Qu Ruilin, who had been quiet all along, took out a cigarette case from his pocket when he heard Old Master Wei mention the word "crisis".
During my interactions with him in India, I almost never saw him smoke. From his actions, I knew that the matter Mr. Wei mentioned must be approaching the stage of his father's death.
Sure enough, Old Master Wei recounted that past event: "In order to verify whether that piece of broken jade was the famous Imperial Seal of the State, the four of us old men rushed to Lingbi."
At that time, the Folk Literature Association had defeated the Sino-Foreign Association, and Simen had also contacted the local cultural relics protection department to prepare for the handover of those cultural relics. The head of the local cultural relics management bureau had a close relationship with Duan Hongyu, and when he heard that he was coming, he even sent a car to the city airport to pick us up.
Just as we were on our way, we received devastating news: after the martial arts practitioners left, the Cultural Relics Bureau and the police had sent people to the Four Gates' residence, but there was a half-hour gap in between, and that's when we stumbled.
That night, Duan Jinyan betrayed everyone in the Four Gates. While he was carrying the broken piece of jade away from the camp, he was discovered by the Night Watchman, injured him, and triggered the alarm. He was then captured by the others.
Before anyone could interrogate him, a British woman led a group of mysterious people to attack the camp, causing countless deaths and injuries to all four gates.
The situation that day was extremely tragic. There was gunfire, and seven or eight people died. Among the most notable were Shenxing's aunt and Qu Yang, the only son of the Qu family. My second son, Wei Xiong, survived, but was shot in the spine, resulting in high-level paraplegia. Song Tongfu escaped death because he was in the city picking up the four of us.
Grandpa Wei's words struck me like a thunderbolt, and I couldn't help but argue, "Grandpa Wei, this matter doesn't seem to have any necessary connection with my father... or Duan Jinyan, does it? At that time, the Sino-Foreign Association was already opposing the Four Gates, so could this just be a coincidence?"
Grandpa Wei tapped his pipe: "When those mysterious people arrived at the scene, they massacred the members of the Civil Association, but they didn't take away any cultural relics from the scene. They only took your father and that piece of jade."
Old Song stepped forward and interjected, "Grandpa, isn't this argument a bit far-fetched? According to you, the people from the Sino-Foreign Association already have a grudge against the Four Gates. What if this is just them trying to sow discord?"
“As I said, although the four families have different surnames, they are actually one family. We will not doubt our own children without evidence.”
Grandpa Wei looked grief-stricken: "The British woman who led the attack on the camp that night spoke excellent Chinese. Wei Xiong was wounded by her. That woman interrogated Wei Xiong, demanding to know Duan Jinyan's whereabouts. Afterwards, the doctor told me that Wei Xiong was very lucky; the chance of him surviving from the spot where he was shot was less than five percent. So the murderer was clearly intent on killing him!"
Those who survived the scene all saw the woman take Duan Jinyan away from the scene. At the time, none of us believed that Duan Jinyan was that kind of person, and we even organized people to rescue him. But what happened next was beyond everyone's expectations.
In the following period, Duan Jinyan continued to operate in the underworld and began to help the Jinbai Group rob tombs. More than once, people had seen Duan Jinyan with that foreign woman. At that time, Duan Jinyan was already wealthy and powerful, and his close relationship with that woman was definitely not a fabrication.
Because of that sneak attack, all four elite forces were wiped out, while Jinbai International, with the help of Duan Jinyan, thrived and began to extensively loot ancient tombs and ruins, seizing a large number of precious cultural relics.
Duan Jinyan's actions caused the Four Sects to lose face and their reputation to plummet. Other families and sects who died because of this incident also came to the Four Sects to demand an explanation. In order to quell the disputes, Duan Hongyu took the initiative to resign from the Four Sects, vowed never to raid tombs again, and severed his father-son relationship with Duan Jinyan, vowing never to have anything to do with him again.
Because of this incident, the four sects fell apart and their glory was over. Duan Jinyan, however, made a fortune by betraying his fellow disciples. It is said that he owns a huge amount of assets at home and abroad, and at the same time, he was listed as an A-level wanted criminal.
Even today, those who hunt him down in the martial arts world are as numerous as carp crossing a river.
The dramatic turn of events in this story made my body tremble.
Although I have never met Duan Jinyan, he is, after all, my biological father.
Throughout this process, I kept hoping that the story told by Grandpa Wei would take a turn, making Duan Jinyan a person who had no control over his own destiny.
That way, at least I can have some psychological comfort.
Unfortunately, he was still the villain in the end.
Old Song San was also unfamiliar with this part of history. Hearing this, he was equally shocked. He looked at me and said, "Grandpa, according to you, Duan Shenxing shouldn't have been born yet when Duan Jinyan betrayed the Four Gates. If Duan Jinyan really had an affair with that foreign woman, then he should be a mixed-race child. But look at little Duan, he doesn't look like a mixed-race child at all."
“Since Duan Jinyan betrayed the Four Gates, he has had no contact with us. I don’t want to ask about his affairs. Moreover, Shenxing was already five years old sixteen years ago. Perhaps it was because Duan Jinyan had an affair with that foreign woman that he abandoned his child.”
Old Master Wei had lost a son because of Duan Jinyan, so he didn't have a good look on his face when he mentioned him: "I told this story only to fulfill my promise and let Shenxing know about his father's affairs, that's all."
As soon as he finished speaking, the room fell into a deathly silence.
My hopes have been shattered.
I was always afraid of hearing the news of his death, afraid of losing the last family member in the world.
The man I am related to by blood, named Duan Jinyan, is an utterly wicked sinner and a wanted criminal.
He not only harmed his fellow disciples, but even used his own sister as a stepping stone to climb the social ladder, using the family's reputation and the blood of his comrades to paint a picture of wealth and power for himself.
Although he is alive, he has burdened me with the identity of the son of a traitor, making me so ashamed that I can't lift my head.
Seeing my embarrassment, Old Master Wei took the initiative to change the subject; "Our ancestors formed an alliance during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, swearing to support each other for generations. This is an ancestral rule that we descendants should abide by. After the Lingbi case, the four sects have had no contact for more than ten years. As the eldest elder in the sect, I have a responsibility to get the four sects back on track. Today, you are all here, and you can bear witness to my decision to formally pass on the position of sect leader of the Wei family to Shengnan. I also hope that you can represent the four sects and start anew..."
"Old man, I have something to say."
Before Old Master Wei could finish speaking, Qu Ruilin stood up and said, "My grandfather told me before he passed away that he wanted me to protect the Qu family and the four gates! He died because he lost his son in middle age and fell ill from grief. In order to fulfill his last wish, I can accept your conditions, but before that, I have something to say, and Duan Shenxing cannot be present!"
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