Chapter 333: Zhang family ancestral home! Twenty-four years ago

Qin Gu Town.

A remote corner of Jiangnan Province, named after the high platform built here during the Qin Dynasty.

On National Highway 233, a silver-white car sped past, accompanied by a piercing whistling sound. Not far away, sparkling waves appeared before their eyes, half a red sun leaped out, occasionally birds escaped into the sky, setting off the few long sails in the distance.

"What beautiful scenery, what clean lake!"

Li Miaoyin gathered her hair messed up by the wind, looked at the scenery outside the car window, and couldn't help but say.

"This is the third largest freshwater lake in Jiangnan Province," Zhang Fan whispered.

Shen Kuo of the Song Dynasty once recorded that during the Qin Dynasty, this lake produced giant clams, the pearl light floating in the air, illuminating a hundred miles, the vast night like bright day, hence the name Zhuhu.

Legend has it that a city is hidden under this lake, which is an ancient ruin.

In ancient times, water tribe dragon species gathered here, later causing monstrous giant waves, floods rolling, submerging nearby cities.

Therefore, even today, the legends about the dragon hidden in Zhuhu are endless.

A few years ago, the media filmed the natural phenomenon of "dragon sucking water" on the lake, faintly visible in the clouds of the sky, as if a huge black shadow flashed past, but during the rebroadcast, the black shadow became three small birds.

"Old Ge, how did you handle the situation in Yujing City?"

Just then, Zhang Fan changed the subject and suddenly asked.

The Red Sun Building incident, Ge Shuangxiu and Xu Zhixia were the only two survivors. In the eyes of the Jiangnan Province Dao Alliance and the Ge family, they were both survivors and suspects.

After all, everyone else died, why did you survive?

Precisely because of this, that night, when Ge Shuangxiu and Xu Zhixia walked out of the Jiangnan Province Dao Alliance, they were monitored.

"I definitely wouldn't have dared to act with you if I hadn't been released from surveillance," Ge Shuangxiu said casually.

He was originally a member of the Ge family. On the surface, Ge Zhenyan was his only backer.

Just from the perspective of interests, his suspicion was much smaller, and after the incident, the Ge family also conducted an investigation on him. Regardless of whether they were suspicious, at least they temporarily lifted the surveillance.

"Xu Zhixia wasn't so lucky," Ge Shuangxiu said solemnly.

"Although she is a member of the Xu family, she was inserted halfway."

"Therefore, her suspicion is very high."

"Xu Zhixia?"

Just then, Li Miaoyin's voice rang out from behind. She leaned over, her clear eyes staring at Zhang Fan.

"That's your ex-girlfriend, right? You two are quite fated, even if you can't be broken apart, right?"

Li Miaoyin's mouth curled slightly, revealing a meaningful smile.

"What are you saying? I have nothing to do with her," Zhang Fan curled his lips and said.

"Sister-in-law, I can prove this. That night, if I hadn't persuaded him, he would have wanted to silence Xu Zhixia too," Ge Shuangxiu testified for Zhang Fan.

Since that day, Zhang Fan and Li Miaoyin treated his soul as air, and his address for Li Miaoyin had changed.

"Will you be so ruthless to me in the future?" Li Miaoyin looked at Zhang Fan again.

"When did I want to silence her?" Zhang Fan rolled his eyes.

"Besides, she's all in the past, you..."

"I what?" Li Miaoyin looked at Zhang Fan with a smile that wasn't a smile.

"Cough cough cough..."

Just then, Ge Shuangxiu coughed twice. In front of these two, he always felt he had entered a vacuum of nothingness.

"Not only you, even her mother was monitored."

Compared to Ge Shuangxiu, Xu Zhixia's situation was worse. After all, she was an accidental character inserted halfway. If it was about the suspicion of leaking information, she was definitely the biggest one.

In addition, in her early years, Xu Zhixia had once lurked in the Wu Wei Gate, but her level was too low, and she just quit halfway.

These experiences made the suspicious points on her body even more.

"Can you just say the name? Don't always say ex-girlfriend, ex-girlfriend."

Zhang Fan curled his lips, looking down at his phone, trying to keep his eyes out of Li Miaoyin's line of sight.

"Hmm!?"

Just then, Zhang Fan's eyes lit up, and he swiped to a special WeChat Moment.

"Warmly celebrate the successful conclusion of the North Zhang Small Flag Courtyard Young and Middle-aged Backbone Seminar."

"Zhang Wuming!?" Li Miaoyin's gaze swept over, and she also saw this WeChat Moment.

After parting in the Ten Thousand Mountains, Zhang Fan returned and thought of Zhang Wuming after three days. Fortunately, he had left contact information earlier. He found the other party and confirmed that he had also left safely.

Swish...

In just the blink of an eye, that WeChat Moment was deleted.

After five seconds, Zhang Wuming posted a new WeChat Moment.

"Warmly celebrate the successful conclusion of the Zhang Family Small Flag Courtyard Young and Middle-aged Backbone Seminar."

Besides the copy, he also added a flower-scattering emoji.

"Really interesting," Zhang Fan said flatly.

"After the South Zhang was exterminated, there is only one Zhang family in this world, so where does the distinction between North and South come from? He almost let it slip," Li Miaoyin said solemnly.

"You said it right, there should only be one Zhang family in this world," Zhang Fan said coldly.

"Why are you still in contact with him?" Li Miaoyin looked at Zhang Fan.

In the Ten Thousand Mountains, Li Miaoyin had been wary of Zhang Wuming. This person seemed to have ordinary cultivation, sparse and ordinary, but in reality, his city was extremely deep and his wit was extraordinary.

Among those disciples of North Zhang who hadn't been conferred gods and titles, Zhang Wuming was definitely an outlier, a deeply hidden outlier.

"Isn't it quite good? We can be considered to have shared adversity and lived and died together."

Zhang Fan smiled lightly: "Considered comrades-in-arms."

"You want to master North Zhang through him..." Li Miaoyin seemed to have guessed something.

"Miaoyin, since we are comrades-in-arms, don't calculate, let everything take its course," Zhang Fan smiled lightly, interrupting Li Miaoyin's guess.

"Old Ge, park the car to the side, we'll rest by the lake and look at the scenery."

"Okay." Ge Shuangxiu turned the steering wheel and parked the car.

The three of them had been dusty all the way, but they had a moment of leisure and began to appreciate the scenery of Zhuhu.

"Zhang Fan, do you know why Chen Long would come here?" Ge Shuangxiu put his hands in his pockets and finally talked about the main topic of this trip.

"Our family's ancestral home is here. I heard my dad say that it had been here since my grandfather's generation," Zhang Fan said solemnly.

More than eighty years ago, the Daoist gate suffered a great calamity. Since then, Long Hu Mountain closed its mountain gate, and only a portion of Zhang family disciples escaped from it.

The last Celestial Master, Zhang Taixu, divided this portion of Zhang family disciples into two parts, thus the North and South were passed down separately.

These people were counted as the first generation of disciples.

Like Zhang Tiansheng, he was counted as the second generation of disciples. Their family moved around and settled in Qin Gu Town.

Later, the South Zhang was destroyed. At that time, Zhang Lingzong was still young, only ten years old. He encountered a great change, left his hometown, and drifted in the Jiang Hu ever since, never returning.

It was only when Li Linglong gave birth to Zhang Fan that Zhang Lingzong brought Li Linglong, who was pregnant at the time, back here.

After Zhang Fan was born, when he was three, their family left.

Since then, they had never returned.

"Chen Long also has the surname Zhang. If he returns here, it can only be for the ancestral home," Zhang Fan said solemnly.

Chen Long, Zhang Nanfeng. In the Ten Thousand Mountains, he called Zhang Tiansheng the second uncle and Zhang Lingzong the fifth brother.

At that time, Zhang Fan knew that this person had a deep relationship with their Zhang family.

"People are animals that constantly move forward. If they look back, it can only be for one thing," Li Miaoyin said.

"Find!" Zhang Fan spat out a word.

The tacit understanding between Zhang Fan and Li Miaoyin was indescribable, with give and take, their thinking like one person.

"Find?" Ge Shuangxiu asked suspiciously.

"That's right."

"Either find old people, find things, or find memories," Zhang Fan analyzed.

The Zhang family's ancestral home had long been abandoned, and the Zhang family's old people were all dead, so Chen Long couldn't be looking for people.

A person like him, who cut off emotions and desires, with a quiet and empty heart, couldn't have run from far away to reminisce about the past.

The only possibility...

"Your family's ancestral home has something she wants!?" Li Miaoyin said solemnly.

"Very likely." Zhang Fan nodded.

"Then where is your family's ancestral home?" Ge Shuangxiu couldn't help but ask.

"I don't know." Zhang Fan shook his head.

"Don't know?" Ge Shuangxiu was stunned.

"No, you don't know where your own hometown is?"

"I left with my mom and dad when I was three, and never came back since," Zhang Fan whispered solemnly.

"How would I know where the ancestral home is?"

"What about sweeping the graves? Qingming? Don't you need to come back to sweep the graves and worship the ancestors?" Ge Shuangxiu asked.

"Never. My dad said, anyway, they are all dead, sweeping or not, it doesn't have much meaning."

"..."

"Your dad is really filial."

"But my dad told me, if one day he is gone, I must burn more for him every year."

"..."

"Then what are we here for?" Ge Shuangxiu couldn't help but ask.

Zi Shu had given them such important information, which was already seizing the opportunity, but Zhang Fan didn't even know where the ancestral home was, which was really getting up early and catching the late market.

"We don't have to do anything," Zhang Fan said flatly.

"Zi Shu giving such information to me is probably harboring evil intentions."

"You think about it, Chen Long's cultivation level, even if he knows where the ancestral home is, if he encounters it, he can't beat it."

As soon as these words were spoken, Li Miaoyin and Ge Shuangxiu fell into silence.

Zhang Fan was right. Chen Long was a master at the Celestial Master level and had practiced the Five Elements Wrong King. His strength was top-notch in the world.

The three of them, if they really encountered him, would be fertilizer one by one.

"Then what are we here for?" Ge Shuangxiu asked.

"We don't have to do anything," Zhang Fan smiled lightly.

"Before coming, I had already submitted a report to the Dao Alliance General Association, telling them that Chen Long of the Thirteen Zodiacs is here."

At this time, Zhang Fan was like Zhao Jiexuan possessed.

"Dao Alliance? Report?" Ge Shuangxiu was stunned.

"Yeah, fighting black and evil forces, providing clues is every citizen's duty."

Strictly speaking, the Wu Wei Gate could indeed be classified as a black and evil force, and it hadn't been swept clean after thousands of years.

Zhang Fan said righteously: "I am irreconcilable with evil."

"You are really damaging," Ge Shuangxiu curled his lips and said.

From the standpoint, he was a member of the Ge family on the surface, but in reality, he was also a member of the Wu Wei Gate.

"Are you sure the Dao Alliance will definitely send masters?" Ge Shuangxiu asked.

"Of course."

Zhang Fan nodded: "Have you heard the story of Ula and the West Sea?"

"Hmm!?"

"Between them, they must fight!" Zhang Fan smiled lightly.

His own power was limited, but the power of the Dao Alliance was infinite.

Him saying this could also be considered indirectly defending the righteous path, raising the banner of Daoist high righteousness, and contributing his own strength to sweeping away black and evil.

"The struggle between the Daoist gate and the Wu Wei Gate is like the waves of the tide, endless."

Just then, Ge Shuangxiu looked at the vast Zhuhu and couldn't help but feel emotional.

"When I look back, I won't do it anymore, I'll find a deep mountain to cultivate."

"Hahaha."

Zhang Fan couldn't help but laugh when he heard this.

"What are you laughing at?" Li Miaoyin couldn't help but ask.

"When I first started working, I had a colleague named Jiang Hu, who told me that there is this kind of person in the workplace..."

"Shouting to resign every day, getting full attendance every month, scolding the leader behind their back, singing 'Gratitude Heart' at the end of the year."

Speaking of this, the smile on Zhang Fan's face became thicker, staring straight at Ge Shuangxiu.

"We generally call this kind of person a 'roll dog'."

As soon as these words were spoken, even Li Miaoyin couldn't help but laugh.

"You husband and wife just laugh."

Ge Shuangxiu rolled his eyes and walked straight ahead along the embankment.

Willows were swaying, waves rose with the wind, and occasionally pedestrians passed by.

Not far away, an old man entered everyone's sight. In front of him was a drawing board, and on the surrounding display racks hung portraits that were as vivid as reality.

In this kind of scenic spot, there were many people taking photos, but not many hand-drawn portraits, especially at this age.

The old man had white hair and beard, wore a broken straw hat, was thin, his skin was slightly dark, his spirit was strong, and his eyes were very bright, obviously having been exposed to wind and sun by the lake for many years to make a living.

"Grandpa, how much does it cost to draw a picture?" Zhang Fan asked casually.

"Two hundred."

"Really expensive," Zhang Fan couldn't help but mutter.

"Think it's expensive? Young man, you don't have a partner yet, right?"

Just then, the drawing grandpa raised his head, looked at Zhang Fan, grinned, and revealed a mouth full of yellow teeth.

"How did you know?" Zhang Fan wondered.

"How could you have a partner if you're this stingy?" The drawing grandpa smiled lightly.

"..."

Li Miaoyin couldn't help but giggle when she heard this.

Zhang Fan curled his lips and was about to leave when suddenly, his gaze trembled violently, falling on a painting on the display rack. With just one glance, he could no longer move his feet.

The background of that painting was the vast and vast Zhuhu, the setting sun, the distant shadows of lonely sails, a girl standing on the embankment, her short hair shoulder-length, her eyes ethereal, that appearance...

"Jiang Lai... she has been here!?"

Zhang Fan raised an eyebrow, walked to the portrait, and couldn't help but ask: "Grandpa, when did you see this girl?"

The drawing grandpa remained silent, just extending a finger.

"What do you mean?"

"One hundred."

"..."

Zhang Fan frowned slightly, took out his phone, scanned the QR code, and transferred one hundred yuan.

"Don't remember," the drawing grandpa replied.

"..."

"Then when did you draw this painting?" Zhang Fan asked.

The drawing grandpa extended a finger again.

Zhang Fan suppressed his temper and transferred another one hundred yuan. If he didn't get an answer this time, he planned to burn this broken stall with a fire.

"Isn't there a time on the painting?" The drawing grandpa grinned, laughing extremely happily.

He hadn't met such a sucker for a long time.

"That should have been a long time ago. That girl was quite good-looking. She shouldn't be small now," the drawing grandpa muttered to himself.

Zhang Fan looked at the yellowed painting paper, but the time was written in the corner.

"Xin Si Year..."

"That was twenty-four years ago!?" Zhang Fan raised an eyebrow, looking at the last date.

"September 9th!"

At this time, his expression moved again.

Twenty-four years ago, September 9th.

That was the day he was born!!!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 334 =====