Fourth Great Uncle
With a muffled thump, the large man’s fist struck Han Li’s back. The large man was stunned, but his face vastly changed upon seeing an azure light flicker from Han Li’s body. As the man attempted to land another blow, he was sent flying.
The middle-aged scholar instantly revealed an expression of amazement.
Just as the large man’s enormous frame fell, his body suddenly slowed and he landed on his feet as if he was light as a feather. He appeared completely uninjured.
“Brother Li, are you alright? Did you sustain any internal injuries?” Although the scholarly man possessed little strength, he knew there were many ways that Jianghu Martial Arts could injure without any external signs. As such, he revealed worry.
The large man surnamed Li took a deep breath and felt that his body had no injuries. He couldn’t help but whisper in bewilderment, “It’s nothing, I am fine. His skills are unfathomable, but it doesn’t seem he’s hostile.”
When the scholarly man heard this, he nodded and felt slightly more at ease. He then turned his gaze to Han Li and serenely said, “Great warrior, I am the Han Clan Master, Han Tianxiao. Did this great warrior come here specifically for me?”
“The Han Clan Master?” Han Li slowly turned around.
“Ah, you…”
“Impossible!”
“Humph! What did your esteemed self mean by that?”
Before Han Li could speak, the scholar and the large man couldn’t help but cry out in alarm upon seeing Han Li’s appearance. The scholarly man soon thought of something and his expression grew sullen.
After the large man recovered from his alarm, he also came to a realization and wore an ill expression.
“You recognize me?” Han Li asked with a frown. He glanced at the two and found that the two seemed faintly familiar. However, he left the matter alone with a wry smile in his heart.
The scholarly man stared at Han Li and deliberately said word by word, “Your esteemed self asks despite knowing the answer? Your appearance resembles that of our Han Clan’s Fourth Great Uncle. Why wouldn’t I recognize you?”
‘Fourth Great Uncle?’ When Han Li heard this, he wore a mysterious smile. Since he was the fourth eldest amongst his siblings, it was naturally referring to him. However, it was unclear how they would know of his current appearance since he hadn’t met face to face with any of his relatives ever since he left when he was small.
Han Li smiled and said, “Oh? When did I say that I was like your Fourth Great Uncle? Couldn’t this just be my natural appearance?”
The scholarly man quickly grew angry and he coldy said, “There are many similar faces in this world, but not only does your face bear a striking resemblance, here you are in the Han Clan’s ancestral hall. What else does that leave for your esteemed self?”
Han Li’s expression relaxed and he said with an impressed tone, “Your reply is spot on! You are worthy of being an official of the royal court. The Han Clan’s current prosperity is undoubtedly a result of the later generations’ efforts!”
A harsh expression flickered over the man’s face and he angrily said, “What? Does your esteemed self truly plan on pretending to be my ancestor?”
“Pretend? Why would I want to do that? How about you mention how you know of my appearance? I seem to recall that ever since I left home, my family had never seen my appearance. Could it be the members of the Seven Mysteries Sect drew a portrait for you?” Han Li’s gaze then dropped onto the large man with thick facial hair. He narrowed his eyes, eventually realizing why he found the man to be familiar. “Hm? Your surname is Li. Could you be related to Li Feiyu?”
The large man revealed furious alarm, “You… how do you know the name of my clan ancestor? It turns out you know quite a bit about my Li Clan!”
When Han Li heard this, he nonchalantly smiled.
The scholarly man was alarmed upon hearing the words ‘Seven Mysteries Sect’ and ‘Li Feiyu’. He bewilderedly said, “Since your esteemed self repeatedly claims that you are my ancestor’s younger brother, you must certainly know that our Han Clan’s great uncle has disappeared. But now your esteemed self has shown up two hundred years later, but I fail to see any indication of your great age.”
The scholarly man had only recently found out about the Han and Li Clan’s history from a letter. Could it be that this person had also seen this letter?
With that thought, the scholarly man couldn’t help but look at the table with the memorial tablets. The letter was hidden somewhere between them.
Seeing that the scholarly man’s gaze grew odd, he swept past the memorial tablets with his spiritual sense and discovered the letter hidden within.
Han Li raised his hand without any reservations and beckoned towards the table.
The two men were dumbstruck by what happened next. Light flashed from the table and a yellow booklet enveloped in a mist of azure light flew out from the table towards Han Li.
Han Li grabbed the booklet and the light scattered with a faint shake of his hand. He then casually flipped through it.
As the scholarly man had long since been part of the bureaucracy, he was long accustomed to keeping his calm in the face of astonishing events. However, he couldn’t help but dryly swallow in a panic as he glanced at the large man. The large man wasn’t faring much better, but his expression grew odd as if it contained both happiness and fear.
While the scholar still felt confused, the large man cupped his hands and deeply bowed towards Han Li as he hesitantly said, “Might I ask if your esteemed self is an Immortal cultivator of legend? As an Immortal, you are unlikely to trifle with the affairs of us mortals. Would Senior happen to have any keepsakes to verify his identity? After all, this matter is rather significant. My Esteemed Brother Han and I cannot easily believe others based solely on words.”
The scholarly man was stunned upon hearing the large man but the legends soon came to mind and he felt his blood run cold. He began to look at Han Li with an expression of awe.
“Oh! I didn’t expect for you to know of Immortal cultivators! Impressive! From the record, it seems that you truly are Li Feiyu’s descendant. Truly inconceivable for Li Feiyu’s children to form a bond with my Han Clan! As for regards to keepsakes, I can’t recall having any. At the time, I was in complete pursuit of the Dao and departed from my homeland in a hurry. I even left without bidding goodbye to Brother Li. I merely left behind a slip of paper for him and a few bottles of medicine pills.” Han Li casually said.
The large man surnamed Li spoke with slight astonishment, “Medicine pills? Were the bottles that we enshrined at our sect’s shrine left behind by Senior?”
Han Li sighed and dimly said, “Long ago, your ancestor used Essence Extraction Pills without any hesitation in order to excel in martial arts. Even with the medicines I left behind, I fear he wouldn’t have been able to live to an old age.”
After a moment of hesitation, the large man carefully said, “I don’t know of this matter. However, my father still lives and perhaps he might know something of the deceased ancestor. After all, these secret matters are only known by each generation’s clan lord. If Senior will allow it, I will quickly send word to inquire whether or not these words are true.”
At that moment, he was already mostly convinced. The Li Clan’s establishing ancestor had met with an untimely death at an early age.
Han Li waved his arm and spoke with a tone of melancholy, “There is no need. I didn’t come back to make a disturbance. I merely wished to free my mind of mortal worries. Now that I see both the Han Clan and the descendants of my dear friend are doing well, I am well at ease.”
Having heard this, the large man instead became nervous and began to wildly signal to the scholarly man with his eyes. He clearly knew what it meant to the Han and Li Clans to have an Immortal cultivator ancestor.
The scholarly man naturally knew far better of what there was to gain or lose from this. After pondering for a moment, he respectfully said, “If your esteemed self is truly my great uncle, I have a method of immediately verifying your identity. Our Han Clan Shine contains a few possessions of our ancestors from the past. If Senior is able to identify these items, Junior will naturally be convinced of your background. Only the Han Clan Master from each generation is qualified to personally care for them, and they are incapable of being identify by others.”
“Past possessions? Let’s take a look at them. It’s only that I left home at a rather early age so I may not be able to identify them.” Han Li indifferently said. If it wasn’t too troublesome, he definitely wouldn’t refuse to be recognized by the descendants of the Han Clan.
“Please be at ease Senior. These items were left behind as keepsakes from their times of poverty, so Senior should be able to recognize them. I will bring them now.” After bowing to Han Li, the scholar descended from the second floor.
After a bit of clamor from down below, the scholarly man shortly walked back up with a tray covered by red cloth. He then respectfully presented it to Han Li.
Han Li took the plate and removed the red cloth, revealing the worn items before him.
Han Li spoke with pleasant surprise, “Oh! So it turned to out to be these items. I didn’t expect to see them again in this lifetime.”
“Senior recognizes these items?” The scholar cautiously asked with a nervous expression.
“I know a majority of these items, but there were three that were acquired after I left home. I don’t know who they belong to. The slingshot and small bow belonged to my second elder brother Han Tie. He enjoyed playing with them when he was small. The wooden hairpin was my mother’s most cherished possession. The tobacco pipe was…” Han Li picked up each of these items and spoke as if he were rather familiar with them.
After hearing Han Li examine half of them, the scholar felt there was no longer any doubt.
Without waiting for Han Li to finish, he immediately dragged the large man forward and they deeply saluted to Han Li.
“This unfilial descendant Han Tianxiao recognizes Fourth Great Uncle. I sincerely wish that Great Uncle will forgive my unfilial actions from before.” With that said, the scholar didn’t dare to meet Han Li’s gaze and wore an expression of embarrassment.
The large man mirrored the solemn and respectful display.
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