Chapter 46: This Life Is Not Under Human Control (Part 1)

  One night passed, and after breakfast the next day, the red-faced old man had already woken up. Last night, after listening to Lu Qingyun's words, Xiao Shouren already knew the name of the red-faced old man, estimated to be Bai Chenggang in Lu Qingyun's mouth. They were fellow disciples.

  Xiao Die went to bed early last night under Ge Shu Yun's persuasion, but got up very early this morning. She probably didn't sleep well. After preparing breakfast, she saw that Bai Cheng Gang had woken up. Lu Qing Yun ordered Xiao Die to feed Bai Cheng Gang a bowl of porridge. Xiao Die was reluctant, but forced by her father's stern gaze, she went over and fed Bai Cheng Gang the porridge.

  Xiao Shouren got up and went with Ge Shuyun to bury the bodies from last night, preparing to leave some private space for this family, spreading out those things to discuss, but things didn't go as wished. Lu Qingyun and Bai Chenggang were both stubborn and unwilling to speak first, so they remained frozen in silence until Xiao Shouren and the others returned.

  Ge Shu Yun finally managed to persuade Lu Qing Yun, who then opened his mouth and prepared to clarify everything. However, he couldn't put aside his pride, so he spoke to Xiao Die in a storytelling tone, recounting the events of those years for Bai Cheng Gang's ears on the bedside.

  "Little Butterfly, you probably already know, I and your father Bai Chenggang are fellow disciples."

  "I won't listen, I won't listen." Xiaodie was shocked when Lu Qingyun opened his mouth and threw himself to the red-faced old man as a daughter. Of course, it was unacceptable at once, and a resistant psychology was immediately generated.

  "Little Butterfly, this is true, I am your father, he Lu Qingyun is a despicable person." Then Bai Chenggang also suddenly got angry.

  "Everyone, everyone, listen to me for a moment. If we continue like this, there's no way to clarify things. How about this? Let Elder Lu speak first and see where the gaps or disputes are. Then, after Elder Lu finishes speaking, Elder Bai can supplement what's needed. What do you think?" Xiang Shouren hastily stopped their argument and came up with a win-win solution.

  "In those years, we had three fellow disciples. I was the eldest, your father Bai Chenggang was the second, and we also had a younger fellow disciple. Our master loved the youngest one the most, but he was naturally mischievous, so his martial arts skills were not as good as ours. Master wanted to pass on the mantle to one of us two, but just then something unexpected happened." Lu Qingyun recalled the events of those years.

  Just as Master was about to pass on the final moves of the Great Eagle Claw technique, things took a turn in another direction. All this happened because of a woman, and that woman is your mother.

  At that time, my younger brother went down the mountain to help his master with things and saved a woman in Cangzhou. The woman was being chased by people at that time, although my younger brother's kung fu had not yet reached home, but because the master favored my younger brother, many exquisite martial arts had been secretly taught to him, so at that time, my younger brother was still able to deal with those bad guys who were chasing your mother. Your mother had no family and no home at that time, all her relatives had died, so my younger brother also took you mother to the mountain and lived together with us. The master saw that your mother's roots and wisdom were not bad, so he accepted her as a disciple and taught her martial arts, and she became our little sister.

  We were a group of sworn brothers, but from then on, things changed. Over the past year, we've barely spoken to each other. The reason is simple: all of us fell deeply in love with our little junior sister. Our master saw it too, but he didn't intervene, so everything went along as fate would have it.

  Your mother must have had feelings for your younger brother back then, but to me and your father Bai Chenggang, it was just sibling affection. However, it's this kind of familial relationship that can be fatal. We both mistakenly took our familial bond for romantic love, thinking that your younger sister had feelings for us, so neither of us wanted to give up. Meanwhile, your younger brother knew early on that we both liked your younger sister, but she actually liked him. He didn't know what to do, so he resigned from the master ahead of time and went down the mountain. Afterward, his personality changed drastically, indulging in all sorts of vices like food, drink, prostitution, and gambling. When Master heard about it, he was furious.

  The master had an internal injury from the beginning, which was inflicted by the Qi family in his early years and had not fully recovered. In a fit of anger, his body became even more unbearable, feeling that his time was near, and with no children of his own, he treated us as his sons and daughters, so he wanted to pass on the mantle to me as much as possible. However, I never thought that this mantle would be too heavy, weighing me down until I couldn't breathe.

  I originally thought it was just Master's martial arts, so I didn't pay attention. Later, in front of Master's tomb, I realized that Master wasn't some mountain hermit. Our Master used to be a famous figure who shook the world. At that time, Yang Jian was still a vassal of the Great Zhou and hadn't yet rebelled. Our Master was originally a general of the Northern Qi, and was close friends with Qin Xu, the commander of the imperial guard, a friendship that would last until death. Until King Yang Lin of Lao Shan led his troops to break through the capital of Northern Qi, Qin Xu died in battle. However, before he died, he left behind an object, which was something that belonged to the Emperor of Northern Qi. Qin Xu ordered his bodyguards to hand it over to Master, who would then give it to Qin's senior's son, Qin Yi.

  At that time, Qin Yi was already a great general, helping Northern Qi to guard Jizhou. Just as the master was rushing to Jizhou to hand over things to Qin Yi, he found out that Jizhou had been slaughtered because Gao A'guo, the prime minister of Northern Qi, suddenly betrayed and opened the city gate, selling out Qin Yi. Qin Yi was knocked off his horse by Yang Lin's stick and beaten to death on the main street. The master was one step too late.

  But things always have a turning point, the master heard that not all of Qin Yi's family were killed, Qin Yi's wife and children are still alive, so they have been looking for the child all these years, preparing to hand over the things to the child, unfortunately, they have never found him.

  The master's clothes and broom, of course, also included this task. After the master finished speaking, he took out the thing that Qin Xu Lao Sheng had given him and handed it over to me for safekeeping. I took a look and was shocked to find that it was exactly the same as the legendary Qian Kun Tu (????) from Jianghu rumors. According to Jianghu rumors, the Qian Kun Tu is a pure white handkerchief, which is divided into four parts, with only one part having words written on it, and the three characters "Qian Kun Tu" are written on it. And the handkerchief I received had these three characters on it.

  "Ah!" Xiao Shouren couldn't help but exclaim as he suddenly thought of the handkerchief he had obtained from under the horse's belly, wondering if it was also a part of the Qiankun diagram.

  "Has Xiao Brothers also heard about the Qian Kun Tu?" asked Lu Qingyun.

  "No, just a little rumor, but it's not very clear about the origin of this Taiji diagram." Xiao Shouren replied honestly.

  It's no wonder that the Bagua diagram involves a huge secret, which is said to be related to the treasure of Qin Shi Huang and Liu Shengzu. In the Jianghu world, there was once a rumor that whoever got the Bagua diagram would rule the world. This statement seems to be true. After Qin Shi Huang unified the nine states and collected all the weapons in the world, he melted them down into twelve bronze men, or some say they were made of gold. After Qin Shi Huang's death, all of these were buried with him, which means that the twelve golden men are inside Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum.

  Along with the burial, there were countless treasures looted from the six nations. In the Spring and Autumn period, there were five hegemons, and in the Warring States period, there were seven overlords. At that time, countless sharp weapons and precious treasures emerged. If someone could find those sharp weapons and precious treasures, equipping a strong army with them would make it invincible. With those treasures, one could definitely support an army of millions.

  This is not the end of prosperity, in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Shengzu swept across the sky and heard that he had found the Qin Mausoleum and brought out the things inside. He also obtained the military books of bamboo slips from the famous general Bai Qi at that time. Moreover, there was a rumor among the palace's technical officials that before Liu Shengzu ascended to heaven on his dragon throne, he called Little Saint Ancestor to his bedside and gave him a will stating that he had cast all the gold in the national treasury and the Qin Mausoleum into twenty-four larger golden statues. These were made to commemorate the merits of the founding of the country and were called the Twenty-Four Meritorious Officials of Lingyan Pavilion. Saint Ancestor hid these twenty-four golden statues, as well as the military tactics and martial arts, in a secret place. The military tactics included those of Zhuge Military Advisor and Saint Ancestor himself, while the martial arts included those of General Zhao Zilong and others. This was done for future preparations, as Saint Ancestor said that each dynasty has its rise and fall. When the Liu Dynasty declines, these things can be found to restore the country. This secret matter was originally passed down by word of mouth, unknown to outsiders, but unfortunately, it was eventually discovered and spread out.

  The location of this treasure is unknown to anyone, and for hundreds of years, countless people have been searching for the Liu family's treasure, but not a single person has found it. However, just over a hundred years ago, rumors spread throughout Jianghu that in order to find the Liu family's treasure, one must first obtain the Qiankun Map. The Qiankun Map records the route to finding the treasure as well as explanations of the mechanisms within the treasure cave. Without the Qiankun Map, even if one knows the location of the treasure cave, they can only sigh in admiration and return empty-handed.

  A hundred years ago, someone claimed to be the descendant of the Holy Ancestor, and the Qiankun diagram began to appear in their hands. These people were very mysterious, hiding in the court and the wilderness. It is said that the treasure was not just one place, but five places, four small treasures and one big treasure. Suddenly, it caused a bloody storm on the rivers and lakes, and everyone competed for it, resulting in countless deaths and injuries. In the end, they were all taken away by powerful forces. However, over the years, only Yang Jian was heard to have obtained the treasure map and excavated the treasure, and established the Sui Dynasty with this as its foundation.

  "I was stunned when I saw the master take out the Qiankun diagram, and the master didn't expect me to be so stunned either. After handing it over to me, he told me all the secrets of the Qiankun diagram and asked me to take good care of it. At that time, I knew that this thing was a disaster rather than a blessing. I didn't expect my thoughts to be verified so quickly, and everything that happened was because of this Qiankun diagram."

  Qin Qiong, his dad and grandpa have all started to come out one after another. Now they've slowly connected the dots, but Qin Qiong is definitely not the second main character, only a very ordinary supporting role, or even a tragic ending.