Ahem, ahem.
The ancestor cleared his throat and said, "How old is he now — has the proper time for it arrived?"
The father remembered that important matter and answered the ancestor hastily, "Yes, yes, ancestor — he reached that age a week ago. I didn't tell you sooner so we could be certain he'd truly come of age for it." The father felt a pang of guilt over his own lie — the truth was, he simply couldn't bear the thought of parting with his firstborn son if the boy turned out not to carry spiritual roots.
The ancestor nodded, and he knew full well the father was lying to him — but he pitied his situation and had given him a week to work up the courage to raise the matter himself. It seemed the father still hadn't managed it, so the ancestor had come today to broach it himself — and, as it happened, he'd arrived just as Feng was punishing Hua, so he'd intervened.
"Well then, what are we waiting for," he said. "Let's head to the Ancestral Hall now so we can examine him."
Meanwhile, in his own parallel world, Hua was busy checking the spots where he'd been struck, with no idea at all what they were talking about — but he noticed the hesitation on his parents' faces, the same parents who had never once mentioned this to him before, and grew naturally tense. Still, there was no way out now, so he surrendered himself to the ancestor, who led him toward that place he'd always been forbidden to enter. They opened the door, and he saw a stone platform at its center, shaped like a small pedestal.
The ancestor said to him with a smile, "Come forward, little one, to that small platform, and touch that stone pedestal there."
Hua hesitated for a moment, afraid something bad might happen to him, but then he heard his mother's stern grunt — "Hmph" — and, frightened of her, stepped forward and touched it with his hand. The instant he touched it, he was startled by three beams of glowing light, and he shut his eyes against their brightness. But what startled him even more was his father's cheering and his mother's strange weeping. When he opened his eyes, he saw his father walking toward him, a smile splitting his face, saying, "Yes — this is my child, the one who will lead this family toward ascension. Three roots! Praise be to the ancestors' blessings!"
The mother replied in a fragile voice unlike anything he was used to from her, "Yes, my love, praise God — I won't have to fear losing my own flesh and blood anymore, thank God, thank God."
And through all of this, a thousand question marks filled Hua's mind — where had that colored beam of light come from, what did his mother's words mean, and what exactly was it that would have separated them — but he found no answers from his parents, too consumed by their own celebration. His only remaining lifeline was the ancestor, so he shot him a glance, and the ancestor understood at once what troubled him.
He came closer and took Hua aside, away from his parents' celebration, so he wouldn't be distracted, and said to him with a dignified smile:
"I know you're confused by your parents' behavior, and that you have many questions on your mind right now. I'll explain everything to you. First — where should we begin? What do you say we start with the source of that light?"
Hua nodded eagerly and said, "Yes — what was that glowing light?"
The ancestor answered patiently, beginning to explain bit by bit. "That light, and that stone platform, together form a spiritual array for discovering children's spiritual roots."
Hua was puzzled and asked, "And what are these spiritual roots?"
The ancestor replied calmly, taking his time to explain. "The roots are what allow a person to walk the path of immortality and become stronger than mortal men. We are a family of immortals — we cultivate immortality — and the fault lies with us for not teaching you children this in school."
Hua was quite shocked by this and asked, "And why don't you teach us this in school?"
The ancestor, understanding his confusion, replied, "More often than not, we find no one at all who carries the roots — so their fate ends in the mortal world regardless. If we told them about all this beforehand, we'd only be placing them under pressure for nothing, which would affect their studies going forward. So we prefer to leave the matter be until we find the one who does carry the roots — then we tell him."
The ancestor paused for a moment, then continued.
Hua now understood the reason they hadn't been told, but one final question still weighed on his mind, and he asked, "And why was my father crying like that?"
The ancestor understood his confusion and said, "As for why your father cried — it's because if you hadn't carried spiritual roots, you would have been cast down from the spiritual peak and sent into the mortal world, to become a mortal like the rest of them. We are immortals — we cannot allow mortals to remain among us. So we prefer to send them down while still young, supporting them with gold and silver so they can live a dignified life there until death claims them."
Hua was stunned by this news — he'd never imagined a life without his parents — and now the ancestor had struck him with this revelation. He thanked God deeply for this blessing that had been granted him, and asked, "But why do you expel them from the peak at all?"
The ancestor went on, "This comes down to two reasons. The first is to protect the children themselves — a mortal exposed to qi for more than ten years suffers erosion of the bones and of life itself, which ultimately leads to death within another ten years after that. The second reason is that even without that first reason, leaving them on the peak would overcrowd it — they'd fill the mountain, there would be no order left, and the cultivators wouldn't receive enough qi for their farming, since it would all be wasted on mortals' breathing and living." Hua was even more stunned by this piece of news than by anything before it.
Once the ancestor saw that Hua was gradually coming to terms with the shock, he continued, "And finally — we've discovered that you carry three spiritual roots, which determine your talent in cultivation. Praise God, your roots are the strongest to be discovered since mine — which means our family will enjoy another hundred years of safety, and we won't remain easy prey for the families surrounding us. Now, what's required of you is to head to the Inheritance Hall to receive your training inheritance, and after that you'll go to the Treasury, where the treasury elder will explain everything regarding your resources. And finally — congratulations to you."
The ancestor departed, leaving him standing there alone, digesting all this news he'd just learned. But he was roused from his daze by his parents approaching and embracing him. His mother, who only moments earlier had been cursing him and threatening to beat him senseless, said, "You little rascal — you were spared today because of this news."
Her tone then shifted to a sorrowful one, and tears began welling in her eyes once more as she embraced him tightly and began to sob. "I couldn't have — not even for a second — imagined myself without you, my son. But thank God, now nothing but death will ever part us."
Hua replied, moved, "Don't say that, Mother — not even death will part us. We'll be immortal, we'll never truly die, and I'll always stay with you."
His father struck him lightly on the head with his hand. "And what about me, you little vagabond? Am I not among your concerns, or is it only your mother who matters to you?"
Hua placed his hand over the spot where he'd just been struck, rubbing it, and said with mock resentment, "Even you, Father — I can't bear to be parted from you either."