"Qi-Tian, you didn't tell anyone that Ye Fan is Chu Tian-Fan, did you?" asked Chu Zheng-Liang as he leveled a solemn look at his own son.
Chu Qi-Tian shook his head. "No, father. No one knows that Ye Fan, the man who died by my master's blade in the rainforest, is Chu Tian-Fan, the child who had been cast out from the Chu family."
"Good." Chu Zheng-Liang nodded. "Take that secret to the grave. Tell no one. We cast him out of the Chu family. His reputation as a powerful martial artist will only bring embarrassment to the Chu family. It would appear that we made a mistake by casting him out. It'll also affect your status in the Chu family adversely."
Chu Zheng-Liang was speaking the truth.
Everyone knew that Chu Qi-Tian was the most talented martial artist amongst the young ones in the Chu family.
Should anyone in the sect find out how powerful a martial artist Chu Tian-Fan was, they would start to compare him with
Chu Qi-Tian.
It was clear who would emerge victorious.
Be it martial arts or his appeal to women, Chu Qi-Tian couldn't compare with Ye Fan at all.
That was why they wanted to keep Ye Fan's true identity a secret.
Chu Qi-Tian knew why they had to do so, of course.
That didn't mean that he wasn't unhappy about having to do it.
"Father, what does that country bumpkin have that I don't? It's upsetting enough that he's a stronger martial artist than I am, why does he get all the powerful women as well? How does he do it? What did he do to deserve them? Why? What has Chu Tian-Fan done? Why would such a powerful woman do something like that for him? Am I really not a match for some bastard child of a woman from the countryside?"
These repeated blows to his ego had left Chu Qi-Tian feeling defeated.
He had begun to question his own abilities.
The confidence and arrogance that he had once possessed had been utterly crushed by Ye Fan.
Up to this point, he had not realized the chasm that separated him and Ye Fan.
While he had been alive, Ye Fan had been a far more powerful warrior than he could possibly be.
Now that he was dead, Ye Fan was still the victor. He had won the hearts of women whom Chu Qi-Tian could never hope to possess.
Chu Zheng-Liang's heart softened when he saw how defeated and frustrated his son was. He patted the young man's heart and said softly, in a comforting voice. "My son, why do you belittle yourself? I was inferior to your uncle in many ways in the past as well. Everyone's attention was drawn to your uncle. They said that he was a rare prodigy and the hope and future of the Chu family."
"But look at us now! Look at who's got the last laugh and who's the one who's the head of the family clan. It's me. One defeat hardly matters in the grand scheme of things. The victor is the one who gets the last laugh. Chu Tian-Fan's older than you. It's natural that he's the stronger martial artist. Who knows? You might be more powerful than he was when you reach his _ __ _ 91 age.
"As for women, well, don't give up just yet. I've hunted down the perfect wife for you many years ago and gotten her father to promise her hand to you. Just make sure you marry her. Your father will have everything else all planned out for you. In a few decades, you'll be the one occupying the position that your master, Tang Yun is occupying now."
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