Twilight Boundary-Chapter 768 - 759: Hu Family’s Past Events
"I really didn't know what your grandfather and the State Preceptor were whispering about with those people back then," Granny began, "but I know how the Hu Family rose to power."
Facing Hu Ma's inquiry, Granny sighed softly. She seemed to feel sorry for Hu Ma, who had been kneeling, and gently pulled him up to sit on the steps of the ancestral hall.
One hand lightly embraced Little Hongtang, the other patting Hu Ma's palm, she sighed, "Nowadays, everyone says the Hu Family is one of the Ten Surnames, enjoying tremendous wealth and great fame, haha, they even disregard the Emperor."
"But the Hu Family's ancestors were always law-abiding people, and they hardly ever lived as nobility."
"The rise of your Hu Family began with the first ancestor over 170 years ago. Back then, they were not any major lineage; they simply saw the country was in chaos, and the Emperor invited Jianghu Strange People to the capital. At that time, the Hu Family did not belong to these families with skills."
"The first ancestor of the Hu Family was just a petty official, assigned by the government to the Zhensui Mansion to help with minor tasks like liaising with these Jianghu Strange People and keeping score of merits."
"But he had foresight. While keeping score, he observed the increasing number of ghostly gods and the rise of evil spirits, understanding that a great trend had begun. He realized that those Jianghu Strange People, previously overlooked by the court, were likely mastering significant skills one by one."
"Thus, he resolved to learn those skills himself. But the ways of the world at that time were profoundly complex, and without evidence or backing, who would casually teach you the real stuff?"
"He learned and learned but never found a method. Instead, he immersed himself in the countryside. Of all the Paths, it was the rural walking ghosts who did not avoid people and were free from so many rules and regulations. So he gave up his official status and roamed the villages, seeking out various methods from hamlet to hamlet."
"From that village, he learned the basics: how to set up altars, consume Tai Sui, expel evil, and walk the balance of yin and yang, gradually developing skills."
"Although he developed skills, he never found the true way and did not live long. Yet, he at least ensured the Hu Family possessed skills. Starting from the second ancestor, they returned to the Zhensui Mansion. Relying on these abilities, they gradually gained fame, rising from the status of a local petty official's son."
"Over generations, this led to the Hu Family's position on the Walking Ghost Path, and they became the Executioner within the Zhensui Mansion, standing side-by-side with the Meng family, who held the official seal, as the pillars of the Zhensui Mansion."
"Later on, it was just twenty years ago..."
Granny gently continued patting Hu Ma's palm, telling him about past events.
It was as if those old days unfolded before Hu Ma's eyes.
"Those years, things changed so quickly..."
"Although evil spirits were rampant and the world was unstable, these major Paths, however, gradually gained power during those years."
"Doctors were called Si Ming; martial artists were labeled Shousui. They were originally just Jianghu Grass, but as their skills grew, they cared less and less for ordinary people. Even after they became influential, the old Emperor couldn't suppress them anymore."
"However, at that time, the Zhensui Mansion was still suppressing them, so they remained relatively well-behaved."
"Until the State Preceptor came to find them."
"The Daluo Dharma Sect was the most powerful. Other Paths only began to rise after Tai Sui descended, but the Daluo Dharma Sect had always been renowned."
"Especially after being summoned to the palace and appointed as State Preceptor, their skills became even greater. Even though the Zhensui Mansion could restrain other Paths, they could not control them."
When Granny mentioned this State Preceptor, her voice clearly carried a chill and dissatisfaction.
She tried her best to tell all this to Hu Ma objectively, but as a soul body, she couldn't hide her discontent.
"It was from his arrival that everything began to change."
"When he first came to the door, he met with the Executioner of the Hu Family and the seal-using Meng Family, but what they talked about, even I don't know. It was not until one day when unexpected news came from the court that I realized some people could be so audacious."
"That was the Emperor..."
"The true Son of Heaven, profoundly blessed, yet he disappeared overnight."
"Thinking back now, it's not just me, an old woman. No one expected such a thing could happen."
"At that time, the skills of these Jianghu Grass were already growing, but no one ever thought they could become powerful enough to skin the Emperor in the Golden Throne Hall and afterward curse the entire Shangjing, turning it into the Underworld."
"And when that earth-shattering event occurred, the Zhensui Mansion, which was supposed to bear the Emperor's command to suppress evil spirits, showed no intention of getting involved."
"Without the restraint of the Zhensui Mansion, the other Eight Surnames simply couldn't be bothered with it."
"Thus, overnight, Shangjing's skies changed. Such a colossal event, behind closed doors, seemed like a small issue."
"I naturally asked your grandfather about these matters, but he never said anything to me. Of course, I understood the gravity of the situation and wouldn't do anything to harm him. It was just a change of dynasty. I never thought I'd live to see one, but it changed, and it didn't seem like such a momentous thing after all..."
Hu Ma could actually understand. To someone as traditional as Granny, a change of dynasty was an astounding event.
But seeing her current calmness, he figured she had long come to terms with it and chose not to say more.
"Only, I didn't think that was just the beginning..." As Granny spoke, she seemed to furrow her brow. "Many things that happened afterward, even I couldn't understand."
"The Emperor's death was an earth-shattering event at the time. The palace upheaval on the first day, and the next day, countless people were anxious to choose a new Emperor from the Royal family."
"However, those evil spirits who first revealed their claws surprised everyone with their ruthless methods. In Shangjing alone, a full 170,000 members of the Royal Family and tens of thousands of others implicated perished within a matter of days."
"Such an event terrified everyone in the world and instantly sparked great chaos."
"Thereafter, evil spirits were endless, soldiers rose in every place, fighting under various slogans, all just to vie for the Emperor."
"And in that chaos where no one could see the situation clearly, the State Preceptor invited the old man to the Stone Pavilion."
The Stone Pavilion Alliance?
Hu Ma couldn't help but feel a stir upon hearing this familiar name.
"At the time, even though I was the wife of the Hu Family Lord, I wasn't of the Hu surname, so I wasn't allowed into the Stone Pavilion," Granny sighed softly. "Those who went to the Stone Pavilion were your grandfather and your father."
"I also don't know what they discussed inside the Stone Pavilion, only that in the chaos of the world, unbelievably, it was indeed suppressed by these Ten Surnames with Jianghu Grass backgrounds."
"Throughout all the dynasties, nothing like this had ever been seen. Clearly, the Emperor was dead, those around him in the palace had perished, and no one in the court stood up to handle state affairs. Yet strangely, the world didn't fall into chaos."
"It was as if, relying on the methods of each Path, they forcibly extended the Dou Family's rule by twenty years."
As Granny recounted these events, there was no pride in her eyes, but rather deep worry.
"After that, the fate of our Hu Family changed," she sighed, saying, "Originally, the Hu Family held posts within the Zhensui Mansion, wielding the power of the mace. But the power of the Hu Family was granted by the Emperor, so in terms of skills and fame, the Hu Family and the Meng Family were lesser than the other Eight Surnames."
"But no one anticipated that someone would kill the Emperor and the Zhensui Mansion would remain silent. Because of this, the Hu and Meng Families became the great contributors in this major upheaval."
"Everyone said that after the new Emperor's ascension, the Hu Family and Meng Family would surely rise to prominence alongside."
"Even if a new Emperor did not ascend, the Hu and Meng Families could still stand with pride, using the strength of the Zhensui Mansion to suppress the rest of the Eight Surnames, with prosperity and wealth arising from that."
"Yet unexpectedly, the old man asked me, at the peak of our glory, if I was prepared to suffer."
Granny's gaze became somewhat sorrowful, distant, and it was long before she lightly sighed and continued speaking, "The events that followed, not to mention outsiders, even I, who was married to the old man for thirty years, didn't receive any wind of what happened."
"This old man summoned all the Hu clan members, and after a day's discussion, openly split from the Qingyuan Hu Family and established a new genealogy."
"All properties, lands, gold and silver, and even the Blood Food Mines were divided up, leaving only an empty residence in Shangjing City. Only the positions within the Zhensui Mansion were retained. Then, he announced the plans to leave Shangjing."
"No one knew why, but he was willing to leave all that behind and walk away."
"Yet, even though he left a lot behind, many still trusted him and were willing to follow: your two uncles, an aunt, along with some elders in the sect, old friends within the Zhensui Mansion, and those associated with Inquiry, Reason, and Divine Incense Distribute."
"They all willingly followed our family away. Of course, I knew the old man privately spoke many things to them, but they strictly kept the secrets, telling no one."
"And so, the Hu Family, at the height of its glory, abandoned everything and quietly left Shangjing City."
"At that time, the sky hadn't even begun to brighten, nor did anyone come to see us off."
As Granny reached this point, there was some melancholy in her expression, lightly sighing as she said, "Yet, along the way, someone still caught up with us."
"Some very capable people. They said the Hu Family took something that belonged to them and came to claim it back."
"Along that journey, members of our Hu Family—your second uncle, your maternal uncle, several of your grandfather's disciples, along with the Inquiry and Reason officers, the Divine Fragrance Hall Official, and the small hall officers—either died or were injured on that blood-stained path back to Mingzhou City."
"And even then, the Meng Family came to join in the commotion."
"It was also then that this old woman finally realized what your grandfather and father had actually done."
"The news of the Hu Family leaving the capital was spread by the Meng Family, but they were even angrier than the Hu Family. They cursed the Hu Family for secretly reaching an agreement with the State Preceptor, willing to betray their own blood, all just to..."
"Just to exchange for domination over the Zhensui Mansion, and the opportunity to claim the second-ranked name on the legendary Stone Pavilion ledger."
Upon hearing this, Hu Ma was already stunned, raising his head in disbelief. "It is actually true?"
