The Zhang Family Ancestral Home

"Is this your hometown?"

Yu Zhi looked out at the vast expanse of white before him. There was nothing but snow-covered mountain after snow-covered mountain. The two of them had spent two days and two nights traveling by train, then by bus, then by tractor, only to be dropped off in the middle of nowhere.

"Come on. We still have two mountains to cross."

Zhang Qiling led the way without another word. He strode along with a dashing air, and the sight of his back with the saber strapped to it looked so damn cool to Yu Zhi!

"All right. For money, there's no hardship I can't endure. A true cultivator fears no snowy mountain."

"Mm."

For once, Zhang Qiling even gave an answer to such obvious nonsense, though it sounded a little sarcastic to Yu Zhi.

But how could Zhang Qiling possibly be sarcastic? It had to be his imagination.

The two of them trudged through the snow, finally climbing over the vast white mountains and making their way into a mountain hollow in some nameless, out-of-the-way corner.

"Follow my footprints. Don't take a wrong step," Zhang Qiling cautioned Yu Zhi.

"Mm, got it."

Yu Zhi knew the Zhang Family ancestral home was no joke. Its mechanisms might not be on par with those in the Zhang Family Ancient Tower, but they weren't far behind.

One behind the other, they rounded the narrow mountain hollow, and a fortress-like gatehouse came into view, wedged squarely between two mountains. One man could truly hold the pass against ten thousand there. It stood about ten meters high, built of gray bricks, with a large bronze-colored gate below. Magnificent-truly magnificent!

The Zhang Family really was a remarkable bunch. How could such a formidable family have fallen apart? One could only say that the way of heaven was ever-changing!

Unlike the awestruck Yu Zhi, Zhang Qiling acted as though it were perfectly ordinary. He drew his saber and casually sliced his hand, letting the blood drip into a groove beside the gate. Then came the sound of the gate mechanism starting up, and the gate slowly opened.

Yu Zhi reached out with his mouth open, but before he could get a single syllable out, Zhang Qiling had already finished drawing blood. He was too fast.

Only when Zhang Qiling saw Yu Zhi's expression did he remember that this man would feel it when he was hurt, too.

"Sorry, I forgot."

It really wasn't Zhang Qiling's fault that he had moved so fast. His hand was simply quicker than his brain, a reflex honed over decades. There was only one way to explain it: nothing special, merely a practiced hand!

"It's fine, it's fine. With a little injury like that, I only feel the pain; I don't actually bleed. But from now on, you need to break the habit of making such a big cut at every turn. I know your Zhang Family has a thing for bloodletting, but you can make a smaller cut!"

Yu Zhi muttered on as he took Zhang Qiling's hand and treated it with spiritual power. The wound visibly began to heal. In truth, he knew it was unavoidable. Only mechanisms like these could keep outsiders from invading, and in a crisis, there was no time to worry about the size of a wound. Compared to a life, what was one cut?

"Mm, I understand."

Zhang Qiling nodded solemnly. He had seen the red mark appear in the same place on Yu Zhi's hand, and for the first time, he felt a pang of concern. He had already lost count of how many firsts he had experienced with this man.

"You don't need to worry about me. Your safety comes first in everything. But if you're going to bleed for someone else, then think of me."

Yu Zhi quickly put his hands behind his back, quietly playing a little trick. He refused to believe that, after this kind of brainwashing, Zhang Qiling could still throw all caution to the wind and sacrifice himself for that innocent and guileless one.

Actually, he had activated damage sharing the last time Zhang Qiling was injured and forgotten to turn it off. Now that he thought about it, leaving it on was fine too.

"This place has been abandoned. I modified the mechanisms here, so no one can get in except me. We'll stay here for a few days before going back. It's very safe here."

"Good. I can take the chance to get a proper feel for the culture of the thousand-year-old Zhang Family. Oh, and tell me beforehand if there are places I can't go because of the mechanisms."

Yu Zhi couldn't stop himself from looking around in curiosity. The place really did have an old-world charm. It was a miniature palace complex, with carved beams and painted rafters, imposing in the extreme. Perhaps because no one had lived here for too long, there was a faint air of decay and dilapidation, which gave it an even greater sense of age and weight.

"I've turned off the mechanisms in the living quarters. If you want to go to the back mountain or those courtyards nearby, I need to come with you."

Zhang Qiling kept working with his hands as he spoke.

"All right. There isn't really anything in particular I want to see anyway," Yu Zhi said. He knew that, as a guest, he couldn't go rummaging around someone else's home.

The journey here had left him thoroughly exhausted. The Qi Refining Second Layer really was still too weak. He hadn't been as diligent lately as he used to be, and he needed to reflect on that. Here, martial strength was the hard truth.

But his knowledge really was limited! He badly needed a suitable cultivation technique. He had cultivated to the Nascent Soul Stage back in the cultivation world, but back then he had possessed a single metal spiritual root. It didn't match his current attributes at all; they even conflicted.

"It's still early. Let's go look in the storeroom," Yu Zhi suggested. He couldn't wait to see what treasures were there.

"All right, this way." Zhang Qiling led him toward the back mountain.

Yu Zhi marveled at the Zhang Family's grand undertaking. They had hollowed out an entire mountain to use as a storeroom. Now that was imposing.

Zhang Qiling took off his ring and pushed it into a groove beside the door. Then he drew the Black Gold Ancient Saber from his back and inserted it into a slit nearby. The Bronze Door slowly opened. Zhang Qiling quickly retrieved the ring and pulled out the saber, then grabbed the dumbstruck Yu Zhi and darted inside. The instant they entered, the door slammed shut with a clang. A moment slower, and they would have been crushed into meat paste.

Inside was not as dim as Yu Zhi had imagined. Instead, dozens of mermaid pearls gave off a gentle glow. Objects were arranged by category on shelves, like a small exhibition hall.

"There's not much left here. The antiques, calligraphy, and paintings can't be sold. You can take whatever you like from the rest." Zhang Qiling indicated that he could put away anything he wanted.

This was the first time Yu Zhi had realized that Zhang Qiling was tall, rich, and handsome! He was far too generous. His ancestors truly had been rich enough to rival a nation. No wonder people coveted the Zhang Family. But from the way he usually acted, as if he didn't know what money was, Yu Zhi could never have guessed he was so wealthy!

Yu Zhi didn't stand on ceremony and put away a small chest of gold. Gold was hard currency wherever he went; once he exchanged it for money outside, he wouldn't have to worry anymore. Then he took his time looking here and touching there, like Granny Liu touring the Grand View Garden, and whenever he didn't understand something, he had Zhang Qiling demonstrate it for him.

Suddenly, Yu Zhi stopped at a display shelf and picked up a plain, old-fashioned black ring to examine it closely. The more he looked at its design and sensed the aura it gave off, the more it resembled a storage ring from the cultivation world! How could something like that be here? Had he seen it wrong?

"What's this?"

"A ring." It was the same old Zhang Qiling-style answer.

"No kidding. I know it's a ring. I'm asking where it came from." Yu Zhi shot him a sidelong glance.

"I don't know. There are a lot of things here. I only know about the mechanisms; I'm not familiar with the rest," Zhang Qiling explained.

"Oh. Then can I study it?" Yu Zhi asked politely. It was someone else's property, after all, and he needed the owner's permission to study it.

"Mm."

After getting his answer, Yu Zhi thought that if this really was a storage ring from the cultivation world, it could be bound to an owner with a drop of blood. He would first see what was inside, and if it really was a storage ring, he would give it to Zhang Qiling. That would make it easier for him to carry equipment when he was hired for tomb expeditions in the future.

He acted at once. Yu Zhi reached for the Black Gold Ancient Saber on Zhang Qiling's back. Its sharp edge cut his finger in an instant, drawing blood, which he quickly dripped onto the ring. The ring slowly absorbed it. Yu Zhi hadn't expected it to actually work.

When Zhang Qiling saw what Yu Zhi had done, he immediately looked at his own finger. But there was nothing there, and he felt no pain either. What's going on? He voiced the question as he thought it.

Yu Zhi looked at Zhang Qiling's finger and knew what he was asking. He said nonchalantly, "It's a small matter, not worth mentioning. I'm the primary party to the contract, so I share your injuries. You don't have to."

"Why?"

Zhang Qiling's voice was full of bewilderment. He didn't understand why Yu Zhi treated him so well when the two of them had met by chance.

"Because, of course, you're worth it!"

Yu Zhi answered without looking up, still letting his blood flow. He wondered why the ring was absorbing so much blood. Something didn't seem quite right.

As Zhang Qiling listened to Yu Zhi's answer, his gaze grew deep. His lips moved, but he said nothing.

"Something seems off about this ring. How has it absorbed so much blood? I'll probe it with my spiritual sense."

As he spoke, Yu Zhi extended his spiritual sense into it.

The moment his spiritual sense entered, Yu Zhi felt himself swallowed up by a tremendous suction force. His body went limp and he started to fall, but Zhang Qiling caught him around the waist.

"Yu Zhi! Yu Zhi! What's wrong?"

Looking at the vanished ring and the unconscious Yu Zhi, Zhang Qiling panicked. He had never seen anything like this. What should he do? What could he do? He could only hurry out of the storeroom with Yu Zhi in his arms, carry him back to the room, and lay him on the bed, never leaving his side. Yu Zhi's breathing was steady now, as if he were asleep, but he wouldn't wake up no matter how Zhang Qiling called him.

He didn't dare rashly send spiritual power into Yu Zhi's body to examine him. He had no experience and feared hurting him. At that moment, he blamed himself bitterly. All this time, Yu Zhi had given unconditionally and cared for him in every possible way, while he himself could do nothing but explore tombs and solve mechanisms.

If Yu Zhi had heard those thoughts, he would surely have laughed until he cried. His bright moon thought far too kindly of him. At first, he had treated Zhang Qiling well because he was attracted to his looks. Later, well, he had come to regard him as an idol to be worshipped, one who could only be admired from afar, not treated with irreverence.

Of course, Yu Zhi knew nothing of this. He was inside the ring, dealing with a sanctimonious old ghost. He hadn't expected a person to be hiding in a lousy ring like this, let alone one with cultivation.

A man in a green Daoist robe sat on a meditation cushion, his hair entirely white and his bearing thoroughly sanctimonious. He looked at Yu Zhi kindly and said, "Young friend, you must be the one fated to meet me. I am Daoist Green Jade. I have waited here for several thousand years, and at last, just as I was about to dissipate between heaven and earth, my successor has arrived. Heaven has been kind to me, allowing all my skills to be passed down."

Yu Zhi quietly watched the old ghost spout nonsense without answering. He knew this routine all too well: all those skills would be passed on to him, with only a few side effects, such as a drastic change in temperament and loss of memory. It was pure foolery meant to dupe idiots. He watched the old ghost put on a kindly act, his eyes filled with greed for him. This was another old fellow who wanted to seize his body, but Yu Zhi still needed to find out more.

"Why haven't you come over and accepted me as your master?" The old ghost grew a little anxious when Yu Zhi made no move. Could it be that a fool had come in? A fool would do too; seizing his body would be even easier.

Yu Zhi urgently considered how to deal with him. The old ghost would surely fight him for control of his body soon, and even with his Nascent Soul Stage spiritual sense, he couldn't gauge the other's strength. It seemed he could only fight to the death. If the old ghost really did take his body, he would choose to perish together with him. He absolutely could not bring Zhang Qiling even greater trouble.