“Daddy’s back.” Harold Young and Monica Young, the two little ones, heard the voice and, seeing their father, ran over with big smiles, each hugging one of Eugene Young’s legs.

“小浩, 梦梦, let go now, your father’s dirty and needs to take a bath first.” Hearing the commotion, Clifford Dean walked over and picked up both Harold Young and Monica Young.

The two little bundles of joy giggled nonstop.

“Ah Hong said you wouldn’t be back until later, didn’t he?” Clifford Dean asked gently as she set the two children down.

“It’s all settled, it’s a restaurant job, so we won’t have to worry about work this month.” Eugene Young chuckled, then looked at Henry Young: “Brother, how’s it going at the martial academy lately?”

“Not bad.” Henry Young replied with a smile.

“All right, the water’s already heated, go take your bath, you can talk after you’re done.” Clifford Dean interrupted the brothers, reaching out to help Eugene Young take off his clothes.

Eugene Young smiled.

He was always exhausted after a day’s work, but a soak in warm water would ease his fatigue considerably. He said no more, letting Clifford Dean help him out of his shirt, then headed into the inner room.

“Come on, Xiao Hao, Xiao Meng, let’s go get the food with uncle.” Henry Young took the two little ones to the kitchen.

Soon enough,

Henry Young had set out all the dishes, and Eugene Young, now washed and changed into clean clothes, came out of the inner room with Clifford Dean.

The family sat down to a happy meal together.

While eating the special spirit rice his sister-in-law had prepared just for him, Henry Young said quietly, “Big brother, today’s the end of the month. After dinner, we need to go to the Immortal’s Temple to pay our respects to Immortal Xu.”

“I know.” Eugene Young nodded, then suddenly sighed, “In the blink of an eye, we’ve been in Donghe County for almost seven years…”

Henry Young couldn’t help but pause.

That’s right.

Almost seven years.

It’s been over seven years since father and mother disappeared.

Seven years ago, he was just an eight-year-old child who had just shown talent in martial arts. If not for that great flood back then, he might still be in Sanhe Town today.

“In the year 6115 of the Chengyang calendar, a level-one beast tide broke out at Black Dragon Lake. The raging floodwaters swept through several counties along the Ning River, aquatic demon beasts took the opportunity to wreak havoc, countless villages and towns along the way were destroyed, and over a million were killed, injured, or went missing…”

That’s just a brief line in the “Records of Yangzhou,” barely a hundred words.

But behind that single phrase, “over a million killed, injured, or missing,” was a catastrophe that swept across the entire Ningyang Commandery—tens of thousands of humans dead, millions affected…

Henry Young’s family was just one of countless shattered families.

Chapter 10: Clenching Your Own Fist

After dinner,

Henry Young locked the door, and Eugene Young and Clifford Dean each carried a child as the family walked down the courtyard alley, meeting many people along the way.

The Immortal’s Temple was less than two hundred meters from Henry Young’s home, right by the roadside.

The temple was small, barely over ten square meters, built simply of earth, with no dedicated caretaker, but many people in the area came to worship here.

Incense burned vigorously.

Inside the temple stood a statue of an immortal carrying a long sword on his back, his features vaguely those of a young man.

The whole Henry Young family held incense, bowing and offering it with utmost respect. Even the usually playful Harold Young was imitating his father and uncle, bowing seriously.

“Immortal Xu.”

Henry Young knelt and bowed, eyes fixed on the statue.

In Henry Young’s memory, back then, his family lived in Sanhe Town, the Yun clan was a major family in town, his father ran a silk shop, his mother was gentle and virtuous, and his brother had just married a kind and beautiful wife.

The family was happy and harmonious.

One night, suddenly, the demon alarm tower in the town center blared frantically, the whole town went mad, and the family fled in panic with the crowd. Then came the overwhelming flood, swallowing the town in an instant.

The flood was only the beginning; soon after came the aquatic demon beasts… chasing and killing all the way.

Rainy night, lightning, cries, screams, slaughter.

People around him fell one by one.

Some were killed, some slipped and fell.

His father and mother fell off a cliff in the chaos and disappeared without a trace.

It was all too chaotic, there was no time for grief.

Henry Young’s memory of that rainy night was already blurry. He only remembered that, throughout that night, his big brother and sister-in-law held onto him tightly, shouting and dragging him along as they ran.

Run, just keep running.

Anyone who couldn’t keep up, who didn’t make it, died.

If not for his big brother and sister-in-law, Henry Young believed he would have died on that road of escape long ago.

It wasn’t until dawn the next day that they finally crossed the mountains and reached the banks of the Yang River, joining thousands of other refugees.

But having so many people was no blessing—it only attracted more demon beasts to attack.

More than a dozen great demons, and hundreds of lesser ones, both aquatic and land beasts.

At that time, despair hung over the thousands, because the truly powerful martial artists had already fought the demon beasts to the death at the start of the chaos. Without the protection of so many warriors, it would have been impossible for so many ordinary people to escape.

At the most critical moment—

A sword.

Fell.

This was an image forever etched in Henry Young’s memory: a blue-robed young man flying through the air, wielding a single sword. With one strike, he split the great river, killing dozens of aquatic demon beasts in an instant.