Chapter 142: Old Master An

The An family is the second-largest clan in Xiancheng, headed by An Yonglu, who is also Young Master An's father, but all major and minor affairs within the clan are still decided by the Foundation Establishment elder, Old Master An.

Upon seeing Old Master An, the group all bowed respectfully. Old Master An exchanged a few polite greetings in return.

Old Master An did not dismiss Mo Hua because of his youth; instead, he treated him with considerable courtesy.

His courtesy made Mo Hua feel something was off.

We've never met before—why is he being so kind to me?

Mo Hua silently grew suspicious.

After a while of chatting, Mo Hua learned the full story.

The cultivator who practiced sexual cultivation had indeed targeted a concubine-born daughter of the An family.

The girl, captivated by the cultivator's handsome appearance, had been deceived by his sweet words and secretly pledged her life to him. When she realized the truth, it was too late—she had already been used as a cultivation vessel, drained until her body withered and her spirit hollowed, leaving her perpetually dazed.

Overcome with bitterness and despair, she insisted on dying; though rescued, she became neither human nor ghost, living in constant terror and anguish…

Upon learning this, Old Master An flew into a rage and secretly ordered An family disciples to investigate, but found no trace.

The cultivator was experienced and skilled in movement techniques—hard to track, impossible to pursue.

Old Master An then used his connections to ask the Situ family, with whom he had some ties, and Gu Diansi Zhang Lan of Dao Ting Si to assist in the investigation.

Later, on Great Heishan, Zhang Lan, with Mo Hua's guidance, finally captured the cultivator.

Old Master An was deeply grateful to Mo Hua.

But Mo Hua still felt something was wrong—Old Master An's gratitude was excessive.

He should have been more grateful to Zhang Lan and Sister Situ, since they were the ones who actually captured him; Mo Hua had merely lent a hand.

Sure enough, after a period of veiled hints, Old Master An began probing into Mo Hua's personal affairs.

He asked about Mo Hua's parents' occupations, his future aspirations, whether he had studied array techniques, and so on.

Old Master An could not be offended.

Mo Hua responded with polite, earnest answers, choosing only trivial, inconsequential remarks.

Old Master An kept asking.

Mo Hua answered with a childlike innocence, shifting topics from east to west and back again, repeating the same circular nonsense with a perfectly serious expression—utterly evasive, utterly insincere.

When he could no longer dodge, he simply grinned and said he couldn't remember.

After all, he was still a child—so saying was perfectly acceptable.

After circling around for a while, Old Master An extracted not a single useful word, and inwardly sighed:

If any of the An family's younger disciples had this kind of wit, he could save himself a great deal of trouble.

After a while, Old Master An also summoned several An family disciples.

There were both men and women, mostly women, all around Mo Hua's age, with striking appearances and formal attire.

Mo Hua glanced and spotted Young Master An among them.

There was no helping it—in the whole group, he was the fattest.

Standing out like a crane among chickens, impossible to miss…

But Young Master An seemed unhappy, standing among the disciples with a gloomy expression, head perpetually bowed.

It seemed that though he was the clan lord's son, he was not valued at all—and among these An disciples, he was likely the lowest in talent, cultivation, and bearing, probably included just to fill the numbers.

Old Master An said: "I still have matters to discuss with Grand Venerable Zhang. Mo young brother, if you don't mind, feel free to stroll through the An family's garden behind us—it's filled with blooming flowers and splendid scenery."

"These clan disciples can accompany you," Old Master An said, gesturing toward the group, especially the several beautiful young female disciples at the front.

Mo Hua felt awkward—anyone with eyes could see Old Master An's intentions.

Sister Situ also looked embarrassed, unsure what to say.

Zhang Lan, meanwhile, enjoyed the spectacle, sipping tea silently, though behind his cup, he gave Mo Hua a mischievous eyebrow raise full of glee.

Old Master An had gone to such lengths because he likely wanted Mo Hua to become a son-in-law.

To avoid making it too obvious, he had mixed in other An family youths.

Mo Hua sighed inwardly and stopped bothering to play along.

He had already been polite enough by wasting time on those empty formalities.

Mo Hua rose and took his leave: "It's getting late—I have other matters to attend to. I won't disturb you and Uncle Zhang any longer."

Old Master An's expression showed slight disappointment, but he made no effort to detain him, only saying:

"Young brother, feel free to go—no need for formalities."

As Mo Hua rose to leave, he turned and saw Young Master An's forlorn expression. He hesitated briefly, then sighed inwardly.

"Young Master An?"

Old Master An's eyes lit up. "Young brother, you know Xiao Fu?"

Mo Hua nodded. "Young Master An and I are fellow disciples—we have some acquaintance. He once helped me."

Young Master An froze.

Hadn't Mo Hua helped him with his homework? When had he ever helped Mo Hua?

Why didn't he remember…

Old Master An's eyes brightened further, and his gaze toward Young Master An now held a touch of approval.

"Since you two share the bond of fellow disciples, Xiao Fu, you shall accompany Mo young brother on his stroll."

All eyes in the room turned to Young Master An.

For the first time, surrounded by so many stares, Young Master An was flustered—but he straightened his back slightly and said: "Yes, Grandfather."

Young Master An led Mo Hua out of the reception hall.

Immediately afterward, he exhaled deeply, his whole body deflating like a punctured ball, drooping again.

He looked pitiful—and slightly ridiculous.

Watching Mo Hua couldn't help but ask, "Are you very afraid of your grandfather?"

An Xiaopang nodded, "Afraid. Not just my grandfather, I'm also afraid of my dad, and the other uncles."

"Do they hit you?"

An Xiaopang shook his head.

"Do they scold you?"

"My dad does, but my grandfather doesn't, and the other uncles usually don't either. Oh right, my dad also beats me…"

Watching Mo Hua asked in confusion, "Then what are you afraid of them for?"

An Xiaopang didn't answer, but his expression fell, and he said:

"Watching Mo Hua, am I completely useless?"

Watching Mo Hua wanted to say no, but it seemed he couldn't find any of his strengths, so he could only say tactfully:

"Just a little bit."

An Xiaopang grew even more dejected. "My dad is the clan head, so logically, I'll have to be the clan head in the future too, but I have no ability, I can't be the clan head…"

"Is it because of this that you're unhappy?"

"Mm." An Xiaopang nodded. "So those uncles of mine, the way they look at me is both regretful and disappointed. When I was little, my grandfather doted on me too, but as I gradually grew up, he wouldn't even look at me properly anymore…"

An Xiaopang's voice grew smaller and smaller, until at last it was almost inaudible.

"Did you not know about this kind of thing before?"

The An Xiaopang in Watching Mo Hua's memory was still that carefree, somewhat temperamental, but good-natured little fatty.

Now he had become burdened with worries.

"I didn't know before because I hadn't noticed. But then one day, I suddenly discovered that the way my grandfather looked at me was no longer concern, but indifference and disappointment. I looked at my dad again, and those uncles of mine, they were actually all the same, only disappointment in their eyes…"

"Maybe they had long been disappointed in me, I just never noticed."

An Xiaopang's eyes held a deep sense of loss.

"Then what if you cultivate hard and learn more things?" Watching Mo Hua said.

An Xiaopang secretly wiped his tears. "Watching Mo Hua, I'm stupid. No matter how hard I try, I just can't learn it. Things other people can learn, no matter how I study them, I just can't learn them…"

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