Through the narratives of a few people, An Yiqing learned about the stories of the brothers. Their surname was Feng, named Tianci, Tianbao, Tianfei, Tianhai, and Tianyu. They were identical quintuplets who grew up together from a very young age, with a close bond between them. When they were five years old, the Feng parents both died in a car accident, and from then on, they became unwanted wild children.
It was during the winter of that year that the bizarre old man suddenly developed a bit of kindness and subsequently adopted them, providing them with food.
However, the old man was addicted to alcohol and had many jars of strong liquor he had brewed himself buried in his courtyard. He would drink until he was drunk every day. When he was sober, he was very strict with the Feng Family Five Brothers, but when he was drunk, he would beat and scold them even more, often leaving the children too injured to move.
Year after year passed in this way, with the Feng brothers gradually growing up amidst the old man’s beatings and scoldings. In fact, they could have found jobs with their abilities and supported themselves, but they couldn’t bear to leave the pitiful old man. He had no children of his own, and although he would curse at them when he was drunk, he was genuinely good to them when he was sober, despite his severity.
Feng Tianyu was the youngest, mischievous and playful. The old man often reproached him for not studying properly, but whenever he saw Feng Tianyu holding something he was extremely fond of, the old man would always scrape together enough money to buy it for him. He treated the other brothers the same, showing no favoritism.
Therefore, the Feng brothers had mixed feelings of both love and hate for the old man. They had never called him "Master," but they also never complained about his beatings and scoldings.
They thought life would continue peacefully, but a few years before the old man died, he left home for over a month. When he returned, he was a changed person. His drinking worsened every day, and he developed an addiction to the most dangerous vice, gambling!
Since then, his addiction became so severe it was almost uncontrollable.
To support his gambling habit, he sold all the valuables in the house, even the Feng brothers’ books, until there were none left. In the end, when there was nothing left to sell, he concocted a terrible plan to knock Feng Tianyu unconscious while he was home alone, intending to sell him to human traffickers!
If it were not for the timely return of Feng Tianci and his three brothers, Feng Tianyu, who was nineteen at the time, would have likely been sold by the old man while unconscious. It’s unimaginable what would have awaited him then!
It was because of that incident that the Feng Family Five Brothers had their first violent argument with the old man in history!
In the end, after the argument led nowhere, the Feng brothers completely lost heart and left the old man’s house empty-handed.
They thought that cutting ties with him would mean no longer having any connection. But unexpectedly, a month later, the old man was beaten to death outside of a gambling den!
That gambling den was run by a local gang leader in the county town. Because of its strong backing, it never faced any trouble even when there were fatalities. The old man, due to his chronic alcoholism, had completely let his ancient martial arts slip away, and combined with his incessant gambling, he had become gaunt and pallid. Thus, when he tried to run away after losing thirty million, the gambling den’s security guards brutally dragged him into an alley and beat him to death!
When the Feng brothers heard the tragic news, they were momentarily at a loss. The old man they had both hated and respected all their lives had died just like that?! Wasn’t he supposed to be highly skilled? What about his ancient martial arts? What about the Innate Realm he had talked about?!
The brothers, frantic, rushed to their home only to find the cold corpse that the villagers had brought back. It was only at that moment that they really understood that the old man they both loved and hated would never return!