Chapter 38 You Do Not Belong Here

Leaving the ancestral hall, Xue Fan returned home with a loud laugh. In his eyes now, this place where he had lived for twenty-three years had become so unfamiliar, and yet so absurd.

Ignoring his father's attempts to stop him, he immediately packed a few of his clothes and left without even taking any money. Just as he had said, since his grandfather was gone, there was no need for him to stay here any longer.

"Fanzi! Fanzi! Where are you going?"

Caring deeply about his face and reputation, Xue Fan's father could not bring himself to lower his pride and beg him to stay. Xue Fan offered a disdainful smile, which only made his resolve firmer.

As soon as he stepped out the door, he saw the "soul-guiding banner" he had carried for the funeral earlier being discarded by the roadside. Thinking of his grandfather, he simply picked up the banner, hoisted it onto his shoulder, and strode towards the entrance of the village.

Just as he reached the village entrance...

"Dad! How could you just leave us like this—ahhhhh!"

"Grandfather! Please walk slowly, your grandson wants to talk to you more!"

Familiar yet strange sounds of wailing suddenly pierced his ears, making Xue Fan halt his steps and turn his head to look.

"Old Man Wang has passed away too..."

He muttered softly to himself, a thought suddenly flashing through his mind.

"Old Man Wang was always good to me since I was a child. Since I'm not planning to come back anyway, I might as well go kowtow and burn some incense for him."

Besides, everyone said he was "wrong," and he wanted to take another look to figure out what was truly "right"...

Was it "right" just because everyone else did it?

With that thought, Xue Fan walked directly into the courtyard of the Wang family. Since they were all from the same village, everyone knew each other, and his reputation for being "unfilial" had not yet spread, naturally no one stopped him.

Walking up to the mourning hall and looking at the black-and-white portrait of Old Man Wang, he put down his belongings, knelt on the mat, and held three sticks of incense. Remembering the old man's past kindness toward him, he prepared to see him off with sincere heart.

However...

"Dad—!"

The moment he began to reminisce silently, a deafening wail shattered his thoughts. His arrival caused the surrounding people to pause briefly, but because of the appearance of an outsider, everyone immediately began to wail even harder!

"Dad—!"

"Grandfather—!"

"Ahhhhhhh!"

Hearing these cries, Xue Fan's expression instantly darkened. He didn't really know these people well, but a single word popped into his mind: "Fake!"

It was so damn fake!

"..."

Abandoning his thoughts, he stood up straight, inserted the incense into the burner, and then bent down to pick up his bundle and the soul-guiding banner once again.

And right after that...

"Pfft—"

His cheeks puffed out and he could no longer hold it in. Right in front of everyone, he burst into sudden, uproarious laughter:

"Hahahaha!"

Xue Fan's laughter was so loud that it drowned out the piercing wails, causing everyone to freeze and turn to stare at him.

The next second, the surrounding crowd immediately flushed red with anger and glared daggers at him. Understandably, laughing in someone's mourning hall was a major taboo, and those with a hot temper instantly reached for whatever tools were nearby!

Yet...

"Hahahaha!"

For some reason, try as he might, Xue Fan couldn't stop laughing. He doubled over, laughing so hard his stomach began to ache.

"Are you out of your damn mind?!"

Seeing this, several burly men among the Wang family stepped forward with a loud roar, grabbing brooms to drive him out, while the rest began hurling curses and insults. The scene instantly descended into chaos.

But right at that moment...

"Haha! Ha... ha?"

As Xue Fan was laughing, he suddenly stopped. His eyes widened as he noticed a dark figure materializing near the coffin. Swathed in swirling black mist, it looked like an old man.

"O-Old Man Wang?"

He looked closer at the old man's face. It was undeniably Old Man Wang, and realization dawned on him instantly.

"Am I seeing a ghost?!"

Ghost or no ghost, Xue Fan felt not a trace of fear. Instead, he observed closely and saw the old man staring intently at the chaotic crowd of the Wang family with an expression of profound sorrow.

Seeming to notice that Xue Fan could see him, the old man gently shook his head at him, forcing a gentle smile through his sorrow. A familiar voice then echoed in Xue Fan's mind:

"Little Fanzi, don't mind them. Thank you for coming to see this old man off..."

Looking at this bunch of people, the old man also seemed to find it ridiculous, yet he couldn't manage to laugh.

"Old Man Wang..."

Hearing the old man's words and seeing his sorrowful expression, Xue Fan froze in place, his pupils suddenly contracting.

"Old Man! You!"

He noticed that the old man's figure was fading away bit by bit, about to dissipate in the blink of an eye!

Seeing this, and thinking how the old man was about to leave with lingering resentment, he immediately thought of his own grandfather: "Grandfather, could it be that before you left, watching those people act like that... you felt the exact same way?"

With this thought, a wave of profound sorrow surged from the bottom of his heart like a rising tide!

"Sob... ugh... wuaaaah—!"

The next instant, Xue Fan began to sob, tears streaming uncontrollably from his eyes. This sudden outburst startled the crowd, causing those who were about to chase him out to freeze and pause once more.

Within moments, the soft sobs turned into miserable, piercing wails. Just a moment ago he had been laughing heartily, but now he was weeping bitterly. His cries soared straight into the sky, deafeningly loud, and his entire body trembled violently!

"Old Man—!"

"Your life was truly so bitter—!"

Then, a miraculous thing happened. As Xue Fan wailed and cried out in agony, Old Man Wang, who had been on the verge of vanishing, re-condensed into a stream of black Qi, darted forward, and plunged straight into the soul-guiding banner he held.

Seeing this, Xue Fan's eyes widened. He felt something enter his body, triggering an even greater wave of sorrow. He continued to shout at the top of his lungs:

"Old Man—!"

By this time, the crowd had finally reacted, and they were furious:

"What are you howling about here, you little madman? Our old man lived to a ripe old age and passed away peacefully, how on earth was his life bitter?!"

Wasn't this just a roundabout way of scolding them for being unfilial?!

However, just as they were about to attack him again, an orange-yellow light suddenly flashed from the doorway...

Whoosh—

The light swept past in an instant, piercing through everyone's bodies. It caused them to freeze in place, their movements halting as they all instantly calmed down.

"Wh-What is going on here?"

Seeing these people suddenly stop, their anger vanishing and gentle smiles appearing on their faces, Xue Fan's crying abruptly stopped, completely baffled by what had happened.

And the next second...

"You must be Xue Fan, right?"

A magnetic male voice suddenly rang out. He turned and noticed two figures standing at the courtyard entrance—a man in his thirties and a young girl around eleven or twelve years old.

"Come with us. You don't belong here..."

The man raised his hand and beckoned.