Chapter 143: Old Master An
The An Family was the second-largest clan in Tōngxiān City.
The patriarch, An Yonglu, was none other than Fatty An's father, but despite his title, all major family affairs were ultimately decided by the Foundation Establishment cultivator known as Old Master An.
When they met the old man, everyone saluted respectfully. Old Master An returned their greetings with polite small talk.
He did not look down on Mo Hua because of his young age, quite the opposite, his attitude was exceedingly courteous.
So courteous, in fact, that Mo Hua immediately felt something was off.
They had never met before.
So… why was he being treated so kindly?
Suspicion quietly took root in Mo Hua's heart.
After chatting for a while, the truth behind it all became clear.
The Evil cultivator they had captured had indeed preyed upon a concubine-born woman from the An Family.
That woman, seeing the Evil cultivator's handsome looks, had been tempted. Bewitched by his honeyed words, she pledged herself to him in secret. By the time she realized something was wrong, it was too late, she had already been used as a furnace cauldron. Her vitality drained, her body withered to skin and bones, her mind left dazed and hollow.
Consumed by grief and shame, she sought death. Though she was saved in time, she became neither living nor ghost, merely a trembling wreck who spent her days in misery.
When Old Master An learned of it, he flew into a rage. He secretly sent the An Family disciples to investigate, but no trace of the culprit could be found.
That Evil cultivator was sly and skilled in movement techniques, difficult to track, even harder to capture.
So Old Master An pulled strings, asking help from the Sitū Clan and Zhang Lan, a Law Enforcer of the Dao Court Division with whom he had some acquaintance.
Eventually, it was on Black Mountain that Zhang Lan, guided by Mo Hua, managed to apprehend the culprit.
Naturally, Old Master An was deeply grateful to Mo Hua.
Yet Mo Hua still found his gratitude oddly excessive.
After all, he should be thanking Zhang Lan and Sitū Fang far more, since they were the ones who actually captured the Evil cultivator. Mo Hua had only provided assistance.
Sure enough, after a bit of polite talk, Old Master An began to probe into Mo Hua's personal affairs.
Asking about his parents, his future ambitions, and whether he was learning formation arts.
Old Master An wasn't someone Mo Hua could afford to offend, so he answered politely, picking harmless, trivial things to say.
But when the questions kept coming, Mo Hua put on his most innocent face and began circling around in nonsense—talking east and west, up and down—his words perfectly respectful, yet utterly meaningless.
When he could no longer spin his way through, he just scratched his head, chuckled, and said, "I don't remember."
After all, he was still a child, such an answer was perfectly acceptable.
Old Master An, after trying every roundabout question he could think of, still failed to learn anything useful. He couldn't help but sigh inwardly:
If only the An Family's younger generation had this kind of wit and guarded heart, life would be much easier.
A while later, Old Master An summoned several disciples from the An Family.
There were both boys and girls, though the girls were the majority. They were about Mo Hua's age, all dressed neatly, with decent looks and manner.
Mo Hua glanced over, and immediately spotted Fatty An among them.
It couldn't be helped, out of all of them, he was by far the roundest.
Like a crane among chickens, only… in reverse.
It would've been harder not to notice him.
But Fatty An didn't look happy. Standing among the disciples, his head hung low, expression gloomy.
Apparently, despite being the patriarch's son, he wasn't much valued. Judging from the group, he was probably the least talented, lowest in cultivation, and least impressive in bearing, likely there just to make up the numbers.
Old Master An said, "I still have some matters to discuss with Enforcer Zhang. Little Mo, if you don't mind, feel free to stroll around the An Family gardens. The flowers are in full bloom and the scenery quite pleasant."
"These family disciples may accompany you," he added, gesturing toward the group, specially the few pretty young women at the front.
Mo Hua felt awkward immediately. Anyone with eyes could see what the old man was thinking.
Sitū Xiu looked equally uncomfortable, not knowing what to say.
Zhang Lan, on the other hand, sat back and watched the show, sipping tea with feigned calm, though his eyes glimmered with amusement as he raised an eyebrow at Mo Hua, clearly laughing inside.
Old Master An's intentions were obvious, he was trying to marry Mo Hua into the family.
And to avoid making it too blatant, he'd mixed in a few other An Family youths as camouflage.
Mo Hua sighed inwardly. He couldn't even be bothered to keep up the polite charade anymore.
He'd already wasted enough time being courteous, that was more than enough manners for today.
He rose and said respectfully, "It's getting late, Senior. I still have some matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave and not delay your discussion with Uncle Zhang."
Old Master An looked slightly disappointed but didn't press further.
"Little Mo, as you please. No need for formality."
Mo Hua turned to go, and in doing so, his eyes fell on the despondent Fatty An. He hesitated briefly, then sighed softly.
"Young Master An?"
Old Master An's eyes lit up. "Oh? You two know each other?"
Mo Hua nodded. "Yes, we're fellow disciples. We've known each other for a while, Young Master An has even helped me before."
Fatty An blinked in confusion.
Wait… wasn't it him helping me with my assignments? When did I help him?
Why don't I remember that part…?
Old Master An's expression brightened even more, his gaze toward Fatty An softening with rare approval.
"Since you two share a bond of the same sect, then Xiaofu, take Little Mo to look around."
All eyes in the room turned toward Fatty An.
It was the first time he'd been the center of attention, and though nervous, he straightened his back and said, "Yes, Grandfather."
Then he led Mo Hua out of the hall.
Once outside, Fatty An immediately deflated like a punctured balloon, his whole figure sagging with relief.
He looked so pitiful—and yet a little funny—that Mo Hua couldn't help but ask:
"Are you really that afraid of your grandfather?"
Fatty An nodded. "Yeah. Not just Grandfather. I'm afraid of my father, and all my uncles too."
"They hit you?"
He shook his head.
"They scold you then?"
"My father does. Grandfather doesn't. The others usually don't either. Oh, but my father does beat me sometimes…"
"Then what are you afraid of?" Mo Hua asked curiously.
Fatty An didn't answer at first. His face dimmed with melancholy.
"Mo Hua… do you think I'm useless?"
Mo Hua wanted to say no, but couldn't think of any real strength to point out.
So he said tactfully, "Maybe just… a little bit."
Fatty An's face drooped even lower. "My father's the patriarch. By right, I should inherit the position someday. But I'm not capable, I'll never be able to do it."
"That's what's bothering you?"
"Yeah." He nodded. "My uncles all look at me with disappointment. When I was little, Grandfather used to like me a lot. But as I got older… he stopped even looking at me directly."
His voice grew smaller and smaller, almost inaudible.
"You didn't notice before?" Mo Hua asked.
In his memory, Fatty An had always been cheerful and loud, hot-tempered at times, but kind-hearted.
Now he seemed weighed down by gloom.
"I didn't notice before… because I was too dumb to see it. But one day, I suddenly realized, Grandfather's eyes no longer showed care, only coldness and disappointment. And when I looked at my father and uncles, it was the same. Their eyes were all filled with disappointment…"
"Maybe they've been disappointed in me for a long time. I just never realized it until now."
There was deep sorrow in Fatty An's gaze.
"Then why not work hard? Learn more, cultivate more?" Mo Hua said.
Fatty An secretly wiped away a tear. "Mo Hua… I'm stupid. No matter how hard I try, I can't learn. The things others pick up easily, I just… can't."
(End of Chapter)