Due to Jiang Mingzhong’s matter, the apprentice ceremony had to be delayed. Even though the ceremony had not yet taken place, Xing Jun had already started the learning process in advance.

Xing Jun had never attended school systematically. He knew very little middle school knowledge, and as a child without parents, he had no means to earn money, merely managing to earn a meager salary to support himself.

Beisitian consulted Xing Jun and found him very resistant to going to school. It seemed like he had communication barriers, and in fact, Xing Jun was very self-conscious. The coldness on his face and his disdain for others were all to hide this inferiority.

To overcome this mentality, he must be strengthened, assisted during this process.

Originally, Beisitian planned to personally guide Xing Jun. However, with Jiang Mingzhong missing and his fate unknown, she had no heart to teach Xing Jun and could only entrust him to Wei Zhongxun.

Beisitian arranged some courses for Xing Jun, starting with recognizing characters. Many obscure characters exist in herbal medicine and traditional Chinese medicine. How can one talk about learning without knowing characters, not to mention memorizing herbal medicine?

Little Yu Zhu looked at him with pity. She had only finished her apprenticeship for less than two months, and the past few years were terrifying to think about. But now, she was very excited to finally start engaging in talisman making.

The talisman making she mentioned was certainly not the kind she had encountered at the Liu Family, but the Spiritual Talisman!

The next day, Tian Zhi hurriedly returned and immediately came to the small courtyard to report the situation.

"Shi Family lost more than a dozen people this time, including two elders, and even the Shi Family Master wasn’t spared. There are seven or eight with the ’Jian’ character generation, and the rest are the third generation, quite a heavy loss!"

At this moment, Beisitian suddenly looked up towards the door. Shi Guang, wrapped in bandages, was swaying weakly.

Beisitian quickly went forward to support him, and Tian Zhi also got up to help him onto the sofa.

Shi Guang looked dazed; the Shi Family Master was his father!

"My father... how did he die?" Shi Guang stared straight at the floor.

Tian Zhi glanced at Beisitian. Seeing her nod, he spoke in a low voice, "He was beaten to death to protect the clan members."

Shi Jianzhou and others were imprisoned in another village, entirely different from the village where Shi Jiantong resided. The people there were gambling and drinking addicts, who, driven into dire situations, turned to Qing Yan. However, Qing Yan also despised such people and simply had them guard the Blood Circle.

Because there were only men, and there were no entertainment activities in the village, the arrival of the Shi Family was indeed quite novel, especially since there were a few good-looking women among them. These men lost control and went forward to harm them.

Shi Jianzhou led the few men who were there to resist to the death and was finally beaten to death. Fortunately, Qing Yan’s people arrived in time to stop this violent outbreak, thus safeguarding those women. However, Shi Jianzhou ultimately died from his injuries.

Shi Guang shook his head violently and grabbed Tian Zhi’s clothes, "Impossible! There was an elder accompanying them, and at worst, there were uncles from the ’Jian’ generation with them. How could my father be fatally injured!"

Tian Zhi looked sad and didn’t know what else to say. The Shi Family had indeed tried to find a way at that time, but ultimately Shi Jianzhou still died. This showed how severe his injuries were, likely with all his internal organs ruptured, and even with so many Mystic Doctors, he couldn’t be saved.

Beisitian sighed. This might also relate to the bad water they had swallowed, which corroded their internal organs. If injured, once it invaded the internal organs, even she would be powerless!

Looking at Tian Zhi’s demeanor, Shi Guang knew Tian Zhi would never lie, but without seeing him, he still held a glimmer of hope.

"Where is my father then? Has he...been brought back?" Shi Guang’s hands trembled uncontrollably.

"He has been brought back," said someone at the door, not Tian Zhi but Shi Jiantong.

Shi Guang turned abruptly, taking a few steps to Shi Jiantong’s side, "Uncle Jian Dong! Is my father really..."

Shi Jiantong nodded heavily. Shi Guang’s hands suddenly dropped, like boneless willow branches swaying twice. His whole spirit seemed gone, and his gaze became increasingly vacant.

Shi Jiantong knew the blow he had suffered was huge. He closed his eyes and stepped forward, "Shi Guang, I came this time to ask you to return and take charge of the situation."

Shi Guang is the heir of the next generation. With Shi Jianzhou gone, the rightful successor is Shi Guang.

This matter is cruel, but this is reality. Shi Guang must recover swiftly from this shock, with a shattered Shi Family waiting for him to lead. Moreover, amidst this chaos, some within the Shi Family are also eager to make their move.

Shi Jiantong, now thirty-five, the age of the Shi Family’s three outstanding members, is somewhat young, a seven to eight-year difference from Shi Guang’s father, Shi Jianzhou. They were nurtured by Shi Jianzhou, with their stance naturally aligned with him.

Seeing the Shi Family unstable, he must bring Shi Guang back to take charge.

However, after Shi Jiantong spoke, Shi Guang did not respond at all.

Shi Jiantong became a bit anxious immediately, "Shi Guang! I know this matter is tough for you, but now you are the heir, and you must take up this responsibility! You know Shi Jianbo and others have already started plotting to seize the family head position!"

Shi Guang still did not respond.

Beisitian sighed, stood up, walked to the table by the wall, took a stick of incense from the drawer, lit it, and gestured to Shi Jiantong to calm down.

Shi Jiantong looked at Beisitian, vaguely recalling the beautiful young backpacker in the small mountain village. When he came in just now, focused on speaking with Shi Guang, he hadn’t even greeted Qingyu’s eldest, which was very rude!

"Doctor Bei, I apologize for my rudeness, and thank you very much for your help in the small mountain village! Without you, we might not have been entirely saved!" He also neutralized the bad water in us.

Despite the serene smile on Beisitian’s face, Shi Jiantong couldn’t bring himself to ask her for an antidote. Her whole demeanor was very calm, yet carried an inexplicable pressure.

As the incense spread in a few minutes, Shi Guang’s fiercely beating heart seemed to slow down more and more.

Beisitian went over, gently patted his shoulder, "Shi Guang, the Shi Family is your father’s life’s work. Now that he’s gone, you can’t let this work go to waste too."

Shi Guang stiffly turned his neck, slowly turned his head, and tears poured out from his eyes, "Sister... my dad is gone!" 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

The boy cried out loud.

"Do you know...what was the last thing I said to him...I said, I hate you, I really hate having a father like you...ahhh..." The boy opened his mouth wide and cried intensely.