279: The Mechanism is Destroyed (21st Update)
Xie Zhinuan was quite surprised to hear this.
The collapse had occurred ten years ago. In that decade, her master had shown no concern or inquiry, and only now had he returned. Was it because he harbored feelings of attachment and couldn’t let go, or was there some other reason?
She wasn’t sure, but she did know that Lian Huai wasn’t as carefree as he appeared to be; otherwise, he wouldn’t have sought solace in alcohol.
The destruction of the Lian Family still awaited investigation.
She shouldn’t rush to any decisions or judge who was right or wrong.
…that Lian Huai would take her as his disciple…
Xie Zhinuan exhaled deeply.
She summoned a guard over, “Hold Ayi for me, I’ll go take a look!”
“I’ll come with you!” Li Hengyi quickly spoke up.
The guard held Xie Yi, finally deciding to carry him into the carriage and leaving Routuan and the gray wolf behind.
As a result, Routuan stayed put while the gray wolf followed, with Dahuang outside the carriage.
Xie Yi and the guard Li Xi looked at each other, one not crying or fussing, the other not knowing how to soothe a child.
They stared at each other, wide-eyed.
Xie Zhinuan watched, let out a light chuckle, called for the gray wolf to follow her into the ruins, with Li Hengyi and Yuanbao trailing behind.
After more than a decade with no visitors, everywhere was overgrown and decrepit, the ground creaking ominously underfoot.
Perhaps because she had learned martial arts, Xie Zhinuan didn’t feel as scared anymore, at least not as she had been when entering Lian Huai’s cellar that day, with her scalp tingling and her back breaking out in a cold sweat of fear.
Lian Huai found the Lian Family ancestral hall from memory.
The plaque of the ancestral hall had fallen to the ground and rotted away, with only a corner of the character “Lian” remaining.
He knelt down.
“Undeserving descendant Lian Huai begs forgiveness from the ancestors!”
“…”
The mute servant stood behind him, silent.
When Xie Zhinuan arrived, she heard Lian Huai’s crying and his self-blaming, and she pursed her lips.
The closer you are to home, the more vulnerable you feel, no matter how dignified or difficult you are outside. Once you’re back home, you inevitably relax.
That saying, “to return to one’s roots” or “to return home in glory,” good or bad, you always come back to your family.
Thinking of the original body…
If one day in the future, her adoptive parents come looking for her, she would certainly treat them with great filial piety, as she was occupying their daughter’s body.
She couldn’t let their daughter become an ungrateful wretch in her stead.
Lian Huai cried for a long while before he stood up and entered the ancestral hall.
But the ancestors’ tablets were nowhere to be seen.
“…”
Lian Huai was taken aback.
After the initial surprise, it was as if he understood something and suddenly burst out laughing.
“Ahahaha!”
His laughter was tinged with both madness and touch of emotion.
He hadn’t returned for ten years, and the Lian Family hadn’t been completely wiped out; the ancestors’ tablets were gone, presumably moved elsewhere for offering incense.
The place where he had grown up was not something he could easily forget.
But he dared not return.
If the tablets were gone, the wine cellar where the Lian Family hid their Drunken Snow Brew might have been tampered with as well.
Slowly getting to his feet, he took a deep breath, “Zhinuan, come with me!”
He wasn’t sure if the wine was still there.
But he led Xie Zhinuan toward the interior of the ancestral hall anyway.
“…”
Xie Zhinuan followed, with Li Hengyi and Yuanbao instinctively coming along-they were uneasy about letting Xie Zhinuan go alone with Lian Huai.
However, Lian Huai had not expected that the entrance mechanism to the cellar had been destroyed.
“…”
He pressed it several times, to no avail.
Lian Huai’s brow furrowed deeply as he tried several more times, but still, nothing happened.
“No need to try anymore, the mechanism has been destroyed!” Li Hengyi said in a grave tone.
It was natural for there to be a mechanism since they were concealing wine, especially the Drunken Snow Brew of the Liang Family.
“How could this be?” Lian Huai was puzzled.
He slowly sat down against the wall, mumbling to himself, “How could this happen?”
Why was the mechanism destroyed?
He couldn’t understand.
Chapter 280