Chapter 127: True and False Grandmother

"But..." Qintai He hesitated, pain and conflict blending in the depths of his eyes, "I must disappoint you. I have no ability to make an enemy of the Qintai Family, and... I am going to die soon as well, unable to let you become my Dao Protector."

"You're not?" Ruan Xing grew anxious, "You're still thinking of going to Nanzhou?"

Qintai He lowered his eyes, "Mm, that was what we originally agreed upon, wasn't it? It was only to take a look at Xizhou. If I truly have not a single relative in Xizhou who cares for me, I would rather go to Nanzhou, so as to avoid my Master being punished."

"Although you have no family, haven't you gained a few enemies instead? Can't we just lie low in Xizhou and wait to make plans for the future?" Ruan Xing tried to persuade him with earnest, painstaking advice.

She still wanted to let Qintai He inherit Qintai Mo's legacy and see if any clues had been left behind.

Cang Lin interjected with a strange expression, "Actually... Young Master, there is still one family member who cares for you."

Qintai He was taken aback, "Who is it?"

"It is your biological grandmother," Cang Lin said.

"She... is still alive? How is she now?" Qintai He was somewhat at a loss, clumsily worrying about this grandmother he had yet to meet.

Cang Lin nodded, "Your grandmother suffered hidden injuries in her early years. Her health has not been good all these years, and now she is merely holding on. Fortunately, you returned in time; otherwise, it is truly uncertain if you would have been able to see her even once."

He looked around and said to Qintai He in a low voice, "Young Master, come back with me first. It will not be too late to make a decision after you see your grandmother."

Qintai He agreed. Cang Lin had intended to destroy the bodies to remove all traces, but he did not expect Ruan Xing to be faster; she had already collected the corpses into her Storage Bag.

Although in the Simulation, even if one made use of waste by turning them into a Puppet, they could not be brought back, it was truly a waste to just leave them here.

Adhering to the good habit of diligence and thrift, on the way back, Ruan Xing also pocketed the Foundation Establishment cultivator whose body had been blown beyond recognition, while she burned everything else to ashes with a single fire.

Cang Lin took them directly through a concealment technique, walking brazenly past the few mortal servants at the entrance, "With me here, the Stone Forest Array at the entrance will not take effect. It is better not to let others know the news of the Young Master's return for now."

It was unknown if the "others" Cang Lin spoke of included that woman who called herself the Second Grandmother and her married-off daughter.

Thinking of this, Ruan Xing asked, "Qintai Mo and Qintai He's father were not born of the same mother, so what is the situation with his mother?"

Generally, Xizhou cultivators would only have one cultivator Dao companion, while the others were mortal concubines, but that Second Grandmother clearly had cultivation... Cultivators have pride; how could she be willing to be a concubine? And with the original wife still alive and well, did she not mind? "This is a long story..." Cang Lin paused, "It is not convenient for someone of my status to speak of the master's affairs, but the only person who knows the inside story is likely unwilling to mention it, so I will tell you both."

"I mentioned before that the Madam suffered hidden injuries in her early years. It is not easy for cultivators to conceive, and the Madam did not care whether she had offspring or not. However, to compete for the position of Clan Leader, one must have heirs to carry on the line. She took the initiative to have the Master take a mortal woman as a concubine, who later gave birth to the Second Young Master. The Madam treated him as her own and loved him dearly. But only a few years later, the Madam discovered she was pregnant. At that time, the Second Young Master had not yet drawn in Qi, so the Madam no longer kept the Second Young Master under her own name."

Ruan Xing nodded to herself. No wonder Cang Lin addressed Qintai Mo as the Second Young Master, yet in the last Simulation, the Second Grandmother said Qintai Mo was Qintai He's uncle.

It turned out the Qintai Family judged by status, while the Second Grandmother judged by age.

Cang Lin continued, "After Qintai Mo lost his noble status, that mortal woman cried and complained to the Madam. The Madam felt guilty for going back on what she had originally promised, so she used her own resources to help the mortal woman, assisting her in practicing martial arts to draw in Qi and cultivate a Spirit Bone, grooming her all the way to Foundation Establishment, compensating her with a hundred years of life. The mortal woman happily agreed. By the time the Master went into seclusion, she was already nearly two hundred years old. It is only because Qintai Mo likely spent a fortune to find a Longevity Pill for her after inheriting the Master's legacy that she has been able to live until now."

"Before the Master passed away, no one in the clan took her seriously; she was just a mortal woman who had performed the service of giving birth, to be fed and cared for until her life ended. Who would have thought that now, she could even call herself the Second Grandmother." Cang Lin shook his head and gave a bitter smile.

Qintai He listened silently, his emotions somewhat complex.

Such inner-household matters of a Xizhou clan gave his worldview a great shock. The group deliberately bypassed the place where Qintai Mo's biological mother lived and the small flower hall and garden she frequented, arriving at the deepest part of the entire courtyard.

There were a few deathly still back-row rooms, with a few old locust trees planted on the side, the hanging tree shade blocking out all the sunlight.

During the previous Simulation, when Ruan Xing and Qintai He were wandering around, they had passed by here, but this place was truly not as glamorous as the Second Grandmother made it appear, so they had assumed it was an empty house where no one lived.

Cang Lin knocked on the door, and an aged, calm female voice came from inside, "Come in."

The three of them walked in. After rounding a boxwood screen, Ruan Xing saw the quiet room behind it. Although it did not look luxurious, it was clean and tidy. What surprised her was that a small Spirit Gathering Array was embedded in the ground inside this quiet room, which even possessed the function of locking in Spirit Qi; she had not felt even a trace of Spirit Qi leaking out while outside the door.

A woman dressed in an off-white outer robe was sitting cross-legged on a meditation cushion with her eyes closed. There were traces of time at the corners of her eyes, yet one could still vaguely see the delicate beauty of her youth.

She turned her head slightly, wearing a soft, faint smile, "It is you, Cang Lin. Who have you brought?"

"... Madam." A faint glimmer of moisture seemed to flicker in Cang Lin's eyes. He lowered his head, "Madam, you have waited."

The woman was stunned, her gaze lingering affectionately on Qintai He, "You have finally come."

"Grandmother?" Qintai He called out softly, feeling somewhat unconfident.

The woman nodded, "It is me."

Qintai He crouched down and knelt beside the woman. The woman hugged him with tears in her eyes, "You have grown so big, yet this is the first time I have seen you. You won't blame Grandmother, will you?"

"I won't." Qintai He was like a child who had not grown up, his cheek pressed against the woman's shoulder as he snuggled into her, "So you have been waiting for me all along. It is I who arrived late."

He breathed in the faint, warm fragrance on the woman greedily.

It turned out it was not an illusion; this was the feeling of family he had dreamed of and imagined.

The woman patted his back gently to soothe him, then suddenly coughed twice, appearing somewhat weak, a trace of crimson appearing at the corner of her mouth.

Qintai He hurriedly stood up to support her, frowning with worry, "Grandmother, what is wrong with you?"

The woman waved her hand, "It is nothing, an old ailment. This is also the reason why I have kept myself locked in here. My body is getting worse by the day now. Once I leave this room, my cultivation will gradually decline. Therefore, I had no way to go to Xizhou to bring you home; I could only passively wait for you to return."

This Spirit Gathering Array beneath the ground was both her lifeline and her shackle.

Qintai Mo and his mother held control over the household, and Cang Lin was also trapped by Qintai Mo's side; she could not even successfully get a letter delivered to the Central Province.

"Since you have been able to come, I can finally let go of the matters in my heart. He'er, Grandmother has something to entrust to you," the woman said solemnly. She stood up with the strength of Qintai He supporting her, pulled the simple hairpin from her head, and formed a seal with one hand. The floor beneath their feet emitted ripples of fluorescent light, and then the light gathered into a ball, gradually solidifying into a one-inch-long key. Its design was ancient and simple, the whole body icy blue and translucent, with mysterious, vein-like light faintly flashing upon it.

Thanks to the high school student Zhou Yingting for the monthly ticket~ (End of chapter)