Past and Present

Chapter 23- Jiangxue

They arrived at the cave on the mountain a couple of days later. They took breaks and rested at night but traveled all day.
"Come on, don't be afraid," Xue Yang chuckled as he walked in the cave. His young sons walked in behind him and held hands, in fear that they would loose each other.
"Chenxing, come here," Xue Yang grabbed the boy's hand and grabbed Yue's hand with the other. They walked deeper into the cave and saw a small table, "Baoshan Sanren?"
"Xue Yang, it is nice to finally meet you," a woman's voice said softly.
"Who are you?" Xue Yang asked, pushing the boys behind him.
"The one you seek," she said, "you came here for a sword I suppose. Xingchen told you to come here?"
"Yes," Xue Yang said slowly.
"Great, I have one that used to to belong to Xingchen before he got his," Baoshan Sanren walked to a box and opened it. She took out a sword and gave it to Xue Yang who nodded.
Xue Yang gave it to Chenxing who weighed it in his hand, "A bit heavy, but it'll do." He drew it from the sheathe and moved it around.
"How does it feel?" Xue Yang asked.
"Something is pulling me towards it," Chenxing said, "I think this belongs to me."
"What is the sword's name?" Xue Yang asked.
"You can name it,"Baoshan Sanren said smiling.
"Jiangxue," Chenxing whispered, "it's name will be Jiangxue."
"Good idea," Yue said, "it has our last name in it."
"Exactly, and it has part of his sword's name," Chenxing said nodding at his father.
"Good choice," Baoshan Sanren said, "now, is that all you came for? I can do more for you seeing that Xingchen valued you."
"Can I...can I turn YueHua into a puppet but not control him?" Xue Yang whispered, taking a step towards her.
Baoshan Sanren sighed sadly, "You could, but he would be full of resentful energy and could be controlled by anyone. He might agree but he might not, I say it's your choice to make."
Xue Yang nodded slowly and bowed, "Thank you." The woman nodded in response before walking away to the table.
"Baba," Yue said, walking up to his father, "what did you ask?"
The man ignored the question, "A-Yue, you're connected with Mama right?"
"Y-yes," Yue stammered, surprised at the sudden question.
"Good, YueHua, it's your choice. Do you want to come back and risk it or stay how you are right now?" Xue Yang asked.
"He...he says to not do it," Yue said, "he doesn't want you getting hurt in the process."
"I won't get hurt, I have been doing this for years," Xue Yang assured, "other than that is there another reason to not do it?"
"He doesn't want anyone to do anything to him," Yue said.
"Only people who have the Yin Iron can do that, the only people who have it are far away," Xue Yang said.
"Then do it," Yue whispered.
"Thank you YueHua, you to a-Yue," Xue Yang whispered with a smile.
"You're welcome, but what were the questions for?" Yue asked.
Chenxing, who was watching the interaction, caught on, "You want to bring Mama back, don't you?"
Xue Yang sighed, "You'll see soon, now say thank you and then we'll leave."
The twins bowed, "Thank you."
Baoshan Sanren bowed back, "You're welcome. And please come back soon, it's been a while since I had some little ones running around."
Yue giggled and Chenxing smiled, "Of course," they said.
Xue Yang bowed again, "Thank you, I will make sure they come back and learn from you."
"It's always a great pleasure to see my disciples family," he woman said. Xue Yang nodded with a smile and walked away, his sons following close behind.
They traveled for about three days and finally got home. The first thing they saw was Song Lan and a-Qing cleaning the outside of the mansion.
"Song Lan, a-Qing," Xue Yang called out, "did Wen Ning arrive?"
"Yes, we let him rest for now," Song Lan said. He walked inside and came out with a book, "Who gets to keep this? I don't want it somewhere someone can see it."
"I'll take it for now," Xue Yang suggested, "the kids are too young for this type of thing."
"Alright," Song Lan passed the book to the man and returned to cleaning the door. Xue Yang walked inside and Chenxing followed.
"Baba," the boy said, "are you really going to try to bring Mama back?"
"I don't know," Xue Yang admitted, "but that doesn't mean I can't try."
Chenxing nodded, "Alright," he looked at his sword that was sitting on his hand, "Baba, don't you think this sword is odd?"
"What do you mean?" Xue Yang asked.
"I mean, it has an odd feeling to it," Chenxing said.
"Let me see it," Xue Yang put out a hand. Chenxing passed him his sword and Xue Yang felt a surge of energy flowing through him, almost overwhelming. "It's a strong one, just like Hanguang Jun's. You remember I told you about him right?"
"Yes."
"Well, his sword is strong as well, I could feel the energy from a good couple of meters away," Xue Yang explained, he gave the sword back, "I think yours is similar. Especially since we haven't had any contact with the owner or the sword itself. Yue used to play with your mother's sword a lot in the past, maybe that's why it didn't affect him."
"Okay, thank you Baba," Chenxing began walking away but stopped and turned around. "If you want to bring Mama back, don't sacrifice yourself. If I had to choose between who lives, I would choose you. Because we already have Mama in our head, not you."
"I won't do anything risky," Xue Yang said smiling, "I promise."
"Thank you," Chenxing walked away and he heard a voice in his head. Well done angel.