Chapter 210: Pan Mansion Mourning
Five days later, dawn.

More than a dozen horses galloped wildly, breaking the silence of the night, along the northern bank of the Huai River, all the way towards the Yingchuan city gate.

"Shut up!"

On the high slope a hundred meters away, Pan Yun hurriedly pulled the reins and turned to Liu Xunyi and said, "Brother Liu, Yingchuan City is ahead. But it's still early and the city gates are not open. We can only abandon the horses and walk into the city from the small gate in the south."

Liu Xunyi looked up and saw that the city gate in the distance was closed, so he nodded and said, "Please lead the way, Master Pan." After that, he urged everyone to pack up their bags and prepare to abandon their horses.

"Apart from the small gate in the south, are there other ways to enter the city?" Xunzhen looked around, his tone quite hesitant.

"There is a side door next to the north gate, which can also lead into the city." Pan Yun replied without hesitation.

"Okay then!" Xunzhen pointed at Abaolu, Xu Heng and the others and said quickly, "Master Liu and I will follow Master Pan into the city from the south gate, and the rest of you will enter from the north gate. After entering the city, there is no need to rush to Pan's mansion. Find an inn to stay in first. Remember not to let anyone know your identities, so as not to alert the enemy."

Xu Heng cast a suspicious look at Liu Xunyi, as if to ask what he meant. But Abaolu objected without hesitation: "No! No! If we leave, who will protect you? Let's go into the city together!"

Xunzhen shook his head and said, "There are many people in the city, and if we enter the city together, it is inevitable that we will attract attention. This time, Lord Luo hopes that we can find out the mastermind behind the scene. If the murderer sees that we are so many, he might be worried and would not show up easily. Letting you hide is to conceal our presence and to catch them by surprise. What's more..."

Having said this, Xunzhen suddenly turned her beautiful eyes, looked at Liu Xunyi who seemed to be thinking with a smile, and said jokingly: "With Sect Master Liu by my side, I believe no one can hurt a hair on my head. Sect Master Liu, don't you think so?"

The muscles on Liu Xunyi's face twitched slightly, and he forced a bitter smile. Then he turned his eyes and said to Xu Heng and others: "Miss Xunzhen is right, everything is up to her. There is a Gaosheng Inn in the city, you can stay there first, and I will find you later, be careful!"

"Yes!"

Seeing Liu Xunyi agreed, Xunzhen couldn't help but reveal a smug look on his face. He turned to Abaolu and the others who were hesitant to speak and gently waved his hand, signaling them not to say more. Then he dismounted and followed Liu Xunyi and Pan Yun towards the south gate.

Today, the sky is covered with dark clouds, the sun and moon are dim, and the world is bleak. Just like the situation of the Pan family, the haze is gathering and lingering.

The wind was blowing hard in the street, and the flags on the shops on both sides were fluttering and rustling.

Occasionally, a few people would appear, looking dejected and pale. The sky above Yingchuan City was covered by a huge dark cloud, as if a thunderstorm that had not been seen in ten years was brewing.

An hour later, Liu Xunyi and the other two arrived at the gate of the Pan Mansion, which was decorated with white paper everywhere.

Seeing this scene alone, Liu Xunyi's heart instantly became gloomy. Looking at the strips of white cloth hanging on both sides of the gate, fluttering up and down in the cold wind, an inexplicable sadness arose.

I remember how grand the gate of Pan's house was when Liu Xunyi first visited it. Pan Chuba, who was still strong and vigorous, led dozens of people from the Pan family to gather at the gate of the house and greeted Liu Xunyi and others with a smile on his face.

To this day, Pan Chuba's words and deeds are still vivid in my mind, and his voice, appearance and smile are still ringing in my ears.

Liu Xunyi doesn't admire many people in his life, and Pan Chuba is definitely one of them.

In Liu Xunyi's heart, Pan Chuba is a great hero and a true hero. He knows his mistakes and can correct them, abides by morality, and has a righteous spirit. Even if he spends his whole life to forgive his mistakes, this courage alone is worthy of admiration from the world.

Liu Xunyi still clearly remembered that Pan Chuba once said, "Life and death are not worth worrying about, morality is as great as the sky!"

It was this sentence that made Liu Xunyi gradually find his own foundation in his confused and half-human, half-ghost identity.

Thinking of this, Liu Xunyi suddenly felt sad, his nose felt sore and his eyes turned red.

"grandfather!"

Stepping into the mansion gate and looking at the dilapidated courtyard and the messy hall, Pan Yun could no longer hold back the pain in his heart. He fell to his knees with a plop, and cried bitterly: "Grandpa... your grandson has followed your last wish and invited people from the Xianwang Mansion... If you know about this, you can rest in peace..."

The Pan Mansion today has long lost its former glory and is now desolate and bleak.

Almost all the rooms and courtyards in the mansion were looted. All the valuables in the mansion were also plundered, and even the doors and windows of some rooms were removed.

Liu Xunyi stood in the courtyard and looked around. Today, the Pan Mansion looked like a deserted house, with misery and devastation everywhere.

In the hall, there was only one coffin left that had not been carried away. On the north wall, there was a huge word "甸", which made people sigh.

In front of the hall, Pan Wen and his wife, and Pan Yuyin, dressed in mourning, knelt on either side, keeping silent vigil with grief on their faces.

As Pan Chuba had passed away many days ago, there was a faint smell of rotting corpse in the hall, but to Pan Wen's family, it no longer mattered.

When Pan Yun's cry sounded in the courtyard, Pan Wen's eyes suddenly showed an indescribable excitement. He hurriedly stood up and staggered to the outside of the hall to greet her. "How... could it become like this?" Liu Xunyi looked around in disbelief, feeling indescribably depressed.

"Dangdang!"

Before he finished speaking, there was a sudden noise from the west wing room, and then three or five ragged, emaciated beggars, each holding some clothes and bedding, ran excitedly into the yard.

When these beggars saw Liu Xunyi and his companions, they were shocked at first, then looked around at each other, then quickly hugged the clothes in their arms and rushed out of the mansion without looking back.

This scene made Liu Xunyi and Xunzhen both stunned. But before they could figure out what was going on, Pan Yun suddenly stood up, pointed at the fleeing beggar, and shouted, "You bastards! Return my things to me now!"

"Yun'er, stop chasing!"

Before Pan Yun could catch up, Pan Wen stepped forward, grabbed his arm tightly, and shook his head slowly with a bitter look on his face, saying, "There is nothing valuable in the house anymore. These are just some scraps. Let them take them!"

"Uncle Pan, just now they were..."

"They are just beggars in the city, all poor people, that's all!" Pan Wen explained casually, then bowed to Liu Xunyi and said, "Thank you for coming all the way here, Master Liu!" He then bowed to Xunzhen.

Xunzhen looked around and said hesitantly, "Excuse me, but may I ask if this is... Pan's Mansion?"

"Yes, I'm sorry to make you laugh."

Today, Pan Wen seemed to have aged several decades. He sighed almost every word he spoke, his voice was hoarse and his tone was sad. He was no longer the bright and gentle Pan family manager. Instead, he was a pitiful old man with a gray face and scars all over his body.

As the saying goes, "When a wall falls, everyone pushes it; when a drum breaks, everyone beats it." Today's Pan family has fully demonstrated this proverb. When the Pan family was at its peak, the family was prosperous and prosperous. A call from the hall was accepted by everyone. Now that the Pan family has declined, it is like a crane trapped in a flock of chickens, a tiger in the plain, everything goes wrong, and everyone can bully it.

"Alas! Originally, the Pan family would not have fallen to this point. Although the Hexi Qin family sent people to steal things, they did not do anything excessive. It was just that my father was suddenly killed, and then a group of lawless thieves appeared from nowhere, broke into the mansion openly, and looted. Afterwards, we found out that these thieves were all remnants of the East Lake Gang. They had long been holding a grudge against the Pan family and had always wanted revenge. Now, they took advantage of the Qin family's momentum and took advantage of the opportunity. The Pan family... Alas!"

"Why don't the local authorities do anything?" Xunzhen frowned and asked.

"The government is afraid of the threat from the Hexi Qin family, so they don't want to get involved in this mess." Pan Wen said with a wry smile, "And the remnants of the East Lake Gang seem to be colluding with them to rob the Pan Mansion of its gold and silver treasures. I guess the government will get some benefits as well."

"As expected, all crows are the same." Xunzhen chuckled, "You are all Han Chinese. How can the Mongolian government make decisions for you? Not only are they taking advantage of the opportunity to gain benefits, they may also be watching the joke of you Han Chinese fighting among yourselves with great interest."

"I suspect that my father was not killed by the Qin family, but by the remnants of the East Lake Gang..." Pan Wen said with gritted teeth, "Li Lao Hu died, and now Long Si has appeared."

"Who is Long Si?"

"He was originally a subordinate of Li Lao Hu. He was the fourth in command of the East Lake Gang in the past and was known as 'Master Long Si'. He was lucky enough to escape when Master Liu wiped out the East Lake Gang last time." Pan Wen explained, "Long Si once left Yingchuan to avoid the limelight, but soon returned and raised the banner of the East Lake Gang again, intending to replace Li Lao Hu and become the new leader of Yingchuan. However, this person is extremely cruel, even worse than Li Lao Hu. He even dared to openly rob my Pan family. When Li Lao Hu was here, he would at least find an excuse. Alas! I think he probably wants to accumulate money to recruit soldiers and expand his power. This matter..."

"Before coming here, Master Pan told us everything that happened in Yingchuan." Liu Xunyi suddenly interrupted, "Now I just want to burn a stick of incense to Master Pan Ba. As for other matters, we will discuss it later."

Pan Wen would naturally not be able to refuse Liu Xunyi's insistence.

Liu Xunyi suppressed the distress in his heart and walked towards the mourning hall step by step.

When he reached the steps, Liu Xunyi suddenly knelt down on the ground. Under the complicated gazes of the Pan family and Xunzhen, Liu Xunyi bowed every three steps and kowtowed every nine steps, and actually walked into the mourning hall on his knees.

"Brother Liu, there is no incense in the house anymore..." Pan Yuyin slowly handed a piece of wood as thick as a finger to Liu Xunyi. She was now much thinner than before, with dishevelled hair and a frail face. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying. How could she look like a rich lady? She looked more like a little beggar.

Seeing the broken wood in Pan Yuyin's hand, Liu Xunyi's tears could no longer be held back and rolled down silently.

Pan Chuba was wise and upright throughout his life, but after his death, not even a stick of incense was left. It is really sad, lamentable, pitiful and ridiculous.

Liu Xunyi took the broken wood tremblingly, with a hint of resentment in his eyes. He poked the broken wood into the ground and thumped it hard. With a slight "hiss" sound, the broken wood began to burn slowly.

Liu Xunyi kowtowed repeatedly while holding the broken wood, then inserted it into the broken bowl that served as an incense burner in front of the coffin, bowed his head again, and kowtowed four times.

"Master Pan, I have promised you. After you leave, I will do my best to protect the Pan family and I will never break my promise! If you are still alive, please protect the descendants of the Pan family." Liu Xunyi stared at the coffin, his eyes flashing with cold light, and said word by word, "From now on, I will avenge you! I will take back what the Pan family lost with interest!"

……

(End of this chapter)