Mei Qing let out a bitter smile upon hearing Liu Xing’s skepticism and replied, “Uncle, I assure you I have not lied. It’s just that my cultivation is something even I myself do not fully understand.”
Liu Xing’s expression remained doubtful, but Master Bai beside him gradually calmed down and said, “Rest assured, Master Liu, this kid is indeed the son of Wu Duo. I won’t make a mistake about that.”
Liu Xing, hearing this, became even more puzzled and asked, “How is that possible? How could he possibly cultivate? Old Bai, do you think it’s possible?”
“It’s impossible,” Master Bai also shook his head, “But there are too many impossible things in this world that eventually become possible. I still trust my own eyes.”
Liu Xing’s gaze gradually softened as he looked at Mei Qing and shook his head, saying, “Indeed, the matters of this world are often beyond comprehension. However, Mei Qing, where did you learn this Plum Blossom Thunder Technique?”
“The method I used earlier is called the Plum Blossom Thunder Technique in the Plum Blossom Sect?” Mei Qing pondered for a moment and said, “It branches out into five directions, indeed resembling plum blossoms. However, the technique I learned is not called the Plum Blossom Thunder Technique, but rather Palm Thunder.”
“Palm Thunder?” Liu Xing shook his head, “Actually, many sects use the name Palm Thunder. It’s similar to the Five Elements Escape or the Six Harmonies Palm; it’s hard to attribute it to any particular sect.”
Mei Qing nodded and said, “There’s more to this, but I can’t go into details right now. Senior Liu, Senior Bai, may I boldly ask, who was that person just now, and why did he wish me harm? Also, I came south in search of someone. If you two seniors know anything, I would be grateful for your guidance.”
“Your mother? She… sigh. She…” Liu Xing hesitated.
“Your mother is already dead,” Master Bai interjected beside him, then sighed deeply, “After giving birth to you back then, her body was severely weakened, and she passed away long ago.”
Mei Qing’s heart was thrown into chaos. In his mind, he had imagined his mother many times, curious and eager to know the identity of this woman he had never met. As he traveled, inching closer to the truth of the past, he never expected to receive such an outcome.
“That… that…” Mei Qing had a thousand words in his heart, wanting to ask something but not knowing where to begin.
“Enough. I see that you have many things unclear about your journey here. I also don’t know much about your recent circumstances. The sky is already turning bright; perhaps we should return to the room and talk from the beginning?” Finally, Liu Xing said.
Mei Qing nodded, though his heart was even more confused.
“How come you bear the surname Mei?” Liu Xing scrutinized Mei Qing carefully, his eyes showing a trace of bewilderment, “You really look like your mother. I just didn’t expect you to take her surname in the end.”
Mei Qing gave a bitter smile and recounted to them the experiences that Uncle Zhong had told him.
As for his cultivation matters, Mei Qing also mentioned his accidental discoveries and later encounters, but naturally omitted some details and secrets regarding his cultivation.
Seeing that her identity was already known to everyone, Bi Zhen no longer pretended and resumed her true appearance as a young lady. Her beautiful eyes occasionally glanced meaningfully at Liu Mei’er.
“So it was you. I didn’t expect you to come all the way to the capital and meet this kid,” Liu Xing chuckled, then sighed as he looked at Liu Mei’er, who kept her head down and remained silent. He continued, “We have lived on the same mountain for so long but rarely interacted. I feel ashamed. May I ask how your mother is doing?”
Bi Zhen smiled and said, “My mother is doing very well. She just doesn’t know that Mr. Liu is also a cultivator.”
Liu Xing naturally understood the implication in Bi Zhen’s words but pretended not to, “Ashamed, ashamed. To be honest, my talent for cultivation has never been high. After I started cultivating, I was plagued by distractions and couldn’t focus, so my cultivation is quite poor.”
Mei Qing could no longer hold back and asked, “Senior Liu, were you and my mother both members of the Plum Blossom Sect? What exactly happened back then?”
Liu Xing’s eyes dimmed as he spoke with a hoarse voice, “Actually, even I don’t fully understand what happened back then. My master… sigh, although I was under his tutelage for many years, I don’t know much about his origins or his actions. This story begins when I was thirteen years old.”
“My family was originally mountain folk, generation after generation of farmers. Later, we gradually accumulated some wealth, and the descendants began to study literature. However, our family was not prosperous, mostly single heirs; besides, people from the mountains rarely achieved anything notable.”
“When it came to my generation, my parents passed away early, and I was naturally aloof, having grown up doing as I pleased, spending my days wandering about, occasionally reading some random books, and yearning deeply for the path of immortality. One day, suddenly, an old Daoist came to my door, saying that we had a destined master-disciple relationship. At that time, I was young and knew nothing. After witnessing a few techniques from the old Daoist, who later became my master, I was completely convinced, paid homage to him, and began following him to cultivate.”
“After entering the sect, I realized that my talent was actually quite ordinary. The reason my master accepted me as a disciple was for other purposes. However, my master was a man of integrity and did not want to take advantage of my family without reason, so he repaid them by teaching me cultivation. When I learned the truth about my master’s intentions, I had no complaints. On the contrary, I felt it was a great blessing to have the chance to enter the cultivation path. How could I have any other thoughts?”
“At that time, apart from me, there were already several senior apprentices in the sect. Later, there was the fourth apprentice. Then, I remember very clearly, it was the eighth day of the first lunar month, when the master suddenly brought the youngest apprentice and told everyone, ‘This is your junior apprentice sister. From now on, there will be five apprentices under my tutelage.'”
As he spoke, Liu Xing kept shaking his head with a low sigh. His eyes seemed to shimmer with emotion, clearly still moved by the memories of those days.
“Five apprentices?” Mei Qing, noticing his hesitation, asked, “But I heard from Master Lu that there was once a so-called ‘Six Plum Blossoms’ in the Plum Blossom Sect?”
“Six Plum Blossoms?” Liu Xing’s face bore a bitter expression. “I know of that title. It naturally refers to us, but it wasn’t something we called ourselves. It was an appellation imposed on us by some idle people. But it wasn’t inaccurate. Back then, our master brought us together and said that we needed to undergo real combat to accelerate our cultivation. The six of us were the ones who went into battle. The eldest apprentice’s name, I’m sure you’ve heard of—he was called Shao Yuanjie; the second apprentice was Tao Zhongwen; at that time, my name was Liu Shuxing. Your mother’s name was Mei Wuduo.”
Upon hearing this, Mei Qing was extremely surprised. Shao Yuanjie’s reputation at that time was even greater than the current Taoist master Tao Zhongwen, who had been granted the title of Zhenren (True Man) by the emperor. However, this person was always quite low-key and suddenly passed away a few years ago, which led to Tao Zhongwen gaining the emperor’s favor and also being granted the title of Zhenren.
Now that he thought of it, the emperor’s side Taoist masters were actually all brothers from the Plum Blossom Sect. No wonder the Plum Blossom Sect suddenly disappeared without a trace—it turned out to be like this.
Seeing Mei Qing’s surprise, Liu Xing seemed to think it wasn’t enough and continued, “Actually, you should also know the fourth apprentice. Back then, his name was Duan Ji. Later, he didn’t want to be ranked below me, so he changed his name to Duan Chaoyong and stayed in the capital. I’m sure you’ve heard of him as well.”
Mei Qing took a deep breath, finally understanding why Lu Bing had been so wary of the two men back at the Yang family ancestral hall. Although Lu Bing might not have known their true identities, he must have had sufficient knowledge of their cultivation levels.
Unwilling to talk more about himself, Liu Xing continued, “Besides us five siblings, there was another person by our master’s side. But he…”
As he spoke of this, Liu Xing shook his head in confusion, “Our master was a mysterious man, and this person by his side was the same. We only heard our master call him Anu, and we didn’t know his identity or appearance. He wore a black robe and a black cloth covering his face every day, his aura was faint, but his cultivation was quite high. I happened to see him display his skills twice. His techniques and cultivation level were extremely similar to our master’s.”
“Anu?” Upon hearing this name, Mei Qing’s heart stirred. He then asked, “What happened later? How did my mother…”
Liu Xing let out a long sigh, “When Wu Duo first came, we brothers all liked her very much. However, she was very reserved and treated everyone the same, neither showing particular affection nor indifference. It was as if, in her eyes, all people were the same. Most of the other apprentices focused on their cultivation, and their feelings towards the little apprentice sister were just natural and slight. However, I was still entangled in worldly desires, but Wu Duo always ignored it.”
“I kept trying, even going so far as to make my feelings clear, but in the end, nothing came of it,” Liu Xing shook his head repeatedly. “But Wu Duo didn’t distance herself from me because of that. It was only… only later that the Master…”
Liu Xing hesitated with a confused expression, finally not saying it out loud, but with some regret, he said, “At that time, I thought it was impossible for anything to come of it, and seeing that my cultivation was greatly affected, I told the Master that I wanted to travel alone to gain experience and also to calm my mind.”
Upon hearing this, Mei Qing suddenly thought of something and quickly asked, “Senior Liu, are you saying that at that time, your Master and apprentices were all living in your mansion?”
“Not entirely,” Liu Xing hesitated for a moment and continued, “Actually, the two senior apprentices were often traveling and not fixed in one place. Only the fourth and Wu Duo were usually staying here. As for the Master… he was often absent, and it was hard to say whether he was actually present or not.”
Mei Qing nodded, understanding what Liu Xing meant. Cultivators often came and went without a trace. If, as Liu Xing said, his master’s movements were unpredictable, it was indeed impossible for others to know whether he was usually here or moving about with his mystical arts.
“So I left and went traveling. This went on for more than a year, during which I met many people and experienced many things. Even… I incurred some emotional debts. But in my heart, I could never forget Wu Duo. Suddenly one day, I felt uneasy, as if something had happened to Wu Duo.” Liu Xing said with a bitter smile, “I don’t know why, but I felt something was wrong. I hurried back and found out that indeed, many changes had occurred after I left.”
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