Chapter 361


    Chapter 361 Cause And Effect


    “This is a photograph of your mother. She was very beautiful when she was young,” Vernon said while


    handing Jonathan an old photograph.


    As Jonathan took the photograph over and looked at it, he saw a young woman about the age of


    seventeen or eighteen.


    She had a very pretty face and was wearing a red dress. With her hair tied in twin braids, she looked like


    a girl from the countryside.


    Jonathan found himself getting mesmerized by her beauty as he stared nkly at the photograph.


    Mabel, too, couldn''t help but gasp in awe when she saw the photograph from the side. Fate sure works


    in mysterious yet wonderful ways!


    “Where was my mother buried?” Jonathan asked while carefully keeping the old photograph.


    “On the hill in the back,” Vernon replied.


    “I would like to go pay my respects, Master,” Jonathan said with a sob.


    Vernon nodded. “As you should. Let''s get going, then.”


    They then left the house and made their way up the hill.


    At the top of the hill was a grassy in that brought about a floral fragrance when the wind blew past it.


    The golden rays of the evening sun only made the scenery all the more beautiful.


    As most of the vigers would bury their dead atop the hill, there were many tombstones up there.


    Vernon then led Jonathan and Mabel in front of a grave that had been kept clean and tidy.


    “Why isn''t there a tombstone here?” Jonathan asked in confusion.


    “Your mother died young, and you were her only son. ording to the vige customs, she was not


    entitled to have a tombstone. Only those with lots of children were allowed to have tombstones. Once


    you achieve sess and have lots of children, you will be able to get one for her grave,” Vernon


    exined.


    Without saying anything further, Jonathan nodded in acknowledgment and knelt on the ground to pay his


    respects.


    Your unfilial son is here to see you, Mom.


    After paying his respects, Jonathan and Mabel returned to the house with Vernon.


    At nightfall, a full moon and a few stars slowly appeared in the sky.


    Dewdrops could be seen forming on the branches and leaves of the trees.


    The nights were rather cold in Horbah during that time of the year.


    Kale showed upter that night and invited Jonathan and the others over for dinner.


    Naturally, Vernon wasn''t about to turn his kind offer down, so he brought Jonathan and Mabel over.


    Kale was living all by himself, so there was only so much he could manage for dinner. After gathering


    some fresh vegetables from his farm, he ughtered a chicken and a duck and made them dinner.


    While it wasn''t exactly fine dining, the food smelled great and tasted amazing. As the vegetables were


    picked directly from a farm, they were incredibly fresh and organic.


    Kale also had a bottle of wine in his house.


    The fragrant aroma of the wine filled the entire house when he opened the bottle.


    “Back in my day, it was customary to wee our guests with fine wine when our daughters get married.


    That tradition is no longer in practice, though. My partner passed away five years ago, and my two sons


    have moved to the city. They would onlye home once a year, so this wine is all I have left to cheer


    me up on lonely nights. I''ve been keeping this for three years now. Go ahead and have a try,” Kale said


    as he poured them some wine.


    After raising a toast and taking a sip of the wine, Jonathan asked Vernon with a heavy feeling in his


    heart, “Master, could you tell me what happened back then?”


    Vernon let out a sigh as he replied, “I never told you about this before because I didn''t want you to suffer.


    Now that you''vee all the way here seeking the truth, I suppose I have no reason to hide it from you


    any longer. Honestly, I was really surprised when I saw your cultivation level. I didn''t expect you to make


    that much progress in just a few years.”


    Jonathan simply kept quiet as he listened on.


    Vernon took another sip of the wine and let out a sigh as he continued, “Your mother was no different


    from any other vige girl. She went to Dellmoor at the age of eighteen and was going to stay over at her


    rtives'' house, but they were nowhere to be found. Due to your mother''s ego and pride, she refused to


    return to this vige. She was determined to settle down in Dellmoor, but she was too inexperienced and


    na?ve. On top of that, she was also really beautiful. While working in a restaurant, she was harassed by a


    bunch of thugs. Your father, Tristan Cadman, happened to be passing by at the time. It was snowing


    heavily during the winter, so he was wearing a stylish ck coat when he saved your mother. Back then,


    Tristan was a handsome and prideful young man. Thanks to his charming appearance and charisma, he


    easily won the hearts of countless women. Naturally, your mother was no exception. She fell in love with


    Tristan at first sight. Little did she know, that was actually the beginning of her tragedy. After bringing her


    home, Tristan made her do all the cooking for the household. I was just a driver working for his family at


    the time.”


    Jonathan was shocked to find out that his mentor used to work as a driver.


    “Your mother was very kind to people, especially me. As you most likely have guessed, I developed


    feelings for her. She wouldn''t have suffered that much if she had chosen me instead, but she was loyal to


    Tristan and lived to serve him and him alone. She just kept giving and never asked for anything in return.


    One day, Tristan got drunk and forced himself on your mother...”


    Vernon had a pained look in his eyes as he continued, “Tristan kicked her out of the house the next day.


    The only mistake your mother made was to love a man she never should have loved. Two monthster,


    she found out that she was pregnant with you. Even then, she didn''t hate your father one bit. She


    returned to the vige with the intention to give birth to you and raise you all by herself. She didn''t even


    want to let Tristan know about you.


    “I was still working as Tristan''s driver at the time, so I knew that he had a wife named Evelyna. Evelyna


    was a gorgeous woman and loved Tristan very much. A yearter, she, too, became pregnant. However,


    Evelyna somehow found out about your mother during her pregnancy. Evelyna got so mad when she


    knew that your mother was also pregnant that she nearly suffered a miscarriage.


    “After that, Tristan had mee here with him. You were only two months old when we arrived. Your


    mother was crying as she begged him to not kill you. Tristan told her that it was either your life or hers.


    Your mother was petrified. I begged Tristan to spare her life, but he refused to listen and ended up killing


    her before my eyes. I hated myself to death when I watched your mother die. I felt unworthy of calling


    myself a man. I had loved your mother for two long years, and yet, I had never done a single thing for


    her. Had I been more capable, I would''ve at least been able to stop Tristan from killing her. Eventually, I


    couldn''t contain my anger any further, so Ished out at Tristan. He was shocked when that happened.


    After a brief pause, he told me that I could raise you since I liked your mother that much. Tristan then left


    the vige after that.”


    Jonathan''s heart was filled with rage and hatred after he heard all that.


    I know that Tristan never cared about my mother and me, but we have done nothing to wrong him! Why


    was he so cruel to us? Were our lives really that insignificant?


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    Mabel and Kale werepletely dumbfounded when they heard Vernon''s story.


    “I had thought about taking my own life at the time, but then I saw you and decided to raise you instead.


    Your mother was the one who named you. I had thought about changing yourst name, but I figured


    Tristan wasn''t worthy of being your father. One night, your mother visited me in my dreams and told me


    that she didn''t me Tristan for what he did. She also told me that she wanted to keep yourst name as


    ''Lawson.'' Naturally, I couldn''t say no to the request of a woman I loved. Soon after, I brought you out of


    Horbah and taught you everything I knew. I didn''t dare tell you about your background because I felt it


    was too cruel to do so. Besides, you would only get yourself killed if you went after him for revenge at the


    time. You have no idea how powerful Tristan is. On top of that, he is still your father. Even someone as


    powerful as Tristan knew better than to kill his own son, so there was no way you''d be able to bring


    yourself to kill him. That''s why I believed you were better off not knowing anything. At the very least, you


    would be able to grow up happy. Unfortunately, fate has a way of catching up to you no matter how you


    try to run from it. There, you now know everything about your past.”


    Jonathan clenched his fists as he said, “I won''t kill Tristan, but I will someday make him kneel before my


    mother''s grave and apologize to her. I want him to know just how wrong he was!”


    He really hated Tristan to the core.


    Later that night, Tristan was dressed in ck and sitting cross-legged atop Mount Goliath.


    At that very moment, it felt as though he was the core of the universe, and everything else in it revolved


    around him.


    Suddenly, a bright ball of white light soared through the night sky andnded on the ground in front of


    Tristan.


    Inside that ball of light was the primordial spirit of a young man in his early twenties.


    With his blue eyes and ck hair, he looked like he was of mixed heritage.


    On top of that, he also had a really handsome face and looked like a protagonist straight out of a vampire


    movie.


    “Father!” the young man called out to Tristan respectfully.


    “Hello, Ignatius. How is your cultivation goingtely?” Tristan asked.


    “I have reached the Third Divine stage, Father,” Ignatius replied.


    Tristan nodded in satisfaction. “As expected of my son! You have done well. You''re even better than


    Divine Emperor and Asura Emperor when they were your age!”


    Instead of getting flustered by Tristan''spliments, Ignatius simply asked with a neutral expression,


    “You summoned me here, so something must have happened, right, Father?”


    “Yes, you''re right.”


    “What is it, Father?”


    “I met someone recently,” Tristan began.


    “Who could possibly be so important to you, Father?” Ignatius grew curious.


    “This person counts as your older brother,” Tristan replied.


    “I have a brother? Howe I''ve never heard you mention him before?” Ignatius eximed in confusion.