Night had deepened, and a dim light glowed from the window of the clay house.
Madam Li deliberately lowered her voice, which carried a hint of anxiety, “Why don’t you say something? That person looks exactly like Fourth, could it be his family has come looking for him!?”
Old Man Pei puffed on his pipe tobacco. After listening to her, he tapped the pipe heavily against the corner of the table twice and said hoarsely, “When they gave Fourth to me, they said they would never come back, and that no one should know he was the child of some cultivator. It’s been sixteen years now, how could someone be looking for him?”
“I knew we couldn’t keep it hidden. There isn’t a young man within ten villages who looks as handsome as Fourth. Anyone with eyes can see he’s not our child!” Madam Li anxiously paced back and forth in the room.
“Ah! Stop pacing, you’re making me dizzy!” Old Man Pei slammed his pipe down on the table. “This matter can’t be delayed. I’ll go ask Fourth.”
Madam Li quickly grabbed him. “Why ask him? He may seem simple, but he’s quite clever. If you’re not careful and say too much, letting him figure things out, what then?”
Old Man Pei’s face darkened. “So what if he figures it out? The kindness of raising is greater than the kindness of giving birth. I’ve raised him for sixteen years – I am his father!”
Madam Li pulled out a small swaddling cloth from beneath a large box in the corner. When Old Man Pei saw it, his expression changed dramatically. “Didn’t I tell you to bury that? Why are you still keeping this thing?”
Madam Li wiped away a tear with her hand. “I just thought….Fourth should have something to remember…”
Old Man Pei snatched the swaddling cloth from her and pointed at her, saying, “You’re going to get our family killed! Keeping this thing will eventually harm Fourth as well!”
The silk swaddling cloth glimmered beautifully in the candlelight, with faint golden patterns flickering in and out of view.
The sight reflected in the shocked eyes of someone outside the window.
“No, I’m still going to burn this thing.” Old Man Pei tucked the swaddling cloth into his clothes and pushed open the door to leave.
Fourth Pei jumped in from outside the window and blocked the hidden window with messy firewood.
Ning Xingyuan heard the commotion and opened his eyes with some effort, only to see Fourth Pei looking troubled. “What’s wrong? Do your parents not allow me to stay here?”
When Fourth Pei saw him trying to get up, he quickly pressed down on his shoulder. “Lie down, don’t move.”
Ning Xingyuan said, “My wound is better. I can leave without a problem.”
“I didn’t speak to them about it,” Fourth Pei glanced at him, then took out the jade pendant from his pocket, pointing at the pattern on it. “What is this pattern?”
“It’s my Ning family crest, the Nine-Leaf Lotus.” Ning Xingyuan noticed his troubled expression, “Did you find something?”
“I…” Fourth Pei hesitated, then said, “Never mind.”
“How can you brush this aside?” Ning Xingyuan sat up straight, looking at him seriously, “Tell me, I’ll help you.”
Fourth Pei pressed his lips together. “I just overheard my parents talking outside the window… they said I was given to them to raise by someone else, and that I’m the child of a cultivator…”
“The swaddling cloth my mother took out had the same pattern as this jade pendant.” After speaking, Fourth Pei anxiously looked at Ning Xingyuan, seeing his solemn expression, he hurriedly added, “I might have seen wrong. It was quite dark inside, and it’s not certain–“
“I have a way,” Ning Xingyuan looked at him. “However… it might be a bit painful.”
Fourth Pei hesitated somewhat. “What way?”
“Anyone from our Ning clan, when facing a life-threatening situation, will have the Nine-Leaf Lotus family crest appear on their forehead.” Ning Xingyuan said, “No matter what, bloodline doesn’t lie.”
“Alright,” Fourth Pei nodded.
Ning Xingyuan smiled. “You trust me so easily? Aren’t you afraid I’ll take your life?”
Fourth Pei looked at him in confusion. “Why would you want my life?”
“Well, in our cultivation world, the great families are full of scheming and infighting. Even blood brothers kill each other.” Ning Xingyuan deliberately tried to frighten him. “If you really are my younger brother, I might be ruthless enough to kill you.”
Fourth Pei looked at him in shock, opened his mouth, and just when Ning Xingyuan thought he had truly frightened him, he heard him ask, “Why couldn’t I be your older brother?”
Ning Xingyuan was stunned. “Ah… you look younger than me.”
Fourth Pei said seriously, “I’m sixteen this year.”
“Oh, I’m already eighteen,” Ning Xingyuan said with a straight face.
“Nonsense, you clearly said before that you were also sixteen,” Fourth Pei retorted, somewhat unconvinced.
“Did I say that? When did I say that?” Ning Xingyuan asked, puzzled.
“When I carried you down from the mountain.” Fourth Pei said in a muffled voice, “…Immortals also lie.”
Ning Xingyuan leaned against the haystack and laughed, then extended his hand to him. “I won’t lie to you, come here.”
Fourth Pei visibly tensed up, carefully placing his hand over Ning Xingyuan’s. Immediately, a heart-piercing pain struck him, causing him to black out.
Ning Xingyuan promptly supported the unconscious person.
On Fourth Pei’s forehead appeared a dim Nine-Leaf Lotus pattern, much darker and murkier than any Ning Xingyuan had seen on other Ning family members, which meant—
Fourth Pei had no spiritual root.
On the roof of the woodshed, Ning Buwei also clearly saw Fourth Pei’s family crest.
“It’s true that the Ning clan has several children born without spiritual roots each year,” Ning Buwei frowned and said, “But most of these children are sent to various mortal gathering places in the seventeen states to grow up. Some who can’t bear to part with their children raise them by their side until they die of old age. There’s no need to send a child without spiritual roots all the way to the mortal realm.”
And especially not to such a remote little village.
Chu Jun asked, “Do you know anything about Ning Xingyuan’s parents?”
Ning Buwei shook his head. “I haven’t seen them much. Ning Xingyuan wasn’t close to them; he was raised by Old Master Ning. And….because Ning Xingyuan insisted on adopting me, he had a very unpleasant conflict with his parents.”
Naturally, he stayed as far away from them as possible.
Ning Buwei said, “When I met Ning Xingyuan, he was already eighty-nine years old. I’m not clear about what happened in his youth.”
“If Pei Heguang is indeed Fourth Pei, more than five hundred years have passed, yet he’s still alive and well, and even has profound cultivation skills—” Halfway through Chu Jun’s words, a terrible scream suddenly came from the mountain forest in the distance.
“Oh no, Fang Wanchen!” Ning Buwei’s expression changed drastically.
With that, he jumped directly from the roof of the woodshed onto the locust tree.
“Ning Chengfeng!” Chu Jun frowned and called out to him in a low voice.
“Stay here and watch Fourth Pei. I’ll be right back!” Ning Buwei nimbly jumped down from the tree, and his figure quickly disappeared into the darkness.
Chu Jun stood on the roof, slowly furrowing his brow.
