"Knock knock knock"
Gentle knocking sounds echoed continuously.
The sound drifted faintly through the cold wind.
"Second Uncle, it's Shuo. I've brought Feng'er to see Xin one last time..."
"Second Uncle..."
Holding an aged jar of wine, Dugu Feng watched as his father kept knocking on the door, thinking that with Dugu Bo's strength as a Titled Douluo, he must hear them clearly.
But the man simply refused to open the door!
When Dugu Feng had transmigrated into this body with the same name last night, he'd been somewhat excited. With Dugu Bo as his granduncle, wouldn't he have access to Immortal Herbs and Soul Bones whenever he wanted?
But after merging with the original host's memories, his heart sank halfway.
Though this body was only four years old, it held plenty of memories.
They allowed him to easily understand the backstory.
His grandfather Dugu Hao and Dugu Bo were twin brothers - Dugu Hao the elder, Dugu Bo the younger.
But somehow, the brothers' relationship had deteriorated over time.
Eventually they agreed to a decisive battle before breaking through to Soul Saint rank. Though Dugu Feng's memories contained no details of this fight.
Later, Dugu Bo kept breaking through realms while his grandfather remained stuck, unable to advance to Soul Saint.
The outcome spoke for itself.
Even when his grandfather finally succumbed to the Jade Phosphorous Serpent's poison about twenty years ago, Dugu Bo never came to see him.
Just what kind of grudge was this?
Dugu Feng burned with curiosity.
Today was special - it marked both Dugu Bo's ascension as a Titled Douluo that shook Heaven Dou Empire, and the death of his only son Dugu Xin.
That's why his father Dugu Shuo had brought him here.
Dugu Shuo's figure as he kept knocking appeared somewhat frail and utterly desolate.
Creak!
The door opened.
A girl in white mourning clothes peeked out. About eight or nine years old, she had short deep purple hair, green eyes, and a pale face clearly marked by recent tears.
"Yan Yan..." Dugu Shuo mumbled.
His voice carried a trace of shame.
The girl's eyes were moist but her tone icy: "Go away. Grandfather doesn't want to see you. Father doesn't need your farewell either!"
Bang!
The door slammed shut.
"Ah... Feng'er, give me the wine."
As if expecting this, Dugu Shuo took the wine jar from Dugu Feng.
He began pouring it onto the ground.
"Feng'er, kowtow to your uncle. Consider this our farewell."
Dugu Shuo pulled Dugu Feng down to kneel.
After three kowtows,
they stood up. Holding Dugu Feng's small hand, Dugu Shuo slowly walked toward the street.
Dugu Feng glanced back at the mansion gates over six meters tall. Above the entrance hung a plaque bearing two large characters: "Jade Phosphorous."
As if committing this place to memory.
Inside the mansion, the main hall had been arranged as a funeral parlor.
A tall, thin old man who stood straight as a spear leaned against the coffin, eyes filled with regret and gloom.
He'd broken through to Titled Douluo, but his son had died from poison.
Between extreme joy and grief, Dugu Bo didn't know how he'd made it through this day.
Footsteps approached as Dugu Yan returned to the hall.
"Grandfather, I chased them away!"
"Hmph. They won't live much longer anyway. Expecting me to save them?
Xin is dead. Why aren't you dead yet? What right do you have to keep living?"
"Big brother, when you acted so ruthlessly back then, did you ever imagine this day would come? I will watch as your Poison Cultivation Lineage perishes completely!"
Dugu Bo sneered inwardly.
His nephew Dugu Shuo, with his green hair and sunken eyes, must be suffering daily from poison flare-ups and wouldn't last much longer.
His grandnephew Dugu Feng had streaks of green mixed into his black hair, a sign that he had been born with lethal poison in his veins—he, too, was doomed.
"Die, all of you. The cleaner the better," Dugu Bo muttered under his breath.
His gaze shifted to the coffin. "Xin'er, you and Dugu Shuo were so close as children. Don't worry, he'll be joining you soon."
Suppressing his dark thoughts, Dugu Bo softened his expression and turned to scoop Dugu Yan into his arms. "Good girl, Yan Yan, you've been so brave. From now on, you'll stay with Grandpa. I'll take care of you."
Comforted by her grandfather, Dugu Yan could no longer hold back her tears and sobbed into his chest.
Outside the Dugu estate, the streets were nearly deserted. The Dugu family's fearsome reputation was well-known throughout Heaven Dou, and most people avoided them out of fear of their poison.
Only two mansions stood on the entire street—one to the east, the other to the west.
Both belonged to the Dugu family, though they were two separate households.
Dugu Shuo gripped his son Dugu Feng's hand tightly, as if afraid something might happen to him.
After a short while, the two returned to their own mansion.
To Dugu Feng, the estate felt like a labyrinth. Without the intact memories of his past self, he would have gotten lost. Even so, many parts of the vividly colored courtyard were off-limits—places even his past self had never entered.
The sprawling mansion was eerily quiet, with hardly any servants in sight.
His eyes inadvertently fell on his father, Dugu Shuo.
He was surprised. Based on their earlier behavior outside Dugu Bo's estate, his father and Dugu Bo's only son, Dugu Xin, must have been close. His father should have been grieving.
Yet Dugu Shuo's expression was dark, with occasional flashes of coldness—nothing like the hesitant demeanor he had shown around Dugu Yan.
A wave of fear washed over Dugu Feng.
This was his past self's instinctive reaction, reinforced by memories of being strictly drilled in all kinds of knowledge from the moment he could read.
Dugu Shuo was harsher on his son than the most extreme "tiger parents" of later generations.
From a young age, Dugu Feng had spent every waking moment studying—knowledge of spirit beasts, medicinal herbs, spirit power, combat disciplines...
The slightest distraction during lessons would earn him punishment.
Dugu Feng's heart pounded. He had only transmigrated last night and had been taken to Dugu Bo's estate this morning.
He hadn't had time to fully process these memories.
Now, as he pieced them together, a chill ran down his spine.
Creak—
A grating door hinge snapped Dugu Feng out of his thoughts.
He hurriedly stepped over the threshold into the room.
"Tablets? This is an ancestral hall!" Dugu Feng realized with a start—this was where memorial tablets were enshrined.
Dozens of rows lined the altar in the main hall, but each row held no more than three tablets at most, a testament to the Dugu family's dwindling lineage.
Incense smoke curled upward, filling the room with a hazy mist.
"Kneel!" Dugu Shuo commanded coldly.
As if by muscle memory, Dugu Feng immediately dropped to his knees.
"Feng'er, I knew you wouldn't die so easily.
I've lost eight women—four of them carrying my unborn children."
At the age of thirty-six, the eighth woman finally bore the bloodline of our Dugu family, and that's how you came to be. The moment you were born, you caused your mother's death.
You have an incredibly tough fate!
But I never expected you to suffer from poison backlash at just four years old. According to our clan records, those of the Cultivated Serpent Lineage only experience poison backlash when they reach Soul King.
For our Poison Cultivation Lineage, it should at least be Soul Venerable before poison backlash occurs.
Yet you, at four years old, suffered poison backlash before even awakening your Martial Soul.
This shows just how potent the Jade Phosphorous Serpent poison within you is—your talent is undoubtedly greater than mine!
Your grandfather lost to the Cultivated Serpent Lineage, but I've outlived Brother Xin—I won.
You, with talent surpassing mine, must fulfill your grandfather's dying wish and surpass your second uncle.
Do you hear me?"
Dugu Shuo's voice was icy, matching the eerie atmosphere of the ancestral hall filled with memorial tablets and lingering wisps of incense.