Half a day later, a white-haired old man slowly arrived outside the Ancestral Hall on the family's rear mountain.
The moment he entered the hall and saw that the candle flames on the spirit altar at the front had gone out, the white-haired elder's face immediately darkened.
"Where are they?!"
As the elder barked out this stern question, a young man and woman cultivating in the rear of the hall hurriedly ran out.
Both were fifteen or sixteen years old. Upon seeing the white-haired elder before them, they immediately stepped forward and cupped their hands in salute.
"Greetings, Uncle-Grandfather!"
Seeing the two of them, the white-haired elder sternly pointed ahead and rebuked them:
"I was gone for barely half an hour, and you two were already cutting corners. You did not even notice that the Everlasting Lamps before the ancestral tablets had gone out.
It would be one thing if you were merely slacking off normally, but how could you neglect such an important matter? If the elders find out, neither of you will escape punishment.
The family sent you here to help guard this place, yet you cannot even handle something this simple. How can you face the family's many years of cultivation?
If this continues, I truly will report you to the elders."
"It was all your fault! You were the one slacking off, yet you insisted on dragging me along!"
"Hehe! Didn't you eat some too? Why are you blaming me now?"
As the elder droned on and on, the young woman among the two glared lightly at the youth beside her, seeming somewhat regretful already.
Yet the youth remained utterly unconcerned. While being reprimanded, he nodded repeatedly and even found time to grin and make a face at the person beside him.
After reprimanding them for