Being knocked down by the Heavenly Dao while ascending

"He wants to kill you?" Pei Mingyan asked.

"I don't know whether he wanted to kill me or whether my fear and vigilance towards him made him want to kill me."

Pei Mingyan: “…” Needless to say, he must have intended to kill you.

Shang Nanyi smiled, "Maybe Jiang Yuanse is not in a hurry. We spent a long time on the way to the small fishing village. I spent a lot of time with him and he is no different from before." After saying this, he seemed to realize that he had gone off topic. He changed the subject and continued to talk about the small fishing village, "The people of the small fishing village are simple and hospitable--"

"Wait a minute." Pei Mingyan interrupted him: "Do they believe in God?"

Shang Nanyi nodded, "Yes, fishermen who make a living from the sea mostly believe in God. They are grateful for the gifts of the sea, and they also thank the sea god for making the sea calm and allowing the fishing village to survive."

Pei Mingyan bit his lower lip and thought for half a second before asking, "Is there anything unusual happening in the small fishing village?"

Shang Nanyi paused, then said, "You want to ask about Xiaokong."

Pei Mingyan nodded, "If what Xiaokong said is true, the origin of the matter is the fortune-telling liar."

Shang Nanyi let out a long sigh, "A fortune teller did go to the fishing village, and that person did predict that Xiaokong would bring disaster to the fishing village. But Xiaokong's disaster did not start with the fortune teller."
He glanced at Pei Mingyan and said, "Jiang Yuanse has investigated this matter."

"Because of Mei Xucheng and Jiang Yuansheng?" Pei Mingyan understood immediately after he said that, "The person who told Xiaokong's fortune was Mei Xucheng."

Shang Nanyi pursed his lips and said seriously, "That's right. I was young at that time, and I didn't pay attention to this matter except eating and drinking every day. I only heard a few words. By the time I wanted to find out, the small fishing village had been destroyed. The only survivor, Xiaokong, was not only a child, but also had mental problems." He paused and suddenly apologized, "I'm sorry. The real mystery of Xiaokong should be buried with the death of Mei Xucheng and Jiang Yuansheng."

"As long as something happens, there will always be clues left."

Shang Nanyi: "Although I don't know Xiaokong's puzzle, I was there at the time, so I still know some information that is not so useful."

"Appreciate further details."

"Before we arrived at the small fishing village," Shang Nanyi paused to think for a while, "about less than two months later, a tsunami occurred in the small fishing village that had been peaceful for a hundred years."
"The tsunami injured many people and claimed the lives of three people. The fishermen were terrified and said it was the wrath of the sea god. The people in the village must have done something wrong to attract the wrath of the sea god."
"The fortune teller did the reading before the tsunami, and what he said became the 'life-saving advice' that enlightened these people in their panic."
"They turned their attention to Xiaokong. But Xiaokong was still a child. Although the group of people wanted to find an excuse to soothe their inner anxiety and fear, they were not so cruel as to let a child die."
"So, the fishermen were filled with anger and helplessness, but they couldn't do anything. They could only vent their anger on someone they could vent their anger on, and that person was Xiaokong's parents. The fishermen distanced themselves from them, talked about them, and treated their family as a scourge."
"After being ignored day after day, Xiaokong's parents could no longer bear this 'special treatment' and finally told the whole truth -"

Shang Nanyi looked at Pei Mingyan, "The parents told the other fishermen that Xiaokong was not their child. They picked him up from the sea."

"Picked up at sea?" Pei Mingyan rubbed his chin and thought, "It makes sense. If Xiaokong's parents were ordinary people, Xiaokong wouldn't be able to become a special person. Not to mention that his blood could become Xue Qingyu's medicine."
At this point he suddenly paused, as if he remembered something, but he didn't say it out loud. He just held his cheek with his hand and muttered to himself: "So who is Xiaokong?"

Shang Nanyi smiled and said, "Young Master Mei wants to get some advice from me?"

Pei Mingyan put down his hand, picked up the tea and took a sip, "No way, isn't this my normal way of thinking?"

Shang Nanyi also took a sip when he saw this, "Young Master Mei should have his own guesses, otherwise Dean Xue wouldn't have come and left in such a hurry. He rushed back to the academy in such a hurry, so Young Master Mei must have said something or arranged something."

Pei Mingyan put down the cup and said to Shang Nanyi, "Now that you mention it, I think I'm pretty good. I anticipated the enemy's moves first."

"Young Master Mei, there is no need to be modest. In the dream, you were the first to ascend, which is enough to show that you are an extraordinary person." Shang Nanyi lowered his eyes to look at the water in the cup, which was a light yellow. He looked up at Pei Mingyan and said with certainty, "Xiao Kong must have a secret. The incident in the fishing village was the key to Xiao Kong. But I still haven't found out what the key to Xiao Kong is. Is it because he is Xue Qingyu's medicine? I don't think so."

Pei Mingyan touched the tip of his nose and said to Shang Nanyi, "Let's not talk about things that we have no clue about for now. Let's talk about what happened in the past first."

Shang Nanyi glanced at Pei Mingyan's hand touching his nose, and he had a guess - maybe Young Master Mei had guessed something.
He continued: "Mei Xucheng said at the time that Xiaokong would bring disaster to the fishing village and suggested that the fishermen send him away."
"But the small fishing village has lived and worked in peace and contentment for hundreds of years. Of course, they didn't believe this foreign liar. They regarded it as a joke and spread it from mouth to mouth. For a while, it became a joke among the fishermen."
"Until the tsunami happened, until the couple said Xiaokong was not their child."

"Things got divided at that time. The older generation of fishermen believed that the child picked up from the sea was a sinner abandoned by the sea god. They saved Xiaokong and violated the sea god's oracle, so the sea god punished them. They should throw Xiaokong back into the sea to satisfy the sea god."
"The young fishermen thought it was a scam by the fortune teller. The fortune teller deliberately caused the tsunami to make the prediction come true, just to make them seek help from the fortune teller."

"This..." Pei Mingyan wanted to say that feudal superstition is deadly, but his background is not suitable for saying such things. "So Xiaokong's parents threw Xiaokong back into the sea?"

"No, Xiaokong was thrown into the sea because of the second tsunami." Shang Nanyi said.

"The second tsunami?" Pei Mingyan tapped the table with his index finger. "A man-made tsunami?"

Shang Nanyi nodded, "I don't know whether the first tsunami was man-made or a natural disaster. But this tsunami was caused by Jiang Yuanse."

"Xiaokong doesn't seem to have mentioned this matter." Pei Mingyan said.

"Xiaokong didn't mention it because the tsunami was not serious and there were no casualties."

Pei Mingyan's heart skipped a beat.

Shang Nanyi continued, "After the first tsunami, the young people in the fishing village went to look for the fortune teller. Although they suspected it, they could not find any evidence to prove that it was the fortune teller's handiwork, so they returned empty-handed. After the second tsunami, when the young fishermen wanted to warn the other party, they unexpectedly found that the two men had already left."
“It no longer holds true that the tsunami was the work of fortune tellers.”

Pei Mingyan stared at Shang Nanyi, "You didn't stop Jiang Yuanse?"

"To create a tsunami, Jiang Yuanse couldn't go without my help, but I didn't know the twists and turns at the time. Jiang Yuanse said Xiaokong was too pitiful. We should help him. The best way is to recreate a tsunami to let them know that a tsunami is just a tsunami and has nothing to do with gods."
"I believed what he said, so I didn't stop him when he caused the tsunami."

"Young Master Shang should have regretted this matter till now. Because you and Jiang Yuanse are the real reason why Xiao Kong fell into despair."

Shang Nanyi did not deny it. "Jiang Yuanse went there for Jiang Yuansheng. Jiang Yuansheng and Mei Xucheng disappeared after hearing the news of Jiang Yuanse's arrival. The second tsunami was to lure out the two of them. They will only appear if Xiaokong is in real trouble."
"After the second tsunami, the young man couldn't find Mei Xucheng, and the story that the fortune teller was a liar was no longer tenable. Jiang Yuanse was busy looking for Jiang Yuansheng, so it was impossible for him to show any miracles to prove that the tsunami was just a tsunami. Xiaokong... therefore fell into real despair."

He exhaled a breath of turbid air, "I don't deny my mistakes. This is why I appeared here. Whether you want to believe it or not, it was also at that time that I knew the fortune teller was Mei Xucheng."

Pei Mingyan suddenly had some guesses, and it was as if a skylight had opened in his mind. All the clues poured in like flowing light and gathered together.
Mei Xucheng...
Pei Mingyan's ring finger unconsciously rubbed across his brow.
Mei Xucheng and Jiang Yuansheng went to the small fishing village just for Xiaokong. If the mastermind behind this was not Jiang Yuansheng, then what Jiang Yuansheng and Mei Xucheng had been doing all along...
They had also been to the Fuyuan Natural Chasm and provided guidance to the parents of young children - the answer was obvious.

"What are you thinking about?" Shang Nanyi asked.

"Well, I wonder why my brother hasn't called me to eat yet." Pei Mingyan retracted his fingers and said so casually.
At this point he looked outside at the sky, then looked at Shang Nanyi with interest, "Calculating the time, it's almost time."

"Hmm?" Shang Nanyi was about to ask, but suddenly felt something was wrong. He covered his stomach with his hands and looked at the teacup on the table, "What did you give me to drink——"

Pei Mingyan took a sip, put down the teacup, held his chin with both hands, looked at him, and said in a very harmless tone: "Mei family specialty - enhanced peach blossom tea!" At this point, he seemed to remember something, "Oh, I forgot to say that people who drink it for the first time will always feel a little uncomfortable, but it won't do any harm, it's all good for your health."

"You!" Shang Nanyi closed his eyes, and drops of water condensed on his fingertips and fell to the ground.

Pei Mingyan took off his mask, picked up the teacup and took a sip slowly, then said, "It's useless. I advise you to find a toilet first, just in case."

Shang Nanyi hurriedly got up and left.
.
Seeing a man in a black robe with a sullen face in the room, he quickly opened the door and left. Mei Shuyu, who had been waiting not far away, took the opportunity to walk in.
He held the food tray, looked back outside the house, and closed the door after confirming that there was no one there.

"big--"
Before he even said the word "brother", he noticed that the atmosphere in the room was not right.
The elder brother sat on the stool, looking unhappy. He had never seen his elder brother look like this before.
Mei Shuyu was a little worried. He hesitated for a moment, walked to the table, glanced at Pei Mingyan's face, and placed the food on the plate on the table one by one.

Pei Mingyan seemed to have just noticed his arrival. In the blink of an eye, all the tense emotions dissipated like loose sand.
"Shuyu, I've been waiting for your meal for too long. I'm almost starving!" Pei Mingyan took a piece of food with chopsticks and stuffed it into his mouth. He licked his lips and said, "Come on, you must be starving too. Let's eat together."

Mei Shuyu pursed her lips, waved her hand and released a small steamer of rice, then took out the bowl she carried with her, added a bowl for Pei Mingyan, and handed the bowl to him, "Brother, rice."

Pei Mingyan looked at him for a long time, and suddenly sniffed, "I'm suddenly so touched. It's great to have a brother like you!"

Mei Shuyu didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Pei Mingyan stood up and pushed Mei Shuyu back onto the stool. "Okay, eat your meal obediently. We can talk after you finish eating."
He poured himself more rice, pulled out a stool and sat down. He saw the teacup that Shang Nanyi had drunk from on the table, picked it up and threw it into the air. The cup disappeared without a trace in the air.

Mei Shuyu couldn't eat the food he had just stuffed into his mouth, "Brother..."

Pei Ming smiled and said, "Put it away. Out of sight, out of mind."

"..."But didn't the cup turn into powder directly? Does this mean it should be put away?
Mei Shuyu lowered his head and took a mouthful of rice.

Pei Mingyan picked up a few dishes for him and said, "Eat quickly. We don't know if there's someone coming. If he comes back, it will not only be an eyesore, but also affect our meal."

Mei Shuyu didn't pick up any more dishes, and ate the rice with the dishes in the bowl. Pei Mingyan was stunned. Just as he was about to say something funny, he saw Mei Shuyu hesitate.
There was a flash of understanding in his eyes, but he said lightly: "Oh, you are competing with me to see who eats faster, you are so childish."
As he spoke, he quickly picked up the dishes and finished his rice. This was the fastest time he had ever eaten.

"As long as big brother likes it, it's good." Mei Shuyu said.

Pei Mingyan finished the rest of the food when he heard this, and cleared the table after finishing his meal. "You eat so fast, you must be looking for a chance to have a heart-to-heart talk with your brother." He put his hand behind his ear, pretending to eavesdrop, "Let's talk quietly."

Mei Shuyu smiled, but soon the smile disappeared, "Is he Shang Nanyi?"

Pei Mingyan rubbed his ears and said, "Yes."

Mei Shuyu asked softly, "Then my visit to the Mei family was also his doing?"

"It's him." Pei Mingyan nodded.

Mei Shuyu's breath was choked. "Then, who is he?"

Pei Mingyan stared at him and replied, "People with the same ultimate goal."

Mei Shuyu understood this. He hesitated for a moment and asked, "Is he on the same path as us?"

Pei Mingyan smiled.
He looked out the window with a leisurely gaze.
The sky outside the window has darkened. The sunset glow is very beautiful, but it is almost dark.
Mei Shuyu still stood quietly waiting for his answer.
Pei Mingyan spoke calmly.
"We are not on the same path."

"Then I-"

Pei Mingyan turned around and patted his shoulder, "What are you thinking about? If something really happened to you, how could your brother sit here so calmly?"

Mei Shuyu stared into his eyes, "Brother always keeps things to himself."

"How could that be?" Pei Mingyan touched his nose. "I have always been honest. I say whatever I want to say and never hide anything in my heart. Please don't falsely accuse me, big brother."

Mei Shuyu rarely got tough. "Whenever there is something, Big Brother always says the opposite. I came here with the instructions of the elders. Before I left, the elders told me that Big Brother has always been disobedient and likes to take the blame on himself, which makes them very unhappy. So if there is something, I must inform them so that they have the opportunity to see Big Brother suffer."

Pei Mingyan was stunned, and even a little touched for a moment, still talking nonsense, "Oh, I knew that the elders were waiting to see me make a fool of myself!" At this point he leaned forward, put his hand in front of his mouth, and asked in a low voice, "You won't really let big brother suffer like this, will you?"

Mei Shuyu turned his head away and said, "Brother is not in danger, I didn't inform anyone."

Pei Mingyan patted his chest and said, "Okay, okay, I feel relieved now."

Mei Shuyu turned to look at Pei Mingyan and said, "Brother, you are the eldest son of the Mei family. It doesn't make sense for the Mei family to protect every disciple but leave the young master of the main family alone without anyone to help him. So, if I think that brother is in danger, I will ask the Mei family for help."

Do you think I will give you a chance?
Pei Mingyan responded repeatedly: "Okay, okay."

Mei Shuyu finally breathed a sigh of relief and raised her eyebrows, "Why did he suddenly act like that just now?"
Pei Mingyan coughed twice and said seriously, "He was careless and drank the wrong thing."

"Drank the wrong way?"

"Yeah, it's the enhanced version of peach blossom tea~" Pei Mingyan blinked his left eye at him.

Mei Shuyu was stunned for a moment. Big brother still gave Shang Nanyi a chance.
At the same time, he thought of the aftereffects of the tea and couldn't help laughing.

Pei Mingyan took out a new teapot and teacup, "Try it, this year's new tea."

Mei Shuyu took the tea, and took a small sip of it as the tea smoke curled up. He glanced at Pei Mingyan, as if he had something else to say.

Pei Mingyan glanced at his hand holding the teacup and said jokingly, "If you keep rubbing it, this jade porcelain teacup will become thinner."

Mei Shuyu hurriedly put the teacup on the table and said, "Yes, I'm sorry, brother. I... I'm fine."

Pei Mingyan pulled at Mei Shuyu's sleeve and poured more tea for her. "You want to ask about the nanny, right?"

"Brother! How did you know?!"

Pei Mingyan put down the teapot and took out a box from somewhere. If Shang Nanyi were here, he would immediately recognize that this box was the mahogany box where the letters between Elder Niu and Mei Xucheng were kept.

Mei Shuyu: "Brother, what is this?"

Pei Mingyan sighed and pushed the box forward. "You'll understand once you open it."

Mei Shuyu instantly had a bad feeling, "This..."
He stretched out his hand and touched the mahogany box. The layers of magic had no effect on him, but when someone touched it, ripples still appeared on the box, making it look more exquisite and precious.

He exerted force on his hands and the mahogany box stopped.

Pei Mingyan looked at him. He pushed the box back and said with courage, "Brother, you should tell me."

Pei Mingyan stopped Mei Shuyu from pushing him and said, "I'll tell you what's going on. You can keep the thing as a souvenir." After saying that, he knocked on the box with his fingertips. The box, which seemed indestructible and protected by layers of protection, had a hole on the top and one side. Pei Mingyan pulled out a black rope from somewhere, picked up the mahogany box, passed the rope through the two holes, and hung the box up.
The red wooden box was gathered by the formation at that moment, shrinking into a small red wooden block. Pei Mingyan stood up and put the roughly made necklace around Mei Shuyu's neck.
"Okay." He said, straightening Mei Shuyu's collar.
.
Mei Shuyu stood in the corridor, holding the handrail with one hand and touching the neck hollow where the two clavicles met on her clothes with the other hand. There happened to be a small depression there, and now a small wooden block was stuck on it.
He stroked the small piece of wood through his clothes, and the conversation between his brother and him echoed in his mind.

"Inside the box is a letter from your nurse."
"Sent from the nanny?!"

"Yes. But these letters...are problematic."
"……what?"

"These letters are sent to the Mei family once a year."
"One letter every...every year! Does that mean that Nanny has never given up on me?"

"Yes, your nanny loves you very much."
"Then why have I...never...received it?"

"Because the handwriting on the envelopes can be identified, these letters were completed in the same year. In the first year, my father was very happy but also worried that this would make you homeless again, so he quietly kept it a secret. In the second year, he received the letter again, and when he was about to give it to you, he suddenly realized..."

Mei Shuyu noticed someone coming and immediately collected his wandering thoughts. When he looked up, he saw the man in black who had just left in a hurry standing in front of the door, about to push it open and enter.

The man suddenly turned around and looked at him, his eyes paused on his neck, and then looked away.
The man pushed the door open and said, "Mr. Mei really cares about you."

Mei Shuyu's brows furrowed, and he was about to lose his temper when he saw the man push the door open. When he closed the door, his eyes still swept across his neck.
Mei Shuyu seemed to notice something, he moved his hand away, pulled the clothes around his neck a little, pulled the black rope and was about to take out the wood to see what was so strange about it, when he suddenly realized that the touch under his hand was a little strange.

He pulled out the necklace and looked down at the black string that he had thought was just an ordinary string.
That's not a black rope, that's... Big Brother's hair.
The indestructible hair that has been tempered by the heavenly calamity is priceless.

Mei Shuyu looked up at the door that did not block his sight and remained silent for a long time.

inside the house.
Shang Nanyi pulled out a stool and sat down, then said to Pei Mingyan, "Now that the young master has finished playing, can we get down to business?"

Pei Mingyan smiled and said, "I'm not kidding. That tea has a special meaning in the Mei family. Every disciple who joins the Mei family must drink it. After drinking it, all past memories will be cut off. No matter what mistakes you have made or what wrong paths you have taken, the Mei family will no longer care. That's why this tea is also called "breaking thoughts".
Let go of the thought, let go of the thought. Since you have let go of the thought, there must be a process. So when you first drink it, there will be some "pain" that is not convenient to bring up on the table. Take it as a farewell to the past. Since you have drunk the tea and come back, from now on, we are fellow travelers. "

Shang Nanyi rubbed his stomach and asked, "Why didn't Master Mei tell you earlier?"

"If you don't come back after drinking, then we can do our own things and won't affect each other. Anyway, the purpose is the same." Pei Mingyan glanced at him, "If you come back, we won't care what immoral things you did, and we will have a happy cooperation. Anyway, I won't lose anything, so it doesn't matter whether I tell you or not. Besides, this is to see if Young Master Shang is willing to take responsibility for his crimes."

"Master Mei knows?"

"More or less. In the end, the whole fishing village was annihilated, Xiao Kong was left homeless, Mei Xucheng and Jiang Yuansheng disappeared, and Jiang Yuanse was afraid to act rashly. The 'tsunami' is your final secret, which is - the Way of Heaven."

(End of this chapter)