Chapter Text
‘Have you heard? Hanguang-jun cut ties with the Lan Sect. Stole a child and ran off into the night.’
‘Ha! As if! Hanguang-jun would do no such thing.’
‘It’s true, it’s true! Everyone in Gusu is talking about it! The Lans are searching for him and the child as we speak!’
‘Hanguang-jun? Oh, I heard that as well. They’re saying he was corrupted by the Yiling Patriarch.’
‘Hanguang-jun corrupted by that filth? A likely story!’
‘The Yiling Patriarch? Wasn’t he defeated at Nevernight?’
‘I heard that too! Either way, there’s no way Hanguang-jun turned to evil.’
‘That’s what I thought, that’s what I thought! But I got the news from the horse’s mouth. A cultivator of the Su sect who was looking for him stopped by my stall this very morning.’
‘The Su sect? Well no wonder you’re spouting nonsense then...’
‘Have you heard? Have you heard? Hanguang-jun has been seen for the first time in months.’
‘Oh? And, has he sacrificed the child to the Yiliing Patriarch as everyone feared?’
‘Well… we can’t be sure, but my neighbour said that the child wasn’t with him.’
‘No! You don’t mean to say...’
‘Enough! There will be no such talk in my inn. Hanguang-jun saved my daughter from water ghouls not six months ago. I will stand for no word against him.’
‘But the Jin sect claim...’
‘Ha! Since when do we believe a word that comes from the mouth of a Jin? And against Hanguang-jun no less.’
‘Madam, madam! If you saw Hanguang-jun, what of the child?’
‘I saw him briefly, not a mark on him. Adorable thing, he was. Polite, too. If you want my opinion, the child is Hanguang-jun’s son, born out of wedlock. You know how cultivators can be. I think...’
‘Have you heard? Have you heard? Hanguang-jun saved Nancun village from a curse.’
‘Really? What curse?’
‘One that would make your limbs rot. A demonic cultivator had cursed the town’s well. Anyone who drew water would be affected.’
‘Well, that’s Hanguang-jun for you! Even cast out by his own sect he does more for us than all other cultivators put together!’
‘Wasn’t he the only one to stand against the Yiling Patriarch from the beginning?’
‘He was, he was. And no one listened and look where that lead them! And he wasn’t cast out from his sect.’
‘Oh?’
‘Yes, I heard he left them. For the child. My cousin once hosted him for a meal. She said, he didn’t tell them why he left his sect but he looked towards the boy when asked.’
‘I wonder what the Lan sect had against the boy that a life on the road was deemed better by Hanguang-jun.’
‘Well, the boy is incredibly powerful, right? Apparently Hanguang-jun recognised him as his son from a past life...’
‘Have you heard? Have you heard? Hanguang-jun and his boy passed by here just this afternoon!’
‘What? When? I didn’t see them. Was the boy as elegant as described?’
‘More even! You know when I had heard he was the reincarnation of a past Emperor, I hadn’t believed it but now...’
‘Have you heard? Have you heard? Hanguang-jun’s child defeated an entire nest of fierce corpses!’
‘Alone? And so young! As expected of a child raised by Hanguang-jun!’
‘I heard he decided to teach the child the moment he saw him, so bright was his spirit!’
‘Such a loss for the Lan sect. Why they chased them away is beyond me...’
‘Well, I heard they were going to lock the child up.’
‘No! Really? Why would they do that?’
‘He’s the reincarnation of a great evil, is what I heard. The Lan were going keep him imprisoned for this lifetime but Hanguang-jun took him in to teach him to live a virtuous life and redeem the actions of his past life...’
‘Have you heard? Have you heard? Hanguang-jun and his apprentice dealt with a water abyss not two days north of here.’
‘That boy has truly grown. And so talented! No wonder Hanguang-jun took him on as a student!’
‘And to think the Lan would have imprisoned him.’
‘Shame on them, condemning a child for their past life!’
‘It’s only natural that the Lan could not tolerate him as a disciple. He is the reincarnation of the Yiling Patriach, after all!’
Two tables away, the recently re-embodied Yiling Patriarch choked on his wine.
What have you gotten yourself into Lan Zhan?