The Legend of the Condor Heroes: From Being Expelled from Peach Blossom Island

Chapter 70 Mu Family Mausoleum
Changzhou's specialties include white tea, sparrow tongue tea, and sealed jar wine. Suzhou and Changzhou are adjacent and exchange goods. The Wu family has a shop that has been open here for many years.

Wu Chengyu followed his own caravan, setting off early in the morning and finally arriving before dinner. The journey was incredibly smooth, with no further mishaps.

The shop was managed by Wu Zhengyu from the second branch of the family, and Wu Chengyu should call him the Fifteenth Uncle.

"Chengyu, you can rest in the guest room tonight. I'll have the waiter prepare a car to take you there first thing tomorrow morning."

The goods arrived at the warehouse, and he was so busy with the inventory and handover that he only had time to say this one sentence to Wu Chengyu before hurriedly leaving.

Wu Chengyu is actually enjoying the atmosphere of the Wu family. Even the eldest and second branches of the family take good care of them, the younger generation. The family can help solve any problems in the Suzhou area. The hardships he suffered in Gushan before are now replaced by a happy and stable life. It seems that everything has finally turned out well after all the suffering.

Such a life is something that time travelers would only dream of. At least Wu Chengyu is very satisfied with everything he has now. Unfortunately, this is the late Southern Song Dynasty. In a few decades, when the Southern Song Dynasty falls, these Han people will probably all be reduced to the lower class.

Therefore, improving his own martial prowess and the strength of his family was of utmost urgency, and Wu Chengyu dared not slacken his efforts for a moment.

The next day, the sky was clear and bright. Wu Chengyu, carrying ingots, candles, and offerings, traveled by carriage to the Mu Family Mausoleum.

The purpose of this trip is, of course, to obtain martial arts manuals, but the visit to pay homage is also sincere, since this body contains half of the Murong family's bloodline.

The cemetery is located at the foot of Xishan Mountain in Changzhou. The Mu family bought a large piece of land here and moved all their ancestors from Yanziwu to this place. They lived here for two more generations before their lineage finally ended.

The mausoleum in front of Wu Chengyu was actually somewhat abandoned. His mother must have returned after marrying into Suzhou, but he was too young at the time and had no memory of it.

After that, only the descendants of the Murong family's generals guarded the mausoleum here. At this time, it seems that it is not well cared for, and many places are overgrown with weeds.

All the tombstones had the surname Mu on them. After walking a few steps, I saw a tombstone with the name Mu Fu on it, along with his birth and death dates, and the words "unfilial son Mu He weeps."

Wu Chengyu stood before the tomb, knowing in his heart that it must be Murong Fu buried inside, and that the Southern Murong was now nothing more than a skeleton in the tomb.

Before he could finish his reflection, he heard someone approaching, their footsteps slow and weak, like an old man.

"Young man, this is a private tomb. Outsiders are not allowed to enter without permission. Do not disturb the peace of the deceased."

An aged voice came from behind. Wu Chengyu turned around and saw a hunched old man with white hair and beard. He couldn't tell how old he was, but Wu Chengyu smelled the stench of decay and death on him. This old man probably didn't have much time left.

The old man's original intention was simply to drive Wu Chengyu away, but when he saw Wu's face, he immediately stopped, and a glint of light flashed in his originally cloudy eyes.

"May I ask if your surname is Wu, young man, and if your mother is from the Mu family?"

Wu Chengyu is handsome, just like Mu Qingyin. Now that he is getting older, he has a 7% resemblance to Mu Qingyin in his features, unlike Wu Zhengkang who is big, dark and rough.

He knew he had found the right person this time; the old man clearly recognized him and quickly cupped his hands and bowed in greeting.

"Greetings, sir. I am Wu Chengyu, and my mother is Mu Qingyin."

"That's right, that's right. I heard your mother mention your name back then. It was Chengyu. You look so much like your mother. Seeing you is like seeing the young lady from back then. It's a pity that the young lady passed away at a young age, leaving you, this poor child."

"Come, come, young master, don't stand here talking. Come and rest at my place. This old man wants to see you a little longer."

As soon as he finished speaking, the old man pulled Wu Chengyu to a small courtyard on the east side of the cemetery. The courtyard was small and the house was old. It was clear that only the old man lived there on weekdays, and the house had the same decaying smell as the old man.

The old man led Wu Chengyu into the front hall and made him sit down, then poured him a cup of tea with trembling hands. "My surname is Deng, you can just call me Old Deng. I've been with the head of the Mu family for three generations. When Miss got married, she wanted to take me to Suzhou, but the Mu family cemetery couldn't be left unattended, so I stayed. Who would have thought that Miss would leave us so soon? Later I heard that you were taken away by Miss Feng. Is she alright?"

The surname is Deng, so he must be a descendant of Deng Baichuan. Putting aside everything else, the Murong family's retainers are indeed loyal, having followed the Murong family for generations.

"Grandpa Deng, my aunt passed away at the beginning of this year due to complications during childbirth, leaving behind only a daughter."

Old Deng closed his eyes and sighed deeply, remaining silent for a long time. Wu Chengyu silently stayed by his side. After a while, he finally spoke.

"I can still remember how your aunt brought Miss Feng, who was still a child, back to visit her family. Your mother and Miss Feng played together every day. But fate is cruel. The matriarch of the family passed away, your aunt passed away, and your mother and Miss Feng, who were so young, also passed away."

"The last remaining bloodline of the once-great Mu family is your daughter with Miss Feng. What would the Mu family ancestors think of this?"

Old Deng seemed to have lost his last bit of spirit, and looked even older than before.

Wu Chengyu asked, "Is the Mu family now only left with you?"

“Yes, the old folks are all gone. The ordinary servants were all dismissed after your mother got married. Now, the Mu family only has me, an old man, left. I don’t even have time to clean this cemetery anymore. If you had come two years later, young master, you probably wouldn’t have seen me again.”

Wu Chengyu never expected the Mu family to be in such a state. Including the original owner who had already died, only Huang Rong had the bloodline of the Murong family. Unfortunately, Huang Rong had no idea about her mother's family background. Once the old man passed away, the Murong family would really have no legend left. It's true that all the glory is swept away by the wind and rain.

Seeing that Wu Chengyu was also silent, Old Deng stood up unsteadily and said, "Let's go, I'll take you to see your maternal grandfather's tomb. All the ancestors of the Mu family are here. You can't pay your respects to them all by yourself. Paying respects to your maternal grandfather is the same as paying respects to all the ancestors. There's no need for so many formalities."

Wu Chengyu, carrying the ingots, candles, and other offerings, followed Old Deng to a tomb. The tombstone was inscribed with the spirit tablet of the late mother, Mu, and the late father, Lin Xiuniang. In the lower left corner was written the words "Unfilial daughter, Mu Qingyin, weeping." This was the joint burial tomb of Wu Chengyu's maternal grandparents.

My maternal grandfather's name was Mu Yuan, or Murong Yuan, and my maternal grandmother's name was Lin Xiuniang.

Wu Chengyu placed the offerings in front of the tombstone, lit the ingot-shaped candles in the brazier, and poured three cups of wine on the ground before kneeling down and kowtowing three times.

After the worship ceremony, he cleared away some of the weeds from Mu Yuan's grave and returned to the courtyard with Old Deng.

“Grandpa Deng, the Wu family has a shop here. I can leave some money in the counter, hire someone to look after it, and have the shop staff come and clean it regularly. Why don’t you come back to Suzhou with me?”

Old Deng shook his head, his voice weak and feeble: "Young Master, you are, after all, surnamed Wu, so you can no longer be considered a descendant of the Mu family. My Deng family has been intertwined with the Mu family for generations, and now that the Deng family has no descendants, let me stay here and accompany the Mu family on their final journey."

Wu Chengyu, feeling a bit reluctant to see the old man grow old, decided to get straight to the point and state his true purpose for coming.

"Does Grandpa Deng recognize this jade pendant in my hand?"

　I've been feeling unreal lately. My last book didn't make a splash at all; there were hardly any criticisms or recommendations. That's why people are now criticizing me. I'm a top-tier author with a million words—thankfully, I'm still given that title.

　　Since the publication of this book, I have been subjected to a terrible amount of criticism. I have seen that among the top ten new books on the bestseller list, I am the only one who has been criticized like this, while everyone else has been praised.

　　Then, while the book was being criticized, the data exceeded my expectations.

　　My last book took five months from signing the contract to completion, and it garnered 8,000 favorites and over 1,000 monthly votes. This book hasn't even been released yet, but it already has over 20,000 favorites and over 2,000 monthly votes. Sometimes I even doubt whether this book should be like this. I'm not Versailles, but I genuinely feel a bit uneasy. However, I want to thank everyone for their support. I can't promise anything else, but at least I will try my best to write.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)