The more you believe me, the more true I am. Chapter 020

Character name suggestions: (Qian Youcai), (Du Yuan), (Qian Shouye)

Shocking? Ashamed and indignant?

At this moment, Qian Youcai felt countless thoughts wildly flashing through his mind, but none of them seemed quite right.

It wasn’t until the men behind him finally let out cries of fear that he snapped back to reality.

Qian Youcai, who had been staring intently at Du Yuan since she approached with the lantern, instinctively turned his head to look behind him.

It would have been better if he hadn’t turned around; now, what was merely jelly legs had turned into him practically wetting his pants.

Because at first, he still thought that this was, after all, his Qian family’s ancestor, and he was, by all accounts, a legitimate descendant of the Qian family.

Surely, the ancestor wouldn’t harm him.

But now, he clearly saw a dozen or so men behind him, with the courtyard gate not far ahead.

Yet, they were scurrying around like headless chickens in a small circle in front of him.

They repeatedly brushed past each other, completely unaware!

“Ghost Wall,” Qian Youcai recognized it at a glance; it was the “Ghost Wall” he had just heard about.

And with the “Ghost Wall” appearing, didn’t that mean the ancestor was truly furious and had no intention of letting them go?

At this thought, Qian Youcai shivered and grabbed Du Yuan’s pant leg, shouting:

“Daoist Priest, I was truly blind earlier. I beg the Daoist Priest not to hold a grudge and save my life.”

“If I am saved, I will repay the Daoist Priest a hundredfold! Gold, silver, jewels, land deeds, whatever you ask for!”

The martial artists Qian Youcai brought with him also gave up on lighting their torches and instead knelt on the ground with Qian Youcai, pleading:

“Daoist Priest, save us!”

“I have old parents above and young children below; I beg the Daoist Priest to show mercy!”

…

They were the Qian family’s specialized guards, trained in martial arts and physical conditioning since childhood. Even though there were only a few of them and they lacked armor and crossbows,

If they were to truly face opponents, let alone an equal number of people, they would be completely fearless even against twenty or thirty bandits.

This was Qian Youcai’s biggest reliance on this trip. As a prominent family ranked even in the state capital, he had full confidence in the guards his family had trained since childhood.

But now, it was truly impossible. They were formidable against people, but the problem was that they were now facing ghosts with no shadows!

And these were even the Qian family’s ancestors.

Du Yuan smiled and asked again:

“So, Young Master Qian, do you believe now?”

Qian Youcai nodded frantically:

“Believe, believe, believe! I believe it! Daoist Priest, Daoist Priest, please think of a way to save me!”

Qian Youcai felt this was probably the fastest he had ever nodded in his life, as fast as mashing garlic!

But Du Yuan moved the lantern away and, in Qian Youcai’s horrified gaze, said:

“Since you believe, then go in!”

“Good, good, good, I’ll go in… Eh?! Daoist Priest?!”

Qian Youcai was greatly alarmed. Let me go in?!

Isn’t that like a lamb entering a tiger’s mouth?

Du Yuan didn’t answer him, but merely took a candle from the lantern, lit a torch, and handed it to a martial artist nearby.

Upon seeing the torch, the man immediately clutched it like a life-saving straw, not daring to let go in the slightest, and even wished he could press his whole body against it.

And the martial artists nearby quickly crowded towards him.

“Let me get closer!”

“Me too, me too.”

…

Looking at the martial artists huddled together like quails, Du Yuan chuckled:

“No need to be so afraid. You… never mind, all of you, go over with torches and wake those people up.”

“Running around so wildly, they’ll probably get seriously ill sooner or later.”

They were unwilling to leave Du Yuan’s side, but they dared not disobey Du Yuan’s instructions even more.

So the martial artists quickly held up their torches, huddled together, and walked towards the men who were still running wildly in a small circle.

During this time, a martial artist had a flash of inspiration and wanted to borrow fire to light more torches.

But no matter how he brought the torch close, the fire just wouldn’t spread to the torches they held high.

Du Yuan, behind them, chuckled and said:

“It’s useless. You don’t have my Daoist cultivation!”

The martial artists were greatly alarmed and deeply awed by Du Yuan’s unfathomable nature.

They could only huddle even closer and walk towards those men.

They looked quite comical and very pitiful.

Strangely enough, the men who had just seemed to see nothing and only cared about fleeing wildly, instantly sobered up when illuminated by the torchlight and exclaimed:

“How did you get here?”

Seeing that it really worked, the martial artists couldn’t help but straighten their backs and say:

“We were sent by the Daoist Priest to rescue you!”

“The young Daoist Priest really has power?!”

In the flickering torchlight, the men all turned to Du Yuan, their eyes burning with a reverence hotter than the flames—this seemingly frail young Daoist Priest actually possessed the ability to turn things around!

On Du Yuan’s side, Qian Youcai stammered, looking at the main hall, not daring to enter.

Du Yuan, holding the lantern, asked from the side:

“What, you don’t even dare to pay respects to your Qian family’s ancestors?”

Qian Youcai’s calves were cramping as he said:

“Daoist Priest, I… I’m really scared.”

Du Yuan said, sounding disappointed:

“It’s precisely because of this that your Qian family’s ancestors are unwilling to let you leave.”

“Ah?!”

Qian Youcai was greatly shocked. Du Yuan looked at him and said:

“I ask you, when did your Qian family come to Qing County?”

As a member of a prominent family, family genealogy and lineage were something they had to memorize from childhood.

So Qian Youcai said without hesitation:

“My Qian family settled in Qing County since the generation of my great-grandfather, establishing ourselves through farming and scholarship, guided by benevolence and righteousness, and have continued for twelve generations.”

“Then when did your Qian family leave Qing County?”

“It was in my father’s generation.”

Du Yuan continued to ask leisurely:

“How many years has it been since you left?”

“Um, about thirty or forty years?”

Du Yuan looked down at him and said:

“In all these years, have you ever returned to pay respects to your ancestors?”

Qian Youcai was instantly speechless.

Du Yuan, holding the lantern, walked to the front of the main hall and pointed to the twelve spirit tablets standing in the hall, saying:

“Your Qian family didn’t decline and couldn’t return. In fact, quite the opposite, your Qian family grew larger and more prosperous, with a thriving population. But after so many years, not one of you has returned to pay respects to your ancestors. Tell me, how could your ancestors not lament night after night?”

Du Yuan then looked at him and shook her head, saying:

“It would have been fine up to this point, but the crucial thing is, now that you’ve finally returned, what happened? You not only failed to pay respects to your ancestors, but you also held a banquet here and said that I, this Daoist priest, was just playing tricks. If your ancestors weren’t neglected by you, do you think they wouldn’t be angry?”

Qian Youcai’s throat bobbed as he looked at the three gilded characters “Qian Shouye” on the great-grandfather’s spirit tablet. For a moment, he didn’t know what to say or do.

Finally, Du Yuan said:

“Why don’t you quickly go in and kowtow to your Qian family’s ancestors and apologize?”

Qian Youcai finally came to his senses, quickly struggled to his feet from the ground, and stumbled into the main hall.

He didn’t even bother to go to the spirit tablets, but directly knelt on the ground, continuously kowtowing towards his ancestors’ spirit tablets, saying:

“Ancestors above, this unworthy descendant is unfilial. I beg the ancestors to be magnanimous. In the future, I will definitely tell my father to mend his ways!”

“Please, ancestors, forgive your child this once!”

As Qian Youcai kowtowed, he felt a sharp pain in his back, as if someone had suddenly struck him with a cane.

“Ouch!”

In pain, Qian Youcai instinctively wanted to stand up.

But Du Yuan’s solemn voice came from behind him:

“This is your Qian family’s ancestor punishing you. If you want to gain your ancestor’s forgiveness, you must endure it properly!”