Vol. 1 - Chapter 171 - Words of Wisdom

A few days later, on a crisp morning, the Chen clan compound was filled with the sound of loud, rhythmic reading. Though noisy, the voices rang clear.

Not far from the main courtyard stood a newly constructed school building, erected just two days prior. The paint on the pillars out front had not even dried.

Inside, young members of the clan sat in neat rows, each holding a silk-bound book. At the front of the class stood Chen Tianquan, a wooden pointer in hand, watching over the boys with a look of satisfaction.

In recent days, he had studied diligently and managed to recognize quite a few new characters—enough to avoid disgrace in front of the younger generation.

Just then, one boy raised his hand. “Uncle Tianquan, what does this phrase mean?”

“Which one?” he asked, stepping forward with an air of calm authority.

The boy pointed to a line in the book and read aloud, “It’s this one—‘To hear the Way in the morning, and die content in the evening.’”

The moment the question was asked, the other boys paused their recitations and turned their attention toward the front, eager to listen. None of them fully understood the phrase, and their curiosity was plain to see.

Chen Tianquan felt a prickle run across his scalp as every boy’s expectant gaze fell upon him.

He had only just begun to recognize more characters. He hadn’t the faintest idea what the phrase actually meant. But as one of the clan’s elders, admitting ignorance would be humiliating. How could he show his face again if he confessed he didn’t know?

No. That was unacceptable.

Maintaining a composed expression, Chen Tianquan leaned in, squinting at the characters on the page as though deep in thought. The boys waited silently, not daring to interrupt.

After a long moment, Tianquan’s eyes lit up. He tapped his pointer confidently against his palm. “This phrase,” he declared, “means that if you know the way back to your house in the morning, you can die in peace that evening!”

A collective murmur of realization swept through the class.

“Uncle Tianquan really is knowledgeable! I saw in the book that ‘morning’ means ‘Chao’ and ‘evening’ is ‘xi’ .”

“He’s amazing!”

“Hurry, write that down before we forget!”

Hearing their enthusiastic praise, Chen Tianquan lifted his chin slightly and allowed himself a small, pleased smile. Good thing he’d spent time reading these past two nights—otherwise, he really would have been stuck!

Seeing their excitement, he pressed on, voice steady. “This phrase teaches us an important lesson. When returning to the clan, you must make sure no one is following you. Never let outsiders discover the path back home.”

He tapped the pointer once more, as if to emphasize his point. “It also means that if you follow someone in the morning, you can lead the clan to take revenge by evening.”

The boys nodded in agreement, faces lit with understanding.

“That makes so much sense!”

“No wonder the clan leader told us to study more. Just a few words can say so much!”

Watching the students' spirited enthusiasm and eagerness to learn, Chen Tianquan felt a deep sense of contentment.

Just then, another boy raised his hand. “Uncle Tianquan, what about this one: ‘When a man is about to die, his words are kind’?”

Tianquan furrowed his brow in thought again. His eyes narrowed, then slowly widened with what looked like understanding.

“It means,” he said confidently, “that only when someone is beaten to the brink of death will he start to speak nicely.”

He straightened up, pointer in hand. “This teaches us that only by becoming stronger can we ask the questions we want answered. After all, if you’re too weak, you can’t win a fight—and if you can’t win, you won’t get the truth. Do you understand?”

“Understood!”

The boys nodded vigorously, eyes once again filled with admiration. His words made perfect sense. They felt as though a door had opened in their minds.

But as those admiring looks settled on him once more, a flicker of guilt stirred in Chen Tianquan’s chest. He didn’t actually know if those interpretations were right. Still, they sounded convincing enough—probably close enough to the truth.

To head off any more questions, he raised a hand. “That’s enough for today. Just remember these two lines. If you’ve got more questions, ask them tomorrow.”

With the boys’ curiosity temporarily satisfied, Chen Tianquan finally felt he could breathe. He made up his mind to study harder at night from now on—he couldn’t afford to get caught off guard again.

Elsewhere in the room, Chen Qinghe stared down at the two phrases he’d just copied into his notebook, a faint frown forming between his brows. Something about them felt... off.

Wasn’t the meaning supposed to be different?

Still, he couldn’t say the explanations were wrong either. They kind of made sense.

Far away, within the ancestral hall, Ji Yang sensed what was happening and fell into silent contemplation. Even the leaves on the locust tree above him seemed to pause.

Had he learned it wrong all along? Or... were those really the correct interpretations?

Then again, given the current state of the clan and the rules of this world, using those sayings in that way didn’t seem inappropriate. In fact, they sounded oddly fitting.

…

Time passed quickly. By mid-November, the Chen clan, after a month of relative quiet, had begun stirring with activity once more. Many clansmen moved quickly toward the fertile fields to begin planting winter blood rice.

According to last year’s cycle, snow should have already started falling on Chaotic Burial Mountain by now.

But this year was different. The temperature hadn’t yet dropped to its usual low. The underground blood springs had not gone dormant but remained lively and strong. As a result, the fields could still be cultivated, allowing the clan to maintain an astonishing four annual harvests of blood rice.

Naturally, this was all thanks to the clan’s Divine Tree.

Beside the fields, dozens of clan members worked busily. Although managing the crops typically fell to their household servants, the Chen clan didn’t have many slaves, and with most clansmen currently idle, Chen Xingzhen had decided to organize everyone to help. The faster they finished planting, the sooner they could reap the benefits.

Not far from the farmland, two figures crouched in the shadows.

They were none other than Shi Potian and Shi Podi—the same two who had left the clan earlier to hunt down the Mei Shan brothers.

In truth, the two had already returned to the clan last month.

The report they brought back had shocked the elders.

The Mei Shan brothers the clan had been pursuing? Their corpses had already been buried deep in the mountains long before.

If not for the clan's totemic power subtly guiding their search, locating their whereabouts would have been far more difficult. When the clan first received news of the incident, they couldn't immediately determine whether the deaths of the two had been the Chen clan's doing or the result of some other force.

Lacking a clear consensus, they found themselves unable to proceed with any decisive action. There was still the lingering suspicion that the Chen clan harbored undiscovered secrets.

That uncertainty was what had brought the two of them to Chaotic Burial Mountain a second time. Their current task was to secretly monitor the Chen clan over an extended period and uncover the true cause behind the deaths of the Mei Shan brothers.

But more than half a month had passed, and they had yet to make any meaningful progress.

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