Chapter 3: That Eldest Brother

Fang Clan’s very own genius, that eldest brother, was actually dead?

Fang Cun silently thought. Anyone who heard this news would probably find it hard to believe!

How could such a peerless genius possibly die?

……

Liu Hu’s Fang Chi, a prodigy unlike any other!

He started studying at three, unlocked his potential at five, and was exceptionally admitted into White Xiang Academy at seven. At ten, he entered Nine Immortals Sect in Duyan City to cultivate. By fifteen, he had already cultivated the worldly First Grade Immortal Dharma Aspect and entered Tianyue Palace in Qingjiang Prefecture. After just seven years of cultivation there, at the young age of twenty-two, he entered the Seven Kings Immortal Palace as a study companion. Now, only twenty-nine, he was already one of those selected for entrance to the Pantheon of Sages!

Twenty-nine years old, and poised to enter the Pantheon of Sages. What did that mean?

It meant a journey that took many Qi Refiners hundreds, even thousands of years – he had walked that path in just twenty-nine years.

Once admitted into the Pantheon of Sages, he would become an Immortal in the truest sense.

By then, the Fang Family of Willow Lake would rise to become one of the Great Xia Dynasty’s premier, top-ranking noble houses!

But who could have imagined he would die at such a time?

Countless jaws across the land must have hit the floor in disbelief. Yet, as Fang Chi’s younger brother…

Fang Cun wasn’t surprised!

The world knew Fang Chi of Willow Lake as brilliant, luminous, comparable to the sun and moon. But Fang Cun had always known this brother of his had a flaw!

He was a good man!

Ever since he was little, if he saw a wicked beggar abducting a child on the road, he would shout protests, nearly getting kidnapped himself. Before the Fang family rose to prominence, seeing beggars, he would give away his own food, often going hungry all day.

He couldn’t stand injustice in the world; encountering bullies, he spoke out against them; seeing the poor suffer, he freely gave.

He could have been a leisurely, steady cultivator, bathed in envy and admiration. But because he insisted on meddling in others’ business, he invited endless trouble. The world knew he entered White Xiang Academy at seven, hailed as an unparalleled child prodigy. But they didn’t know that by nine, because of that incident releasing tigers in Nanxiang, he had stirred such public wrath that the previous Academy Dean was forced into retirement.

The world knew he went to cultivate in Nine Immortals Sect at ten. But they didn’t know that at fourteen, because he exposed Chenzhou’s Puguang Tianyue Array stealing vital life force from commoners across three thousand li of Lingzhou, he was hunted by assassins of the ‘Path of Heaven’ for a long, long time…

Similar incidents were too many to count!

And precisely because his brother was such a good man, Fang Cun had always felt his life wouldn’t be long.

“You couldn’t tolerate the slightest speck in your eye, so how could the world tolerate you?” Fang Cun thought as he slowly walked out of his room.

……

The entire Fang Manor was filled with the sound of weeping.

Maids, manservants, lowly laborers, even horses in the distant stables seemed infected by the sorrow, whinnying mournfully.

Perhaps they hadn’t seen Fang Chi often, or even at all, but every soul in Fang Manor had heard countless tales of that legendary figure of the Great Xia Dynasty, the genius touched by the Heavens. They had grown accustomed to taking pride in the Fang family’s eldest son, used to basking in the shelter of his renown.

To be a servant in the Fang Family of Willow Lake, in the household of a Great Xia Immortal Master, was in itself, an honor.

The most famous tale was that of the Fang Manor steward, Steward Huang. Once, traveling three thousand li to visit family, he found his clan nephew framed in a scheme to deprive him of his inheritance—and Steward Huang himself seized too, facing death. But he simply said he was a servant of Willow Lake’s Fang Family. Immediately, that Prefecture’s Prefect personally intervened. Later, an Imperial Edict restored his nephew’s property and granted him additional rewards besides…

Stories like these were numerous!

But for that very reason, the sudden news of Fang Chi’s death was like the removal of the central pillar holding up their world.

Entering the main hall, Fang Cun saw a middle-aged man clad in dark blue iron armor standing inside. Two black-armored divine guards flanked him. On the table before them lay a black cloth-wrapped box, now open. Fang Cun swept his gaze over it; the box was nearly empty, containing only a robe, a single sword, and a mere handful of spirit pearls.

“Kindly accept our deepest condolences, Old Scholar,” the armored man began. “A month ago, I followed Immortal Master Fang Chi into the Eternal Night Wasteland. We were surrounded by chaotic Demons. Though Immortal Master Fang Chi fought valiantly, his sword slaying Demons all the way to the Seventh Boundary Monument, ultimately he was outnumbered and fell in that Desolate Wasteland. We fought desperately to protect him, but the horde of Demons was too powerful, impossible to match. We barely managed to snatch his weapon from the midst of the Demon pack. He… he still…”

Before the armored man could finish his sentence, Mother Fang collapsed, overwhelmed by tears.

Even the stoic Master Fang couldn’t hold back. Sorrowful tears streamed down his face, leaving him wordless.

Even as ordinary mortals bound to a peaceful existence within the Great Xia, untouched by the path of cultivation, they knew the Eternal Night Wasteland—a place without sun or moon, filled with endless dangers and swarming Demons. To have met his end there meant retrieving his mortal remains was a hopeless dream…

“Why did my brother go to the Eternal Night Wasteland?” Fang Cun, who had stood silently by the hall entrance for a long moment, suddenly asked.

The armored man turned and looked at him. “And this gentleman is…?”

Master Fang’s voice was weak, drained of energy. “He… he is my second son. Name’s Fang Cun. Seventeen this year…” Tears began to silently fall again as he spoke, doubtless remembering that his own eldest son, Fang Chi, also hadn’t returned home since he was seventeen?

“Ah, the Second Young Master…”

Hearing this, the armored man became more courteous. He clasped his fists in respect towards Fang Cun. “Immortal Master Fang Chi entered the Eternal Night Wasteland… it’s said he sought for another Dragon Vein to grace this land beneath the heavens. To strengthen the fortune of our Great Xia Dynasty, to ensure our people of Great Xia would never again suffer the hardship of hunger, cold, or illness. Ah! Who could have imagined such an outcome? Even the Great Xia Immortal Emperor said he would willingly trade three of Great Xia’s Dragon Veins to bring one Immortal Master Fang Chi back…”

“Master Fang,” the armored man continued, “My purpose here is solely to return Immortal Master Fang Chi’s personal belongings. Be assured, Great Xia’s Immortal Edict will soon reach you!”

Master Fang, trembling, stood up. His voice choked with grief, he uttered, “Thank… thank the Immortal Emperor!”

Fang Cun remained silent for the moment.

Just then, the armored man seemed to remember something. He nodded at Fang Cun, thumped his fist to his chest in a formal salute, and said, “Young Master Fang. I, this lowly commander, also have a letter entrusted to me. It’s from the Immortal Master… addressed to you!”

“A letter?”

Master Fang reacted instantly, breathlessly asking, “Left by my Chi’er?”

“Indeed!”

The armored commander answered. “However, this letter… Immortal Master Fang Chi wrote it casually when he set out for the Eternal Night Wasteland. He seemed to think of it on a whim. We noticed it afterwards while sorting through the remnants of his possessions. As for… at the moment he passed… in the Wasteland… he did not… have the time to leave any final message!”

Master Fang’s face turned ashen upon hearing this. The crushing sorrow finally proved too much. He fainted slowly backwards.

The maids and servants below gasped in shock. They hurriedly rushed forward, pressing his acupoints and pouring ginseng soup into his mouth.

In the ensuing disarray, the armored military commander clearly felt awkward staying longer. He let out a few heavy sighs. Without waiting for Master Fang to regain consciousness, he prepared to take his leave. Fang Cun escorted him to the manor gates. As the commander departed, he turned and bowed deeply towards the Fang Manor thrice. When he straightened up, his face was thick with grief. He led his two Divine Guards, mounted the fearsome lion-tiger steeds of the Great Xia army, and slowly, the clatter of hooves fading, vanished down the long street.

“Young master, whatever shall we do now…?”

As Fang Cun returned inside, the steward hurried up to him, face full of anxiety.

The master and mistress, overcome by grief, had collapsed several times. The steward could only turn to this seemingly still-composed young master.

“Hang white lanterns at the manor entrance. Announce to all four corners: the eldest son of the Fang family has passed.”

Fang Cun instructed without expression and started heading back towards his room. But then he remembered something. Stopping, he turned back. “Wait. Don’t hang the lanterns just yet. Immediately send messages overnight to all Fang family shops in the Seven Cities and Nine Prefectures. Tell them to close the shops. Withdraw all silver.”

Finally, he added softly, almost as an afterthought, “Get back whatever you can. As much as possible. Any amount.”

The Eldest Young Master is gone, and the Second Young Master’s first thought is the silver in their shops?

A wave of bleak sorrow washed over the steward’s heart. But, struggling to contain his own feelings, he bowed respectfully. “Yes, Young Master!”

……

Fang Cun did not go to see his father and mother lying unconscious. Instead, he returned to the main hall and carefully re-examined the belongings his brother had left behind. Once finished, he ordered them to be safely stored away. He then slowly paced his way back to his own sleeping chambers. Ordering all maids and servants out, he sat down at his writing desk. His gaze drifted to the scene outside the window as he gradually sank into deep thought.

His brother’s returned possessions were just these few items. Simple. Frugal. Unblemished.

Anyone could guess what this truly meant: a being so breathtakingly talented, a Great Xia Immortal Master of such stature – every ordinary-seeming object close to him could be tied to some monumental secret. Therefore, before these items were sent back, they must have been meticulously scrutinized by countless formidable experts.

Certainly, nothing hidden remained. Only clearly innocuous objects, perhaps some straightforwardly valuable treasures, would be returned to Fang Manor.

If that was so, then any secret must lie within this letter addressed to him.

Fang Cun knew. His elder brother would surely send that thing back.

After all, people of the Great Xia Dynasty lacked a certain imagination. They just assumed Fang Chi’s ability to achieve one of the greatest legends in the Xia Dynasty’s three-thousand-year history by age twenty-nine was solely due to his dazzling, heaven-sent talent—a genius unseen for three millennia. But Fang Cun had always believed: this brother had harbored undisclosed secrets…

Partly because, when Fang Cun was very young, his brother, thinking he wouldn’t understand, sometimes said strange things in his presence… But also because Fang Cun felt: born of the same mother, the same blood ran through their veins—how could logic dictate one brother a genius, the other utterly untalented?

……

Thinking this, Fang Cun took out the letter. Calmly he opened it and sat down at his writing desk to read slowly.

Gazing at the neat, dignified, yet forceful small calligraphy strokes on the page, Fang Cun read word by word. Suddenly, deep within his heart, a faint jolt ran through him.

It was just as I expected!