”Outside, there is a young man claiming to be your son,” the old man hadn’t finished speaking when Helen’s eyes went wide.

”My son?” she asked.

”Sigh, don’t be excited. He’s a fake,” the old man said, immediately deflating Helen’s excitement like a knife through a balloon.

”His name is… what was it? Yu Ming, and he’s missing an arm. Go out and act like he’s your son. That way, we can keep your suitors at bay,” the old man said.

”Suitors?” Helen asked with a curious face.

The old man shook his head and explained everything.

”But I already have a husband and a son,” Helen objected.

”I know that, but how do you expect to tell that to those old foggies? Without your son and husband here, it’s hard to dissuade their interest.”

”If they take a dislike to our attitude, they may even work against our sect in the future,” the old man said.

”Which is why this is perfect timing. Go out and hug that young man like he were your own son. Maybe cry a little too,” the old man said.

”Sigh, okay master,” Helen said and stood up.

”Alright, let’s go.”

Outside, Alex was bombarded with questions from all sides. Someone asked him his name and origin. Others asked him if this was a ploy.

And one of the old women even went as far as to ask him if someone else paid him to disrupt her nephew’s marriage.

Alex simply told them his name and that he was Hei Lin’s son. As for anyone that may have tried to force him to answer him, Alex let slip the bronze Alchemist badge that was hiding in his robes.

With that, there was no way anyone would dare threaten him, lest they wanted to face the wrath of an angry guild.

Alex really liked how handy the Alchemist guild badge was.

Just as he was thinking that the door opened and the old man walked out. Then, following him, the magenta-robed Hei Lin walked out.

She had an excited look on her face, but it seemed obviously fake to many eyes.

Her eyes fell on the old men and woman before slowly moving towards the right before they fell on Alex.

Alex had long hair now and was about two fingers taller than he had been 3, or rather 6 years ago. His body was also more built up, more muscular.

And he was missing an arm.

However, the face… it was a face that Helen could never forget. She could see part of herself in that face, and part of her husband. There was also a part that was unique on its own.

Helen’s leg moved forward on its own as the initial facade of excitement was immediately torn down and a face with a multitude of expressions landed on her face.

Happy, excited, nervous, scared, and even a little sad. Her face held it all, and so did Alex’s.

”Mother?” he cried out, his voice nearly choking as it came out.

”Al?” Helen’s voice went up 2 octaves.

”Mother!” Alex said as he slowly walked ahead, but Helen was already running.

Before Alex could also run, Helen arrived in front of him and took him in a motherly embrace.

”My Al, you’re okay. You’re alive,” she said, tears streaming down her face without her approval.

Alex couldn’t hold in his tears either. “I’m so happy to see you again mother,” Alex said as he too embraced her with his only hand.

Helen somehow both cried and laughed at the same time, her face slowly became a mixture of happiness and sadness.

She quickly let go of her son and held him by the shoulders to look at him with a horrified look.

”What happened to your arm?” she cried out.

Alex gave a melancholic smile. “I… lost it during a fight,” he said.

”Aw, my sweet child,” Helen said as she hugged him again. Alex didn’t remember the last time he had felt this loved.

He smiled.

This was nice.

The elders that were standing around showed nothing on their faces, but inwardly they cringed.

’Dammit! I nearly got my son together with someone that was already married,’ one thought.

’That’s a trap dodged,’ another one thought. Everyone thought one thing or another as they looked at the mother-son reunion.

The only one that hadn’t been thinking anything was the sect master Qin.

The old man Qin’s face was riddled with surprise. The change had taken place too fast for him to understand things properly.

By now, he had already guessed that the fake son he brought for his disciple was her actual son and that only served to increase his astonishment.

’What the hell? That is actually her son?’ he finally thought with shock clear on his face. ‘Why the hell did he not tell me his actual name then?’

Tian Ye was about to speak, but the elder from the Demon Whisper sect stopped him. This was a family reunion that they couldn’t interfere in at all.

”You seem quite shocked, brother Qin,” the man sent a mental message.

”N-no, I’m just happy to see my disciple reunited with her son,” the sect master sent back a mental message.

”Yeah, yeah, keep lying. Well, congratulations I guess. Now, no one will pester your disciple for marriage,” the man sent.

The old man Qin couldn’t help but give back a wry smile.

Helen finally let go of Alex and turned toward her master. “Master, is there any way to get my son’s arm back?” she asked.

Qin turned towards her for a moment and then towards Alex’s arm before shaking his head. “I don’t think there is a way. Maybe if the Shen young lady improves her talent, but I hear she’s got nothing on her elder sister, so your son will have to wait until he reaches Saint realm,” the old man said while shaking his head.

Helen’s eyes teared up as she looked back at her son and took his head in an embrace again. “It’s fine. Mother is here. I will think of something.”

Alex wanted to say that he had a way already, but he let it be. For now, he was just happy to have his mother back.

”Uhh… Lin’er, your son is going nowhere, but I’m afraid these guests of ours probably will. They came all the way here to meet you,” the old man said.

Helen quickly bowed to all the elders in front of her with her hands cupped together.

”Hei Lin greets seniors,” she said.

Alex felt a little weird seeing his mother treat the others the same way he treated them.

In terms of seniority, he and his mother could be considered from the same generation, as such they were equally respectful to the elders.

That didn’t make it any less awkward for him.

The elders nodded back and congratulated her for getting her son back. Helen couldn’t hide her smile or her tears.

”How only are you, young man?” one of the elders asked.

”I’m Twenty… four years old,” Alex said after a bit of hesitation. It was probably better to keep his actual age a secret for fear of confusion.

”Oh, 24 and already a True Earth alchemist? You have quite the talent,” one of the other elders said.

”Must take after his mother then,” another one spoke.

”Young man, you are at the ample age to marry. I have a niece back at home. She is what they call city toppling beauty, do you wan—”

”Brother Huan, what are you doing? Are you seriously trying to rope in the son now that you didn’t get the mother?” one of the elders asked directly.

”What? No. I’m just asking the young man what he wants,” the elder said.

”Thank you, elder. But I have no such plans at the moment,” Alex said.

”Hmm, if you do have such plans, let the sect master Qin know. He will message me,” the man said. “Since I have seen junior Hei Lin, I will have to leave now.”

”Congratulations on your performance in the competition.”

Once the first man left, one after another, the people spoke some sweet words to Helen and left.

Tian Ye played with the small ceramic bottle where the pill was kept. He had brought it here to gift it to her, but it turned out the alchemist was her son.

Now, he was feeling incredibly awkward and didn’t know what to do. In the end, he decided to go forward and give it to her.

”Although it’s not much, Sister Hei, I hope you can accept this little gift of mine,” he said as he put forth the pill.

Alex looked to the side as if not seeing what was happening in front of him, and the fatty felt grateful about it.

”Little brother Tian, you don’t need to do that,” Helen spoke, but the fatty didn’t take the pill back.

”No, no. Just think of it as your little brother’s help for you to break through without a problem,” Tian Ye said. Then, he turned toward Alex and said, “Call me Uncle Tian from now on. If you ever need any help, you can use my name.”

”Thank you, uncle Tian,” Alex said without hesitation.

”Mmm,” the fatty made a sound before saying, “I will have to return back to my sect too, so I will take my leave for now, sister Hei. Please come by the sect when you are free.”

”Of course, little brother,” Helen said, greeting the fatty a farewell.

Once everyone left, the sect master Qin finally turned to Alex as he said, “Inside that house. Now! I need some explanation.”