Dust Affinity

Returning to his quarters, Shen Mo watched the Spirit-Hidden Rat curl its body into a ball in a corner after its meal, basking lazily in the sun.

Is it asleep? I should take a rest as well, Shen Mo thought, stretching his limbs.

Although his two-month stint guarding the Mystic Crystal Mine hadn't involved the life-or-death perils that other disciples faced on external missions, he had hardly enjoyed a moment of true rest. Now that he was back at the sect, it was finally time to recharge.

Just then, a knock sounded at his door.

Is it Senior Sister Chen?

He paused for a moment before walking over to open it.

What met his eyes was not the face of Chen Mengze, but that of a middle-aged man.

"Deacon Ma?"

The man was none other than Ma Gan, who was specifically in charge of the affairs of the sect's outer disciples.

"Is there something important that brings you here to find me?"

He felt a flicker of confusion; logically, the man should have had no reason to seek him out.

"Your father is Shen Yuanchang, who went missing twenty years ago, correct?" Ma Gan did not enter to sit; instead, he pulled out the roster of outer disciples, flipped through it for a moment, and asked.

"That is correct." Shen Mo nodded.

"That settles it then," Deacon Ma said. "Someone is looking for your father, claiming to be from your family and seeking his assistance."

"Looking for my father?"

Shen Mo was taken aback. "Someone from the family?"

Regarding family matters, Shen Mo had managed to find a few fragments of information within the original owner's memories.

Shen Mo's father, Shen Yuanchang, hailed from the Shen Family of Tianyou City.

The Shen Family was a martial arts clan that had practiced for generations, possessing a decent foundation built on escort services and mining ventures.

However, Shen Mo's father, Shen Yuanchang, was merely a member of a branch family and had never been held in high regard.

His parents had been plagued by illness and passed away one after another when Shen Yuanchang was in his early twenties.

Following that, Shen Yuanchang resolved to venture out to seek immortals and pursue the Dao.

During his travels in the martial world, he met Shen Mo's mother.

After the two married and gave birth to Shen Mo, they stumbled upon a fortuitous opportunity to join the River-Facing Sect and devote themselves to cultivation.

For the rest of his life, he never returned to the Shen Family.

Why would someone suddenly come looking for him now? Shen Mo was deeply puzzled; by all accounts, the connection had been severed for over twenty years.

"Where is this person?"

"Outside the mountain gate."

Deacon Ma said indifferently, "Commoners are not permitted to step inside the immortal gate. If you wish to see him, you may go to the mountain gate yourself."

Outside the mountain gate of the River-Facing Sect.

The clansman from the Shen Family who had come seeking kin was a burly man with a thick, bristly beard, his features bearing a thirty-percent resemblance to Shen Mo.

He wore a pale green robe, covered in the dust of travel. Judging by his appearance, he seemed to have been traveling day and night without time to wash, looking rather disheveled.

"Who are you?"

Shen Mo stepped forward and asked.

"Shen Zhiyun, the second son of Shen Zhou, head of the Shen Family in Tianyou City."

Seeing Shen Mo, Shen Zhiyun was unsure of the young man's status and hurriedly bowed. "Has the immortal master already passed on my message? Is my cousin willing to come out and meet me?"

Cousin?

Shen Mo raised an eyebrow. It seemed that by the family hierarchy, he should call this man "Uncle."

But he did not move to claim the kinship.

In truth, the original owner had never had any contact with the Shen Family and felt no attachment to them.

Not to mention Shen Mo, who had replaced him.

"What exactly is the matter that you've come seeking him?"

"I dare not hide the truth from the immortal master," Shen Zhiyun said hurriedly. "I have come because the family is in trouble, and we wish to ask for my cousin's aid."

Although Shen Yuanchang had never returned to the Shen Family after joining the River-Facing Sect, he had sent letters in the past, stating clearly that he had joined an immortal sect and leaving behind the address of the River-Facing Sect.

It was precisely because of this that he had been able to find his way here.

"The family is in trouble?" Shen Mo shook his head. "Then you have come too late."

"He passed away twenty years ago, killed by a beast tide in the Linjiang Mountain Range."

Since the man wasn't asking him to return to inherit the family business, but rather to help, Shen Mo lost all interest.

"Dead? He's dead?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Zhiyun was struck as if by lightning, his expression instantly turning desolate. "Then my Shen Family truly cannot escape this impending catastrophe."

He had trekked a thousand miles to get here, all for this sliver of hope.

Now, even that final hope had been extinguished.

A burly, bearded man nearly two meters tall began to wail loudly right in front of Shen Mo.

Shen Mo furrowed his brows, initially intending to turn and leave immediately.

Yet, for some reason, seeing Shen Zhiyun's tearful display, he felt a twinge of reluctance.

Forget it, I might as well accept this karma.

Shen Mo knew that his restless state of mind mostly stemmed from the memories and instincts of the original owner of this body.

"I am the son of Shen Yuanchang. Whatever has befallen the family, you may tell me."

As soon as these words left Shen Mo's lips, Shen Zhiyun, who had just been wailing with his tonsils swaying in the wind, abruptly reined in his emotions.

"You truly are the descendant of my cousin!"

"Good nephew, good nephew!"

He patted Shen Mo's shoulder in excitement.

In truth, the moment he saw Shen Mo's features, he had felt a resemblance to the people of the Shen Family, and with such a direct inquiry, it was clear he was no stranger.

After a moment of thought, he had already formed a guess in his heart.

However, Shen Mo was, after all, an Immortal Master.

If he did not take the initiative to acknowledge the relationship, Shen Zhiyun would not have dared to claim such a connection.

The sorrowful display from moments ago had been half-genuine and half-feigned, performed in hopes of moving Shen Mo.

Seeing this, Shen Mo guessed the man's petty schemes, but he did not mind.

He acted according to his own heart, after all.

Furthermore, whether he would help or not still depended on what exactly the Shen Family was facing.

"I recall that the Shen Family was considered a prestigious clan in Tianyou City, living quite comfortably. How could you have invited such a catastrophic disaster?"

"Sigh." Shen Zhiyun let out a long sigh and recounted the ins and outs of the matter.

It turned out that in the many years since Shen Yuanchang had left the family, the Shen Family's momentum had been excellent.

With talented descendants emerging one after another, and the vigorous expansion of industries like armed escorts and mining, they had vaguely become the top martial arts clan in Tianyou City.

Five years ago, Shen Zhou, the head of the family at the time, was even jointly elected by the righteous sects and clans of Tianyou City as the Martial Arts Alliance Leader to crusade against the Blood Garment Sect, a group that committed every evil act and specialized in blood sacrifices using living people.

As the leader of the Tianyou City martial arts world, the Shen Family took the lead that day, uniting dozens of factions large and small to directly eradicate the Blood Garment Sect, ridding the martial arts world of a great scourge.

In the years that followed, the prestige of the Shen Family in Tianyou City reached its zenith.

But good times did not last.

"Half a year ago, someone in Tianyou City began to fly the banner of the Blood Garment Sect once again, resuming the blood sacrifice of living people."

"Not only have they made a comeback to continue their evil deeds, but they have also declared they would take revenge, vowing to make all the righteous martial arts sects that slaughtered the Blood Garment Sect back then pay the price."

Shen Zhiyun paused here before continuing: "At first, we didn't pay it any mind. After all, in that battle back then, the Blood Garment Sect leader was killed in action, and all their elders and hall masters were decapitated."

"Those who truly escaped alive were at most mere lackeys or second- or third-rate experts. No matter how much time passed, they couldn't possibly have the ability to reorganize and recreate the momentum of that demonic sect."

"But what no one expected was..."

"That group of demonic remnants truly did what they said they would!"