The Unknown God of War

“Luo Gang, I’m only going to say this once. I, Chu Feng, have only one home and that’s Jiangling. I want nothing to do with the Chu family in the capital or that high-and-mighty Lord Chu. Am I understood?” Chu Feng said this with an extremely calm tone and expression, but it still gave off the oppressive feeling of a tall mountain that made people feel breathless.

“Y-Yes, sir.” Luo Gang was already covered in cold sweat, still feeling heart palpitations out of fear.

Chu Feng simply nodded and closed his eyes before leaning back in his seat. “Start driving. Wake me when we’re there.”

Dongyang Town, Plum Blossom Village was where Chu Feng’s adoptive father, Zhou and his family lived, a place Chu Feng already knew by heart.

He knew it so well that he would return to it countless times in his dreams, to this cosy little home in the ten long years he’d fought as a soldier. Everything was different now, after ten years. There were many familiar faces who had aged, and new ones that felt very unfamiliar.

The paddy fields he remembered were now replaced with factories and bungalows, giving off the impression of modernity but at the expense of that feeling from his childhood. He remembered how he loved kite-flying in the paddy fields and catching crickets, stealing melons and catching fish in the summer, bird-hunting and snow-watching in the winters. Every time when spring came, the whole place would be full of apricot blossoms, turning the whole scene into a sea of flowers that looked incredibly beautiful.

Around this time every year, the alcoholic Zhou Lie would give him a ‘large sum of money’ to get a gallon of home-brewed plum blossom wine. With the change as payment for his errand-running, he and Zhou Ying would use that money to get candy, spicy latiaos (spicy bars, a kind of Chinese snack), hair ties, slingshots… Such was the beauty of childhood.

“After ten years, I’ve finally returned.” Chu Feng composed himself and laughed.

At an intersection near Zhou Lie’s house, Chu Feng got out of the car and Luo Gang tactfully drove off, not wanting to interrupt Chu Feng’s family reunion. After an intermittent half-hour walk, Chu Feng was finally at the Zhou family’s doorstep. At the moment, the doors were wide open and guests were passing here and there in the front yard; it was very lively, as if someone was holding a banquet.

“Third Aunt, do go on without me, I’m going to welcome the other relatives.”

“Of course. It’s Ying Ying’s engagement, so you all must drink some more. Let the wine and meat flow.”

Just then, a forty-year-old woman responded to someone’s call and walked into the front yard positively glowing, then froze when she saw Chu Feng, “And you are...?”

“Mom,” Chu Feng called out softly when he saw the lady before him, and said with a little pity. “You’ve grown so many wrinkles and white hair.” This lady was his adoptive mother, Liu Minglan.

“Young man, y-you can’t just go around calling people ‘Mom’...” Liu Minglan hastily waved her hands. “I don’t have a son your age, I only have a daughter.”

“What, I leave for just a few years and you can no longer recognize me, your son?” Chu Feng smiled and took her calloused hands. “You’re still wearing the jade bangle I bought you. It took me half a month of hauling goods to earn the money for that, and I even dislocated my shoulder.”

“Y-you’re Feng!” Liu Minglan’s mouth fell open. After a moment of staring at him, her tears started streaming down. “Damn bastard, so you do know how to come home. It’s been ten years, where have you been?” Liu Minglan smacked Chu Feng’s chest over and over out of both love and frustration. “I’ve missed you so much.”

Chu Feng’s eyes were filled with joy, his strong body unmoving as he enjoyed his satisfaction and bliss. “Well, I’m back now, Mom. And why’s it so lively in here?” He glanced at the front yard and asked, “Is someone getting married?”

Liu Minglan wiped her tears, overwhelmed but happy as she answered, “Of course, our girl Ying Ying is getting married and today is the engagement banquet. To have my daughter married and my son returning on the same day, a double happiness indeed!”

Chu Feng smiled. Ah, yes, Ying Ying must be about twenty years old by now, and she was already getting married. How time flew! Chu Feng remembered that when he was a kid, Zhou Lie would go out of his way to encourage him and Zhou Ying to get together, thinking that would make them closer than before. Their bond as childhood friends only served as more gossip fodder for their friends and family, but Chu Feng had only ever seen Zhou Ying as his sister. After realizing that fact, there was nothing Zhou Lie could do.

“Come, Feng! Come in!” Liu Minglan dragged Chu Feng and hollered. “Ying Ying, come see who came back! It’s your brother. He’s home.”

The guests in the front yard began gossiping and before long, a young and beautiful girl stepped out from the house—the tag-along girl from Chu Feng’s past was now a grown woman, waiting to be married.

“Ying Ying, it’s been a while.” Chu Feng stepped forward.