A Place to Settle

"Please don't take offense at my actions just now, Patriarch. I only wanted to see whether you were doing as Saint Ancestor had instructed. I'm very pleased with how you've handled things. Knowing Sanbao will be staying here puts my mind at ease."

"Of course, Lord Thirteen. You were only doing your duty. How could Dingyi blame you?"

As time passed, the three of them gradually grew closer, and many questions were settled between them in the course of their conversations.

Early the next morning, Lord Thirteen departed alone, drifting away like a wisp of smoke.

Sanbao was heartbroken. Since coming into this world, the person he knew best—and the one who had treated him best—was this frail, elderly-looking Thirteen. What's more, Thirteen was heading to Tianlan to serve the Luo Clan. The Tianlan Empire had long since changed hands, and Thirteen's journey was fraught with danger. Sanbao didn't even know whether they would ever meet again.

The wind howled over the Yi River, its waters cold; once the hero departed, he would never return...

"Thirteen, you have to stay alive. I'll come find you, I promise!" Sanbao choked out, tears glistening in his eyes.

"All right, all right. This old servant will wait for that day, too—the day the Second Prince leads our Luo Clan to rule the world once more..." Thirteen looked at the boy he had raised with his own hands and gently stroked Sanbao's head again and again, his heart heavy with reluctance.

The Luo Mansion had seen noticeably more important affairs than usual over the past few days.

A day later, the family ancestral hall in the rear courtyard once again filled with the Luo Clan's senior members and younger elite. All six members of the direct line were present, as were the Luo family's three madams. What no one expected was that there was one more person among them: a complete stranger, Sanbao.

The Luo Clan Ancestral Hall was the most solemn place in the clan. It was used to discuss important family matters, and outsiders weren't allowed in. Even clan members needed the patriarch's permission to enter.

Everyone wondered who this boy was and why he'd been allowed straight into the ancestral hall. And not only that—he was seated beside the patriarch. What could that mean? They were all bursting with questions.

"All right, let me introduce him. This is my young nephew, Sanbao. He is..." Luo Dingyi sat in the center of the hall, preparing to introduce Sanbao to everyone.

"Grandfather, are you sure you haven't got it wrong? He's just a little kid! How could he be your nephew? What does that make the rest of us brothers?" Old Luo hadn't even finished speaking before Luo Caiyang called out.

"Exactly! If he's Grandfather's nephew, what am I supposed to call him?" His older brother had spoken, and second-born Caiguang wasn't about to be outdone.

It was no wonder they objected. Luo Caiyang, the Luo Clan's eldest grandson, was already twenty-five. If Sanbao was Old Luo's nephew, then he'd have to call a kid more than ten years his junior "uncle." For Young Master Luo, who lorded it over Lushan Town and thought the world of himself, that was a bitter pill to swallow.

"Second Brother, you're so silly. It's obvious! If Grandpa calls him nephew, then we should call him uncle. Right, Grandpa?" Caiyue didn't care about any of that. She pointed straight at Sanbao as she spoke. She was clearly more curious about his arrival than anything else. What she had to call him was just a title.

Old Luo had barely opened his mouth before a few young men challenged his authority. He was already embarrassed, and having it happen in front of Sanbao only made it worse. His face darkened at once.

"I haven't even finished speaking. What are you all making such a racket for? After the meeting, Caiyang will carry fifty thousand jin of rocks up Deer Mountain, and Caiguang five thousand..."

"Yes..."

Luo Caiyang regretted speaking up the moment the words left his mouth. Being cocky elsewhere was one thing, but this was the Luo Clan Ancestral Hall. Here, Patriarch Luo Dingyi's authority could never be challenged. He didn't dare utter another word. By the usual rules, if he tried to argue, he'd be in for a lot worse than carrying fifty thousand jin of rocks.

Old Luo's show of force clearly put everyone else in their place. They all fell silent. Apparently satisfied with the effect, Old Luo's expression softened, and he continued:

"Now, where was I? There was more than just me in my generation of the Luo Clan. I had an older brother, my own flesh and blood, who was Feng'er's uncle. He spent these past years traveling far and wide, and we hadn't heard from him in a long time. Only yesterday did I learn... Alas, my brother is gone. Sanbao is the only child he left behind. From now on, this is Sanbao's home, and I'll treat him as my own. I hope you'll all look after him, too. Is that clear?"

"When I was little, Father told me about Uncle. I can't believe he's gone after all these years. Sigh... At least Sanbao has come home."

As the eldest son, Luo Kaifeng naturally knew the truth about the Luo Clan's origins. Though he hadn't coordinated with Old Luo beforehand, he lied without so much as blinking, making his story sound utterly convincing.

The half-true, half-false tale told by the Luo father and son clearly worked. One by one, everyone's doubts faded.

"Father, then Sanbao is our third younger brother from now on." Second son Kaiyu was the first to speak up. He hurried over to greet Sanbao, formally acknowledging his status.

In his heart, Kaiyu still had some questions about this third younger brother. But since Father had said so, there was nothing wrong with it. And even if there were, he couldn't ask—that had always been the Luo Clan's rule.

"Hello, nephew." "Hello, third younger brother." "Hello, third uncle."

The Luo family's madams, along with Caiyue, stepped forward one after another to greet him.

"Hello, aunts. Hello, big brother and second brother. Hello, sister-in-law and second sister-in-law. Hello, Caiyue." Sanbao didn't dare neglect anyone and hurried to return each greeting.

After the lively exchange, only the Caiyang brothers hadn't said a word. Old Luo was displeased, and his gaze shifted to his two grandsons.

The moment he looked their way, the brothers wilted. Just endure it, they told themselves. They stepped forward together and shouted in unison:

"Hello, third uncle!"

Their voices were only a little louder than a mosquito's buzz. Fortunately, Sanbao knew how awkward they felt. Whether he'd even heard them clearly or not, he hurriedly returned the greeting. "Hello, Caiyang. Hello, Caiguang."

And just like that, Sanbao's place in the family was settled.

"Feng'er, Sanbao isn't in the best of health. Have someone tidy up the courtyard by the mountain at the back and let him stay there. Find a few clever maids to take good care of him."

After that, things were much more straightforward and mundane. As patriarch, Old Luo only briefly saw to Sanbao's accommodation, leaving everything else to Luo Kaifeng.

The family meeting soon came to an end, and everyone began to leave. When Luo Kaifeng, the eldest son, led Sanbao toward the small courtyard, Caiyue came bouncing after them.

"Third Uncle, Grandpa said you weren't well. Are you sick? Grandma has some medicinal pills that work really well. I'll bring you one later, and you'll get better in no time!"

Ever since his Blood Fusion, Sanbao hadn't been in good health. His face was especially pale, and with Thirteen having just left, he could barely muster any energy. He naturally looked rather sickly. But he couldn't ignore the little girl's enthusiasm, so he forced a faint smile and said to Caiyue, "All right, thank you, Meimei."

"You're welcome..."

Watching little Caiyue bounce away, Sanbao felt a sudden pang of emotion. Was he getting too mature for his age?

He looked at the warm, friendly Luo family and the quiet, spacious courtyard, then nodded to himself. This is my home now.

Lushan Town was a small town built against the mountains. They said the mountains were home to countless deer, which was how the town got its name.

As one of the foremost powers in Lushan Town, the Luo Mansion wasn't in the busiest district, but it was certainly one of the quietest places around. The entire estate was built against the mountain—put simply, the Luo Mansion stood at the foot of Deer Mountain. It suited the Luo Clan's usual style: keep a low profile.

More importantly, its location made it easy to evacuate. In fact, one of the secret passages in the Luo Clan Ancestral Hall led directly into Deer Mountain.

After all, when Luo Dingyi had come from the Tianlan Empire, his first priority had been to preserve the Luo bloodline. Once he learned that the Tianlan Luo Clan had fallen, Old Luo became even more certain that he had chosen the right location. As for why he had settled in this little town of Lushan, even Luo Dingyi wasn't quite sure. He had simply followed Saint Ancestor's instructions and come here to establish the clan.

By the time all of Sanbao's meals and daily needs had been taken care of, several hours had passed. The Luo Clan assigned him a personal maid, a girl of about fourteen or fifteen named Meimei.

In response to Old Luo's instructions, Luo Kaifeng had arranged for three or four maids to serve Sanbao. This gave Sanbao a real taste of what it meant to be important, but it clearly didn't suit his nature.

He'd wanted no maids at all. As far as Sanbao was concerned, as long as he had food and clothes, he was perfectly capable of looking after himself. He didn't need anyone to wait on him, and he wasn't used to it. But then he considered that his health might genuinely require someone to care for him. After all, he was only "ten," and his eldest brother, Luo Kaifeng, insisted so strongly that he finally agreed to have one.

Fortunately, the Luo Clan had always favored a simple lifestyle, so nobody found this surprising.

The sun sank in the west, and Deer Mountain's massive shadow gradually swallowed the entire Luo Mansion. Lying on the wooden bed, Sanbao began to go over the events of the past few days, slowly digesting all the things Thirteen had taught him...

Although he had successfully completed Blood Fusion, he still had to wait for his innate bloodline to awaken before he could become a Spirit Cultivator. According to Thirteen, that might take a while—probably about a year.

Of course, that was only Thirteen's estimate. He couldn't say for certain how long it would take. If Sanbao's innate bloodline was unstable, it might not fully awaken even after a whole year.