I sell demon meat in the city

Chapter 272 The Liu Family of Northeast China
"Xiao Qi, your dad and I are going to Northeast China."

"Has something happened to Liu Liu? Where's my brother?"

Liu Liu returned to Northeast China to inspect the shrine of the Fairy Maiden, and Meng Yanxu accompanied her.

The two have been together for a year, and everyone is happy about it. Xiao Qi is also delighted; her teammate and best friend has become her sister-in-law—a classic case of keeping the good stuff in the family.

“We can’t get in touch with either of them, so we’re worried. They were supposed to come back in a week, but it’s been more than 20 days now, and I’m worried they’ve run into trouble.”

"Then how about I..."

"You should focus on your studies; there's no need for you to go."

Meng Shulan interrupted her rudely, her words carrying a veiled warning, "Behave yourself at school. The reason I told you this is so you can go back to Sanqing Mountain this weekend, keep an eye on things over there, and go for a stroll every now and then, understand?"

"clear."

Xiao Qi replied lazily.

northeast.

On August 20th, Liu Liu and Meng Yanxu took a taxi from the airport to their destination, arriving as dusk was falling. They decided to stay overnight in Liucheng, where the Fairy Maiden Temple was located, and then head up the mountain early the next morning.

The ancestral hall of Fairy Liu is located on the mountain. The Liu clan has members who take care of it, and the incense has burned continuously for a thousand years. This is also the main reason why her soul was able to remain in the world for a long time after her ascension.

The fairy maiden protected the direct line of the Liu family and the peace of the region, and the people reciprocated with a continuous stream of incense offerings.

However, what Liu Liu didn't know was that starting two and a half years ago, the number of people offering incense at the ancestral hall had been gradually decreasing, until now, not a single person went to burn incense. Now the ancestral hall is dilapidated and decaying, even the main gate is incomplete, one side of the wooden door was knocked off by something, and the remaining half is teetering on the verge of collapse, making a creaking and groaning sound in the mountain wind.

The statue of the fairy maiden, who had transformed into the shape of a beautiful woman, was covered in a layer of dust in the dimly lit shrine, making it difficult to see clearly.

When Liu Liu arrived at the mountain the next day, he was stunned by what he saw. How could this be?
She immediately became furious. Where were the Liu clan members?

How dare they?
Liu Liu walked into the ancestral hall without saying a word. She first stood in front of the statue and looked up at the human-shaped statue of the fairy for a long time. Then she found a rag, went to the yard to fetch a bucket of water, and began to wipe silently.

Meng Yanxu didn't come in; he stood at the door, warily looking towards the path they were taking up the mountain.

From the moment they approached the mountain, he felt they were being followed.

The other party must be skilled in this, or they must have been using something to track him, which is why he couldn't find them despite several attempts.

Others might have given up, thinking it was just their imagination, but Meng Yanxu always trusted his intuition. He felt that they might have been targeted from the moment they entered Liucheng.

Or perhaps Liu Liu is being targeted?
Meng Yanxu frowned in deep thought. The situation at the Fairy Maiden's Shrine had clearly been going on for a long time. No one was guarding it, no one was offering incense and prayers, and no one had informed Liu Liu, the only direct descendant of the Liu family.

The Liu family in Northeast China may seem famous, but in reality, only one direct descendant, Liu Liu, remains. The rest are collateral branches, and some of them are not actually surnamed Liu. They were servants bought by the Liu family a long time ago and given the surname Liu.

The person in charge of guarding the ancestral hall is a descendant of the steward of the Liu family more than a hundred years ago. This steward was given the surname Liu by the head of the family and was specially recorded in the genealogy of the collateral branch.

This shows how much the head of the family trusted this steward back then.

Meng Yanxu suspected that someone might have set a trap, a trap specifically targeting Fairy Maiden and Liu Liu.

He stood at the entrance of the ancestral hall, gazing at the eerily quiet Liuxian Mountain, and the more he thought about it, the more likely this possibility seemed.

"Liu Liu, I feel something's wrong. Let's go back first. We can't stay here any longer." The statue was only half-cleaned when Meng Yanxu came in looking for her with a serious expression.

Liu Liu hurriedly wiped the fairy's face clean, glanced at her, took a deep breath, put down the rag, washed her hands, and followed Meng Yanxu outside.

The paths up and down the mountain are not difficult to walk, after all, the ancestral hall has existed for a thousand years, let alone the road.

When the incense is burning brightly, even the paths leading up the mountain are crowded with people, and everyone has to queue to enter the ancestral hall.

Later, the head of the Liu family simply funded the laying of stone slabs that were easy to walk on even in the rain, and they are still in good condition to this day, having weathered many storms.

The sneakers made a faint clicking sound as they stepped on the hard, blue stone slabs.

Liu Liu thought to himself, when his ancestors were building roads, the Liu family was at its peak, and all the direct descendants were successful. When did it start to decline, and why are there fewer and fewer direct descendants with each generation?

My maternal grandfather had two brothers, and because he was the eldest son, the jade pendant was passed down to him. Later, his two younger brothers went out to study. One of them got into a fight and accidentally killed someone. Later, unable to bear prison life, he tried to escape but was shot to death by prison guards.

Another younger brother wanted to avenge his older brother, but was killed while retaliating against the prison guards.

Both were only twenty years old and unmarried when the accident happened.

After her maternal grandparents got married, they only had one child, her mother, so the jade pendant was naturally passed down to her. Originally, her maternal grandfather wanted her mother to find a son-in-law to live with them and stay in Northeast China, but she was blind and fell in love with her father, insisting on marrying him.

It's about marrying, not recruiting.

This angered her maternal grandfather so much that he fell ill, and later she disregarded everything and left Northeast China with her father.

When Liu Liu was four years old, she returned to Northeast China with her mother for the first time and met her maternal grandparents, who had white hair and beards. The two elderly people passed away on the same day the following year.

It is said that before my grandfather died, he went to the ancestral hall of Liu Xiangu and knelt down to pray that she could leave Northeast China and bless his daughter and granddaughter.
"What are you thinking about? Your brow is furrowed so tightly."

As Meng Yanxu spoke, he raised his hand and gently stroked her forehead, comforting her, "Don't worry, now that we're here, we'll find out what happened."

“I wasn’t thinking about that. I was thinking about when our Liu family started to decline, and from which generation did the number of offspring begin to decrease, and how Meng Yanxu has become worse with each generation. How many children do you think we should have in the future?”

Meng Yanxu:
He was still pondering the first half of her statement when he was stunned by her last question.

It's not that the beginning and end are unrelated, but wasn't your jump a bit too sudden?
But he reacted quickly, saying, "You can have as many as you want, surnamed Liu or Meng, it doesn't matter."

However, Liu Liu shook his head. "It doesn't matter whether the surname is Liu or not, the Liu family has already come to this point. The main thing is to find a way to awaken the fairy. I want her to leave. Her karma with the Liu family should end. We can't always rely on her and control her. It's time to give her freedom."

Meng Yanxu didn't understand this, so naturally she did whatever she was told.

The two were halfway down the mountain when they suddenly heard a whistle, and then a group of people jumped out from behind the trees and bushes on both sides.

This is to make up for yesterday's.

Because I had a tooth extracted yesterday afternoon, I felt dizzy after the anesthesia, so I only managed to write one chapter before going to sleep.

If you have any dental problems, get them treated as soon as possible. Don't be like me and wait until the roots of your teeth are rotten and you have to have them pulled, which is terrifying!
I dread going to the dentist!

(End of this chapter)