Chapter 73: Cursed Family
Chapter 73: Cursed Family
Chapter 73
Li San couldn’t help but frown when he heard that statement, not because of the words themselves, but because of his reaction.
Ever since he had known this man, he had very rarely worn such a troubled expression. Of course, anyone else seeing him would probably think otherwise; after all, the man’s expression was as calm and composed as ever, his gaze relaxed, with only the slightest flicker in his eyes.
But Li San had known him for a very, very long time now, and he could tell... the man was troubled. Yet he couldn’t understand what was troubling him.
In Li San’s view, he was supposed to be happy, maybe even overjoyed; after all, his son had just awakened as a cultivator with near-limitless potential for growth. "What is it?" Li San finally asked.
The man’s gaze was still locked on the place where Liyu had been standing only moments ago. Finally, he let out a sigh before speaking, his tone unusually serious: "That kid... he is too strong for his realm."
Li San raised an eyebrow. He could already guess that much from the simple fact that Liyu had managed to send cultivators on the very same level as himself to death’s door with nothing more than a single slap. So yes... he understood what the man meant.
But wasn’t that supposed to be good news? Why did he seem so troubled? The man, of course, could guess what Li San was thinking, so he elaborated: "That kid... if he keeps growing at that kind of speed... he is going to die very soon."
Li San froze. "He will... die?" He couldn’t help but frown deeply. He could tell... the man was serious. Very serious. "How? Why? What do you mean?" he asked with a baffled expression.
The man merely sighed softly, as though he had grown tired of this entire matter. He looked toward Li San before throwing a question back at him:
"Tell me, Little San... why do you think I have never decided to meet my kid all this while? Why do you think I have chosen not to stand before him? Why do you think I have never even laid a hand on him and could only watch him from afar?"
His voice carried a trace of deep sorrow; it was the kind of pain that had remained buried within his heart for many years. Li San believed he could understand at least a part of that pain.
As a father himself, he could only imagine how he would feel if Feng had grown up without him there to guide, protect, and support him.
He couldn’t even begin to imagine such a thing, and Liyu... the boy had never once seen his own father. Heck, the kid didn’t even know he had a father. "I don’t know... but I believe the reason must be something incredibly serious since you have never once spoken about it."
Li San’s own expression had become solemn as well. The man only smiled bitterly before speaking: "Yes... you are right. This is something only a handful of people have ever known. But I will tell you now... so that you can understand just how severe the problem truly is." He paused briefly. "I am cursed."
Li San raised an eyebrow, and the man continued: "No... let me rephrase that. My entire bloodline is cursed." He looked at Li San with a small yet painfully bitter smile. "And Liyu... being my son... he is cursed as well."
"Cursed?" Li San couldn’t help but ask in stunned astonishment. The man merely smiled bitterly once more, his eyes revealing just how much pain was hidden beneath that calm expression.
"Let’s just say... my entire family has been targeted for a very, very long time. We have all been cursed by a rather vile being, and it is a curse that none of us throughout countless generations have ever been able to break."
Li San listened silently; his gaze slowly turned darker and grimmer before he finally asked, "And what kind of curse is this?" The man replied a few seconds later: "Let me ask you a question.
How would you feel... if you and little Feng were forced into a bloody battle where only one of you could survive... and the other had to die?"
Li San’s eyes widened. "What?!" He couldn’t help but cry out in astonishment. "What kind of curse is that...?" The man’s face returned to its usual calmness, but his eyes trembled slightly as though recalling a memory too painful to bear.
"You don’t know this... but it already happened to me." He slowly lowered his gaze toward his own hands. "I killed my father... against my own will."
A heavy silence filled the surroundings; then he slowly clenched his fists. "And if I ever meet that kid face to face... I fear... I will be the one to kill my own son with these two hands as well."
Li San, hearing that, was totally stunned into silence as he looked confused and utterly astonished. Now that he thought about it... that was one hell of a cruel curse.
No wonder the man always looked so down whenever he visited and couldn’t even interact with his own son. He wasn’t avoiding Liyu because he didn’t love him... he was scared. Li San finally understood why.
The man continued speaking: "The kid’s life will soon be in danger if he keeps getting stronger at this kind of speed. It is only a matter of time before he is found by the vile one. You need to do me a favor, San."
Hearing him call his name so clearly without using his usual nickname, Li San immediately knew that he was extremely serious right now. "What is it?" he asked.
"Anything... I will try it, no matter what." The man nodded before continuing: "You need to send Liyu to the Gold Valley Sect. He is not safe here.
He is not safe anywhere, really... but if he manages to get to the Gold Valley Sect, they can buy him more time and offer him greater protection while he grows. They can also buy me more time to wrap up what I’m currently busy with as well." Li San frowned.
"What do you mean he is in danger? And why the Gold Valley Sect? Can’t you just hide him yourself? You are strong after all... extremely strong." Li San wasn’t exaggerating; because in truth, the man before him was nonsensically powerful.
The man slowly shook his head. "No... hiding him won’t be of any use. Instead, we need him to grow stronger... and faster. At the highest speed possible." He sighed before continuing:
"The kid has the potential. If the heavens show us mercy and delay the inevitable before he is discovered by the vile one... then he might actually survive this. You need to send him there as quickly as possible. And hopefully... he will grow strong enough before he is discovered."
He said those words with complete seriousness. "But didn’t you just say that the stronger he becomes, the more danger he will be in?" Li San couldn’t help but ask.
"Isn’t that practically contradicting yourself?" The man sighed softly, his face solemn before he explained further:
"Actually... yes. The stronger he becomes, the higher the chances that he will be found by the vile one. But even if he stops cultivating... he will still be discovered sooner or later. After all... the very moment he began cultivating... he was already cursed as well."
Li San frowned deeply; now, he finally understood. And now he also understood why the man wanted Liyu to be sent to the Gold Valley Sect as soon as possible.
The number one sect in the entirety of the Lykana Continent... if Liyu could reach that place, where myriads of powerful cultivators resided, then perhaps they could buy him enough time to grow stronger and survive whatever disaster was waiting ahead because of his family’s curse.
Li San frowned ever so slightly when he noticed that the man had already stood up; it seemed as though he was preparing to leave. Still... he couldn’t help but ask one final question: "This vile one... is he truly that powerful? So powerful that even you can’t stop him?"
The man stopped abruptly. His reply came deep and somber: "Trust me... if I could... if anyone before me could... we would have stopped him a long time ago."
His tone became even heavier as he spoke his next words: "Trust me, Little San. No matter how powerful I become... no matter how powerful I will become... there are myriads of things lurking within the darkest corners of this world that even I cannot face. And... the vile one stands at the very pinnacle of them all."
He continued, his voice carrying an edge that Li San had never heard before: "You have no idea, Little San... but this world is far from being safe. There is danger hidden around every corner, and someone has to stand up and bear the weight of protecting it."
He turned to face Li San one final time: "I will leave the kid in your care." A grateful smile appeared on his face. "Once again... I’m truly thankful for everything you’ve done.
Until we meet again."
Before Li San could even say goodbye... the man vanished. Not a ripple. Not a trace. It was as though he had never been there in the first place.
Li San couldn’t help but sigh as he collapsed onto his seat. He could feel, just from his words alone, how much burden the man must have been shouldering; he seemed to be carrying far too much.
No wonder he had become a far gentler version of himself than the Li San from so many years ago had known. That younger version of him had been so similar to the troublesome Liyu... always carefree, always smiling, always causing one kind of trouble or another... but now, he behaved more like a wise sage of some sort.
It seemed responsibility and duty truly changed a person. Li San couldn’t help but shake his head; he hadn’t even been able to understand or even comprehend just how much burden his old friend had been carrying all this time.
For the first time in a very, very long while, he couldn’t help but feel so weak and feeble all of a sudden.
He slowly shook his head before his gaze drifted back toward the measuring artifact, where the golden bead was still glowing brilliantly.
Normally, it should have already faded back to normal by now, yet it remained shining just as brightly. The kid... Liyu had finally awakened his true potential.
Li San was both happy for the kid and deeply concerned; after all, the warning from his friend still echoed repeatedly inside his mind: "The kid is in danger."
Li San rubbed the side of his head as he wondered: "Just what the hell is this vile one Tai keeps talking about? And why would someone curse an entire family with such a horrifying curse?"
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Meanwhile... Tai... Liyu’s father... appeared inside a rather ordinary-looking library. He materialized directly before the bookkeeper.
The bookkeeper was a rather skinny man wearing a large pair of glasses as he quietly read a fairy tale book with an expression of complete concentration. He was so absorbed in the story that he didn’t even notice someone standing before him.
Only when the man’s shadow covered the page did he react. Without even looking up, he casually waved his hand: "Leave. We’re closed for the day." He said that despite the sign hanging right outside the entrance clearly stating that the library was still open.
Who could blame him? He was simply too invested in the story he was reading to bother selling anything to anyone. The man, however, didn’t leave. Instead, he spoke a single sentence:
"Something important has come up." Those simple words immediately grabbed the skinny man’s attention. He slowly lowered the fairy tale book before finally raising his head to look at the newcomer. For the first time, the relaxed expression on his face disappeared.
Tai looked directly into his eyes before speaking in a solemn voice: "Summon all the members of the Order. Now. Another sacred-grade cultivator has appeared. And this time..."
He paused briefly before finishing his sentence: "This time... he is my son."