Past Events

In the An Family's living room.

Everyone from the An Family and Master Ciren were present.

Everyone waited in silence.

Meanwhile, An Ruifeng was deep in thought.

"Master, you still can't remember?"

Song Cui was a little anxious.

According to Master Ciren, if they could find the person who took the soul, there might be a chance to restore An Mingxu to his former self.

Of course, it was highly probable that An Mingxu's soul had already vanished.

After all, so many years had passed; it was possible it had already been refined by a monster.

After all, those practitioners of the Demonic Dao particularly enjoyed refining magic tools with human souls.

An Ruifeng frowned, "I've always been kind to people my whole life."

"Even in business, I rarely made enemies."

"Besides, that was over ten years ago, I can't recall it right now."

"Then, in those years, did you have any conflicts with anyone?"

"Did the Third Madam just say the young master will be going to Xuanqing Temple to become a monk in a few days?" Master Ciren suddenly asked.

Although Song Cui's expression was anxious, she still replied, "Yes, Master."

"His father made a vow back then, so he plans to send Mingxu to become a monk soon."

"I think it would be best if the young master were to cultivate with me then."

"Ah?" Song Cui was somewhat astonished.

"I see this young master has some worldly ties yet to be severed, so let him temporarily cultivate with me and not go to Xuanqing Temple for now."

"Sister, aren't you going to thank Master Ciren!"

An Chengan quickly reminded her.

Although Monk Ciren appeared to be a solitary figure, An Chengan believed that in terms of cultivation level and seniority, very few in Xuanqing Temple could compare to him.

"Song Cui thanks Master Ciren!"

"Master, you still can't remember?"

Song Cui asked.

An Ruifeng waved his hand.

"Let me think, don't disturb me."

"Father, you've forgotten, what about Miss Xue?"

An Mingxin couldn't hold back any longer and said.

As soon as he said this, the First Madam shot him a glare.

Upon hearing this, An Ruifeng slapped his thigh.

"Yes, yes, Miss Xue!"

"Miss Xue?"

An Chengan heard this and looked utterly confused.

This was a name he had never heard before.

"Miss Xue's name is An Xue."

"She is the daughter of a cousin from my clan."

"Eleven years ago."

"When Miss Xue reached marriageable age, my cousin found her a family in the city."

"As you all likely know, our An family originated from the villages below. It was only our branch that had better fortune, producing a wise ancestor who passed the imperial examination, allowing our lineage to prosper and enter Lingqiu City."

"Continuing about Miss Xue."

"Her parents' family wasn't well-off, and they didn't want Miss Xue to continue living with them in the village, a life of toiling in the fields. So, they inquired in the city to find her a husband."

"That family was also living a hard life, but their son was intelligent and had a reputation for talent since childhood."

"At first, this person was unwilling, likely due to Miss Xue's meager background."

"But later, somehow he heard that Miss Xue was from my clan, and then he changed his tune, agreeing to marry Miss Xue."

"I disagreed at the time, and my cousin's parents also disagreed."

"Initially, we genuinely felt this young man could be trusted, but later, seeing that he was snobbish and greedy for wealth, we felt it wouldn't work."

"But our opposition was useless. Miss Xue, for some reason, developed feelings for this man."

"She insisted on marrying him, no matter what."

"We had no choice in the end but to agree to this marriage."

"After they got married, because my cousin and I were close since childhood, I often helped them out."

"Their lives improved, and soon after, Miss Xue gave birth to a son and a daughter."

"But the problem was, this man wasn't reliable."

"Their lives had only just gotten better when he became addicted to gambling."

An Ruifeng said.

But at this moment, the First Madam tugged at him.

An Ruifeng waved his hand, "Even if Chengan were here, I would still say it."

"Gambling is something you absolutely cannot touch; no amount of wealth can fill that hole."

"I heard that the dice in those gambling dens are filled with mercury, making it impossible for you to win."

Song Chengan twitched the corner of his mouth.

He felt like An Ruifeng was like the elders from his past life.

They loved to lecture the younger generation whenever they had the chance.

So annoying.

But thinking about what he had done before.

Being lectured a few times was reasonable.

"Continue talking about Miss Xue."

"Once her husband got addicted to gambling, their life became difficult."

"But fortunately, I was there to help, so they could barely get by."

"But the real problem was that this man had no bottom line when he turned bad."

"Soon, Miss Xue came to our house in tears, saying her son and daughter were dead."

"We were all shocked at the time."

"Later, we found out."

"It turned out this man, for some reason, became infatuated with a courtesan."

"What's more, for that courtesan, he strangled his own twin daughters."

"When I heard this, I was naturally furious. I ordered my men to apprehend the scholar and simultaneously bring the woman in."

"We were determined to hand this adulterous pair over to the authorities and charge them with murder."

"At first, we thought this woman was just a manipulative bad person, but we didn't expect her to actually be a monster..."

"A monster?"

"That's right."

"When we first arrived, the woman didn't admit it and tried to deflect. She talked about other things."

"The people at the brothel protected her, but fortunately, we had brought many people with us."

"When the woman saw that we were determined to take her to the brothel to face justice, she revealed her true form. That woman was actually a monster and injured many people."

"But fortunately, among the onlookers at the time, there was a powerful expert. That expert finally stepped in and drove the monster away."

"What happened to the monster later?" An Mingxin asked.

An Ruifeng said, "We don't know. The expert reported back that the monster fled towards Mount Luo and disappeared."

"He said this monster might have originated from Mount Luo."

"He also told us not to go to Mount Luo if we could help it, as Mount Luo harbors great demons."

Mount Luo harbors great demons?

Hearing this, Song Chengan couldn't help but think of First Boss Bai.

"What about that man?"

Song Chengan pressed.

"Because the crime was too heinous, that man was sentenced to execution in the autumn that year."

"In those years, the only person I felt I had offended was over this matter."

"Master, do you think that monster did it?"

"That monster is so skilled at bewitching people; I fear this soul-snatching incident was its doing."

Monk Ciren clasped his hands together, "According to the story Mr. Song told, the soul of Young Master Ling was very likely taken by this monster."

"Once we find this monster, everything will be clear."

"It's just that we don't know who the expert was who drove away the monster back then?"

An Ruifeng said, "This person is no outsider; it was Mingxin's master."

"Immortal Master Zuo of the Tianmen Sect."

"My master?" An Mingxin was a little surprised to hear that.

He had only heard the story from his mother, and he never expected this esteemed master to be his own teacher.

"That's right. After that incident, Immortal Master Zuo came to visit the An Family and saw that you had the potential for cultivation."

Song Cui asked with some confusion, "I had already come to the An Family by then, so why don't I have any impression of this at all?"

An Ruifeng felt a bit awkward.

Could he say that he didn't think it was necessary to tell a concubine these things?

He was used to making all decisions himself.

At most, he would sometimes discuss matters with the First Madam.

After all, the First Madam had been serving him since he was very young.

The First Madam picked up the conversation, "My Lord was worried that the family members would be frightened back then, so he didn't say anything."

Song Chengan said.

"I wonder where Miss Xue is now?"

"Miss Xue should know something about that monster."

"Miss Xue stayed at the An Family for a while before returning to the village."

"Later, she took in a refugee from another town as a live-in son-in-law."

"An Family Village?"

"Precisely."

"We'll set off for An Family Village immediately."

Song Chengan said.

An Family Village was not far from Lingqiu City, about half a day's walk.

"All of this is An Family land."

Song Chengan said, looking at the continuous rice paddies in the distance.

"It was all acquired over several generations."

"It's the foundation of the family's strength."

An Ruifeng chuckled.

He used to have no concept of how many acres of prime farmland there were, but now he saw it stretching for miles.

The An Family alone had so much.

He wondered how much the five great families had.

He heard that Xuanqing Temple was no less impressive.

He wondered how much land still belonged to the common people.

"Master!"

"Master!"

All along the way, people greeted An Ruifeng.

"This is Uncle An Yuan. He manages all the affairs of the village."

"Uncle An Yuan, please take us to find Miss Xue."

The person called Uncle An Yuan was an old man in his sixties or seventies, holding a pipe in his hand.

"Shengnian, is Miss Xue here?"

"We have some things to ask her."

Sitting in the courtyard was a dark-faced, honest, and simple-looking man.

Upon seeing An Ruifeng, he quickly stood up.

"Miss Xue is in the house!"

"Master, please wait a moment, I'll go call her for you!"

Song Chengan and the others met the Miss Xue.

She appeared to be around forty years old, with some wrinkles around her eyes.

Her former beauty had faded, but it was clear that she had been a beautiful woman in her youth.