Zhao City, Luo Palace.
Luo Ling stepped out of the palace chambers just as a withered yellow leaf danced on the wind, spun several times in the air, and settled on his shoulder.
Luo Ling picked it up between his fingers and looked. There was clearly still a trace of green at the base of the leaf's stem. In an instant, a shadow fell over his heart.
"Household Head."
A somewhat anxious voice came from beyond the wall. Then an old man of about fifty hurried inside. At the sight of Luo Ling, he bowed and said urgently, "Household Head, Young Master Zhongkan just collapsed. A physician happened to be nearby. After examining him, he said Young Master Zhongkan was old and frail, and probably would not last much longer."
Luo Ling's pupils trembled, and pain stirred in his heart. Again. I never thought Second Brother would still go before me. Watching helplessly as his brothers and sisters left one after another, until only he remained-that loneliness was something few could understand.
Luo Ling hurried to see Luo Zhongkan. Upon entering the inner room, he immediately saw Luo Zhongkan lying quietly on the bed, his hair now entirely gray and white. His expression was very peaceful. Though he was terribly weak, a trace of martial valor could still be sensed in his features.
Two people were tending him at his bedside. One was Luo Zhongkan's wife, a classic match of an old husband and a young wife. Luo Ling had made him marry her after his return from the Western Regions, and only after many years of marriage had they finally had a child.
That child was the little girl beside her, about five years old. Her brows and eyes were like ink-dark, verdant mountains in the distance, and she