~~Location; Lu Clan~~
Inside the room of the clan leader, the door was pushed open and an old figure with gray hair with a well perfectly tied gray beard entered into the room without any iota of fear in his eyes. The figure of the old man may look old but his strength can't be underestimated. He had lived for hundreds of years.
The clan leader was sitting down comfortably on the golden chair near his bed. He looked at the figure that entered his room without his permission.
When he saw the figure, he quickly stood up on his feet and then bowed his head in respect. Who else will have the guts to enter his room apart from this old man and his father?
"Good morning, grandpa" The clan leader greeted out in a well-deserved and respectful tone. He doesn't dare to offend this old monster before him.
"Hmmmm. What's happening and what am I hearing around the clan" The old monster ignored the greeting of the Clan leader with a smirk on his face. An aura of disrespect and pride could be felt around him.
If it were to be another person who dares to talk to the clan leader in such a manner, it will not take a minute and the person will have been punished by the clan for such an offense.
The clan leader didn't take the disrespectful tone of the old monster to heart, instead, he smiled at the statements.
He raised his head and then looked at the old monster. "Grandpa, it's about Lu Shang, he had been in a strange unconscious state for a year and some weeks. We had reached out to the powerful alchemist around but still none was able to figure out why entered such a state." He explained with gritted teeth.
The old monster had been out of the clan for a long time, so it isn't obvious that he knew nothing about what was going on around the clan.
"Oh, I see. I warned you back then," the old monster took in a large gush of air and then flashed a displeased look to the clan leader. A burning rage could be seen in his eyes and an oppressive aura was released from his body, pressing down on the clan leader.
The clan leader immediately bowed his head in a defeated form, avoiding the face of the old monster.
"But don't you think we should stop being hard on him? Even if he is crippled in cultivation, at least there are other areas of cultivation he can still be useful in like in blacksmith and also ….." The clan leader wasn't able to complete his statement.
SMACK!!!!!
A slap hit the clan leader's left cheek. He yelled lightly and then he recomposed himself in a half-kneeling position with his head lowered and a metallic taste enveloping his mouth. He forced down the blood that wanted to come out of his mouth.
"Remember who you are talking to. I was the one who allowed you to take over the position of the clan leader, I would have allowed my precious son who happened to be your father to remain in the position but he doesn't always stay in the clan but out there traveling from one place to other to get stronger. Do you think I would have allowed you to take over your father's position if you weren't a cultivator? No, I will not but instead I will even chase you out of the clan myself."
The thunderous voice of the old monster echoed in the ear of the clan leader.
The trembling clan leader spoke out in a bittered voice. "I'm sorry for talking about the matter"
And then he completely bow down his head to the point his head was touching the ground.
The two guards outside that were guarding the doorpost of the clan leader, looked at each other with confusion. They had never expected that the old monster would treat the clan leader in such a manner. At least he should treat the clan leader with a little bit of respect.
"Keep sorry to yourself, even your father wasn't like this when he was young. We warned you not to get married to that woman but you didn't listen and she gave birth to that crippled son of yours. The worst thing is that you don't want to marry another woman, to bear you another child." Anger was surging in the heart of the old monster and he was doing his best in controlling himself and not do something harmful to his grandson. The more he looked at the figure of his grandson, the more the anger multiplied in his heart. "You better consider things or else I will be forced to intervene."
That was the last statement of the old monster before he banged out of the room with furiousness.
The clan leader looked at the door for some minutes with a helpless look on his face. "I have done everything within my power to help you, my child, but nothing is happening. Everyone thought I don't care about you, but I do just that I am pressured by that old monster. I had no choice but to comply with his will or else something dangerous will happen to you if I go against his orders" he said to himself in a low voice. "It's all up to you now. I know you are going to be a unique child even though you can't cultivate. I'm sure the heavens are looking out for you."
The clan leader stood up and then readjusted his robes.
Everybody and even Lu Shang himself thought that the clan leader didn't value Lu Shang but unknown to them that the reverse was the case. The clan leader was under the pressure of his grandpa, so he couldn't help but pretend as if he didn't care about Lu Shang.
Suddenly he could hear the hastened step from outside.
Soon the person stopped in front of his door and was struggling to breathe for running non-stop. He could hear the low voice of the person. "I-I want… to see… the clan leader, it's urgent," the person said in a trembling voice. From the voice of the person, he could identify the voice to be that of a female.
"What's chasing you?" One of the guards asked and then looked into the distance but he couldn't see anything else which got him wondering.
"Just allow me to see the clan leader," the urgent voice of the person ranged out again, ignoring the question of the guard.
"Why will we allow you to see the clan leader for no rea…." The guard wasn't able to complete his statement when the door was open and the clan leader stretched out his head.
"Come in," the clan leader said. The guards allowed her to enter the room.
"What happened? What are you looking for me and why are you breathing in such a manner?" The clan leader immediately asked Su Qing the moment she closed the door behind her.
Su Qing used two minutes to breathe down in relief and calm down her heart before looking at the clan leader. "Everything isn't fine, my lord. Just a moment ago, something happened in Lu Shang's room that I can't explain"
The clan leader focused his eyes on Su Qing for a brief second. "Did something happen to my wife?" He asked as his face darkened all of a sudden.
"No, my lord. Madam is okay, it's something more than that."
Seeing the genuine look on the face of Su Qing, the clan leader walked towards the door in a calm state with Su Qing following behind.
They came out of the room together. "I will be back," the clan leader said to the two guards before walking off into the distance with Su Qing.
Any guards and maids they pass by will greet and bow their heads towards the clan leader in respect not daring to be arrogant before him.
Su Qing observed the behavior of the guards and maids as they greeted the clan leader with respect. "This is pure respect. The weak would always bow their heads in defeat to the strong. No powerful expert will want to serve under a weakling" she said in her thoughts.
The clan leader was wandering along the way, trying to come up with any idea why his attention was needed but soon he drop the thought after fruitless thinking.
It didn't take long for the two to arrive at the front of Lu Shang's door.
Without any hesitation the clan leader pushed open the door, he looked into the room and the first scene that came to his sight was the mother and child engaging each other in a tight hug as if their life depended on it.
He could see emotions rotating in the eyes of the mother and child. Tears were rolling down the eyes of Zhang Xiao as if refuses to break off the hug.
The clan leader stood there looking at the pairs. "Impossible!" The dumbstruck clan leader said in a disbelieving voice.
Hearing the voice of the clan leader, Su Yan and the guards that were inside the room looked at him and immediately bowed their heads in respect. "Good day, my lord".
The clan leader ignored their greetings, ignoring them and the only people present in his line of vision were Lu Shang and Zhang Xiao.
Lu Shang and Zhang Xiao turned their heads and looked at who was at the door. They discovered it was no other person than the clan leader.
Lu Shang stares at his father with all his attention, he knows his father doesn't care about him but he doesn't hate his father. A father will always remain a father regardless of what happens.
"Zhang Xiao, how come?" The clan leader walked close to the two and questioned.
"I heard Su Qing and Su Yan talking with the guards" Zhang Xiao explained everything to the end.
The expression on the face of the clan leader turned into a bright smile as he looked at Lu Shang.
Lu Shang noticed the smile on the face of his father as the two looked at each other, he was surprised. "Did my father just smile at me?"