Time passed quickly.
After a busy morning, Zhang Wei's family prepared the offerings and cleaned the ancestral graves. By the time the memorial ceremony concluded, it was already afternoon.
"Are you guys hungry? I'll treat you to a good meal, haha. I know a great local restaurant near the ancestral home, it's delicious. I always go there after paying respects to our ancestors."
Zhang Ping exhaled, patting his stomach, looking as if he was finally done with the ancestral rites.
He hadn't gone back yet. He had promised to take Zhang Wei back to the ancestral home. Before that, he checked the time and estimated the travel time back. He figured it would be dark by the time they returned, so he decided to take everyone to eat first, then visit the ancestral home, and find a hotel to stay in nearby.
"Okay."
Zhang Wei agreed. It had been a while since he'd spent time with his parents, so he said,
"I'll pay. Eat to your heart's content. I only now realize how hard ancestral worship is. I should have accompanied you more often."
"Haha, you're a filial son. Come with us for ancestral worship from now on."
Zhang Ping laughed heartily.
...
Meanwhile.
On a mountain in Fujian Province, the area was covered in lush, dense flowers and plants. Upon closer inspection, one could see numerous pits in the ground. Despite the erosion of time, flowers and grass had grown over them, but a careful look revealed that these pits were arranged in a peculiar, orderly fashion, clearly not naturally formed.
If Zhang Wei or Lu Lianxue were present, they would surely recognize that the arrangement of these pits was none other than the feng shui array of an ancestral grave, meant to ensure the continuation of descendants.
At this moment.
The Fengmen Zombie arrived here.
Not long after recovering some of his memories, he returned to the Senluo Division, presented a fabricated version of his recovered memories to Senluo, and then left the Senluo Division under the guise of finding a way to fully recover his memories, coming to this place.
"How could this be? Where are my family's ancestral graves? Where are the tombs of my ancestors? Why are they all gone? Who did this? Who did this!!! Who dug up my family's ancestral graves, ah!!!"
The Fengmen Zombie looked at the pits, his usual calm and chilling demeanor replaced by a frenzy. It was as if the zombie tide mist had driven him mad, his corpse energy surging violently.
He roared.
He approached each pit, rummaging through the surrounding flowers and grass, trying to find any clues buried beneath them.
Not long ago.
While conversing with Senluo, the Fengmen Zombie had recovered more memories, recalling several scenes. Among them, he remembered the location of his family's residence, specifically the ancestral home and ancestral graves. These were the most important places for his family, with the ancestral graves located behind the ancestral home.
After leaving the Senluo Division, he followed the remembered location and found the ancestral home.
However, upon reaching the site of the ancestral home, he couldn't see it at all, nor could he find the ancestral graves. The ground was covered in flowers and grass that had regrown over time, and apart from a few pits, specifically the excavated grave mounds, it was difficult to tell that people had ever lived there.
But it was precisely these pits that made the Fengmen Zombie realize his memories were correct; there were ancestral graves here, but they were now gone, completely excavated, and even the ancestral home had vanished.
"Ah!!!!"
The Fengmen Zombie roared at the sky in anger. He couldn't find any clues, as if the place had been wiped clean by time, leaving no trace of his family.
"How could this be? Didn't Zhang Wei say that although the family had declined, there were still clan members? How could they not even protect their ancestral graves? This shouldn't be. As long as the family still existed, they shouldn't have lost their ancestral home and graves."
The Fengmen Zombie couldn't understand. From his recovered memories, he knew his family's prosperity. With his family's foundation, no matter how fallen, even if only one descendant remained, they wouldn't sell off their ancestral home, let alone have their ancestral graves dug up. This was a grave taboo.
Thinking of this.
The Fengmen Zombie quickly took out his phone and sent a message to Zhang Wei, wanting to ask what was going on.
[Fengmen Zombie]: Zhang Wei, are you there? Can you reply?
[Zhang Wei]: Huh? Didn't you go back to the Senluo Division, Ancestral Grandfather? How do you have time to message me? Be careful not to get caught.
[Fengmen Zombie]: I've already left the Senluo Division. Also, I have good news for you, I've recovered some memories!
After sending the message.
Zhang Wei, who was eating with his parents and Qiu Xiaolin, felt his heart skip a beat. He thought to himself, "Oh no."
"Recovered some memories? This is troublesome, it's about to be exposed."
Zhang Wei frowned slightly and muttered, but he didn't panic. He tapped on his phone screen to reply.
[Zhang Wei]: Really?! Congratulations, Ancestral Grandfather, haha. What memories have you recovered, Ancestral Grandfather? Our family has declined so much, we've lost so much. Tell me quickly what you remember.
[Fengmen Zombie]: I'll tell you about the memories later. I want to ask, Zhang Wei, where is our ancestral home? Where are the ancestral graves? Why are they all gone? I just came to the location of the ancestral home, and they're all gone. The graves have been dug up, and the ancestral home is gone too.
The Fengmen Zombie frowned. His previous trust in Zhang Wei was now wavering after the excavation of the ancestral graves. He couldn't help but suspect if Zhang Wei was truly his descendant or an imposter. With the ancestral home and graves gone, if Zhang Wei was truly his descendant, how could he have allowed the ancestral graves to be dug up?
[Ding! Fengmen Zombie... Why is my ancestral home gone? The ancestral graves have been dug up. That is the most important place for our family. Is Zhang Wei lying?]
[Host has obtained System Points +500]
On the other side.
Zhang Wei looked at Fengmen Zombie's reply, his eyebrows slightly raised. It seemed Fengmen Zombie was suspecting him. After thinking for a moment, he glanced at his father, Zhang Ping, and replied:
[Zhang Wei]: The ancestral graves are still there, they were just relocated because we offended some enemies. As for the ancestral home, in the last few generations, our family has declined, and many things from the ancestral home have been sold.
After sending the message.
[Ding! Fengmen Zombie... Sold? Relocated graves? Is this an excuse? No, I need to find a way to test Zhang Wei. Right, the mural in the ancestral home! Father said that the stone mural is the core of our family. Even if the family declined, they would never sell it. It's a symbol of family honor.]
[Host has obtained System Points +600]
Stone mural?
Zhang Wei was stunned. He seemed to recall something and instinctively looked at his father, Zhang Ping. He remembered... his father had mentioned to him before that there was a stone mural in the ancestral home.
"Fengmen Zombie's ancestral home also has a stone mural? What a coincidence! Do both our families have stone murals? Could it be... he really is my ancestor."
Just then.
Fengmen Zombie sent a message:
[Fengmen Zombie]: Sold?! Everything was sold?! Are you sure?
Looking at Fengmen Zombie's message, Zhang Wei pondered for a moment and replied:
[Zhang Wei]: Not everything. Only some ancestral antiques were sold. However, the stone mural, which symbolizes family honor, was not sold. I don't know if you remembered the stone mural in your recovered memories, Ancestral Grandfather. It represents our family's honor. If you can remember it, that would be the best.
[Ding! Fengmen Zombie... Haha, Zhang Wei knows about the stone mural. That's great, I was so scared. I thought Zhang Wei wasn't my descendant. If he knows, then it should be correct. He is indeed my descendant.]
[Host has obtained System Points +700]
The Fengmen Zombie breathed a sigh of relief. He was too afraid that Zhang Wei wasn't his descendant. If that were the case, he wouldn't be able to find any descendant of his family. He didn't want to see his family disappear into the annals of time.
At that moment.
The Fengmen Zombie sent a message:
[Fengmen Zombie]: I remember. I remember the stone mural. Although I only have fragmented memories of my father taking me to see the mural, I remember it. The mural depicting our ancestor digging a well is our family's honor.