Year 75 of the New Calendar
"Move the household! The household must be moved!"
With the order given by the head of the family, Xie Lingyun, a massive relocation involving nearly a hundred people began.
Back then, the Xie family moved from the remote southwestern region to the Mingling Mountain. To this day, there are various rumors surrounding this relocation in the local area.
Some say it was due to "poor business management, to avoid competition from rivals" or "perhaps they had committed some offense in the local area... that's why the whole family relocated." These rumors spread widely in the countryside, even reaching surrounding cities...
However, Xie Lingyun, who was the head of the family at the time, never provided a clear explanation to outsiders.
When friends or relatives visited and asked about the matter, Xie Lingyun would either avoid the question or give vague responses.
"Just changing the feng shui, adjusting the fortune."
Regardless of the reasons, after the Xie family settled in Mingling Mountain, it seemed that luck began to favor the family. Their population grew steadily, which was only a secondary concern...
Xie Lingyun's several sons all achieved success in big cities, something that should have boosted the family's reputation greatly...
But the change in feng shui seemed not always to bring favorable fortune for everyone in the family.
By the year 77 of the New Calendar, Xie Lingyun's direct relatives had dwindled to only his eldest son, Xie Lingtian... This feeling of being an isolated old man was something Xie Lingyun had not anticipated when the family moved.
Perhaps it was the rapid contrast that put a strain on his body, or maybe it was due to his increasingly eccentric and reclusive personality.
Whatever the reason, during the next year, Xie Lingyun's health deteriorated at a visible rate.
Even some of the household servants, who had no medical knowledge, could see it.
"Old Master Xie... he probably... won't last much longer."
"Although I, as a servant, shouldn't be saying this, I think Old Master Xie... sigh..."
When asked about Xie Lingyun's health, everyone in the family could only shake their heads and sigh in response.
The saying "a doctor cannot heal himself" seemed to apply to Xie Lingyun... despite the Xie family having medicinal books passed down for hundreds of years...
But throughout the year 77 of the New Calendar, when faced with his own body, Xie Lingyun seemed to have completely given up on treating himself using conventional methods.
At first, he would travel to the big city to seek the opinion of Western doctors... but after a death sentence was handed down by the doctors, he no longer put any effort into treatment.
However, the increasingly stubborn Xie Lingyun did not use his authority as the head of the Xie family to ask his distant descendants for help. The only thing he requested from them was to "search for books."
Whether it was books on local secret methods, metaphysics, or books on foreign occult practices...
As long as the book had anything to do with the supernatural or irrational, Xie Lingyun spent the entire year of 77 of the New Calendar trying to find any book he could get his hands on.
But it seemed that all of this was in vain...
Summer of the New Calendar Year 78
"Knock, knock, knock, Father? Father, it's time for dinner."
...
"Knock, knock, knock, Father?"
When Xie Lingtian slowly pushed open the door to his father's study, he suddenly screamed, "Father! Come quickly!"
In front of him, Xie Lingyun was lying in front of the desk, almost unconscious. He immediately rushed to lift his father from the floor, shouting for help as he ran toward the outer garden. At that moment, Xie Lingtian felt that his father was as light as paper, and his face appeared extremely weak.
After a night of rescue, using both traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, Xie Lingyun ultimately managed to survive...
However, when they returned to the Xie family mansion, nearly every doctor or healer present told Xie Lingtian with grave expressions:
"Prepare for the old master's funeral. He may not survive until the end of autumn..."
That night, Xie Lingtian went alone to his father's resting room, and in Xie Lingyun's hand...
Although he had not yet regained consciousness, he was still tightly holding a book.
No one had been able to remove the book during the rescue, which was surprising because an elderly man in such a decayed state still had this kind of grip.
But when Xie Lingtian quietly approached his father's side, he paused, staring at the book his father was clutching so tightly.
Then! Using all his strength, he forcefully pulled the book from Xie Lingyun's hand... so much so that part of the spine of the book remained in his father's hand.
In the faint candlelight, Xie Lingtian pulled over a chair and sat at his father's bedside, carefully examining the mysterious book.
"This is...?!"
The entire night passed, and in Xie Lingyun's room, the candlelight flickered without going out... By the time the morning sunlight began to shine over Mingling Mountain, Xie Lingtian extinguished the candle and quietly left the room.
From that point onward, Xie Lingyun's study and research journey was entirely spent in bed...
Seasons changed, and eventually, Xie Lingyun could not escape the prediction of the doctors. On a late autumn evening... everyone in the Xie family silently gathered outside his room.
Thick dark clouds covered the sky, and hungry crows made harsh cries in the mountains.
Xie Lingtian knelt beside his father's bed, silently gazing at the almost lifeless figure of Xie Lingyun...
The few remaining family members who could speak stood quietly behind him.
Just when Xie Lingtian thought the end had come, Xie Lingyun's nearly withered hand slowly raised.
"Father..."
Xie Lingtian thought his father was about to say something, but Xie Lingyun's cracked lips didn't utter a word... instead, his raised hand made a gesture in the air, signaling the number seven.
"Father, what does... this mean?"
At that moment, a thunderclap struck, and Xie Lingtian, along with the relatives, walked out of the room with solemn expressions. Facing the curious eyes of the people outside, Xie Lingtian didn't explain anything and simply dispersed the crowd.
No one knew what had happened that night in Xie Lingyun's room... but afterward, no one in the Xie family spoke of the funeral...
As winter arrived, Xie Lingtian publicly announced his father's death. Xie Lingyun passed away at the age of seventy-five, but the only thing the family knew for sure was that from that moment on, Xie Lingtian became the new head of the Xie family... and life in the Xie family seemed to proceed without any significant change.
The Xie family continued to prosper, but by the year 85 of the New Calendar, everything came to an abrupt halt.
At the age of fifty-seven, Xie Lingtian welcomed the birth of his third child, another boy... but a layer of suspicious clouds suddenly hung over the Xie family.
"Nine months of pregnancy, one birth, but... what's going on with the third wife...?"
The midwives whispered in the corner, but when they saw Xie Lingtian walking over, they immediately fell silent.
"Ah, Old Master Xie, another boy. Congratulations, congratulations!"
"Yes... I know."
Xie Lingtian didn't pay them any attention and quickly entered the room of the third wife.
"Is the child and the mother both well?"
Before the servant could answer, Xie Lingtian hastily went forward to see for himself, and when he arrived at the bedside, he was greeted with a warm scene.
"Qian'er, how do you feel?"
"Master... look, the child."
When Qian'er turned the baby toward Xie Lingtian, he couldn't help but rejoice.
"Hahaha, just as I expected, it's my son!"
"Master, have you thought of a name for him?"
"Of course." Although Xie Lingtian was already over fifty, he was now wearing an incredulous expression on his face.
"Xie Feng! This is my third son's name! Xie Feng!"
"Xie Feng..." The mother gently caressed the baby in her arms, repeatedly murmuring the name given by the head of the family — "Xie Feng, Xie Feng, what a good name."
"Of course, who's child do you think this is?"
The joyous atmosphere spread throughout the Xie family mansion, as it should...
The unusual circumstances surrounding the birth led everyone in the Xie family to question the newly born boy. In this atmosphere of doubt...
Though Xie Lingtian maintained his smile, he was no fool. The unease that filled the Xie family gradually began to corrode his heart.
Compared to his father, Xie Yunpeng, Xie Lingtian was more inclined to associate with capable individuals from the world outside... These people were often treated with courtesy by him, and naturally, he invited many of these figures to the celebration for his third son's full moon feast.
On the day of Xie Feng's full moon celebration, the entire Xie family mansion was filled with a festive atmosphere... Both the business associates of Xie's medicine shop and Xie Lingtian's acquaintances from the martial world gathered in the mansion's inner and outer courtyards, which were filled to the brim. The band played joyful music, and the gifts from the guests piled up at the entrance.
"Hahaha, Lingtian brother, congratulations, congratulations!"
"Ah, Brother Kong from Ba Tongmen, truly thank you, thank you!"
"Yo! Old Master Xie, truly impressive, another son!"
"Elder King Kong, I hope you are well!"
Xie Feng, of course, was unaware of all this... After all, a baby still in the swaddling stage couldn't perceive the worldly scheming.
The celebration proceeded smoothly, and the guests' spirits rose as the number of empty wine jars increased. But then...
A gust of wind mixed with mist blew across the mansion, and when the fog cleared and the sunlight poured into the inner courtyard, the guests were astonished to see, at the large central table, a man dressed in a Taoist robe, holding a dragon-whisk broom. He stood on high, surrounded by clouds and mist.
"Who is this?!"
"Ah, Brother Chen, no need to rush..." Xie Lingtian, who had a good tolerance for alcohol, wasn't drunk. Upon seeing such a peculiar entrance, he asked with slight respect.
"Good skills! May I ask this Taoist priest, what is your name, and why have you come?"
The Taoist glanced down and then spoke in a booming voice that seemed to penetrate the hearts of all present.
"I am Cold Sun Taoist! I travel the seas, and on a whim, though my skills are lacking, I still came here to reveal a bit of heavenly secrets."
"Then... please enlighten us, Taoist."
Xie Lingtian cupped his hands, and Cold Sun Taoist paused before continuing.
"Once the three queens were abandoned, the road was dark and perilous. The red sword is sharp and clashes with the wall, the head and body part ways, abandoned in the wild."
After saying this, Cold Sun Taoist's surroundings were engulfed in swirling clouds. Under the golden light, he seemed like an immortal descending from the heavens. Then, after shaking his broom, ignoring Xie Lingtian's continued questioning, he laughed three times toward the sky. A gentle breeze blew, and he disappeared from everyone's sight.
"Lingtian brother, this..." Brother Kong, standing behind Xie Lingtian, seemed confused by the Taoist's words. However, the guests from all corners of the world began to murmur.
"What does this mean?"
"I don't know..."
"This Taoist was clearly referring to the newly born child of the Xie family..."
"Although I don't fully understand, it feels like ominous words..."
At this point, Xie Lingtian remained frozen in place, his mind a whirl of thoughts. Under his wife's guidance, the full moon celebration continued and eventually came to a successful end.
The next day, Xie Lingtian called a family meeting in the main hall of the Xie family mansion. When Xie Feng and his mother, Zhou Qian, arrived, the room grew quiet, as if everyone already knew something.
"Yesterday, the Taoist mentioned coming to 'reveal heavenly secrets'..." Xie Lingtian sat in the central chair, his face grim, his complexion poor. "I haven't slept since yesterday, trying to think through this matter..."
"My lord, but..." Just as Zhou Qian was about to speak, Xie Lingtian's wife scolded her.
"What do you mean, 'but'? The Taoist nearly said it outright—'three queens,' 'corruption'... Isn't he saying that the child you just gave birth to will bring disaster to our Xie family?"
"You! How can you say such nonsense! Xie Feng is still in swaddling clothes, what does he understand? How can you condemn us just based on the words of some strange person?"
"Enough!"
Xie Lingtian slammed the table. His face, pale from lack of sleep and excessive thought, now radiated a chilling aura.
"I've thought long and hard, and my conclusion is decided. There's no point in further arguing." Xie Lingtian closed his eyes slightly, rubbed his chin, and said in a calm but decisive tone, "Qian'er, this child must not be kept."
"What?! My lord, this is your own flesh and blood."
"The heavenly secrets are clear, and I am bound by them. For the sake of the entire Xie family, this is the only way."
The entire Xie family mansion fell into chaos. The cries of the mother, the rebukes from the women, the shouts of the servants, and the cries of the children blended together, creating an atmosphere of impending change.
What was the result? Perhaps Xie Lingtian's heart softened, or maybe old emotions held sway… Or perhaps it was the sorrowful atmosphere that made him unable to make a final decision...
In any case, Xie Feng and his mother were sent to a side room in the mansion and were not allowed to refer to Xie Feng as a descendant of the Xie family. With these terms agreed upon, Xie Lingtian refrained from expelling them from the family.
But who could have predicted that this was only the beginning of a tragic tale…