Under One Person: Feng Shui Master, I Will Protect the Mountains and Rivers with My Own Body

Yan Sen's question was like an icicle, piercing the already awkward atmosphere in the room.

Yan Que's facial muscles twitched stiffly twice, his eyes darting around, sometimes looking at the roof beams, sometimes at the floor tiles, but he dared not look into his son's eyes.

"Well... son, actually, this is a long story..." Yan Que chuckled, trying to brush it off with a laugh.

"Actually, your mother... in a sense, she really is 'dead.' After all, marrying a dissolute like me severed ties with her former identity, which is equivalent to being reborn..."

"Words fail!"

Yan Sen suddenly roared, no longer calling him "father" but addressing him by his name.

He pointed to his nose, his eyes reddening, but not from gratitude, but from anger: "I'm six! I'm only six! Ever since you told me my mother was gone when I was three, for the past three years I've followed you all over the country, living under bridges and sleeping in graveyards! Every Qingming Festival I had to kowtow and wail at an empty grave! And now you're telling me my mother isn't dead? You want to go and reunite with her?"

Yan Sen took a deep breath, feeling like his lungs were about to explode: "You two are truly in love, and I'm just an accident, right? I'm just part of your flirting, right?"

Yan Que looked completely innocent, spread his hands, and said matter-of-factly, "Son, you can't say that. This is all for your own good."

"For my own good?" Yan Sen laughed angrily. "For my own good, you made me live like a motherless child for several years?"

"My child, why can't you understand your father's good intentions?"

Yan Que sighed, took out the unlit pipe from his pocket, took two puffs, and adopted a serious and earnest posture.

"Say it honestly, aren't you lazy?"

Yan Sen was taken aback.

"You've been smart since you were little, your brain works faster than anyone else's. You could understand the 'Burial Classic' as soon as you learned to read, and you could distinguish the real from the fake antiques at the age of three. But you have one major flaw—laziness! You'd rather lie down than sit, and you'd rather talk than lift a finger. If I didn't put some pressure on you, if I didn't make you feel that this world is hard and that a motherless child is like a blade of grass, would you be practicing your skills as hard as you are now? Would you have been able to open the [All Things Connected to Qi] at the age of six?"

Yan Que became increasingly convinced of his own reasoning, straightening his back: "This is called 'education through hardship'! Without this experience, you'd be nothing more than a spendthrift son of a birdcage in Beijing, how could you possibly amount to anything?"

Yan Sen opened his mouth, but was speechless for a moment.

He admitted that the original owner of this body was indeed a lazy person; even after he transmigrated, his biggest dream was to make money, lie down, eat, drink, have fun, and listen to music in brothels.

But is that even a valid reason?!

"You bastard!"

A loud shout interrupted Yan Que's eloquent speech.

Tian Jinzhong, who had been sitting silently in his chair, was now furious.

His wrinkled face was marred by wide, bloodshot eyes, and his chest heaved violently.

"Master Tian, ​​please calm down..." Yan Que saw that things were not going well and was about to step forward to help him up.

"Snapped!"

A crisp, clear sound echoed through the quiet room.

No one saw how Tian Jinzhong made his move.

With a flick of the empty sleeve, the remaining arm, like a dragon emerging from the sea, moved with lightning speed and struck Yan Que squarely on the back of the head.

The slap was so powerful that Yan Que staggered and almost lost his balance.

"Ouch!" Yan Que clutched the back of his head, wincing in pain. "Master Tian, ​​what are you doing! A gentleman uses words, not fists..."

"That's exactly what I'm going to do, you bastard!"

Tian Jinzhong shouted angrily, "What kind of father are you! To force your child to practice martial arts, you even lied about his own mother dying? Look at this child, does he even resemble a child anymore? He's suffered so much these past few years! Are you even his real father?!"

Tian Jinzhong grew increasingly angry as he spoke, and raised his hand again: "Come here! Stick your head out! Today, this old Taoist priest is going to clean house for my benefactor!"

As Yan Sen watched this scene, he felt a warm current rush from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

Cool!

So cool!

All the resentment I'd felt over the years from being cheated by Lao Deng was released in that instant.

He immediately ran to Tian Jinzhong's side, grabbed the old man's sleeve, and, with tears in his eyes, nudged him, saying, "Grandpa! You did the right thing! He always steals my chicken legs! He even tries to get me to stage accidents! Give him a few more beatings to help dispel some of my childhood trauma. If it turns into a mental demon in the future, how will I be able to cultivate myself?"

"Listen to this! Listen to this!" Tian Jinzhong was even angrier, his finger trembling as he pointed at Yan Que. "Stealing a child's chicken leg? Making the child stage an accident? Yan Que, are you even human?!"

Yan Que covered his head, his face full of grievance as he protested, "Master Tian, ​​I'm innocent! This wasn't my invention; it's a family heirloom!"

"What did you say?" Tian Jinzhong paused.

Yan Que, with a bitter face, pointed to the sky and swore, "It's true! We follow the Earth Master lineage, which emphasizes following the way of heaven. But if you're too talented, you're easily envied by heaven, and your personality will be lazy. My father deceived me even more badly back then! He said that my whole family except for him had been killed by our enemy, and made me practice martial arts while carrying a blood feud. I practiced for ten whole years before I found out that my mother was sunbathing on Hainan Island!"

The room fell silent instantly.

Even the usually placid face of the Celestial Master Zhang Zhiwei twitched slightly.

Liang Youyi, who had been standing by watching the show, couldn't help but burst out laughing. He quickly covered his mouth and his shoulders shook violently.

"So..." Liang Youyi couldn't help but complain, "Your family tradition is 'ruining your son'? From the oldest to the youngest, not a single one of you is hardworking, is that it?"

Yan Que sighed, looking as if he couldn't bear to recall the past: "Who says it isn't? I was treated leniently. It's said that my great-grandfather threw my grandfather into a wolf's den back then..."

Yan Sen was stunned.

Looking at his father and then at his great-grandfather Yan Hong, whom he had never met, he suddenly felt that the fact that this family had survived to this day without dying out was a double miracle in both medicine and metaphysics.

What kind of infernal family is this?!

Tian Jinzhong's hand, which was raised in mid-air, remained frozen for a long time before finally being lowered helplessly.

He was so angry he laughed.

"Senior brother," Tian Jinzhong turned to look at the old Celestial Master, his face full of helplessness, "What... what kind of situation is this?"

The old Celestial Master Zhang Zhiwei kept his eyes down, seemingly oblivious to everything, and gently stroked his beard, his ethereal and otherworldly appearance suggesting he hadn't heard a thing.

"Even an upright official finds it difficult to settle family disputes."

The old master said calmly, "Since it's a family tradition, it's not appropriate for us outsiders to comment. However..."

He glanced at Yan Sen, his eyes filled with affection: "Now that this child has recognized his family in Jinzhong, he won't have to endure that 'hardship education' on Longhu Mountain anymore. Yan Que, do you have any objections?"

"No objection! Absolutely no objection!" Yan Que shook his head vigorously. "With the Celestial Master's Mansion protecting him, why should I bother with anything else? From now on, he'll be a hothouse flower, growing however he wants!"

The old celestial master nodded and stood up.

"Alright, we've acknowledged our kinship and reminisced about the past. Jinzhong, let's go. Let the father and son have some time alone."

Although Tian Jinzhong was still a little reluctant, he knew that the father and son were about to part ways and must have something to say.

He took Yan Sen's hand, took out a warm jade pendant from his pocket, and put it into Yan Sen's hand.

"Child, take this. This is a gift from your great-grandfather. If that scoundrel of a father ever bullies you again, go to your great-grandfather, and he'll stand up for you!"

Yan Sen held the jade pendant, still warm from his body, and nodded heavily: "Thank you, Grandfather!"

Liang Youyi helped Tian Jinzhong and followed the old Celestial Master out of the house.

Before leaving, Liang Youyi glanced back at Yan Que, his eyes filled with a meaningful look, as if he could see through the seemingly absurd farce and find some unknown heaviness hidden behind it.