"Actually, your mother also told me not to tell you these things!" Zhang Yuan'an seemed hesitant for a moment before saying this to Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang's eyes widened instantly, and he urgently called out, "Why? I went all the way to Antian first, and only after much effort did I trace you here. Uncle, can't you tell me?" He was truly desperate now. Setting aside the hidden dangers of the negative emotions he was harboring, the price they had paid to uncover this matter was simply too high. Although it had been a misunderstanding before, Long Feng had fought for his life and was now lying in the hospital, having lost all his internal energy. Fortunately, Long Feng could cultivate again; he had a foundation. Zhang Yang would spare no expense in providing him with all the spiritual herbs needed to restore his condition in a short time. Even so, it would take a year. Long Feng had been looking forward to returning home by the end of the year to show his family his progress, and this time he would inevitably be disappointed. And after paying such a high price, wasn't it all just to understand the cause of his mother's death? If Zhang Yuan'an truly refused to speak, and Zhang Yang couldn't find out, he felt he might actually vomit blood this time.

"You said you investigated this yourself? It wasn't Keqin who sent you here?" Zhang Yuan'an was also somewhat surprised. After recognizing Zhang Yang, he had assumed Zhang Keqin had informed him of this location.

"No, don't mention him. I haven't been with him for ten years!" Zhang Yang violently shook his head, a violent temper still lingering on his face. He had already considered that Zhang Keqin might not have been the one who killed his mother, but the reaction developed over years didn't disappear so quickly. Moreover, even if he wasn't the murderer, his mother's death might still be connected to him.

"Ten years apart!" Zhang Yuan'an was stunned again. This time, Zhang Yang didn't try to suppress the surge of negative emotion. He appeared even more volatile.

Zhang Yuan'an suddenly reached out and pulled Zhang Yang toward him, lightly taking his pulse at the wrist. Zhang Yang's current state was very wrong.

"Inner Demon!" After a moment, Zhang Yuan'an exclaimed, Zhang Yang's negative emotion strongly resembled the manifestation of an Inner Demon, and his internal energy, without suppression, was slightly chaotic.

"I didn't expect this matter to have left such a deep impact on you, nor did I realize you haven't been with Keqin for ten years!" Releasing Zhang Yang's arm, Zhang Yuan'an sighed softly again, looking at Zhang Yang with a complex expression.

After another pause, just as Zhang Yang was about to press further with his questions, Zhang Yuan'an finally spoke.

"Ten years ago, you were poisoned in Antian. A very potent poison!"

"Me?" Zhang Yang was suddenly jolted, unable to stop himself from calling out.

Zhang Yuan'an nodded: "Yes, you. The poison you suffered from was the venom of the Purple-Eyed Golden Toad!"

"Purple-Eyed Golden Toad? How is that possible?" Zhang Yang cried out again in shock. When Zhang Yuan'an mentioned he had been poisoned, he had already considered many things; if it were true, his hospitalization at the pediatric hospital could also be explained—he'd received many detoxification injections there. However, Zhang Yuan'an claimed it was the Purple-Eyed Golden Toad venom, which he found hard to believe. The Purple-Eyed Golden Toad was a spirit beast and a poison beast, ranking tenth among the Ten Great Poison Beasts. Even at the bottom, it wasn't comparable to ordinary toxins. How could anyone survive being poisoned by it?

Zhang Yuan'an nodded again: "You were indeed poisoned by the Purple-Eyed Golden Toad, but not directly. You were naughty as a child and liked to steal vegetables from the patch. You mistakenly ingested a trace of venom left behind when the Purple-Eyed Golden Toad passed by. Otherwise, your young life would have been over long ago!" After a pause, he continued, "Even so, it was thanks to your maternal grandfather giving you a Myriad Spirit Pill on your first full moon. That pill transformed your physique and enhanced your resistance to poison. But even so, before your poison was fully removed, you were still in grave danger!"

Zhang Yang's eyes widened, and he nodded silently. He knew about the Myriad Spirit Pill; it was an ancestral prescription used to improve physical constitution, most effective when administered to infants. The Myriad Spirit Pill was not a spiritual medicine, but it required many precious ingredients, making it one of the few highly valuable medications just below true spiritual medicines. A physique improved by the Myriad Spirit Pill was strong in all aspects. No wonder he rarely caught colds or fevers as a child, and recovered quickly even when ill.

"You suffered from residual poison. Shihua had seen many things in the family; her eyesight wasn't poor. She knew right away the poison you suffered from was unusual, and she immediately contacted me!" However, my arrival required a certain amount of time, and you couldn't possibly hold on until I got there. After treating you in the hospital for a few days, she performed the Ziwu Conversion Technique on you.

"Ziwu Conversion Technique!" Zhang Yang was stunned again. Hearing this, he could already piece together the general picture: his mother was fine initially, but she became poisoned because of him. The method of poisoning was this Ziwu Conversion Technique. The Ziwu Conversion Technique was one of the Zhang family's closely guarded secrets, a method used on poisoned or complexly afflicted patients to test the poison on oneself, and also a way to differentiate the patient's toxins and suffering. The Ziwu Conversion Technique used secret methods only during the hours of Zi (11 PM – 1 AM) and Wu (11 AM – 1 PM) to transfer the patient's toxins onto the practitioner. This transfer could only occur during these two time slots daily, and no other time. The Ziwu Conversion Technique could last a maximum of seven days, by which time most of the patient's toxins would be transferred. Generally, it wasn't used for that long; a trial run might last only a day, or just one application. Zhang Yang could imagine that if he were the one poisoned, his mother wouldn't stop at just one transfer; she would strive to ensure his safety to the utmost. This was maternal instinct; most mothers would do the same.

"Uncle, the Ziwu Conversion Technique is a secret art not passed outside the Zhang family. How did Mom know it?" Zhang Yang immediately questioned further. The Zhang family system of passing secrets down to sons but not daughters had been in place for over a thousand years. Furthermore, his mother genuinely hadn't known much before.

Zhang Yuan'an looked up with a wry smile, "This was my carelessness. When copying the secret manuals when I was young, I accidentally fell asleep, and your mother sneaked a look at one chapter. I didn't expect she would look at this one, and ultimately, she used it!"

Zhang Yang's eyes narrowed slightly, and he spoke again, "That doesn't seem right either. The Ziwu Conversion Technique requires internal energy; it can't be performed without it, right?"

"Yang Yang, the ancestral teachings have been around so long; who can adhere to them perfectly? Your mother didn't know the Zhang family's inherited internal energy cultivation, but she had still practiced some techniques for strengthening her body. In truth, she already possessed internal energy, just stuck at the initial stage of the first layer, with no further progress. I taught her all this!" Speaking of this, Zhang Yuan'an felt a pang of regret. It was precisely because he taught his sister internal energy that she was ultimately killed. However, although Zhang Shihua died, Zhang Yang survived and cultivated such profound internal energy. In the grand scheme of things—the intricate workings of fate—Zhang Yunshan didn't know what to say.

Zhang Yang stood there dumbfounded for a moment before finally understanding. His mother had known internal energy since childhood, just not at a high level, purely for physical conditioning. Zhang Yuan'an had taught her the internal energy cultivation but not the specific martial arts, which is why Zhang Yang didn't know about it when he was young; besides, he hadn't understood such matters back then. It was because she possessed that baseline internal energy that Zhang Shihua could use the Ziwu Conversion method to transfer the poison from his body onto hers, thus saving his young life.

"Shihua was desperately looking for me and my father, but our whereabouts were uncertain at the time. By the time I rushed over, it was too late. Shihua had already transferred most of the poison from your body to hers. When I arrived, she was already terminally ill and hospitalized!" Zhang Yuan'an sighed again. He rushed over upon receiving the news, but the time delay had been fatal, ultimately hindering Zhang Shihua's treatment.

Zhang Yang now understood why his mother had been unwilling to transfer to the capital: she knew her poison couldn't be cured there, so going would be useless. She preferred to stay in Antian and wait for his father or uncle. His uncle finally arrived, and only then was she discharged from the hospital. Sadly, Zhang Yuan'an still arrived too late. The poison she absorbed was too deep, and in the end, she could not be saved. Zhang Yuan'an even attempted the Ziwu Conversion Technique on her, but since Zhang Shihua was the caster, she could not be subjected to the same method for rescue.

By this point, Zhang Yang understood everything. Strictly speaking, his mother was killed by him; it had nothing to do with his father.

"Where was I at that time?" Zhang Yang asked the remaining question, his voice hoarse. His memory during that period was blank; he had no idea where he was. He only knew that when he woke up, his mother was gone. His father told him she died of illness but adamantly refused to tell him the cause, nor would he tell him where his mother was buried. This omission was what caused Zhang Yang to grow increasingly resentful of his father later on.

"You were in a coma from the moment you were poisoned. When I arrived, your mother was beyond saving, but you still could be saved. I took you and searched everywhere, captured the Purple-Eyed Golden Toad that poisoned you, concocted the antidote, and ultimately saved your life. Sadly, your mother could not hold on," Zhang Yuan'an said slowly, sighing. There was one sentence he didn't say: there was actually a way to save Zhang Yang's mother then—by using spiritual medicine. The Zhang family possessed spiritual medicine, but it wasn't on him; it was with his father. He had tried to contact his father urgently, but before he could establish contact and receive aid, his sister had already passed away. In Zhang Yuan'an's view, it was precisely because his father had been traveling and couldn't return in time to treat his sister, causing immense guilt, that he later broke the ancestral rules to secretly teach Zhang Yang, ultimately cultivating another talent for the Zhang family.

"I understand. So, the main culprit who caused my mother's death is me. But why did Zhang Keqin hide this from me for so long?" Having figured everything out, Zhang Yang felt a strange sensation. Suddenly, his hatred for Zhang Keqin lessened, but the resentment remained—after all, his father had concealed the truth from him for so long.

"You can't blame him for this either. Before your mother passed away, she insisted he promise three conditions. One of them was that he absolutely must not tell you the truth. At that time, you were still unconscious and unaware of everything. As long as he kept silent, and I kept silent, no one would know the real cause of your mother's death!" Zhang Yuan'an sighed again. A sudden, stifling sensation overwhelmed Zhang Yang's chest, a feeling of being unable to breathe.

"What were those three conditions?" Zhang Yang's voice grew even more raspy. So, his father not telling him wasn't his own choice, but a dying request from his mother. However, his mother likely never imagined that this request would lead to ten years of misunderstanding between father and son, and cause Zhang Yang to harbor such deep, bone-deep resentment toward him.

Zhang Yuan'an walked over and lightly patted Zhang Yang's shoulder before speaking, "The first was what I just mentioned: he was forbidden from letting you know the truth. She feared you would blame yourself. The second was requiring your father to remarry. Your father was still young then; if he remained unmarried, it wouldn't bode well for his future career prospects. Your mother understood Zhang Keqin well, so she made your father write a guarantee: he had to remarry within one year of her death!" Hearing this, Zhang Yang became even more stunned. He hadn't expected his father's remarriage was also his mother's request. No wonder his father married soon after his mother's death, and no wonder he never brought this new wife along when taking up posts elsewhere, nor did he have any more children. This marriage was one forced by obligation, not desire.

"The third point: your mother requested her body be buried in her hometown, which is here. She would not be interred in Zhang Keqin's ancestral graves!" After finishing the third point, Zhang Yuan'an's eyes also reddened slightly. Zhang Yang's questions today had brought back all the scenes from ten years ago. There were actually many ways to avoid the worst outcome then, but they hadn't paid attention at the time, resulting in this lasting regret. For example, if Zhang Daofeng hadn't been traveling and had returned sooner, Zhang Yang's mother might not have died. Or if he had carried a spiritual medicine on him, he could have saved Zhang Yang's mother. Or, if his internal energy had reached the fourth layer back then, with his powerful cultivation, he could have forcefully helped his sister suppress the poison. But these were all 'what ifs,' impossible to go back and prevent.

"Mother's body is here, after all!" Two clear streams of tears flowed down Zhang Yang's cheeks. Zhang Keqin had never told him where his mother was buried, which was another source of resentment for him. But today, he realized that none of this was Zhang Keqin's deliberate act; his father, too, had his difficulties.

"When I recognized you, I thought you came this time because Keqin sent you to pay respects to your mother. Her death anniversary is in a few days. I didn't expect otherwise; there have been so many misunderstandings in between!" Zhang Yuan'an sighed again. The world was unpredictable. Seeing Zhang Yang's appearance, he knew Zhang Keqin must not have told him these things. If he had revealed them, he wouldn't have been able to face Zhang Yang's future inquiries. This had caused the rift between father and son and had such a profound impact on Zhang Yang. Now, he imagined Zhang Keqin hadn't had it easy either, fulfilling his wife's promise while simultaneously facing his son's misunderstanding. He hadn't strongly objected to Zhang Keqin's association with his sister in the past, and now he sympathized with him even more.

"Uncle, where is my mother's grave? I want to see it too!" Zhang Yang slowly raised his head. The tears were still flowing from the corners of his eyes. Zhang Yuan'an looked at him and simply nodded heavily without saying much.

Zhang Yang's mother's tomb was on the mountain, and they arrived shortly. Kneeling before the tombstone, the suffocating feeling in Zhang Yang's chest intensified. Just as he was about to kowtow, he suddenly spewed a mouthful of blood and collapsed onto the ground.

………… Fifth update, a 4,000-character major chapter, Chapter 58 of the Hundred Chapters Bonus Updates. Xiao Yu had once considered letting Zhang Yang's mother remain in the world, but ultimately abandoned the idea. Keeping his mother could certainly generate more words, but it would make the plot overly contrived—for instance, what would Zhang Keqin's current family situation be, and why hadn't they been in contact for so many years? There are no perfect things in this world; thus, we leave this regret behind.