Chapter 2: Family Background is Like Brocade

  "Changming Shu, what's wrong?" Suifeng, although a small child, also noticed the change in Changming's tone before and after.

  Wang Changming unconsciously lowered his head, pondered for a long time, and then let out a sigh. Finally, he said with difficulty: "Xiaofeng, you should already know that after your father's death all these years, I've actually been staying at the Liu's..."

  He turned his head with the wind, stunned. "Why?……" He had seen Changming call Liu Zixin "Young Master Liu" earlier and had a hint of doubt, but later it was replaced by the joy of reuniting with Changming, so he didn't ask. This time, since Changming himself said it out loud, Suifeng no longer hesitated to ask.

  Originally, Wang Changming had already set out to make a name for himself in the jianghu when he was as young as Rong Feng is now. He had seen countless heroes and encountered many treacherous villains. It wasn't until he was thirty-two years old that he was chased by bandits and escaped into Yangzhou City, where he coincidentally ran into Rong Tian, who was out searching for a midwife because his wife was about to give birth.

  Wang Changming looked up at the sky, his eyes filled with nostalgia for past events.

  "No wonder I saw Uncle Changming as soon as I was born. I thought you and my dad were brothers with different surnames." Feng suddenly realized.

  "Not bad, but an adopted brother." Changming nodded and said, "At that time, he saw me covered in blood and took me to the mansion together, and immediately treated my wounds. Until later, Madam still blamed your father for not seeing you at first sight." Memories flooded back, and the child of his sworn brother had grown so big, but he and his brother's wife were already separated by life and death. Thinking of this, Wang Changming couldn't help but feel sad, his eyes became blurry, and two lines of clear tears rolled down his face.

  Chang Ming pursed his lips and continued, "Later on, he helped me avenge my enemy and even guided me in my martial arts. Unfortunately, I was already past the prime of my life, so although I made great progress, it's now hopeless for me to enter the realm of Innate in this lifetime."

  "What is 'the boundary of heaven and earth'?" Suddenly hearing this, I didn't understand what it meant at all.

  Nowadays, in the Jianghu, there is a set of divisions for strength. Ordinary practitioners who practice fist and footwork or have a slight understanding of internal energy are called "Fanchen", which means they are not much different from ordinary people. Only when the internal energy has made some small achievements, reaching the state of washing the marrow and changing the bones, with the courage to stand alone against ten thousand enemies, can one enter the realm of post-heavenly cultivation. After cultivating internal energy to a high level, one can communicate with heaven and earth, borrowing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to wash away the old and forge the new. At this moment, it is the rare and unique state of pre-heavenly cultivation, the ultimate goal that generations of martial artists have been striving for. Looking around the entire world, there are only a few pre-heavenly masters.

  Zhang Feng had little contact with this, but Chang Ming was very patient and explained it in detail.

  "What level was my father at back then?"

  "Your father was a master of innate skills back then, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to help me get rid of the calamity."

  Chang Ming's tone changed again, becoming somewhat stern. "Let me ask you, have you ever thought that your father was a one-in-ten-thousand innate master, why would he suddenly die?"

  "Ah..." He was suddenly shouted at by him, and his head felt a bit dizzy. After a while, he said: "Could it be that someone is using sinister tricks?"

  Chang Ming stared at him blankly, nodding slightly. "A natural-born master, that's a natural-born master indeed. Legend has it that the true energy of a natural-born can even repel all poisons. What kind of move could silently and stealthily kill him? Moreover, after the fall of the Ruan family, more than half of their properties fell into the hands of the Liu family, which is quite suspicious."

  Suī fēng's head suddenly lifted, his eyes wide open and staring at Changming. Changming couldn't help but be startled, thinking to himself: He clearly doesn't know martial arts, why does he have such a strong gaze? "Changming uncle" Suī fēng said in a cold voice, word by word, "Could it be that the Liu family killed father?"

  Chang Ming's face was gloomy, and he nodded slightly. "Later, in order to get to the bottom of things, I pretended to surrender to the Liu family and became their martial arts instructor. After all these years, I finally found some clues. Now it can be basically confirmed that the Liu family was responsible for the incident back then."

  "But why did they do that? Didn't Father do business with them before? We didn't have any grudges. And how exactly did they manage to do it? I still can't believe it."

  His emotions were a bit out of control with the wind, after all, he was still young, where did he understand the words "killing father's hatred, not sharing the same sky"? With his temperament, he would rather have his dad die from a sudden illness.

  "I say this, I must have something to rely on. Innate masters are not omnipotent, do you know what is more terrifying than an innate master?" Chang Ming's expression was gloomy, but his tone was very firm.

  "What is it? Is it not a fairy who has failed?" Su Feng's face was puzzled, and he really couldn't guess.

  "There may not be immortals in this world, but ghosts and monsters are indeed real." Changming's expression was gloomy, the candlelight flickering on his face, casting an eerie atmosphere in the room. Su Feng couldn't help but take a cold breath.

  "Is this true?" Feng Yan's voice had a few hints of fear, and he asked with some caution.

  "I didn't believe it at first, but your father's death and what happened after that were all things I personally experienced. How could they be fake? And later when I looked through historical records, the accounts of gods and ghosts were also unclear and ambiguous. But if they weren't true, then why would Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han have really sought immortality on a large scale back then?" Changming said this with some trepidation in his heart. He had seen the world and was only saying these things because he was afraid that later on, he would become a foolish and ignorant young man who didn't believe in anything.

  "Don't be afraid, ghosts and monsters are just venting their grievances before they happen, how can they compare to the harm caused by those in high positions? With one order, countless loyal and good people die a miserable death?" Chang Ming's tone was full of emotion.

  "Hmm... But what does this have to do with Father being murdered?" As he thought about it, he couldn't help but believe Changming's words a bit more.

  "It's a big deal, did you know why the Liu family wants to take over the Su family?" Changming's face turned somewhat ferocious.

  Sui Feng was still young when his father passed away, and he didn't understand much about family matters. So, he also didn't know what exactly in the family had provoked others' envy.

  "This matter needs to be explained from the beginning," Changming took a sip of tea, feeling increasingly bitter. "This whole thing started because of a sword."

  "A sword? Can a mere sword kill Father?"

  "That's not just an ordinary sword, but a legendary divine sword!" He sighed with a wry smile, these were indeed facts, but it was hard to convince others when spoken out loud.

  In the Spring and Autumn Period, there was a famous swordsmith named Ouyezi. It is said that this was his last sword, and when he forged it, all the gods in heaven and earth lent their strength. The nine stars in the sky descended to bestow their aura, and the greatest power of the universe was forged into the sword. When the sword was completed, ghosts and spirits were shocked, the five mountains shook together, and the four seas flowed horizontally, and Ouyezi also died as a result. The sword had the words "Pure Jun" on its body since birth, so this sword is called Pure Jun Sword. Wang Changming told the story while sipping his tea.

  "Is the Pure Sword true? Then, is the legend really true?"

  "I don't know if it's as exaggerated as the legend says, but it indeed has an unpredictable and mighty power. What's even more precious is that the sword possesses a peerless and supreme yang energy that can vanquish all impurities and evil spirits." Changming couldn't help but shudder at the memory of what happened after his father passed away.

  "So, as long as you have this sword, you can kill my father?"

  Contrary to expectations, Changming shook his head lightly. "No, your father was not killed directly by the sword. It was the Liu family who used a sinister plot."

  Changming said that as long as it's harmful, what's the difference between direct and indirect harm? Harm is harm, isn't it?

  "Please continue, Uncle Changming." Xiangfeng thought for a long time but still couldn't understand.

  "This sword was originally a family heirloom, always displayed within the Fugui of the Su family. Normally, no one would mention it, and no one knew its origin. The Su family had a rule that none of their disciples could touch this sword in their lifetime. This is a secret of your family, and you're still young, so your older brother didn't tell you. I'm not very clear about the reason either. After your older brother passed away, I followed his will to find a high-ranking Taoist priest to hold a memorial service for him. Through his guidance, I finally understood a bit of the truth."

  Chang Ming said, word by word, as the wind grew more and more tense, he felt himself getting closer and closer to the truth, his heart pounding, even cold sweat dripping down his face without him noticing.

  "That Taoist said that the Pure Sword might have been used by our ancestors to seal an array. And what was sealed is..."

  Changming suddenly paused, as if he was selling a suspenseful story. He then lightly sipped his tea.

  "What is being sealed?" Fēng felt that he had already reached a critical point and wanted to know the truth even more.

  "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it. Daozhang said that it was a extremely rare and elusive creature from legend, known as an 'hàn gāo' (drought demon). In folklore, it's called a 'jiāng shī' (zombie), but the hàn gāo is not an ordinary zombie. Ancient books say that when a hàn gāo appears, the land withers for thousands of miles, causing great harm. And the hàn gāo sealed in the Su family's ancestral tomb has extremely high and profound magical powers. It was it that killed my older brother and sister-in-law." Changming couldn't help but recall the events of that day, still feeling a lingering sense of fear.

  "But isn't the drought demon already sealed away?" Feng Xuan murmured, "Could it be that..."

  "Not bad, the Pure Sword has been brought out. So the law array is broken." Changming sighed again.

  "But, Father shouldn't go against the ancestors' teachings, how could he?..." Feng's voice became somewhat panicked and his tone had a hint of crying. But when he thought about how his parents had already passed away, and that the entire family's, his parents' blood feud was all on his shoulders, although his heart was filled with sorrow, he also understood that people can't come back to life, and he should be strong too.

  "This is to say that the Liu family's plan was sinister. In the days leading up to the incident, some of the younger members of the family discovered suspicious people lurking around the Fude Temple. Three days before the incident, the main gate of the temple was actually pried open, and a large batch of ancestral treasures were stolen from the family. The Pure Harmony Sword was hidden in the most central part of the Fude Temple and almost got stolen. On the day of the incident, your father felt uneasy and feared that the family heirloom sword would be stolen, so he brought the Pure Harmony Sword back to the house from the temple. Not long after, your parents fell ill and passed away suddenly. Fortunately, you were out traveling at the time and escaped disaster. Looking back now, it's likely that those thieving acts were all intentional on the part of the Liu family."

  "What is it that you want to kill Father Liu for?!" Feng Han's voice was cold and detached, devoid of any warmth, revealing the true anger that had been stirred within him.

  "As far as I know, if I'm not mistaken, it should be for your family's inherited Analytic Void Technique and this pure Qun sword."

  "What about the Xī Tiān Jué? Is it the skill that Father practiced? Where is it now?" Suì Fēng suddenly stood up, his heart filled with tension. This skill was related to whether he could avenge his hatred, and he already regretted not having a good fight with Liu Jìn earlier.

  "Although I have a sworn brotherhood with your father, this is after all a family heirloom of yours, and only your father knows where it is, and I don't know either. However, I do know that it hasn't fallen into the hands of the Liu family, so you don't need to worry too much. If I'm not mistaken, it's definitely still hidden somewhere in your estate, and there will be a chance to find it in the future."

  He sighed again as the wind passed, and his face turned gloomy. At his current age, he was no longer young, and it was already a bit late to start practicing martial arts. If he still didn't have good internal skills and techniques, how could he possibly avenge himself with the powerful Liu family?

  Wang Changming looked at him and felt uncomfortable, so he comforted him: "Although I don't know where the Heaven's Parting is, your father indeed gave me the Pure Jun Sword. I think his intention was to have me pass it on to you. Don't underestimate it - if you can bring out its power, ten Liu families won't be a problem."