January 11: Suitable for burials, ancestor worship, and grave repairs.
Today was the Ancestral Rite.
The sun shone brightly, and not a cloud marred the sky.
Today, Hu Chengwen, He Yanling, Hu Zhao, and Hu Long had all changed into formal attire.
At the entrance, Hu Chengwen's personal driver had already been waiting for quite some time.
Their car had barely left the residential complex when they encountered a traffic jam.
Looking through the window,
they saw several fire engines parked along the road.
Firefighters hurriedly spread out an inflatable rescue cushion, while a dense crowd of onlookers had gathered around.
Following their gaze, Hu Long looked up.
A figure sat at the edge of the rooftop.
People below raised their phones, and some were recording videos.
Suddenly,
the figure pitched forward without warning.
There was no hesitation, no pause. Like a gray roof tile blown loose by the wind, the person plunged straight down.
Gasps rang out from the crowd.
The next moment came the dull thud of a body hitting the ground.
Perhaps an accident had sent the person off course. They landed on the concrete beside the rescue cushion.
A pool of dark red spread across the ground.
"He really jumped? Why would someone do that?"
one of the onlookers asked.
"I know that young man. Poor kid. He was an orphan, and then he got seriously ill. Nothing they tried could cure him. He couldn't afford the medical bills, so he took out online loans. He was buried in debt he couldn't pay back and had nowhere left to turn. In the end, he jumped."
An old man standing nearby with his hands behind his back explained, then shook his head.
"Such a young man, gone just like that."
Perhaps because his body had been strengthened, Hu Long's hearing was sharper than before.
He could make out most of the conversations among the onlookers some distance away.
That gave him a rough idea of what had happened.
Hu Long looked away.
Human life was fragile, no different from a cat's or a dog's.
People didn't only die of old age. They could die at any moment.
Illnesses and accidents could all bring about such an end.
But Hu Long didn't want to experience that feeling again.
With the Tai Su Download Panel and the bizarre nature of this world, he believed he could live longer than anyone else.
The man was already dead beyond any doubt. There was no point in trying to save him.
So the firefighters had nothing left to do, and the fire engines drove away.
The road cleared, and the car continued on its way.
After more than half an hour, it left central Huanyang City and headed to North City District, on the opposite side.
Compared with the bustling high-rises of South City District, this area was mostly made up of tourist resorts due to its terrain.
As a result, property prices here were actually even higher.
Before long, they arrived at the Hu Clan Ancestral Hall.
In this area, where every inch of land was worth a fortune, the ancestral hall occupied an enormous plot.
Its private parking lot was already full of cars.
Although Hu Long wasn't familiar with the car models in this world,
it was easy to tell from their appearance alone that most of them were worth a fortune.
After parking, Hu Long and the others headed toward the ancestral hall. The Hu Clan Ancestral Hall was laid out in a formal design of three courtyards and three parallel lanes.
The first courtyard was the ceremonial gate, over ten meters tall, with a pair of white marble lions guarding either side.
Beyond it lay a spacious courtyard.
Hu Long glanced around and saw that it was already packed with people, a dense sea of them.
According to what he had learned,
Hu Clan members came here each year to take part in the Ancestral Rite, no matter where they lived.
It was an extremely important tradition.
Hu Long wasn't unfamiliar with this sort of thing.
He'd never eaten pork, but he'd seen pigs run. He'd watched plenty of videos of clans holding ancestral rites on short-video apps in his previous life.
Still, he hadn't expected he'd one day get to experience it himself.
"Chengwen, Yanling, you're here!"
As soon as Hu Chengwen and He Yanling entered the ancestral hall, someone warmly greeted them.
Hu Chengwen was wealthy and stood out among the collateral branches. He was one of the more successful ones.
Naturally, some clan members from the collateral branches wanted to use the chance to get closer to him and build a relationship.
After a brief introduction, Hu Chengwen smiled and exchanged a few pleasantries with several relatives he knew, then seamlessly joined their group.
At the same time, some women came over to He Yanling.
Hu Zhao had her own place to go, gathering with several cousins she often saw. They soon fell into conversation.
The ancestral hall was much the same throughout. The older generation had their own circles, while the younger members gathered in groups, chatting and laughing.
After all, they were bound by blood. The annual ancestral rite was also a chance to strengthen ties among the clan.
But no one came over to speak with Hu Long.
Ever since his illness, he had first been confined at home, then admitted to the hospital for treatment. All told, he hadn't attended the Ancestral Rite for four whole years.
On top of that, Hu Long had changed so much recently. With Comprehensive Combat Arts at the perfected level, his whole bearing was different. Compared with his frail former self, he was practically a different person.
Hu Long didn't mind. He was even glad things had turned out this way.
He turned down Hu Zhao's suggestion that he chat with a few cousins to get better acquainted.
He had never been one for noisy gatherings. For now, he simply leaned against a lacquered pillar in the corner, his gaze passing calmly over the moving figures inside the ancestral hall.
After a brief moment of thought, he left the pillar and began to walk around.
In a corner, several people stood together, chatting and exchanging pleasantries.
A tall, fashionable woman with permed hair leaned against a nearby pillar. Her eyes settled on the figure wandering through the hall, and a smile curled at the corner of her lips.
She turned to Hu Zhao and spoke with a light laugh.
"If I remember right... wasn't your younger brother diagnosed with 'persecutory delusions' and sent to a psychiatric hospital? Aren't you worried he'll have an episode here and disrupt the Ancestral Rite?"
At the sound of her voice, Hu Zhao turned and gave her a cold glance.
"Hu Xiao, your mouth is just as nasty as ever."
Her voice was low, but every word was clear.
"And I wonder who spent years going around saying she had 'severe depression,' constantly threatening to slit her wrists, and even carving other people's names into her arms..."
"You..."
The smile on Hu Xiao's lips froze. Her expression darkened visibly.
But when she noticed people nearby looking their way,
she seemed to remember something, then lifted her lips in a cold smile.
"Hu Zhao, I hope you're still brave enough to talk to me like that after the Ancestral Rite."
Hu Zhao ignored her.
They were members of the same clan and had been classmates since childhood. By rights, they should have had a decent relationship.
But that wasn't how things had turned out.
At first, they had gotten along. But as time went by,
Hu Zhao grew more and more beautiful, and her grades were excellent, too.
That left Hu Xiao feeling resentful. She was fiercely competitive.
Because they belonged to the same clan, she had to compete with Hu Zhao in everything: grades and running when they were young, then looks and family background as they grew older.
But, without exception, she lost to Hu Zhao every time.
When she learned that Hu Zhao's younger brother had been admitted to a psychiatric hospital, she naturally seized the chance to mock her.
Thinking of this, Hu Zhao furrowed her brows.
Something felt off.
Usually, after Hu Zhao snapped back at her like that, Hu Xiao would storm away in anger. But today seemed different.
For some reason, Hu Xiao was brimming with inexplicable confidence.
Hu Long knew nothing about what was happening with Hu Zhao.
At the moment, he seemed to be wandering around the hall.
But that wasn't what he was actually doing.
He was approaching the Hu Clan members and brushing past them as if by chance,
checking their skills.
But he wasn't looking for ordinary skills.
He was after something else.
The aptitude for practicing Secret Martial Arts.
As for that,
Hu Chengwen didn't really know what this aptitude entailed.
But one thing was certain.
The better a Hu Clan member's health and the greater their strength, the better their aptitude.
Every year, one or two clan members were usually accepted by the main family and taught Secret Martial Arts.
Based on what Hu Chengwen had told him,
Hu Long's physique should now be good enough to meet the requirements.
But since he was already here, he might as well look around. He could stumble upon something unexpected.
No one paid any attention to the casual brushes as he passed by.
Unfortunately, all he found were ordinary skills.
It seemed there were only members of the collateral branches here, not the main family.
As he was thinking this over,
suddenly,
Hu Long brushed past someone and stopped short.
A line of silver text appeared before his eyes.
[Target: Hu Zetong]
[Physical Talent: Innate Divine Strength (Ox Strength)]
[Size: 6 MB (Status: Available for download)]
(Description: Possesses the strength of an ox, with a force of a thousand catties.)