A Visit to the Xie Family

Eastsea City's nightscape was a few shades more dazzling and profound than Aolai City's. Soul Tool neon lights flowed like a river of stars, outlining the silhouettes of skyscrapers, while the trails left by hovering cars wove into a net across the night sky. Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena stood side by side before the floor-to-ceiling window of a luxury hotel room, overlooking this city that was both familiar and strange.

The warmth and bustle of the daytime beef restaurant gradually settled in their hearts, while a vague yet steadfast lead became clearer—if they wished to recover more memories of the past, especially memories of the companions who had fought beside them, then the Eastsea City ancestral homes of the Xie Family and Xu Family, both of which had been passed down for ten thousand years, were undoubtedly two crucial points.

"Did you sense them?" Gu Yuena asked softly. Her violet eyes glimmered faintly in the night, her divine consciousness already spreading across the entire city like an invisible spiderweb.

"Yes." Tang Wulin nodded, his dark eyes calm. Within his perception, two places in this bustling city's energy field stood out like beacons in the night. One aura was lively and agile, carrying subtle ripples of space and time. Though it was far weaker than the Xie Xie he remembered, its origin felt exactly the same. The other was deep and boundless, as though it contained endless starlight. Its tranquility carried an authority that could not be underestimated, faintly resonating with Xu Xiaoyan's starry martial soul. The owners of these two auras had both reached the hundredth rank in Soul Power cultivation. In this city, they could only be the current heads of the Xie Family and Xu Family.

"If we go directly to their door, it may draw unnecessary trouble and suspicion," Tang Wulin said thoughtfully. Their identities were unusual. Once exposed, their peaceful journey to reclaim their memories would come to an abrupt end, replaced by the scrutiny and interference of countless forces.

The corners of Gu Yuena's lips lifted into a faint yet slightly sly smile. "Who said we had to use the front door?"

The night deepened, and the city's clamor gradually subsided.

With a slight movement, the two vanished from the hotel room. They did not unleash any obvious Soul Power fluctuations. Through nothing more than subtle use of spatial laws, their figures seemed to blend into the night itself. After several flickers, they crossed half the city and silently arrived outside an immense estate with an ancient, tranquil style.

This was where the Xie Family resided. Compared with the modern buildings around it, it was more like an island forgotten by time. Its high walls and deep courtyards were filled with towering ancient trees, and a powerful Soul Tool barrier faintly enveloped it. Ordinary soul masters would not even be able to approach.

However, that barrier was as good as nonexistent before Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena. Like passing through a harmless curtain of water, they entered the estate without triggering any alarm. Deep within the manor, a study was still lit.

Inside the study, a middle-aged man who looked to be around forty sat frowning at a complex Soul Tool blueprint. His face was sharp and capable, while his piercing gaze retained a hint of unruly liveliness. He was the current head of the Xie Family, Xie Linfeng. Suddenly, he snapped his head up and stared into the heavy night beyond the window. "Who's there?!"

Though he could see nothing, his extended divine consciousness had given him the unsettling sensation of being watched by something invisible.

"Patriarch Xie, please forgive us for disturbing you so late at night." A calm, gentle voice seemed to ring directly inside Xie Linfeng's mind.

The next instant, the space in the study twisted slightly, and Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena appeared as though painted into existence from an ink wash painting, standing quietly before the desk. They still wore their altered appearances, but the unfathomable aura they naturally exuded made Xie Linfeng's hairs stand on end. The Soul Power within him instinctively began circulating at high speed as his body tensed slightly into a defensive stance.

"Who are you? How did you break into the heart of my Xie Family?!" Xie Linfeng's voice was full of shock and vigilance, one hand already quietly pressing against an emergency alarm Soul Tool beneath the desk. Anyone who could so easily breach the family barrier was undoubtedly far stronger than he was.

"We mean no harm." Tang Wulin stepped forward, his tone still mild as he tried to dispel the other man's hostility. "We came uninvited only because we may have some connection to an ancestor of the Xie Family." He did not directly mention Xie Xie's name, keeping his words vague.

"A connection?" Xie Linfeng frowned deeply, his sharp gaze sweeping across the two as though trying to see through their disguises. "My Xie Family has been passed down for ten thousand years and has many connections. Which ancestor are you referring to, and what proof do you have?"

The vigilance in his heart did not lessen. Over the past ten thousand years, he had seen far too many people claiming ties to their ancestors in hopes of currying favor with or plotting against the Xie Family.

Tang Wulin fell silent for a moment, seemingly considering how to prove it. Just then, his eyes inadvertently passed over a portrait hanging on the study wall. It appeared to be extremely old. The painting depicted a blond young man with a faint smile and lively eyes, idly playing with a pair of strangely shaped short blades.

The instant Tang Wulin's gaze touched the image of those short blades, the dormant Golden Dragon King bloodline within him seemed to produce an extraordinarily faint resonance with some trace of space-time intent contained in the painting. Almost subconsciously, he imitated the unique frequency with which Xie Xie circulated his Soul Power in his memories, discreetly stirring a thread of his own aura.

No Soul Power leaked out, and no light flashed.

Yet in that instant, an ancient mechanical pocket watch suddenly sprang out from within Xie Linfeng's Soul Tool, followed by a soft click!

Its cover opened by itself, revealing an incomparably intricate mechanism that had ceased functioning many years ago. Then, beneath Xie Linfeng's dumbfounded gaze, the watch hands began spinning wildly and irregularly, producing a rapid ticking sound. Faint, mysterious points of light like starlight even emerged on the dial!

"How... how is this possible?!" Xie Linfeng abruptly rose to his feet, his face filled with unbelievable horror. This pocket watch was a secret heirloom of the family. It was said to have been left behind by their ancestor, the Space-Time Dragon Xie Xie. Other than its incomparably hard material, it had displayed no extraordinary properties in ten thousand years, and the family had long considered it an ordinary antique with memorial value. Yet now, it had reacted so violently to a mere glance and trace of aura from this stranger before him!

Tang Wulin was slightly stunned as well. Looking at the violently reacting pocket watch, a trace of reminiscence and understanding flashed through his eyes. He could sense the faint power of space and time within it that shared the same origin as Xie Xie. It seemed to be... cheering? Or confirming something?

"It seems it recognizes me," Tang Wulin said softly, withdrawing the aura he had deliberately imitated. The pocket watch's disturbance gradually subsided as well, though its cover remained open, as if silently recounting something.

The vigilance on Xie Linfeng's face was finally replaced by overwhelming shock and confusion. He stared fixedly at Tang Wulin, then looked at the pocket watch, which had calmed but remained open. His voice trembled slightly. "Who exactly are you? This watch was left behind by Ancestor Xie Xie!"

Tang Wulin did not answer directly. Instead, he asked, "Patriarch Xie, we did not come to disturb the peace of the Xie Family. We only wish to investigate certain... events buried by time. Regarding ten thousand years ago, regarding Xie Xie, regarding... the Shrek Seven Monsters, do you know of any secret records within the family that were never passed on?"

Xie Linfeng drew a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the tempest in his heart. These people could trigger such a phenomenon in an ancestral relic, possessed unfathomable strength, and yet maintained a peaceful attitude. They truly did not seem hostile. After pondering for a moment, he waved his hand, signaling for the family guards who had been alerted in the shadows and were about to emerge to withdraw.

"There are indeed some records from ten thousand years ago in the family archives," Xie Linfeng said in a much gentler tone, though his gaze remained probing. "But most are vague and incomplete, and... many crucial parts seem to have been deliberately erased or obscured. Moreover... the generation of Shrek Seven Monsters led by Tang Sect Master Tang Wulin ten thousand years ago has always been the Federation's highest secret."

He paused, and his gaze toward Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena grew even deeper. "If the two of you truly had ties with our ancestor, then perhaps... you can resolve some of the doubts that have plagued my Xie Family for ten thousand years."

At that moment, Gu Yuena suddenly tilted her head slightly, her violet eyes turning toward the Xu Family's direction. "The 'star' over there seems to have noticed something."

Almost as soon as she finished speaking, Tang Wulin and Xie Linfeng also sensed a gentle yet incomparably vast intent of stars sweep lightly across the Xie Family estate like spilled mercury. When it reached the study where Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena stood, it paused slightly, carrying a trace of inquiry, before retreating like a tide without displaying any hostility.

It was the head of the Xu Family.

Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena exchanged a glance, knowing that their purpose for tonight's secret visit had already been half achieved. They had confirmed that the Xie Family and Xu Family still existed and remained connected to their ancestors' bloodlines. At the same time, they had sensed that these two great families knew little about certain truths from ten thousand years ago and might even be trapped within the same fog of mystery.

"Patriarch Xie, thank you for your candor tonight." Tang Wulin gave Xie Linfeng a slight nod. "It would not be convenient for us to stay long, so we will take our leave. Regarding what happened tonight, and our visit..."

"I understand," Xie Linfeng immediately interjected. He was a clever man. "I will not reveal a single word of it to the outside world." Looking at the mysterious man and woman before him, his heart was filled with countless questions. Yet the pocket watch's reaction and their overwhelming cultivation compelled him to choose trust.

Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena said no more. Their figures blurred once again, merging into the night as they silently vanished from the study, as though they had never appeared at all.

Xie Linfeng stood alone in the study, staring at the ancient pocket watch whose cover remained open. He was silent for a long time. Then he reached out and gently stroked its cold casing, murmuring to himself, "Ancestor... was this your guidance from beyond? Who... are they?"

High in the night sky, Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena stood suspended among the clouds, looking down upon the brilliantly lit Eastsea City below.

"On the Xie Family's side, we have left behind a favorable connection," Tang Wulin said softly. "The Xu Family... seems to be more cautious."

"It does not matter." Gu Yuena's gaze was distant. "When the time comes, we will naturally know what to do. For now, we should leave."

Their figures flashed, transforming into two nearly imperceptible streams of light that vanished into the night sky over Eastsea City. Yet the ripples they had left behind at the Xie Family tonight would eventually stir up unexpected waves at some point in the future.