The ancestor

As they neared home, Zhou Xiaoxian finally remembered the father she had abandoned, and her expression grew a little awkward.

"Senior, please come in."

Leading Xia Yi into the courtyard, she glanced around the house and called, "Dad, are you there?"

"Hmph, I nearly wasn't!"

Zhou Feng answered and pulled open the door. He had prepared a whole string of reprimands for Zhou Xiaoxian, but the moment he saw Xia Yi, every last word vanished from his mind.

Wh-why did she bring him home?!

"Urk-"

"Dad!!"

Perhaps he was getting used to the sight, because Zhou Feng finally managed not to pass out completely this time. After a bout of chaos, he learned the whole story, forcibly swallowed his curses, and invited Xia Yi inside.

The moment he sat down, Xia Yi said, "I'm hungry. Get me whatever you have that's ready to eat. Anything will do. Mm, make it a lot."

Zhou Feng's aged face crumpled, but his daughter kept signaling him with her eyes, so he could only head into the kitchen in displeasure.

Watching Zhou Feng's retreating back, Zhou Xiaoxian asked quietly, "Senior, do you know what happened to Brother Lizhu? Can he... return to normal?"

By then, she had finally broken free of her bewilderment and helplessness. Her intelligence had regained the upper hand, allowing her to ask rational questions.

I really haven't figured that out yet. Xia Yi considered for two seconds, then reassured her, "I can't say for certain either, but he's not the one you need to worry about. In his current state, unless a King personally intervenes, very few people could threaten his life."

"Really?" Zhou Xiaoxian relaxed a little. "That's good, then. That's good."

Her obvious relief actually surprised Xia Yi. Back during the war between the two races, Kings of the Human Race had died from time to time, and there had been over a hundred of them in the same generation.

Now that the Demon Race had been wiped out, even if Kings of the Human Race weren't everywhere, surely there were eight hundred or a thousand. Having one or two in each region would be nothing unusual. With Zhou Lizhu in that state, it would hardly be surprising if he caused trouble and drew a King's split soul there in person.

"Is this place very remote? Are there no Kings nearby?" Xia Yi couldn't help asking.

"Ah, you... don't remember that either?" Zhou Xiaoxian asked in puzzlement. "For the past two hundred years, Kings have almost never appeared in the world. They say someone discovered another world among the stars, and they all went to explore the possibility of advancing further."

Nonsense! Though Xia Yi had never become a King, he had seen plenty of them back then. His third brother, Xia Shun, was a King himself. He knew Kings were nowhere near as noble as lesser cultivators imagined.

They were flesh and blood too, with wants and desires. How could they all have gone to another world? Even if there really was a chance to advance further there, normally half of them would have stayed behind.

There's something behind this too, Xia Yi thought. "Girl, do you have any history books at home... no, not just history books. Bring me all your books."

Though Zhou Xiaoxian found the request strange, Xia Yi had already displayed enough oddities. She merely nodded and stared at him.

Xia Yi paused before smiling. "Right, Zhou Lizhu. Back to Zhou Lizhu... mm, although I haven't figured out what caused his transformation, it definitely has something to do with the Demon Race. But judging by his reaction when he faced you at the end, his humanity probably hasn't been extinguished.

"The only thing you need to worry about is him being overwhelmed by the Demon Race's desires, losing his senses, or even going on a killing spree and harming innocents!"

"Then, Senior, what would you suggest? What can we do to help him?"

"We?" Xia Yi chuckled, making Zhou Xiaoxian feel rather embarrassed.

"What's this, Xiao Xian? I heard you mention Zhuzi again." Just then, Zhou Feng came out carrying a large basin of food.

Xia Yi said, "My suggestion would disappoint you, girl. You'd be better off asking your father."

A little over ten minutes later.

"Zhuzi actually..." Zhou Feng was dumbstruck. If Zhou Xiaoxian hadn't spoken so earnestly, he would probably have picked up the fire poker to teach his troublesome daughter a lesson.

"Dad, what should we do?"

"Hm? What should we do? Report it to the authorities!"

Zhou Feng was unequivocal.

Zhou Xiaoxian was taken aback. "But..."

"The fact that it's Zhuzi is all the more reason to report it! Xiao Xian, you need to understand that only by finding or catching him before he causes serious trouble will there be any room to turn things around! I watched Zhuzi grow up too. I wouldn't speak carelessly about something like this. Report it!"

Zhou Xiaoxian fell silent and began to think.

Xia Yi let out a satisfied burp, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. "I'm eighty percent full. Heat some water for my bath, and buy me a new set of clothes."

You really are treating this place like your own home! A vein throbbed on Zhou Feng's forehead. His gaze shifted to the empty food basin, and he froze.

Six steamed buns, half a basin of sweet potatoes, and a large plate of pickled vegetables—enough breakfast for him and Xiao Xian for ten days—had been polished off. Had this old man not eaten for eight hundred years? Had Xiao Xian brought home a bottomless pit?!

"Dad, heat the water for Senior. I'll go buy him some clothes and stop by the smithy to see Master Wang and tell him about Brother Lizhu."

Hm? Why was the girl being so attentive?

Zhou Feng wasn't stupid. He had only looked down on Xia Yi earlier because of his behavior and appearance. Judging by his daughter's manner now, perhaps this old man really was an extraordinary expert?

An expert... but the crucial question was, had he dug up the ancestor's grave or not?

With doubts and a little resentment, he and Zhou Xiaoxian went about their separate tasks. Xia Yi made himself entirely at home and strolled into Zhou Feng's room. His gaze swept over the old wardrobe, and the lock on its drawer clicked open. After rummaging inside for a moment, he took out a spirit tablet whose inscription had been worn almost illegible.

"Spirit tablet of my beloved wife, Xia Lan"

"Xia Lan, was it?"

"What are you... put that down!"

With a startled shout, Zhou Feng snatched the tablet from Xia Yi's hands. Only after carefully examining it did he gingerly return it to the drawer.

"You old man, how utterly rude!" He locked the drawer and glared at Xia Yi. "Were you the one who dug up our ancestral grave too?!"

"Her family's ancestral grave, you mean." Xia Yi pointed at the drawer. "How did she die?"

Zhou Feng froze, his expression shifting slightly.

"Judging by the wear on the tablet, you loved her very much. Why not display it on a table? Why lock it in a drawer instead?" Xia Yi asked again.

"...That's none of your business!"

"I see." Xia Yi looked thoughtful. "If you were afraid of someone seeing it, you shouldn't have carved the tablet. Once you carved it, it was bound to be exposed someday."

Exposed? Zhou Feng's breathing quickened. He examined Xia Yi closely, his face paling as he staggered back two steps. "Y-you work for King Zheng?!"

"King Zheng?" Xia Yi murmured, then shook his head with a chuckle. "Still young. So easy to get talking."

Zhou Feng was actually over forty. For a non-cultivator, that was old enough to be called an old man, but before the present Xia Yi, he was a youngster through and through, no matter his age.

"Don't be nervous. I don't work for any King Zheng. I'm from her family." Xia Yi pointed at the drawer. "I did dig open your ancestral grave, because otherwise, I couldn't get out!"

"Yes, stop pointing at me. I am Xia Yi!"

"...Xia? Xia Yi?"

"Zhou Feng, this coffin holds an extraordinary ancestor of my Xia family, Ancestor Xia Yi! You've never heard of his deeds? Villains altered all the records. There are so, so many stories. Let me tell you about them bit by bit, and you can tell our children in the future!"

A distant memory surfaced, and Zhou Feng abruptly recalled what Xia Yi had said when he frightened him from behind.

"No need to look."

"I'm right behind you."

"You claim you're... Ancestor Xia Yi?! Absurd! Utter nonsense!!"

Xia Yi tapped his forehead, and a phantom wearing a mink coat appeared behind him. "Xia Yi's Minks-Banishing. Heard of it?"

Zhou Feng clearly had. His eyes widened as he studied the phantom, then Xia Yi, then the phantom, then Xia Yi again.

"A Saint Soul Phantom... can't be faked. So it really is... our ancestor standing before me?!"

Xia Yi shook his head. "A Saint Soul Phantom isn't actually impossible to fake, but I..."

Zhou Feng said, "Urk-"

Xia Yi fell briefly silent, then casually swept his hand, sending Zhou Feng onto the nearby bed to lie down. Turning to look at the drawer again, he said, "King Zheng, eh? A clichéd story, a player, a demon god, oh, and me, all appearing around her. That girl certainly fits the fate of a female lead."

"Ah, the water seems to be boiling. I'll have to mix the bathwater myself. How did my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great... granddaughter end up marrying a man who keeps having fits?"