When their blindfolds had been removed, the group realized that they were in a paradise-like village.
Rising high into the clouds, tall mountains closed in on them from all directions. The village was situated on the only flat ground among the mountains, stretching over hundreds of miles into the valley.
The village houses were simple and unsophisticated, lining up along the roads.
A dozen children were chasing after dogs in the streets while roosters ran after hens in the chicken farms. A gray-haired nanny collected a few freshly-laid eggs from the chicken nests and joyfully put them in her basket.
"Welcome home, girls! I'll cook fried eggs for you today!"
The nanny called out to the Living Dead disciples warmly. It's apparent that they had known each other for a long time.
Ye Qing politely declined her offer and led her disciples behind the Grand Elder, walking through a long street to the other end of the village.
Meanwhile, Liu Erquan was walking in front of the other Liu members. All of them were held in awe by this eye-opening experience.
None of them had known about the existence of a village in the White Sun Mountain — a populous one of more than ten thousand residents.
A while later, they arrive at their destination.
It was a magnificent ancestral temple!
At the entrance of the temple stood a statue. With his hands folded behind his back, the statue gazed into the distance with an imposing look in his eyes, as if the entire world was under his control.
Moreover, the extraordinary details seemed to relay that this was a masterpiece by the hands of a talented sculptor.
It was of a vivid young man with well-defined facial features and stern expressions. Few living men were as handsome as he was!
However, as the Living Dead disciples walked past the statue, all of them had stopped to spit at it, including the Grand Elder, Ye Qing, and the remaining martial arts masters.
It was as if spitting at the statue was part of a ritual before entering the ancestral temple.
"Tsk, why does the Living Dead Clan have such strange rules? Why spit at a statue?!" Liu Sanhai laughed. He walked forward and wanted to spit too.
"Wait!"
Liu Liuhai suddenly dashed forward and covered Liu Sanhai's mouth.
Liu Sanhai swallowed the saliva back and shouted at Liu Liuhai angrily, his face bright red, "What's wrong with you, Liuhai? Why are you so fond of causing me trouble?"
Liu Liuhai widened his eyes in fury and said, "Open your damn eyes and look at this statue!"
"What? What's with the statue?!" Liu Sanhai smacked his lips and turned to the statue.
A few seconds later, he said, bewildered, "Hmm, he does look familiar. Who is this man?"
His words were met with unanimous agreement. Liu Erquan, Liu Erhai, and the other Liu members nodded and started discussing who the man could be.
Having seen this, Liu Liuhai raised his head and roared, "My goodness! Are you all blind? This man is our very first ancestor!"
"Huh?!—"
Astounded, they gazed up to take a closer look.
"He's right… It's our ancestor!"
"Holy moly!" Liu Erhai cried in astonishment.
In an attempt to learn more cultivation techniques, Liu Erhai had been touching the Ancestor recently. Hence, he couldn't be more familiar with the Ancestor's looks.
The statue was of a young man with a handsome face, an intimidating air, and a frosty expression. Who else could it be if it wasn't their ancestor?!
"My distinguished ancestor, why is your statue here?!"
Liu Sanhai was shocked, but at the same time, he felt grateful to Liu Liuhai for stopping him in time. Had he spat on the Liu ancestor's statue, he would be remembered forever as a sinner among the Liu family. Flaying him alive wouldn't be enough punishment for this crime.
At this moment, a girl walked by elegantly. She puffed up her pretty cheeks and spit out sparkling saliva.
Her saliva flew towards the statue following a trajectory.
"STOP!" Liu Sanhai roared in a thundering rage.
He suddenly leaped forward and slapped the saliva back onto the girl's face.
"Ahh—!"
The girl screamed and drew her sword immediately.
The commotion attracted the attention of every Living Dead disciple around them. They glared at Liu Sanhai, fury boiling in their eyes.
"Step aside, damn women!" Liu Liuhai shouted as he sprinted towards the statue, followed by Liu Erquan, Liu Erhai, other members of the Liu clan, and a bunch of fighters led by Black-Handed Zhang.
The atmosphere grew tense instantly.
Wondering what was going on, the Grand Elder and the eight martial arts masters stepped out of the ancestral temple to check on the situation.
The girl reported what had just happened as she knelt on the ground, her saliva still on her face.
Liu Sanhai held his chin high, showing no sign of remorse.
Liu Liuhai took out the spirit tablet from his chest pocket and questioned them loudly, "Why do your Living Dead people have to spit at our Liu ancestor's statue?!"
"If you can't give us a proper explanation, we'll fight you to death today!"
Liu Erquan stepped forward too. He said in a cold voice, "You can insult us. But you are looking for death if you dare humiliate our First Ancestor!"
He turned around and saw wet marks of saliva all over the statue. To his abhorrence, there was snot dangling on the statue too.
Who shamelessly blew their nose at the Ancestor's statue?!
Liu Erquan had lost his composure. His chest was heaving rapidly and his eyes were bloodshot with rage.
However, the Grand Elder did not answer them. Her bright eyes stared at the tablet in Liu Liuhai's hand.
"Liu Fan, an esteemed and well-loved ancestor, First Physical Cultivator!"
She recited it word by word. Her face grew grimmer as she read it.
"I shouldn't have allowed you to come here!" the Grand Elder thundered.
Then, she gestured at the Living Dead disciples to move back, revealing the stone slab beside the temple door.
There was a prominent line of words written on the slab.
"No Lius and Dogs Allowed!"
The Grand Elder raised her head and said to the furious Liu men, "Don't take it personally, but this is the rule set by the founding ancestor of our Living Dead Clan!"
"Before our ancestor passed away, she wrote ten clan rules. First, before entering the ancestral temple, every Living Dead disciple must spit at the Liu ancestor's statue and recite a line in their heart!"
"What line?" Liu Liuhai asked.
"Every man is a jerk, and every physical cultivator of the Liu clan is trash!" the Grand Elder replied.
"Ahh—!"
Liu Liuhai roared, "We can't call ourselves descendants of the Liu family if we don't tear down your ancestral temple today!"
"Wait!"
Liu Erquan pulled Liu Liuhai back by his arm as the latter was about to leap forward. He stared straight into the Grand Elder's eyes and said, "The First Ancestor of our clan was kind and gentle. He was well-loved by the people of his time, who politely called him the First Physical Cultivator. Please enlighten us how such a dignified man deserves the humiliation received under the roof of your Living Dead Clan!"
"If you can't give us a reasonable explanation, please forgive our rudeness for fighting you to the death!"
The Grand Elder laughed, and so did Ye Qing and the other seven martial arts masters.
"I will only need to tell you one name, and you'll know how unspeakably despicable your 'honorable' First Ancestor was in the past!" the Grand Elder said, fuming with anger.
"Bai — Lian —
Liu Erquan's face changed as soon as he heard the name, and so did the others.
"It's the Ancestor's second woman!"
"According to the Story of Ancestors, Bai Lianhua was a real beauty, but she couldn't stay still and kept challenging our first ancestor to single combat. In the end, she sealed herself in a cave and vowed that she would only come out of seclusion after she had found a way to defeat our ancestor…"
Liu Liuhai recalled. Then, his eyes froze. He shouted, "Is Bai Lianhua the founding ancestor of your clan?"
"Correct. Bai Lianhua is exactly the founding ancestor of our Living Dead Clan!" the Grand Elder said proudly. Her eyes then turned to the spirit tablet in Liu Liuhai's hand with a furious look.
"Our ancestor, Bai Lianhua, was a sweet and pure lady. She was respectfully known as Saint Lotus. However, your ancestor seduced her and took her virginity. She regretted it and hated him for this until she finally died from depression. This can never be forgotten nor forgiven!"
Liu Liuhai and the other Liu members snorted.
"Ridiculous! Our ancestor Liu Fan was a handsome fighter. Women who fell for him could line up three rounds around the City of Scorpio. Your accusations are impossible!"
Liu Erhai nodded in agreement and said, "That's right. Our ancestor is not a dishonorable man!"
Then, he shifted his eyes and taunted, "Both the Story of Ancestors and our family booklet documented how charming our ancestor was back then, and how crazy your founding ancestor was about our ancestor. However, she had never managed to win over his heart. That's why she came up with the idea of single combats so that she could spend more time with our ancestor."
"Shameless!"
"Therefore, it's more likely that your ancestor drugged our ancestor and took our ancestor's virginity!"
Having said that, Liu Erhai turned to Liu Dongdong and said in a serious tone, "Dongdong, when you grow up, don't forget that there are bad women too. Remember to protect yourself when you are out alone!"
The Living Dead disciples were outraged at his provoking remarks. The swords in their hands were shaking in their anger, sending off a murderous vibe.