Chapter 287
Chapter 287
Song Xiaotian’s father was named Song Qing.
That Daoist Song had been named Song Qingshan.
Although the two names were similar, I assumed it was merely a coincidence.
I had only asked the question casually, yet Song Xiaotian’s answer stunned all of us.
“Your great-grandfather?”
“Your great-grandfather was also named Song Qingshan?”
Surely this could not be an even greater coincidence!
Song Xiaotian nodded. “My great-grandfather was named Song Qingshan. My grandfather named my dad Song Qing in memory of him.”
“Wait, how do you know my great-grandfather’s name?”
I hurriedly recounted the deeds of the two great experts, Li Tushan and Song Qingshan.
After listening, Song Xiaotian was too shocked to speak.
Meng Yifan said, “It has to be a coincidence. The ages don’t match. How old would Brother Tian’s great-grandfather have been when the statue of the Thunder Ancestor was destroyed?”
“It isn’t a coincidence.” Song Xiaotian stared blankly at us. “My great-grandfather adopted my grandfather when he was already very old. My grandfather wasn’t his biological son. He found and took him in. And my great-grandfather really was a wandering occult practitioner…”
We were stunned yet again.
This was no coincidence!
Daoist Song, Song Qingshan, was Song Xiaotian’s great-grandfather!
“My grandfather used to tell me that his father was a great expert. He told me all sorts of strange stories from my great-grandfather’s past. Of course, I treated them as stories. I didn’t believe in any of this back then.”
Song Xiaotian continued, “I always thought my great-grandfather was just a charlatan from the old days…”
Seventh Master hurriedly said, “Your great-grandfather was definitely no charlatan. The fact that he laid a Three Powers Formation on the original site of the Luo Mansion is proof enough that he was a true expert. Even my abilities might not compare to his.”
Song Xiaotian muttered to himself, “So my great-grandfather… really wasn’t an ordinary man. Then why didn’t my grandfather inherit his skills?”
Seventh Master looked at him. “How do you know your grandfather didn’t inherit them? He was already old when you were born. What do you know about his experiences when he was young?”
Song Xiaotian’s eyes widened. “Could my grandfather… be a great expert too?”
Meng Yifan and I teased him. “Young Master, it seems your skills run in the family.”
Anning was curious. “If the people in your family are so powerful, why are you so afraid of ghosts?”
Song Xiaotian snapped, “I was born under the red flag and raised in the spring breeze. I received a materialist education.”
Seventh Master thought for a moment, then quickly said, “You should call your grandfather and ask if he knows about this. Perhaps he can help us.”
Song Xiaotian promptly took out his phone and called his grandfather.
He made it a video call, probably because he wanted a proper conversation about his great-grandfather.
The call soon connected.
We stood to one side and saw his grandfather as well.
To be honest, if I had not known the old man had served in the military, I might have taken him for an actor.
His features were extraordinarily imposing. At first glance, he resembled an ancient general. His long, straight eyebrows gave his martial appearance an almost transcendent air. A portrait of him hung on a door would probably ward off evil better than the Thunder Ancestor.
“Grandpa, let me ask you something. Were all those stories you told me about Great-Grandpa true?” Song Xiaotian asked impatiently.
On the phone screen, the old man chuckled. “You called me on video just to ask that? Why are you suddenly curious about your great-grandfather?”
Eager for confirmation, Song Xiaotian said, “Just tell me whether they were true.”
The old man replied, “Of course they were. I told you when you were a child. You were the one who refused to believe me.”
Song Xiaotian stared openmouthed, his entire worldview apparently crumbling.
“Did Great-Grandpa ever tell you about the Luo Mansion? The Luo Mansion from a hundred years ago.”
“The Luo Mansion?”
The old man searched his memory, tapping the table. “Do you mean the Luo Mansion in Lincheng?”
His answer immediately filled us with excitement.
He really did know!
“Yes, yes! The Luo Mansion in Lincheng!”
Song Xiaotian stood with the phone and introduced us to his grandfather. “Grandpa, these are all my colleagues, and the man in the bed is Seventh Master. We’ve run into a problem. It goes like this… Well… Actually, you should speak to Seventh Master yourself.”
With that, Song Xiaotian handed over the phone.
Seventh Master accepted it and greeted the old man with great courtesy.
“Hello. You appear to be injured.”
The old man studied Seventh Master for several seconds, then said thoughtfully, “You were injured by Daoism’s Thunder Method. Did you come into conflict with a Daoist practitioner?”
We were all dumbfounded, and even Seventh Master looked startled.
Song Xiaotian’s grandfather had to be a great expert too. Otherwise, he could never have identified a Thunder Method injury merely by looking at Seventh Master’s complexion.
“Yes, exactly. You saw it at a glance.”
Seventh Master hurriedly explained, “But no one else attacked me. I was injured by my own Thunder Method.”
The old man stared for a long while, unable to make sense of what Seventh Master had said. “What?”
“Someone trapped me while I was dealing with the Luo Mansion,” Seventh Master clarified. “We wanted to ask whether your father ever told you about that place.”
The old man nodded. “I know about it. My father told me a long time ago. Someone invited him there to handle the problem, but he couldn’t resolve it completely. He merely helped the local residents suppress the harmful entity once more.”
Seventh Master quickly asked, “Did your father describe the situation there in any detail?”
The old man thought carefully. As something returned to him, he asked, “Is your surname Zhao?”
That question startled all of us again.
The old man had never met Seventh Master, and Song Xiaotian had not mentioned his surname during the introductions. How could he possibly know?
“Yes, my surname is Zhao. My name is Zhao Qiankun.”
“Are you the seventh child in your family?”
The old man asked another question.
Seventh Master’s eyes widened. “How did you know?”
I was confused and could not help asking, “Seventh Master, weren’t you raised by your Master? What family are you talking about?”
Seventh Master said, “Our family was poor in those days, but my parents kept having children. By the time I was born, they could no longer afford to raise another. A wandering Daoist happened to pass through our village, so my parents gave me to him to raise. That Daoist became my Master.”
On the screen, the old man said, “Then my father must have been referring to you. He said the events at that place were man-made, a karmic disaster created by human hands, and that he could not resolve it.”
“First, the wronged spirits there had grown for nearly a century. There were too many to perform an Exorcism for.”
“Second, when he went there, he possessed neither Heaven’s timing, the advantage of the terrain, nor human harmony. The time wasn’t ripe. He could only follow the circumstances and treat the symptoms rather than the cause.”
“To eliminate the cause, many years would have to pass. They had to wait for a man surnamed Zhao, the seventh child in his family, to deal with it.”