Chapter 138

Hua Manlou—He was blind, living on a small first floor, listening to the flowers bloom and fade, and watching the clouds roll and unroll.

No matter how large the Hua family’s business empire was, Hua Manlou seemed to only have his small building, simple clothes, and a warm smile.

Yet, that small building was filled with flowers and teeming with life.

He silently defeated the enemy that devoured him—the darkness—without letting anyone see his hard work.

It loves all things gently, never loses its temper, yet has an irresistible persistence.

To the revered Ximen, who was treated like a god, he simply said, “I don’t like this person.”

Faced with Shangguan Feiyan’s deception, he only said:

“You’re right, I never asked you to like me.”

This is the kind of person Lu Xiaofeng thinks of first when he needs help; the person he wants to wait for in the small building after escaping danger; the person he can softly call out “Hua Manlou” when facing life and death in the darkness; the only person who remains rational even when everyone thinks he has betrayed Ximen.

They are people who cannot see all things, yet possess the world.

A person who reminds people how to love all things when they are disappointed with the world.

This person is an anomaly in Gu Long’s novels, representing another realm in martial arts fiction. There is no killing, no bloodshed, only tolerance and magnanimity, gratitude for beauty, and love for life.

Hua Manlou is the seventh young master of the Hua family in Jiangnan. His family is extremely wealthy. He has been blind since childhood (the original novel only mentions that he lost his sight at the age of seven. Here, Hua Manlou’s eyes were blinded when he was a child by the Iron Shoe Bandit – Ghost King, who is the person Lu Xiaofeng wanted to capture at the beginning of the movie). However, he is still full of gratitude for life and love for people.

He was Lu Xiaofeng’s sworn brother, a pacifist who never complained, loved nature, was handsome and gentle, but also highly skilled in martial arts. His skills of “Flowing Clouds and Flying Sleeves” and “Locating by Sound” were unparalleled in the martial arts world.

This usually quiet and composed person was very excited today because he was no longer the youngest of the three generations of the Hua family. From today onwards, he had a younger brother, Hua Wuque, the eldest disciple and personal disciple of the two palace masters of the famous Yihua Palace.

Hua Manlou was not young anymore, he was in his mid-twenties, but he vaguely remembered his aunt, who was a very beautiful and gentle woman. When he went blind, it was his aunt who encouraged him in various ways, and even left him with the Yihua Palace’s unique skill, “Flowing Clouds and Flying Sleeves”.

Not long after, Hua Manlou heard the news that his aunt and uncle had both passed away. The reason he had mastered the “Flowing Clouds and Flying Sleeves” technique was actually because he missed his aunt who had always encouraged him and cared for him. Unfortunately, he could no longer see her.

But things are different now. His aunt’s posthumous child is still alive and will be officially recognized by the Hua family today, to be adopted by his father and become the eighth son of the Hua family.

After all, Hua Wuque’s surname is Hua, not Jiang. He is a member of the Yihua Palace’s maternal family, one of their own.

After learning the whole story, Hua Manlou was not sure how to comment on the matter between Jiang Feng and Hua Yuenü.

Originally, Yaoyue and Huayuenü encountered the seriously injured Jiang Feng and his servant on their way back to Yihua Palace from the Hua family. At Huayuenü’s pleading, Yaoyue took them back to Yihua Palace for treatment. However, after Jiang Feng recovered, he not only secretly spoke ill of Yaoyue behind her back, saying, “She is a ball of fire, a piece of ice, a sword; she can even be described as a ghost, a god, but definitely not a human,” but also directly abducted Yaoyue’s personal maid, Huayuenü, and the two eloped, escaping from Yihua Palace.

Hua Yuenü knows the first seven levels of the Mingyu Gong, and also knows two of the three great skills: “Flowing Clouds and Flying Sleeves” and “Transplanting Flowers and Grafting Trees”. She has also dabbled in “Transplanting Flowers and Grafting Jade”, but she has not yet truly mastered it. She must break through to the seventh level of the Mingyu Gong.

This is no small matter in the martial arts world. To put it bluntly, it’s the leakage of core techniques, which has a huge impact on a sect.

No matter how powerful a skill is, once its secrets are discovered, it will no longer be so mysterious. That’s why Young Master Yu would take action to hunt down Jiang Feng and Hua Yuenü after inviting Yue to his side.

Even Hua Manlou couldn’t say that Yihua Palace did anything wrong in this respect.

As for the claim that Jiang Feng and Hua Yuenü were killed by Yao Yue, it was actually Jiang Feng’s pageboy, Jiang Qin, who betrayed them. He notified Yan Nantian while cooperating with the Twelve Constellations, ultimately leading to the couple’s deaths at the hands of the Twelve Constellations.

When Yan Nantian arrived, Yaoyue had just finished dealing with some of them. After learning the whole story, Yan Nantian took the other twin away and chased the Twelve Constellations to the Valley of Villains. That’s when he lost contact with them, so everything was blamed on Yaoyue, and a version of love turning into hatred even emerged.

The other child naturally has the surname Jiang and belongs to the Jiang family. He has no relation to the Hua family. The only one related to the Hua family is Hua Wuque. Hua Wuque, who knows his origins and the cause and effect of his life, is also willing to acknowledge his ancestors and return to the Hua family.

After all, Yihua Palace is a female-only sect, and the palace master has always been a woman. It is impossible for him to inherit the mantle, which is why everyone calls Jiang Yuyan the young palace master.

As for the other child, only Hua Manlou and Hua Wuque in the entire Hua family would care. Everyone else would rather he and Yan Nantian disappeared together, so as not to affect the relationship between the Hua family and Yihua Palace.

After all, Jiang Feng was indeed dishonest back then, and no one would easily let go of such an ungrateful pretty boy.

Hua Ruling was also very happy and comforted today.

After all, this was his younger sister’s posthumous child. Now, not only has he mastered excellent martial arts skills, but he is also handsome and has the same charm as his younger sister back then. If it weren’t for that Jiang Feng… Thinking of this, Hua Ruling still feels somewhat resentful to this day.

The ceremony of recognizing one’s ancestors was naturally not simple, and it was incomparable to Li Huai’s. Although both sides were doing this at almost the same time, Li Huai’s ceremony was just a formality. This also shows that the Li family despised and did not welcome him.

Li Xunhuan shook his head as he watched. He quite admired his nephew Li Huai and even considered adopting him as his son, so that Li Huai… well, his nephew Li Shan could inherit his lineage.

Zhang Weihua’s previous criticism was quite reasonable. Li Xunhuan’s biggest regret was his father and brothers. He failed to fulfill even the most basic family responsibilities. I don’t know how he will face his ancestors after he passes away.

Therefore, Li Xunhuan has matured this time and seriously considered his family responsibilities. Adoption is not a bad solution.

After all, what shouldn’t have happened has happened. Hatred solves nothing; one must look forward. This is Li Xunhuan, and this is his way.