Chapter 18

Wei Xilou coldly glanced down at the old man collapsed on the ground, then stepped over him without a second thought.

From deep within the ancestral hall came the soft sound of footsteps—unhurried, each step landing on the floor tiles with a dull, rhythmic thud.

Wei Jianguo shot to his feet, his chair tipping backward and nearly toppling over.

The others remained still, but all eyes turned expectantly toward the hall—Old Master Wei had been inside for quite a while now, and now that he was finally emerging, everyone wondered what answers he'd gotten from the ancestors.

A towering figure slowly strolled out from the shadows, and all gazes involuntarily fixed on the silhouette gradually coming into view—

What caught the eye first was a navy-blue long robe from the Republic of China era, its fabric of exceptional quality, hanging smoothly without a single wrinkle. The white inner layer peeking out at the cuffs and collar shimmered faintly, and the high-standing collar was fastened with a jade button, resting just beneath his prominent Adam's apple, the jade's watery sheen shifting with each swallow.

The overly luxurious and refined attire exuded an old-world majesty that did not belong to this era.

Yet even more striking than the clothing was the face that finally emerged from the shadows.

In terms of pure facial features, there were plenty of meticulously sculpted celebrities, but none could match this man's towering presence. His thin eyelids lifted lazily, and his narrow, elongated eyes swept over the crowd with a look of disdain—not at people, but at a swarm of insignificant ants.

His expensive clothes were just a backdrop. As he strode from the shadows into the light, you couldn't help but think of a priceless porcelain dug up from an ancient tomb—its cold glaze bearing the weight and mystery that only time could polish.

Wei Yao and Wen Dajiang both blurted out, "Holy crap!"

Wei Yao stammered nonsensically, "Grandpa, how'd you get so young again?"

Wei Xilou paused mid-step, his eyes narrowing with displeasure: "If your eyes are useless, you might as well gouge them out."

Did that old coot from the Wei family look anything like him?

Wei Yao finally snapped out of it—the man who had just walked out of the ancestral hall was not his grandfather.

Damn! Then where was his grandfather?

"Who are you, and why'd you come out of our ancestral hall? Where's my dad?" Wei Jianguo shielded his son behind him, eyeing the man warily, phone clutched tight, ready to call the cops at the first sign of trouble.

Wei Xilou couldn't be bothered with these ungrateful descendants. Ignoring everyone present, he strode toward the exit.

Time to go pick up Achan.

He'd slept too long on Guiyi Mountain, and upon waking, many things had become hazy. His memories were like old silk, moth-eaten and tattered, full of gaps, until he returned to this body and suddenly remembered—his name was Wei Xilou.

But why his body had been sealed in a coffin, and the Wei family's various trivial matters, he couldn't remember. Probably just some ungrateful descendants overstepping their bounds anyway.

If he couldn't remember, so be it. It wasn't important.

He had no fondness for the Wei family's ungrateful descendants, so naturally he showed them no kindness. Having Achan to take care of him was enough.

Wei Xilou casually waved his hand, brushing aside the noisy little mice chattering around him like they were nothing, and in an instant, he had reached the entrance of the ancestral hall.

"Old—Old Ancestor, please wait!"

Hurried, heavy footsteps followed—it was Old Master Wei, now awake, rushing out in a panic.

Wei Xilou pretended not to hear, not slowing his pace.

Seeing this, Old Master Wei gritted his teeth and chased after him, stumbling and dropping to his knees before Wei Xilou. He'd wanted to grab the hem of his robe but for some reason didn't dare, so he could only crawl forward on his knees to block his path.

"Old Ancestor, please save the Wei family."

Old Master Wei had thrown caution to the wind for the sake of his kids and grandkids. After realizing the coffin contained the Wei family's founding ancestor, he pieced together a logical explanation based on certain family legends passed down through the generations.

—Why was it that the coffin supposedly held Ancestor Wei Xilou, yet every successive family head was warned never to open it except in dire circumstances?

Maybe because this Old Ancestor was no longer human.

After all, who comes crawling out of a coffin over a hundred years after death?

Old Master Wei boldly guessed that the Old Ancestor had become something else entirely. Over the years, he'd traveled far and wide, praying to gods and Buddhas for his descendants, and had picked up some knowledge of such matters.

A body that doesn't decay, dead but not stiff—this was clearly a zombie.

And a very powerful one at that.

No wonder the coffin was never supposed to be opened. Though Wei Xilou was the Wei family's ancestor, he'd long since stopped being human.

This was indeed the Wei family's calamity, but also the only chance they had left.

After all, Wei Xilou was still the Wei family's ancestor!

With this thought, Old Master Wei wept and pleaded: "Please, Old Ancestor, save that boy Wei Yao. The Wei family has only this one heir left. If something happens to him, the Wei family will die out completely. As long as you can save him, anything the Old Ancestor asks, we won't refuse!"

Old Master Wei's dramatic display stunned everyone there.

Wei Yao looked bewildered, turning to his parents: "Wait, this... which ancestor of ours is this?"

He'd paid respects to all the spirit tablets in the ancestral hall. Any ancestor worthy of being called "Old Ancestor" was already up on the altar.

Where on earth had his grandpa found this lively young ancestor who didn't even look thirty?

Wei Jianguo also looked conflicted, even suspecting his dad might have senile dementia—who goes around claiming ancestors like this?

His face flushed as he stepped forward, trying to pull his dad up.

This young man didn't even fear shortening his own life, standing there straight-backed and accepting his father's kneel without so much as stepping aside.

But Old Master Wei slapped Wei Jianguo's outstretched hand away with a sharp "smack," barking angrily: "Stop causing trouble! You get down on your knees too!"

Wei Jianguo: ????

But before he could protest, Old Master Wei summoned a burst of stubborn strength and forcibly shoved him to his knees too.

Wei Jianguo: ...

Old Master Wei shamelessly looked up at the expressionless man. The Old Ancestor was incredibly tall—at least six-three—and with his age-shrunken frame, he had to crane his neck back just to see the man's face.

Wei Xilou looked down coldly at the people kneeling before him, disdain mixed with a hint of confusion: "What's the Wei family's extinction got to do with me?"

He was about to step around the two on the ground when Wei Yao came over.

He couldn't figure out what kind of act his grandpa was putting on, but he could tell it was all for him. Though he was afraid of death, he couldn't bear to see his grandpa, at his age, kneeling and begging for him.

Grabbing one arm of each, he tried to haul his grandpa and dad to their feet, his voice choking up: "Get up. Better to rely on yourself than beg others. Whether I live or die, I'll take it!"

Old Master Wei refused to get up.

Lady Golden Flower was someone even Yan He went pale at the mere mention of—definitely not something regular folks could handle. Now, the ancestor was his grandson's only hope. He raised his cane and whacked Wei Yao hard, then shoved him down to kneel too, scolding, "What have I taught you all these years? This is our Wei family's ancestor. Show some respect—kneel up straight!"

Then he looked at Wei Xilou and said, trying to butter him up, "Ancestor, this is the last of the Wei line—my good-for-nothing grandson, Wei Yao."

"Please, for the sake of the Wei blood we share, at least spare his life."

Wei Xilou deigned to look down and size up Wei Yao, then let out a soft "Huh," his voice going cold. "It's you."

Wei Yao was still dazed and stammered, "Yeah, it's me. What about it?"

Wei Xilou had been in a rush to pick someone up earlier and hadn't bothered with these little rats. Now that he took a closer look, he realized he'd seen this one before.

"The annoying rat that keeps hanging around Achan."

His gaze slid over to Wen Dajiang and He Jiaqi, who were doing their best to shrink into a corner and make themselves invisible, and he said coldly, "Oh. Two more of those rats."

"????"

Wen Dajiang and He Jiaqi exchanged bewildered looks, feeling like dogs that just got kicked for no reason.

Wait—they'd been trying so hard to stay invisible, how were they still getting dragged into this?

Wei Yao didn't like that. This guy had no class. But he had a bigger question on his mind right now, so he let it slide and pressed on, "This Achan you're talking about—is that Xu Muchan?"

"Achan? You dare call him that?"

Wei Xilou's face went cold. He lashed out, grabbing Wei Yao by the throat and hoisting him off the ground.

Old Master Wei was horrified, no longer caring about defying the ancestor, and, along with Wei Jianguo, desperately tried to pry Wei Xilou's hand away: "Ancestor, ancestor, the boy doesn't know what he's saying. Please, have mercy."

Wei Yao kicked his feet wildly, face turning red, clawing frantically at the hand around his neck.

Wei Xilou had completely run out of patience. Just as he was about to kill the three annoying rats, his brow suddenly furrowed. His narrow eyes drifted toward the void, and he murmured, "Achan..."

He flung Wei Yao aside like garbage, his pale fingers closing around something in the air. Veins bulged from the back of his hand all the way up his forearm as he yanked in opposite directions, ripping open a passage in the void itself. Then he stepped through, disappearing into the mist.

Thick fog from the ghost realm seeped out through the opening. Wei Yao, being closest, swallowed hard and cautiously peeked inside, then said to the others, "It's the place that trapped us before—probably what Taoist Master Yan meant by the ghost realm."

He Jiaqi's eyes lit up, and she said quietly, "Xu Muchan is still in there."

Wei Yao thought of the little blind man he'd dragged into this mess, steeled himself, and said firmly, "We're going in to get him!"

Xu Muchan, the one everyone was worried about, lay quietly in a coffin deep inside the ancestral hall.

At first, stuck in the coffin, he'd spent his energy cursing out that unreliable thing every way he could think of.

No response, but at least he got to vent.

But gradually, he felt the ceiling above him start to warp and twist. The world before his eyes turned bizarre and surreal. In a daze, he seemed to see a shimmering river—a weird one, its waters pitch black.

Xu Muchan felt an uncontrollable curiosity and found himself walking toward the river without meaning to.

When his ankles sank into the black water, the warped ceiling vanished completely. An indescribable sensation flooded through Xu Muchan's body and mind. Like a drunk, he toppled into the river with a faint smile.

Just as all his senses were about to be swallowed by the water, a deafening crash jolted Xu Muchan awake.

He opened his eyes groggily and saw a huge face hovering over him. Vertical pupils made of countless writhing black threads stared at him with crazed excitement. Six arms clutched the coffin tightly, pressing it against her belly—

"My baby, my baby." Many joyful voices spoke at once in Xu Muchan's ears.

Xu Muchan blinked, realizing slowly: Ah, this is Lady Golden Flower.

He'd been found. He was about to get eaten.

All thanks to that brother of his.

Xu Muchan cursed groggily once more, and his consciousness was dragged back under by that flood.

The coffin was already half swallowed up.

A huge slit split open across Lady Golden Flower's belly, gaping and churning like a mouth, gulping the coffin down.

She watched with delight as her belly slowly filled, calling out "baby" in a slurred voice, brimming with the joy of finding something she'd lost.

But a sudden pale arm cut through this sacred, joyful moment.

Wei Xilou's eyes glowed dark red. Countless arms reached out from the void behind him, all grabbing the exposed part of the coffin and yanking it toward him—

He stared blankly at Lady Golden Flower, who shrieked in fury, and said impatiently, "Idiot. Your baby's out there. This one's mine."