Ye's ancestors

  What happened at home?

  Ye Qin's heart tightened, and he quickly pushed open the small courtyard gate, hastily crossing the yard to arrive at the entrance of the thatched hut. The thatched hut was very old, with even the mud walls cracked in fine lines, inside there were only a few wooden benches and stools, on the wall hung an iron fork hunting bow and several old animal hides, however it was tidy and clean, except for the smell of herbs there was no other unusual odor.

  A familiar man lay on the bed, covered with thick old animal hide, hunching his back and coughing incessantly. A woman with a worried face was burning a small pot of herbal medicine in the house. There were also two children over ten years old, sitting stupidly on a wooden stool beside them, supporting their chins.

  Ye Qin stood at the door with his back to the bundle, staring blankly at his parents with white temples. When was it that his father took him hunting in the mountains, and his agile and sharp movements were what he most admired about hunters, but now he didn't even have the strength to get out of bed due to illness.

  His eyes were slightly red, and his lips trembled as he opened them: "Dad... Mom!"

  The woman heard a familiar yet strange cry, her hand trembled slightly, and she dared not believe it as she turned back to look at Ye Qin. "Qin Er, is Qin Er back?!" She stood up, wanting to see clearly, swayed once, and almost fell over.

  "Mother, the child has returned!"

  Ye Qin's eyes welled up with tears, and he quickly walked over to support his excited mother as she sat down. His mother excitedly grasped his arm, stroked his slightly thin face, and looked at him carefully, "Our eldest son is back!"

  Ye Lao Die lay on the bed, hearing Ye Qin's mother calling out to him. His expression was agitated, but he couldn't sit up. He choked back a sob and eventually calmed down, muttering softly to himself, "As long as you're alive, that's all that matters."

  Ye Qin then came to the bedside, examined Lao Die's injuries and found that he had been bitten by a wolf on his leg. Looking at the wound, it should have been more than ten days ago, and applied some herbal medicine.

  After examining the wound carefully, he let out a sigh of relief. The injury was only skin-deep and not on the tendons or bones. With some medicinal ointment for treating injuries, he would be fully recovered after a few months of recuperation. However, the herbal medicine that was being decocted in the pot was clearly ineffective, its potency too weak. He had to use the medicine he carried with him instead.

  Ye Qian Mali replaced the herbal medicine and gauze on Lao Die's leg, cleaned it with clear water, took out a small bottle of medicine from the Medicine Hall, poured some specially made wound-healing medicine on the wound, and re-bandaged it with a new strip of cloth.

  Those two children over ten years old looked at him with a mixture of fear and curiosity.

  Ye Qin smiled bitterly. When he left home, his younger brother and sister were only a few years old, now they can't recognize him anymore. He took out some candies, sugar gourds and other small toys from his bag to play with them.

  Ye Qin sat down on the edge of the bed and chatted with his parents. He briefly told them about his experiences over the past few years, without going into details, only mentioning that he was now working for a wealthy family in the county town.

  Ye's father's face turned somewhat pale and yellow, hearing that only he and Big Cow had returned. He suddenly coughed several times: "Our ancestors' rules passed down through generations in the mountains are like birds leaving their nests and arrows shot out - before one has established a career and started a family, they cannot return home. Qin'er, have you gotten married?"

  Ye Qin lowered his head and shook it, "Never"

  Ye Bo: "Have you established your career?"

  Ye Qin's head hung even lower, "Never"

  Ye Fu angrily said: "Since you have not taken a wife or established a career, what are you doing back here? The ancestral rules cannot be broken. Tonight, go to the ancestral hall and kneel down to apologize to our ancestors."

  "Quickly, his father said: 'The child has just returned, why are you always talking about this.'"

  "Ancestors' rules, can't be wrong, right? This poor mountain and river of our old village can only support a few people. Can't they make a living outside better than in this old village?"

  Ye Qin lowered his head, not saying a word, and his nose turned sour: "Yes, I know. These years, I've been studying in the county town, learned some skills, made some small achievements. After a while, I might go to Pingzhou Prefecture, and it will be hard to come back later, so I came back specifically to see my parents, and I don't dare stay at home for long."

  When Ye Qin said he would be leaving soon, Ye's father choked back a sob and didn't say anything else.

  Let's put this matter aside for now, Ye Qin asked again about Father's leg injury, what happened.

  "Earlier, your father went up the mountain and was chased by a few wolves. He wasn't careful and hurt his leg. Fortunately, several of your uncles were there and rescued him back home, so it's not too serious. The problem is that this herb is hard to find, and I couldn't go up the mountain either, so the injury has been lingering on. Tonight, you should first go thank those uncles."

  Ye Qin nodded.

  Ye Qin had just returned, and his mother was delighted to cook a meal, also boiling some cured meat that Ye Qin had brought back from the county town into a millet porridge. The whole family gathered around to eat a reunion dinner together. While they weren't paying attention, Ye Qin crushed a Dew Drop Pill and sprinkled it onto their food. The Dew Drop Pill was a spiritual elixir for cultivating immortals, and for ordinary people, it had the effect of curing illnesses and prolonging one's lifespan, making one's spirit and energy flourish. At least, it could make the whole family live without illness or pain, in peace and tranquility.

  After dinner, he also threw a drop of dew Dan into the only well in the village, which was his way of repaying the villagers. Then he went from door to door, visiting the uncles and elders in the village.

  The villagers were overjoyed and warmly welcomed him, knowing that Ye Qin had studied in the county town. Some even wanted to marry their daughters to Ye Qin. The 15- or 16-year-old girls in the village looked at Ye Qin with admiration, blushing and twisting their bodies. Although Ye Qin's appearance was ordinary, he was considered simple and elegant in this village, one of the few handsome young men.

  Ye Qin couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time, thanked the uncles from each house, and tactfully declined their offers.

  That night, he wore the thick old cotton-padded jacket sent by his mother and knelt for a night in the ancestral hall of the Ye family to reflect on his mistakes. For him, kneeling for a night was nothing.

  He was fortunate enough to see again the self-transcribed book spectrum enshrined in the Ye family ancestral hall, wrapped in a wooden box - a book passed down by a Xiucai ancestor of the Ye family ten generations ago to his descendants.

  This book is covered with dust and is rotten beyond recognition, now there are only a few people in the village who can understand it.

  The book records some simple things that can be barely understood: ten generations ago, the Ye family was a commoner's family in Zhujici County who loved reading. Later, to avoid war disasters, they fled with dozens of other ordinary people to this poor and remote mountainous area to make a living. The ancestors of the imperial examination candidates went through hardships and left books to warn their descendants that if they had to leave their hometown, they should be content with their fate, not contend with officials, not fight with bandits, follow the will of heaven, and live a humble life.

  Ye Qin finished reading, closed the book, and sat in contemplation for a long time, letting out a faint sigh.

  In this world, if you don't fight and struggle, how can you survive?

  Ten generations ago, the county seat of Zhugui had a military disaster, and ten generations later, the county seat of Zhugui had a gangster's riot. Where is the end? In the midst of chaos, where is there any peaceful place? Fortunately, this village is located in a remote mountainous area, although it is poor, but at least there are no soldiers or bandits and rivers and lakes people coming here, and it can barely be considered a safe place.

  Although he thought so, his heart was thinking about the long-term plan for the Ye family and this mountain village to survive in this world.

  Ye Qin thought for a long time, and this long-term plan was nothing more than the two ways of literature and martial arts. Literature can cultivate wisdom, and martial arts can strengthen the body.

  He took a small knife, found a hard rock from the outside mountain ridge, cut it into a stone book one foot long and wide, two inches thick, engraved tiny characters on the stone, wrote hastily, left in the temple, as a memorial for future generations.

  He had originally wanted to carve out the remaining volume of the "Sitting Forgetfulness Classic", but after thinking about it for a long time, he still didn't take action. The dangers of the immortal cultivation path are unknown how many times more than those of ordinary people, leaving behind a method that is difficult to predict whether it will bring good or bad fortune, and may not necessarily be beneficial to the descendants of the Ye family, so let's just let things happen naturally.

  On the second day, he had Big Cow spend some money to invite a poor scholar from a nearby town to come to the village to teach reading and writing. Then, he took out several low-level martial arts manuals that he had bought at the county market and gave them to Big Cow and his fellow villagers, letting them learn on their own and then teach others in the village, exercising their bodies and minds. In the future, even if they encountered wolves, they would have a way to defend themselves. As long as these two paths of literature and martial arts were promoted, after several years or decades, the situation in the village might change for the better, and he could leave with peace of mind.