The Prodigal Son

Nan Que'er did not rush to kill Sang Po to comfort the spirits of her parents and clansmen in heaven.

Led by Nan Que'er, Qin Yu and Xu Wan passed through a cluster of broken walls and ruins.

After Fan Bing led his men to slaughter their people, he then ordered a large fire to be set.

They could only watch helplessly as their homeland turned to ashes.

It was only after their desperate pleas that Fan Bingcai agreed to give them some time to bury their slaughtered clansmen.

This used to be our mill.

"That's my home."

"The highest point there is our ancestral hall..."

Nan Que'er led them forward, telling them about the situation of the tribe's territory as if she knew it like the back of her hand.

She knew every inch of this land very well.

But it feels very unfamiliar.

She tried hard to force a smile, but her eyes were red and swollen.

Seeing her like this, Qin Yu felt a little heavy-hearted and comforted her, saying, "The deceased are gone, and the living must live well."

"I know."

Nan Que'er nodded gently, "I was just feeling a bit sentimental about what I saw..."

Qin Yu nodded slightly and said no more.

They continued on their way until they finally arrived at the ancestral hall.

It's called an ancestral hall, but it's actually just a cave.

According to Nan Que'er, this place is where their ancestral shrines are enshrined.

When their ancestors first fled here, they discovered this cave and then carved a stone shrine as their ancestral tablet, which they have kept here ever since.

It was because their ancestral hall was located in a cave that they were spared from the fire.

Led by Nan Que'er, the group entered the cave.

The cave is not deep, but the space is still quite large. The first thing that catches the eye is the dusty stone shrine.

The shrine was small, embedded in the stone wall, and looked rather simple.

In the center of the shrine, there is a line of large characters.

The ancestral tablets of the Feng clan throughout history.

The two sides are inscribed with small characters: "Respect the gods as if they were present, always maintain reverence; worship ancestors and remember your roots."

There are also some murals painted on the cave walls.

"Were your ancestors from the Feng clan?"

Xu Wan glanced sideways at Nan Que'er.

"Um."

Nan Que'er looked at the ancestral tablet and replied, "I heard that we fled here and settled down. To avoid being hunted down again, we changed our surname to Nan."

While the two women were talking, Qin Yu stared at the mural in front of him.

As he looked at it, Qin Yu's eyelids suddenly twitched.

"Um?"

Qin Yu seemed to have discovered something, his eyes fixed on one of the murals.

"What's wrong?"

Xu Wan and Nan Que'er looked over at the same time.

Qin Yu stepped forward and pointed to a round button on the mural he had just looked at, asking Nan Que'er, "What is this?"

The mural is a bit rough, but you can still vaguely see that the round buckle is carved with some creatures that look like fish or snakes.

The body and head are connected, and the tail points to the center of the round buckle!

Nine Dragons Pendant!

The moment Qin Yu saw the round clasp, he thought of the Nine Dragons Pendant that Zhao Luan had told him about.

Although he had never seen the Nine Dragon Pendant, he had a hunch that this might be the image of the Nine Dragon Pendant!

"Nine Dragons Pendant".

Nan Que'er gave a casual reply.

But to Qin Yu and Xu Wan, it was like a thunderclap.

Nine Dragons Pendant!

Qin Yu's breathing suddenly became rapid.

It really is a Nine Dragons Pendant!

Xu Wan's face was also filled with surprise, as if she couldn't believe her ears.

The Nine Dragons Pendant of Bei Qi actually appeared in the murals of Nan Que'er's clan?

One is in the north, and the other is in the south!

They are separated by thousands of miles!

Suddenly, Qin Yu remembered the legends about their tribe that Nan Que'er had told him.

The Nine Dragons Pendant did not belong to Bei Qi at all, but was something that belonged to Nan Que'er and her ancestors.

Or is it something called "divine"?

Could the great secret hidden in the Nine Dragons Pendant be related to the "Gods"?

"What's wrong with you?"

Nan Que'er looked at Qin Yu and Xu Wan, who seemed inexplicably shocked, with a puzzled expression. "You two also know about the Nine Dragon Pendant?"

I've heard of it, but I don't know much about it.

Qin Yu snapped out of his daze, suppressing his excitement as he asked, "Did your parents tell you about the Nine Dragon Pendant?"

"I only said one thing."

Nan Que'er looked at him suspiciously, then pointed to the mural in front of her and said, "Back then, our ancestors were besieged by many powerful figures. In order to avoid being wiped out, our people fled in two groups. On the eve of their escape, the dying clan chief divided the Nine Dragon Pendant in two and gave it to his two children..."

The leader of their branch was the clan chief's daughter.

In the end, the leader led his group on a long and winding journey to the southern border, where they found a hiding place in Yanshan.

This mural depicts the scene of their ancestors separating and fleeing.

As for the rest, she didn't know.

Hearing Nan Que'er's words, Qin Yu and Xu Wan's breathing became rapid again.

In two halves!

It matches up!

The Nine Dragons Pendant was not Murong Dapan's personal accessory at all!

The secret of the Nine Dragon Pendant must be related to Nan Que'er and her ancestors!

Xu Wan glanced at the mural and hurriedly asked, "Then where did the other half of the Nine Dragons Pendant that your ancestor possessed go?"

"have no idea."

Nan Que'er gently shook her head. "Even my mother has never seen that half of the Nine Dragons Pendant. What I just told you was what my mother told me when I asked her about it when I was a child and saw the mural."

Is that so?

Could it be that their ancestor lost the half of the Nine Dragons Pendant?

Now, one piece is in the hands of Bei Qi, and the other is in the hands of Da Ning.

Or perhaps, the half of the Nine Dragons Pendant is in Nan Que'er's hands, but Nan Que'er doesn't trust him and is deliberately saying she doesn't know.

Filled with doubt, Qin Yu began to examine the contents of the other murals.

Some of the murals are relatively easy to understand; they depict the scenes of their ancestors fleeing and migrating until they settled here.

However, some of the murals are rather abstract.

Qin Yu stared at it for a long time, but still didn't quite understand it.

"Judging from your expression, you seem quite interested in the Nine Dragon Pendant?"

Nan Que'er looked at Qin Yu with suspicion.

"I am indeed somewhat interested."

Qin Yu nodded slightly. "I've heard that the Nine Dragons Pendant holds a huge secret, and I want to know what that secret is."

"secret?"

Nan Que'er frowned. "I had no idea what secrets the Nine Dragon Pendant held, how did you know?"

"I only heard it from someone else! As for what the secret is, I don't know."

Qin Yu answered casually, but his eyes kept wandering over the murals, trying to find clues.

Nan Que'er glanced at him, said nothing more, and had someone bring incense, candles, and paper money to begin worshipping her ancestors.

Qin Yu stared at the mural for a while but couldn't figure it out. He could only suppress his curiosity for the time being and join Nan Que'er and the others in the worship.

After completing the ritual, Qin Yu turned to Nan Que'er and asked, "You don't mind if I stay here a little longer, do you?"

"There's nothing to mind."

Nan Que'er looked somber. "Anyway, I'm going to take this shrine with me."

"what?"

Qin Yu was surprised. "Is this really necessary?"

"have!"

Nan Que'er nodded emphatically, her face resolute: "Our houses were all burned down, and the ancestral tablets that each family worshipped were also burned down. This may be the only thing I can take with me..."

"Whatever you want!"

Qin Yu was helpless.

Also!

Their ancestral lands were devastated.

Now they are leaving, and it is very likely they will never return in this lifetime.

The ancestral shrines may also be a spiritual refuge for them and their descendants!

Nan Que'er brought these strong clansmen with her just to take away the ancestral divine position, right?

Nan Que'er held incense and bowed to the shrine again before solemnly calling out to the clansmen, "Please invite the ancestral tablets!"

"Please invite the ancestral tablets!"

The group shouted in unison, their faces full of piety, and slowly lifted the shrine, which weighed over a hundred pounds, down.

As the shrine was carried away, a member of the tribe suddenly shouted, "Holy Maiden, there's something down there!"