Chapter 578: Call Me Kumu

Soon.

Le Zhuang led a group of neighbors into the bedroom; among them an elderly man—Gu Liangong—who was the most reputable among the neighbors, seized the command, directing the neighbors to handle various matters, including Le Wenmao's affairs, and when he saw the sorrowful Xuanqing Daozhang by the bedside, he could not help but ask:

"Daozhang, may I ask what relation you have with Le Wenmao?"

Le Wenmao has few relatives, especially since his son and daughter‑in‑law were brutally killed by the Zhu Clan; his relatives, aware that the Le and Zhu clans have a conflict, fear retaliation from the Zhu Clan.

The Zhu Clan is powerful, not a household ordinary people can provoke; over the years, no relative has visited the Le household.

However, he has moved around before; as Le Wenmao's neighbor and acquaintance of Le's relatives, he is well acquainted with them, but this is his first time seeing Xuanqing Daozhang.

Especially Wang Ping'an beside Xuanqing Daozhang catches his attention; he cannot understand why a Daoist would take a one‑ or two‑year‑old child out.

Le Zhuang quickly replied, "Grandpa Gu, this is my uncle!"

"Uncle, where does this uncle come from?"

Gu Liangong's face was full of bewilderment; not only him, but also the woman beside him preparing to change Le Wenmao's clothes and tidy his appearance was stunned by Le Zhuang's words.

The Le family has lived on this street for an unknown number of years; among them are those who grew up with Le Wenmao, or are a few years younger, or are in their teens or twenties and married onto this street, all familiar with the Le family, so how could they not know about Le Wenmao's prematurely deceased wife.

He is an orphan; where would brothers or sisters come from?

Gu Liangong trembled all over, staring fixedly at Xuanqing Daozhang; his face and eyes were full of disbelief, his voice trembling, he exclaimed in shock, "You are… no, Daozhang, you, you, you are the disciple of the former Kumu Daozhang?"

His age matches Le Wenmao's; he grew up with Le Wenmao and often played together, but for some special reasons, he and the other playmates stopped playing with Le Wenmao, mainly because Le Wenmao actually sought out the disciple of Kumu Daozhang to play with.

According to his parents, the disciple of Kumu Daozhang is a "death‑star" who brings ruin to parents; playing with him would invite disaster, so his parents forbid him from playing with the disciple of Kumu Daozhang.

Those who previously played with Le Wenmao also tried to advise him, but Le Wenmao ignored them; some, for speaking too harshly, even clashed with Le Wenmao because of the disciple of Kumu Daozhang.

He never dealt with the disciple of Kumu Daozhang, because his parents forbade him from playing with him, yet he is still familiar with the disciple; he recalls that the disciple left Liangshui Town in his teens or twenties, but he does not know where, and Kumu Daozhang never mentioned it.

Whether it was his sister's wedding to Le Wenmao, his sister's funeral, or even Kumu Daozhang's funeral, he never appeared, and does not know whether he died outside.

According to gossip from his parents and neighboring residents, the disciple of Kumu Daozhang learned the Three‑legged Cat technique from Kumu Daozhang, considered himself extraordinary, set out to roam the jianghu, but ended up provoking an entity he shouldn't have, and was slapped to death, dying miserably on the street.

No one could have imagined.

The disciple of Kumu Daozhang, who hasn't appeared for decades, unexpectedly shows up today at the Le household.

A woman changing Le Wenmao's clothes, hearing Gu Liangong's exclamation, couldn't help asking, "Brother Gu, who are you talking about? I've never heard of them!"

She has been married here for decades, familiar with every tree and blade of grass, yet she has never heard that Le Wenmao has a great‑uncle, and that he is a Daoist.

"It's me!" Xuanqing Daozhang nodded, looking at Gu Liangong's unfamiliar expression; after decades of not having seen each other, and likely having had little interaction in childhood, naturally he didn't know him and felt very strange. Hearing the woman's address, a flash of insight crossed his mind, and he thought, "Are you Gu Liangong?"

"Yes, yes, it's me!"

Gu Liangong suppressed his inner excitement; after hearing for decades the rumor of Xuanqing Daozhang's tragic death on the street, he never imagined meeting Xuanqing Daozhang at the Le household after so many years, and curiously asked, "Doggy—no, Daozhang, how should I address you now?"

"Call me Kumu!"

Xuanqing Daozhang said with a complicated expression.

"Kumu."

It is his master's Daoist name; according to his master, if he had not acquired skills at Ziyang Palace and failed to make a name for himself outside, he would rush back to Liangshui Town to inherit his Kumu Guan, and the title of the Kumu Daoist would be passed to him.

Unfortunately.

The news letters about Wenjun and his master's successive deaths reached him, leaving him without mind—also lacking the courage to return to Liangshui Town, he casually found a place and built a Taoist temple.

Now he comes with the Wang Family members to Liangshui Town to avoid disaster, and cannot reveal his true name.

This novel you

"Kumu, this isn't…"

Gu Liangong instinctively began to speak, but before he finished, Xuanqing Daozhang interrupted, "After my master left, his Kumu Guan became mine, naturally his Daoist name is also mine, after all my master expected me to expand the Kumu Guan!"

"So that's how it is!"

Hearing Xuanqing Daozhang's explanation, Gu Liangong no longer asked further; his curiosity lay elsewhere, and he asked, "Disciple Kumu, in these decades, what have you been doing outside?"

"What else could I do? Naturally, I roamed the jianghu!"

Xuanqing Daozhang chuckled self‑deprecatingly; his master never mentioned his cultivation at Ziyang Palace to outsiders, and he does not wish to speak of it to others—not because it is disgraceful, but because he never made a name for himself, and revealing it would embarrass his master and Ziyang Palace, so he casually said at the banquet, "Roam the jianghu?"

"Roam the jianghu?"

A flash of insight flickered in Gu Liangong's mind; recalling the neighbors' past remarks about Xuanqing Daozhang leaving Liangshui Town, many seemed true except the street‑death rumor, so he asked again: "All these years you never returned, Kumu Daozhang; this time you come back after hearing about the Le family—are you here to avenge them?"

"You overestimate me; I know exactly my own weight and strength. I never managed to make a name for myself outside, so I haphazardly rolled back!"

Xuanqing Daozhang chuckled self‑deprecatingly, sighing, "I would like to stand up for the Le family, but that requires ability. Though I've been away from Liangshui Town for decades, I dare not forget the Zhu Clan's great name; with my meager strength, I could never match the Zhu Clan. If they don't trouble me, I thank the heavens; how could I dare to imagine defending the Le family?"

Xuanqing Daozhang laughed self‑deprecatingly, sighed, and said, "I would indeed like to champion the Le Family, but that would require me to have the ability. Don't think that just because I've been away from Liangshui Town for decades that I can forget the great name of the Zhu Clan. With my meager strength, how could I possibly be a match for the Zhu Clan? If they don't trouble me, I thank Heaven and Earth; how could I dare to imagine championing the Le Family?"

(End of chapter)