elder from the Gu family who had been in seclusion for a long time. Having just emerged back into society, he needed modern identification documents.
Chief Chen immediately nodded in understanding and promised to have Yan Qinyu’s identification paperwork finalized right away.
Yan Lan did not interrupt, but when he heard Gu Yun mention the name “Yan Qinyu,” he froze.
Yan Qinyu?! Wasn’t his name Duan Fuyu?
Yan Lan’s mind instantly became a chaotic mess of complicated thoughts, causing him to completely lose track of the subsequent conversation between Gu Yun and Chief Chen. He realized why Yan Qinyu had asked him those specific questions earlier, and why Gu Yun’s expression had looked so strange back then.
So, could it truly be him?
It was only after Gu Yun and Chief Chen finished talking that Gu Yun called out to Yan Lan a few times, asking him to bring over the documents. Returning to his senses, Yan Lan hurriedly handed the information provided by Yuan Ruoshen to Chief Chen, looking entirely distracted.
Chief Chen listened to Gu Yun’s narrative as if he were listening to a fantasy novel and fell silent. If he had not witnessed their capabilities with his own eyes, he truly would not have believed they could be so extraordinarily powerful. This was the true mark of hidden masters: completely quiet when inactive, but utterly shocking the world the moment they chose to strike.
However, he was still somewhat curious about the dynamic between Yuan Ruoshen and Yan Qinyu.
Gu Yun brushed it off casually. “He fell in love at first sight after being rescued.”
“Ah?” Chief Chen looked utterly bewildered.
“What do you mean ‘ah’? Chief Chen, some matters are best left unquestioned.” Although Gu Yun was smiling, the warmth did not reach his eyes. He knew exactly what Chief Chen was trying to do.
Gu Yun might look like a naive, wide-eyed university student on the surface, but one must not forget that he was the young clan leader of a major hidden family. Could he truly be entirely ignorant? Chief Chen was gossiping about Yan Qinyu and Yuan Ruoshen simply because he recognized Yan Qinyu’s absolute strength and noticed his close relationship with Yuan Ruoshen. He wanted to use this opportunity to fish for information. Those who played politics always had calculating minds.
Seeing Gu Yun’s growing impatience, Chief Chen knew when to stop and immediately adjusted his tone. “Oh, look at me and my big mouth.”
He smoothly shifted the topic. “We must deeply thank you, Young Clan Leader Gu, as well as your family elder for your assistance. Not only did you rescue Ruoshen, but you also completely eliminated such a massive threat like the Ranye Organization!”
Gu Yun offered a noncommittal response.
Chief Chen did not mind. He knew perfectly well what should be said, what should be withheld, what could be asked, and what should be ignored. Since the other party clearly did not want to elaborate, it was best to pack away his curiosity. To sit in his position, one had to rely entirely on sophisticated social awareness.
Chief Chen asked, “Does Young Clan Leader Gu have a place to stay during this visit? Would you like me to make arrangements for you and your senior?”
Gu Yun waved his hand dismissively. “No need, I will be heading over to the Bureau of Spiritual Affairs.”
Chief Chen smiled. “Understood. If you need anything at all, please do not hesitate to let us know.”
If Yan Qinyu knew what they were thinking, he would have told them they were overthinking it. He did not care whether they knew the truth or not. Only those who lacked sufficient strength found themselves constrained by circumstances; in the face of absolute power, all schemes and calculations were utterly meaningless.
Once Chief Chen left with the evidence to handle the aftermath, Yan Lan could finally contain himself no longer. He turned to Gu Yun to revisit the earlier topic.
“Young Clan Leader Gu, if I may ask a presumptuous question. I believe I just heard you mention the name ‘Yan Qinyu.’ Isn’t his name Duan Fuyu?” Yan Lan pressed further, “I feel like you are hiding something from me. You seem to know a great deal, yet you keep acting hesitant.”
Gu Yun would usually find such questioning annoying, but the person asking was Yan Lan. It was not that Gu Yun intentionally wanted to hide anything, but he simply could not speak on behalf of an incredibly powerful figure regarding personal matters. Furthermore, he genuinely did not know what Yan Qinyu’s intentions were, or whether the man even intended to acknowledge Yan Lan as family.
Gu Yun replied helplessly, “It is truly difficult for me to speak on this. Why don’t you just ask him directly?”
Yan Lan remained silent. He was a smart man; seeing that Gu Yun was genuinely unwilling to elaborate, he stopped pushing. However, he had a powerful premonition that this was not a simple coincidence. Over the years of searching, he had encountered too many false hopes and experienced far too many disappointments, yet he refused to abandon even the slightest possibility.
Could his brother truly be that man? Yan Lan did not know, and his emotions grew incredibly tangled.
Yuan Ruoshen and Elder Yuan spoke for a long time until the old man received a phone call regarding family matters that required his immediate attention. Yuan Ruoshen simply tore open a spatial portal to send him straight back, which was incredibly convenient.
Elder Yuan had seen Yan Qinyu use this spatial technique before, but seeing his own grandson manifest it left him feeling profoundly overwhelmed.
He patted Yuan Ruoshen on the shoulder. “Remember what I told you. Do not make me worry about you again.”
Yuan Ruoshen pressed his lips together. “I will.”
Seeing this, Elder Yuan said no more. Once Yuan Ruoshen ensured Elder Yuan was safely back at the Yuan residence, the spatial portal vanished.
Yuan Ruoshen frowned slightly. “The spatial fabric of this world is far too fragile. We have only opened a few portals, yet the space is already showing signs of instability. Having to manually repair the rift every single time we use it is such a hassle.”
Yan Qinyu replied, “This realm cannot compare to the Linxu Realm, so we should minimize our use of spatial portals going forward.”
Yuan Ruoshen nodded in agreement.
“Look, they are coming out.”
As Yan Qinyu and Yuan Ruoshen stepped outside, Gu Yun patted Yan Lan on the shoulder, signaling him. “If you want to ask him something, go ahead.”
Yan Lan paused for a moment before turning around to face them.
Both Yan Qinyu and Yuan Ruoshen had altered their attire into modern casual clothes, and their hair had become short. When they first rushed back, they had not paid attention to their appearance, but since they intended to live in this world for a period of time, it was only natural to adapt to local customs.
Yan Lan looked at the approaching Yan Qinyu with a deeply complex expression, his lips trembling slightly. “You-”
Yan Qinyu looked back at him calmly. “Mr. Yan Lan, is there something you wish to say?”
Hearing Yan Qinyu’s distant and formal tone, Yan Lan found himself completely tongue-tied, unable to utter the words he had prepared.
“No, it is nothing.” Yan Lan lowered his gaze, looking profoundly dejected. He thought to himself that perhaps it really was just a mere coincidence.
Right then, the clear, cool voice rang out once more: “You want to ask whether I am Yan Qinyu, correct?”
Yan Lan stiffened, completely blindsided by the fact that the man would bring it up so directly. He looked up in utter surprise.
Yan Qinyu paused briefly, reflecting silently. He originally felt there was no absolute necessity to reconnect with his family, given that he would eventually leave this world behind anyway. Furthermore, a vast expanse of time had passed; his relationship with the family members of this current lifetime had long since grown distant and unfamiliar. In a family as massive as the Yan clan, his presence or absence changed very little.
However, after witnessing the interaction between Yuan Ruoshen and Elder Yuan, Yan Qinyu altered his initial stance of pretending to know nothing. Perhaps for mortals, these connections carried a different weight. Especially for Yan Lan, finding his brother had become a lifelong obsession and his primary source of hope.
This was why Yan Qinyu chose to lay the truth out in the open.
“I am Yan Qinyu, yet I am also not Yan Qinyu,” he said. “Just like the Yuan Ruoshen you see before you, the same individual is no longer the exact same person.”
Yan Qinyu spoke the most brutal reality in the gentlest possible tone.
“You should be familiar with the concept of past lives and present incarnations. You can view our situation through that lens. I was once your brother, but the Yan Qinyu who was your brother is already dead. The current me is no longer him.”
Yan Lan unconsciously clenched his fists tightly.
“Furthermore, time flies and the years pass quickly. It has been such a long time since my disappearance, and many things have undergone earth-shattering changes. Take the events of our childhood, for instance; my memories of them have already become incredibly hazy. And for you, I imagine it must be the same.”
“The reason your family has been searching for me everywhere might not actually be due to a profound emotional bond, but rather out of a deep sense of internal guilt and an inability to let go of an obsession.”
“This guilt likely stems from a feeling of having failed me in the past, or regret over what happened back then. As for that obsession, it is probably because you have never been able to move past that ancient sorrow or the lingering attachment to our sibling bond.”
“Regardless of the reasons, all of that belongs firmly to the past.”
“We have both walked further down our respective paths in life, encountering different people, experiencing different things, and establishing lives of our own. Although those past memories still exist, they are no longer the entirety of our lives.”
“A person must learn to let go and look forward.”
“Knowing that Yan Qinyu is currently living exceptionally well is more than enough, is it not?”
“My kidnapping back then was purely an accident. Who could have predicted that those people would slip through the security perimeter at the exact moment you fell ill? That was a failure of the security detail, not your fault. You do not need to carry such a heavy burden of guilt on your shoulders; it is incredibly unfair to yourself.”
A divine being could perceive the innermost thoughts of all living creatures, and Yan Qinyu could naturally hear the profound guilt and agony buried deep within Yan Lan’s soul. His voice carried a faint trace of spiritual energy, actively soothing Yan Lan’s chaotic emotions.
“You have a wonderful life ahead of you, and you should not remain trapped in the past. It was not your fault, Yan Lan.”
“Your entire existence does not revolve solely around me. Your brother left your side a very long time ago, and you have grown up perfectly fine on your own, have you not?”
Yan Lan froze entirely, as if time had solidified around him. His eyes stared blankly at Yan Qinyu, his face completely devoid of expression, looking as though he had temporarily lost his soul.
Only after a long while did he slowly come back to reality. The corners of his mouth twitched upward, forcing a strained, incredibly rigid smile.
“I understand,” Yan Lan replied, his voice low, raspy, and strained, as if the words were being forced directly from the depths of his throat.