The Ashes Are Gone?!!

After who knew how long, Li Guanqi finally recovered his composure. Looking back at everything in the room, he swept his divine sense through several times and found nothing out of the ordinary. Stepping out of the house, Li Guanqi glanced toward the area behind it. That was where his mother and sister were buried. Though his heart was heavy, Li Guanqi still took out the fresh flowers he had prepared from his storage ring. He rubbed his cheeks to dispel the red veins in his eyes before walking around to the back with a slightly stiff smile. As he walked, two small mounds of earth gradually appeared in his sight. Weeds grew thick around the tombstones, and the sight formed a painful lump in Li Guanqi's throat. Primal energy surged beneath his feet, instantly shattering all the weeds within a thousand zhang. Li Guanqi stepped before the tombstones. *Thud!* *Bang! Bang! Bang!* "Your unfilial son has come to see Mother and Sister." Li Guanqi straightened up from his kowtows and lifted his gaze to the inscriptions on the two graves. "Tomb of Loving Mother, Song Wanrong." "Tomb of Beloved Sister, Li Cuiwei." Li Guanqi reached out to clear away the stray weeds clinging to the headstones, took out a handkerchief, and wiped them completely clean. He added some fresh earth from the side, set out the sacrificial offerings, and lit the sandalwood incense. There were spirit fruits, beef, mutton, and pork—every offering imaginable. As ribbons of blue smoke rose from the sandalwood incense, Li Guanqi took out several large bundles of paper money and slowly set them alight. The flames in the brazier flickered weakly, perhaps because his way of lighting them was not quite right. All the grief and heartache in Li Guanqi's chest welled up at once, tears pattering down into the brazier. "Mother, are you angry with me...?" Li Guanqi raised his hand to wipe his eyes. A gentle breeze drifted past. For some reason, the paper money in the brazier suddenly caught and began to burn far more vigorously. Li Guanqi watched with a choked sob. Had the fire stayed weak, he might have felt a little better. Yet the moment he spoke, the flames had flared up, filling his heart with shame and guilt instead. Of course... What mother under the heavens would stay angry at her son forever? "Mother... I miss you..." "Sister... I killed Zhao Yuanlin." "Your little brother is really capable now. There are hardly any people in the world who can kill me." "Mother, this time I'll burn a lot more for you. Don't scrimp and save on spending; we don't have to be afraid anymore." With that, Li Guanqi brought out two dharma robes to burn as well. Mortal fire could not ignite dharma robes, so he actually summoned the Devouring Void Sacred Flame to burn them. He also burned all the low-grade medicinal pills in his storage ring. "Mother, if you can receive these pills, take them. Don't worry about wasting them." Li Guanqi sat before the brazier, the flickering firelight shimmering in his bloodshot eyes. Bundle after bundle of paper money burned, followed by whatever else came to mind. He was like a little boy trying to make his mother happy, longing to give her every good thing he had. Gradually, Li Guanqi's murmurs grew quieter, his words dissolving entirely into pure yearning. The memories of his mother's and sister's faces grew clearer and clearer. With primal energy, Li Guanqi carved their likenesses onto the headstones. His trembling hand gently caressed the cold stone. Leaning against Song Wanrong's headstone, Li Guanqi pressed his cheek to the chilled surface, as if he could still feel her warmth. "Mother... Mother..." "Your son... misses you so much..." "Sister, you didn't suffer, did you...?" At this moment, Li Guanqi was overwhelmed by a sense of utter helplessness. He could restore Jiang Hui's youth, yet he was completely powerless before the family members he had lost. Despite possessing heaven-defying power, he still could not change a thing. Two colorful butterflies quietly alighted upon Li Guanqi's face— one large, one small. When Li Guanqi opened his eyes, tears gushed forth! Stifled sobs tore from his throat, his shoulders trembling faintly. The butterflies lightly fluttered their wings, yet did not fly away. From sundown into dusk and nightfall, beneath the dancing firelight, Li Guanqi softly recounted everything that had happened over the years. Like a child, he spoke to the two gravestones of what he had lived through. Like any traveler far from home, he chose only the amusing and cheerful stories to tell. "Oh, Mother, there's a girl I love. Her name is Meng Wanshu." "She's pretty, and she has a wonderful temper." "Huh? Can she bear children well? ...She should be fine, I think..." "Hahaha, yes, yes, yes. I'll bring her over for you to see later on." Li Guanqi muttered to himself like a madman. Perhaps at this moment, Li Guanqi was not the Yanluo Sword Venerable feared and revered by the cultivators of the Six Domains. He was merely a wanderer returning home with a heart full of guilt and yearning, pouring out his longing to those he could only see in dreams. Before returning, he had thought of seeking some so-called 'truth.' Yet now, his heart held only boundless yearning and endless things left to say. The firelight did not fade even late into the night. Li Guanqi sat between the two headstones, knees drawn up to his chest. He looked up at the bright moon hanging high in the sky; as far as his eyes could see, the surroundings were completely desolate. Li Guanqi murmured with guilt, "It turns out... it's this lonely here..." Li Guanqi rummaged through his storage ring and found many flower seeds. Gently scattering the seeds across the earth, he nourished them with primal energy, and they quickly took root and sprouted. Flowers bloomed across the hills in wild profusion, the lush, delicate blossoms swaying gently and emitting a soft, glimmering glow. Li Guanqi paused in thought, then vanished, teleporting to the entrance of Fulong Village. He broke off a thick bough from the old locust tree and teleported back. Planting the sturdy branch beside the graves, Li Guanqi looked up at it and said softly, "From now on... you won't have to fear rain, snow, or the scorching sun." Gradually, Li Guanqi lay down between the two small mounds, chattering on and on. Eventually, he fell fast asleep... This sleep lasted a full day and night. A place of tombs that people so often feared— yet resting within were the very loved ones one yearned for day and night! How could anyone be afraid...? Not until the following night did Li Guanqi slowly wake. He glanced at the burial mounds beside him, lowered his head, and retrieved a jar of the strongest liquor. Throwing his head back, he took two gulps to steady his emotions. Turning toward his mother's grave, he murmured softly, "Mother, why did you never speak to me about Father?" Then followed a long silence. Gulp after gulp, jar after jar of wine went down. Beneath a night sky where the bright moon outshone the sparse stars, Li Guanqi drank a full six jars of strong liquor before finally making up his mind. As drunkenness set in, Li Guanqi gritted his teeth and lightly swept his divine sense over the graves beside him. Suddenly! Li Guanqi bolted to his feet, staring dead at Li Cuiwei's tombstone! His throat bobbed; the drunkenness vanished in an instant, replaced by cold shock. His lips trembled. "Gone..." With a flip of his wrist, an utterly ordinary copper coin appeared in his palm! This coin was one of the ten strings of copper coins paid by Zhao Manor when Li Cuiwei died all those years ago. Yet now... The ashes in Li Cuiwei's grave had long since vanished, and one of the copper coins was missing as well! In contrast, within his mother's grave, her bones remained intact, with nothing amiss. He could clearly feel the resonance of their shared bloodline from his mother's remains. Monstrous fury and murderous intent erupted in Li Guanqi's eyes! His uncontainable killing intent caused the weather across a hundred li to change abruptly. The previously cloudless sky was suddenly blanketed in dark, churning clouds. Li Guanqi's killing intent nearly coalesced into physical substance! "Who did this?!!" "Just who was it?!!" "No matter who you are, I will grind your bones to dust, scatter your ashes, and extract your soul to light a lantern!!" "I will make you wish you were dead!!" Li Cuiwei's ashes and a copper coin had vanished without a trace... And by the looks of it, this had not been done recently—it had happened long ago. Li Guanqi's heart grew immensely heavy, his expression grim to the absolute extreme. Never had he imagined that someone would actually target his sister's ashes!