As night fell, Chixia City gradually faded into the true darkness.
The sunstone in the room was nearly extinguished. Qin Ming sat there motionless, his face obscured, only his pair of eyes still glimmering with light.
He looked back at his fourteen-year-old self, a time when he was deeply emotional, caring for those around him, reluctant to part ways in life and death.
In that moment, fourteen-year-old Qin Ming trembled slightly. He wanted to take one last look at his parents and younger brother, for he knew that this journey might lead to his death.
When he turned back, he could only see the distant figures of his parents leaving.
With red-rimmed eyes, fourteen-year-old Qin Ming struggled to hold back his emotions and quickly turned around, setting off with the elderly members of his family.
As expected, they were ambushed. Though they fled, they were ultimately found.
The elderly members of the Cui family, frail and nearing the end of their lives, displayed terrifying combat strength, and their fearless demeanor even instilled fear in the Li family.
"Some of those old men are formidable figures from the main line of the Cui family. The older they get, the more powerful they become. Hmm, I saw Cui Chonghe; he is likely to be the next banner bearer of the next generation."
In the darkness, several pairs of eyes from the Li family camp focused on the fleeing members of the Cui family.
"Although Cui Chonghe has not yet embarked on the path of rebirth, he must possess some special talent. Reliable news suggests that he was identified at a young age as exceptionally suited for the path of those who walk outside the world."
A group of experts from the Li family suspected that the Cui family's fierce resistance was to help Cui Chonghe break through and reach the outside world, to meet the legendary "old senior," who would become Cui Chonghe's future master.
Qin Ming saw much blood and bones, some belonging to the elderly members of the Cui family and others to the experts of the Li family. In the end, they broke through and fled, disguising themselves in tattered clothes, entering a village that the Cui family had laid out for many years, temporarily hiding there.
In fact, after several bloody battles, the Li family seemed to realize something, and their pursuit became less urgent.
"The Li family may have discovered that we Cui family members took another route to escape."
"There's also a possibility that our ancestor, who has been missing for over two hundred years, has reemerged."
In the village, several elderly members of the Cui family whispered. By now, they were all severely injured and on the brink of death, having lost the strength to fight again.
A group of elderly men with little time left had fought to this point, but only a few remained, all collapsed on the road.
It was precisely because they fought so fiercely and were unafraid of death that the Li family members began to feel apprehensive, not daring to continue the bloodshed, unaware that with a little more effort, they could annihilate their opponents.
Fourteen-year-old Qin Ming remained silent, for even these old men acknowledged that they had exerted their "last heat."
An elderly man with white hair and a blood-stained face, his wrinkles deepening, smiled in the dark, looking at Qin Ming and sighed, "Your talent is extraordinary, very suitable for walking the path of rebirth. It's a pity that the methods in the silk book are no longer viable."
Another elder looked at Qin Ming with a complex expression and said, "Just wait a little longer. Little Seven should come to rescue you once he learns the news."
In the inn, Qin Ming carefully observed that scene.
Clearly, everyone in the Cui family knew that Cui Hao, his seventh uncle, treated him the best, even these elders spoke such words.
"Are you... my seventh uncle's... biological grandfather?" Fourteen-year-old Qin Ming asked, feeling a sense of loss as he recalled everything he had seen and heard along the way.
"Yes, Little Seven is my favorite grandson. He has a fatal weakness—he is too sentimental. Come, sit beside me. Before I die, no one can harm you." The elder patted the space beside him.
Is being sentimental really a fatal weakness? After sitting down, fourteen-year-old Qin Ming thought to himself, I am just like that.
"You old fools, stay away from me!" The grandfather of the seventh uncle raised his head, looking at the other bloodied elders with a not-so-friendly attitude.
One elder said, "We will all die here, and there is no regret. After all, we have killed so many from the Li family. The Li family wants to rise by clashing with our Cui family, showcasing their strength to gain prestige and elevate themselves to a thousand-year-old family, but they must pay a heavy price. This time, they are destined to shed a lot of blood. Whether or not the Li family is being pushed forward by someone, they will not be the ultimate winners."
"This child is still young; he still has regrets. He shouldn't die here. You old men, go sit over there." The grandfather of the seventh uncle said.
Several elders stood up and distanced themselves.
In the inn, Qin Ming reflected, casting his gaze toward the other elders.
The grandfather of the seventh uncle led Qin Ming into a dilapidated house in the village and said, "According to Little Seven's character, he will come to rescue you once he knows, but he will likely be intercepted.
The clan cannot allow him to be in danger, after all, his talent is most similar to mine and is one of the highest combat powers of the Cui family. I believe Little Seven will not give up easily, so someone will send experts to rescue you. I just hope they arrive soon and do not delay the opportunity.
Hmm, rest assured, the Li family is not foolish; by now, they should understand the situation. The experts are no longer focused here, and..."
At this point, he began to cough, blood continuously pouring from his mouth. Qin Ming hurried forward but did not know how to help him.
The elder waved his hand and said, "My body is failing. Continue speaking. I believe the ancestor has appeared. Both sides are likely beginning to retreat now, and there will be no major battles. You might survive."
The elder glanced outside and, using a secret method, whispered only in Qin Ming's ear, "I am about to die. Do not leave this room. Just say I am healing and do not let them disturb me."
Fourteen-year-old Qin Ming nodded with tears in his eyes, watching the elder close his eyes, motionless.
In the inn, the sunstone completely extinguished. Qin Ming sat there and softly said, "Before I lost my memory, I actually knew a lot."
In the dilapidated room, fourteen-year-old Qin Ming wrote a single character: "Abandon," and chose to remain silent.
Having regained his memory, the current Qin Ming experienced the feelings of that moment again. It was an unbearable sensation, worse than having his skull shattered later, more difficult to endure than having someone slowly cut open his heart and lungs. At that time, he sat there, feeling as if he were suffocating.
In the inn, Qin Ming shook his head vigorously, finally shaking off that emotion. He once again examined the past, as if conversing with his self from over two years ago, telling that version of himself, "You think you have discovered the so-called truth because of what you have seen and heard along the way? In fact, that is still just a layer of curtain."
The slightly yellowed book of memories turned another page, dust settling away. Qin Ming looked back to that year and saw the feather-cloaked youth, Li Qingxu, walking towards him, ethereal and otherworldly, directly attacking him.
The grandfather of Cui Hao was not wrong; the Li family did not send a large number of experts to continue pursuing them, but a small group of experts led the way, gathering followers from nearby cities, which was enough to annihilate this village.
In the inn, Qin Ming did not skip over this memory, experiencing once more the suffering of his arm breaking and skull shattering, quietly reviewing all the details of the past, for he wanted to thoroughly unveil the curtain woven by the so-called truth.
Cui Qi's uncle did not appear, as the elder had predicted. A tall man, Cui Hong, and a woman with a red mole on her right eyebrow arrived, quickly taking him away into the night, passing through Luoyue City without entering, choosing to travel far.
"Where to go is not important, as long as it is a remote place." In the inn, Qin Ming muttered to himself. He looked at Cui Hong and the woman in her thirties, knowing the reason they were taking him to Heibai Mountain.
Over two years ago, a beam of light pierced through the night sky, flying to various places, one of which fell on Heibai Mountain. Those two were originally going to investigate, and since it also met the requirement of being a "remote place," it led to Qin Ming ultimately being stranded in that region.
"I was actually quite perceptive over two years ago, aware of everything. Was it really a weakness to be too sentimental? Perhaps it was!" Qin Ming's voice was soft.
He continued to speak to himself, "At that time, I was still a bit too young, and I did not understand the truth as much as I do now."
The most important point was that Qin Ming successfully practiced the silk book based on his own efforts, leading to a complete rebirth of his body and initially walking this path, catching a glimpse of a corner of the truth from the past.
The silk book was miraculous. Since his rebirth, it had made his subconscious extremely active, allowing him to see his naive self during a half-dream state. At that time, he should have only been around three years old, and these were not memories lost due to being struck by the feather-cloaked youth!
Those were memories from his early childhood that naturally faded with the passage of time. It is difficult for normal people to recall events from before the age of three after they grow up.
"The silk book, I do not regret starting to practice it from a young age. At a critical moment, it allowed me to see my original self, and perhaps it was my persistence in practicing for over a decade that ultimately saved my life."
Qin Ming suspected that his practice of the silk book was not without effect; perhaps it had been accumulating something all along. Because when he was struck by the feather-cloaked youth, causing three fractures in his skull, he should have been considered dead, and under normal circumstances, he would not have survived.
"My childhood was not good. I wore patched clothes, and my little shoes had holes. Perhaps I was even worse off than the children of ordinary families. The elder who taught me characters and showed me the silk book was just an ordinary person, with rough hands and dressed poorly, just like me."
Yet in the Cui family, the fifth and seventh elders claimed that the grandfather in Qin Ming's memory had "cut off all ties" to walk his own path and had already set off for the imperial capital of Dayu.
The old man who had been Qin Ming's only companion was clearly just an ordinary person, yet they deceived him into thinking he was a great master. If he were extraordinary, why would the two of them live so poorly?
Qin Ming felt a pang of sadness for his past self. Through the yellowed book of memories, he looked back to that year and once again felt the emotions of that time.
During his time in the Cui family, as he slowly grew up, his childhood memories naturally faded, but he still had a vague impression that there should be a very dear grandfather.
"I miss him, I miss that grandfather." Those were the original words from his old memories. At that time, his eyes were red, wanting to reclaim the silk book that belonged to him.
But the elders of the Cui family refused, saying the silk book was an ancient object, easily damaged, and that he should practice the rebirth method in the silk book before looking at the subsequent methods.
From then on, the young Qin Ming practiced tirelessly for many years without interruption.
All of this was because he wanted to reclaim the silk book; he wanted to remember that grandfather from his memories. That was the deepest emotion in his heart.
Although with the passage of time, his memories of that grandfather faded completely, even to the point of forgetting in the end, practicing the silk book had become an instinct, an obsession of unknown origin that supported him to persist.
Clearly, in the early days of the Cui family, he had been intentionally guided by someone. To see that grandfather from his memories, he had to practice this silk book!
Now, looking back, many things had a trace to follow.
Did the second elder really get drunk and leak secrets? Was the fifth elder's timely guidance too forceful? There were still too many details.
"What you are doing, how could a child possibly be a match? This is bullying."
Qin Ming spoke to himself in the dim room, seriously reviewing, finding many things that did not make sense, not in line with reason.
"If there was one more person in all the events, the entire process would align, and it could be understood." He pushed open the window, gazing at the pitch-black night sky. If that were the case, then he truly felt a bit pitiful and lamentable.