"My grandfather arrived at the Zhu family in Zhu City. Relying on his bloodline instincts, he sensed something was wrong with the family. But he also had a special encounter. Who could have thought that besides the Nine Stars Alignment, there is another phenomenon: spatial imagery."
Zhu Yanyi glanced at Zhu Xinfu. A trace of surprise appeared on Zhu Xinfu's face. "I have never told anyone about this. How did you know?"
Zhu Yanyi smiled slightly. "Many things are known to heaven and earth, and to yourselves. So you always think no one else knows. But if heaven and earth know, others will eventually find out. I naturally learned these things from what heaven and earth know."
"Naughty." Zhu Xinfu didn't believe this, but she laughed and scolded her lightly. Besides, it wasn't a big deal, so she didn't mind.
Zhu Yanyi smiled again. "Actually, spatial imagery is also an unexplained phenomenon. It is said that under certain magnetic fields, combined with lightning, it records events that happened in the past or will happen in the future. Then, it refracts and plays them out through spatial imagery. The old master's Nine Stars Alignment was a very, very rare opportunity. The spatial imagery my grandfather encountered was also a one-in-a-million chance. You can only say that the Feng Shui of the Zhu family in Zhu City is unique, allowing such things to happen."
Zhu Yanyi complained slightly, then continued, "Let me continue. In this spatial imagery, Grandfather saw the old master entering the space-time rift. He also saw everything the old master saw in the time rift. At the same time, he saw everything that would happen in the Four Towns in the future, and everything that would change the Four Towns. Finally, he saw the danger he was about to face."
"Sometimes, things destined by heaven cannot be changed. My grandfather actually knew what would happen in the future, but he could not escape. Because escaping would bring heavenly punishment, which might endanger my father and grandmother. So he chose to face it and endure it. Meanwhile, he hid the Military Advisor's Token under the old camphor tree at the village entrance, and calmly accepted the coming darkness and imprisonment."
Zhu Yanyi looked at Zhu Xinfu with a smile. "But Grandfather's endurance was quite strong. Just those forty-plus years of darkness and imprisonment—if it were me, I would have gone crazy long ago."
Zhu Xinfu chuckled lightly. "Seeing the space-time imagery, I knew I could not hide. Since I could not hide, I faced it. And I believed that after forty-plus years, I would see the light again. So I could wait." There was no gloom on Zhu Xinfu's face; instead, there was a hint of open-mindedness.
Huang Meiying, standing nearby, looked enlightened. "No wonder you were not afraid at all. Although your legs were broken, you did not become depressed, nor did you give up on yourself. When I found you, you could treat things calmly. Was it because you knew I would come?"
Zhu Xinfu shook his head slightly. "The imagery I could see was only general. I knew the Four Towns would develop and rise. I knew I would face tribulation. But in half an hour, I could not see too many detailed scenes. It just made me firmly believe that I would eventually see the light again. So I was not anxious at all. Because I was not anxious, I naturally became open-minded.
However, to be honest, later when I asked you to go find Ani and the others, I was actually worried in my heart. Because I did not know if I could still hold on. After all, in such an environment, the consumption of human energy is very large. My energy at that time had actually reached the critical point. If Ani and the others had not come, I probably would have really gone to see Venerable Yanluo."
Hearing this, Huang Meiying tightly grasped Zhu Xinfu's hand.
Zhu Yanyi watched the interaction between Zhu Xinfu and Huang Meiying from the side, her eyes filled with warmth. For the occasional display of love between her grandparents, she could only accept it with a smile. "Actually, the old master also secretly watched the Four Towns. But after watching for nearly twenty years, she stopped. Because she found that the Four Towns had not developed, she calmly believed that she had suppressed the development of the Zhu family in the Four Towns. Then, all she had to do next was find the Military Advisor's Token hidden by my grandfather. But you did not know the location of the token, and my grandfather would not cooperate. So you could only let Zhu Liangfu, who was impersonating Zhu Shenfu, go to Xiangshui to find a good Feng Shui master to calculate it."
"Is this the truth behind Zhu Shenfu going to Xiangshui?" Going to Xiangshui was to find a good Feng Shui master. Zhu Shunyao also couldn't believe it.
"What else?" Zhu Yanyi smiled faintly. "Zhu Shenfu's disappearance could be explained with any excuse. But in the old master's heart, she absolutely could not let the person Zhu Shenfu die. So the one who died had to be someone else. Therefore, the event of Zhu Liangfu's death and Zhu Shenfu's escape occurred. And she fled all the way to Xiangshui. Our country's laws were not yet sound, so there was no way to pursue those who fled abroad. Besides, Xiangshui does not belong to our Huaxia."
Zhu Yanyi continued to tell the story. "Zhu Liangfu, using the alias Zhu Shenfu, arrived in Xiangshui. Using the yellow fish given by the old master, she obtained an Xiangshui identity. From then on, she was an Xiangshui person, settling down there. What she had to do was find a good Feng Shui master to deduce the location of the Military Advisor's Token. But for someone who had just settled in Xiangshui, it was not easy to find a famous Feng Shui master. So she had to first create her own career.
Over the years, he was not without achievements. At least he got to know the Chen family. It has to be said, Mr. Zhu Shenfu was quite capable. Otherwise, he would not have been able to stand his ground in Xiangshui so quickly and develop his own industry."
Zhu Yanyi smiled. "To stand her ground, she married a wife in Xiangshui and had a son. Thus, the news spread that Zhu Shenfu had married and had a biological son in Xiangshui." Zhu Yanyi shrugged here, then continued, "
Let's go back to the old master's side. The old master wanted to make my grandfather submit through various tortures. But my grandfather was the kind of person who 'holds fast to the green mountain, with roots in broken rocks; enduring thousands of blows, he remains tough, regardless of winds from east, west, south, or north.' No matter how you tempted or threatened him, it was useless."
Zhu Yanyi laughed here, feeling very respectful towards Zhu Xinfu in her heart. At least Zhu Xinfu could endure forty-plus years of loneliness and silence. This kind of mental strength is not something just anyone can have.
Think about it. A person in a pitch-black environment, unable to speak, unable to see, unable to stand up, lying down every day. The sounds she wants to hear are absent, and the surroundings are silent. Such days would make a person break down after a few days, let alone forty-plus years. But Zhu Xinfu held on. Just for this point, Zhu Yanyi admired Zhu Xinfu.
Zhu Xinfu smiled slightly. "I just treated myself as a dead person. Eat, sleep, sleep, eat. Then recall the past, and reflect on my own behavior. In this way, actually, those forty-plus years were not wasted."