Pei Xuanjing and the others were a bit confused by Real Man Hengling.
They didn't know what the "system" was, nor did they understand why Real Man Hengling had brought Shen Qing here. They listened quietly. When they saw the same totem on both of them, their faces were filled with confusion.
"Master, what is this? Why is there such a totem on your arm?"
Pei Xuanjing asked, but Real Man Hengling didn't even spare him a glance. Instead, he stared intently at Shen Qing.
He said calmly, "Shen Qing, do you still remember this totem?"
Shen Qing stroked the totem on the sachet. The embroidery was a bit rough as it was done by her when she was a child, and the colors on the silk threads had faded due to the passage of time.
It was already quite rare that the thing she made in her childhood could be preserved until now.
But why she embroidered this pattern back then and under what circumstances she did it, Shen Qing had completely forgotten.
This totem looked like a snake with its body curled into a circle, but there were things like dragon horns on its head, and in the middle was a flower of an unknown variety.
However, the pattern of this totem was too abstract, and Shen Qing wasn't sure what this totem exactly represented.
Seeing that Shen Qing was silent, with her head down, lost in thought looking at the totem, Real Man Hengling knew that Shen Qing had forgotten what happened to her in her childhood.
"You don't remember..."
"Well, it wasn't a good thing anyway."
But Shen Chuyun was a bit surprised because he remembered this totem.
So he said, "I remember this totem..."
Shen Qing frowned and looked at Shen Chuyun in confusion, "You remember?"
Shen Chuyun nodded and recalled his few memories of Xiaolin Village, "I remember that when I was a child, Mother once made a piece of clothing for me. The hidden pattern on the fabric was this totem."
He still remembered that the days he spent in Xiaolin Village were very hard, but he had a coat. The fabric looked very expensive.
At that time, he was still wondering where his mother got such a good piece of fabric. Even the son of the village head didn't have clothes with hidden patterns.
On normal days, if it wasn't for festivals, Mother would never allow him to wear it out.
Because this dress was the most beautiful among all his patched clothes, he remembered very clearly that the hidden pattern on that dress was this pattern.
At that time, when he wore it out, the kids in the village surrounded his clothes and argued about whether the thing on the totem was a dragon or a snake.
Because the kids in the village were ignorant and the most they had seen was a skink, he was even laughed at for a while and was said to be wearing an ugly skink.
"By the way, I was still wearing that dress when Master brought me to Qingyun Sword Sect. I just lost it later..."
When Shen Chuyun said this, he felt a bit guilty.
Because the dress wasn't lost. He had deliberately thrown it away. He thought that since he had become a disciple of the immortal sect, everything in the mortal world was no longer worthy of him.
Even this dress that he had cherished so much before was casually discarded in the back mountain.
Reminded by Shen Chuyun, Shen Qing vaguely remembered that Shen Chuyun did seem to have worn an unusual dress at that time.
The fabric of that dress was luxurious, and even the edges were trimmed with gold thread.
"That's right," Real Man Hengling nodded.
"You and Shen Chuyun are not blood relatives. It's just that Shen Chuyun's parents adopted you. And the fabric of Shen Chuyun's clothes was originally your swaddle."
"What?!!"
Hearing Real Man Hengling's words, Shen Chuyun stood up in surprise, his eyes wide open. He looked at Real Man Hengling in disbelief, and his voice rose several decibels.
"Master, what are you talking about? Shen Qing and I grew up together in Xiaolin Village. We are twins. Although... we don't look alike..."
"But since I can remember, Shen Qing has been my elder sister. She took care of me, protected me, and even saved me. She was very kind to me..."
The more Shen Chuyun spoke, the softer his voice became. He also slowly remembered the days in Xiaolin Village and how he had humiliated Shen Qing after she came to Qingyun Sword Sect.
Thinking about it now, he had never repaid Shen Qing for her kindness but had always hurt her.
Now that he heard that Shen Qing had no blood relationship with him, Shen Chuyun became even more anxious.
He originally thought that he and Shen Qing had a blood relationship and that no matter what, Shen Qing would never abandon him. Now that this relationship was gone, how could Shen Qing ever forgive him?
Just thinking that Shen Qing had no relation to him and would never talk to him again made Shen Chuyun feel extremely panicked.
So he was eager to refute, hoping that Real Man Hengling would take back his words.
But Real Man Hengling ignored Shen Chuyun. Looking at Shen Qing, he said, "You may find this a bit confusing. Let me start with this totem."
Seeing that Real Man Hengling ignored him, Shen Chuyun shouted anxiously, "Master!"
But then, Shen Qing gave him a sharp look, "Shut up!"
Shen Chuyun immediately closed his mouth and didn't dare to say a word. He sat down meekly.
Real Man Hengling shifted his body, but a sharp pain came from his body, making him frown involuntarily.
He covered his discomfort with a cough. After taking a breath, he continued.
More than a thousand years ago, Real Man Hengling wasn't a real man yet, and his fame wasn't as great as it was now. He was just the eternal second in his sect and was always suppressed by his junior brother.
Whether it was the sect master or the masters in the sect, they all favored that junior brother more. As long as his junior brother was around, no one in the sect could see him.
Even when the main temple came to select people, those immortals didn't even look at him. They directly took his junior brother away. Years of unrecognized talent and grief finally erupted at this moment.
Taking advantage of everyone in the sect being unaware, he caught up with the team from the main temple and recommended himself to join the main temple.
But the immortal from the main temple just gave him a mocking look and said that his talent was too poor to enter the main temple.
In order to prove that he was better than his junior brother, Real Man Hengling resolutely agreed to take the assessment of the main temple.
Because his junior brother would rather die than work for the main temple, the immortals from the main temple imprisoned him and gradually entrusted important tasks to Real Man Hengling.
At that time, Real Man Hengling often used the excuse of going out to practice and secretly worked for the main temple, hiding it from everyone in the sect.
Finally, after massacring the demons several times, he made great contributions and successfully caught the eye of the immortals in the main temple. And the totem that originally belonged to his junior brother was also imprinted on his body.
"Are you saying that this totem represents the main temple, and everyone who enters the main temple will be imprinted with this totem?"
Shen Qing guessed, feeling a bit uneasy. Could it be that her parents were really from the main temple?
Unexpectedly, Real Man Hengling shook his head, "It's not like that."
"But all those who have this imprint heard another voice in their heads at the same time."
"He called himself the system, something created by the prophet."