When it came to Ye Kong, this Eighth Young Master, the manor servants and maids weren’t afraid of him. But those soldiers who rotated in from outside periodically weren’t familiar with the situation – they took him seriously. When he spoke, everyone stopped making noise.

“Come, let’s drink.” Ye Kong sat at a table with Liu Changqing.

Seeing the Eighth Young Master pour wine for him, Liu Changqing said he didn’t dare and quickly took the jug to fill Ye Kong’s cup as well.

Ye Kong smiled. “I’m here to reflect before the ancestors – how can I drink wine?”

“Just drink a little. Actually, I shouldn’t be drinking either.” Liu Changqing raised his small clay bowl, reluctant to drain it, and took a big sip.

“Then I’ll accompany General Liu for a bowl.” Ye Kong also took a sip. This was his first time drinking Cangnan Continent wine. The alcohol content wasn’t high, but not too low either. The taste was quite good, with a hint of grass fragrance.

“Good wine.” Ye Kong put down his wine bowl and asked again, “Is this Iron Hide Barbarian Bull really that formidable? Even heavily injured, it still hurt several brothers before you caught it?”

“Of course it’s formidable!” Liu Changqing said. “This Iron Hide Barbarian Bull is as big as three or four normal cows. That hide can’t even be pierced by steel spears – incredibly tough.” After finishing, Liu Changqing sighed again. “But that hide, bones, and horns are all good stuff. The hide can make armor, the bones can be used for medicine, the horns can make weapons. That’s why it’s a middle-grade spirit beast.”

“A No-tier middle-grade is already this formidable.” Ye Kong smacked his lips and asked again, “Then why doesn’t the country kill more Iron Hide Barbarian Bulls? Wouldn’t the brothers’ armor be both lighter and sturdier?”

Liu Changqing laughed. “Now you’re talking like a layman. When Iron Hide Barbarian Bulls appear, they appear in herds – thousands of them! Don’t look at it being just a middle-grade spirit beast. When there are many, it becomes terrifying. Even immortals wouldn’t dare face them head-on. When they surge down like a tide, even several hundred thousand troops wouldn’t help. After they charge back and forth twice, everyone would be dead. For their hides, is that worthwhile?”

“So that’s how it is.” Ye Kong suddenly understood. Then very rashly, as if suddenly remembering, he asked, “Oh, what did my dad come here for this afternoon?”

Liu Changqing, who was talking happily, didn’t even think and said, “Seems [Read on Jormuntl]like he was putting something away.”

Liu Changqing was also a clever person. As soon as the words left his mouth, he immediately felt something was wrong. He quickly said to Ye Kong, “Eighth Young Master, don’t get me in trouble. If you want to ask something, ask the General yourself. To be honest, I don’t really know what the General did inside. That sentence just now – you didn’t hear it, and even if you did, don’t say it was me who said it.”

“Hehe, look how nervous you are. I was just asking casually. Would I harm my own father? Am I a foreign spy or something?” Ye Kong said carelessly.

Liu Changqing looked at Ye Kong and felt he was right – maybe he was being overly cautious. Though the Eighth Young Master got punished by the General today, they were still father and son. Moreover, what General Ye did wasn’t some military secret. If he said it, he said it.

Actually, the guard soldiers weren’t allowed to enter the ancestral hall for no reason. Today Liu Changqing just happened to pass by the entrance and saw Ye Haoran’s back. He saw him burn incense, then fiddle with the jade box on the central altar platform, and finally walk out jingling keys. Liu Changqing easily guessed that Ye Haoran had put something in the box.

“Come, come, come, drink.”

“Drink.”

The two men drank their meager wine, but each had their own calculations in their hearts.

Hearing Liu Changqing’s words, Ye Kong’s heart震ed with shock. He’d originally suspected his old man came to the ancestral hall for a reason. Otherwise, Ye Haoran had been so angry at the time – could he have come to burn incense to calm down?

After hearing Liu Changqing’s words, it was as if lightning flashed through his brain – “crack!” – and a jade-white book appeared.

Right, it’s possible, very possible. This book was the Ye family heirloom. Ye Haoran very likely put it in the ancestral hall. If that were true, what fate! He could reflect and cultivate immortality at the same time.

Ye Kong was overjoyed. Having this on his mind, he lost interest in eating and drinking. After chatting with Liu Changqing a while longer, he hurried back into the ancestral hall, wanting to find where Ye Haoran hid the object.

However, he was also a careful person. Just entering the door, he thought – would this Liu Changqing report this matter to Ye Haoran? This guy could guard the Ye family ancestral hall, so he must be one of Ye Haoran’s trusted confidants. Reporting the situation would be very normal. So when Ye Kong entered visit our sitethe ancestral hall, he didn’t rush to search. Instead, he lowered his head and sat directly on the prayer cushion, reading by candlelight. But his eyes were actually glancing at the ancestral hall entrance.

Sure enough, before long, he saw a black shadow flash past the ancestral hall entrance. It was precisely Centurion Liu Changqing. After eating dinner, the more he sat there, the more afraid he became. What if the Eighth Young Master really stole the General’s treasure? That would be a huge crime for him.

So he secretly slipped to the entrance to observe the situation inside. Looking in – good, the Eighth Young Master was reading there. Looks like he’d been overthinking it.

Ye Kong pretended to read, but his heart also went cold. Looks like being careful doesn’t hurt – he almost got caught in the act.

After waiting a while, estimating that Liu Changqing had already left, he pretended to feel drowsy and walked around in a circle. Still not daring to act rashly, he finally turned back around, put on his coat, and lay down sideways to sleep.

Reflecting in the ancestral hall was the Ye family’s heaviest punishment. The food wasn’t good, there was nowhere to sleep, and there was no freedom. Oh, and there was fear. If it were another young master, they would have been unable to bear it long ago. But Ye Kong, thinking about that scripture, wasn’t afraid of any torment, much less this small hardship.

Deep into the night, many candles in the ancestral hall had gone out. Some kind of eerie wind from who knows where made it particularly cold. Ye Kong felt he’d brought too few clothes. If only he’d known to bring a blanket.

His body was a bit cold, but his heart was burning hot.

About time. Search!

The jade box wasn’t hard to find – it was below the central altar platform. However, it was locked and couldn’t be opened. Moreover, the box and base were connected in one piece of jade. Without unlocking it, it couldn’t be opened.

Smash the jade box? Ye Kong wasn’t about to fall out with Ye Haoran over this.

Since only unlocking could open it, he’d need the key. Ye Haoran wouldn’t voluntarily give him the key, but this didn’t stump Ye Kong. Although he wasn’t a thief, as a street gang leader, he frequently dealt with thieves. He knew a thing or two about twisting doors and picking locks.

Though this wasn’t his strong suit, these ancient locks were easy to open anyway. After studying it all night, Ye Kong felt he had a good chance. He decided to find an opportunity to go out, get a small [Read on Jormuntl]iron pick or something, and come back to pick the lock.

However, wanting to go out was a bit inconvenient. The next day when he wanted to leave, he learned that those soldiers also had the job of watching him, prohibiting him from leaving the courtyard.

Ye Kong was helpless. He could only sit in the ancestral hall staring blankly at those spirit tablets. Looks like he’d have to wait for the once-every-five-days trip home.

But who knew the opportunity would come at noon. Ye Wei brought a blanket to see him, saying Chen Jiuniang had asked him to bring it.

The two brothers started chatting. Chatting along, they got to Zhang Wude, and Ye Kong asked if this Zhang Wude had some kind of story.

Ye Wei laughed heartily, took out an ear pick, and while cleaning his ear, said, “This Zhang Wude is from the neighboring country of Wu. He was already quite famous there locally. At a young age, he entered the Wu Kingdom court and was highly appreciated by the emperor. Their Zhang family was also a large family with a prosperous lineage. But who knew – somehow his family offended someone, and overnight the entire clan was exterminated. Zhang Wude’s wife and daughter were also killed in that incident.”

“Ah, is that so?” Ye Kong thought to himself, no wonder the old man always had a stern face. Turns out there was this sad past.

“Yeah, the entire Zhang family was killed. Only Zhang Wude escaped with his life. Tragic.” Ye Wei also said with a sigh.

“Didn’t the emperor appreciate him? Why didn’t he ask the emperor to help him take revenge?” Ye Kong asked again.

Ye Wei shook his head. “Don’t know. I guess even the emperor couldn’t provoke the killers.”

Ye Kong thought for a moment, then guessed, “The emperor couldn’t provoke them? Then it must be cultivators. No wonder he spoke with that kind of tone.”

“Eighth Brother is indeed clever.” Ye Wei nodded in praise. “However, this is just our guess. Teacher Zhang won’t say it himself, so who knows what really happened?”

“The teacher must be avoiding pursuit, which is why he came to our ​Read on Jormuntl​An Kingdom, was taken in by father, and then lived under an assumed identity, right?” Ye Kong continued to guess.

This time he guessed wrong. Ye Wei shook his head and smiled. “Eighth Brother, you didn’t guess right this time. But perhaps ordinary people would guess that way. However, you forgot – someone like Teacher Zhang Wude, if he were truly being pursued by immortals, how could he come to someone else’s manor and bring disaster to others?”

“Right, exactly.” Ye Kong nodded. After their brief time together, he greatly admired Zhang Wude’s character.

“Actually, it’s like this. I guess that murderous immortal family was just venting their anger. After killing his whole family, that was that. Zhang Wude had quite a reputation among the common people. The immortals didn’t want to make everyone angry, so they let him go. But because the emperor didn’t avenge him, he simply came to our An Kingdom. He happened to meet father, and that’s how he came to live at our home.”

Ye Kong kept nodding. “Big brother’s reasoning ability is much stronger than mine.”

Ye Wei smiled. “Not at all, actually I’m the dumbest.” Then he shook his head and sighed. “Actually, Teacher Zhang is also very bitter.”

Ye Kong also pouted and nodded. “If there’s a chance, I have to help the teacher take revenge and clear his grievances.”

Ye Wei was startled and almost poked the ear pick into his ear. He quickly said, “Eighth Brother, don’t do anything rash. Immortals aren’t people we can provoke. Don’t look at how the Ye family commands thousands of troops – against immortals, that’s still not enough.”

Ye Kong smiled. “Don’t worry, Big Brother. I’m not stupid. On the contrary, I’m very smooth. I know very well what to say to whom.”

Ye Wei thought to himself, I’m just afraid when you get excited, it won’t be like this.

After chatting for a while, Ye Wei prepared to leave. He said, “I’m heading back to the military camp now. Can’t leave there for too long. Take good care of yourself.” He patted Ye Kong’s shoulder. “I’m leaving.”

This big brother really gave Ye Kong the feeling of brotherhood. Ye Kong smiled and nodded, watching Ye Wei leave. After watching him go far away, he suddenly remembered something.

“Hey, Big Brother, wait! My ear itches too.”