Reborn as Murong Fu: This Time I'm the Protagonist

Chapter 528 The Truth
As the autumn wind howled and the morning light began to break, an extremely tall man jumped down from the carriage at the back. The moment he landed, his towering figure made the surrounding tall Khitan warriors appear like bushes surrounding a large tree.

The man's face was slightly dark, with the ruggedness and fortitude unique to men from the northern frontier. He was like a rock that had been polished by the northern winds and yellow sands for thousands of years. His eyebrows were as black as lacquer, and his eyes were like cold stars. They shone with a chilling light that would make any wicked person in the world tremble involuntarily under the gaze of his eyes. Yet, they also carried a reassuring and unquestionable power that put the weak at ease.

This man is none other than Xiao Yuanshan, the current chief instructor of the Liao army, who shares the same clan as Empress Xiao of Liao and is Xiao Feng's biological father.

Xiao Yuanshan asked his guards in Khitan, and they briefly explained the situation to him.

Xiao Yuanshan laughed heartily and strode towards Xiao Feng and his group.

Xuan Ci, Wang Jiantong, and the other two tensed up instantly. Wang Jiantong even subconsciously took a step back, adopting a guarded and alert posture. This posture made Xiao Yuanshan secretly suspicious. However, he was born with a bold and unrestrained spirit, and he would dare to forge ahead even if there were mountains of knives and seas of fire ahead without batting an eye. Naturally, he would not take a few cunning people to heart. However, he was accompanied by his wife and young child today, and with this consideration, he did not dare to act rashly.

Xiao Feng stared blankly at his father, whom he had never met before. The familiar face seemed like another version of himself in a bronze mirror. In a daze, another Xiao Feng crossed the torrent of time and walked towards him in the rising sun. Only now, his father had a full head of black hair and was in his prime, while his son had white hair and a face full of frost.

Time played a cruel joke: a father and son who had never met before were searching for each other, but now that they met, they did not recognize each other.

Xiao Feng stepped forward and asked in a daze, "Is the visitor Lord Xiao Yuanshan?"

Xiao Yuanshan was taken aback at first, then smiled freely, his face showing delight, and replied in Chinese: "I am indeed Xiao Yuanshan. Are you Han Chinese from Yanyun or Han Chinese from the Southern Dynasty?"

Xiao Feng was shocked: "You can speak Chinese?"

Xiao Yuanshan laughed heartily: "My mentor was a Han Chinese from the Southern Dynasty, and all my martial arts skills were taught by him. After years of exposure to his teachings, I can speak Mandarin quite well."

For some reason, upon seeing this Han Chinese man of unknown origin and identity, Xiao Yuanshan felt an inexplicable sense of kinship, a feeling that came from the depths of his soul and was an indescribable familiarity.

Xiao Yuanshan laughed heartily: "This old man looks very kind. Haven't we met somewhere before?"

Xiao Feng was still reeling from the shock of Xiao Yuanshan speaking in Mandarin: He remembered that during the Xingzilin incident, Zhiguang kept saying that Xiao Feng's father, Xiao Yuanshan, was speaking Khitan, which no one present could understand, leading to a misunderstanding and accidental killing. Now, upon closer examination, there were many doubts, and the argument simply didn't hold water.

Firstly, the Khitans and Han Chinese had lived together in the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun of the Liao Dynasty for a long time, even longer than the Song Dynasty. Han Chinese made up the majority of the Liao army. Is it possible that Xiao Yuanshan, as the chief instructor of the Liao army, could not speak Chinese?

Secondly, the Khitan script that Zhiguang and others later showed Xiao Feng, supposedly carved by Xiao Yuanshan with a sharp knife, also mentioned that Xiao Yuanshan's teacher was a Han Chinese from the Southern Dynasty. Living and learning from his master day and night, Xiao Yuanshan vowed never to kill Han Chinese or be an enemy of the Southern Dynasty. Consider this: could someone's beliefs be so easily influenced by a foreigner, especially when they don't know any of that language? Is such a thing even possible?

In the original timeline, after surviving his fall from the cliff, Xiao Yuanshan abandoned any thoughts of suicide. After understanding the situation, he conceived a plan for revenge and even searched for his son. Imagine someone who doesn't even speak Chinese—how could they possibly inquire about their son's whereabouts in a foreign land? And how could they cultivate a relationship with the monks guarding the Shaolin Temple's library, become familiar with them, and then sneak into the library to secretly learn and observe those profound martial arts techniques?
In an instant, a spark flashed through Xiao Feng's mind, and he finally understood why Zhiguang, Zhao Qiansun, and other parties involved in the Xingzilin incident had such expressions, and why Zhiguang refused to reveal the identity of the leader.

Because Zhiguang's narrative is selective, consciously avoiding and ignoring important information, and constantly reinforcing this awareness over thirty years. As for Zhao Qiansun, for decades everyone heard the Khitan's cry, "Why did you kill my wife, children, and guards?" yet everyone still chose to wield their butcher's knives, extending their black hands to innocent women and children, tearing their self-proclaimed chivalry to shreds and trampling it into the mud. Xiao Feng couldn't help but think: Perhaps it was this so-called merit of distorting the truth that Xuanci, the old bald thief, successfully defeated his rivals and secured the position of abbot of Shaolin Temple.

No wonder, no wonder...

Xiao Feng was filled with rage. He gritted his teeth and glared fiercely at Wang Jiantong and the other two behind him.

These people are murderers who killed their own parents for their own selfish desires. It wasn't a case of mistaken identity as they claim; it was a case of turning a mistake into an opportunity and going with the flow.

Noticing the fierce look in Xiao Feng's eyes, Wang Jiantong and the others involuntarily took a few steps back.

Xiao Yuanshan didn't notice the strange look in Xiao Feng's eyes; his gaze was fixed on the three Southern Dynasty men with odd expressions behind Xiao Feng.

"Are these three traveling with this old man?"

Xiao Yuanshan asked.

The three of them looked embarrassed and didn't know how to explain.

As soon as Xiao Yuanshan finished speaking, a gentle female voice came from behind. A delicate hand lifted the curtain in the back of the carriage, revealing the figure of a young and beautiful woman.

The woman, holding an infant in one arm, asked with concern, "What happened, A-Yuan?"

Xuanci and the others exchanged glances, their faces ashen: Where were the Khitan masters? There were only a group of ordinary guards with negligible martial arts skills, and a young woman with a child. The only one with any decent martial arts skills was this Khitan man.

Xiao Feng was furious and rebuked Xuan Ci and the others, saying, "You were deceived and almost framed an innocent person. Now that things have come to this, what do you have to say?"

Xuan Ci's lips trembled, his face ashen, and he said in a trembling voice, "This humble monk was misled by others and almost made a grave mistake. This humble monk, this humble monk, truly deserves to die ten thousand times over."

Xiao Yuanshan asked in confusion, "Old man, what exactly happened? Could you tell me the reason behind it?"

Xiao Feng said in a deep voice, "Lord Yuanshan, I don't know the specifics of this, but one thing is certain: someone wants to kill your family to achieve some ulterior motive."