My Parents' Past

Dongbo Xueying, Zong Ling, and Tong San stood at the castle gates, watching the people from Dragon Mountain Tower leave.

Then they turned and started back into the castle.

"Uncle Zong, Uncle Tong." Snow crunched beneath Dongbo Xueying's boots as he spoke softly. "I've got the Black Iron Token now. It's time you told me what happened to my parents back then, isn't it?"

Zong Ling and Tong San exchanged a glance.

"Let your Uncle Tong tell you. He's been with your mother all along, so he knows the details better," Zong Ling said. "I only know what your mother told me."

"Xueying." Tong San gazed at the snow falling from the sky. "I used to live in a remote little Lion-Man tribe. One day, a powerful merchant caravan came after us, wanting to capture us all. Almost everyone who resisted was killed! Once we were captured, they branded us 'rebels' and made us slaves!"

"Rebels?" Dongbo Xueying was startled.

There were very few slaves in the Empire.

Only those who committed heinous crimes became slaves—for example, commoners who killed nobles, or those who openly rebelled and betrayed the Empire. In short, they had to commit an unforgivable crime.

"Don't be surprised. The Empire has existed for over nine thousand years and has long since grown rotten. The families of countless top experts hold all the power, and there's no shortage of dirty business. As long as it isn't done in the open, nobody cares. Besides, who'd stand up for a weak little Lion-Man tribe like ours? We had no evidence." Tong San gave a cold laugh.

"I became a slave. I was sold off, and eventually ended up with the Moyang Clan!"

"The Moyang Clan is an extremely powerful family in East Region Province. They have complete control over Duoyu Prefecture, and they've held it for over a thousand years," Tong San said. "They gave us slaves names at random: Tong One, Tong Two, Tong Three, Tong Four, Tong Five... I was Tong Three."

"When the Moyang Clan's young masters and mistresses came to choose slaves, I met your mother." A faint smile appeared on Tong San's face. "Your mother was still young then, about thirteen— even younger than you are now."

Dongbo Xueying listened silently.

"Your mistress lived a carefree life..."

"She was happy every day, and never schemed against anyone. She didn't look down on me, even though I was a slave. When people working for the other young masters of the Moyang Clan beat me up, she cried in worry and angrily stood up for me."

Tong San looked up at the snowflakes drifting down. "Those were all little things. I thought I might spend my whole life in the Moyang Clan. But who could have guessed that when your mistress was twenty-four, the Moyang Clan would force her into a marriage with a man who was already 152 years old?"

"One hundred and fifty-two?" Dongbo Xueying's eyes widened.

His mother had been just over twenty, while the other party was 152?

What kind of joke was that?

"I heard that family was even stronger than the Moyang Clan, one of the three most powerful families in East Region Province. The Moyang Clan shamelessly offered up a young woman from its own direct line in a political marriage," Tong San said. "Your mistress had never suffered any great hardship growing up. How could she bear something like that? She seized the chance to escape during an outing in the countryside."

"She fled Duoyu Prefecture, and even left East Region Province! After a long journey, she reached Anyang Province."

"I followed her, and that was how my life of adventure began. Before long, we met Zong Ling and your father, Dongbo Lie."

"Ha ha..."

"Those years of adventure were truly wonderful. We braved life and death together, entrusting our lives to one another. That's how our friendship was forged. Later, your mother worried that your father and the others might be dragged into her troubles, so she told them who she was," Tong San said.

Zong Ling nodded beside them. "We only learned about the Moyang Clan when your mother told us. We'd entrusted our lives to each other—why would we fear the Moyang Clan? Ha ha! Of course, we kept adventuring together."

"Later, your father and your mistress got together," Tong San said with a smile. "Then she became pregnant with you, and they decided to give up adventuring and settle down somewhere. So they came to your father's hometown, Qinghe Prefecture!"

"You know what happened after that. We lived quietly in Qinghe Prefecture for eight years, but the Moyang Clan still found us and took your parents away."

Dongbo Xueying nodded slightly.

So that was how it happened...

It was bad enough that a great family had forced a marriage on his mother, but they'd chosen a man who was already 152 years old? Even a Title-level expert would be fortunate to live to two hundred. Most grew frail and died at around 170 or 180.

"The Moyang Clan is an ancient family with a history of over a thousand years, and it has strict clan rules," Tong San said. "Your mother dared to run away, so she broke those rules. The Moyang Clan was bound to punish her severely."

"I don't get it." Zong Ling scoffed. "Don't these great families feel ashamed when they make their own people sacrifice so much? Or do the old men who hold real power in these families simply not care about the younger generation?"

"Zong Ling, the Moyang Clan has been around for more than a thousand years. Do you know how many people it has? Tens of thousands! What does it matter if they sacrifice one or two juniors?" Tong San said.

"Hmph."

Dongbo Xueying said coldly, "If the family were strong enough, there'd be no need to marry off its young women to men who were already over a hundred. If the family really was in decline, then let it decline. Using such a disgusting, shameless marriage alliance to prop up the family's standing is revolting!"

He wasn't saying this just because he was taking his mother's side. It was truly what he thought.

When you were strong, others had to flatter you.

When you were weak, you should accept your decline. No family could prosper forever.

"The Moyang Clan even issued an order and arrested your parents. What can we do to save them now?" Tong San shook his head.

"You've been in touch with Dragon Mountain Tower. Is there anything you can do?" Zong Ling asked. Tong San also looked toward Dongbo Xueying.

"There's no definite news yet. Let's wait another month," Dongbo Xueying said.

Judging by the strength of their families...

The Empire had nineteen provinces in all, including both land and maritime provinces.

Take the family of Changfeng Knight, Chi Qiubai—the strongest expert in Anyang Province. It was the number one family in the province, with influence over almost the entire region. That made it a first-rate family in the Empire.

The Si Family of Qinghe Prefecture and the Moyang Clan of Duoyu Prefecture in East Region Province were both families that controlled a prefecture. The Si Family's strongest member, Si Lianghong, was a Title-level Grand Mage whose body had transformed into a Blood Demon. The Moyang Clan's strongest was a Pseudo-Transcendence expert. Families that controlled a single prefecture were only second-rate in the Empire.

"My Battle Qi is only at the Earth-Rank Knight level. With the power of my Primordial Bloodline and my spear technique, I can already match a Silver Moon Knight." Dongbo Xueying thought to himself. "In the future, I'll be able to surpass Si Lianghong and the Moyang Clan's Pseudo-Transcendence expert!"

Woodcutter Knight had awakened his Primordial Bloodline and killed a Transcendent life-form with a single axe strike.

That was the kind of strength he needed to attain.

If he had that kind of strength, the Moyang Clan would probably lower its head and send his parents back without him even having to ask.

"I wonder how my father and mother are doing now." Dongbo Xueying was anxious. He was deeply worried about them, and afraid that something might happen. If anything really did happen, he couldn't bear to think about it. He only knew that... he would make the Moyang Clan regret it!

"Dragon Mountain Tower will have news in another month." Dongbo Xueying could only force down his anxiety.

Day after day passed.

Half a month later, his younger brother's teacher, Grand Mage Bai Yuanzhi, unexpectedly arrived at Snow Stone Castle.

"Grand Mage, what brings you here? You could've sent word if you needed anything." Dongbo Xueying personally welcomed him at the castle gates.

"Ha ha! So the Silver Moon Wolf King really was killed by you, Lord. I suspected as much, but now the whole of Yi Water City is talking about it. The Curved Blade Alliance coveted your Silver Moon Wolf King pelt, so you wiped them out with a single thrust of your spear. Now everyone says you're the number one expert in Yi Water City!" The white-robed old man Bai Yuanzhi said with a smile. Behind him, his disciples all looked at Dongbo Xueying with curiosity and nervousness.