Chapter Forty-Four: The Hidden Secrets of the Yue Family

“What’s going on?!” Yue Qi hurried forward, only to find that the manor lord, who had been perfectly fine just before, was now collapsed on the ground, blood spilling endlessly from his mouth.

“What happened?” Yue Qi moved closer, examining the manor lord, even extending his spiritual senses, but found not a single sign that he was about to turn into a zombie.

“I don’t know. Father was fine just a moment ago, but suddenly he became like this…” Yue Liang’s eyes brimmed with anxiety. Truly, misfortune had struck them relentlessly today—not only had Yue Qi’s mother suffered, but now even his own father was in this dire state.

“Step aside, Yue Liang. Let me try…” Yue Qi tried to comfort him. Their group was already fractured and fragile; the loss of any more lives would be a devastating blow, not only in terms of strength but also by sowing fear and despair among the survivors.

He quietly began casting spells, and gentle water energy suffused the manor lord’s body, moistening and nourishing flesh and spirit. The pallor on the manor lord’s face gave way to a flush of color, and the blood no longer welled from his lips.

Yet Yue Qi’s spellcasting did not cease. After the first round of healing water, he quickly muttered another incantation to perform a second spell. All the while, his own expression grew darker and more troubled, his eyes flickering with unspoken secrets.

“Cough, cough… Yue Qi, don’t waste your strength,” the manor lord suddenly regained consciousness, coughing weakly as he spoke.

Still, Yue Qi’s hands did not stop moving, the healing water tirelessly mending wounds both visible and hidden. Seeing his persistence, the manor lord could only look at him with an apologetic gaze.

“Father, what’s happened to you? How did you suddenly…” With Yue Qi silent, Yue Liang rushed forward, desperate for answers.

The manor lord shook his head, bitterness clouding his eyes. “It’s fate, nothing more. I’m already grateful to have survived this long. Ah Liang, if I’m no longer here, you must take care of yourself.”

“Father, what are you saying? How could you not be here? That’s impossible!” Yue Liang’s composure broke, panic and denial warring on his tear-stained face as he clung to hope, refusing to accept the reality before him.

Suddenly, Yue Qi halted his spellcasting and sighed. “My lord, I can’t make sense of what’s happening inside your body, but… I’m sorry. There’s nothing more I can do…” He turned to Yue Liang as he spoke.

“How can this be? Brother Qi, you’re just joking with us, right? Father, tell me it’s a lie—please get up, I know you’re all just trying to trick me…” Yue Liang forced a smile, but his eyes betrayed his disbelief.

Seeing Yue Liang like this, Yue Qi was at a loss for words. Instead, he faced the manor lord and said, “I don’t understand why you’re in this condition, and since you won’t explain, I won’t pry. But if you have any last requests, anything I can do, I promise I will not refuse.”

Yue Qi’s words were calm, but the sincerity within them was unmistakable. Although the manor lord had once mistreated his family, even raising his hand against them for a few taels of gold—Yue Qi had thought he would surely flay him alive if ever given the chance—yet their recent time together had revealed the manor lord to be not without reason. Perhaps he harbored his own secrets, but Yue Qi believed that for mere gold, the manor lord would never have oppressed his kin so cruelly.

“Thank you,” the manor lord said, gratitude shining briefly in his eyes, followed by a flush of shame. He knew he had wronged Yue Qi’s family, even to the point of despising his own actions, yet Yue Qi’s kindness in return had deeply moved him.

“Father, what’s wrong with you? You were fine just a moment ago…” Yue Liang, huddled to the side, could no longer hold back his tears.

“Let’s not talk of this—it is all fate…” the manor lord sighed, then continued, “Ah Liang, from now on listen to Yue Qi. In this world, every day survived is a blessing. With Yue Qi here, our Yue family’s legacy will not be extinguished…”

“Don’t worry, Father! I promise! I’ll be obedient, I’ll live as best I can—and one day, I’ll go with you to see the Yue family in Jizhong!” Yue Liang wiped his tears.

“The Yue family in Jizhong?” Yue Qi was puzzled. He knew the branch at Yue Manor had migrated from the Yue family in Jizhong, but this was the first time he’d heard the manor lord speak of it.

“Jizhong… the Yue family…” The manor lord’s eyes glimmered with longing, but the light soon faded. “I can’t make it back to the Yue family in Jizhong, but Yue Qi…”

He suddenly turned to Yue Qi, his gaze burning intensely. “Listen to me, Yue Qi. If ever you have the chance, you must go to the Yue family in Jizhong. There are benefits there beyond your imagination!” As he spoke, he gripped Yue Qi’s arm, excitement making him cough up more blood.

“The Yue family in Jizhong?” Yue Qi mused. He didn’t take the manor lord’s words too seriously; what advantages could possibly await there? At most, being recognized as kin would provide some extra resources.

“Yes!” The manor lord stared at Yue Qi, continuing, “These words I have told no one—this is the secret passed down through generations of manor lords…”

“So today, by telling you this, I’m making you the next lord of Yue Manor!” He sighed again. “Though Yue Manor is no more, if you return to Jizhong and tell them you come from the Qingzhou branch, they will treat you well!”

“But my lord, what exactly is the background of the Yue family in Jizhong…” Yue Qi wondered why the manor lord was so certain he’d find protection there.

“It all goes back to the first patriarch of the Yue family…” The manor lord grew wistful, recalling all he knew.

“Our ancestor was named Yue Tianheng, the first patriarch of the Yue family. But he had another identity: he was a cultivator! A cultivator like you, Yue Qi!” The manor lord’s eyes shone with fervor.

“A cultivator?” Yue Qi was not surprised. To dominate a region like Jizhong, the family had to have a powerful cultivator at its core. What mattered more to Yue Qi was the level of his ancestor’s strength.

“Yes!” The manor lord said proudly. “But don’t underestimate cultivators—there are many ranks. Our ancestor, Yue Tianheng, was a transcendent cultivator at the Tribulation-Transcending stage!!”

“Tribulation-Transcending?!” Now Yue Qi was truly shocked. To reach that stage meant breaking through the bonds of this world and stepping into another, vaster realm—the legendary Immortal Realm, though none could say if it truly existed, for all who knew of it had already ascended and vanished.

Seeing Yue Qi’s astonished face, the manor lord seemed pleased. “He was an ascended cultivator! Since records began, how many have reached that stage and ascended? Not one in the last hundred years!”

The manor lord spoke the truth. From what Yue Qi knew, no one had ascended in the past century—at least not among the orthodox sects. Even the grandmaster of the Three Pure Ones Sect was said to be stuck at the peak before Tribulation-Transcending, never able to take that final step.

“If that’s the case…” Yue Qi thought, hope flickering in his eyes. Perhaps that ancestor had left something behind to protect the Yue family, enough to prevent its rapid destruction in these troubled times.

What power did a Tribulation-Transcending cultivator possess? A trace of yearning flickered in Yue Qi’s eyes. He could easily handle a hundred ordinary folk now, but a cultivator at that level could move mountains and fill seas, perhaps even destroy a city with a flick of the finger. He knew that even the Five Elemental Arts, when mastered, held unimaginable might.

“That’s all I know. If you have the chance, Yue Qi, you must visit the Yue family in Jizhou! Remember, they are rooted in Jizhou and have been there nearly a thousand years!” As the manor lord spoke, he coughed up another mouthful of blood, staining his clothes and turning his face even paler.

“Father! Please, don’t speak anymore! Rest! Brother Qi, I beg you, please save my father again…” Yue Liang knelt by the manor lord’s side, pleading with Yue Qi.

Sighing, Yue Qi could not bear the sight. He raised his hand to cast his healing spell again, but this time the manor lord stopped him.

“Yue Qi, don’t waste your effort. I know my own body. And don’t take my son’s words to heart. All I ask now is that you protect our clan—everyone here is of Yue family blood!” The manor lord grew more impassioned, but more blood flowed from his lips and his pallor deepened.

“Father! Don’t go!” Yue Liang lay across his father’s chest, gripping his hands as if to hold him back from death.

“Ah Liang, take care of yourself and follow your seventh brother—you can’t go wrong! In all these years, the most accomplished among us is Yue Qi!” The manor lord sighed, as though regretting that such a man was not his own son…

Suddenly, he began coughing violently, the blood turning from red to black, and with its flow, the last spark of life ebbed away.

“Father!!” A heart-wrenching cry rang out beneath the sky, and as the final breath faded, only boundless sorrow and pain remained behind.