"At that point even though we didn't want to admit it, the chances of our dad becoming the next clan head were very slim. The final nail in the coffin was when the person from the side branch made it to the 71st level.
It has been 20,000 years since anyone made it that far and at that point, he became the third person in the whole history of the Zou clan to make it that far.
By that point, all we could hope for was for our father to concede and make it out alive. As long as he made it out alive, we would still get to remain with the Main branch since the banishment stipulation only takes effect when the competitor dies or ends up with fatal injuries that can never be recovered.
If father forfeited everything would have been okay. But things didn't go as we expected.
Even though it took long, our father managed to reach the 67th level, becoming the sixth person in the whole of the clan's history to reach that far. We thought with such an achievement he would feel okay forfeiting because based on how long it took for him to clear the two levels, it seemed like it was getting harder and harder for him.
He went on to challenge the 68th level and died five minutes later…" Zou Liqin went silent as her gaze became unfocused and cloudy.
"I wonder what he was thinking at the time," she slowly and painfully uttered as tears streamed down her face.
Yang Qing sighed at their story. There was nothing he could do or say to make the loss and confusion they felt make sense or hurt any less. He chose just to be silent. He even felt awkward grabbing the red sweet and sour pork fillet that was calling at him.
"The moment his status showed deceased on the stone tablet, our mother charged into the artifact...
She died on the 48th level. We didn't even get to see their bodies…Because my mother recklessly charged in while the test was still going on, she broke clan rules of the clan head selection with her interference even though our father was dead at that time.
Since she died in there, the punishment fell on us but our grandfather stood up for us and took the punishment upon himself. The top leaders accepted the suggestion though I think it had a little bit to do with the lingering sentiments and respect they had for our father.
Our grandfather got sentenced for 5,000 years. He was to be locked up in one of the forbidden locations of the clan for those years. It's a horrendous place that anyone below the palace realm would die within a week if they were sent there.
We must have done horrible things in our past lives to deserve such an ending. We lost three family members in just a day," Zou Yi had decided to take over with the ending. His voice was still trembling with sorrow and anger as his eyes flashed with confusion.
"Liqin and I got banished from the main branch with a few things to go start over at the other side branches.
However, none of those branches wanted anything to do with us because of optics. To them, It would not look too good in the clan head's eyes if they were seen harboring the children of his competitor. Also with both our parents dead and grandfather locked up, we essentially had no backing to rely on that would make these branches reconsider.
So my sister and I decided to start off someplace new away from the eyes of the Zou clan. Even though the present clan head might not have anything against us but the same can't be said about those trying to curry favor with him or the other countless members that were overshadowed by father and had long grown resentful about it.
There have been cases of exiled members dying under 'mysterious circumstances' before they arrived at the branches.
We got shunned completely both within and outside the clan. The fawning expressions we used to get turned to open hostility and mockery. It's only due to the clan rules, my grandfather, and a few elders who thought favorably about my father that we were not secretly murdered within the clan grounds.
After the burial of our parents, we used every treasure we had on hand to secure safe passage out of the clan's territory.
It's only later that we learned the 'merchant' we happened to stumble onto to help us leave was someone arranged for by my father before the test. He was a failsafe he had arranged in case things didn't go as planned.
Even beyond the grave, he was still looking out for us," Zou Yi said as he smiled with sadness.
"He always worried a lot and liked to over plan things. His arrangement shouldn't have been a surprise," Zou Liqin softly said as she smiled.
"Yes, he was always like that," Zou Yi as he lightly chuckled.
"I miss them,"
"Me too,"
….
Yang Qing decided to give them a few minutes. Based on his interaction with the Zou siblings he expected them to have a tragic tale behind them he didn't expect it to be so tragic to that extent.
The Order couldn't intervene in their matter since everything that just happened was within their clan rules and the Order couldn't interfere with them, it would be overstepping their bounds. Plus he had a feeling the two siblings wouldn't want it either.
"Thank you for trusting me with your past," Yang Qing said as he woke up and gave them a daoist salute, drawing shocked looks from the two siblings. Removing the background that they no longer had now, they were basically body-refining ants compared to Yang Qing's realm. It was unheard of for a palace realm expert to give a daoist salute to those weaker than themselves even when they were close relatives, it was something unimaginable.
This world was a place where hierarchy and how you were treated mostly depended on strength or background and they both had neither.
"You deserve it. Where I'm from it's pretty normal to do so. We don't give cultivation realms much thought but instead do so to the person's spirit. Even if a domain expert was here, if they had a rotten spirit I wouldn't give them a daoist salute.
The salute was for both of you, your parents and grandfather. From what I can tell they seem like really admirable people deserving of my respect. Strength or power has nothing to do with it," Yang Qing gently said as he smiled.
"By the way big brother you didn't tell us where you are from," Zou Liqin suddenly asked with a curious look. Zou Yi seemed curious too as he leaned over the table almost tipping over the table filled with spring rolls luckily Yang Qing swiftly reacted to put the plate back in place but not before snagging one for his troubles.
"Well, my name is Yang Qing and I'm a judge from the Order," Yang Qing said closely monitoring their expressions with a teasing smile.
Zou Yi had his eyes and mouth wide open as Zou Liqin was frozen like a million-year-old block of abyssal ice.
It took a few minutes before they reacted.
"Wait, big brother, you're really from the Order? The same Order, Order, and not some other organization that happens to share the same name?" Zou Yi shockingly asked as his spittle flew everywhere.
A formless barrier formed in front of Yang Qing evaporating all spit that flew his way. Zou Liqin wasn't lucky as she caught some on her hair, face, and even her eye.
"ZOU YI?!!!!!!" she venomously said with a murderous expression which made Zou Yi flinch as he nervously laughed.
"Sorry about that Liqin," Zou Yi said as he awkwardly scratched the back of his head and calmly sat down.
"Yes I'm from the Order," Yang Qing succinctly said as he made his robes change to his official look when he was in the courtroom before swiftly changing them back to the grey robes.
During the transformation, the two siblings had at some point left their seats and sandwiched Yang Qing to the left and right as they admired the robes up close with glittering eyes.
"Cool," Zou Yi said. Luckily this time he was careful enough not to throw spittle everywhere in his excitement though Zou Liqin wasn't in any headspace to notice anything as her eyes were solidly glued to the robes.
"You can touch it if you want," Yang Qing said once he saw her hesitation every time she brought her hands forward.
"It's really soft, softer than even the ones we saw from the clan," Zou Liqin said admiringly.
"Big brother, are you some old monster?" Zou Yi suddenly asked when he remembered Yang Qing's strength. Most palace stage experts even at his clan were old, like his grandfather looked like a 50-year-old man but was infact 1,200 years old.
When he saw Yang Qing up close with his youngish look, questions about his age flashed in his head. As kids, they used to play a guessing game on the age of some of their seniors. It never ended well for them when one of those seniors found out but it was a fun game to play nonetheless.
"Liqin should we?" Zou Yi asked with a competitive spirit.
"We should..the bet?" Zou Liqin said not shrinking back.
"The loser drinks all the remaining ginkgo tea in one go," Zou Yi fearlessly said as he grinned.
"Fine, no making excuses when you lose. The same rules apply. Plus or minus 100," Zou Liqin said.
Yang Qing was surprised to see the shy girl he had been interacting with transforming into a fearless dragon.
"Deal," They both said as they firmly shook hands.
"On the count of three then….One...Two...Three...
700"
"200"
Yang Qing was still puzzled at what they were doing.
"Big brother what's your age?" Zou Yi eagerly asked with a look of victory.
"So that's what is going on. I can't believe you guys think I'm that old," Yang Qing said as he dryly laughed.
"I'm only 23 years old," Yang Qing said as he shook his head.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!!!!!!!!! The two siblings loudly yelled. Luckily the sound barrier was still there so their voices were enclosed within the barrier.
