Translator: Scrya
Editor: Faith
Lin Yan wanted to grab his neck back then and even Xiaodong could not explain how he was able to avoid it.
The disparity in martial capabilities between Lin Yan and him was huge, so realistically speaking, she could have closed her eyes and still been able to grab him without much effort. Yet, she failed to do so.
After that, Lin Yan even unsheathed her sword. Xiaodong could clearly see the killing intent in her eyes.
The pendant was strung around his neck. The string might have snapped then.
If Eldest Senior Brother had not arrived in time, his neck might have snapped along with it.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing important, it’s just that my pendant fell off. It should have dropped somewhere in the room, I will look for it later. Master, there’s no need to worry, I’m not injured. I have to thank Eldest Senior Brother for arriving in time.”
Li Fulin knew that his youngest disciple always had a pendant strung around his neck. The weather was warm when he came up the mountain for the first time and he was dressed rather thinly then, so Li Fulin had seen it a couple of times. Li Fulin knew that it was a memento left behind by his parents, and he thus cherished it, never letting it leave his side.
“Then look for it carefully when you get back. If you can’t find it, let your senior siblings know and have them help look for it too. It should still be around.”
That pendant was not made of any expensive material after all. If it was a very luxurious gemstone of some sort, then someone might take it as his own to satisfy their greed. This pendant was important to Xiaodong, but it was inexpensive to others.
Xiaodong nodded.
If the pendant was still on the mountain, then it could definitely be found.
Looking at Xiaodong’s dazed expression, Li Fulin could see that he was thinking about his pendant and wanted to look for it. Li Fulin thus instructed Jiang Fan to send him back.
After the two of them left, Mo Chen finally asked, “Master, what did you want to tell Little Junior Brother just now?”
Xiaodong did not realize it, but Mo Chen did. Mo Chen believed that Jiang Fan had realized something was amiss as well.
“Something happened at the back of the mountain as well.”
Mo Chen frowned. “The back of the mountain too?”
There was nothing other than the cemetery and tombstones at the back of the mountain. Aside from the seniors of the sect, there were also a few nameless tombs. Xiaodong’s uncle, Senior Yun, was also buried there, where had just visited a few days ago.
Was there even anything there worthy to be plundered? There were neither treasures nor any of the sect’s secrets to be found. Even if they had some sort of plot, no one should have laid their hands there.
Understanding Mo Chen’s doubts, Li Fulin nodded. “Yes, something happened to the tombs. Your junior siblings all went to take a look earlier. The tombs at the eastern side, along with your Little Junior Brother’s uncle’s tomb… have all been destroyed.”
Earlier, Li Fulin had wanted to inform his youngest disciple of this matter. Because Xiaodong suddenly discovered that he had lost that important pendant of his, Li Fulin changed his mind.
This matter should be kept from the little disciple for now. At the very least, the timing wasn’t right.
When he and Mo Chen heard this piece of news, their first reaction was neither shock nor anger, but doubt. Both Li Fulin and Mo Chen understood that the enemy was definitely after something big for causing such a huge mess. They must have plotted this secretly for a very long time. Though their whereabouts and their identities were currently unknown, Li Fulin and Mo Chen were definitely going to investigate thoroughly.
If Xiaodong were to find out about this incident now, the child might not be able to take it.
Li Fulin changed his mind right just as he was about to speak, deciding to conceal this matter from his for now. It would not be too late to inform the little disciple after everything came into place, or when he had grown a little bigger or more mature.
As he thought about this, Li Fulin couldn’t relax at all. When he thought about how his little disciple, ignorant of the whole situation, had been just inches from the doorsteps to hell, Li Fulin felt that he did not do his part as his master.
His youngest disciple had not even left his room. If not because of how clever he was, he would have already died in enemy hands right under his own nose. Not to mention his uncle’s tomb was destroyed by the infiltrators. Li Fulin felt like he did not have the right to inform the little disciple of this incident.
Mo Chen took in a deep breath and asked, “What’s the extent of the destruction?”
“A layer of earth was scraped out. Many tombs can no longer be found. The remains that were buried underneath… have all disappeared as well.”
Mo Chen stood up in astonishment. “Master, you’re saying that all of the corpses and bones are all…?”
Li Fulin solemnly nodded.
Jiang Fan coincidentally returned at this moment. Eldest Senior Brother was unaware of what happened at the back of the mountain, but he and Linglong already knew about it. Not only was Jiang Fan aware of it, he had also personally seen and checked every single graves.
Putting aside the nameless tombs, Jiang Fan paid more attention to Senior Yun’s grave, as they had after all gone there just a few days ago to clean it. The nameless tombs didn’t have a single tombstone standing above them, so Jiang Fan did not know who was buried underneath. Even if he wanted to investigate them carefully, he wouldn’t know where to begin. However, Senior Yun was buried just this year, and he was also Little Junior Brother’s uncle. Jiang Fan thus searched nearby… to see if he could locate Senior Yun’s corpse and bones.
However, even after circling the area, other than the shattered pieces of coffins, he found nothing else.
He instructed people to quickly clean the cemetery and raise up the tombstones, making the place look as neat as it had previously.
On his way back, Jiang Fan was in doubt as well. He wanted to listen in on Master’s and Eldest Senior Brother’s conversation. Just what sort of irreconcilable enemy did the sect have? It should be obvious that grave robbing was something that regular vengeance seekers would not even dare to do. The people were already dead and could no longer do anything, so just how much hatred was there to overturn their graves? With the sect’s reputation and Master’s personality, how did they make such enemies?
If this was not done out of vengeance, then who would be sane enough to overturn a bunch of nameless graves in the barren side of a mountain?
Haah. If Little Junior Brother were to find out about this, he wondered just how heartbroken Little Junior Brother would be.
Xiaodong anxiously returned to his room. The first thing he did was search the entire area. He looked through every nook and cranny, including areas outside his room. The pendant was neither too big nor too small, and it was possible that it was swept away by Lin Yan’s blade that night. Though he was not injured, the string attached to the pendant was snapped off.
After looking around his room, he then moved on to his courtyard. However, his efforts were fruitless.
If the pendant was not here, then it could only be…
Xiaodong looked out of the window.
The sky had already turned bright. His eyes swept across the entire apartment, looking above the walls and towards the mountain range that was covered heavily in snow.
Xiaodong’s heart suddenly turned a little cold.
When Eldest Senior Brother carried him out last night to give chase, they covered quite a bit of distance. The sky was dark and the winds were strong too. He was giddy the entire time and was unaware of where they were headed, nor did he know where they had passed. Not to mention the mountain roads and the thick forest…
Xiaodong did not want to admit it, but in his heart, he knew that if the pendant had really fallen off during the chase last night, then it would be impossible to locate.
His heart instantly felt empty, and he was unable to express the pain he felt in words.
Xiaodong had never seen his parents’ faces. Aside from his uncle, he really had no other relatives. His uncle once told Xiaodong that his father had already died when Xiaodong was still in his mother’s womb, and his mother left the mortal realm the moment he was born. Xiaodong did not know what his parents looked like. The only memory and memento he had of them was that pendant alone. His uncle did not know of its origin, and simply said that the moment he began taking care of Xiaodong, that pendant was already on his body.
To him, there was nothing else in the world that could replace that pendant. Yet this precious pendant, the only memento left behind by his parents, was the one thing he did not manage to take care of well. If he had not worn it around his neck and had instead kept it somewhere safe and secure, then it would not have gone missing in last night’s assault.
He stood unmoving for a moment, tightened his pants, and took a step outside.
No matter what, he had to look for it.
That pendant would not break because of a fall – that, Xiaodong knew for certain. Not only that, it was water resistant as well. If he could not find it in a day, then he would spend the next few days looking for it. Even if it took him a year, or even ten years, he was determined to find it.