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Chapter 767: Hu Family's Grandmother
Chapter 767: Hu Family's Grandmother
The rhythmic beat of drums and gongs reverberated, and the green banner with white paper was unfurled, leading a grand procession to the ancestral hall.
At this moment, Hu Ma couldn't help but look up, and what he saw made him pause in surprise.
He had heard countless tales about the ancestral hall, but it was only now that he truly understood the legendary foundation of the Ten Surnames.
Before him, in the northern part of the capital, the land rose, forming a yin and yang contrast with the imperial city. Ten ancestral halls stood tall, surrounded by dense pine trees, their grandeur unmistakable.
Even the stones here seemed perfectly rounded and smooth, devoid of sharp edges. In the open space ahead, ten grand halls stood side by side.
Each hall was built to an impressive height, and though they were constructed only about twenty years ago, they exuded an ancient and solemn aura, as if the sun itself couldn't penetrate their darkness.
It was here that Hu Ma suddenly realized the source of the ghostly aura that sometimes lingered in the capital.
In this instant, he instinctively felt a sense of foreboding, but amidst the dense forest, he also sensed a hint of warmth.
He realized where this warmth was coming from, and his heart softened.
Holding the white banner, he slowly approached, his gaze scanning the surrounding halls. Each hall's door was half-open, revealing a few ancestral tablets within. Only the hall adjacent to the Hu family's was tightly shut.
He knew that this must be the Meng family's hall.
An elderly man with a stooped posture stood before the hall, silently observing Hu Ma.
As Hu Ma approached, the old man took the banner from his hand and handed him a bundle of incense.
Hu Ma raised the incense high above his head and proceeded to the hall, slowly kneeling before it. With a voice filled with determination, he called out, "Grandmother, I've brought Father back..."
"..."
For some reason, as he spoke these words, his heart unexpectedly ached, and his voice choked with emotion.
At that very moment, the wind rustled through the forest, its gentle breeze reaching them.
The incense in Hu Ma's hand wafted gently, brushing past his face.
The guardian of the hall, standing nearby, looked ahead and saw commoners who, not being part of the Ten Surnames, were kept outside the ancestral grounds.
The Qingyuan Hu family, the Ren family, the Bai family of the capital, and others with connections or official positions, watched from a distance. The pallbearers, of course, were also present.
Hearing an elderly person's urging, he sighed helplessly, shook his head lightly, and slowly walked forward, nodding.
"Wuuu!"
From deep within the earth, a thunderous roar echoed, as if a massive creature had stirred. The sky darkened, and Hu Ma felt as if the world were drifting away from him, the boundary between yin and yang blurring.
"Grandmother..."
Hu Ma heard Xiao Hongtang's joyful call and felt a cold wind brush past him.
His body tensed slightly as he finished bowing four times before slowly rising to see his grandmother.
"My good grandson..."
She looked just as she had when she left Hu Ma, her face full of wrinkles, and her expression was kind.
In reality, the grandmother was not one to express her feelings easily. Her usual demeanor, as seen by others, was somewhat peculiar and intimidating.
But to Hu Ma, she was the grandmother who had always been in his thoughts. In that moment, he felt her love and realized that no one in the world cared for him more than she did.
"I'm back... I'm back..."
The grandmother, filled with joy, looked at Hu Ma and then glanced at the coffin, letting out a soft sigh. Her eyes revealed endless sadness, but when she spoke, it was to scold, "Stubborn one, you left without a word back then, and now you finally return..."
"But this time, you've returned without even a word for me."
"..."
Listening to his grandmother's scolding, Hu Ma's heart trembled with indescribable sorrow.
The grandmother was a ghost communicator, skilled in conversing with the dead. In her lifetime, she had interacted with countless spirits, but when it came to her own son, she couldn't bring herself to speak.
"Grandmother..."
Holding back his emotions, he said, "I came too late."
"I learned my skills too slowly, took too long to avenge, and understood things too late..."
"..."
"Not too late, not too late..."
Hearing his words, the grandmother's voice trembled even more. With one hand, she held Xiao Hongtang, who leaned against her, and with the other, she reached out, her hand shaking.
A gentle breeze caressed Hu Ma's hair as she spoke, her words slightly incoherent, "I, your grandmother, thought many times that I wouldn't live to see you, but you've proven to be even more remarkable than I imagined."
"You've learned such great skills, single-handedly defeating the Meng family and avenging our Hu family..."
"But I... I can't seem to be happy about it."
"My poor grandson, with the skills you've acquired, they'll place heavy burdens on your shoulders..."
"..."
"I..."
Hu Ma's heart trembled slightly as he lifted his head and saw endless sadness in his grandmother's eyes. "The more understanding a child is, the more hardships they endure."
"Actually, I... I once hoped that you would continue to be so willful, not needing to be as obedient as others, and not quite understanding things. The Hu Family couldn't escape debt, couldn't avoid laziness, and yet there was such a willful grandson. Could they still not protect him?"
"At that time, I'd rather stay with you, and we, grandmother and grandson, would live in the village for the rest of our lives..."
"..."
Fragments of memories from the village suddenly flashed through his mind.
Hu Ma thought of how his grandmother used to stare at him, the worry in her eyes that he didn't understand back then, and the repressed emotions she kept hidden in her heart.
This feeling slithered through his heart like a snake, making him feel sad.
So, he could only laugh, and with a smiling face, he said to his grandmother, "But that way, it would be too boring."
"Grandma, this time, I came back to the capital city of my own volition."
"I know there are many things waiting for me, but I'm a member of the Hu Family, and I should naturally shoulder the responsibilities that come with it."
"It's not for others, but I feel that it's unfair for others to always be the ones deciding things. It's time for someone like me to step in and make it fair."
"..."
Unexpectedly, the grandmother saw a confident and proud expression on Hu Ma's face, as if there was an unspoken understanding between an elder and a younger generation. When they meet, not everyone likes to bury their heads and cry.
Most of the time, they subconsciously hide their sadness and show their better side. The grandmother understood this, and she admired it. She looked at Hu Ma at this moment, at the smile on his face.
She sighed softly, "You're so much like..."
"Your dead grandfather and your father, you're exactly like them. It's as if there's no one else in the world except for those with the surname Hu."
"But..."
She had decided not to be sad, but as she spoke, she couldn't help but feel a little sorrowful, and she couldn't stop the tears from flowing, "At least they... they got to enjoy some happiness..."
"I've also enjoyed happiness, even when I was in the village."
Hu Ma smiled, "I could eat the blood feast that others couldn't even get a taste of."
"Other people's fate is decided by the heavens, but only I, after death, still have family who can bring my life back."
"I can learn great skills, witness the wonders of the world of martial artists, and enjoy the reputation that others fear..."
"If this isn't enjoying happiness, then what is?"
"..."
His words were very sincere, but to the grandmother's ears, they evoked even more sorrow. Tears seemed to fall from her face, "But you, you're the child with the most bitter fate in this world. Even before you were born, you were already being schemed against..."
"Then let's consider them unlucky for provoking the Hu Family. Why did they have to pick on us?"
Hu Ma lifted his head, his palm turning into a dead hand, and slowly extended it forward. After turning into a dead hand, the palm became dull and cold, but at this moment, he felt as if he was touching his grandmother's palm.
He gently held his grandmother's hand and looked at her seriously, saying, "But what I wanted to ask about is also this. Grandma, what was the real purpose behind what our family did back then?"
"Did the Hu Family also want to ascend to immortality?"
"..."
"Ascend to immortality?"
The grandmother slowly bent down, her face filled with complex emotions, "Grandma has also heard them mention such things, but for people like them..."
"I think their legs should be broken, so they won't keep having grand delusions..."
"..."
"..."
"This time, the Hu Family's descendants have returned, and it seems they have a lot to say to the ancestors..."
At this moment, the entire ancestral hall seemed to be enveloped in a mist, and even the pallbearers were submerged in the fog, as if they had lost their sense of direction.
In a daze, as if in a dream, those with great skills knew what was happening, but it wasn't easy to resist, so they simply withdrew and stood a hundred zhang away, watching the blurry figures in front of the ancestral hall.
The coffin had already been placed in the pond before reaching the ancestral hall, and even if they wanted to pay respects to the ancestors before burying the biological father, it shouldn't have taken this long.
Undoubtedly, they were talking about something.
But thinking of the bad temper of the White Family's grandmother, the noble lords watching from a distance exchanged glances, their faces hinting at a silent question.
"It's fine as long as he's back."
Someone sighed softly and lifted their head, revealing a hint of ridicule, "After all, he's also one of the Ten Surnames."
"Born in the mountains, not seeing the world, so it's natural that his temperament is a bit different from ours."
"But as long as he's one of the Ten Surnames, and once he sees the true identity of the Hu Family, sooner or later, he'll walk the same path as us..."
"Hmph, although the White Family's grandmother married into the Hu Family and became the only elder of the Hu Family now, she still carries the surname White. Deep down, she's always a bit behind, clinging to old-fashioned ways..."
"She's destined to be a heartbroken person."
(End of Chapter)
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