Chapter 281: Confusion

Translator: DragonRider

That couldn't be true. Ling Zhaowen hadn't even got married yet when Ling Zhaowu left home!

According to Ji Yin and the others' accounts of the events, when Ling Zhaowu had been brought to the Millennium Pavilion, Ling Maomao hadn't been born yet, and Ling Zhaowu had still been unconscious on the day of Ling Maomao's birth. How was it possible that he'd known he had a nephew at that time?

Shocked beyond words, Ling Zhang fastened his gaze on Ling Zhaowu, his eyes seeming to bore into him.

This was impossible. There'd got to be some kind of mistake. How had he come to know he had a nephew when he didn't even know his brother had got a son?!

Ji Yin and Mr. Mu, seeing the incredulity on Ling Zhang's face, naturally realized that there must be something going on. Ji Yin looked at Yuwen Tong. "What seems to be the matter?"

"Second Uncle Ling had only one son. His name is Maomao, and he's only seven years old," answered Yuwen Tong.

Seven years old...

Ji Yin and Mr. Mu instantly came to understand what that meant, both astonished.

"Had there been any lucid moments during the years when Uncle Ling was in a coma?" asked Yuwen Tong.

Mr. Mu shook his head. "No. I come here on a daily basis to give him his medicine and unblock his meridians to prevent him from dying of bodily atrophy and organic deterioration. Had there been any lucid moments, I would've remembered."

Ji Yin also said, "Even if he came to when Mr. Mu was absent, it's utterly impossible for him to, within one day, leave here, get through all those defensive formations and the natural barriers in the Sanguan Mountains, go to Tanyang and then return."

Since that was impossible, this whole thing seemed even more weird. How come Ling Zhaowen who had been comatose for many years come to know about the existence of his nephew?

"Surely he wasn't informed of it by someone capable of foreseeing the future?" said Mr. Mu jokingly.

Ji Yin was the first to deny this possibility. "That's not possible."

Ling Zhang knew what Ji Yin meant. Ji Yin had once told him that in order to develop the power of precognition, one needed to have very strong Blood of the Phoenix Clan and cultivate the mental cultivation method of internal energy of the Millennium Pavilion to perfection, but currently, even the clan leader had barely reached the eleventh layer...

"Prime Elder, do you think it's possible that an elder of our clan who's been in seclusion has reached the highest level of the cultivation method?" Mr. Mu looked at Ji Yin with surprise.

The corners of Ji Yin's mouth twitched. "I would've known long ago had there been another person who managed to do that apart from the one assisting the founder of the Xia."

Was there no way to find out the truth?

Yuwen Tong looked at Ling Zhaowu, inwardly making all kinds of speculations over how Ling Zhaowu had come to know about Ling Zhaowen's having a son, but just like Ji Yin had said, it was absolutely impossible that Ling Zhaowu had made it out of the Millennium Pavilion unaided, let alone a round trip within a single day. The only plausible explanation was that someone had told him, but none of them knew who this person was.

Ling Zhaowu was still hiding behind Mr. Mu. He was very afraid of Yuwen Tong. Of all the people present, Mr. Mu and Ji Yin were familiar to him, while Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong were both strangers to him, but he was showing curiosity about and a hint of affinity for Ling Zhang, which none of the others could find a better explanation for than the father-son bonding between the two of them.

Ling Zhaowu gazed at Ling Zhaowu's emaciated figure and wan face, his clear eyes widened in an almost poignant way. Ling Zhaowu was a full-grown man, but he actually believed that he could stay out of others' sight by hiding behind Mr. Mu.

"Father."

Ling Zhang hesitantly stepped closer to him, reaching out his hand.

Seeing Ling Zhaowu like this, even if he still had grudges against him, he wouldn't be able to bring himself to show any sign of them on his face.

Ling Zhaowu didn't draw back. He just fixed his eyes on Ling Zhang. "Who are you?"

This was the third time that he'd asked this question.

"I'm Ling Zhang, your son."

"My son?" Ling Zhaowu appeared bewildered. Given his current intelligence level, he shouldn't be able to understand what this meant. However, he furrowed his brows, as though trying to figure something out, but the next moment, he suddenly lowered his head, clapping a hand over his forehead with a pained countenance, his frown deepening. After a while, an anguished cry escaped his mouth.

Having never expected to see this kind of reaction, Ling Zhang was briefly stupefied, then hastened to support Ling Zhaowu and subconsciously yelled, "Father!"

"Hold him down," shouted Mr. Mu, a grave expression on his face.

Together, the couple of them restrained Ling Zhaowu. Mr. Mu quickly inserted some needles into Ling Zhaowu's skin at certain points, and soon Ling Zhaowu calmed down, sitting on the bed, gazing vacantly.

"At the beginning, we tentatively tried giving him some guidance in an effort to help him regain his memories, but every time we did that, his response was quite intense. On one occasion, he nearly suffered a breakdown. After that, we no longer dare risk having him think back to his past. It never crossed my mind that the mere mention of the word 'son' would trigger off such a reaction," said Mr. Mu.

Ling Zhang looked at Ling Zhaowu whose eyes were glazed. Though having countless questions he needed to find answers to, he didn't dare do anything rash.

After a while, a thickset man entered, who went quite watchful at the sight of Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong in the room and only calmed down after hearing Mr. Mu's and Ji Yin's explanation.

"He is Ya, the one who's been tending your father all along in recent years," explained Mr. Mu.

Ling Zhang inclined his head and expressed his gratitude to Ya. "Thank you."

Ya, who seemed to be a quite taciturn man, didn't say anything, and neither was there any change in his facial expression.

"Ya is a man of few words and he always has been," said Mr. Mu.

In the knowledge that Ya was not very communicative, Ling Zhang didn't specially try to strike up a conversation with him for fear of embarrassing Ya. He just lodged it in mind that this man had been taking care of Ling Zhaowu for many years.

After in a daze for a few moments, Ling Zhaowu closed his eyes. Ling Zhang helped him lie down on the bed and watched him gradually falling asleep.

"He's supposed to sleep for quite some time after drinking the decoction. Actually it came as a surprise to me that he woke up just now after hearing you call him. As the effects of the drug haven't worn off yet, he fell asleep again. There's nothing to worry about," observed Mr. Mu.

Ling Zhang gave a nod. "Thank you."

Though seemingly serious, this man they called Mr. Mu was quite approachable. Before his entry into the Millennium Pavilion, Ling Zhang had thought that he'd run into snags and be foiled everywhere in this place, but Mr. Mu was not really guarded with or lukewarm about them, for which Ling Zhang was very grateful to him.

"Treating patients is my job. Besides, I'm working under our clan leader's orders," replied Mr. Mu.

Since Ling Zhaowu was in a deep slumber, Ling Zhang and the others naturally felt it inappropriate to continue their talk in the room. After sitting quietly beside Ling Zhaowu's bed for quite a while, Ling Zhang rose to his feet and walked out. Yuwen Tong and the others were sitting in the living room.

"Mr. Mu, is my father's illness curable?" asked Ling Zhang.

Mr. Mu bobbed his head. "As a matter of fact, it's mainly his mental trauma that has been holding him back. Once the trauma heals, everything will be fine. Currently the only problem is that we don't know what caused his mental trauma in the first place. His bodily functions are getting better, but his mental state has shown no sign of recuperation. I fear that over time his condition might become incurable."

Yuwen Tong asked, "Is there a way to help Uncle Ling recover from his trauma quickly?"

Mr. Mu responded, "If we are to cure it with medication, there is a kind of miracle drug here that might be effective, but it's very hard to come by, and there are a lot of people here hankering for it. Given that you two are not members of this clan, your chance of winning a competition against them is very slim. As regards non-medicinal methods, there's but one–finding out what caused the trauma and acting accordingly to help him heal. The process will be rather painful, and you've seen it with your own eyes a while ago. His reaction just now was only a minor one. If by any chance you trigger off a serious response, there might be unimaginable consequences."

Yuwen Tong looked at Ling Zhang, who said to Mr. Mu, "I want to have an audience with the clan leader first and see if I can convince him to help."

Mr. Mu nodded. "It's worth a shot. I'll wait and see how that works out."

"Thanks," said Ling Zhang. He knew the Millennium Pavilion was not some kind of charity. Although his mother had suffered a lot because of the decision of this organization, his father owed his life to these people. Also, his grandfather had offered him a lot of help, so the Millennium Pavilion wasn't really obliged to do this for him.

"I'll do my best to persuade the Clan Leader as well. Hopefully, he'll take my contribution into consideration and agree to use the miracle drug on your father," said Ji Yin. "I've been serving this clan for many years, but neither my son nor my daughter had the good fortune to cultivate internal energy with the mental method of our clan, and I never made a request for the miracle drug. I hope the Clan Leader will take this into account and give his consent to it."

Mr. Mu said, "You're the Prime Elder. In terms of status, you're second to only the Clan Leader in this place. He will listen to you, no matter what."

Ji Yin said, "I don't dare take advantage of that. This is a secluded place. Things work differently here than they do in the outside world. Whether my identity as the Prime Elder is any good solely depends on how the Clan Leader thinks about it."

Then he added, "I'll go and see if the Clan Leader is available now. Zhang'er, if there's anything else you want to know, you may ask Ya and Mr. Mu."

Ling Zhang nodded and followed Ji Yin with his eyes as he left.

"Ya is not really a great talker. You may ask me if you have any questions," said Mr. Mu.

Ling Zhang asked him how his father had been doing after being brought to the Millennium Pavilion. Mr. Mu, fully aware of what he wanted to know, was very specific about almost everything he told Ling Zhang.

"He narrowly escaped death shortly after being transferred here. After the Clan Leader revived his cardiac meridian, I've treating him all along. There were several occasions when I feared that he lacked the will to live and might not be able to make it, but he surprised me and survived. Even the Clan Leader said that a man with such a strong will to live was something of a rarity. It was with the Clan Leader's permission that I gained access to many precious drugs and used them to treat him.

The Prime Elder was the one who hoped to see your father come around the most. He always believed that there must be some unusual reason why your father showed up in this area. He was worried that something had happened to your mother. Nobody could've foreseen that your father would be comatose for that many years. I could tell that he actually had got a shrewd idea of what might've happened. In the couple of following years, he went outside very often to look for something, but he never found anything."

Mr. Mu also gave many details, saying that at the beginning some had objected to letting Ling Zhaowu stay, but the Prime Elder had tried his best and managed to persuade them to change their minds.

"The Prime Elder actually loved your mother and uncle very much. In the year when they left, the Prime Elder once sneaked out of here to look for them, but unfortunately for him, in order not to be found by members of our clan, your mother went into hiding, leaving no trace behind, so the Prime Elder had never found her. Afterwards, some members of our clan believed the Prime Elder was violating the rules by going outside, so he had no choice but to give up making another attempt."

It was after hearing these words of Mr. Mu's that Ling Zhang came to know that his grandfather had once tried to look for his mother but had never had any luck.

"Alas, the situation back then was in disarray. Some matters involve secrets of our clan, and it's inconvenient for me to disclose more details to you. Anyway, the Prime Elder did everything within his power. At that time, the Clan Leader had just taken office and there were some... In a word, the Clan Leader eventually decided to spare your mother. He did his level best as well."