“Yueni!” Third Grandaunt held her in her arms.

“Please don’t be angry with all your uncles and me, especially your First Uncle. Now I realized his good intention.”

“Mother, what are you talking about?”

“My child, listen to me. From now onward, your life doesn’t belong to you anymore. Your body is sustained by our clansmen’s lives and expectations. You’re the hope of the Shen Family and the key to the continuation of our existence. The elderlies are hoping that you will lead the Shen Family to walk out of the village and be prosperous once again.”

“Mother, you think I can do it?” Shen Xingyue asked nervously.

“I, your late First Uncle and the uncles here affirmed that you could do it. With our support, surely you can accomplish it!”

“Yes!” Zihe Taoist said immediately, “I think you can do it, too. Yueni, please don’t worry. I’ll protect you and support you even if I have to die!”

Everyone in the house agreed with what he said. Even Fifth Aunty and Seventh Uncle got up and pledged to assist and protect Shen Xingyue.

Third Grandaunt stroked her daughter’s hair and said earnestly, “I understand you pity them. But you got to understand this truth. Everyone has their own responsibility. Our responsibility is to protect you by all means, while your responsibility is to lead the family to move on. Don’t let their sacrifice go in vain. Remember this. Your life doesn’t belong to you anymore but to the family!”

Shen Xingyue’s eyes misted over and she nodded assertively.

Yang Zihe was afraid that she would be stressed out over it. So he asked Third Grandaunt immediately, “Darling, how are the two who gave their lifespans to her?”

Third Auntie’s face darkened and she said softly, “Sixth Brother’s grandson is alright. But Ninth Brother’s son has passed away.”

Everyone in the house sighed deeply while Yang Zihe spoke to Shen Xingyue, “Girl, go and kowtow to your Ninth Uncle now!”

Immediately, she went to Ninth Uncle and respectfully kowtowed to him three times. After that, Ninth Uncle helped her up and said in a choked voice, “Shang was smiling when he passed away. He was very proud of himself even when he was about to die. Yueni, listen to me. Don’t let him die in vain. And don’t give up easily. The Shen Family’s hope is all on you!”

He patted her shoulder after saying that.

“Sixth Brother!” Yang Zihe said, “I have never had a disciple before. What do you think if I take your grandson as my disciple?”

“He will be greatly blessed by you, my brother-in-law. You have my blessing!”

“And Shen Hong too. Ninth Brother, let her follow me from today onward!” Third Grandaunt said.

“Alright. I’ll listen to you then!” Ninth Uncle cried while answering her.

Now that Shen Xingyue had known about the situation, the elderlies started telling her about the main topic that they wanted her to know. They began to introduce to her the family history. She had not heard about many of the incidents that they mentioned. She was astonished and then realized that their family was not ordinary and had many secrets.

Subsequently, she became anxious and worried that she was not good enough to take up this heavy responsibility. Yang Zihe and Third Grandaunt noticed her worries and kept assuring her not to worry since the seniors supported her and the clansmen adored her.

Fourth Uncle smiled and said, “Yueni, don’t be afraid. If you feel you can’t do it yourself, don’t you have Li Mu with you? I have read his face. He’s a reliable man. You need not worry if he is there with you leading the family.”

Li Mu would for sure cry out loud if he was to listen to what he said. Not because he was moved by it, but frightened.

The Lin Family had already planned to let him take up this heavy responsibility and there came another Shen family. What did they want to do with him? Both families expected so much from him without considering whether he could manage the stress or not!

Shen Xingyue looked a little bashful when Li Mu’s name was mentioned. She spoke softly, “Mother, I’ll decide who I want to marry!”

“Of course. Our family never interferes with the marriages of our children. I’ll support you if you want to marry him. But why did the brat run away?”

“Who is that? Is he Yueni’s boyfriend?” Fifth Aunty asked curiously.

“He is my fiance!” Shen Xingyue corrected her in a solemn tone, “He has proposed to me and I agreed to it. He is my fiance and the uncles are my witnesses!”

“What she said is true. The brat proposed to Yueni in front of all of us. We’ve approved the proposal. However, no one expected him to run away quietly. And we’re not sure what happened and the reason for him to run away.” Senior Village Chief immediately echoed her view.

“If that’s the case, they are engaged then!” Yang Zihe asked.

“Brother-in-law, the village has been preparing for the wedding and wants to marry them once Yueni has completed the ritual. Who would expect him to run away and brought with him Third Sister’s two disciples?” Fourth Uncle added.

“This bastard! I won’t let him go once I get hold of him!” Yang Zihe said in an angry tone.

“Father, please do not be panicked. Li Mu is not a heartless man. I’m sure he has his reason to run away. Mother, did Zixing and Ming’er know about this incident of me increasing my lifespan?”

Third Grandaunt flushed and embarrassedly said, “Yeah, they did. After receiving the news about your situation, I was very anxious and sad. I told them everything when they asked me what had happened.”

“Ah!” Senior Village Chief asked anxiously, “You told them everything?”

“Yeah. Everything!”

“My silly sister, this is bad. You didn’t know well enough your precious disciples, did you? They don’t know much about the world and are innocent. You might as well tell Li Mu the whole situation yourself if you were to tell them.”

“Really?” Third Grandaunt was dumbfounded, “Do you think they told him everything?”

“Of course. Otherwise, why would he run away? The brat might have fooled them and made them listen to him. That’s why they ran away with him!”

Shen Xingyue cried aggrievedly, “Mother!”

Third Grandaunt felt sorry for her and did not expect Li Mu to be frightened and run away with his disciples because of a slip of the tongue.

“If that’s the case, he ran away out of fear!” Fourth Uncle murmured, “Things get more complicated then. Li Mu might think that we’re evil and devilish. It may be difficult to get him back to you, Yueni!”

“Not really. Since Li Mu has proposed to me, he has to be responsible for it. Father, Mother, and all the elderlies, please don’t worry about this. I’ll have my way to change his mind.”

“Yes, you have my back. Since Li Mu proposed to my daughter, he has to be responsible for it. Unless my daughter does not want him anymore, he would have to be responsible for you until the end of his life!”

“Mother, do you have any way to trace their whereabouts?”

Third Grandaunt said reluctantly, “There is a way. But it’s not a very good one. I can’t do it for you!”

“What is it?” Shen Xingyue asked hurriedly.

“Zixing and Ming’er are both from the Shen Family. We’ll be able to track them down by performing a ritual with either their parents’ belongings, hair, flesh, or bones!”

“That’s a good idea. Let’s try to track the girls down!” Shen Xingyue said happily.

Third Grandaunt hesitated and refused to agree. Shen Xingyue was clueless about her reaction. Finally, the Senior Village Chief explained to her, “Yueni, they are orphans. Their parents had passed away. Your mother can’t bear to disturb them. That’s why she refused to do it for you!”

Shen Xingyue came to her realization at once. Her mother felt bad digging the graves of her disciples’ parents. Therefore, they could not use this method.

‘What should we do now then?’ Miss Shen racked her brain to think about it. She did not listen to whatever others said after that.

Suddenly, she remembered a person. His fiance must have lost all his support after his escape this time. Would he take the initiative to contact her?

…

He Xiaoyu was on a comfortable hospital bed while looking at the ceiling and contemplating her life. The operation went very well and she had successfully changed twelve pairs of the Bone of Death. Mrs. Hong took care of her by her side and monitored her condition throughout the operation.

Compared with Li Mu’s experience, the Lin Family’s bone replacement technique was much advanced than the girls. He Xiaoyu did not experience the process of regenerating her muscles. It was a pure bone replacement process without sacrificing any of her flesh.

The bone replacement technique of the Lin Family was like a surgical operation. On the contrary, the bone replacement technique of the Shen sisters was like a butcher slaughtering the animals.

When He Xiaoyu was resting, Lin Wan opened the door and went in. Mrs. Hong got up and smiled. “You’re pregnant now. You shouldn’t come over here.”

“It’s alright. My baby is not that pampered!” Lin Wan smiled.

Then, she turned to He Xiaoyu and asked, “How are you feeling now? Does the wound still hurt?”

“I feel much better today. It doesn’t hurt as much as it did a few days ago. It’s getting itchy now and it’s getting itchier!” He Xiaoyu answered.

“It’s a good sign, meaning your wound heals very quickly. Your physical fitness is good. I guess you can get down from the bed in two days instead of a month!”

“Thank you so much, Lin Wan!” He Xiaoyu said sincerely.

“We’re sisters. Don’t mention that!” Lin Wan said casually, “By the way, you have strong mental power. I think you don’t have to worry about being overruled by the fatal energy. You can rest like a normal person so that you can recover from your injury as fast as possible.”

“Okay. I got it. Do you have any news about him?” He Xiaoyu could not help but ask.

Lin Wan sighed and looked worried, “Not really. No one has ever found them near the border. Nobody knows where they are hiding right now.”

“Let’s go to the border once I can get down from the bed.” He Xiaoyu suggested.

“Sure. We’ll travel there once you can get up from the bed!”

He Xiaoyu’s phone rang when Lin Wan finished talking. Mrs. Hong took up the phone and took a glance at it. Subsequently, she passed it to He Xiaoyu, “Do you want to answer it?”

He Xiaoyu glanced at the phone number, which was an unknown number. Subsequently, she shook her head and said, “I don’t know this number. Help me decline it!”

Mrs. Hong pressed the decline button and put the phone back. After a while, the phone rang again and it was from the same number.

“It must be from the same person. Why don’t you answer it?”

“Alright. Mrs. Hong, please help me press the loudspeaker icon!”

Lin Wan and Mrs. Hong knew that He Xiaoyu was trying to keep her rapport with them and did not want to create any misunderstanding.

Mrs. Hong answered the call and pressed the loudspeaker icon.

“Hello, who’s speaking?” He Xiaoyu asked politely.

There was silence for a while, and then they heard a woman’s voice saying, “Hi, are you Xiaoyu? I’m Shen Xingyue!”