Grandfather

According to the captive from the Kai family, someone was also keeping watch over the place where Grandfather and the clansmen had been killed.

Wenlong arrived near the place where he had parted with Grandfather, climbed a nearby tree, and gazed into the distance.

Sure enough, he saw a man lying on the ground asleep, with unfinished food beside him. There was also a horse nearby. Only then did Wenlong climb down and cautiously approach the man.

Suddenly, the man sensed something and rolled over, about to sit up. A stone struck him squarely in the temple, and he slumped back to the ground.

Wenlong shot forward in a single bound and swiftly pressed his dagger against the man's throat.

Wenlong took out a rope and tied him up. Seeing that he still had not regained consciousness, Wenlong drove the dagger viciously into his thigh.

The man cried out in pain and opened his eyes, staring at Wenlong in terror.

"Talk. Where did you bury the Wen clansmen who were killed here?" Wenlong asked coldly. Without waiting for an answer, he raised the dagger and plunged it hard into the man's other thigh.

The man howled in agony and struggled painfully. When he saw Wenlong about to twist the dagger, terror nearly drove his soul from his body.

"I'll talk, I'll talk! Beside that big tree up ahead, there's a ravine. They're... they're in there."

Wenlong pulled out the dagger and stabbed him several more times in the thighs. The man fainted again from the pain.

Only after quite a while did Long'er's father arrive with the remaining clansmen. Wenlong pointed out the location to his father and the others, then said to Shitou, "Shitou, climb a tree and keep watch. Make sure no enemies approach."

He climbed another large tree himself and gazed into the distance, scanning the surroundings warily.

When the clansmen dug Grandfather's body and those of the many others out of the deep pit, everyone wept.

Wenlong climbed down from the tree in tears as well. His grandfather had always groomed him as his successor. Grandfather had given him all his love, just as selflessly.

He fell to his knees, every memory of Grandfather's doting affection vivid before his eyes. How could he not grieve? In his heart, he silently swore that he would avenge this blood feud.

As he looked at the bodies of Grandfather and the clansmen, his eyes filled with unwavering resolve. He told everyone to lay the bodies out properly for now and wait for the other clansmen to return, so they could take Grandfather and the others back to the Ancestral Grounds for a proper burial.

At that moment, the bound man slowly regained consciousness. Wenlong walked up to him again and demanded harshly, "Who's behind this? Why did the Kai family butcher our Wen clansmen so ruthlessly?"

At first, the man still tried to hold his tongue. A vicious glint flashed through Wenlong's eyes, and he made as if to use the dagger again.

Terrified, the man hurriedly said, "It... it was the head of the Kai family. He heard that the Wen family had a long-lost secret manual, and that whoever obtained it could become the richest man in the region. That's what stirred his wicked intentions."

Wenlong's father said furiously, his voice steeped in hatred, "To get their hands on the Wen family's fertile lands, they've committed every treacherous, vicious deed imaginable."

He clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his flesh. Wenlong looked at his father and the other clansmen and said bitterly, "Sooner or later, we'll make the Kai family answer for this sea of blood."

Everyone nodded, their eyes blazing with hatred and the will to fight.

Wenlong drew a deep breath. "Right now, we're still too weak to stand against the Kai family. Every one of us must train diligently in martial arts. One day, we'll make the Kai family repay their blood debt in blood."

With that, Wenlong drew his dagger and stabbed the Kai man several times in the chest. Before the man could struggle, he slumped to the ground and breathed his last.

Just then, the clansmen who had gone away returned with an ox cart. Amid their grief, everyone carried the bodies onto the cart and set off toward the Wen family's Ancestral Grounds.

Long'er's father also instructed the clansmen to have some people clear away their tracks behind them, lest they reveal the direction of the Wen family's Ancestral Grounds and bring the Kai family's vengeance down upon them.

The Wen family was now so weak that it simply could not stand against the Kai family. It could not withstand another blow.

The clansmen drove the ox cart onward in sorrow. At some point, snow had begun to drift down from the sky. As snowflakes danced across the heavens, Long'er's father finally felt his heart ease.

This snowfall would slowly cover every trace of their passage. The clansmen needed time to rest and recover, and they needed a safe place to shelter.