Rudra followed behind the child which he remembered was the grandchild of his second brother. His name was Darak.
'Well this is awkward how does one talk to his grandchild'
As he was wondering if he should start a conversation they had already reached the front door of their manor. It was big as a luxurious villa in his previous world standards but in this world where immortals built castles for even their pet dogs, this mansion could only be considered a humble abode.
He soon found the gathering room from his memories and sat on one of the empty chairs the whole dining table was filled with children ranging from 5 to 10 they were the third generation, the women of the household were serving food to these children, they randomly popped up fill his dishes with food and ask if he needed anything else, he just sat composedly eating food that he was served, He realized that the able men of the house have gone out into major towns to work this included his second brother and nephews, only he and his eldest brother were left in the manor with the women and the children. Suddenly the hall filled with children's laughter and crying quietened down.
He then saw his eldest brother enter from the adjacent room and sit in the central table surrounded by an oppressive aura around him, it was only natural that he was the leader of the clan he had been a signing star.
The whole clan could have been living like kings if his brother had broken into Core formation stage he would have been accepted as a sect elder and all of their clan would have had their status elevated and gain opportunities to practice martial arts manual but it had all turned into a dream when his cultivation suffered deviation amidst a breakthrough.
Rudra also quietly ate his food and then went to his bedroom and locked himself in and began thinking about his plans.
'I don't have much time to live I might die just from a single cough'
'Think fast think of something'
'The clans a dud they can't help me in any way'
And he turned in his bed for the whole night racking his brain to come up with some solution but his current circumstance seemed impossible to escape.
Then there was a knock on his door he jumped out of his bed to open the door,
"Rishi come follow me", his eldest brother handed him a bottle and started moving,
Rudra clenched the bottle in his hand and hurriedly followed his eldest brother they walked quietly for a while when they reached the bank of a lake, he seemed to remember that this lake was called DimPearl lake because about half a century ago there were many dull moon pearls found in this lake that slowly got depleted till there were no more left.
They both sat down quietly then he and his brother started drinking; after a few taking a few sips of the drink he realized that he was drinking alcohol.
'Fuck alcohol this dumb brother if I drink in this condition I might as well drown myself in this lake', Rudra cursed in his mind as he knew that the alcohol might finally do his body in.
Suddenly his brother started talking,
"Rishi we are burdens on our families, two extra mouths to feed we are worse than the children in our household who look after fields, we have no craft, no scholarly education we have nothing to teach to our kids."
Perhaps due to alcohol the old man finally let loose crying about his circumstances,
This was when Rudra realized that this what the pass-time that both these old men have developed, these two brothers would drink and cry themselves out in each others company by the lake
Now was when old man Rishi would cry to accompany his older brother thinking about this
Rudra wanted to cry 'Bro u are two grown old bastards crying to each other while acting all high and mighty to your grandchildren'
Suddenly his elder brother said "At least Miller can take care of the family his talent in the martial field was worst of us three but he still preserved for the clan"
Rudra agreed out of the three brothers the second brother Miller was the most fortunate one of the three of them still in one piece he still had 50 years of life ahead of him he may even be able to breakthrough to core formation stage but others had little confidence in his breakthrough because he had no interest in cultivation he was a business-minded person who was the one supporting the clan financially with the help of the second generation.
Miller was his second brother while his eldest brother was called Roebuck they all were blood-related brothers.
The next few days passed uneventfully for Rudra all he did was eat sleep and drink with Roebuck.
The whole Giri clan should have been unfamiliar to Rudra but strangely he felt quite attached to them and his life sunk in without a hitch, he attributed it to the memories of Old Rishi that he had integrated into him causing such familiarity and attachment with the Giri clan.
The chill life of an old man was stressing Rudra out who was thinking about how to change his fate.
He could not just walk to a town even if he wanted to; he was just a mortal and the demonic and magical beasts living in the forests might just make him a snack. But even he couldn't do anything he was just an old man with no power so he just spent his days with the Giri clan and even accepted his fate as Rishi Giri their third elder grandpa.
Only 1 person from his family was accepted in a sect it was his 2nd brother's son who was accepted as an outer disciple for some 3rd rate sect.
Most of the clan members lived in the nearby town called Pine Leaf Town with his second brother and helped him run a merchant convoy in the town.
Using his connections and money the second brother was able to get one of his sons into the sect and was able to afford education of some slightly scholarly members of the family hoping they may become clerks or assistants of a city official and support the clan financially in the future.
The most feasible plan Rudra had come up with was to move in with his clan living in Pine Leaf town as a town may provide him with a better opportunity to break the shackles of fate than this poor clan manor which was in the middle of farming hills that his clan cultivated to grow food which was just about enough to feed its people and not enough to sell.