FVN Chapter 67 - 67: 054. The Death of Hou Tong [Request for follow-up reads!]
Chapter 67 - 67: 054. The Death of Hou Tong [Request for follow-up reads!]
About the past, Hou Yuxiao's mind harbored two different sets of memories.
These memories occurred at different points in time, precisely two years earlier, on December 25th of the New Yu Era 1319.
One was the recollection of his life before arriving in this world, while the other, an unbearable retrospect, was about the trauma that the Hou Clan had suffered two years ago.
Today, he had fully adapted to this world, and both sets of memories had merged with him, becoming part of his past.
...
Hou Tong was no simple character, a point unanimously recognized by the over three hundred thousand inhabitants of Zhaoyang County, not only because he had made it onto a Righteous Path's minor Demon Extermination List but also because Zhaoyang County's present prosperity could be entirely attributed to him.
Twenty years ago, when Hou Tong moved to Zhaoyang with two household servants and his five children—a party of eight—the youngest of whom was no more than five years old—the county's population barely exceeded fifty thousand.
Forget the rest of Tongling County; even the residents of neighboring counties looked down upon this place, where the Flying Eagle Sect and the Green Wolf Gang fought over petty interests, much to their amusement.
The situation changed with Hou Tong's arrival. He persuaded County Lord Ren Feng to bring together the local villagers, and even spent his own money to adopt a large group of people.
Later, he opened a new street in the town, pioneering the waiver of shop rents in favor of collecting a nominal protection fee, which immediately stimulated Zhaoyang's economy.
At this stage, Zhaoyang hatched a new power, the Happy Forest.
Subsequently, he discovered the iron mines on Nanling Mountain and took the initiative to cooperate with the Green Wolf Gang, Flying Eagle Sect, Happy Forest, and the county government to create Zhaoyang County's unique iron ore industry, leading everyone to earn a substantial profit.
Hou Tong initiated many such ventures, and it was under his leadership that Zhaoyang County prospered step by step to its current state; today, the county can boast its economy and population are hardly inferior to the other two counties of Tongling, save for the absence of a third-tier power base.
Such a person couldn't possibly have a simple background!
Even without delving deeper, one could just look at Hou Tong himself, then at the faces of his five children, and it would be evident that the family's lineage was far from lowly.
Aside from Hou Yucheng, the second elder who was slightly more straightforward, the other four siblings were cunning; it was impossible not to realize it.
Therefore, from their childhood, their favorite pastime was to continuously probe Hou Tong, trying to glean the secrets of their family origins from his lips.
But young magpies were no match for an old cunning fox; Hou Tong teasing them was as effortless as playing a game.
Not surprisingly, they never succeeded!
Two years prior, on December 20th, Hou Tong gathered all five of them and, with a worried expression, presented a marriage contract.
The marriage contract bore the date of December 25th, New Yu Era 1289, along with two signatures—one of Zhao Beixuan and the other their father, Hou Tong.
Clearly, Zhao Beixuan was an old friend of Hou Tong's. The pair had agreed that thirty years later, if each had children of both genders, they would match a pair to wed. If they both had only sons or daughters, they would become sworn siblings instead.
It must have been a clichéd story of brothers joining forces to venture into the martial world, probably concocted in a moment of drunken euphoria.
Hou Tong disclosed to them that Zhao Beixuan had fathered a son named Zhao Ponu, so according to the past agreement, their third sibling, Hou Yuling, was to marry this man.
Two years ago, Hou Yuling hadn't developed her current demeanor, a girl so spoiled by Hou Tong that she dared retaliate even against her own father.
"I won't marry. What era is it, dad, for you to still believe in arranged engagement by pointing at the stomach? If someone has to marry, you go. I certainly won't!"
Upon learning she was going to marry someone out of the blue, she immediately expressed her discontent.
Now, reflecting back, Hou Yuxiao remembered his father's complex expression at that moment—pleased, yet mostly disappointed, followed by a long silence, and at last, he let out a resigned sigh.
"You may wish to marry, but the other party has to be willing to take you as well!"
At that time, none of the five siblings understood, but after five days, they learned the truth.
On December 25 in the year 1319 of the New Yu Era, which was the day the marriage agreement expired, the Hou Clan welcomed two uninvited guests.
They were a pair of young men and women who seemed not to belong to the mortal world. The man was dressed in white, surpassing the snow, holding a spear about a zhang long, and accompanied by a woman who looked like a fairy in a white dress. Both possessed an extraordinary aura that seemed untainted by the world, their every move exuding an air of nobility.
On that day, Hou Tong, accompanied by his five children, respectfully ushered the two into the Main Hall of the Hou Mansion.
"No wonder the spies from the Villa