Another day passed in this tense atmosphere, at noon, Ding Zhengyi's family sat around the dining table, there were plates and bowls, one dish and one soup on the table, simple to the extreme, but the dull and abnormal atmosphere made the three of them have no appetite, but they just picked up the rice without a match, and did not touch those soup dishes at all.

"Xiaoyi, have you finished eating, the patriarch has something to look for you. ”

At this time, Ding Changshou's eager voice suddenly came from outside, and as soon as the words fell, his figure appeared at the door.

"Dad, what's the matter with the patriarch looking for Xiaoyi?"

Seeing Ding Changshou walking in in a hurry, the three of them all raised their heads, looked at each other in shock, and then Wu spoke and asked.

"Don't ask, I don't know, Xiaoyi, hurry up. ”

As Ding Changshou approached, people saw that his eyes were bloodshot and his expression was haggard, which was very different from the orderly image on weekdays, and his panting appearance showed his urgent mood.

"I'm done eating, let's go. ”

Seeing that his grandfather was in a bad mood and his mother was about to ask a question on the side, Ding Zhengyi hurriedly finished pulling the leftovers in the bowl and rushed to answer with a very eye-catching look.

Hearing Ding Zhengyi's reply, Ding Changshou immediately turned around and walked towards the way he came, as if he didn't have time to say a word more.

Ding Zhengyi didn't delay any longer, he immediately got up and said hello to his parents, followed his grandfather closely, and walked briskly towards the family ancestral hall.

The two of them walked all the way, and Ding Zhengyi wanted to speak several times on the way, because his grandfather obviously had no desire to speak at this time, and only cared about moving forward.

The two people who performed the light body technique only took less than a stick of incense to come to the gate of the ancestral compound, but at this time, the four big characters on the door looked simple and ordinary, and there was no longer the grandeur and solemnity of a few months ago, and there were bursts of painful moaning in Ding Zhengyi's ears.

Without staying at the door of the ancestral hall for too long, Grandpa and Uncle Jiu, who was guarding the gate, nodded and signaled, and let Ding Zhengyi go to the patriarch's cultivation retreat in the backyard by himself.

The backyard of the ancestral hall is no different from the past, and it still quietly seems to be calm and abnormal.

Just like the last time he was summoned, Ding Zhengyi walked to the door of the quiet room and stopped, this time waiting for a cup of tea, Ding Changming's slightly low voice sounded in his ears: "Come in." ”

Hearing the patriarch's order, Ding Zhengyi immediately took a few steps forward, pushed open the door, and stepped into the quiet room, what caught his eye was still the same as more than a year ago, but the coercion on Ding Changming's body appeared from time to time, obviously his heart was not calm at this time.

As Ding Zhengyi stood still, he saw the patriarch raise his hand and wave, the door of the meditation room slowly closed, and then the light of the formation appeared on the wall of the meditation room.

"Little Eighteen, do you know what I'm looking for you for?"

Before Ding Zhengyi could say hello to the patriarch, Ding Changming looked at him with slightly tired eyes and asked directly.

"Could it be that there is something hidden about the family injury this time, and I can help?"

Ding Zhengyi was a little puzzled, and at the moment only this matter could make the patriarch distracted, but after thinking about it, it didn't seem to have anything to do with him, so he could only answer hesitantly.

"You're right, that's what I'm talking to you about. ”

Under the light of the shining stones hanging from the ceiling in the quiet room, Ding Changming's gloomy face seemed to reveal a glimmer of sunlight.

After affirming Ding Zhengyi's answer, he continued to talk non-stop.

"The day before yesterday, your grandfather told me that when other clansmen lost their souls due to drastic changes, you could still focus on cultivation, and I used to value your persistence and perseverance, so I made an exception and gave you a lot of funding, and now I am impressed by your control over your emotions. ”

Speaking of this, Ding Changming looked at Ding Zhengyi with a little relief and surprise, and then looked up at the bookshelf, stroked his dark beard, and slowly said a sentence with a memory expression.

"A senior once told me that as long as you can overcome yourself, you don't need to be afraid of your enemies, because uncontrolled emotions are the monk's greatest enemy. ”

Ding Zhengyi thought to himself secretly while listening, and after a while, he seemed to understand something, and nodded slightly.

"This time, the family was hit hard, not only because of natural disasters, but also because of man-made disasters. ”

After Ding Changming sighed for a while, he saw that Ding Zhengyi seemed to have an understanding, and the look of satisfaction on his face became even stronger, and then he returned to the topic and began to tell Ding Zhengyi about the specific reasons for the huge casualties of the family monks.

"This time the family search team went out for more than a month, cleaned up two undersea spirit veins, although the harvest was not as much as last time, but it was also quite considerable, but when they continued to rush as planned, they were suddenly attacked by more than ten demon beasts, two of these demon beasts existed in the third order, and the others were basically second-order cultivation, caught off guard, the entire family team was in chaos, fighting separately, and several clansmen were injured in an instant, and then under the echo of the great elder, they gradually stabilized the formation and began to gain the upper hand. ”

At this time, Ding Changming's newly improved face became gloomy again, his brows were furrowed, and the corners of his mouth trembled slightly, as if he was trying to restrain his anger and stabilize his emotions before continuing to speak.

A group of more than twenty masked monks came quickly from not far away at this time, and without saying a word, they launched an attack on the clansmen, and the family's losses this time were mainly caused by these monks in the early stage of the attack. Fortunately, the clansmen have enough talismans, and when they set off, the family assigned an average of fifty fireball talismans and ten talismans per person, and the cleaning consumption of the first two spiritual veins was not large, at this critical moment, everyone did not wait for the elder's command, and quickly stimulated a large number of fireball talismans, and hundreds of fireballs instantly poured into the heads of this group of monks, beating them in embarrassment, more than half of the dead and wounded, and fled in a hurry. ”

Ding Changming's face gradually calmed down at this time, the corners of his mouth were slightly colored, and he picked up a cup of tea and took a few sips.

However, even when the monks retreated, they did not forget to take all their dead and wounded companions with them, leaving no clues to their identities at the scene. Seeing these monks fleeing, the clansmen who had suffered heavy casualties did not pursue under the restraint of the Great Elder, and quickly used the remaining talisman seals to eliminate the remnants of the demon beasts, and after hurriedly cleaning up the battlefield, they hurried back. ”

After saying the whole incident in one breath, Ding Changming looked at Ding Zhengyi with thoughtful eyes, as if waiting for him to speak.

"Do you want me to increase the number of talismans to supplement the family's loss?"

Although Ding Zhengyi understood the cause and effect, he was still a little confused, because according to the patriarch, this time the family's talisman inventory was almost exhausted, so it urgently needed to be replenished, but if it was just like that, just let Grandpa notify him, and there was no need to summon him at all, there must be something in it that he didn't take into account.

"The family's savings are limited, and they can't afford to consume so much anymore, so you can just keep practicing normally. Ding Changming shook his head lightly and looked at Ding Zhengyi encouragingly.

"So it's because this gang of bandits has a special identity, and the family is a little jealous?"

Ding Zhengyi sorted out what the patriarch said, and could only think of this reason.

"You're absolutely right!"

Ding Changming finally nodded with satisfaction, did not let Ding Zhengyi guess again, and continued to speak with a thoughtful expression.

"There must be something wrong with the origin of that group of monks, I convened a few elders two days ago to discuss, the timing of the appearance of demon beasts and bandit cultivators is too coincidental, that group of monks is obviously related to demon beasts, whether it is to attract or domesticate demon beasts to attack the enemy, it is not a means that ordinary monks can have. Moreover, after suffering a large number of casualties, the other side still advanced and retreated, without the slightest panic, obviously well-trained, and there would be no such performance without the support of forces behind this. ”

After taking another sip of tea, Ding Changming's hand brushing his beard seemed to tremble slightly.

"Therefore, I decided to gather all the surviving monks in the ancestral hall, and I and a few elders took turns to ask questions, hoping to find clues, and the hard work paid off, and yesterday I found a key clue, and finally uncovered the mystery of the identity of the bandits. ”

After saying this, Ding Changming frowned and pondered for a moment, as if he had some concerns, and only then did his face regain his calm, and he continued to slowly but firmly say a result that made Ding Zhengyi stunned.