One unexpected event after another

  All the way, the father and son wore white clothes, tired and stopped to find a cool place to rest, thirsty and took out the water bag to drink two mouthfuls of water. After all, the weather was hot, so the two had no extra words along the way.

  Living in a poor family, there was no extra money to rent a carriage and hurry on the road. In addition, the silver coins that had been saved over the years were all used for grandfather's funeral and coffin, so there was even less spare money. It was just hoped that this year would not be a year of severe drought, and maybe some surplus grain could be stored, which would be used to hold a wedding ceremony for Zhao Xuan in the future.

  It's a coincidence, in the early years, Zhao Xuan's parents had promised a marriage with a couple from a neighboring village, the Zhang family. If they were of the same sex, they would become sworn brothers or sisters; if they were of different sexes, they would get married when Zhao Xuan came of age. Who could have predicted that things wouldn't go as planned? As it turned out, Zhao Xuan and the young lady from the Zhang family had grown up together like childhood sweethearts, but the Zhang family's business kept growing, and they began to feel that Zhao Xuan was not good enough for their precious daughter. They found a matchmaker to cancel the engagement, and although Zhao's father was unwilling, he saw how carefree his son was and didn't take the engagement seriously. He had no choice but to agree to the cancellation of the marriage. As compensation, Zhao's father received five taels of silver, and that's how the matter ended. However, nobody noticed the deep sorrow in Zhao Xuan's eyes.

  Miss Zhang had long since fallen in love with Zhao Xuan, although Zhao Xuan was only slightly over 1.7 meters tall and of average appearance, completely unworthy of Miss Zhang's beauty, but this world is just so crazy.

  When she heard that Zhao Xuan was treating her like this, Miss Zhang didn't dare to believe he would treat her like this and cried for several nights in a row. Seeing their daughter so heartbroken, Mr. and Mrs. Zhang couldn't stop advising her with kind words, but still arranged for her to marry into a wealthy family in the city. With her parents' orders and the matchmaker's words, and feeling disheartened by Zhao Xuan's treatment of her, Miss Zhang agreed to her parents' arrangement. Not long after, Miss Zhang got married, while Zhao Xuan was unaware of all this.

  Sitting on the ground, Zhao Xuan's eyes began to glaze over as he thought back to the good times with Meng Er, and his mouth couldn't help but curve upwards.

  Sitting beside him, Old Man Zhao saw Zhao Xuan's state and understood that he was thinking of Zhang Meng'er again. "Alas, it's a pity that Zhang Meng'er has already become someone else's wife. This foolish kid, if I had known he was so devoted back then, why would I have cared about those five taels of silver?" Old Man Zhao sighed, lost in thought.

  "Dad, what time is it now? I feel so sleepy, ah..." Zhao Xuan asked his father while yawning.

  Zhao raised his head to look at the sun, "No way, it's almost noon already. You little brat, I let you sleep in this morning and now we're making good time. I think if we can make it back before dark, that'd be pretty good."

  "Alright, alright, look at you, starting to complain about me again. Who told you not to wake me up earlier? Now you're blaming me, I reckon you got up late too." Zhao Xuan said lazily.

  "You little stinker, you still dare to talk back? Watch me beat your butt until it blooms." Saying that, Old Zhao was about to pick up the wooden stick in his hand.

  "Hey, hey, stop! Stop! Stop! Who are you to be a father like this, always wanting to cross swords with your own son? What grudge do I have against you?! Zhao Xuan hastily dodged and made a face at his old man."

  "Alright, alright, I really can't do anything about you. Hurry up and eat something, we two will continue on our journey." And so, Zhao Da and his smooth-talking son ate some food and continued on their way. Fortunately, it hadn't rained in the past two days, and the mountain road was still passable. Before long, the two arrived at the grave of Old Man Zhao. After a brief ceremony, Zhao Xuan accompanied his father down the mountain. Luckily, they made it to the foot of the mountain before dark; otherwise, if they had waited until nightfall, the two would have been scared half to death by the ghosts and wolves in the mountains. You see, rural people are most respectful of ghosts and gods; offending either one could be fatal!

  Although it was still daylight when they came down from the mountain, it was already late afternoon, so as expected, by the time they returned to the countryside, night had fallen.

  As soon as they entered the house, Zhao's mother immediately led them into the courtyard and hastily closed the gate after making sure no one was following.

  Right behind them, Zhao Xuan and his father were pulled into the house by Mrs. Zhao.

  "What's going on? Are the officials and soldiers coming to arrest someone? But that can't be right, we're in a peaceful era now, and we live under the emperor's rule. How could it possibly involve us having to join the army?" Zhao said with a puzzled expression.

  "I heard that a large group of people from the Western Factory have been sent to arrest people, saying that recently the number of people in the Western Factory has been insufficient and they need to take away a batch of young men who have not yet come of age to train them, so that they can serve the imperial court in the future. You also know from inside the city that the Western Factory is currently arresting some imperial criminals. I heard that Zhao Dage next door said that many people have died recently. So, Xuan'er, your mother has already prepared clothes and silver for you, now hurry up and escape, the farther the better! You will be a great official in the future, you can't die young!"

  "You're talking nonsense, isn't serving the imperial court a good thing?! Who knows, maybe our son will rise to greatness in the future!" Zhao Father grumbled as he rummaged through the bundle that Zhao Mother had prepared for Zhao Xuan.

  "You're the one in charge, this is a life-or-death task. If something happens to Xuan'er, how can I live with myself..." By now, Zhao's mother was already crying anxiously.

  "What do you know, stinky old woman..."

  "Alright! Stop arguing! I think I'll just go out and take a look, maybe there's an opportunity. Don't worry about me, Mother, everyone in the village knows I'm clever and resourceful. If something happens, I can run away first, so don't worry. Zhao Xuan comforted his mother while giving his father a warning glance to stop talking."

  "But, son, you also know that when a child travels far, his mother worries, and this is a mission that could cost one's life..."

  Before Zhao's mother could finish speaking, Zhao Xuan opened his mouth and said, "Mother, you also know that I was not born to be a willing farmer. You and Father and Grandfather all know about the prophecy that immortal master made for my future, don't you? I think this time leaving home might change my fate. Even if I run away, there are no horses for me to escape from the West Factory's grasp. So, Mother, whether it's good fortune or bad, disaster can't be avoided. If it's death either way, how will you know if I don't give it a try?"

  Zhao's mother listened to Zhao Xuan's emotional words and thought for a long time, finally relaxing her tone. "Sigh, it seems that our family's Xuan'er has grown up. Alright, since you've said so much, Mother can't say anything more. Mother will make some dry rations for you, in case our family's Xuan'er gets hungry on the road."

  "Hehe, I knew you'd be the best, mom! Don't worry, with my good fortune and great destiny, I'll definitely turn bad luck into good!" Zhao Xuan excitedly said while pulling his mother's hand.

  "Alright, since you've made up your mind to go out and make a name for yourself, I don't have anything else to say. Follow me to the ancestral temple, there are some things that it's time for you to know." Zhao Bo said with a serious expression.

  Following Zhao Ye out of the house, all the way, Zhao Xuan was still fantasizing about whether Zhao Ye would give himself some kind of martial arts secret book. But as soon as they arrived at the ancestral temple, Zhao Xuan had almost kowtowed to stupidity. After he finished kowtowing to his ancestors, he raised his head and looked at his father with a bewildered expression.

  "Alas, I never thought that our Zhao family would also produce a great figure in the future!" As he spoke, Old Master Zhao rotated a candle holder on the case table, and immediately, a hidden door opened in front of Zhao Xuan. Looking down, all was dark and indistinct, nothing could be seen.

  "Come with me." Zhao Ye said, picking up a candle holder and walking down. Zhao Xuan didn't dare ask more questions and quickly followed behind Zhao Ye.

  After arriving at the dimly lit room below, Zhao Ye ignited the candelabra on the wall. The faint light only allowed Zhao Xuan to see clearly that in this dark room of less than ten square meters, there was only a portrait of his ancestors on the front wall and a desk with a book on it.

  When the dark room had a little light, Zhao Ye took out the book and walked to Zhao Xuan's face, saying: "This is our ancestor's cloud travel year, see a grave robber from the tomb came out, not waiting for our ancestors to ask questions, the grave robber ran away, when running away, dropped this book called 'Ghost Valley Son' from his arms. Our ancestors looked at it for two pages and found that although the words in this book are similar to those of the popular 'Ghost Valley Son' at that time, there are a few words that are different, but they make the content even more magical. Our old ancestors kept it down and passed it on to today, only unfortunately, during our branch's continuous migration process, several pages were lost. I think this book will be useful for you in the future, so you can take it with you."

  "Alright, I know, Father." Zhao Xuan said with some disappointment.

  Zhao Xuan's expression was all seen by Zhao Ye, "You little scoundrel, don't be too disappointed. Since our ancestors passed it down, they must have had their reasons. Our ancestors were high-ranking officials, I think this book is related to that. So, let's take a ride and see - we'll just have to wait and see!"

  Thus, Zhao Xuan chatted with his father in the dark room for a while before they returned home together.

  (Note: The characters and dynasties in the book are all fictional, so I hope readers won't take them too seriously and try to match them with real historical figures and dynasties.)