"Older Brother, you're awake at last?"
Lin Dong woke to find an exquisite little girl leaning over him. He reached out and patted her head. Seeing her swollen, reddened eyes, he sighed. "Qing Tan, you know about Father?"
"Qing Tan knows. Father was badly hurt."
The girl named Qing Tan pursed her small lips, tears filling her eyes again. Clearly, she had already cried once.
"How long was I asleep?"
Seeing that the girl was about to cry again, Lin Dong quickly changed the subject.
"Two hours. Oh right, father has already woken up. He wants to see you."
Qing Tan hurriedly wiped the tears from her eyes and reached out to help Lin Dong, who was pushing himself up to sit.
"Father's already awake? Let's go, come with me to see him."
Lin Dong immediately got out of bed, took Qing Tan by the hand, and hurried toward the master bedroom.
As the Lin Family's third elder and its second Heaven Origin expert after Family Head Lin Zhentian, Lin Xiao had a sizable courtyard in the Inner District. Following the familiar yet unfamiliar path in his memory, Lin Dong pushed open the door to his parents' room.
"Father, you wanted to see me?"
Lin Dong looked at the heroic young man leaning against the bed, his emotions conflicted.
"Dong'er, Qing Tan, come here. Your father has something to announce to you both." Despite his wife's protests, Lin Xiao, his face pale, struggled to his feet. He looked at his son and daughter and gave a bitter smile.
"I've now become a half-crippled man. I've failed to live up to father's and the family's expectations of me. I no longer have the right to enjoy anything the family gives me. I intend to move out of the Inner District, to live on the most secluded little mountain deep within the Lin Family's territory."
"Father, are we moving now? It's already nighttime. Shouldn't we wait until tomorrow?" Qing Tan glanced at the darkness outside the window, clearly unable to understand her father's decision.
"Yes, we're moving right now. We'll move overnight."
Lin Xiao's thin frame swayed, but he gritted his teeth and spoke in a low, firm voice.
"Qing Tan, don't say anything more. Come, let's help father get moving."
Lin Dong pulled Qing Tan back as she tried to say more. Lin Xiao had just suffered a major blow and was consumed by despair and weariness with the world. His wounds would take time to heal, and this was no time for further discussion.
"Let's move, let's move. While it's night and not many people will see... heh heh..."
Lin Xiao gave a desolate smile, then busied himself alongside his wife and children.
Half an hour later, the four members of the Lin Family quietly left the Inner District under cover of night, carrying only a few belongings. They headed for the most secluded little mountain deep within the family's territory.
Meanwhile, a member of the Lin Family relayed this news to the Lin Family's main residence. Lin Zhentian fell silent for a moment upon hearing it, then said in a low voice, "Forget it, let him do as he wishes. Old Three still hasn't seen through it. I've never blamed him. This is something he can only work through on his own. As his father, there's nothing I can do to help him."
"Yes, Family Head!"
The Lin Family member who had delivered the news acknowledged and withdrew.
.....
The four members of Lin Xiao's family finally settled on the secluded little mountain. They lived in an ancient house that had stood abandoned for several years, so it needed a thorough cleaning.
The next day, Liu Yan, Lin Dong, and Qing Tan rose early and cleaned the ancient house. Lin Xiao sat in a room they had tidied the night before, staring blankly into space.
Watching Lin Xiao's dejected state, something stirred in Lin Dong's heart. Perhaps he should act sooner rather than later—his father couldn't be allowed to remain so despondent.
"Mother, Qing Tan, I'm going out for a little while. I'll be right back."
Having made up his mind, Lin Dong dropped the broom and dashed away, leaving Qing Tan calling after him, "Older Brother, where are you going...?"
Behind the mountain, past the cliff, a hidden mountain cave.
Following the path in his memory, Lin Dong slipped into the mountain cave beneath several massive boulders. He and Qing Tan had stumbled upon it while playing as children.
Lin Dong had come to retrieve the Mysterious Stone Talisman at the top of the cave—or, more precisely, the Divine Object ranked second on the Ancient Divine Objects Ranking: the Supreme Divine Object crafted by the Number One Ancient Expert, Lord Talisman Ancestor—the Ancestral Stone.
Lin Dong leapt into the cave, and cool air washed over him. In the spacious cave lay a stone pool roughly two or three zhang across, its water clear to the bottom.
"The stone pool contains Ancestral Stone Spirit Liquid accumulated over the years. It counts as a decent treasure, and I should come here often once I start cultivating. As for the Ancestral Stone, it should be directly above the pool."
Lin Dong lingered beside the stone pool, then looked up. A drop of crimson liquid slid from the cave's ceiling into the pool, sending ripples across the water.
"Hey there, treasure, I found you..."
Lin Dong smiled in satisfaction and walked toward a section of the cave wall he could climb.
Ten minutes later.
"So this is the Ancestral Stone, ranked second on the Ancient Divine Objects Ranking?"
Lin Dong turned over a grayish-white stone about the size of a pigeon egg. Its surface was densely covered with Profound Runes. It felt soft to the touch, and its material was neither stone nor jade, exuding an air of ancient elegance.
A groove in the stone held a pool of red liquid that radiated a rich pulse of energy. The crimson droplet that had fallen into the pool earlier had clearly come from here.
"Ancestral Stone Spirit Liquid, you're the one I've been looking for. No, wait, I shouldn't call you the Ancestral Stone anymore—I should call you a Stone Talisman instead."
Lin Dong rubbed the Ancestral Stone for a while, then reluctantly tucked it into his robes and headed down the mountain.
When Lin Dong returned home, most of the ancient house had been cleaned. His mother, Liu Yan, was brewing medicine from a First-grade Spirit Medicine to treat her husband's injuries.
Although Lin Xiao had given up on treatment and surrendered to despair, Liu Yan firmly believed that her Xiao brother would recover.
"Mother, let me do it. I'll bring it to father."
Lin Dong stepped forward and picked up the Celadon bowl filled with Medicinal Liquid.
"There you go, hurry along. Coax your father a bit—he still refuses to take his medicine."
Liu Yan smiled, wiped the sweat from Lin Dong's forehead, and patted his shoulder. She motioned for him to hurry inside.
"Understood, Mother."
As he turned away, Lin Dong discreetly added something to the bowl. A streak of red spread through the pale green Medicinal Liquid.
"Father, it's time for your medicine."
In the simple but tidy room, a heroic-looking man sat in a daze, lost in thought. Lin Dong held out the Celadon bowl in silence.
"It's no use. I'm already a half-crippled man. Giving this to me would be a complete waste..."
Lin Xiao, snapping back to his senses, meant to refuse, but when he looked up, he was met with his son Lin Dong's earnest gaze, and beyond him, his wife and daughter huddled together in the doorway, watching him intently.
With a long, quiet sigh, Lin Xiao accepted the Celadon bowl and drained the Medicinal Liquid in one gulp.
Under Lin Dong's deliberately composed gaze, Lin Xiao's thin frame shuddered. His face flushed red, and his body temperature surged.