At the break of dawn, the door to the medical hall was knocked on urgently.

After a little while, a young boy rushed in.

"Young Master, Young Master Yuqi has come to visit you." Granny Lin said with a displeased expression.

Zhou Yuqi didn’t notice Granny Lin’s look of disdain and hurriedly walked into the inner room.

"Fuqiu, how is little sister Mao Mao?"

The slender boy drew the bed curtain, then turned around, revealing a face that hadn’t slept all night.

He stared intently at the tiger-headed Zhou Yuqi, as if trying to discern something from him.

Zhou Yuqi said anxiously, "I heard this morning that someone rushed into the Hai Bo Clan Elder’s medical hall last night, and when I heard it was you, I came over immediately to check on you."

Zhou Fuqiu suddenly asked, "Who are ’they’?"

Zhou Yuqi was taken aback and instinctively replied, "Yin Siniang and a few servants. Why?"

Zhou Fuqiu didn’t say anything.

Yin Siniang is the middle-aged woman who previously delivered the tonic on behalf of Seventh Uncle’s family.

Her status was similar to his own Granny Lin, both were maids brought along as dowries.

Thirty years ago, the Zhou Family took over Bailu Marsh.

Seven years ago, the Zhou Family of Bailu Marsh, the Lin Family of Qingtong, and the Yin Family of Cold River Valley formed an alliance and began preliminary cooperation.

The cooperation included many aspects, one of which was intermarriage.

A large number of low-level clan members intermarried between the three families.

In this regard, the Zhou Family benefited the most, marrying many female cultivators from the Lin and Yin families.

Zhou Fuqiu’s mother came from the Qingtong Lin Family, while Zhou Yuqi’s mother came from the Cold River Valley Yin Family.

Because of their nearly identical family backgrounds and being born in the same year, Zhou Fuqiu and Zhou Yuqi often played together and had the closest relationship.

Occasionally when playtime went overboard, they’d even eat and stay at each other’s homes.

The adults of both families also stayed closely connected, occasionally exchanging small gifts.

Like just a few days ago, when Seventh Uncle’s family had Yin Siniang deliver a tonic, it wasn’t surprising, so they didn’t check too thoroughly.

But it was precisely because of this negligence that something went wrong.

Zhou Fuqiu wanted to believe the Hai Bo Clan Elder’s words that his sister merely drank the tonic by mistake, leading to a weakened constitution. But after he took the Fire-removing Pill and expelled some inexplicable toxins, he no longer believed that those were indeed tonics!

Moreover, why did Seventh Uncle’s family know about the medical hall last night, even though it was in the morning?

Could it be that Yin Siniang was always monitoring his family?

Was it her doing, or was it at the behest of Seventh Uncle and Seventh Aunt?

"Fuqiu, what’s going on?"

A perplexed voice echoed by his ear, bringing Zhou Fuqiu back to his senses.

"It’s nothing. Mao Mao is just feeling a bit unwell. We’ll be heading home shortly."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuqi breathed a sigh of relief, a smile appearing on his face as he repeatedly said, "As long as she’s okay, as long as she’s okay, little sister Mao Mao is too frail, you as her brother have been negligent, you should take better care of her in the future!"

"Mm." Zhou Fuqiu nodded gently, his gaze still fixed on Zhou Yuqi.

That smile was sincere, carrying the pure innocence unique to children.

"He probably has no knowledge of it, right?" Zhou Fuqiu thought.

Outside the medical hall, the rain continued to fall, as if it would never stop.

The Zhou family’s cultivators seemed to have long been accustomed to it.

Only, because clan resources were currently scarce, they hadn’t set up a big formation to shield against this bone-chilling spring rain.

By noon, when the rain had lessened.

Granny Lin held an umbrella as Zhou Fuqiu carried the still-sleeping Mao Mao on his back, walking out of the medical hall.

The tiger-headed Zhou Yuqi followed behind, intending to escort them home.

However, after stepping out of the medical hall’s doors, Zhou Fuqiu suddenly spoke up.

"Yuqi, you don’t need to see us off. Go home!"

Zhou Yuqi was dumbfounded.

As he wanted to say something, his friend had already walked into the rain with his sister on his back under a servant’s care, his silhouette gradually blurry.

...

The Zhou Family has a legacy of eight hundred years in the North Sea.

At its peak, the clan had over ten thousand cultivators and more than a billion clan members, far surpassing ordinary Nascent Soul Ascendant Sects, almost indistinguishable from a secular dynasty.

Unfortunately, during the escapade from the North Sea, only a few dozen members remained.

It was incredibly tragic!

Only after arriving in Zhongzhou and a hundred years of recuperation and regeneration did they barely recover some Yuan Qi.

However, the number of core clan members was actually not much.

The "core clan members" mentioned here refer to those who can cultivate and have the formal generational title, not the collateral branches who are unworthy of having that title.

From Ancestor Zhou Yunshen downwards, the second generation only has five members, who are now the Zhou family’s Five Great Golden Cores.

The third generation has about a hundred or so members.

Zhou Fuqiu’s father, Zhou Baihan, is one of them, belonging to the Hai generation.

And because he successfully reached Foundation Establishment, he holds a certain status in the current Zhou Family.

Thus, Zhou Fuqiu’s family not only has their own separate courtyard but also an impressive Second Order Middle Grade Cave Mansion, enough to support the daily cultivation of Zhou Baihan and Lin Jingshu as a couple.

Aside from Granny Lin, there are also several mortal servants in the family who cannot cultivate, attending to their daily needs.

After Zhou Baihan and his wife went out to perform tasks, Zhou Fuqiu then became the de facto and titular head of the family.

Upon returning home, he first settled his sister, instructed Granny Lin to care for her closely, then headed back to his favorite Green Water Pavilion.

He needed to be alone now.

Overnight, the sudden upheaval had left the young boy’s mind extremely fatigued, his thoughts far more chaotic than at any point since he could remember four years ago.

Standing by the pavilion, his scattered gaze fell on the green algae and water plants beneath, the boy quietly daydreaming.

Gradually, his focus started to return, and his expression became resolute.