Chapter 144: The An Family
An Xiaopang secretly wiped his tears.
Mo Hua sighed, then took An Xiaopang for a walk around the An family estate. After a while, An Xiaopang's mood brightened a little, until he suddenly realized something was off.
"This is my home, why do you seem more familiar with it than me?"
Because your family's formations are so simple, I saw through them at a glance.
That's what Mo Hua thought, but out of consideration for the An family's dignity, he didn't say it aloud. He only replied,
"I'm a formation master. I can deduce the structure from the array patterns."
The formations of the An estate were arranged according to its pavilions, towers, and courtyards. Since Mo Hua had already seen through the formations, he naturally understood how the entire estate was constructed.
Artificial hills and flowing water, halls and terraces, every patch of earth and plank of wood followed the logic of formation patterns, each with traces to read.
An Xiaopang said admiringly, "Mo Hua, you're amazing. If only I were as smart as you."
Mo Hua said, "You don't need to be discouraged. Everyone has their own talent. Think, what do you like doing the most?"
Everyone has their own talent…
An Xiaopang was quite moved by that. He furrowed his brow in thought for a long while, then his eyes suddenly lit up.
"I like eating!"
Mo Hua froze.
An Xiaopang scratched his head. "That… doesn't sound very good, does it?"
"…It's… fine," Mo Hua said, betraying his conscience a little.
An Xiaopang scratched his head again.
Mo Hua said, "Don't worry about what others say or think. Just focus on what you truly want to do in life. It doesn't matter if it's not a great achievement, so long as you can live without regrets."
"Oh." An Xiaopang nodded seriously.
The two strolled around the garden again.
Then An Xiaopang suddenly remembered something. "Mo Hua, I think my grandpa wants you to marry into our family."
Mo Hua wasn't surprised, only curious. "How do you know that?"
"I overheard it when my mom was chatting with my aunts. They love talking about this stuff, can go on for a whole day without getting tired…"
Looking at how entertained An Xiaopang seemed, Mo Hua guessed that while his mother chatted all day, An Xiaopang sat nearby listening with full attention…
Still, Mo Hua asked doubtfully, "I'm only about ten years old. Isn't your grandpa thinking a bit early?"
"Not early at all," An Xiaopang shook his head. "These things need to be settled early, otherwise someone else might snatch you up."
Then he lowered his voice. "I heard that in some noble clans, once a child is born and their spiritual root is confirmed, they start arranging marriage matches right away."
"Child betrothals?"
"Yeah." An Xiaopang nodded. "The great clans with deep heritages even study the inheritance of spiritual roots. They research which kinds of roots produce which children. To cultivate rarer and higher-grade roots, they marry their children off based on spiritual-root compatibility."
"Does that actually work?"
"It does," An Xiaopang said confidently. "Among the great clans, disciples with Superior-grade spiritual roots are everywhere. Even those with Superior-lower grade roots are considered average. But for small places like ours, having an Intermediate-grade root is already pretty good. That's the result of generations of spiritual-root breeding."
Mo Hua frowned. He had known about the inheritance of roots, but hadn't realized there was such depth to it.
"But forming a Dao partnership, isn't that supposed to be about mutual willingness? Wouldn't those forced marriages cause resentment?"
"People don't have much choice," An Xiaopang sighed. "You eat the clan's food, drink the clan's water, cultivate the clan's techniques, use the clan's spirit stones. Even outside, you rely on the clan's influence. It's impossible to take without giving something back."
"Did you come up with that yourself?"
"No, I heard it from my mom," An Xiaopang said honestly.
"What if someone refuses? Can they resist?"
An Xiaopang pouted. "A finger can't twist a thigh. What's the point of resisting? The great clans are like towering trees, and the family disciples are just leaves. One leaf more or less doesn't matter. If you don't resist, you can live peacefully and cultivate in comfort. If you do resist, you lose everything."
Mo Hua felt a tangle of emotions.
A clan bound by blood... but with the faintest warmth of kinship.
"But… there is one way," An Xiaopang said again.
"What way?" Mo Hua asked.
An Xiaopang whispered mysteriously, "Each plays their own game."
"What do you mean?" Mo Hua didn't get it.
"I mean…" An Xiaopang recalled what his mom had said in those gossips. "You can marry and have children as the clan requires, but in private, love whoever you want, do whatever you want. As long as you don't make things too ugly on the surface…"
Mo Hua was dumbfounded. "That's… messy."
An Xiaopang nodded seriously. "Super messy!"
Then he added, "The bigger the clan, the messier it gets!"
...
Meanwhile, Old Master An was exchanging polite small talk with Zhang Lan, superficial words, nothing meaningful.
The two didn't have much to say to each other.
Quite boring, really.
Not half as interesting as chatting with Mo Hua, even though that brat could be annoying at times.
After a few indifferent words, Zhang Lan and Situ Fang got up and took their leave.
Old Master An sat still for a moment in deep thought. Then the An family head, An Yonglu, walked in and sat down beside him, poured himself a cup of tea, and asked:
"Father, the guests have left?"
Old Master An nodded.
"Then what are you thinking about?"
"I don't have long left to live," the old man said slowly. "I'm considering what happens after."
An Yonglu choked on his tea mid-sip. "Father, you shouldn't say such things lightly."
Old Master An's eyes were sharp as lightning as he swept his gaze across his son.
"Our An family has been competing with the Qian family for centuries, and we've always been on the losing side. In refining tools and pills, we've all but surrendered the market. Only in spiritual cuisine do we still have some advantage."
An Yonglu lowered his head. As family head, the fault might not be his, but the responsibility still was.
Old Master An sighed and asked, "Do you know why we lose to the Qian family?"
"…Because we're not ruthless enough."
"Qian Hong is a wolf. His son, and the rest of that family's direct line—are all wolf cubs. And you, and your son… I'll leave it at that."
An Yonglu lowered his head even more.
Seeing his son's expression, the old man stopped berating him and only said, "Do you still want your son to be the next family head?"
An Yonglu raised his head, shamefaced but resolute. "Father, Xiao Fu might not be talented, but at least he's kind and knows his place. If he becomes head, he may not achieve much, but he won't bring disaster either."
His son was dull, if the father didn't look out for him, who would?
Old Master An closed his eyes to rest, unwilling to speak further.
An Yonglu, uneasy, changed the subject.
"I heard you wanted to take in a son-in-law?"
Old Master An opened his eyes. "Not anymore."
"Why not?" An Yonglu asked quietly.
"The An family isn't worthy." The old man's tone was calm but heavy.
An Yonglu froze, feeling a flicker of defiance. He muttered,
"How are we not worthy?"
Old Master An raised a brow. "With what could we compare?"
An Yonglu straightened slightly, pride creeping into his voice. "Our businesses, our spirit stones, our many disciples, in Tōngxiān City, we're among the top families. Even this mansion, there are countless cultivators who'd give anything to live here."
"Oh? And what's so great about this mansion?"
"The design is refined, the materials exquisite, and the formations, I spent a fortune to have a renowned city formation master inscribe them. It's practically impenetrable…"
Old Master An sighed. "That boy saw through every single formation—inside and out—without missing one."
An Yonglu froze. "What?"
How could that be?
These weren't ordinary, basic arrays! How could he see through them so easily?
Old Master An glanced at his son and said flatly,
"Your so-called 'impenetrable formations,' in his eyes, they're full of holes like a sieve."
Like a sieve…
Those words pierced An Yonglu's heart like a knife.
He opened his mouth, but couldn't make a sound.
(End of Chapter)