"Your grandfather will be out on Wednesday, you can talk to him then. By Thursday, most of the family will be back to celebrate the old man's birthday," said Ye Liangcai.

They publicly announced the birthday celebrations for Saturday, but the actual day was Thursday. The old man didn't like too many people around and preferred to just gather with family first, hence the postponement for external festivities.

By then too many people would arrive, and the old man wouldn't have any time to rest.

Ye Xin glanced at Yang Chen, thought for a moment, and said, "Alright, I'll just wait at home until Wednesday to see why Grandpa wants it this way."

After chatting with them for a few moments, Ye Xin and Hu Yashu had things to discuss between themselves, so Yang Chen went to the dining room. Anyway, he'd be staying at the Ye family for the next few days, so there was no rush to handle everything at once.

As he approached the dining area, Yang Chen heard loud and rowdy voices from inside.

"Drink!"

"Down it!"

"Beautiful!"

"Another round!"

...

Hearing these cheers, Yang Chen suddenly felt transported back to his days in the Guard.

Back then, he too drank and ate extravagantly like this.

Thinking of it, Yang Chen felt even more nostalgic.

He walked to the door, reached out to push it open, and entered the room.

Suddenly, the room fell silent, everyone turned to look at Yang Chen.

At this moment, the room was so quiet one could hear everyone's breathing.

Clang.

It was unclear who had kicked a bottle, emitting a piercing sound.

This noise seemed to ignite everyone's nerves, sparking a round of cheers, screams, and applause!

"Dragon King! Dragon King! Dragon King! Dragon King!"

The crowd chanted.

Dongzi clapped his hands, looking around excitedly as if the Dragon Tooth members had been injected with adrenaline, at a loss for what to shout.

This was obviously their Asura King, how did he become the Dragon King here?

At this moment, Dongzi felt as if his most precious thing had been taken away, his eye twitched.

Jianfeng and Mastiff rushed up, each stuffing a bottle into Yang Chen's hand.

"Come on, come on! The latecomer drinks two first!" Jianfeng shouted.

Perhaps on the training ground, everyone feared Yang Chen, but at the table, they were all brothers with not a trace of fear, just good pals playing together.

Yang Chen reluctantly took the two bottles, helplessly saying, "I just got back, and you're already messing with me like this?"

Jianfeng yelled to the crowd, "Rules! It's our rule, right?"

"Right!" everyone shouted in unison.

"Rules!"

"Rules!"

...

The crowd chanted.

Seeing he couldn't escape, Yang Chen resignedly raised the bottle, saying, "Alright, alright! I'll drink it!"

With that, Yang Chen opened his mouth, positioned the bottle towards it, and started gulping it down.

Everyone held their breath, intently watching Yang Chen.

As the first bottle was about to be finished, Yang Chen placed the second one to his lips, linking them together.

Gulp!

Gulp!

With the last drop drained, both bottles were empty.

"Well done!"

A round of applause and cheers erupted, everyone very pleased with Yang Chen's performance.

But Yang Chen didn't stop there, he grabbed another bottle, saying to the crowd, "Brothers, it's been years since we last met, I'll drink another myself!"

With that, he opened his mouth and started on the third bottle.

Everyone watched Yang Chen, falling silent.

As Yang Chen finished that bottle, he saw each Dragon Tooth Squad member holding a bottle.

Jianfeng raised his, saying to Yang Chen, "Boss, over these years, we couldn't find you, or keep searching for your whereabouts. That's our fault, we punish ourselves with a bottle!"

With that, everyone together raised their bottles, and started chugging.

Yang Chen watched them, feeling moved.

Though Jianfeng spoke so, Yang Chen knew his past affairs likely left some shadows in these people's hearts.

After they finished this bottle, they put it down and began opening another.

Yang Chen hurriedly spoke, "Brothers! Enough, if we keep drinking, we'll have to crawl back later. It's hard to reunite; the quantity doesn't matter, what's important is talking and catching up."

"Right!" Jianfeng wiped his mouth, saying, "The boss is right, slow down a bit, if anyone needs to puke, do it in the bathroom, clear your stomach!"

Generally, this group wouldn't stop drinking until everyone was down.

And puking was quite common.

Though now at the start, such volume was nothing for them, nobody flinched, all eyes were on Yang Chen.

Little Demon moved in, pinching Yang Chen's arm.

Yang Chen chuckled, "Little Demon, what are you doing?"

Little Demon said, "I was checking if you're real..."

Yang Chen couldn't help but freeze, his smile stiffening.

Others also lost their grins, looking at the spot Little Demon pinched, fearing something might go wrong.

Because... they feared the scene before them was just an illusion...

Yang Chen rubbed Little Demon's head, saying, "What are you thinking, how could I not be real!"

"But... back then they all said you were dead..." Little Demon scrutinized Yang Chen.

Yang Chen paused, frowns forming, grabbing a bottle for a sip.

Back then, he'd heard the Guard confirmed his death, which was why he never returned.

"This is on me!" Jianfeng stood up, "When you blocked Three Black Corps' attack for us and never came back, we only found their corpses, not you. We searched for three months, finding nothing of you, so..."

Jianfeng took a deep breath, "So I declared you dead, thinking you died on the battlefield."

Hearing this, everyone subconsciously lowered their heads, recalling that dark time.

Yang Chen was the backbone, the pillar of the Dragon Tooth Squad.

Without Dragon Tooth Squad, it wasn't the true Dragon Tooth Squad.

During that time, the squad's state was dire, nearly failing missions several times.

In the end, Jianfeng carried them out of darkness, leading recovery.

Yet, they didn't insist Yang Chen was alive, nor continued searching.

Now Yang Chen stood before them, deepening everyone's guilt.

Yang Chen shook his head, "It's not your fault. When I fought Three Black Corps, their numbers were overwhelming, I fought retreating, then was shot into the river. Though I wiped them out, I got caught in the turbulence..."

Yang Chen's eyes showed nostalgia, memories drifting to Lijia Continent Canyon three years ago.