Liu Xun and his group of four set out on their journey back to City S the day after the funeral! (Wang Yikai had something to do at home, so he left by plane three days ago.)
However, they didn't know that just as they left, an old man with white hair and bright eyes appeared in the ancestral hall.
The old man was Liu Xuanzong. At this time, not only did no one in the Liu family discover his whereabouts, but even Di Yi, Situ Ying, and Mu Feiyan, the three ancient warriors, did not notice it! Not to mention... the still very "weak" Liu Xun.
"Fourth brother, I didn't expect you to die before me! To be honest... Second brother is not a qualified brother, nor a dedicated member of the Liu family. For so many years... The Liu family has relied on you alone to support it. It's really hard for you."
Emperor Liu Xuanzong held a bottle of wine in his hand. It was not the expensive Maotai, nor the Wuliangye served at the state banquet. It was just a bottle of ordinary Erguotou. The wine was very ordinary, but this year...
He poured the wine under the ancestral hall, took out a spirit tablet from his arms, placed it on the ancestral hall, and said: "Brother, no matter what, you are the person we respect the most. If it weren't for you, perhaps my third brother, my fourth brother, and I wouldn't be here today."
"The situation was chaotic back then. I took my third and fourth brothers out and had a dispute with a noble family. We were young and reckless at the time, so we accidentally killed the noble family member. Afterwards, we found out... that the man was the grandson of the current head of the Wu family."
"After the incident, the elders of the Wu family led people to surround the Liu family and ask for an explanation! At that time... Everyone knew that the lightest punishment this time would be to be expelled from the Liu family's direct lineage. In order to consider the overall situation, my father wanted to point out the three of us brothers."
"But... at this time, you came forward and said that you killed the man! Because the war was about to start, the Wu family couldn't go too far. Although his life was saved, he was driven out of the house by the Liu family."
"At that time, I also wanted to come forward to explain the facts, but you stopped me. Before leaving, you told me that... this is your responsibility as a brother. As a brother, it is natural to protect your younger brother."
"At that time, my elder brother also studied Qimen Dunjia, but was strictly forbidden to use it because you had been expelled from the Liu family! But my elder brother, you are indeed upright. After leaving home... you joined the army and never used Qimen Dunjia once in your life."
"When I met my eldest brother again, the war had just begun. The flames of war spread all over the world, and every country took action. That was the first time that the four of us fought side by side. After the war ended, we chose to hide."
"To be honest, when I heard about your death, I already knew who the murderer was. At that time, I thought about turning the world upside down and killing people, but... I didn't! Because I know that you, brother, don't want me to do that, because you are always so... considerate of others."
At this point, Emperor Xuanzong sighed and continued, "Things have changed. After several decades, I am the only one left among the four of us brothers, and of course, my second brother! Although you have been expelled from the Liu family, I will now reset your spirit tablet here. I'm sure our ancestors will have no objection."
"Big Brother, Third Brother, Fourth Brother, I'm leaving! Maybe we'll meet soon, and maybe I'll survive, but I promise that after this battle, this world will change! It will become... an ideal world!"
After Liu Xuanzong finished speaking, he was about to leave the ancestral hall, but at this moment, he suddenly fixed his eyes, looked outside the ancestral hall, and said softly: "Since you are here, why don't you show yourself? How can we say... we are old friends, right?"
As soon as he finished speaking, an old man dressed in white appeared outside the door and said with a smile: "It's been decades since we last met? Has it been fifty or sixty years?"
"Probably, you know, I don't have much concept of time." Liu Xuanzong answered casually, obviously not liking this old man very much.
"I knew that you showed up after Liu Tianzong's death. Now that Liu Shizong has died, you will definitely show up as well! It's so difficult to see you!" The old man walked to the front of the ancestral hall and bowed to the tablet above.
"Zhuge Qingming, if you come here just to pay homage, then I won't keep you company! People with different ideals cannot work together!" Liu Xuanzong closed his eyes. This old man was from the Zhuge family, that is... the descendant of Zhuge Liang!
Zhuge Qingming smiled, shook his head, and said, "I admit that my father did something wrong back then, but his original intention was good, but... the ending was not what I imagined."
"Really? Is it just as simple as doing something wrong?" Liu Xuanzong's eyes turned cold. This was the look of the Shura King, and he hadn't shown this look for decades.
"If your father hadn't been so stubborn and insisted on competing with the Liu family, the war would have ended long ago! So many people wouldn't have been sacrificed, and the current situation wouldn't have happened, and there wouldn't have been any subsequent wars!"
Liu Xuanzong was a little excited. It was hard to imagine what kind of event could make Liu Xuanzong, who had already returned to his original nature,... become like this.
"There were corpses everywhere. There were more than tens of millions of innocent people who died in that war. There were innocent souls everywhere. The whole land of China was filled with the stench of corpses! Now you come here and just say... Your father did something wrong?"
Zhuge Qingming's face became serious. He looked at Liu Xuanzong and said softly, "Alright, let's not talk about what happened back then. It won't change anything if we discuss it again."
Although that war had no direct relationship with the Zhuge family, there were indirect reasons. Many people said that if the Zhuge family and the Liu family had joined forces at that time, then that war... would not have spread to China, and it would have been more likely to have ended the war completely.
"Tell me, why did you come to see me this time?" Liu Xuanzong sighed, calmed down, and asked.
"Let's join forces in this battle. My father was really regretful and blamed himself when he was dying. To be precise... he died of depression!" Zhuge Qingming said, staring at Liu Xuanzong.
...
At the same time, Liu Xun was driving the car, Situ Ying was sitting in the passenger seat, Di Yi and Mu Feiyan were in the back seat. Suddenly, Liu Xun frowned and said, "Di Yi, didn't you refuel the car before leaving?"
"No, I thought we were going back by plane, but who knew you were driving back." Di Yi said casually.
"Uh... This is troublesome. I still have two tanks of gas left and I'm afraid I can't get back to City S." Liu Xun turned on the GPS and started looking for gas stations.
"We'll just turn off the exit on the long-distance road and get some gas." Situ Ying glanced at the map on the GPS and said softly. (To be continued)