In the Years When I Was a Father

Chapter 170: The Ruthless Marshal Father (End)

Deep within the heart of the Black Domain Forest, a towering black bear, nearly six meters tall, lumbered out of its cave with a slow and heavy gait.

It casually scanned the surroundings with its senses. After confirming that the noisy humans from earlier had left the outskirts, it shook its head and began foraging for food.

Not far from the black bear’s cave was a large lake. It was where the black bear normally drank and bathed—a private pond it had claimed and stocked with fish and shrimp.

Arriving at the lake, the black bear originally intended to sit peacefully as usual. But thoughts of the two energetic young men just now, and their awe-inspiring display of piloting mechas, stirred a ripple in its long-dead heart.

It had been eighty years.

The black bear—originally named Yuan Zong—gazed blankly at the familiar forest, then at his own reflection in the clear water. After a while, he turned and headed back into his cave.

At his current stage, he no longer needed daily sustenance. Whenever he was in a bad mood, Yuan Zong preferred to sleep.

However, upon returning to the cave, his eyes fell unintentionally on the small drone that had once flown in, along with the terminal strapped to it. Strangely compelled, he felt a flicker of curiosity.

That high-tech device from orc society had flown into his cave six years ago. Yuan Zong had assumed it had wandered in by mistake and had never bothered to open it. But today, those two boys had stirred many long-buried memories. Though he had once vowed to stay far away from humankind forever, now he couldn’t help but pick it up.

Having thoroughly enjoyed several days of his father’s gentle pampering, Qi Junye hesitated for a long time before stepping into Qi Sheng’s study again. Qi Sheng, who was busy with paperwork, looked up to see the little tiger walk in. Thinking the cub was here for another cuddle, he casually tossed aside his terminal, walked over, squatted down, and habitually ruffled the furry head.

“Why are you here so early today? Had another breakthrough in your cultivation?”

Aside from mealtime cuddles for digestion, the little tiger rarely came to bother him during work—unless there was a significant breakthrough.

Qi Sheng could no longer sense the little tiger’s current cultivation level, so he assumed he was here to share good news.

The tiger cub lifted his fuzzy head, stunned for a second at the question. After rubbing his face against Qi Sheng’s palm, he originally wanted to confess that he had already completed his transformation. But just as he was about to say it, he switched topics.

“Father, I want to go see the Black Domain Forest.”

“The Black Domain Forest?”

“Yes, I want to meet the powerful being inside.”

Qi Sheng hadn’t been to the Black Domain Forest in years. Back then, he had proactively contacted the entity residing there in hopes of uncovering the secret behind the tiger cub. But after eventually solving it on his own, he’d had no reason to go back.

Qi Sheng had always known the little tiger was curious about the forest. He’d kept him away before out of concern that he might inadvertently provoke that being and get hurt. But now…

“There’s no rush to go there. Let’s wait until you complete your transformation first.”

Qi Sheng smiled at the little tiger with a face full of warmth. In two years, the cub would be old enough to take the federal college entrance exam. It was time for him to start studying the basics of middle school. Although he suspected the cub had secretly studied already, Qi Sheng still wanted to see how he would respond.

Qi Junye, who had originally come to confess, froze at those words. His tiger body stiffened visibly. But upon sensing his father’s suspicious gaze, he quickly relaxed.

“Um… Father, I…” Qi Junye was distressed. Should he go for a dramatic live transformation now, or wait for a better moment to demonstrate it again?

“What’s wrong? Still haven’t felt any signs of transformation?”

“Uh…” The little tiger’s tail drooped and flicked instinctively. Then, hearing approaching footsteps, he leaned forward and bumped his head lightly against Qi Sheng’s chest before suddenly darting away.

Just then, Bu Qiongyu arrived with a tray of refreshments—only to catch sight of her eldest son bolting out of the study.

Raising an eyebrow, she smiled and asked, “What’s with Junye? Why the rush?”

Qi Sheng stood up and took the tray from her with a chuckle. “I asked him when he planned to undergo his transformation.”

Bu Qiongyu shook her head upon hearing this: “That brat finally realizes he can’t keep it hidden much longer.”

Unaware that their parents had known for a long time, Qi Junye returned to his room, staring at the little tiger in the mirror with a headache. Skipping school felt great for a while, skipping it all the time felt even better, but now the bitter consequences had finally caught up!

Qi Junye fretted for a good while before switching back to his human form. After putting on clothes, he paced back and forth, thinking, Hmm, when would be the right moment to confess?

But his inner struggle didn’t last long, because Qi Junhe, fresh out of school and excited, hurried in to find her brother. She was so eager she didn’t even knock before entering. Seeing a strange boy in the room, she was momentarily stunned and loudly demanded, “Who are you? What are you doing in my brother’s room?”

Qi Junhe immediately took a defensive stance, ready to strike if this stranger showed any abnormal signs.

Her loud voice quickly triggered responses from the butler and the defense robot. When the butler rushed over and saw the unfamiliar boy, he was stunned for two seconds but managed to restrain Qi Junhe.

“You—you are Young Master Junye?”

Qi Junye looked at his silly sister, then glanced at the excited butler and silently nodded.

With that, his earlier worries suddenly vanished.

By the time Qi Sheng and his wife arrived, the butler was already busily preparing everything the young man might need.

Qi Sheng looked at his handsome son’s face and played along with the excitement, saying, “Junye, that’s great! You’ve finally succeeded in your transformation!”

Bu Qiongyu glanced at Qi Sheng—he had teased their son on the way here, but now his expression was so natural? She couldn’t help but twitch the corners of her mouth, barely holding back a smile.

Her reaction was a bit delayed, but Qi Junye, ever perceptive, noticed his mother’s expression perfectly. There was nothing unclear to him.

He quietly glanced at his truly excited and happy silly sister, thinking to himself, “My sister is really cute!”

News of Qi Junye’s successful transformation quickly spread across the StarNet. Over the past few years, the little tiger had kept a low profile—aside from once knocking down Liang Qiu’s face, he had not made any high-profile appearances.

This left curious netizens frustrated, but now that the good news had finally arrived, the eager crowd immediately congratulated him—and unanimously looked forward to watching him fight in mecha battles again.

Upon hearing the news, Huo Qixuan came over to the Qi household.

“Come on, I’ll take you to fight Liang Qiu. He’s been climbing the ranks these past years, and his reputation’s even improved a bit!”

Huo Qixuan had long disliked Liang Qiu. The two had fought many times before, and naturally, the little lion who trained with Qi Sheng always dominated Liang Qiu. This time he invited Qi Junye purely to help his friend vent.

Qi Junye frowned hearing this: “You’re still picking fights with him? Can’t you grow up a little?”

Huo Qixuan laughed: “I get beaten by you every day. I gotta find someone to restore my confidence, right? And there’s one ready-made opponent—why not take the chance?”

Thinking of Liang Qiu’s continuous hard training, Qi Junye shook his head and said no more.

“I have things to do today. If you want to train, go find Junyan and the others.”

“What could you possibly have to do?” Huo Qixuan looked puzzled, but before he could finish the question, his friend had already disappeared. Rolling his eyes, he turned and went to find Qi Junyan.

Meanwhile, Qi Junye left his friend behind and soon arrived at the Black Domain Forest.

He looked at the gloomy forest, still considering what form to use to enter, when suddenly he felt a powerful force rushing toward him.

This time Qi Junye didn’t even need to guess who was coming. Almost instantly, he transformed back into his beast form and charged to meet that power.

When two strong opponents meet, a fierce battle naturally ensues. The fight continued until nightfall, when a tiger and a bear finally reluctantly called a truce.

Compared to the emotionally charged black bear, the little tiger felt much lighter after their exhilarating fight.

“Are you also a Federation beastman?”

Yuan Zong nodded at the question, his eyes burning as he looked at the little tiger in front of him.

“You—you can transform now?”

The little tiger gave a hum of affirmation, then looked up at the massive black bear before him, feeling a bit uncomfortable: “How did you grow so big? My neck hurts from looking up!”

Yuan Zong looked at the little tiger who seemed like he could be crushed with a single step and cooperatively squatted down. Unfortunately, even so, his size was still huge.

Fortunately, Qi Junye cleverly noticed a nearby hillside, and the two finally started to communicate face to face.

“I don’t really know. Over the years, my body just never stopped growing.”

Qi Junye was surprised by this. Normally, black bears grow up to three meters at most, but this one in front of him was twice that size!

“How long have you lived here?”

Perhaps once troubled by transformation himself, Qi Junye couldn’t help but feel some kinship toward the black bear, as if this creature in front of him was the same kind.

“Eighty years.”

“Eighty years?!”

“Yeah.”

The tiger and the bear talked for a long time. Yuan Zong looked at this once unable-to-transform yet now incredibly powerful cub, and the emotions he had suppressed for years finally burst out.

The two chatted through the whole night. When Qi Junye finally realized, he remembered the problem of staying out all night.

“I can’t. I have to go home. I’ll come find you tomorrow.”

Qi Junye felt a dull ache in his backside. Besides hiding his transformation all this time, now he had stayed out without saying a word—he felt very guilty just thinking about it.

The little tiger dashed straight back to the Qi family, but as he reached the forest edge, he found a silver mecha waiting there.

“Father!”

“Hm, finally came out.”

“Father, I…”

“No need to explain. Just remember not to do it again next time.”

“…Yes.”

Unexpectedly easily forgiven, the little tiger thought of Yuan Zong’s past and couldn’t help himself—he ran straight into Qi Sheng’s arms.

“Hm? What’s wrong? I thought you wouldn’t want me to hug you anymore.”

The little tiger didn’t speak but stuck out his tongue to lick Qi Sheng’s chin, then affectionately rubbed his head against his chest, wagging his tail and refusing to leave his father’s embrace.

Resting his chin on his father’s arm, the little tiger thought to himself that he had the best father in the world—one who never gave up on him even because he couldn’t transform.

Back then, after Yuan Zong turned ten, he also couldn’t transform. His father, the head of the Yuan family, used various cruel training methods to pressure him.

Yuan Zong nearly died during those harsh trainings. It was only because his mother couldn’t bear it that she secretly took him away.

Since then, Yuan Zong lived a wandering life. Only after gradually growing stronger did he settle in the Black Domain Forest. A lone beast living there for decades—if not for his mother’s dying regrets, Yuan Zong might have ended his own life long ago.

Being an outlier is painful. Qi Junye had once felt that same despair. Fortunately, he was lucky—lucky to have a family no one else could compare with!