No Sorrow Greater Than a Dead Heart

He Yuanbing Yuan Ruyi, who also perished. The latter had been turned into blood ointment, and only her clothes remained in her coffin. He Yuanbing, however, still had a body, which allowed others to express their grief.

When Kang Dabao stepped into the mourning hall, Jiang Qing, expressionless, used one hand to dress He Yuanbing's cold body in a brocade robe. He Yuanyi, with red and swollen eyes, wanted to help, but Jiang Qing, with a stern face, pulled the hem of the robe back into the latter's hand.

All the fellow disciples present were filled with sorrow. They all knew that He Yuanbing came from a wealthy Lineage and had a fondness for fine clothes and beautiful women. In his lifetime, he had often been reprimanded by Jiang Qing for these extravagant habits. But now...

As the matriarch of the household, Fei Shuhe couldn't miss such an occasion. She gently patted the bottom of Kang Changyi, who was still jumping around oblivious to what was happening, and slowly walked up to the Sect Leader Kang Da. Just as she was about to speak, she heard her chubby husband ask, "Where's Junior Brother Zhou?! Why isn't he here?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the expressions on the faces of the people in the room varied.

Jin Shilun was somewhat anxious, Zhou Xinran ashamed, Yuan Jin looked pained, Jiang Qing took a deep breath, her phoenix eyes narrowed, she got up to leave, but was stopped by Fei Shuhe.

The beautiful woman said gently, "Brother Qing Junior Brother Zhou said he'll be here in a while."

Jiang Qing was persuaded to stop, but Kang Dabao, who was standing at the door, ignored him. Just as he turned to leave, Fei Shuhe grabbed his sleeve. "Junior Brother Zhou said he can handle it. You should trust him at least once!"

The burly man paused, glancing at his wife with some surprise. After a moment's thought, he turned back and headed towards the coffin. Kang Dabao shoved the clumsy Jiang Qing aside and snatched the brocade robe from her hands.

Zhou Yixiu's courtyard was completely different from the minimalist style of Sect Leader Kang Da.

This old farmer was well-versed in farming and also skilled at growing flowers and plants. His small courtyard was filled with vitality and fragrance by his arrangement of Spirit Plant.

The moment you step into this tranquil place, you are greeted by a refreshing and ethereal atmosphere. Sunlight filters through the gaps, casting dappled patterns on the ground. The shadows of flowers sway gently, and a gentle breeze occasionally blows, causing the colorful petals to sway softly in the wind, releasing a delicate fragrance.

First-Tier Middle-Grade wisteria vine twined around the ancient corridor, cascading to the ground like a purple waterfall;

After years of cultivation, the Plain Snow Stamen has finally been completed. Bees and butterflies occasionally flit among its snow-white petals, sometimes resting and sometimes flying, like graceful notes dancing in the air.

In a corner of the courtyard, a pool of clear water flows gently, with lotus flowers standing gracefully in the water. Dewdrops glisten among the lotus leaves, and the lotus flowers are especially red in the sunlight. Small fish play and chase each other under the lotus leaves, stirring up ripples that shimmer in the sunlight.

The flowers and grasses are numerous and varied. Even ordinary people who Foundation Establishment may not have such a flower-filled courtyard.

In the past, Zhou Yixiu had never put so much thought into this courtyard. Back then, the only thing he cared about was that there couldn't be a stone table in the courtyard for playing chess.

Legend has it that in High Antiquity, there was an emperor who broke open a sixth-order array, allowing demons and monsters to wreak havoc on the world, all for the sake of winning a smile from a beautiful woman.

Zhou Yixiu was just an old farmer who was over seventy years old and had not yet Foundation Establishment, and he could not compare to the High Antiquity emperors. But after marrying Shan Xuerong, who loved flowers, Zhou Yixiu planted flowers all over the courtyard.

Although clumsy, it showed great gentleness. However, such one-sided enthusiasm for barbering has rarely ended well throughout history.

At this moment, the couple rarely sat together. Zhou Wei was not old, and seeing his parents gathered together today, and unusually without any arguments, he showed a look of joy on his face.

Although he was young and didn't know what it meant to be on edge, he sensed that Chongmingzong Chongming Sect strangely lately.

First, he could no longer go to the scripture hall and could only stay in this small courtyard with his mother all day long; second, Zhou Yixiu, who had always doted on him, had not returned for a long time, making him miss her very much.

After all these years together, it's not surprising that Zhou Wei and Zhou Yixiu, who became father and son later in life, have developed some affection for each other. Sincerity for sincerity is the fairest thing in the world.

"Daddy, hug me!" Zhou Wei ran and jumped into Zhou Yixiu's arms.

The baby had an extremely cute face, and Zhou Yixiu always adored it. He picked Zhou Xiu up, rubbed his forehead against the baby's nose, and the baby giggled happily. Zhou Yixiu was equally delighted. He teased Zhou Wei for a while, then took out two pieces of Lingya candy and stuffed them into Zhou Wei's mouth.

The little guy's eyes narrowed into slits with delight, and Zhou Yixiu chuckled along, then gently pinched the child's nose. "The stamens of those Plain Snow Stamen flowers are so sweet. Wei'er, go pick some and bring them back. I'll give them to your brother Jin Household later so he can make Xue Rui honey for you."

Zhou Wei remembered Jin Shilun's culinary skills, and his stomach rumbled with hunger. He said repeatedly, "Then Wei'er will go right away, Father, you must keep your word!"

As they were talking, the little guy ran out of Zhou Yixiu's arms and plunged headfirst into the sea of flowers.

Seeing the child's great excitement, Zhou Yixiu cast another spell, and a cluster of black orchids next to Plain Snow Stamen suddenly bloomed, releasing a faint fragrance of ink into the courtyard, which further excited the child.

Seeing this, Shan Xuerong breathed a sigh of relief. She suppressed her anxiety and, unusually, gave Zhou Yixiu a kind look, saying softly:

"I wrote to my uncle yesterday. After this incident, Wei'er can no longer stay in the Chongming Sect. I expect my uncle will have news soon, and will most likely bring Wei'er back within ten days."

Zhou Yixiu, however, suppressed his smile, poured tea for his young wife without saying a word, shook his head, and remained silent.

A fleeting sadness crossed Shan Xuerong's face. Pretending not to be interested in drinking tea, she mistakenly thought Zhou Yixiu had other plans and said urgently, "It's not right not to send you back to the Shan Household! Although you are valued by your senior brother, the sect leader, your second senior brother is stingy."

Even if a mere mortal child dies, the anger might be directed at Wei'er. I worry that if Wei'er is left here, not only Wei'er you be unable to protect him, but you might also incur Yuan Jin's resentment!

Zhou Yixiu shook his head and chuckled. Shan Xuerong's acting was rather clumsy. In her attempt to protect her young son, she lost her composure and, in her efforts to sow discord, forgot that she had never shown any concern for her old man.

Now that they've all given themselves away, it's no wonder they can't fool Zhou Yixiu, this seasoned veteran.

"Martial Nephew He is also dead," Zhou Yixiu said, Shan Xuerong's expression changed drastically. Her beautiful eyes filled with tears, and her face was streaked with sorrow. "That was Foundation Establishment disciple! How could my Wei'er possibly live!"

The woman was immediately terrified. How could she not know how powerful Jiang Qing was? He was a killing god that even her, the head of the Shan Household, could not compare to!

With tears welling in her eyes, she looked at Zhou Yixiu, her soft voice captivating. "Please, my lord, save him! Go and beg Sect Leader Kang; he is the most benevolent and kind, he will surely protect Wei'er."

Zhou Yixiu's eyes betrayed his disappointment. Shan Xuerong and Chongming Sect were indeed incompatible. Although Yuan Ruyi lacked Spirit Root, how could her position in the hearts of her brothers in the Chongming Sect be any less than that of He Yuanbing?

After all these years of marriage, can't Shan Xuerong even see this clearly?!

Zhou Yixiu was about to speak when he saw the young woman kneeling on the ground, her hair disheveled, her fair shoulders exposed. "From now on, whatever you say, my lord, shall be law. I, Xuerong, would never dare to disobey. I will live peacefully in the inner quarters and live a dutiful life. I only beg you, my lord, to save Wei'er!"

A hint of sorrow flickered in Zhou Yixiu's eyes. "Why must it be like this? I told you before, I had no wife before, but now you are my wife; I had no children before, but now Wei'er is my own son, yet you didn't believe me."

Shan Xuerong's sobs faltered, and she said aggrievedly, "My lord has indeed wronged me, how could I not believe you!"

Zhou Yixiu stopped looking at her and instead looked at Zhou Wei, who had picked half of Cai Rui's flowers but was now chasing after them in the sea of flowers, seemingly wanting to etch his lively appearance into his mind.

Old Master Jia's next words were as cold as ice. "You clearly understand, yet you insist on clinging to wishful thinking. Even in front of me, you can't bear to reveal a single trace of your true feelings."

Shan Xuerong somewhat flustered, but then she heard Zhou Yixiu's chilling tone. "How could the bloodline of the Wu Household possibly survive?!"

Startled by these words, Shan Xuerong trembled. Turning her head, she saw that Zhou Wei, who had been full of energy and excited about catching the butterfly, had suddenly collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

Zhou Yixiu looked up and sighed deeply, unable to hide her sorrow.

"Wei'er!!" Shan Xuerong cried out in a mournful voice, her beautiful eyes fixed on Zhou Yixiu, her gaze fierce and her face contorted with rage, as she shouted in a chilling voice:

"Zhou Yixiu! Is this what you call treating Wei'er like your own son?! He's just an ignorant child. Even if the adults committed wrongdoings, what does it have to do with him?! Zhou Yixiu, tell me, what crime has Wei'er committed?!"

"You really don't believe me?" Zhou Yixiu's cloudy eyes were filled with disappointment as he asked repeatedly, "Then what crime has my nephew Yuan Household committed? What crime has my Martial Nephew He committed? What crime have my second and third senior brothers committed?! Xuerong, do you really not understand?"

"Ugh, you people are all hypocrites. You speak so grandly, but you're nothing but bullying us orphans and widows! Bah, the Shan Household wants to use me for business, and you, you old widower, are only after my looks."

Shan Xuerong reached out and took the hairpin off, intending to use it to slash her face to pieces, but suddenly found herself devoid of all spiritual power. Startled, she exclaimed in surprise, "What have you done?!"

The old master, suppressing his grief, flicked his finger, and the rose-red tea in the emerald green teacup condensed into a thin stream, slowly flowing into Shan Xuerong's almond-shaped mouth. The young woman's eyes widened in shock as she felt the spiritual energy within her body slowly seeping out from her pores.

As the tea entered her stomach, Shan Xuerong felt no pain, only that Zhou Yixiu's face slowly blurred before her eyes. Zhou Yixiu, his face contorted with pain, held his young wife in his arms and whispered, "Xuerong, you didn't believe me. First drink the berry tea, then smell the ink, and you will calm your mind; otherwise, it is poison."

Upon hearing this, Shan Xuerong suddenly perked up, but she didn't have the strength to lift her head. She forced her head to rest on Zhou Yixiu's shoulder and said sadly, "Haha, you old widower actually blame me?! I was sold to your wolf's den by my Lineage. If I hadn't been careful, I would have been treated as your plaything long ago!"

"Fine! Fine! If you want to take my son and my life to sell to your Foundation Establishment and regain their trust, then take it. Don't put on this act; it only tarnishes your status as an elder of a major sect."

Zhou Yixiu didn't answer, but kept shaking his shoulders, gradually soaking Shan Xuerong's shoulders with his sincere heart.

It seeps into the heart like a gentle breeze, nourishing things silently. Sincerity is something that, if it exists, it exists; it cannot be faked.

Perhaps for this reason, as Shan Xuerong lay dying, her tone softened. "Ha, you old man." Her voice returned to its usual languidness. "I know I shouldn't blame you. If you couldn't save my son, then you couldn't save me either."

With her last ounce of strength, Shan Xuerong turned her head to look at Zhou Yixiu's cloudy old eyes and said in a low voice, "Don't die too soon. If there is an afterlife, let's try it the other way around and see if you can do better than me. Let's see what you can do."

Shan Xuerong fell silent. She turned her head away again, resting it against Zhou Yixiu's head, her breath sweet as orchids. "So, was I wrong again? Then I..."

Before he could finish speaking, the courtyard suddenly fell silent.

Only the babbling of the stream and the whistling of the wind could be heard. Zhou Yixiu trembled as she made a hand gesture, Plain Snow Stamen Rui in the courtyard seemed to come alive instantly, like a rolled-up carpet, surrounding Zhou Wei and his mother Shan Xuerong together.

Both of them wore smiles, as if they were in a dream, showing no sign of pain.

Zhou Yixiu finally stopped crying at some point. Looking at his beloved wife and young child, he sighed sadly, each word dripping with sorrow. "For the rest of my life, Yixiu will have no more joy."

A few days later, in Xuanwei City and the Fei Household...

After listening to Deng Baichuan's account of the Chongming Sect battle between the Chongming Sect cultivators and the Hongyi Sect Foundation Establishment cultivators at Cold Crow Mountain, Fei Nanying and Gun Shilu both gasped in shock.

It wasn't that the performance of the Daoist Black Shoes and Kang Dabao was particularly amazing, but rather that the Thunder Swallow Rune that Kuang Liuting gave to Kang Dabao was extremely rare.

"My husband, Shuhe, is truly remarkable." After her Fei Nanying was overjoyed.

Taking Kang Dabao as his son-in-law was indeed the most profitable deal Sima Fei had made since arriving in Cloud Horn Prefecture.

With his Foundation Establishment Early Stage, Sect Leader Kang Da fought two late-stage cultivators from the Golden Core Sect, a Golden Core Hongyi Sect, to a standstill. This feat is comparable to that of most of the direct descendants of noble families in the capital.

After all, even among prestigious families with Nascent Soul True Person cultivators, it's impossible for all the members to be exceptionally talented. Those like Xu Yingshi can already be considered above average.

All of the above is secondary. How many Foundation Establishment cultivators could possibly gain such favor from Kuang Liuting, let alone those in Cloud Horn Prefecture and Shannan Circuit, and even in the entire Great Wei Immortal Dynasty?

Fei Nanying incredibly lucky to have found such a gem in the countryside of Cloud Horn Prefecture.

Gun Shilu, standing to the side, couldn't help but feel a little envious. Since a branch of the Anshan Gun Household moved here with Kuang Liuting, they had married off quite a few daughters. However, despite marrying off a bunch of daughters, both illegitimate and legitimate, not a single son-in-law had emerged from the Foundation Establishment True Cultivator. The results were far inferior to those of the Fei Household.

Gun Shilu suddenly realized, "After the Earl returns this time, he will probably target the Hongyi Sect."

It's not hard to guess. Anyone with eyes can see that Zhu Tong went to great lengths to fabricate so many crimes against the Hongyi Sect in order to give Kuang Liuting a legitimate reason to take action.

However, as he thought of this, Gun Shilu felt a sense of unease.

It should be noted that, to date, Cloud Horn Prefecture Court has not had a single Golden Core cultivator serving under its jurisdiction. However Kuang Liuting, being of noble birth, has an uncontrollable temper and has already offended three Golden Core forces: the Yang family of Ye Prefecture Yang Household, the Hongyi Sect of Ding Prefecture, and the Two Instruments Sect, a local tyrant in several prefectures. This is something that cannot be ignored.

To cautious individuals like Gun Shilu, this was indeed far too dangerous. They believed that Kuang Liuting was at the peak of his life, about to Core Formation, and should be seeking stability. Making too many enemies would be detrimental to the overall situation.

While the Acting Sima Gun was preoccupied with state affairs, the Sima Fei was still immersed in joy, secretly thinking:

"The Mountain-Viewing cave abode is about to open. Although with that chubby boy's abilities and the protection of the Black Shoes, there shouldn't be any problems, if something goes wrong and things don't go well, I need to prepare some better things for him, lest he get hurt or injured again, and the Lord comes to question me. Also, those families who are also going to enter the Mountain-Viewing cave abode, should we give them a heads-up first?!"