Li Qingxian stepped outside, spoke with everyone for a while, then invited Hu Jizu in alone.
Li Qingxian sat down, while Hu Jizu remained standing.
They had met twice at the Fate Arts Teahouse. Entering the eerie ground marked their third encounter.
Li Qingxian had long since divined a karmic connection between them, because Hu Jizu was a descendant of the Star Chess Master.
Now that Hu Jizu had followed him into the eerie ground, that karmic bond had deepened.
Li Qingxian knew that, having inherited the Star Chess Master's mantle, he owed Hu Jizu his help, both in sentiment and in principle.
"Do you know why I asked to see you?" Li Qingxian asked.
Hu Jizu pondered for a long time before saying slowly, "Unless I am mistaken, you have a deep connection with my grandfather."
"What happened to your family?" Li Qingxian asked.
Hu Jizu sighed softly and spoke as he recalled the past. "My grandfather's calculations left nothing unaccounted for, but his descendants failed to live up to him. When I was very young, he discovered that none of the generations after him would be capable of inheriting his mantle. Once he passed away, our Hu Family would inevitably face extermination. So he divided the Hu Family early on, splitting us into six branches. We were the fifth. After that, he went away, leaving no trace..."
"...From childhood, I grew up listening to my parents' complaints. They took my grandfather's wealth and huddled away in an impoverished mountain village..."
"...Heh. In the end, things turned out just as my grandfather had predicted. My parents could not restrain themselves and went out to squander their money. Eventually, not only was the family fortune gone, but they were also riddled with illness and afflicted by a strange poison..."
"...Fortunately,