Old Alex let go of his master and wiped his tears away. "How are you doing, master? Are you alright? I hear your arm was healed. Is it okay?" he asked one question after another.
"Haha, you don't have to worry about me at all," Wen Cheng said. "We're doing perfectly fine." His eyes then moved to the back at the two people as well as the mouse.
Wen Cheng's eyes narrowed when he saw the mouse. "Is that… Whisker?" he asked.
"Woah!" Whisker couldn't help but speak into everyone's mind in surprise. "Brother's master knows me. Why does he know me?"
Wen Cheng himself was surprised to hear the voice of the mouse in his head. "You don't remember me, do you? Alex had us meet— wait if you're here then…"
"Alex isn't here but he will be soon," the older Alex said. "He has urgent business in the Beast realm, so he will be here in a few more days."
"I see," Wen Cheng said. "And… who are they?"
"Oh, right. I forgot to introduce you," the older Alex said. "Master, this is me and Alex's father."
"Greetings. My name is Graham," Graham bowed a little. "I heard you took care of my son when he was here. Thank you."
"No, no, he's the one that's taking care of us," Wen Cheng said in a simple voice before his eyes went wide. "Wait, Father?"
"Hmm? Yes, I'm their father," Graham said.
Wen Cheng immediately pulled out a talisman and spoke into it.
The three of them looked weirdly at Wen Cheng, but they couldn't tell what he was doing.
The older Alex continued. "Master, this is my daughter, Maron."
"Greetings, senior. Please call me Ronron," Ronron bowed in front of her father's master.
"Your… daughter?" Wen Cheng couldn't believe it. "You… you have a daughter?"
"Of course, master," Old Alex said. "Do you have any children yet, master? You shouldn't be the sect leader now, so you should have more free time, right?"
"I… I do, but I don't have any children. I only just got married a few years ago," Wen Cheng said blankly. He turned to look at Ronron. "How old are you, child?"
"28, senior," Ronron said.
"Wow… 28. I really couldn't imagine you have a child that early, but I suppose the world we lived in was very different, wasn't it?" Wen Cheng asked.
"It was, master," older Alex said.
"It was no wonder you had no common sense back then. What made sense here wasn't common to you at all," Wen Cheng said.
The older Alex smiled a bit. "Right, master. Are senior sister and brother here?" he asked.
"Yes. They are—"
Before Wen Cheng could finish his words, a strong gust of wind struck them all as someone arrived by their side at a very fast speed.
Ronron hid her father from the dust while Wen Cheng simply pulled up his robe to hide his face.
Graham, however, remained unmoved, with his eyes wide open. In fact, they were wider than they ever could be.
He saw who stood before him, a woman wearing a bright yellow robe with long black hair. She looked beautiful, just as beautiful as the day he had lost her.
"Helen…" Graham spoke softly, unable to believe that she was here.
"Honey!"
Helen jumped into Graham's embrace before he could say anything else. "You're here," she spoke as tears fell down her face. "You're really here."
Graham felt tears flow down his face as well. "I am," he said with a bit of a sniffle. "I am finally here."
Helen embraced her husband in a strong hug and didn't let go of him at all, almost as if he would vanish the moment she let go, just like a dream.
"Honey," Graham spoke. "I'm not the only one who's here."
"Hm?" Helen finally opened her eyes and looked at the other people who were there. "Whisker? Is that y—"
She recognized the little mouse, but her words stopped when she saw an old man that looked like her son.
"That's…"
"M-mother," the older Alex couldn't help but speak through his tears. The last time he had seen his mother was her on deathbed in a hospital gown with sunken cheeks and a bald head, while she fought hard against the painful cancer in a losing battle.
He had watched her take her final breath over two decades ago, and now he got to see her all over again. More alive than ever, more beautiful than ever.
Not only was she lively and pretty, but she also looked younger than she ever was.
"Alex?" Helen couldn't help but be shocked to see her son as an old man. "H-how… what happened to you?"
"That's not the Alex you're thinking of," Graham said softly. "He's the Alex that remained in the Central Continent, his clone."
"Oh…" Helen said. "But… he's still our child, right?"
"Every bit of it," Graham said.
"Al," Helen said and went ahead to hug him.
"Mother!" the older Alex cried once more, his tears unending. "I… I thought… I thought I would never get to see you again. I… I thought you were gone forever."
Helen smiled a little and stroked his gray hair. "Sshh, don't cry. I'm here, aren't I? I'm not gone. You don't have to cry anymore." That only served to make him cry even harder.
Even Helen herself could only cry when she thought about his situation. Ronron was a bawling mess as well.
"Mother!" Whisker spoke and jumped onto her. "Mother, do you remember me?"
"Whisker, you can speak?" Helen asked in surprise. "Of course, I remember you. Why wouldn't I?"
"Woah! Everyone remembers me. I wonder why I don't remember anyone. I must have been very young back then," Whisker couldn't help but think.
Helen smiled and pat the little mouse on its head. She moved away from the older Alex and pat him as well.
"Grandma," Ronron stepped forward and hugged her as soon as she let go.
"G-grandma?" Helen's eyes went wide. "Wait… what?"
"Mother, that's my daughter," Alex quickly explained. "Ronron, introduce yourself first."
"Right," Ronron let go. "My name is Maron. Everyone calls me Ronron." After finishing her introduction, she went back and hugged Helen again.
"Oh… I'm… a grandma?" Helen couldn't help but speak to herself in surprise.
"I felt the same when I found out about 2 weeks ago," Graham said from behind her.
"Let me take a look at you, my child," Helen said and Ronron moved a little away from her. "Wow, my granddaughter is so very pretty."
"Just like you, grandma," Ronron quickly said.
"Oh, and she even knows how to make me happy," Helen said while pinching her granddaughter's cheeks. She kissed her on the forehead and hugged her once again.
"Right, how are you guys here? Did you come by yourself?" Helen asked.
"No, Father brought us," Ronron said.
"Father?" Helen looked toward the Older Alex who quickly shook his head.
"Alex is here as well," Graham said. "So are Liz and Pearl, but they have an urgent business in the Beast realm, so they will be back after a few days."
"Urgent business? What sort?" Helen couldn't help but ask.
"Don't worry," Graham said, not wanting to tell her. "We'll hear from them soon enough."
Wen Cheng stepped forward. "Come on in," he said to the group. "Let's get you guys settled in. I'll let Meimei and Xun'er know that you are here. They will be elated to see you all."
