Zhao Qingshan placed the things on the table and slowly brushed away the thick layer of dust on the black cloth with his large hands. As he did this, a solemn expression crossed Zhao Qingshan's face, making Zhou Yuanyuan nervous.
After the smoke and dust cleared, Zhao Qingshan slowly lifted the black cloth, revealing a wooden box wrapped tightly in layers of black cloth. The box was pitch black, exuding a heavy and solemn air. The length and width of the box were both about a foot.
Zhou Yuanyuan took a curious look at the wooden box. It seemed to be a single piece, with not a single seam visible. A cloud pattern was carved in the upper left corner of the front, and a half-opened peony was carved in the lower right corner.
The strain Zhao Qingshan exerted in carrying the box revealed its considerable weight. Despite its unassuming black exterior, Zhou Yuanyuan caught a glimpse of a flickering light, signaling its extraordinary presence.
The carving technique of the pattern appears simple, but in fact it is somewhat unique. Although the cloud pattern is only a few strokes long, the beginning and end are connected, and it is impossible to tell where the stroke begins and ends. Zhou Yuanyuan was curious and wanted to find the starting point of the cloud pattern.
After staring at the cloud pattern for a few seconds, Zhou Yuanyuan felt a black screen in front of her eyes, and then she felt dizzy, as if millions of tiny needles were running around in her brain.
it hurts!
For a moment, Zhou Yuanyuan felt a splitting headache, and her small body was unstable and swayed twice.
Zhao Qingshan looked at the black box with mixed feelings. This black box carried the Zhao family's inheritance for hundreds of years, as well as Zhao Qingshan's pain and guilt over the years.
In a split second, Zhao Qingshan saw Zhou Yuanyuan had already been tricked. Seeing the paleness on Zhou Yuanyuan's small face, Zhao Qingshan quickly called out, "Xiaojiu, don't stare at the pattern on the box."
After saying this, Zhao Qingshan quickly supported Zhou Yuanyuan's shaky little body with one hand, and covered Zhou Yuanyuan's eyes with the other big hand. He exhaled a trace of true "qi" from his palm, and it circled around Zhou Yuanyuan's eye sockets.
Zhao Qingshan felt a little guilty. He had experienced the black box's "bonding" ritual and had become immune to the patterns on it. But Zhou Yuanyuan was different; she had only just seen the box today. Children are curious, so he should have told her before taking the box.
Back then, the child's mother moved the box out of curiosity, which led to... Zhao Qingshan thought of his wife who died early, and was filled with emotion.
Before his death, Zhao Qingshan's grandfather gave him this wooden box, instructing him not to touch it unless he was a member of the Zhao family. The box's design was strange, and aside from those descendants of the Zhao family who had undergone the "bonding ceremony," anyone staring at it for too long would experience headaches, nausea, and eventually fall into a coma. This was why Zhao Qingshan had kept the box safe for decades, always covering it with a black cloth bag.
Zhao Qingshan's wife, Wu Baolian, was curious and wanted to open the box to see what was inside while Zhao Qingshan was away. Over the years, Zhao Qingshan had kept everything secret from her except this box, which he had secretly hidden away.
As a result, Wu Baolian was unable to open the black box. Wu Baolian was a daughter-in-law from another family and had no Zhao bloodline. After seeing the pattern on the box, she fell into a coma.
When Zhao Qingshan returned home that night, Wu Baolian was already on the verge of death. After she managed to describe the "strangeness" of the black box, she died. It can be said that Wu Baolian lost her life because of the black box, the Zhao family's heirloom.
If it weren't for the ancestor's instruction that the Zhao family descendants must pass the box down from generation to generation until it finds its destined owner, Zhao Qingshan really wanted to throw away the black box that killed his wife.
Zhao Qingshan felt guilty about Wu Baolian, so he was particularly fond of his two children. For so many years, Zhao Qingshan had never thought of marrying another wife for the sake of his two children.
When Zhao Qingshan's big hand covered Zhou Yuanyuan's eyelids, Zhou Yuanyuan only felt a cool breath circling along her eye sockets, then spreading along the corners of her eyes to her temples, and then gathered into a line as thick as a hair, wandering around Zhou Yuanyuan's temples for several circles, and finally gradually dissipated.
After being nourished by the cool breath, Zhou Yuanyuan felt that her headache had eased a lot and the nausea was gone, so she opened her eyes.
The dark wooden box sat quietly on the table, imbued with a silent majesty. Zhou Yuanyuan didn't dare stare at the black box as she had just done. Instead, she cast her inquiring gaze at Zhao Qingshan, who stood beside the table with a solemn expression.
Zhao Qingshan's large hand slowly brushed the surface of the wooden box, and distant memories gradually emerged. His grandfather's last words appeared in Zhao Qingshan's mind word for word.
"Shan'er, this is a treasure that has been passed down in our Zhao family for hundreds of years. Every time a new head of the family takes over this box, he or she must ask a member of the family who has not participated in the "bonding" ceremony to drop a drop of blood on the peony. If the treasure meets its destined person, it will choose its own master and the skills will automatically manifest."
According to Zhao Qingshan's grandfather, the black box contained the Zhao family's most advanced martial arts techniques. The black box was flawless and impossible to open. Over the years, no one in the Zhao family had ever been able to access the box, and the techniques had been shelved.
Legend has it that the Zhao family's ancestor possessed exceptional martial arts skills, remaining as graceful as a young man even in his sixties. Zhao Qingshan knew that the Zhao ancestor possessed extraordinary gifts, one of which was that even without the need for him to sit cross-legged in meditation each day, the vital energy of heaven and earth would automatically flow into his body, circulating through his meridians.
When Zhao Qingshan took Zhou Yuanyuan's pulse, he found that the circulation of Qi in Zhou Yuanyuan was very similar to the legendary physique of his ancestor. This made him want to pass the Zhao family's precious wooden box to Zhou Yuanyuan.
The Zhao family has always adhered to the principle of "passing on the inheritance to sons, not daughters". After hundreds of years of changes, there are only a few direct descendants of the Zhao family left.
By the time the lineage came to Zhao Qingshan, only he, his son, and his daughter remained. His son, Zhao Guohui, was not naturally suited to practicing the Zhao martial arts, and his daughter, Zhao Yunxiang, had no interest in learning martial arts. Even if Zhao Guohui's son were born, it seemed unlikely he would be able to succeed.
After Wu Baolian's death, Zhao Qingshan tested himself, his son and his daughter, but none of them were recognized by the box.
On the contrary, Zhao Yunxiang's son and daughter learned the Zhao family martial arts very well. Zhou Jiasheng's talent was better than Zhao Guohui's, but in Zhao Qingshan's opinion, Zhou Yuanyuan's talent was much better than Zhou Jiasheng's.
Therefore, Zhao Qingshan wanted Zhou Yuanyuan to inherit the wooden box regardless of the consequences, fulfilling the long-cherished wish of his ancestors in the Zhao family.
Zhao Qingshan took a deep breath, turned his wrist, and a silver needle with a cold glow appeared in his hand.
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