The Legend of Min Hong

Chapter 16: The Mysterious Cottage

"Grandpa discovered this waterfall a long time ago when he was hunting magical beasts, he nearly lost his life then because there were so many magic beasts living here and their leader was a dragon that had an extremely faint dragon bloodline within its blood. The dragon fought with grandpa for a long time before he was forced to retreat."

"About two years later, grandpa gathered our parents including your mom. Grandpa fought the dragon whilst the rest chased the rest of the beasts away. After grandpa gravely injured the dragon it fled and would only return to attack the castle every three years."

"But the dragon left about six years ago never to return. That's what I heard from dad, although he was not very specific, the battle that occurred then must have been massive because he said the dragon was at Mid-level Dan Formation stage at that time." Min Jiao narrated to Min Hong as they approached one of the courtyards in the front.

Min Jiao pointed Min Hong to their fourth uncle's cottage before she turned around and left. Min Hong proceeded to the one on his left.

"Come in!" a voice floated out of the cottage before Min Hong could even knock. Min Hong was momentarily stunned, but he swiftly recovered and stepped in. It was a single room, plain and unadorned with only a single praying mat and oil lamp.

A bulky figure was seated on the praying mat in the middle of the room. He was fair, with a short black hair, and even though he was sitting, he was still about the same height as Min Hong and he looked to be in his mid-thirties, but Min Hong Knows cultivators looks age very slowly. His grandpa was a good example, even though he was over seventy years old, he still looked in his forties.

Therefore, he knew this man's age should be at least in the late forties or there about, especially when one looks into his eyes. Those deep brown pupils show that he had seen his share of the things of this world.

"Greetings fourth uncle Min Jin. Grandpa told me to come find you, so I can learn about this resort." Min Hong said as he clasped his hands in greeting.

"It seems your meridians have finally appeared. Good! It's not appropriate for you to be the only child in the 3rd generation who hasn't started cultivating." Min Jin lifted his head as he inspected and noticed the lingering Qi on his body.

"There's nothing special about the mansion, so I'd move straight to this courtyard. The cottages are ranked according to the level of influence in the family, in the order; middle, right and left.

This cottage on the left is mine and the next one in the middle located directly above the stream belongs to your mother, while the last one the right belongs to your second uncle, Min Chen."

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"The next three cottages behind us belongs to the three elders of the family, elders; Min Shan, Min Shin and Min Shui, in that order. There are all brothers of the same parent. Their parents and father were cousins in the clan, but their parents were Killed on a mission outside the clan, and since, their parents and father were close, they decided to follow father. So, anytime you meet them you should pay your respects, as they've sacrificed a lot for this family"

"The last three belongs to your third uncle Min Lei, father and your first uncle Min Bolin, in the order, from left to right. As for the last courtyard just in front of the waterfall, it is a restricted area and even grandpa rarely talks about it. Furthermore, the closer you are to the water the denser the Qi mist, that is why the middle cottages are best since it sits directly atop the stream."

Min Jin explained everything at once as he looked at Min Hong who didn't seem to be bothered with the loads of information, he then nodded before he continued; "Since you're here, it must be to soak. You can open the cottage next to mine with your mother's token, you will find a bath there with flowing stream water, then you can soak in it."

"Fourth Uncle Actually, grandpa gave me his token, so" Min Hong smiled bitterly, he just understood the value of the Family Head token in this resort, and didn't know if this fourth uncle of his would get angry at the thought of him taking the best spot in the courtyard.

"Eeh! Father gave you his token? I heard the last time, he gave it to your sister to access the body refining techniques in the martial art section of the family library, was that for you also?" Min Jin asked, he was really surprised by the revelation.

"Hmm! I wanted to cultivate, but at that time father said it would be harmful to cultivate the Min Family's Qi refining techniques, so I chose to cultivate the Body instead." Min Hong replied.

"Alright. You can go ahead, but make sure not to disturb the elders and your uncles that are in seclusion. It's an extremely bad thing to do and anyone would be very angry if they were disturbed in the middle of seclusion" Min Jin strictly warned.

Min Hong nodded in ascent when he heard Min Jin's warning. He could more or less guess how it feels when someone interrupts a person's seclusion.

If he were to explain it, he would liken it to a painter who was currently painting a masterpiece, only to have someone hit him on the arm. That bad stroke, no matter how small, would destroy the essence and meaning behind the painting, rendering both the painting and painter's efforts completely useless.

One could imagine how furious such a painter could be, not to talk of cultivators. Cultivators might kill the person who interrupted their seclusion in a fit of rage, which is one of the reasons why they choose a quiet and secluded place to do that.

His uncles and these elders were good examples, they even left their homes and came to the secluded courtyard area in the resort to undergo their seclusion.

Min Hong also quietly sighed in relief that, his fourth uncle wasn't petty enough to hold a grudge over the fact that grandpa Min Tian gave him the Family Head Token, otherwise it might lead to too much attention.

Furthermore, since he will be cultivating in this place in the future, and the technique he would be training in is the same one which his third uncle had been eyeing for a long time, he would need to be extremely careful not to attract any unwanted attention throughout this period of time.

It took Min Hong another five minutes before he could reach his grandpa's cottage. When he got there, the Qi mist in the area was so dense, he could only vaguely make out all the other cottages around him as he was already deep into the courtyard.

He opened the door with the token in his hand and slowly walked in, this was the cottage of a peak Dan Formation expert. He carefully inspected the entire room in a very detailed manner, but the only thing he could see, was a praying mat, an oil lamp and a bath tub filled with misty cool water.

He walked forward and sat on the praying mat, observing the entire room from that spot. Only then did he manage to see some very faint scribblings that looked like they've been made with Qi. These scribblings seemed to be some insights his grandfather gained whilst meditating and then wrote so, the next generation family head will benefit from.

He stood up from the praying mat and then went towards the back of the room where the bath was located. There he saw a small window, which seemed like what his grandpa uses anytime he wants to gaze at the waterfall. He then stood in front of the window to have a look.

Although, one could have a clearer view of the waterfall from here, it also gave one a clearer view of the thatched cottage than from his fourth uncle's place.

But asides from the very few motes of light that disappeared into the cottage at different intervals, there was nothing special about it. But, Min Hong knew this cottage was anything but simple, otherwise it won't be a restricted area that even his grandpa doesn't frequent.

But since this wasn't the reason he came here, and he seemed to have wasted a bit of time since he got here because it was already noon. Pushing every other thought to the back of his mind, he instantly stripped before stepping into the cool water leaving only his underpants.

The instant Min Hong soaked himself into the bath, he felt all his flesh and muscles tighten and then he rigorously shivered in pleasure, before popping sounds rang out from his entire body. Min Hong suddenly had a strange feeling welling up inside him. It was weak energy flowing through his body and rushing into his bones and muscles.

The energy kept flowing faster and faster until a wild surge of energy erupted from the deepest corner of his body, this feeling was mind-blowing, all his muscles and bones shook. Afterwards, his entire world suddenly went silent.

"Ba-dump! Ba-dump!"

Min Hong could hear his own heartbeat loud and clear. With his heartbeat racing, the cells throughout his body were activated. Every inch of his body became sensitive and he could clearly feel everything taking place all over him. He could even feel the slightest movement of his body hair as the Qi mist brushed against his body.

This strange energy started to spread from every part of his body, and all of a sudden, they gushed through 8 points in his body trying to force their way through, while his veins and blood vessels were also emitting an absorption force from within. It felt like countless electrical charge was streaking through his entire vascular system.

These energies immediately bore through his skin at 8 different points in his body and then poured into something that felt like a vein he never had before; one went through his forehead surging through his skull and everything it contained, another one went straight through his chest, entering his heart and moving through his arteries and veins.

Another two went through his abdomen, spreading through everything it contained. Then the remaining four gushed through his four limbs, before the energies in the stream water and Qi mist gushed into his body through these 8 locations causing the mist to whistle and the stream water to roar.

Afterwards, an acute pain spread through his entire body originating from those eight points, before he fainted and sunk into the bath.