The notebook had no signature, not even a name. The first page showed spots of blood on the yellowed paper.
Lu Qi reached out and touched the glaring bloodstains, and felt a pain in his fingertips.
"Sir, how did you cut your hand?" Song Mao was still sorting out the dusty ancient scrolls and paintings. Seeing that Lu Qi's hand was cut by the hard paper, he was slightly surprised and hurried to find a first aid kit.
"It's okay, you can go back first. I'll sort these out myself."
Lu Qi looked at his cut fingertips and saw blood dripping onto the notebook. Just as he was about to wipe it with a tissue, the blood had already merged into the notebook and the scarlet bloodstain.
A strange emotion grew in his heart. Lu Qi waved Song Mao back and turned the page to read the back. Strangely, there was not a single word in the thick notebook.
He rummaged through the wooden box and found several other notebooks. He matched them with the family tree and found the corresponding generation of the head of the family. The Lu family had reached the tenth generation in his area, and there were only five notebooks left, including the blank notebook, a total of six.
These five books do not record the life stories of the family, but the scattered clues that each family head used to look for people. In every life, they returned empty-handed and died at the age of thirty, without exception.
Lu Qi lowered his eyes and put the notebook into the wooden box, leaving only the blank notebook on the bedside. The fingertips that were cut by the paper had stopped bleeding, as if they had never been injured.
He made a video call to the old man in the old house. The old man was 107 years old this year. He was the oldest elder of the Lu family's generation and the guardian of the Lu family ancestral hall.
The call was connected, and the surprised face of a teenager appeared in the video: "Grandpa, it's Brother Lu."
The young boy handed the phone to the energetic old man. When the old man saw Lu Qi, he excitedly shouted, "How could the head of the family have time to call me? Is there anything you want us to do?"
Lu Qi smiled slightly and said gently, "Grandpa Lu, I just want to ask you something. I have obtained the notes of the previous family heads. Why is there a note without words in it?"
The old man was hard of hearing and had to listen twice before he could understand clearly. He said tremblingly, "Master, the things in the wooden box can only be opened by the previous masters. We can't understand them even if we look at them. You can definitely understand them if you look at them slowly."
Lu Qi lowered his eyes, his brown pupils slightly darkening. "You've had two successive patriarchs. Could you tell me about the previous one? For example, his appearance, personality, and life story?"
Logically, every head of the family should have a portrait or photo left behind, but there is none, not even a single one.
The old man looked at the aloof and noble young patriarch in the video. His hand holding the phone shook unconsciously. He was silent for a few seconds and said hoarsely, "You look exactly like the previous patriarch, and your personality is similar. When I was a child, the patriarch did not live in the old house. He lived a secluded life like you. It's just that his deeds are hidden in those history books. If it weren't for the Lu family's ancestral precepts, he would have been a founding father.
Why are you asking this?"
Lu Qi was slightly surprised. Did he look exactly like him? He should have thought that he had an innate talent, the ability to see through people's hearts and be well-versed in history and the present. These might not be his abilities, but perhaps the abilities of the head of the Lu family.
"You will be thirty next year. Have you found that person?" The old man couldn't say the rest of the words, his voice choked with sobs. He has lived for more than a hundred years. Is he going to watch two previous heads of the family die at the age of thirty?
Their ancestors did not originally have the surname Lu. They changed it to Lu after becoming the keepers of the Lu family's ancestral hall.
Lu Qi said gently, "Don't worry, Grandpa. Are there any instructions left by our ancestors?"
The old man nodded and said solemnly, "There is one more thing I have to leave for us, the keepers of the ancestral hall. If the head of the family gives up the search for the person, then our descendants won't have to serve as keepers of the ancestral hall anymore, because there won't be a next head of the family."
Lu Qi's pupils shrank. If he gave up, the Lu family would be extinct from his generation onward, because betrayers have no afterlife. This was a curse, but also atonement.
"Okay, I understand. Take care of yourself. I should go back to the old house after the New Year."
The old man nodded excitedly: "Okay, you must remember to come back."
He didn't know if it was his illusion, but the current head of the family seemed to have a more worldly air than the previous one.
Lu Qi hung up the phone and stood on the terrace looking at the deep night outside. His handsome and deep facial features blended into the night, as cold as a sculpture, until his cell phone buzzed.
Li Changsi: Do you want to go out for a walk?
The phone screen lit up, and the person with a marshmallow as his avatar asked him brightly.
The chill around Lu Qi was dispelled, as if he had returned to the world from darkness. After a long while, he sent a voice message, saying in a low and hoarse voice, "I'll wait for you at the door."
Li Changsi put on a furry coat and a hat and walked out of the Heart-Stirring House. From a distance, he saw Lu Qi standing under the street light. His back was stretched out by the street light, and his temperament was cold and noble.
She walked over, put her little hands into Lu Qi's coat pocket, warmed them, and smiled with a crooked look, "Let's go."
Lu Qi held her little hand, helped her to warm it, and said with a low smile: "There seems to be a convenience store up ahead, shall we go buy a cup of hot milk?"
"Okay." Li Changsi was in a good mood. Qiubi just called her and said that her guzheng video had been viewed over a million times online, and she had been invited to the Spring Festival Gala!
Qiubi was so happy on the phone that he almost went crazy. What did being on the Spring Festival Gala mean? It meant that Li Changsi's previous dark history could be turned over, and being on the stage of the Spring Festival Gala basically secured his status as a top artist.
She has only been popular for half a year and she is able to perform on the Spring Festival Gala, which is a miracle in the entertainment industry. However, Li Changsi herself has some awesome attributes. Sensational things happened almost every month in the second half of the year. Considering the contributions she has made to the country, it is more than enough for her to perform on the Spring Festival Gala.
The two walked along the street lights. The location of the Heart-Stirring House was not too remote. Convenience stores and cafes could be seen just outside the villa area. There were also supermarkets and large shopping malls nearby.
Lu Qi went to buy a cup of hot milk and walked out of the convenience store. He saw Li Changsi standing in front of the claw machine. Looking at the furry dolls inside, he burst out laughing and went to the convenience store to buy some coins.
Li Changsi's eyes lit up slightly: "Can you play?"
She hasn't played it.
Lu Qi: "I've seen others play it."
He handed her the hot milk in his hand, put the coin into the machine, operated the handle, and started to grab the doll. The probe was loose and shook, and it fell down every time he grabbed it.
"Ah, I fell down again, one more time."
"Um."
Li Changsi held the hot milk in her hand and saw him bending down to play such a childish game with her. A smile appeared on her face, as if many of the small wishes that could not be fulfilled in her previous life were realized one by one in this life with another man.
God was actually kind to her.
The two spent all their coins but still failed to catch a furry doll. They looked at each other and laughed out loud.
"Let's go. Fortunately, they didn't catch it, otherwise little Marshmallow would definitely cry if we took it home." Li Changsi said with a smile. The little Bichon Frise he raised was very domineering.
Lu Qi looked at her bright smile, reached out and gently brushed her curled eyelashes, and said hoarsely, "There's a stray hair on it."
"Long thinking."
"Um?"
Lu Qi pressed her tightly into his arms, his head buried in her hair, his eyes dark and cruel. He thought, for her, he would betray the past and future of the Lu family. He would bear all the sins.
Li Changsi patted his broad back gently, and said with a smile: "Mr. Lu, are you in love with me? After all, I am so beautiful, most people can't resist me."
Lu Qi pushed harder and harder, and said in a low voice, "But my side has never been a paradise. Do you want to go to hell with me?"
Li Changsi's eyes darkened. What a coincidence! She was the one who came out of the darkness!
After their walk, they each went back to their own rooms. Lu Qi took a shower, picked up the blank notebook, opened it, and stroked the bloodstains on it. Every drop seemed to tell a secret.
This notebook is unsigned and is older than the other five. What secrets does it record?
Lu Qi squinted his eyes in thought, feeling the stinging pain of the small mole at the corner of his eye. He felt sleepy and instantly fell into a dream. The dream was a pure white world, and he seemed to be alone in the world. He walked in the snow and saw a man with a slender back and a graceful figure like an immortal in front of him, and shouted.
The man walked faster and farther away. He chased him all the way up the mountain and finally caught up with him at the top of the mountain. The man slipped into the Taoist temple and disappeared.
When Lu Qi entered the Taoist temple, he saw a white-haired old Taoist priest coming over. He handed him an ancient green bell and said earnestly, "You were born without any senses, like a person made of jade. You are a natural cultivator and a person who has renounced the worldly affairs. It is easier for you to take that step and escape the fate of mortals than any of us.
But you are destined to die, Ah Xing. This bell can help you survive this disaster. Remember, if the bell breaks, the disaster is approaching. You should go down the mountain to gain experience.
Survive the disaster and come back."
He numbly accepted the ancient green bell, bowed three times to the old Taoist priest, and then walked away. Although he hadn't deduced his own fate, he had seen the lines of life and death on his palm. His death was connected to another mysterious line. If he could cross it, he would create a new world; if he couldn't, he would die.
The smell of fireworks at the foot of the mountain was stronger than he had imagined. He traveled all over the mountains and rivers, experiencing the customs and cultures of various places. As he walked, he came to Guoyun Mountain in the imperial capital. There was an abandoned Taoist temple on the mountain. This would be his home for the next twenty years.
He was ignorant of the five senses and had a cold nature, but people all over the world respectfully called him Mr. Xunlu, saying that he could deduce the general trend of the world. Even the foolish and incompetent monarchs in the imperial palace came to pay him a visit and respected him as the national teacher.
He looked at the monarch's face. It was the face of a star of doom, a face of separation from his wife and children, quarrels between brothers, and children killing their fathers. The Li Dynasty was doomed from his generation onward.
He built a few small cabins on Lonely Cloud Mountain and settled there, spending two years in peace and quiet. Then, feeling that living alone was too lonely, he decided to take in a disciple. If he hadn't survived his calamity, and had a successor, the art of deduction wouldn't have been lost.
On the day of accepting disciples, all the major families sent their children of appropriate age to the palace. Emperor Yuancheng also gathered all his children from all over the imperial palace, and they were all waiting for him to choose one as his disciple.
He saw that the princes, who were already adults and over 20 years old, were among them and thought it was absurd. He was no older than these princes.
Youngsters and children, both large and small, crowded the Imperial Garden, their necks stretched out in anticipation of his quiz. With a single glance, he could discern their inner thoughts; he never needed a quiz.
However, people are afraid of and jealous of those with extraordinary abilities, and they exclude those who are different from them. There are many such examples in history books. He asked a question, asking them why they wanted to become his disciples, and then waited quietly for these children of aristocratic families and princes and princesses to answer.
After waiting for a cup of tea, I saw a cute little princess being pushed to the ground in the crowd, and her writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone were knocked over.
The little princess was not even as tall as the table. She stood on tiptoe and struggled to hold the pen to answer the questions. Because she was pushed down, the ink stained her body and face, and she looked extremely embarrassed.
"Eleventh sister, your clothes are all dirty. Go back and change into clean clothes quickly, so as not to pollute the master's eyes."
The little princess's big black eyes immediately filled with a layer of mist, and she said weakly and softly, "Eleven doesn't have any other new clothes. I'm sure the master won't mind Mo Xiang."
She wiped her face with her sleeve, and instantly it became like a little cat, very cute. Then she picked up the brush, ink, paper and inkstone on the ground with a grunt, bowed to him from a distance, and said softly, "Sir, can I change the paper to answer the question?"
She smiled sweetly at him, revealing two shallow dimples. Her clothes were tattered, she looked skinny, and her snow-white face was covered with the scent of ink.
He heard his own voice: "Yes."
Being only five years old and having just started learning, it was certain that she could not answer his question. However, the little princess answered it very seriously. Curious, he walked over to take a look, and saw that she carefully wrote her name on a new paper and then drew a picture.
The painting was very interesting. It depicted Guyun Mountain and a small wooden house in the mountain, with clouds in the sky, flowers and plants on the ground, and birds stealing food, as well as two people, one big and one small, chasing the birds.
He leaned over to look at the little princess, who was not even as tall as his thigh, and asked gently, "What's your name?"
The little princess raised her cat-like face and replied softly, "Li Changsi, in life I will return to you, in death I will be like Changsi, who always misses you. Mother said that Changsi would be a lovely little princess."
He smiled slightly, reached out and touched the head of the soft and cute little princess, and felt his heart as hard as jade soften a little. At that time, he did not know that these three words "Li Changsi" would become his life's calamity.
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