Tian Volcano.

Thousands of corpses in the woods at the foot of the mountain had already rotted and smelly, and even the wolves foraging had dispersed. Only the dense crows and vultures were still circling and shuttled like flies. The collapsed mountain in the middle was like a huge grave.

Tang Qingxiao stayed in the center of the grave, and it was still on the lava pool that had condensed into rocks that happened that day. Xiao Xia knocked him out here, waited for him to wake up here, and threw him here. And he just sat here blankly.

In fact, after the first day or two, he had already posted what he should have posted, but he was still here because he couldn't think of where he should go or where he could go.

Most of the time he sat in the lava pool where Tang Gongzheng had swallowed up. Everything he saw and heard that day, all the joys and sorrows of the past, flowed through his heart. The dream that seemed to be enough to cover the whole world turned out to be so ridiculous and pitiful, and it only revealed the truth below after it burst like a soap bubble. That tall figure was actually so majestic and friendly in his mind, and the ordinary life that he was disdainful to the extreme was so reassuring. It turned out that he had everything and everything with the simple girl who wished him. But now all of these are deeply buried under this huge grave, leaving no trace.

He also remembered that he had never cried many times, but later he gradually became numb, and his eyes were no longer filled with tears. All the sadness seemed to turn into dust and settle into the deepest part of his heart, leaving only an empty void.

It rained once or twice in the middle, and he kept drinking the rain accumulated in the sanks of the rocks. When he was hungry, he picked up stones and killed a flying crow. He was too lazy to even grow fire, so he tore it apart and then ate it raw. After a few days, the fair-looking boy who was once handsome and beautiful but not inferior to a woman had become a savage with a ragged face.

Not only that, he was also sick. Maybe it was because of the physical and mental exhaustion after the great change and the wind and cold, maybe it was because the crows had eaten too much dead flesh. He began to have a fever and vomited continuously. He couldn't think of any way to save him, and he was too lazy to think about it and was even more lazy to save him. In the end, he could only lie in the center of the lava pool, sometimes awake and sometimes confused, looking at the sky.

It would be fine if he died here like this. In the hazy way, he saw that there were already a few vultures waiting on the surrounding rock walls, and he smiled weakly.

At some point, the ground seemed to be trembling slightly, and the rocks under him began to heat up. The vultures around him flew away in a hurry, and the volcano, which had been completely silent and dead, seemed to have regained vitality. Even in a semi-coma, Tang Qingxiao could feel that a force under the rock formation seemed to be rushing towards here.

Tang Qingxiao on the ground still did not move. He turned into ashes in the gushing earth fire magma. In his mind, there was probably nothing better than this.

Boom. The condensed rock layer not far away was broken, and a fire broke through the rock below and flew high, but it did not expect the collapse and explosion. The rock layer under me then calmed down. The fire slowly cast off in the sky, and then fell straight down after a turn, and inserted into a rock not far away with a bang.

It was a knife, a thick-backed sword that looked a bit crude and simple, wider than the ordinary knife, with a dark red light, like a monument standing upright there.

Tang Qingxiao was stunned, looking up at the familiar knife. After a while, he had accumulated all his strength and stood up, staggeringly walked over to look at the cave where the knife broke through the ground.

Deep in the cave was the slowly fading red light and the heat waves that swelled upwards. Below was the lava hell deep in the center of the earth. Except for the dead Tianhuo Sect, no creature could survive in it. He was stunned and suddenly turned around and walked up to the rock that fell from the knife. After falling several times, he finally climbed onto the rock and stood in front of the knife.

After looking at it for a long time, Tang Qingxia finally stretched out his hand to the hilt of the knife. His hand was shaking very hard, even more powerful than the old alcoholic who had been aged. The stability he had practiced for years of immersing hidden weapons has long gone. He didn't know whether he was too excited or was afraid from time to time. He was afraid that this was just an illusion before he died, and he was afraid that the hand would not be able to grasp it, and he was not qualified to grab the knife.

Finally, he held the hilt of the knife. The remaining heat of the earth fire was still very hot. But the hotness in his hand, the thick, simple, and friendly feeling filled his already cold and empty heart.

He pulled up the knife. The heavy weight of the knife almost caused him to lose his strength, but he still struggled to stand firm, his body still weak, and the heat surged in his heart made him feel that he had never felt so full of strength before.

"Brother." He looked at the knife in his hand and spit out the first word from the past few days with a sluggish mouth. At some point, his eyes seemed to have dried up and their vitality was restored. Two lines of clear tears rolled down from his dirty face.

One month later, outside Mingshan Town to the west of Xuzhou, Lingyun Village, Xiuyu Valley.

Tang Qingxiao easily found this beautiful and rarely visited valley, and also easily found the two tombs that Tang Gongzheng mentioned. Although there were weeds in front of the tomb, it was not deep. It seemed that Tang Gongzheng would come to clean and worship every year. One stone tablet on it said "The Tomb of Father Tang Tianhao" and the other was "The Tomb of Beloved Wife Li Xiao".

Tang Tianhao's tombstone must have been erected by Tang Gongzheng, and the other one should be Tang Qingxiao's mother. For the first time in his life, Tang Qingxiao, who stood in front of his parents' grave, did not cry or be excited, but just stared blankly at the words on the tombstone.

"My mother's surname is Li?"

Tang Qingxiao had never seen his mother, and she didn't even know what her name was. A family that betrayed Tangjiabao was not worth wasting his memory and feelings, but at least he knew that the family where his father went to marry was not the surname Li, and that the mother, who was more or less a daughter of a noble family, would not be buried silently in this unknown valley with his father.

But at the last moment of his life, Tang Gongzheng had no reason to lie to him. Since he said that the one buried here was his mother, it must be his mother.

"Can it be? My mother is?" After the changes in Tianhuo Mountain and the silence and reflection for dozens of days, Tang Qingxiao thought that his mood would never cause too much storm, but at this moment he felt that he was trembling slightly again, and he didn't even dare to think further.

With a mess in his heart, Tang Qingxiao slowly walked to a small courtyard not far from the grave. This was a small courtyard composed of several small wooden houses, and the wooden houses were also quite exquisitely built. Although it was very old, it was not dilapidated. There were not many weeds in the courtyard. It seemed that Tang Gongzheng would live here before and after the worship.

The doors of the wooden house were not locked, Tang Qingxiao walked to a building and pushed open the door and walked in.

It is very ordinary furnishings, and every piece of furniture in the house is as exquisite and unique as a wooden house, and it should be from the same person. With Tang Qingxiao's eyes, you can even vaguely see the traces of the unique techniques of the Tang clans left on it. What shocked him the most was that the more he looked, the more he felt a hazy feeling surged into his heart. It seemed that this place was something he had been to and was very familiar with, but he didn't remember it. He shouldn't have been there either.

In the corner of the room, he found a wooden box, which contained several calligraphy and paintings with oil paper. When he opened it, he found that they were all written by his father Tang Tianhao. He had already seen Sanniang's house in Tangjiabao and could be recognized at a glance. However, the paintings were not the wedge birds, fish and insects painted by Sanniang's house, but people. A very beautiful woman. Tang Qingxia had never seen this woman, but she could still recognize her at a glance, because the woman in the painting looked almost the same as him.

The woman in the painting is either happy or angry, bright as the spring breeze and sunshine, and soft as light fog and drizzle. Although the painting style is exactly the same as the wedge birds, fish and insects in Tangjiabao, it has an indescribable emotion and vitality. Just a little bit of thinking can be seen to see how happy, intimate and admiration the painter is when he starts writing. There are two paintings of the woman in two paintings, one is a filial pie who is seven or eight years old, holding a wooden knife in his hand and chopping in the air. Although he is young, he is quite arrogant. It is clearly Tang Gongzheng, while the other one is just a baby in a cradle. He is surrounded by a loving woman.

It is impossible to tell who the baby is from his face, but Tang Qingxiao can guess. His hands are already shaking. Everything found here is gradually shattering and destroying something that has built into the world in his heart.

In addition to those calligraphy and paintings, there is also a letter at the bottom of the box. On the yellowed letter paper are a few words from his father, "My son chuckled and opened his heart."

Tang Gongzheng never mentioned that this letter was there. Maybe it was too late, maybe he knew that Tang Qingxiao would find it after coming here. No matter what, when Tang Qingxiao saw this letter, he was completely stunned. He never imagined that he would have any intersection with his father who had rebelled from Tangjiabao, who was the greatest shame and stain in his eyes. But at this moment, the worlds in childhood and youth were beginning to blur and shatter.

Finally, with the greatest courage and strength in his life, Tang Qingxia picked up and opened the letter.

Fifteen days later, Shuzhou, Tangjiabao.

After hundreds of years of operation, Tangjiabao is no longer a fort, but a town with tens of thousands of people living in it. The outer space is full of traffic and people coming and going, and it seems no different from other towns. However, as soon as you enter the inner residential area of ​​the Tangjia, the most central Tangjia, all the noise will slowly fade away, gloomy and quiet. Under the gloomy sky in Shuzhou, which is most of the time, this seemingly ordinary and simple ancient building is like a shadow beast that will swallow everything, silently eroding anyone who breaks into it into a part of it.

After nearly six years, Tang Qingxiao returned here.

During these six years, he had fantasized countless times how to return to this holy land in his mind with honor and scars like a hero. There would be no other way. For him before, if he failed, he died on the road to success, and there was no unnecessary possibility.

But in the face of reality, those imaginations are as illusory and vulnerable as reflections in bubbles. He is back now, without success, nor is he a hero, and even this gloomy holy land is no longer what it used to be in his eyes today.

He did not inform or send a letter in advance, but as long as any unexpected person enters Tangjiabao, the people of the Tangjia family will naturally know. So when he walked to the door of the inner house alone, an uncle was already waiting for him.

"Come with me, the old man is waiting for you." Uncle said this simply.

The old man rarely summoned ordinary Tang family children in private. This was once the honor that Tang Qingxiao had always dreamed of, but now he was only depressed in his heart.

In a somewhat dark attic, Tang Qingxiao met the old man who was once the god in his mind. Compared to six years ago, the old man seemed to be older, with more wrinkles on his face and a little more hunched back, and his whole body exuded an old manly odor that was integrated with this Tangjiabao.

"Your brother is dead?" The old man's eyes kept on the knife behind Tang Qingxiao. He asked after he kowtowed and stood up.

"Yes." Tang Qing chuckled and replied.

The old man was silent, his old man seemed to be heavier, and his back seemed to be more hunched. After a while, he slowly asked, "How did he die? He died in the hands of Jin Zhiyang, or in the hands of the general?"

According to the news channels of Tangjiabao, we should have already known what happened before and after the Tianhuo Mountain, but no one knows what happened in Tianhuo Mountain except for the limited number of people.

Taking a deep breath, Tang Qingxiao replied: "In order to save me, I fell into the earth fire magma with Jin Zhiyang."

"Then why are you there?" The old man's voice and eyes were filled with anger. This is very rare. At least Tang Qingxia had never seen any emotion in this old man. He was always so gloomy and indifferent, unfathomable, as if it was a human form that was condensed into the entire Tangjia Castle. But now, that trace of anger made the gods in the eyes of most people in the Tangjia Castle have a breath of vitality.

"I originally wanted to take the opportunity to seek the Zhuque Spirit Fire to prove that I am more suitable to be a real fellow of the Tang clan than my brother, but I was wrong. It was me who killed my brother." Until this time, when Tang Qing chuckle said this, he could still feel the sourness in his heart and his voice was trembling, but he could finally say it.

The old man sighed a long time, and the trace of anger in his eyes became silent. He seemed to have changed back to the mysterious statue of god again.

After a long time, the old man spoke slowly and said, "From now on, you are the only one left in the fourth room, so you will replace your brother as the inner disciple of my Tangjiabao."

It was this sentence that made Tang Qingxiao pursuing everything for six years without hesitation, but when this dream finally came to her, the whole world was already different. He shook his head slightly and said in a stern voice: "This is my brother's position, it shouldn't be mine."

The old man frowned slightly. It has been many years since no one said no or expressed a similar meaning in front of him. Moreover, the old man has not forgotten the things that happened six years ago.

"I'm back to Tangjiabao this time. In addition to reporting the news to the old man and admitting his mistake, I also want to ask the old man about something." Tang Qingxiao took a deep breath and continued in a slightly filial voice: "So my brother is the eldest son of the legitimate child, and I am the illegitimate child born to my father after he carved the Tang family, right?"

"Yes." The old man nodded slightly.

"I saw the letter my father wrote. He was originally planning to let my brother hand it to me when I was eighteen years old and said that because my mother died of illness, his old injury had not been relapsed for too long. He asked my brother to send me back to Tangjiabao. And asked the old lady to cover up my birth on behalf of others, so that I could not be discriminated against and oppressed in Tangjiabao, so the identity of this inner disciple should have belonged to my brother."

Tang Qing's chuckling voice became lower and lower, and gradually he could not continue to speak. This was the truth he got from his father Tang Tianhao's letter. He completely smashed all the roots of his previous persistence, jealousy and anger in his heart. He didn't even have the strength to pursue whether Sanniang, who had raised him and had been instilling in him everything a disciple of the Tang sect should have.

"In my eyes, you have always been the flesh and blood of the Tang family, and there is no difference between a legitimate son and a illegitimate son. People from the Tang family need to prove only himself, not his origin." The old man's voice was still indifferent. "I want your brother to be an inner disciple because he is more suitable."

Tang Qingxiao didn't say anything. What he couldn't forgive was not the old man, not Tangjiabao, but himself.

The old man looked at Tang Qingxiao with cold and gloomy eyes, and then sighed softly after a while, saying, "I'm old, Tangjiabao is too old."

Tang Qing chuckled and raised her head, a little surprised.

"The power, fame, and reputation accumulated over hundreds of years. After so many and too long, it gradually became a burden, which made people breathless. I understand that everyone in my family is thinking too much, but I can't let them not think about it. Because there are some things that must be done to support this huge family business in this turbulent and treacherous world. Your father Tianhao is my favorite disciple and the old lady. We also know his personality the best. We actually didn't care much about him doing that."

The old man's voice and vision were still indifferent, but it was not the indifference of everything, but the indifference, fatigue and helplessness after seeing all the worldly affairs. Perhaps the old man was the one who sacrificed the most in this world.

"Your brother never took the Tangjiabao package and carried it on his body, so the old lady and I looked down on him the most. Now he is gone. You carried his knife on your body, and the Tangjiabao package also let go. You decide what to go under your feet, and I don't force you."

After saying this coldly, the old man turned around and walked out of the attic. Looking at the hunchbacked old man's back, Tang Qingxiao knelt down and kowtowed, and then turned around and walked out. However, he walked not to the deeper part of Tangjiabao, but to the outside.

Of course he had already known how to go on the road, and the hot heat coming from the knife on his back reminded him all the time.

ps: Alas, I've been inexplicably stuck
Chapter completed!