Chapter 24
After a few hours of travel, the convoy finally slowed.
The carriage wheels rolled to a stop.
Zan Tianming stepped down first.
And the moment he looked up.
Before them stretched the true Zan Family grounds.
Unlike the outer manor they had just passed through, this place was on an entirely different scale.
Flat fertile land extended widely in every direction, carefully cultivated and organized like a miniature kingdom. Behind it rose a continuous mountain range, forming a natural barrier like a protective dragon spine guarding the estate.
The entire region was vast so vast it could comfortably hold thousands of Zan Clan members without feeling crowded.
Zan Moxuan and Zan Yin stepped down after him, both frozen in place.
“This is Grandfather residence?” Zan Moxuan muttered.
Zan Yin slowly nodded.
“It feels more like a sect…”
Shenyuu gently lowered her fan, her eyes scanning the surroundings with rare seriousness.
“This level of structure… even noble clans in the capital can’t compare.”
At the center of everything stood the main gate.
It was no longer a simple manor entrance.
It was a grand gateway carved from obsidian, engraved with subtle runes that faintly pulsed with energy.
The Guards were fully armed.
On both sides, servants moved efficiently, maintaining order with practiced discipline.
And beyond them.
The inner grounds stretched endlessly.
As the carriage fully stopped, Zan Wei stepped forward casually from the front.
“Welcome,” he said lazily. “This is the Zan Family Grounds.”
He pointed inward.
“Main residence is deeper inside. Training grounds are to the left. Storage and merchant halls are to the right.”
The servants bowed respectfully to Zan Wei.
“Greetings Elder Wei.”
At that moment.
A group of young disciples in uniform robes passed by respectfully, bowing toward Zan Wei.
“Elder Wei!”
“Elder Wei!”
Zan Tianming frowned slightly.
“Since when did we have disciples?”
Zan Wei waved them off without even looking.
“Those are recruits I gathered while Father was in seclusion, also they're not cultivator.”
Zan Yin blinked.
That answer made everyone go silent for a moment.
Even Zan Tianming felt a slight headache forming.
Shenyuu looked around again, this time more carefully.
“So this entire place is managed like a sect?”
Zan Wei nodded casually.
“More or less.”
Then he added:
“But the real head of everything is still Father.”
At the mention of Zan Yunxiao.
The atmosphere subtly shifted again.
Even the wind seemed to quiet slightly, as if acknowledging a deeper presence within the grounds.
Zan Tianming exhaled slowly.
“…Then let’s go.”
Zan Wei turned and walked ahead.
“Follow me. He should already know you’re here.”
The group followed.
Each step deeper into the Zan Family Grounds made the pressure in the air grow denser.
As they walked deeper into the vast Zan Family Grounds, the surroundings became quieter, more refined, as if the entire land itself was separated from the outside world.
Rows of buildings, training courtyards, spirit fields, and cultivation pavilions stretched into the distance. Servants and disciples moved respectfully along marked paths, bowing whenever they passed Zan Wei.
The sheer scale of everything left Zan Moxuan and Zan Yin silent.
Even Zan Tianming remained thoughtful.
Then, breaking the quiet, Zan Shenyuu gently tilted her head while walking beside them.
“Husband,” she asked calmly, fanning herself once, “what is the origin of our family?”
Her tone was casual, but her eyes carried genuine curiosity.
“Origin?”
He frowned slightly.
“Now that you mention it… I don't actually know..”
Zan Yin also paused.
“Father never really explained it in detail.”
The two brothers exchanged a glance.
All their lives, they had known the Zan Family as something already established, powerful in influence, and respected in the capital.
As they arrived at the entrance of the Main Hall of the Zan Family Grounds, the entire atmosphere changed instantly.
The air grew still.
The surrounding sound of servants and disciples faded as if the world itself had lowered its voice.
Even the wind seemed to hesitate.
Zan Wei stopped at the steps and stepped aside casually.
“We’re here.”
Zan Tianming took a slow step forward first.
The moment his foot crossed the threshold.
A pressure descended.
Like standing before something far beyond ordinary understanding.
Zan Moxuan immediately felt his breathing tighten slightly.
“What is this feeling?”
Zan Yin’s expression turned serious as he instinctively adjusted his stance.
Even Shenyuu’s calm demeanor broke for a moment.
And the young children who had been hiding behind the adults suddenly felt it too.
The moment they stepped into the main hall’s threshold.
A strange pressure pressed down on their small bodies.
Not painful.
But overwhelming in a way they could not understand.
One of the younger children instinctively grabbed their parent’s sleeve.
“…It’s hard to breathe…”
Another took a step back, eyes wide.
“W-What is this…?”
Even Zan Moxuan and Zan Yin’s children, who had been excited moments ago, suddenly fell silent and stiffened.
Shenyuu noticed immediately and gently pulled her child closer to her side.
“Stay calm,” she said softly.
But even she could feel it.
That faint, indescribable weight in the air.
Zan Tianming’s expression tightened slightly as he noticed the younger generation struggling.
“…Father,” he murmured.
But before anyone could act.
Something changed.
The pressure did not intensify.
Instead.
It stabilized.
Then slowly.
It softened.
Like a massive ocean that had suddenly calmed its waves upon recognizing familiar life entering its domain.
The suffocating feeling faded little by little.
The children blinked in confusion.
“…Huh?”
“The pressure… it’s gone?”
Zan Yin let out a quiet breath he didn’t realize he had been holding.
“…It disappeared…”
Zan Moxuan slowly straightened.
“What just happened?”
Shenyuu looked ahead, her eyes narrowing slightly.
As the pressure fully settled, the Zan family finally lifted their gaze deeper into the main hall.
The interior was far larger than expected calm, spacious, and filled with faint traces of refined spiritual energy that lingered like invisible threads in the air.
Only then did they notice it clearly.
On the side of the main hall, two beautiful women sat calmly like observing elders, their gazes resting on the newcomers with quiet curiosity and faint amusement.
Zan Moxuan and Zan Yin both stiffened slightly.
“…Who are those two?” Zan Moxuan whispered.
“And why are they looking at us like we’re something interesting?”
Shenyuu also narrowed her eyes slightly, studying them in silence.
Before anyone could ask further.
A familiar voice suddenly sounded.
“Ah.”
Xueyun stood up.
The moment she moved, her gentle presence immediately shifted the atmosphere.
She looked exactly as she always had youthful, elegant, and almost unreal in appearance despite the passage of time.
Then, without hesitation.
She walked directly toward Zan Tianming.
And hugged him.
“…”
The entire hall went silent.
Zan Tianming froze for half a second.
“…Mother.”
Only then did the others in the hall realize what they had just witnessed.
Zan Moxuan’s eyes widened.
“…Mother?”
Zan Yin blinked rapidly.
“That’s… our grandmother?”
Shenyuu also paused slightly.
Because the woman in front of them.
Looked far too young.
Far too beautiful.
Far too wrong for the title “grandmother.”
Meanwhile, Xueyun gently patted Zan Tianming’s back like he was still a child.
“You look tired,” she said softly.
Zan Tianming sighed.
“Mother… I’m already old enough to be a grandfather myself. Please don’t treat me like a child.”
Xueyun tilted her head.
“Hmm… if you say so.”
Then she turned around casually and looked toward the stunned younger generation.
Her gaze softened.
“Oh.”
“So these are my grandchildren?”
She smiled gently.
“Hello.”
“I’m your grandmother.”
Silence.
A very deep silence followed.
Zan Moxuan slowly pointed at her.
“…Grandmother?”
Zan Yin’s mouth opened slightly but no words came out.
Shenyuu stared for a moment longer, then slowly looked at Zan Tianming as if seeking confirmation.
“Father…She’s your mother?”
Zan Tianming closed his eyes briefly and sighed.
“Yes.”
The hall remained completely frozen for a few seconds.
Because no matter how they looked at her.
It was still impossible to reconcile the image of this young, elegant woman with the idea that she was the grandmother of multiple generations.
At that moment, Zan Wei lazily added from the side:
“Welcome to the Zan Family.”
“Try not to think too hard about appearances.”