Chapter 0045 - The Disappearing Secret Treasure

"Young master, go into the room first and talk to them, keep everyone else quiet." Tu Wei greeted Qin Wen and went into the room first. This place was right next to the mansion, so it would be troublesome if the people inside found out.

It was unlikely that the Qing Yun Sect would let Qin Wen come back, it was 80% likely that he had used some method to escape.

The relatives and maids of the Qin family were shocked and delighted, unable to believe their eyes.

The young master had returned?

Is this the young master?

He had grown so big!

"Destiny Son, let Auntie take a good look at you, you've grown so big." The old woman's name was Li Ling Dai, Qin Wen's mother's own sister, who had been widowed and bereaved at a young age after an accident in her family, and had been living in the city lord's mansion ever since, treating Qin Wen as if he were her own son.

She used to be dignified and quiet, but now she had a head full of gray hair.

A short period of eight years had aged her to such a state.

Qin Wen couldn't believe his eyes, and even more, he couldn't stop the blur in his eyes, "Auntie, what's wrong with you?"

"I'm fine, fine, my body is hard." Li Lingdai pulled Qin Wen's hand tightly as she trembled and gently stroked his cheek. "Let me take a look, let me take a good look."

Back then, after her husband's family changed, she had moved into the City Lord's Mansion and had always treated it as her own home, treating the Qin family as her own family members, but one night of shocking changes changed everything, her sister and brother-in-law's life and death were unknown, the Qin family members were suffering, and the 200,000 or so citizens of the city were subjected to grief and misery. As she watched, she felt sad, saddened, and helpless. She even wondered if it was her own bad luck that had interfered with the City Lord's Mansion, leading to this great disaster.

"Brother, Ying'er misses you." Qin Ying hugged Qin Wen tightly, afraid that this was a dream.

"Young master, how did you get back?" Tu Wei asked worriedly. Once he was discovered, the Qing Yun Sect would not spare Qin Wen lightly.

"I was attending the Qing Yun Sect's hunting conference at the Main Sacrifice Mountain Bush, a few hundred kilometers away from the Great Green Mountain. I ran back to check it out while they weren't paying attention, and I'll go back soon."

"You attended the hunting convention?" Tu Wei remembered that hunting required at least Spirit Martial Sixth Heaven.

"I'm at the Spirit Martial Sixth Heaven."

"What?" Everyone was stunned.

Tu Wei's spirit lifted and he rushed to examine Qin Wen. Spirit Martial Heavy Heaven? He hadn't even reached the Spirit Martial Realm when they met last year.

Li Ling Dai and Qin Wen were both surprised, they knew that Qing Yun Sect wouldn't give Qin Wen martial arts, let alone allow him to cultivate them, and he wasn't at the Spiritual Martial Realm when they met a year ago, so how could he suddenly become the Sixth Heavenly Martial Realm?

"You haven't practiced any evil techniques to force a breakthrough, have you?" Li Ling Dai was actually a martial artist, just wasted.

"Auntie, don't worry, I won't joke about my future."

"It really is Six Heavens, young master is so talented! The heavens have eyes, they didn't let the Qin family down!" Tu Wei was surprised and delighted, his breath was very solid, his meridians were smooth and fluid, not like the kind of 'empty shelf' that was forcibly raised by special means.

Li Ling Dai sighed in relief, "How did you do that?"

Qin Wen spoke briefly about how he broke through and how he obtained the martial arts, trying to leave out the dangerous things and report the good news.

They were all very excited after hearing it, Qin Wen hugged Qin Man and didn't want to let go for a moment, her eyes misty with tears.

But Qin Wen really couldn't be happy. "You guys are different from what I said."

Every year, when Tu Wei came to visit him, he would say that the family was fine, and that Qin's family was given special care and had easy jobs in the mines. But today, he realized that they were working as maids and servants in the mining estate and were being humiliated by the disciples of the Qing Yun Sect.

Tu Wei shook his head, ''It's all my fault, after I chased away the wolf, another tiger came. Things weren't that bad before, the women were just doing simple maintenance of the mansion, and most of the men were in the guards. After Leng Zhi Bai brought his grandson Leng Yuliang over, Leng Yuliang made things difficult for them by reassigning the women's duties to the dancers and maids of honor. At the slightest disobedience, he would assign disciples from the Qing Yun sect to the mine to make things difficult for the others."

"Brother, don't worry, we can all bear it, Leng Yuliang wouldn't dare to do anything too outrageous." Qin Ying reassured Qin Wen, not wanting her brother to worry about himself.

"This is still not too much?" Qin Wen was seething at the thought of what happened in the compound, he thought he was very capable of controlling his emotions, but now he really couldn't help it.

Li Lingdai took Qin Wen's hand and patted it gently, "We should atone for our sins, it's nothing to suffer a little. It's been eight years, haven't we gotten over it? It's not easy for you to come back once, so don't talk about all these misfortunes, talk about what you did in the Qing Yun Sect."

"Yes, young master, talk about the happy ones." The maids all wiped away their tears and forced themselves to smile.

Qin Wen controlled his emotions and tried to smile as he talked about his time in Qing Yun Sect, and only about the interesting things.

Aunt Li Ling Dai was very happy, she hadn't been this happy in eight years. She just smiled and laughed, her eyes couldn't help but get misty.

Qin Ying was even happier, her worries, tiredness, and everything else were left behind, she looked at Qin Wen with bated breath, and listened intently, wanting to hear everything.

They also introduced Qin Wen to the relatives inside and outside the room, all of whom had changed their appearance and were almost unrecognizable. Some of them were the maids of the City Lord's Mansion back then, and the eight years of storms had made them even more like a family, helping and encouraging each other, with no one ever giving up on anyone and no one ever hurting anyone.

This small courtyard is only the residence of the female servants, the male members of the Qin family all live in a compound with Tu Wei and the others, far away from here.

Tu Wei arranged for two guards to go and notify them, and also gave special instructions to bring only a few people and not to make any noise.

Shortly after, several old men arrived in a hurry, looking at Qin Wen with tears in their eyes, unable to control their emotions.

But many of the loved ones in their memories didn't come, they had already passed away, dying in eight years of mourning, and those who came were too old to recognize each other.

The small courtyard had never been so lively tonight, nor so warm and touching.

In the dimly lit room, the candlelight flickered as the relatives surrounded Qin Wen and spoke of their endless concern.

Qin Wen looked at the relatives in front of him with a smile on his face, but his heart was bitter and astringent, everyone had grown old, completely different from what he remembered, unfamiliar and familiar.

"Brother, shall we leave at dawn?" Qin Ying pulled Qin Wen's hand very reluctantly.

"I'll be back soon." Qin Wen forced a smile.

"Don't take any risks in the future, we're all fine, don't worry." Aunt Li Lingdai said on her lips, but her hand clasped Qin Wen tightly, her eyes not wanting to leave him for a moment.

Before dawn, Qin Wen and Tu Wei stood in the corner of a mine and looked at the busy people in the distance.

Qin Wen was silent, not a single expression on his face.

Tu Wei sighed softly. "The crystal quarry in Da Qing Shan can only be dug for half a year at the most, and after half a year, we'll all have to move to the more distant East Valley Stone Forest. There will be a whole new mining area there, with a harsher environment than here.

"No one will go to the East Valley Stone Forest! Within half a year, I will definitely gain a foothold in the Green Cloud Sect."

"Young master, the fact that you were able to quench your spirit and enter martial arts on your own, and that you were able to reach the Sixth Heaven of Spiritual Martial Arts within half a year proves that your talent is good enough. If you leave the Green Cloud Clan and go to another sect, they will definitely cultivate you wholeheartedly and give you better resources and better martial arts. Take my advice, when you leave Qing Yun Sect this time, don't go back, leave this place far away, and don't get involved in the affairs here anymore."

Qin Wen shook his head, "I'm not going anywhere, I'm staying in Qing Yun Sect."

With his parents gone, he was the hope of the Qin Clan, the city lord of Thunder Ancient City, he had the responsibility to guard his people and protect his loved ones.

If he stayed in the Qing Yun Sect, he would only have to fight the Grand Elder, and he would have a chance to save Thunder Ancient City.

If he left the Green Cloud Sect, he would have to fight against the entire Green Cloud Sect to save his loved ones from the fire. Who could help him fight the Green Cloud Clan? Impossible!

"The more conspicuous you are, the more the Grand Elder will suppress you. You managed to enter the Spirit Martial Realm with great difficulty, I really don't want to see him ruin you." Tu Wei looked at the stubborn Qin Wen and felt a pang of pain in his heart.

"I will take care of myself. Uncle Wei, there's one thing I can't figure out. What exactly was in the tribute that Thunder Ancient City gave to Qing Yun Sect back then? Just because the tribute was stolen, is the grand elder going to punish the entire city?"

The Green Cloud Sect was a super large sect in the land of the Northern Domain, not only did it shake the Cloud Luo Forest, the five ancient cities around the forest were actually its territory, the five city lords were all titular elders of the Green Cloud Sect, and every year they would send a large amount of tribute.

Thunder Ancient City was one of the five ancient cities and would send tribute at a certain time every year, but that time eight years ago, when my parents sent three hundred powerful martial artists to personally escort the tribute, they were ambushed in the depths of the Cloud Luo Forest. The tribute all disappeared, and my parents and the three hundred martial artists disappeared with them, leaving behind only a blood-stained and miserable battlefield.

According to the usual practice of past incidents of lost tributes, the Qing Yun Sect should have severely investigated the culprits and pacified the Thunder Ancient City. However, the Qing Yun Sect's attitude turned out to be one of shock and anger, and the Grand Elder personally led a group of people to descend upon Thunder Ancient City and issue a brutal disciplinary order.

Tu Wei thought for a moment. "I don't know too much about the details, all I remember is that a few days before the incident, the Grand Elder of the Qing Yun Sect came to the city lord's mansion and discussed a matter with the city lord, and a few days after that, the city lord personally left with someone, as if he was going to get something. I suspected that the mysterious thing was hidden in that year's tribute. As a result, the tribute was suddenly stolen, and the Lord and Lady City Lord, as well as the three hundred martial artists responsible for escorting them, all disappeared. The Grand Elder most likely suspected that Lord City Lord had stolen that mysterious item, and also suspected that they were still alive, so he was shocked and angry for eight years, and used the suffering of the Qin Clan and Thunder Ancient City to lure them out."