Luo Yuan was somewhat frightened by the future that black cat showed her, and she did not dare to leave the shenkan easily. She always felt that once she left, someone would take advantage of Er-ge’s current poor condition to cut him open, to destroy him.
After going through her younger sister’s death, experiencing prison life and a murder case, and encountering a series of things herself, she had unconsciously changed a lot.
For example, she never expected that after killing Qin Zhi, she would be so calm. The corpse was buried right in the yard, but she felt nothing at all. There were people in the old house searching for the missing Qin Zhi, but she had never opened her mouth, coldly watching them search. As for worried and sad Minghui, at least she didn’t need to know that the boy she once liked was using her.
Quietly using Clan Deity Madam’s authority to check some information, Luo Yuan held a video meeting in the corridor outside the shenkan. Participating were Qin clan elders and many of the Qin clan’s powerful figures.
Luo Yuan opened the video exactly on time, and almost immediately, everyone entered the video conference. It was obvious they had been waiting, including those very elderly people who usually did not like using cell phones or such modern technology. All of them sat upright before their cameras. There were even several people with young attendants behind them, responsible for teaching them how to use it.
“Grandpa, the camera is here, look here.”
“I know, I know, no need to teach me, move aside a bit.”
She did not know how many people had been unable to sleep well last night after the notification of the video conference was sent out. Seeing that everyone had arrived, Luo Yuan smiled and greeted them, then directly spoke of the main purpose for calling this meeting.
“If inside the Qin family, there is someone who feels that the current family brings more restraints than assistance to themselves, then they can choose to change their surname and leave the Qin clan.” Luo Yuan said such a simple sentence, yet it made everyone shocked and stunned, unable to come back to their senses for a long time.
Leave the family? Change their surname? They had never heard of such a thing. The origin of Clan Deity could be traced back thousands of years. Back then, people were proud to have the protection of a Clan Deity. Until now, these elders had never thought about leaving the family — it was simply unimaginable for them.
Moreover, as the only family now that still possessed a strong Clan Deity, they had a natural sense of superiority, as well as an unspoken pressure. If the family declined, it would affect the Clan Deity, and if the Clan Deity weakened, it would in turn affect the family. They would only rack their brains to expand the family, and would absolutely never hope for anyone to leave the family.
“No!” Finally someone reacted and answered in a firm and powerful voice.
Even though they respected Clan Deity Madam, hearing her say such words was still something they could not easily accept. With someone daring to speak out as a representative, the video conference almost instantly turned into a vegetable market full of arguing voices.
“How could Madam suddenly bring up this matter? This kind of big issue is not something that can be decided on a whim. It concerns the rise and fall of the family, of course we must be more cautious.” This was the more reserved way of speaking.
“This absolutely cannot be allowed. Leaving the family, isn’t that harming the family’s interests?” This was the blunt way of speaking.
“How could anyone be willing to leave the family? What a joke.” This was the voice of disbelief.
The elderly people were all discussing with stubborn and disapproving faces. If not for Luo Yuan’s identity, most of them would already be leaping up to slam the table and shout.
However, the younger people behind them didn’t care that much. Some even muttered, “What’s so bad about it, just let everyone choose freely, what era are we in now, what’s wrong with a little change?”
And they were immediately scolded by the old men.
Luo Yuan looked at the camera, the smile on her face slowly disappearing. After she became Clan Deity Madam, her appearance did not change much, but that non-human aura on her grew closer and closer to the Clan Deity. When she sat motionless before the camera, expressionless, with those jet-black eyes staring at them, everyone felt a strange pressure. They unconsciously lowered their voices, and finally fell completely silent.
“Those who feel that the Clan Deity can no longer bring them protection, who feel that the family cannot bring them benefits, who feel restrained by the family and thus harbor dissatisfaction — they exist, and exist in every corner of this clan.” Luo Yuan lifted her hand, pointing at the camera, “They exist in the corners you cannot see.”
Everyone felt as if she was pointing at them, inevitably feeling somewhat uncomfortable in their hearts. To them, the Clan Deity was high above, but to the rest of the family, they were also high above. Yet the Clan Deity lowered himself and watched all the people below, while they mostly would not.
Luo Yuan no longer had the gentle patience she once showed them. It was as if a dark fire burned within her eyes. The finger that had been pointing at them slowly lowered. “I know you are dissatisfied with this matter. Even if I demand it, you will obey in appearance but oppose in secret. With just some small means, you can make people too afraid to leave the family.”
“But it doesn’t matter.” Luo Yuan revealed a smile again. “Because all of you will die eventually, and I will not. What I want to do, you cannot stop. If this problem is not resolved now, when all of you die and I find the problem has become even more serious, I will only use more drastic methods to solve it.”
A group of elders were rendered speechless by her, their faces flushing red and white. A somewhat younger middle-aged man frowned and asked, “May I ask, Madam, why did you suddenly make such a decision?”
Luo Yuan: “For the sake of the Clan Deity.”
No one asked whether this was truly the will of the Clan Deity. It seemed everyone simply assumed the Clan Deity could not possibly agree — that this was merely a whim of Clan Deity Madam.
An old master finally recovered, waving away the granddaughter who was supporting him, and said, “Madam, the Clan Deity will not agree to this. He would never want to see our clan’s descendants scattered! Forgive us, but we cannot follow your order!”
Luo Yuan’s tone was stubborn: “This is not an opinion. It is a notification. I demand that you do this.”
Angered by her attitude, the old master slammed his hands on the armrest of the grand chair and stood up, his tone a bit sharp. “Madam is young, perhaps you do not understand what consequences befell those who once wished to leave the clan! It is not only that we are unwilling, the Clan Deity would be even more unwilling!”
Luo Yuan: “You mean the matter more than two hundred years ago?”
This was a matter rarely mentioned even inside the Qin clan. If not enraged, the old master would not have spoken without restraint. The moment the words left his mouth, many faces in the video became even uglier. Especially when Luo Yuan calmly brought it up directly, everyone’s attitude turned evasive. Their gazes dodged, and the fear in many eyes could not be concealed.
Luo Yuan fell silent for a moment. “You all say those four hundred people were devoured by the Clan Deity because they wished to leave the clan, but I do not think it was like that.”
She had not been here long, and had only seen a few interactions between Qin clan members and the Clan Deity. She often felt that the Clan Deity indeed had an obsession toward the clan — he spoiled these “children” far too much. Whatever they wanted him to be, he would be. But if he would devour someone just because they wanted to leave the clan, she did not believe it.
From the very beginning, she could sense the Clan Deity’s moods and preferences. What he was interested in, what he wanted — she could mostly guess. Not because she had some special ability, but because she had always watched the Clan Deity closely, treating him as an ordinary person to observe and understand.
Her Er-ge was a very pure existence, possessing both the sincerity of youth and the tolerance of someone older.
“He is your Clan Deity, and also mine.” Luo Yuan picked up the camera and stood up, walking into the shentan. “Since that is the case, then let us directly ask the Clan Deity.”
Those who originally wanted to speak all shut their mouths when they saw this. Most looked at the eerie red cocoon with fear in their eyes.
Setting the camera aside, Luo Yuan knelt before the divine platform and took out the pair of jiao cups.
The elders in the video also held their breath as they watched. The shenkan was extremely quiet, only Luo Yuan’s voice could be heard. She said: “I hope the Clan Deity will allow Qin clan members to leave the family and change their surname according to their own will.”
The two red jiao cups were thrown from her hands, spinning as they fell to the ground.
“Pa.”
When Luo Yuan threw the cups, she wasn’t certain whether Er-ge would agree, but… she looked at the one upright and one inverted jiao cup in front of her and showed a smile.
“The Clan Deity says: permitted.”
A clear, unmistakable xiao jiao — the Clan Deity agreed. So simple, so easy. It made their earlier arguing and persistence seem somewhat ridiculous. This result was clearly far beyond the elders’ expectations. Someone even exclaimed: “Impossible!”
Luo Yuan did not pick up the two jiao cups. She let the camera capture them for a while. She herself leaned over to the red cocoon outside the camera’s view and lightly kissed it, softly whispering: “Thank you, Er-ge.”
“So, does anyone still have objections?” she returned to sit before the camera and asked.
“If… there really are many people who want to leave the Qin clan, what should we do?” Someone couldn’t help asking.
Luo Yuan: “Then let them go.”
She did not have that deeply ingrained concept of clan honor and disgrace, nor that strong desire to control power like the elders of the Qin clan. Everything she did was only for the one she loved, so she could be so clean and decisive.
After this matter was implemented, it indeed caused a huge uproar. Almost everyone within the Qin clan was discussing it.
But after some time passed, far fewer people left the Qin clan than Luo Yuan had imagined.
“I’d have to be stupid to leave the Qin clan. All of Yuzhou is the Qin clan’s territory. With such a big tree to lean against, who would leave for no reason?”
“Although some of the clan rules are indeed troublesome sometimes, there are many benefits too. The children in our family receive subsidies for school, and the outstanding ones can even be directly assigned jobs.”
“What are those people up there planning now? Could it be that they think we are useless to the clan and want to kick us out, so they can get more benefits for themselves?” The one speaking was one of the young people shown in the black cat’s vision of the future, someone who followed Qin Zhi in crazily smashing the divine statue.
She had thought their madness came from dissatisfaction with the clan’s restraints and restrictions. Only now did she understand that was not the case. They were simply angry that the ones in power were not them.
Most people didn’t care about so-called restraints. Benefits were what truly drove these Qin family members to follow Qin Zhi and destroy the Clan Deity — Qin Zhi showed them enormous returns.
Without someone to lead, these people were nothing but scattered sand. Only when driven by the same interests would they turn into a flood.
However, these were all just the most ordinary people.
Because Luo Yuan, who had once felt disgust toward them because of that future, understood this point now, she ultimately did nothing to those she had identified.
Qin Zhi was dead. This matter was already over.
She returned to the shenkan, her mood inexplicably low. By chance, she lifted her head and saw a white figure drifting beside the camellia bushes in the courtyard. Like a moon radiating a hazy glow, shining in front of the flowers.
This time, his cocooning had taken nearly a full three months.
Luo Yuan missed him so terribly. She did not even know how she ran over. When she regained her senses, her whole body was already buried in that faintly fragrant embrace. She clutched his hair, tightening her arms around his waist.
She recalled the things she had done during this time, raised her head, “Er-ge, I failed to do so many things well.”
The Clan Deity, smiling, gazed at her frustrated face, and kissed her on the forehead. Luo Yuan closed her eyes, feeling the flowing hair envelop her, and the anxiety and anger in her heart were all dispelled by this gentle comfort.
“An is still just a child.”
Luo Yuan: “…Er-ge, don’t say that again, or you are committing a crime.”
The Clan Deity followed obediently, “Alright, I won’t say it.”
But his eyes clearly still meant the same thing.
Luo Yuan gripped his clothes and hair tightly, unwilling to let go. “Saying I’m like a child… are you saying my methods were childish? I had no experience before, and I was too anxious…”
Clan Deity: “No, I mean it in the sense of being cute.”
Looking at his smile, Luo Yuan realized that he truly didn’t take this matter to heart. A question slipped from her lips: “Er-ge, two hundred years ago, what exactly happened? Can you tell me?”
The Qin clan was extremely secretive about this matter. In the past, Qi Ji had told her some vague things, and Qin Zhi firmly believed that the Clan Deity was no different from a demon. But she believed none of their words. She only believed what the one she loved said.
The Clan Deity was being tightly held by her, smiling as he caressed her hair. Suddenly, he became a little mischievous again. “Use the jiao cups to ask whether I can say it.”
Luo Yuan: “.…” You’re clearly awake, why do we still need the jiao cups? But seeing Er-ge like this, the tension in her heart unknowingly relaxed.
She actually took out the pair of jiao cups, and threw them in front of the Clan Deity.
As expected, it was one upright and one inverted — a xiao jiao.
Receiving her look of signal, the Clan Deity smiled, and complied, saying: “A very, very long time ago…”
