Douluo Continent: I am a biologist, and I have awakened a weapon spirit?

Uncle Lin's family was very hospitable. The reward they received was equivalent to a long period of their family's income, so they made sure Chen Feng and Ma Hongjun were well taken care of.

At night, Ma Hongjun ate and drank his fill and fell asleep, still savoring the aroma of the roasted rabbit in his mouth.

Chen Feng lay on the bed with his eyes closed. After a while, he heard Ma Hongjun's breathing gradually become calm, so he opened his eyes, sat up, and quietly left the room. Then he silently climbed out of Uncle Lin's house.

The village was quiet at this time, and most of the villagers were asleep. Chen Feng walked towards the village chief's house. Halfway there, he saw Flander and the master standing by the roadside waiting.

“I knew you’d come,” Flanders chuckled.

The master nodded to Chen Feng, "Let's go, let's go ask the village chief again."

“Bring Erlong along too,” Flanders asked.

The master hesitated slightly, "She's probably already asleep."

"No, I briefly mentioned it to her before."

"That's fine."

Chen Feng asked curiously, "Dean, Master, how did you spot the problem?"

Flander smiled. "Actually, I didn't see anything wrong, but even if Chief Ma really knew about what happened back then, if there were any hidden details, he definitely wouldn't have said it in front of Hongjun."

Chen Feng nodded. That was also why he came over in the middle of the night to be a night owl.

Moreover, he felt that an ordinary fire-attribute spirit ring for an ordinary spirit master would not be enough to support Ma Hongjun's spirit mutation.

Of course, anything is possible in this world. Oscar has no special background, yet he still awakened the bug-level Food God Martial Soul.

But there were still some doubts, which is why Chen Feng wanted to ask again.

When the three arrived at the house where Liu Erlong was staying, they saw Liu Erlong leaning against the wall, idly playing with her fingers.

Seeing the three approach, Liu Erlong asked in a low voice, puzzled:

"Why pull this stunt? Is there something wrong with that village chief?"

"I just wanted to ask for more details. If Hongjun isn't present, it might be easier for the village chief to say things he can't say otherwise," the master said.

"Alright, I'll go with you guys anyway." Liu Erlong nodded.

The four arrived at the village chief's house. Flander stepped forward and knocked twice on the door. "Village chief, it's us."

The door opened quickly, and Village Chief Ma looked at the people standing at the door and sighed:

"I knew I couldn't hide it from you Soul Masters. Please come in."

Chapter 252 The Events of That Year

Chen Feng and Flander exchanged a glance and went into the village chief's house.

"Please have a seat, everyone." Village Chief Ma laid out the stools one by one.

After Chen Feng and the other three sat down, Flander began to speak:

"Village Chief Ma, it seems you do know something about Hongjun. Why didn't you tell me back then?"

Village Chief Ma also sat down and sighed:

"Because of this, I really don't want to tell others, as it might affect Hongjun's entire life."

“Oh?” Flander frowned, thought for a moment, and said:

“Village Chief Ma, as you can see, we deliberately left Hongjun out of our way to find you. We took this into consideration. Please tell us what you know, and we will make sure that Hongjun doesn’t find out about this.”

"But what's the use of knowing about the past? It's all in the past," Village Chief Ma said, puzzled.

“Village Chief Ma, the past may not truly be the past. If we don’t know the details of Hongjun’s situation, what if there are any hidden dangers he might have? We’ll be caught off guard if they erupt. A person without foresight will have immediate troubles,” Chen Feng said.

“That’s right, Village Chief Ma. Hongjun is my direct disciple. I need to understand his background to ensure that no trouble will affect him,” Flander said seriously.

“Troublesome…” Village Chief Ma was tempted.

He considered it for a moment, then nodded and said:

"Alright, I don't know much about Soul Masters, so I can't judge what exactly happened back then. Let me tell you about it, Soul Masters."

Then, Village Chief Ma began his recollections and narration.

What Village Chief Ma said during the day was not a lie. Ma Hongjun's mother, Li Hong, was indeed a work-study student in the village that year. However, Village Chief Ma also concealed something, namely the situation of Ma Hongjun's father.

"...Ah Hong attended the Soto City Junior Soul Master Academy and successfully became a Soul Master. Of course, her talent wasn't that great, so she couldn't get into the Intermediate Soul Master Academy. However, this girl has excellent cooking skills, so she specially got a fire soul ring and simply became a chef. Her life is quite stable."

“She would come back every year to bring small gifts for people she knew in the village. She was a very cheerful and optimistic girl, and everyone in the village liked her very much. Once when she came back, she brought back a one-armed young man. Ah Hong said that he was her savior. She encountered danger when she was obtaining her second soul ring and was saved by this young man.”

Chen Feng asked, "Is that Hong Jun's father?"

Village Chief Ma nodded. "Yes, this young man is easy to get along with. He is said to be from Red Sand City and is a Soul Master with considerable strength. However, he will take the initiative to help the villagers and has no airs of a Soul Master at all. He told us to call him Ayan, but he didn't say his surname. Once I asked him about his missing arm, and he said that he lost his right arm because he failed an important test. I didn't delve into it further, since I don't know much about Soul Masters."

“What happened next?” Flanders asked.

"After that..." Village Chief Ma sighed, "Ah Hong's feelings for Ah Yan gradually deepened, but Ah Yan seemed to have some concerns and was unwilling to accept Ah Hong. So Ah Hong left the village sadly, and Ah Yan left as well. But a few years later, the two of them came to find me again. By then, their relationship was already very good."

“During my conversation with them, I learned that Ah Hong actually wanted to settle down in Soto City, but Ah Yan insisted on returning to the village. Moreover, he did not want to live in Ah Hong's original house, but wanted to find a place to live in seclusion in the mountains behind the village. Ah Hong finally agreed to his suggestion, and the two of them returned together. They even came to find me at night without letting the villagers know.”

Flander stroked his chin. "This behavior... it feels like they're avoiding some kind of trouble?"

Village Chief Ma closed his eyes, a touch of sadness appearing on his wrinkled face, and said:

“I had the same feeling at the time, so I asked Ah Yan if he had encountered something outside. His expression was very complicated. He said it wasn’t because of something outside, but because he himself was a troublesome person, so he shouldn’t have too much contact with others. He also said that he didn’t know if being with Ah Hong was a mistake. Ah Hong was right next to me at the time, and she smiled and said that we would definitely overcome the difficulties and that she would not regret it no matter what happened in the end. But now that I think about it, I should have stopped them from being together.”

"After they went to live in seclusion on the mountain behind, Ayan and Ahong built a small wooden house there and cultivated a plot of land to grow vegetables. They could also entrust me to buy some living supplies in the city. At first, life was quite leisurely, and Ahong soon became pregnant. Her belly grew bigger day by day, but one day when I went to deliver cloth to them, I found blood everywhere in the wooden house."

At this point, Village Chief Ma suddenly fell silent, his eyes reddening slightly, and his face twitching as he forced out a sentence:

"They...they were actually very good kids. They should have lived happy and joyful lives. I don't know, I don't know why things turned out that way."

"Could it be that some outside Soul Masters are attacking them?" A hint of murderous intent appeared on Liu Erlong's face.

Flander and the master also became serious, but Village Chief Ma shook his head and said:

"No, no one knew that they had been living in seclusion here. Even the villagers didn't know they had returned."

"What happened?" Liu Erlong asked, puzzled.

“It was Ayan. I don’t know why he suddenly went mad. I was so scared by the blood all over the room that my legs went weak. Then I saw Ayan come out of the inner room with a sword. He was like a completely different person. He even raised his sword to kill me. But just then, I heard a baby crying from the inner room. Ayan seemed to have come to his senses. He called out Ahong’s name and rushed into the inner room.” The village chief’s voice was very deep.

This development left Flanders and the other two looking at each other in bewilderment, while Chen Feng's face remained ashen.

He suddenly asked:

"Village chief, what did you say Ah Yan was holding in his hand?"

"A sword."

What kind of sword?

"It was a black sword with flames burning on it. The sword disappeared after Ayan woke up. I think it must be a martial spirit," Village Chief Ma recalled.

“Black…” Flander looked at Chen Feng in astonishment, and the master also frowned.

Liu Erlong then subconsciously said:

"That's not..."

“Erlong!” the master said softly, “We are talking about Hongjun.”

Liu Erlong shut her mouth, but couldn't help glancing at Chen Feng.

"Soul Master, what's wrong?" Village Chief Ma asked Flander in confusion.

“It’s alright, village chief, please continue.” Flander forced a somewhat awkward smile.

Village Chief Ma sighed, "Actually, there's not much to say. You Soul Masters should be able to tell that Ah Hong was giving birth that day. After the child was born, Ah Yan suddenly went insane for some reason and killed Ah Hong. But the child's cries woke Ah Yan up. I was so scared that I didn't dare to move until Ah Yan came out of the inner room with the child in his arms. He was muttering things like 'This was a mistake' and 'The initial success was just a coincidence,' but I couldn't quite understand what he was saying."

"Then Ayan handed the child to me. He apologized to me, saying he was sorry to Ahong and hoped that the village would raise the child and not tell the child about him and Ahong. After I took the child, he said he wanted me to bury him and Ahong together. Then he went back to the inner room. When I went back in, I found that Ayan had died by Ahong's bedside."

“I didn’t dare stay there long, so I took the child back first. After two days, when I recovered, I came back to handle the funeral arrangements for Ayan and Ahong. I buried them together and didn’t dare to erect any tombstone. Later, following Ayan’s instructions, I gave the child my surname. I originally wanted to name him Ma Hongyan, but I was afraid that the villagers would make too many connections, so I named him Ma Hongjun. Because I was worried that Hongjun would ask about his background when he grew up, I pretended that he was an orphan I had picked up and asked the villagers to take care of him as well, which was a way to confuse the public.”

"After all, I really don't know how to tell this child what happened back then. If it weren't for the several Soul Masters coming to question me overnight, I was planning to take the matter to the underworld."

After Village Chief Ma finished speaking, the room was quiet for a long while as Chen Feng and the other three were processing the information they had heard.

After a while, Chen Feng asked a question that puzzled Village Chief Ma:

"Village chief, do you think that Ah Yan looks like me?"

Village Chief Ma shook his head, somewhat puzzled. "It doesn't seem like it."

"How long did Hongjun's parents live here before the incident happened?"

"It's been about two or three years."

Chen Feng nodded slightly and didn't ask any more questions.

But then Village Chief Ma suddenly had a connection, "Could it be that you and Ah Yan...?"

"Perhaps he is an elder of the clan," Chen Feng sighed softly.

Village Chief Ma nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

Chen Feng made this judgment instead of considering the far-fetched possibility that he and Ma Hongjun were brothers because the timing didn't match up.

Although Chen Feng's paper age is definitely a little younger than his actual age because he was picked up by Old Jack, his bone age can be determined.

He wouldn't be much older than Ma Hongjun, maybe only a few months older.

Ah Yan and Ah Hong had lived here for two or three years, which obviously doesn't match up.

Moreover, the letter that Old Jack gave to Chen Feng shows that the person who abandoned Chen Feng was already in a bad mental state and knew to take strict precautions against the martial soul that Chen Feng might awaken. Clearly, they were quite aware of the dangers of the Demon Sword Martial Soul.

Although Ah Yan's behavior showed some concern, it also had a sense of wishful thinking, which shows that although he knew there was something wrong with his bloodline, he didn't know it deeply.

He didn't even give any instructions to Village Chief Ma before he died, which is completely different from the way those who abandoned Chenfeng did.

Of course, it's also possible that Ah Yan was already mentally broken at the time and had no time to care about anything else. After all, such a tragedy is something no normal person could accept.

However, the existence of Ah Yan still proves one thing: it seems that there are still survivors in Chen Feng's lineage.

Because what Village Chief Ma just said mentioned "test".

Ah Yan lost his arm because he failed a certain "test," which means he had some kind of inheritance.

It's unclear whether this inheritance is a bloodline inheritance or a master-disciple inheritance.

Regardless, this is at least a clue. According to the village chief, Ayan comes from Chisha City. If both Village Chief Ma and Ayan are telling the truth, then Chisha City might be able to find traces of Chen Feng's lineage of the Chen family.

As Chen Feng was pondering this, he heard Flander say:

"Village Chief Ma, thank you for informing us. We will keep this matter confidential. There is no doubt that Hongjun's mother died of illness."

"That's good, that's good." Village Chief Ma nodded repeatedly.

"Now that the matter is settled, we will take our leave," the master said.

"Then I'll see you off."

"No need, we can just leave quietly."

......

After leaving Village Chief Ma's house, Flander looked at Chen Feng and asked:

"Xiao Feng, are you going back to sleep?"

"I want to go out of the village for a walk."

"Shall we go together?"

"it is good."

Chen Feng and Flander walked side by side out of the village, with the master following closely behind, and Liu Erlong also silently following.

After leaving the village for a while, Flander suddenly spoke up:

"Xiaofeng, what are you thinking about right now?"

"I was wondering if you, Dean, would clean me out of the house and get rid of this potential future threat," Chen Feng said jokingly.

Flander shook his head. "I won't do that. As long as you are still you, even if you have a problem like Ah Yan one day, I will choose to lock you up and find a way to help you return to normal, because you are my student."

"I'm afraid it will be too late," Chen Feng said.

To be honest, it's impossible for him not to feel lost after hearing Ah Yan's story.

Will he really not follow in the footsteps of his predecessors?