Chapter 116: Strange Beast

Chu Songjun was silent for a moment: "What is my talent to you?"

Chu Chenghong looked at Jueming and Dalang who had been listening to them carefully. "Aren't you asking even though you already know the answer? Before you, I had never thought that someone could actually control so many evil spirits..."

Hearing the name of evil ghost, Dalang bared his teeth at Chu Chenghong unhappily. Chu Chenghong quickly smiled ingratiatingly: "Not an evil ghost, no."

Chu Chenghong looked a little distant. "Most evil ghosts are tortured before they die and have violent temperaments. But for humans to tame evil ghosts, they need to trust humans. Therefore, there are only a handful of people who can control evil ghosts. And you... you can't hide your talent! I have never seen anyone get along so well with evil ghosts! It's incredible that such a situation can occur! Even my father is not as good as you!"

Chu Songjun and Jueming Dalang looked at each other. They were essentially the same person, the same soul. If they couldn't trust themselves, who could they trust?

Chu Songjun asked: "Is the secret method of the Yuzhang Chu family related to controlling ghosts?"

Chu Chenghong really frowned this time: "That's right, but...brother, you have already worshipped the ancestors, the ancestral hall has been burned down, the ancestors should have blessed you, why are you using such an uncertain tone?"

"There is also an evil spirit driving your uncle, right?" Chu Songjun did not answer, but continued to ask.

Chu Chenghong was stunned. He thought for a moment and replied in a low voice, "Yes, by my father's side. I saw one once. I remember it was an extremely special ghost."

After Chu Chenghong said this, he was silent for a long while, as if he was recalling that extremely special ghost.

"He never told me." Chu Songjun confessed, "I thought I was the odd one out in the family."

Chu Chenghong was speechless for a moment. His expression was filled with confusion and doubt. Finally, he stared at Chu Songjun with his dark eyes and suddenly came up with an idea: "Brother, have you ever thought about asking our father directly? Father, he won't lie to you."

He placed his hands on the chessboard and whispered, "We are a family, with an unbreakable blood bond."

"Blood relationship?"

Chu Songjun repeated it and threw the dice in his hand.

Chu Chenghong's eyes sparkled, and he nodded vigorously at Chu Songjun, the white powder on his face shaking down.

Chu Songjun suddenly understood.

Yes, Chu Chenghong was right, they were a family.

The dice chug and roll on the board.

Will Chu Bingtian tell him?

If he could, why would he hide it from him and mislead him?

There was a gleam in Chu Songjun's eyes.

Chu Bingtian might not, but someone might tell him.

It's very late at night.

The entire Chu Mansion fell into a deep sleep. At some point, Old Madam Chu woke up from her dream. She slowly sat up from the bed. The maid outside the door also fell asleep on the small couch.

It was a little chilly tonight, so she put on a coat, leaned on a cane, and skillfully, using the moonlight, silently walked to a locked house in the yard.

The house seems to have been standing for quite some time, with the bricks and tiles on the walls bearing the marks of time.

Although Mrs. Chu is old, her steps are still vigorous and her body is still strong.

She never liked having too many people serving her, so there were not many people left in the courtyard, and no one noticed her along the way.

The key that Mrs. Chu held tightly in her hand was already warm. She silently inserted the key into the lock and the door opened quietly.

This is a small room with three tablets placed in the middle of the room. There is one tablet in the middle and two tablets on both sides arranged in a fan shape. Three names are neatly carved on the tablets with cinnabar.

Old Mrs. Chu stood at the door, staring blankly at the three tablets in the room, and walked in under the moonlight.

She picked up a tinder from beside the tablet and lit the candles on both sides.

The dim firelight illuminated the names on the tablets.

"who--"

Old Mrs. Chu turned her head with a cold face, threw her cloak up, raised her cane, and shouted sternly.

I saw a young man in a single layer of clothes under the moonlight. His lips had turned pale. He was a little overwhelmed: "Grandma, your grandson is here to bother you."

Mrs. Chu stepped forward subconsciously with concern, held Chu Songjun's hand, and said unhappily: "Song'er, you know you are disturbing me by coming here so late at night! Hey! It's fine if you come here, but why don't you know to put on more clothes?"

Chu Songjun couldn't help but smile: "Isn't this a chance for grandma to teach her grandson a lesson!"

Old Mrs. Chu was amused: "Hahahaha - smooth talk."

Chu Songjun looked behind Old Lady Chu and asked curiously, "Grandma, what's in the room behind you?"

Mrs. Chu paused, her expression didn't change much, but her eyes became complicated: "He is an unlucky person."

"An unlucky person?" Chu Songjun was stunned and looked at Old Lady Chu: "That's a tablet inside, right?"

Old Madam Chu glanced at Chu Songjun unhappily, sighed, hesitated for a long time, and finally took the key in her hand that was about to lock it up, and compromised: "Go and take a look."

The candles were burning here, illuminating the names drawn with cinnabar.

Chu Songjun's pupils suddenly shrank, and he saw that there were three tablets in this small ancestral hall. One of them was named after his father "Chu Zhengze". He hurried to look at the other one, which was the name of his mother "Luo Zhiqing". The tablet in the middle was a name he had never seen before, but it was obviously a format name of his father's generation. The other tablet was called "Chu Bingdi", which was similar to his uncle's name Chu Bingtian.

How come his father’s tablet appeared in his grandmother’s small ancestral hall?

Chu Songjun was stunned.

But he soon realized the reason. Before and after he was born, his father and grandfather had a fierce conflict. Chu Zhengze was driven into the mountains and expelled from the Chu family tree. Until his grandfather was seriously ill and dying, Chu Zhengze was still unwilling to go back to see his grandfather.

Chu Songjun looked down at his own shadow, as if he saw his father curled up in the depths of the shadow with his head in his hands.

Chu Bingtian brought himself back to the Chu family and registered himself as the legitimate son of the first house, becoming the adopted son.

Chu Songjun tried hard to recall the tablets placed in layers in the ancestral hall, trying to remember whether his father's name was among them, but there were too many tablets, and when he was worshiping the ancestral hall, there were flames everywhere. He now only vaguely remembered that he seemed to have seen a name on a tablet in the chaos, which was very similar to his father's name, and the name was "Chu Zhengjun".

His movements suddenly stopped.

Chu Zhengze, Chu Zhengjun.

Chu is the sky, Chu is the earth.

With all these names, it's hard to say that there's nothing special about them, but three of the four seem to be dead...

Old Madam Chu stepped forward, took Chu Songjun's hand, and pointed to his father's tablet: "This is the tablet of the wronged man. You can bow a few more times if you like."

Chu Songjun stepped forward silently and knelt down.

This is his biological father. If he is not happy, how can he not worship him? Be careful that he will crawl out of the shadows and teach him a lesson.

Old Madam Chu looked to the other side, her expression softened: "This is Zhiqing's tablet, it's your mother."

Chu Songjun also knelt down.

Finally, Mrs. Chu looked at the one in the middle. Her old face showed a deep nostalgia and indescribable complexity. She couldn't help but sighed again: "This is the tablet of your second uncle, Chu Bingdi. He died young. Although he didn't see you grow up, he is still your relative. If you are willing, please pay your respects."

Chu Songjun knelt down again.

"Alas, when people get old, they tend to recall the past. When they sleep light at night, the person they think about day and night is likely to appear in their dreams. It's an injustice, it's really an injustice." Old Mrs. Chu slammed the ground with her cane a few times and said sadly.

Chu Songjun listened to what Old Lady Chu said, but he was a little puzzled. From the tone of Old Lady Chu's voice, he knew that there was something hidden under these three tablets that he didn't know. Sure enough, he was right to come to Old Lady Chu.

Chu Songjun couldn't help but ask, "Grandma, do you know why my father was driven into the mountains and forests by my grandfather and expelled from the family? And why did they never have any contact with each other until they died?"

Old Mrs. Chu was stunned. She lowered her head to look at the young boy who was still kneeling on the futon and looking up at her. The boy was no longer neatly dressed as he was during the day. His hair was messy and spread on his fair cheeks and thin shoulders. The dimples on his cheeks that were faintly visible when he spoke added a touch of innocence to him. The teenage boy seemed to be lying on his grandmother's lap, listening to her stories about the past. What a happy family scene.

Old Madam Chu looked at Chu Songjun with a half-smile: "You're playing tricks on me? You're such a troublemaker, I'm afraid you came to me to find out something, right? Fortunately, I was able to help you, otherwise why would your dear grandson think of me?"

"Grandma..." Chu Songjun was a little embarrassed.

The tips of his ears turned redder and he threw himself into Old Lady Chu's arms and acted coquettishly.

Old Madam Chu, who was annoyed to the point of being happy, patted Chu Songjun on the shoulder and looked back at the three tablets. She pondered for a long time and finally spoke: "Back then, your father and your grandfather turned against each other because of your grandfather's evildoer. That old immortal thing had a wild idea and wanted to use you to perform his secret method."

"Secret method?" Chu Songjun was stunned. His life experience actually had such twists and turns?

"That's right. The secret method passed down by our ancestors has a heavy price. If you fail, you will die." Old Madam Chu sighed and cursed, "It's a pity that the damn old man was blinded by power. Facing your father's questioning, he said that if you die, your father and your mother can just have another child. You are a member of the Chu family, and devoting yourself to the glory of the family is a commendable path. Your father was so angry that he started cursing and started fighting with the old man."

Old Madam Chu snorted coldly: "It just so happens that I was fed up with that old man at that time and was determined to oppose him. However, that old man was the head of the Chu family at that time and had absolute power. Your father was expelled from the family in order to save you. Fortunately, God has eyes and that old man died early, otherwise..."

She did not continue speaking, but warned Chu Songjun: "Humph, I am telling you all this to warn you, don't let the power make you dizzy, otherwise I will spit on you."

Secret method, is the so-called ancestral secret method a method to control ghosts? Use him to perform secret methods? What does this mean?

Chu Songjun could tell that Old Lady Chu omitted a lot of details, but judging from the old lady's expression, she seemed very secretive and probably would not elaborate.

He paused, then asked, "Grandma, did my brother die from the secret method?"

Mrs. Chu's pupils shrank: "Your brother?"

"Chu Chenghong." Chu Songjun said word by word.

Old Mrs. Chu staggered and couldn't stand steadily.

"Grandma—" Chu Songjun hurried forward to help. Fortunately, the old lady had a cane in her hand and she stood up quickly.

Her face was complicated. She looked around anxiously and anxiously. She held Chu Songjun's hand tightly and said, "Is Chenghong still at home? Didn't Bingtian say that he had already..."

Mrs. Chu paused and looked back at Chu Songjun's face. She looked at him carefully from head to toe and murmured, "Yes, you should have seen that Chenghong is a ghost after his death. It's your ghost!"

"Did Chenghong hurt you?" Old Madam Chu's eyes turned red and she asked in a trembling voice, "He knows you? Really? He has always been a smart and gentle child! He won't hurt you, right?"

Grandma, what does this mean?

Chu Songjun's expression was blank for a moment.

etc……

Chu Songjun had a horrible guess, which made him tremble all over and feel fear in his heart.

Suddenly, he felt the hairs on his back standing up one after another. A huge sense of danger instantly overwhelmed him like a tide. He rushed forward, hugged Old Mrs. Chu, and threw her to the side.

"Bang--"

The sound of wood breaking came to my ears.

Time seemed to be slowing down.

Chu Songjun looked back.

I saw a strange beast appear out of nowhere. It had a two-headed human-headed lizard body and was covered in scales. Every scale exuded an extremely fishy smell of blood. Its four eyes stared at Chu Songjun, and its four limbs stretched off the ground, and it let out an angry roar at Chu Songjun!