"For so many years, everyone has been under the impression that they knew me well, but I want to tell you that you don't understand me at all!"
"Today, I want to be honest with you. I shall share with you my biggest secret, which I have carried with me for more than 20 years!"
Outside the ancestral temple, Liu Chao spoke passionately, his saliva spluttering over where he stood.
All of the Liu clan members pricked their ears curiously.
At his side, the First Elder looked at Liu Chao dotingly and smiled kindly. "My dear disciple, you can keep your secret to yourself!"
"No!"
Liu Chao waved his hand seriously. "I want to say it! Please don't stop me!"
Seeing that Liu Dahai was still trying to persuade him, Liu Chao's eyes widened and he drew his sword immediately. He shouted loudly, "If you stop me again, there'll be consequences!"
Liu Dahai was taken aback. "What has happened to my lovely disciple?!"
Liu Tao, several other elders, as well as the clan members under the stairs all revealed a strange look. They wondered what had happened to the usually quiet Liu Chao.
In the coffin, Liu Fan watched what was happening outside, confused.
"This spell is somehow overly powerful!"
At this moment, Liu Chao looked as if he had been possessed by someone else!
Liu Fan continued his observations…
On the stairs outside the ancestral temple, Liu Chao cleared his throat and raised a finger. He pointed at the crowd and shouted loftily, "Forgive me for being frank, but everyone here is scum and rubbish!"
Liu Chao revealed the secret that he had kept in his heart for years. He then started to taunt everyone!
The clan members were at first taken aback, but they became angry at once. How could Liu Chao curse so casually at them?
There was a commotion in the crowd.
Liu Dahai was startled. He hurriedly signaled Liu Chao to speak no further nonsense.
What Liu Dahai had not expected was that Liu Chao despised him too!
Liu Chao turned around and his eyes fell on his teacher. Then, with his lips curling upwards, he sneered, "Old fellow, what are you mad about? I'm telling you that you are actually a big idiot!"
His eyes looked incredibly sincere as he spoke, staring straight at Liu Dahai, who was looking back at him absently.
Seeing that Liu Dahai didn't respond, Liu Chao intensified his tone and said solemnly, "I'm being perfectly honest with you. In my heart, you are really a big idiot!"
"The most important thing between people is to treat each other with sincerity. That's why I didn't lie to you! I'm telling you my honest thoughts!"
"Enough!"
Liu Tao yelled, "How dare you talk nonsense in front of our ancestor's tablet!"
Liu Chao's eyes widened. "How is he my ancestor?! In fact, I'm not Liu Chao. I'm Lu Wushuang, the true heir of the Lu clan!"
"Twenty years ago, the head of the Lu clan killed a couple from the Liu clan who'd had difficulty giving birth and replaced their child with me. Liu Dahai thought I was the couple's child, so he took me under his wings and raised me up!"
"In short, I'm from the Lu clan, and my name is Lu Wushuang!"
"The head of my clan promised me that as long as I've learned the cultivation techniques of your clan and got elected as the head of Liu clan, he will collaborate with me and take over the Liu clan completely!"
When Liu Chao finished speaking, all the members of the Liu clan froze in place. They didn't know how to react.
"The spell is so strong! Liu Chao has spilled the truth, hiding no details at all."
Liu Fan was shocked.
The power of this spell was beyond his expectation. It seemed that Liu Chao was not holding anything back!
Outside the ancestral hall, Liu Tao's face was overwritten with disbelief.
No one had seen it coming!
The Elders' mouths were agape too. Among them, the First Elder was shuddering all over and his face was pallid. He tried to speak, but anger had taken his tongue. He couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long while.
"I'm curious. Why did you suddenly want to reveal your secret plan to the public?"
Liu Tao's complexion had recovered to equanimity. There was a murderous look in his eyes, but he still posed this question.
The other clan members also looked over.
Why would Liu Chao reveal this biggest secret so openly?!
Could it be a fraud?!
Liu Chao met Liu Tao's eyes, and then glanced at all the other members of the Liu clan. With his eyes filled with absolute sincerity, Liu Chao said, "As I've said, the most important thing between people is to treat each other with sincerity. If you have any secrets, you should say it out loud. Isn't that right?!"
"Really?!"
Liu Tao blinked, a little confused. He turned to look at the other elders, who all looked perplexed.
Liu Chao's words had dealt a huge blow to their world views and values!
"Traitor! Go to hell!"
At this moment, the First Elder felt that he could not stand it further. With a loud scream, he dashed forth and smashed his palm heavily on Liu Chao's chest.
In the past, he had always been proud of Liu Chao. But at this moment, Liu Chao had brought him immense shame. He had been humiliated in front of his clan members.
Liu Chao spouted a mouthful of blood and fell to the ground. He looked at Liu Dahai, whose eyes were full of murderousness. Dying, Liu Chao said in a serious tone, "Remember, the most important thing between people is to treat each other with sincerity…"
Then, he died!
The Liu clan members remained speechless as they looked at Liu Chao's dead body. For a long while, they were unable to speak a word. Many people were still puzzled over what had happened.
"Liu Chao was acting so weirdly today!"
"It didn't seem like him!"
"He was telling us to treat each other sincerely even when he was dying… How creepy!"
In the courtyard, the clan members whispered among themselves.
The wind blew, and yellow leaves fell off from the big willow tree in the yard.
The clan members looked up at the sky and then at Liu Chao's body. Finally, their eyes landed on the coffin in the ancestral hall.
"Could it be our great ancestor!?" someone yelled from the crowd.
The crowd was stirred into a commotion at once. A while later, all of them cheered at the awakening of their great ancestor.
Then, one by one, they knelt on the ground and started to kowtow at the coffin in the ancestral temple.
At the entrance of the temple, Liu Tao and the other elders suddenly recovered from the shock. Gazing at one another, they said simultaneously, "Perhaps it was really our great ancestor!"
The Fifth and Six Elders cried in excitement, "What do you mean by 'perhaps'? It must be our great ancestor!"
They hurriedly bowed down. Liu Tao and the rest also followed.
Meanwhile, inside the coffin, Liu Fan was excited as well.
At this moment, green respect points were constantly produced from the top of the clan members' heads. All of them were large in number.
"Clan member Liu Daquan worshipped you; respect points +50…"
"Clan member Liu Erquan worshipped you; respect points +45…"
"The head of the clan, Liu Tao, worshipped you; respect points +100…"
"The Fifth Elder, Liu Wuhai, worshipped you; respect points +200…"
Liu Fan felt cheerful as he watched the respect points increase on the system panel.
However, he sulked again when he saw the points above the First Elder's head.
It was still 10, the same as before.
The Second and the Third Elders also had the same respect points as before — one was "12" and the other was "13."
"These three old fellows…"
Liu Fan clenched his teeth.
He wanted to punch them!
As for those kids, there were still no respect points above their heads.
The roasted pig's head was all there was in their eyes…