Second Ancestral Land

Chapter 26: Second Ancestral Land

Boom!

As the golden pill entered his body, Divine Radiance roared. The old man's aged frame was like a small sun, ceaselessly scattering scorching rays of light, Golden Divine Radiance flowing freely around him.

The injuries that had tormented him like maggots gnawing at bone for so long quickly healed. His body, already on the verge of decay, was as if a clear spring had been poured into it, filling him with vitality once more.

"Th-this... this is our clan's supreme treasure pill! Someone from the Imperial Capital has come, hasn't he? The Human Emperor has ordered my crimes pardoned and summoned me back, hasn't he?"

The old man's aura surged rapidly, and his face flushed red. Instinctively, he clutched the visitor's hand and refused to let go.

The Stone Kingdom's imperial family possessed five supreme ancient recipes. One of them was a peerless treasure pill that could bring the dead back to life and grow flesh over bones. It was incomparably precious.

When Shi Jian'an was young, he had earned great military honors and been rewarded with one by the Human Emperor. That was why he remembered this treasure pill so well. It was something only the Stone Kingdom's imperial family could possess.

"It is indeed our clan's supreme treasure pill, but I'm not from the Imperial Capital. Great-grandfather, our clan isn't limited to the Stone Kingdom lineage in the outside world."

Shi Hao helped the old man, who was struggling to sit up, and said with a smile.

"The outside world? The Stone Kingdom lineage? Could it be that you're..."

An unusually deep flush suddenly spread across the old man's face. He spat out a great mouthful of black, clotted blood, but his aura rose to its peak.

Late Inscription Realm. No wonder the old man had been granted the title of Heavenly Marquis.

"I come from the Ancestral Land, the true Ancestral Land."

Shi Hao patted the old man's back and added, "By seniority, I should call you Eighth Granduncle. We met six years ago."

"You're that child from back then! You're the child of Third Brother's family, aren't you?"

The old man's ruddy face carefully studied Little Shi for a moment, then he burst out laughing. "Good, you look a little like Ziling between the brows. You really are the child of Ziling and his wife."

"Good child. I knew you wouldn't die so easily. I knew it."

"Right, since you survived, that means Ziling and his wife found the legendary First Ancestral Land. Are they there now, too?"

The excited old man paced around the room, then abruptly turned back.

"After my father and mother brought me to the Ancestral Land, they left to search for the true sacred medicine that could prolong my life. They haven't returned yet. I'm afraid they're no longer in the Desolate Region."

Shi Hao shook his head. "I don't know exactly where my parents are, but I know they're safe."

"That's all right. As long as they're still alive, we'll have a chance to find them."

The fully recovered old man was clearly in excellent spirits. He sat grandly on the bed and asked amiably, "Tell me, little fellow, why have you come to visit Zhuangzi this time?"

"Grandfather the patriarch heard that our branch of the clan's relatives hasn't been doing well in the Second Ancestral Land, so he ordered me to bring you back to the Ancestral Land, where you can live out your days in comfort."

"Besides, Great-grandfather's great-grandson has endured humiliation for years as my substitute. Shi Hao feels truly ashamed about it. It's time to put an end to this mistake."

Shi Hao spoke.

"As my great-grandson, this is what Qingfeng ought to have done. If the vast Stone Kingdom has no place for the two of us, then we'll simply leave."

The old man waved his great hand with a bold flourish. After a pause, his gaze turned cold. "But before we go, I'll thoroughly clean out the vermin around here."

"Quite right. The master doesn't act like a master, and the servants don't act like servants. It's truly outrageous."

Shi Hao nodded slightly. It was best for the old man, the head of the household, to handle this matter himself.

In a somewhat dilapidated courtyard, more than twenty servants arrived one after another.

"I heard that Old Immortal still hasn't breathed his last. He's even summoning all the servants here? Heh, what a fuss. Is he getting ready to make his last arrangements?"

"The sooner he dies, the better. Then we can act freely and take some valuables to prepare for the future. I've wanted to quit for ages."

"But there's still that little brat who's half dead and half alive. Heh, that lord from Chongyun City has already given the word..."

The burly servants gathered in small groups, looking thoroughly idle.

"Oh? I heard someone was hoping for me to die?"

Just as their talk grew more and more brazen, a cold laugh like muffled thunder suddenly came from the inner room. Everyone shuddered.

The towering old man strode into the hall with his hands behind his back, moving with the bearing of a dragon and a tiger. Wind and thunder seemed to howl around him. Two boys who looked about seven or eight followed behind.

"H-how could he have recovered...?"

"It's over! It's all over! He's a true marquis of the Ancient Kingdom!"

The burly servants' faces changed in unison. Some of the weaker ones were already trembling at the knees, ready to fall to the ground and beg forgiveness.

"I heard that while I was bedridden, the Rain Clan had reached its hands into Zhuangzi and bought every one of you off. You were just waiting for me to die so you could kill your little master and send him to Chongyun City as an offering to earn favor."

The old man sat on a tiger-skin chair and swept his gaze over them, his eyes flashing like lightning.

"L-Lord..."

The burly servants caught in that pair of fierce tiger eyes trembled all over, as if struck by some secret power or technique. In an instant, they fell to their knees with a clatter.

"Answer me! Is it true?"

A thunderous roar suddenly exploded through the courtyard. The servants, who had no cultivation, were left dizzy, blood streaming from their mouths and noses.

"Lord, we were wrong! Spare us! We were just overcome by greed for a moment..."

The servants, whose minds had already been seized, didn't dare make excuses. They hurriedly kowtowed and confessed, spilling every last detail of their crimes like beans from a tipped sack—and even turned on one another.

"Good. You've received the Stone Kingdom imperial family's kindness for generations, yet you let yourselves be bought off by an outsider marquis for a pittance and turned against your own master. By Stone Kingdom law, every one of you deserves to be executed!"

The old man slammed the table. Ignoring their pleas for mercy, he swung out a fist. Bone Text intertwined, coalescing into the roaring shadow of a ferocious flood dragon.

Amid earth-shaking screams, it swallowed all twenty-odd servants in a single gulp.

On the old man's left, the frail, lame boy clenched his teeth, his face flushed as he watched, both fists tight.

"Good child, remember: from now on, your name is Qingfeng. Shi Qingfeng. You don't need to call yourself Shi Hao anymore."

The old man put an arm around the lame boy and pointed to Little Shi. "Someone already bears the name Shi Hao. Look, this is your older brother Shi Hao. Go on, call him Brother."

"S-Shi Hao... brother."

The lame boy's lips moved, and he called out timidly.

Shi Hao. Was this the Shi Hao Great-grandfather had mentioned to him earlier?

Hao meant the sky.

Sure enough, compared to him, this big brother was the one better suited to the name.

"Qingfeng, right? From now on, we're family. You're my own little brother, Shi Hao's little brother."

Shi Hao reached out and gently stroked the timid boy's head.

"Mm. Okay."

Shi Qingfeng blinked and nodded, seeming to understand only half of it.

"Haha, let's go. It's time to set out."

Seeing this, the old man laughed heartily and took his two great-grandsons into the air.

Whoosh!

A mouthful of Vermilion Bird Heavenly Fire descended after them. In the blink of an eye, it expanded to cover the entire courtyard, then swept wildly through the whole estate.