Ling Tian smiled softly, gazing lovingly at the beautiful portrait in front of him as his heart finally calmed and he let himself be enveloped by that nostalgic warmth he hadn't felt for thousands of years.
"Master, are they your family?" Lan Yin's small voice was heard a few seconds later as she slowly approached Ling Tian's side. Qing Sha approached his other side, her gaze on the portrait.
"Uhm." Ling Tian nodded with a soft smile and with both arms stretching out to his sides, he pulled both girls closer with him, hugging them lovingly and said, "They are my mother, father and big sis..."
"Umhh? Uncle, aunt and big sis?" Lan Yin tilted her head slightly as she watched intently.
"Hello aunt and uncle, hello big sister!" Qing Sha, as active as ever, smiled brightly and said happily looking at the faces in the portraits. Lan Yin also smiled and engraved in her sweet heart the family of her Master.
Ling Tian embraced both girls a little tighter, the little white fox jumped into his shoulder and then he said, "Although I am not blood related to them, they will always be my family..." His hands lovingly caressed the heads of Lan Yin and Qing Sha, making both girls smile tenderly and happily as they clung their tender bodies to him.
A flood of memories filled Ling Tian's mind, recalling those happy moments of his childhood when nothing mattered about cultivation, strength or power; a pure and unique feeling in the life.
Then, Ling Tian stood up and gently pulled Yun Mengxin and Long Yuyin closer to him, as well as Tang Wanying, Zhang Xinya and Mu Shuiruo. The five women showed loving and caring smiles, filled with slight sadness and nostalgia.
"Dad, mom, big sis... I... I got married, they are my wives..." Ling Tian maintained a happy and love-filled smile as he looked at those images. His gaze turned to the sky and he repeated the same words, but only this time from his heart.
"Greetings father, mother, sister-in-law, I am Yun Mengxin (Mu Shuiruo, Tang Wanying, Long Yuyin, Zhang Xinya) and I am Ling Tian's wife..."
The women happily introduced themselves, bowing and showing respect to Ling Tian's parents and sister. They were their family too, and although they no longer existed in this world, they would always remember them.
Shan Qingwu and Xuanyuan Ling, as well as Hao Zhentian and his brothers, showed their respects as well, praying for the rest of their souls.
"Uncle, aunt, big sister, Shasha will marry Master too!" Qing Sha's voice was added at once, quickly reaching for Ling Tian's hand and taking it with her small hands, showing a bright smile full of happiness: "Yinyin too!" Lan Yin also nodded and took Ling Tian's other hand showing a big smile.
Ling Tian laughed somewhat awkwardly and shook his head, 'Looks like it will take them a long time to forget about this...' His mind thought as he looked at both girls and then looked at their wives, who were laughing and shaking their heads at witnessing this.
Ling Tian looked back at those faces he would never forget, always carrying them in his heart.
"Our sister-in-law really would be a great beautiful woman..." Zhang Xinya narrowed her eyes and whispered with a slight pout.
Ling Tian watched her and noticed that Zhang Xinya was showing some envy, being the first time.
"Em, our big sister-in-law would become a beautiful woman." Mu Shuiruo whispered with her cheeks slightly flushed, her eyes looking at Ling Wan'er's smiling and beautiful face in the painting.
Yun Mengxin smiled softly and intertwined her fingers with Ling Tian's, transmitting some of her thoughts to him as she saw him somewhat confused. Ling Tian then understood: these women really felt that his elder sister, Ling Wan'er, would be much more beautiful than them! Therefore, they felt somewhat inferior in beauty.
Ling Tian smiled lovingly and shook his head, not caring if there were other women who were more beautiful; to him, these wives of his would always be the most beautiful in all the realms.
"And not only that, our mother was also very beautiful..." Long Yuyin soon added another comment, making the other women in agreement.
Ling Tian's mother really was so beautiful and still retained her youth spectacularly; a splendid and beautiful woman! With the air of a Queen!
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"And our father was also a handsome man..." Long Yuyin spoke again, causing everyone to shift their attention to Ling Tian's father.
Ling Tian's father also retained his youth and showed a bearing of a handsome man with a smile, displaying the air of a King!
They all looked carefully and realized that although, they were not Ling Tian's royal blood family, they still bore a slight resemblance to him. This was one of the factors as to why Ling Tian thought of the various circumstances that happened to be true related to his own origin.
"Mhn? Husband, shouldn't you be there too?" After a while of appreciating and recording the faces of these people, Tang Wanying spoke while slightly tilting her head, with a confused look on her face.
Everyone at once realized this, Ling Tian was not with there!
"Uhm?" Ling Tian soon noticed this and showed a confused look. He also quickly noticed that there were three graves instead of four, three tombstones in total and nothing else.
So, he turned to look at Ling Guosheng beside him wanting to know if he had forgotten to add him to the picture. If Ling Guosheng found no signs or traces of him after so long, then it would make the most sense that he should have made his resting place along with them as well.
Everyone looked at Ling Guosheng.
"How do you think I would forget about you, my li'l brother?" Ling Guosheng chuckled and immediately added as he began to walk slowly, "Follow me."
Ling Tian and the others still looked with traces of confusion at Ling Guosheng, but still followed him.
Ling Guosheng said as he walked to what appeared to be a huge tree at the back of the place, "I had originally put up photos and other family portraits once I moved all of their remains to this place. Although I found no sign of you, let alone remains of your body in case you had died, in the end I thought the worst had happened to you after searching for you for many years and with no other choice I had put up your picture with the aunt, uncle and cousin."
"So...?" Ling Tian couldn't think of something as to why he wouldn't be with them according to how Ling Guosheng had planned everything.
"Eventually, I had my own family and, of course, my descendants, so the children would always play around these places and know this place especially when we respected our ancestors every year. Then the children from generation to generation would play here, so then at a certain time after we created this resting place there was a little event which you became very famous and special to the children and the whole family over time." Ling Guosheng smiled with a touch of amusement but happy at the same time.
"Famous and special?" Ling Tian furrowed his brow.
"Yeah." Ling Guosheng nodded with a mysterious smile without stopping walking.
Ling Tian frowned more as Ling Guosheng finally stopped in front of the huge tree that was swaying its branches in the wind, conveying a freshness within its shade that covered much of the place.
This tree was arguably the quietest and most peaceful place in the place, conveying a warmth that embraced the heart and relaxed one. Even the birds had their nests on the branches of the tree, whistling and singing beautiful melodies as they created the beautiful atmosphere.
So, finally Ling Tian saw it: on a large part of the tree trunk, the portrait of him when he was a boy of 10-12 years old was carved and painted delicately on its surface, blending naturally with the tree as if his image was part of the place, made by nature itself.
Ling Tian tilted his head in confusion and Ling Guosheng said with an amused expression, "Since a long time ago, you are something like a guardian angel of the family, hehe."
Guardian angel?