Noon.
Lu Shui suddenly woke up in the pavilion in the courtyard.
He was a little confused. He should have been in the secret chamber, so how had he ended up outside?
Had that someone blown up his family's secret chamber again?
He quickly dismissed the thought. If the secret chamber had exploded, he would definitely have noticed. But this time, he hadn't felt a thing.
As he was about to check whether he was injured, a piece of paper suddenly slipped from his hand and fell onto the stone table.
Lu Shui glanced at it curiously, then exclaimed in surprise:
"A marriage contract? What is this?"
He looked over its contents:
"A marriage contract between Lu Shui and Mu Xue? Wasn't this from a long time ago?"
Although it was strange, Lu Shui wasn't surprised again. Instead, he decided to piece things together. First, he took out his phone. It was an ancient imitation phone, and it felt unfamiliar.
"Time is wrong. I'd better get online and check, just in case someone's trying to cheat me."
Lu Shui opened a webpage. He wanted to verify the date online.
It was just loading a little slowly.
"With internet this slow, I'm almost convinced."
His family lived in a remote place—so remote, it was off the world map.
The Old Undying in his family was stubborn. Even though times had changed, he wouldn't let Lu Shui keep up. While everyone else was using 8G, they were still stuck on 2G.
He'd only gotten 2G after crying, making a scene, and threatening to hang himself.
After a long while, the time check finished. The time displayed on the phone was correct.
Once he'd confirmed it, Lu Shui set the phone aside, then looked at the marriage contract and said:
"So, does that mean I've been reborn?"
Being reborn didn't make Lu Shui feel happy, because he had no idea how he'd come back.
The unknown was what made things troublesome.
Without thinking too much about it, Lu Shui decided to go outside and check whether he really had been reborn.
But the moment he stood up, he suddenly clutched his waist and sat back down.
"What's going on? Why does my waist hurt so much?"
He lifted his shirt to look and found a wound on his waist. It had been treated, but hadn't healed yet.
"Surely I didn't sell a kidney because I was short on money? No way, no way. I'm still a young master, after all." It had been so long that Lu Shui couldn't remember ever injuring his waist.
But he did remember that he was the Young Master of the Lu Family. The Lu Family wasn't some fallen lineage, and no matter how he looked at it, he couldn't imagine a young master selling a kidney for a bit of money.
As he was trying to remember, a maid came to the pavilion and addressed him respectfully:
"Young master."
Lu Shui glanced at the maid but couldn't remember who she was.
It didn't matter.
"Speak."
Qi Xi was a little surprised at how curt the young master was, but she immediately said:
"The Third Elder is looking for you, young master. He hopes you'll go see him."
Lu Shui smiled faintly and thought, One of the Three Giants.
Then Lu Shui looked at Qi Xi and asked:
"Did he say what it was about?"
As he spoke, he stood up and headed out of the courtyard.
As for his injury, of course it hurt so much he had to grit his teeth. But with someone else present, he still had to maintain the bearing expected of a young master.
Qi Xi followed behind him and replied respectfully:
"I heard the Third Elder say it was about the injury you suffered a few days ago, young master, when you went down the mountain to exorcise demons."
After a pause, Qi Xi added:
"The Third Elder is a little angry."
Lu Shui walked ahead, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. He finally remembered how he'd been injured.
So he'd failed to exorcise a demon and gotten hurt by it instead.
And it had only been an ordinary demon.
As the only male in the family, he was such a disappointment that the Three Giants couldn't help getting angry.
This time, they'd summoned him to answer for it.
Tsk, he'd suffered quite a bit back then.
If it hadn't been punishment, this minor injury would have healed long ago.
Feeling how weak he was, Lu Shui gained another piece of evidence that he'd been reborn.
Lu Shui said no more, and Qi Xi walked behind him in silence. She felt that the young master seemed different today, though she couldn't quite put her finger on how. He seemed more confident, somehow.
Before long, Lu Shui arrived in front of the main hall. Important figures usually met people in the main hall.
It wasn't just a large room, but a grand building. The old relics in his family liked things that way.
It made things feel ceremonial.
Lu Shui smiled faintly at the imposing hall, then started up the steps.
Qi Xi stopped at the foot of the stone staircase. She wasn't allowed to go up.
"You're here?" A rather handsome man at the hall's entrance spoke to Lu Shui.
The moment he saw him, Lu Shui smiled. He must really have been reborn.
"Father, are you well? You're as handsome as ever."
His father, Lu Gu, was the current clan leader. He was in charge of the few people in the clan, but had little say in anything.
After all, he wasn't one of the clan's bigwigs.
Before Lu Shui's rebirth, his father hadn't looked like this. He'd been much more haggard, worn down by worry and exhaustion.
Lu Gu looked at Lu Shui and sighed.
"When are you going to act more seriously? Can't you try harder to make something of yourself?"
Lu Shui thought for a moment, then said:
"Father, I have a suggestion for you."
Lu Gu frowned.
"What do you want to say?"
He knew his own son well. Lu Shui's suggestions were usually ridiculous.
Lu Shui looked around to make sure no one was there, then went over to Lu Gu's ear and whispered:
"You're still young. You and Mother should have another kid. The first one's already a lost cause."
After saying that, Lu Shui headed into the hall, lest he get beaten.
Lu Gu stood there dazed for a long time before finally reacting.
But he wasn't angry. Instead, he seemed to consider it.
"Sounds reasonable."
Hearing those words, Lu Shui stumbled. If his father really had another son, his standing in the family would be in danger.
But that stumble carried him straight into the hall, leaving him no chance to tell his father he'd been joking.
Inside the hall, Lu Shui saw a middle-aged man seated at the front. The man had a fierce look, as though everyone owed him a few million.
Two people stood beside him, a man and a woman. Lu Shui didn't know whether they were disciples or subordinates.
He didn't dwell on it, but greeted him respectfully:
"Greetings, Third Elder."
The Third Elder, Lu Buzheng, was one of the Lu Family's Three Great Powers and a Super Expert.
The Lu Family's numbers had dwindled, but its standing in the Cultivation World had never changed. That was because three great figures in the family held down the fort.
In the early days, their family had been nothing more than little bugs sheltered by them.
Lu Buzheng asked sternly:
"Do you know what you did wrong?"
Lu Shui shook his head, still respectful, and replied:
"I don't, but I have a question for you, Third Elder."
Lu Buzheng wasn't angry.
"Go ahead."
"If I'd gone down the mountain and dealt with that demon, would I have done nothing wrong?" Admitting fault just wasn't Lu Shui's style.
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