875 The Sang Family’s Forbidden Ground
In the afternoon, it rained on Nether Mountain. The rain was not heavy or long. In less than an hour, the sun was shining brightly. After the rain, the atmosphere on Nether Mountain had an additional hint of soil. The vegetation was lush and beautiful.
Yu Wan was basking in the sun in the courtyard with her nephew, who had just burped. Xiaobao ran over and pulled Yu Wan’s hand. He waved his hand and pointed at the sky. “Mother, what’s that?”
Yu Wan took a look and smiled slightly. “It’s a rainbow.”
“It’s so beautiful!” Xiaobao said with his head tilted.
“As good-looking as Mom!” Er’bao walked over and said adorably.
Yu Wan was amused by him and couldn’t help but laugh.
Xiaobao, who had lost the argument, glared at his brother resentfully and went to look for Dabao with a dark expression.
“I’ll go too!” Er’bao followed.
Yu Wan looked at her sons who had run far away in amusement, then at her cute nephew in her arms. She said, “When you grow up, you can also play with your brothers.”
Her nephew blew a milk bubble.
The wet nurse walked over and said to Yu Wan, “Madam, let me do it. The little master is going to sleep.”
This was the wet nurse that Master Sikong had asked the steward in the manor to find. Her family background was clean and she was loyal. Yu Wan handed the child over to her without worry. The child was very obedient. He did not cry or make a fuss. He slept after eating and wasn’t very worrisome.
The wet nurse carried the little master down.
Yu Wan sat on a rattan chair and comfortably basked in the sun. She could not help but stretch. Suddenly, a thought flashed across her mind. “Great-grandpa gave me a longevity technique and I forgot to give it to Yan Jiuchao! Yan Jiuchao also practices the longevity technique. It should be useful to him…”
As Yu Wan spoke, she held onto the rattan chair and stood up. She had just taken a step when she stopped and wondered, “The person who practices the Longevity Technique is the Ghost King. Now that he’s not the Ghost King, will he still be willing to practice it?”
In the blue sky, a group of swallows flew past.
Yu Wan touched her chin. “Forget it, I’ll give it to him first!”
Yu Wan returned to her room and took out the longevity technique that had been perfected by Sikong Ye from the drawer. She had once heard Yan Jiuchao mention that the Ghost Clan’s longevity technique was an incomplete version and only had six levels. However, there were eight levels after Great-Grandpa had perfected it. Because Great-Grandpa had never practiced the ninth level himself, he had yet to annotate it. Whether he could practice it or not, Yan Jiuchao had to think about it himself.
“Eh? Where’s Yan Jiuchao?” Yu Wan took the Longevity Technique and left the room, intending to look around. Just as she passed by the small garden, a familiar figure crossed the threshold and walked over.
“Ah Wan,” Sikong Changfeng called out to her.
A trace of surprise flashed across Yu Wan’s eyes as she greeted him politely. “You’re awake? How do you feel? Are you feeling unwell?”
Sikong Changfeng had just recovered from his serious injuries and his face was still a little pale. However, he shook his head and said indifferently, “I’m fine. I’m here to…” He deliberated over how to address him and said, “to thank Young Master Yan. I heard from my father that if it weren’t for him, I might have already caused irreversible consequences.”
Yu Wan thought that he would say, “If it weren’t for him this time, I might have died.” Unexpectedly, at this moment, he was still not thinking about himself. Why couldn’t this man care more about himself? How could he understand that no one was more important than his own life?
“I was too rash. I almost killed you too,” Sikong Changfeng said self-reproachfully.
Yu Wan comforted him. “Don’t mention what’s in the past. Besides, the situation was critical at that time. If you hadn’t done that, someone might have already died at the hands of the Sang family’s experts.”
Sikong Changfeng smiled bitterly and looked around. “By the way, why don’t I see Young Master Yan?”
Yu Wan spread her hands. “I’m looking for him too.”
“Is this the Longevity Technique?” Sikong Changfeng’s gaze landed on the secret manual that Yu Wan had revealed because she was spreading her hands.
Yu Wan nodded. “Yes, do you want to see it?”
“No, I can’t look at such an important thing casually.” Sikong Changfeng refused.
Yu Wan handed the secret manual forward. “Great-grandpa has already passed it to me. It’s mine. It’s fine if I show it to you!”
Sikong Changfeng lowered his head and smiled bitterly. “To be honest, I’ve practiced the Longevity Technique, but… I didn’t succeed.”
That was many years ago. He had raised Gu well. In a fit of joy, Old Ancestor Sikong taught him a few mental cultivation methods of the Longevity Technique. Unfortunately, he could not understand them and practiced hard to no avail. At that time, Old Ancestor Sikong had told him that the Longevity Technique was also about fate. Although it was a mental cultivation method passed down from the Sikong family’s ancestors, it did not mean that the descendants of the Sikong family could practice it well. It also did not mean that only the descendants of the Sikong family could practice it well.
“Actually… Yan Jiuchao’s longevity technique…” Yu Wan pursed her lips and didn’t say the rest.
Sikong Changfeng smiled knowingly. “I know. He got it from the Ghost King. Father told me. However, Father also said that the Longevity Technique can’t be given just like that. Back then, the Ancestor had also tried to teach the descendants of the Sikong family, but no one could withstand the Longevity Technique. Therefore, it wasn’t Young Master Yan who obtained the Longevity Technique, but the Longevity Technique chose him.”
Yu Wan propped her elbow on the back of her hand and pinched her chin. “In that case, it seems to make sense. However, he was poisoned since he was young and his meridians were corroded by poison. He’s different from ordinary people, so he withstood the Ghost King’s power.”
Sikong Changfeng smiled gently. “Therefore, it’s predestined. It’s a blessing in disguise, isn’t it?”
Yu Wan nodded thoughtfully.
Yu Wan had told Master Sikong about the Saintess and their identity and motive for coming to the Nether Capital. This time, Master Sikong did not hide anything from Sikong Changfeng. Since she mentioned Yan Jiuchao’s situation, Sikong Changfeng thought of something else. “Father said that you still lack a medicinal primer. I don’t know how I can help you. The Sikong family has a lot of books. I wonder if we can find something useful. I’ll bring you to the library to take a look later.”
“Thank you,” Yu Wan said sincerely.
Sikong Changfeng was here to thank her, but he did not expect Yu Wan to thank him. Sikong Changfeng could not help but laugh and say, “Then, I won’t disturb you anymore. Thank Young Master Yan for me.”
“Young Master,” Yu Wan called out to him.
“Huh?” Sikong Changfeng stopped in his tracks and turned around.
Yu Wan hesitated for a moment and said, “When you spoke to me just now, you mentioned Master Sikong several times. You… care about him, right?”
Did it matter… whether he cared or not? He was not born to be the son his father liked. No matter how outstanding he was, in his father’s heart, he would always dote on Sikong Yun the most.
In the Sikong family, he was an extra person.
“I’ll leave first,” he said.
Yu Wan watched him leave. He that hides can find. The knot in the father and son’s hearts had been around for so many years, and it was definitely not something that could be resolved in a day or two. Moreover, Master Sikong doted on his eldest son too little. Without experiencing what Sikong Changfeng had experienced, she was not qualified to ask him to let go and accept him.
Of course, on the other hand, the Sang family was so sinister that they definitely could not bear to see Sikong Changfeng favored. The Sikong family’s coldness towards him happened to become his life-saving talisman.
Yu Wan looked at Sikong Changfeng’s departing figure and smiled. “It’s indeed predestined. How do you know if it’s a blessing in disguise?”
Yu Wan searched the entire Chaoyang Hall before she found out that Yan Jiuchao had gone down the mountain. At dusk, Yan Jiuchao returned to the Chaoyang Hall. Grandma, Old Cui, Yue Gou, and Qing Yan returned with him.
Yu Wan felt relieved. She was afraid that this fellow would become a Ghost King and get lost again. In fact, the ones who were lost were Grandma and the others. If Yan Jiuchao had not found them, they would have probably followed some caravan out of the Nether Capital.
Yu Wan asked strangely, “Why are you lost? Aren’t you with Second Grand-aunt?”
Second Grand-aunt was very familiar with the Nether Capital, and she wasn’t a directionally challenged person.
Qing Yan said, “We bumped into a few elders of the Lan family on the way. They picked up Granny Lan and Zi Yan. Don’t worry, the elders don’t want to lock them up. They want to re-examine the matter about Lan Jiao and Young Master Qin.”
“Let’s go in and talk.” Yu Wan led them into the cleaned room.
On the way here, they had a rough understanding of the situation in the Nether Mountain. They knew about Yu Wan’s relationship with Old Ancestor Sikong and also knew that the Sikong family was in danger. As for regaining their memories, everyone could guess it without Yan Jiuchao saying anything.
After all, the Ghost King would get lost!
Yu Wan poured tea for them. “Have a sip of water first. In the few days you were missing, I was still worried that you would have been captured by the Sang family.”
Qing Yan drank the tea in big mouthfuls and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “We really went to the Sang Manor!”
Yu Wan was stunned. “You… went to the Sang Manor?”
Qing Yan’s eyes flashed. “Ahem, I… accidentally passed by…”
Yu Wan mercilessly exposed him. “You must have gotten lost!”
It seemed that it was already considered a light punishment for Ah Wei to get lost and enter the Nether Mountain. These few… had actually lost their way to the Sang Manor!
Qing Yan cleared his throat. “We… We don’t know the Sang family. We just took a walk and… we arrived at the Sang family’s forbidden area.”
Yu Wan widened her almond-shaped eyes. “You even entered the Sang family’s forbidden area? Then how did you come out alive?!”
“This isn’t important anymore,” Qing Yan said. He glanced at Yu Wan and Yan Jiuchao and his expression suddenly turned solemn. “Do you know what Yue Gou and I saw in the Sang Family’s forbidden area?”
“What?” Yu Wan said.