Above the Great Dao
Chapter 573 - 265

Chapter 573: 265

Even amid the congestion, they would halt and quietly wait for the carriages in front to pass.

But in the outer city, if they encountered congestion, it would be much noisier, and sometimes fights would even break out.

After a while, they arrived in front of a mansion, and Sun Yisheng said, "Mr. Chen, we’ve arrived."

Chen Shi’s body was a bit stiff as he halted his steps and sized up the mansion, feeling somewhat ill at ease but trying to appear nonchalant.

The mansion had one main gate and one side gate, with two stone bookcases on either side of the gate, indicating that the homeowner was a civil servant.

There was a clear space in front of the gate for parking carriages. The wooden cart drove up on its own and parked there.

At that moment, some raindrops fell from the sky, and the wooden cart opened its canopy to shield itself from the rain.

Black Pot ran under the cart to take cover from the rain.

Sun Yisheng, leaning on his crutch, moved up the three stone steps and knocked on the door.

Chen Shi followed him, his hands unconsciously rubbing together until his knuckles turned white.

"Don’t be nervous."

Sun Yisheng said, "You were calm all the way here."

"I’m not nervous," Chen Shi said nervously, his neck a bit stiff.

At that moment, the door opened.

The door was opened by a servant, who was in his thirties or forties, recognized Sun Yisheng, and quickly invited him in.

"Mr. Sun, is he the son?" The servant, wearing a black hat, inquired.

Sun Yisheng said, "Call him your son."

"Your son," the servant said.

Chen Shi nodded, wondering whether he should step in with his left foot or right foot first.

Sun Yisheng turned around, surprised, and said, "Come in, your son."

Chen Shi responded, and as he tried to step forward, both feet moved at once and he jumped over the threshold.

"I’m too nervous."

Chen Shi was somewhat annoyed with himself, thinking, "I shouldn’t be so nervous. I don’t know Chen Tang, and he doesn’t know me. I’ll just meet him and leave for Xinxiang Hall."

The servant, surprised, looked back, not understanding why he had jumped through the doorway. Sun Yisheng whispered, "It’s an old custom from Xinxiang, the first time you enter, both feet must go in together."

The servant, who had never been to Xinxiang, took his word for it.

Chen Shi almost walked on hands and feet forward but quickly stopped, took a deep breath, and then resumed normal walking.

He looked around to distract himself, which helped a lot to ease his nerves.

The courtyard wasn’t large; it was a two-section courtyard. The front section had guest rooms and areas for receiving guests, along with two kitchens and utility rooms. The back section was probably where the family rested. Although small, the courtyard had everything needed, including sheltered corridors to protect against wind and rain and a landscaped garden in the rear section with a rockery, fishpond, and a few pines and crape myrtles planted.

There were not many people in the courtyard; Chen Shi saw two or three maids and servants.

Sun Yisheng, leaning on his crutch, led Chen Shi to the main hall in the back courtyard and said, "You sit for a while; I’ll go and speak to Mr. Chen."

Chen Shi nodded slightly and sat down on a chair, which was ice-cold. He shifted his position and looked at the arrangement of the main hall.

The main hall was not for receiving guests, but a space for the family to dine, pray, and honor ancestors. There was a squarely-set table, a few round stools, and behind the table was a long altar table about seven feet in length. In the center of the altar table was a spirit tablet inscribed with "Prominent Ancestor, Lord Chen of Yindu Manor, Born in Western Lotus."

In front of the spirit tablet was a small incense burner, filled with ash.

Chen Shi shifted his gaze from the spirit tablet; there were offerings on the altar table, the fruit was freshly placed and still fresh.

On the other side of the altar table, there was a treasured sword, also with an incense burner, which had incense still burning, wafting Incense Fire Qi towards the sword.

The sword emitted a strong force of extraordinariness, indicating it had been worshipped for many years.

Behind the altar table hung a landscape painting, which probably depicted Qianyang Mountain, meticulously painted; Chen Shi even spotted Great Snake Xuan Shan coiled atop a peak.

To ease his nerves, he moved closer, searching for the position of Huangpo Village; indeed, he soon found it. The painting even depicted the village with a crooked-necked old willow tree on the yellow slope beside it.

Most peculiarly was a hanged ghost on the tree!

"Chen Tang also met Zhu Xiucai!" Chen Shi was greatly surprised.

What shocked him the most was that there was a person under the tree, looking like a scholar, seemingly talking to the hanged ghost!

"Who is this person?" He wondered, baffled.

Grandfather?

Or Creation Little Five?

Or perhaps... Chen Tang!

Sun Yisheng quietly waited in the front hall. The servant had run to the Ministry of Revenue to find Chen Tang. Being a practitioner and carrying the Armored Horse Talisman, he had presumably met Chen Tang already.

He waited for a stick of incense time; footsteps approached from outside.

Sun Yisheng turned around and saw a middle-aged civil servant, still in his red robe, hat not yet removed, and quickly bowed, "Mr. Chen, your subordinate has successfully brought your son back!"

Chen Tang quickly stepped forward, took his arm, and helped him sit down. He checked his injuries first, finding that Sun Yisheng was not seriously hurt, then he finally breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Yisheng, this must have been very hard for you. If it weren’t for you, Chen Shi may have perished on the road. I cannot thank you enough!"

He straightened up and bowed deeply.

Sun Yisheng hurriedly reciprocated, giving a bitter smile, "You don’t need to thank me. Even without me, your son could have still made it to the Western Capital, perhaps even faster. I feel I didn’t contribute much on this journey."

His expression was strange as he continued, "On the way here, apart from getting injured, I enjoyed Chen Shi’s Spiritual Medicine and Black Pot’s healing. The rest seemed to be just eating and drinking daily. Plus, a bunch of Scholars surrounded me, checking my wounds and hoping I wouldn’t die."

Chen Tang was puzzled, not understanding why he would say that.