Chapter 13: From Never Having Been Here Before

Qi Ziru heard and saw his nephew’s frantic, desperate escape. He sighed inwardly, knowing it would be virtually impossible for the young man to escape the clutches of the tall figure. Things had come to this; he could barely protect himself and could no longer worry about his nephew.

His gaze returned to Shi Chun’s face. He nodded slightly, appearing to praise him sincerely. “With your cultivation and theirs, you crippled them with just one palm strike. What domineering palm power! No wonder Shen Youkun repeatedly said you were formidable. The two of them, even working together, couldn’t withstand a single exchange against you. You are truly worthy of being the leader of Dongjiuyuan. It was my arrogance and poor judgment that led to this outcome, and I have no one to blame!”

This was the first time Shi Chun had examined him so closely from such a short distance. His eyes fixed on the two talismans and the small, tightly clutched black cloth pouch in Qi Ziru’s hand. Upon hearing Qi Ziru’s words, Shi Chun’s gaze shifted back to his face. “Who are you?”

Qi Ziru calmly replied, “Does it still matter?”

Shi Chun raised an eyebrow slightly, showing his displeasure at the reply. “It seems you’re new here. This isn’t a place where just any crime gets you in. I heard Shen Youkun got in because of some ‘Hundred Children Banquet.’ What about you? What did you do to end up here?”

The so-called “Hundred Children Banquet” was not a pleasant affair; Shen Youkun had confessed to it himself when Shi Chun had him under house arrest.

Perhaps after consuming too many delicacies, he craved something peculiar. Thus, that scoundrel Shen Youkun developed a taste for “brain tofu.” Later, in his pursuit of ultimate freshness, he began preying on children. When hosting a banquet for his cronies, he even arranged a feast featuring a hundred pairs of child boys and girls. The affair was exposed, leading to his incarceration here.

Shen Youkun harbored many grievances about this. “What’s wrong with eating things from my own territory? Aren’t things on my own territory decided by me? It’s not like I’m the only one doing this.”

He had no complaints about the punishment itself; his resentment was directed at the person who leaked the information, causing the scandal to spread.

Qi Ziru repeated, “Does it still matter?”

Seeing such a perfunctory response, Shi Chun’s tone deepened. “Do you think I wouldn’t dare kill you?”

Qi Ziru calmly countered, “Didn’t you return just to kill me?”

This remark left Shi Chun somewhat speechless. Indeed, he had returned to silence him.

Soon, Shen Youkun’s agonizing wails could be heard, and he appeared, dragged back by Wu Jinliang, who gripped his hair.

Under the bright moonlight, Wu Jinliang, dragging his saber with one hand and Shen Youkun with the other, ran swiftly, treating the man like an object. In short order, he dragged Shen Youkun to Shi Chun’s feet, flung him down, and the man toppled over.

Shen Youkun looked up to meet Shi Chun’s downward gaze, immediately scrambled into a kneeling position, his forehead pressed to the ground. He was trembling, truly scared to the point of shaking uncontrollably.

Qi Ziru, observing from the side, couldn’t bear to watch. He regretfully closed his eyes, lamenting that he shouldn’t have gotten involved in the affairs of the land of exile for his nephew; it wasn’t worth it.

Wu Jinliang stepped forward, placing a foot on Shen Youkun’s back. He chuckled as he lectured, “Hey, Shen, you really don’t learn, do you? Haven’t we told you we won’t let you off if you provoke us again?”

Shen Youkun, still face down, immediately mumbled a defense, “I didn’t provoke you; you came here yourselves.”

“Uh…” Wu Jinliang, leaning on his saber and stepping on the man, couldn’t help but scratch his head. He gave Shi Chun a dry laugh. “Spring, it seems we did come to them this time. Huh, wait…” He suddenly lifted his foot and stomped twice on Shen Youkun’s back, pressing him further down. “You clearly tried to entice us with a pile of supplies first, yet you dare to say you didn’t provoke us? You’re obviously treating our words like nonsense. You dared to secretly send us things, clearly showing you don’t respect us, and now you dare to argue…”

Shi Chun raised a hand and waved it, signaling him to stop and step aside. Only then did Wu Jinliang cease his actions.

Shi Chun wasted no time and asked directly, “Who will tell me why you were digging up that skeleton underground?”

The whimpering Shen Youkun immediately fell silent, secretly turning his head to glance at his uncle.

Qi Ziru also shot him a disdainful look and calmly said, “Shen Youkun, they risked coming back here to silence us. Whether we speak or not, we will die. Do you understand?”

He was reminding Shen Youkun to keep quiet.

Shen Youkun trembled all over, understanding.

“You dog!” Wu Jinliang was displeased, glaring fiercely at Qi Ziru. “Spring, I’ll take one of them. We’ll question them separately; they’re bound to talk.”

Shi Chun, however, stared at Shen Youkun on the ground and, instead of answering, said, “So, you know the truth too.”

As soon as these words were uttered, Qi Ziru’s eyebrow twitched. He suddenly realized something, and the outcome was exactly as he expected. The leader abruptly drew the saber from the ground; a cold glint flashed before Qi Ziru’s eyes, and with a whoosh, his head was severed.

Thud, a head fell in front of Shen Youkun. He suddenly widened his eyes. Nephew and uncle facing each other in such a way was something he had never imagined. Immediately after, hot blood splattered across his face.

“Ah!” Shen Youkun suddenly let out a woman-like shriek. He flipped backward, scrambling on the ground with kicking legs, watching his uncle’s twitching corpse collapse.

Before he could recover from the shock, the bloody blade was pressed before his eyes again. Shi Chun understood him better and was more confident. He threatened, “Will you speak or not?”

Shen Youkun’s Adam’s apple bobbed repeatedly. He swallowed hard and choked out, “Even if I tell you, you’ll still kill me to silence me.”

Shi Chun rested the blade on top of his head. “You were able to tempt me with a large amount of supplies, so I assume your family already knows about my existence. I truly don’t want your family to cause me trouble once I get out of here. My concerns, Brother Shen, I’m sure you’re not foolish and can understand them.”

Upon hearing these words, a flicker of hope instantly appeared in Shen Youkun’s eyes.

Shi Chun continued, “I don’t want to stay here my whole life, and it’s not safe here either; your family’s influence has already reached inside. I hope Brother Shen can mediate on our behalf. As long as you cooperate well, wouldn’t it be better if we all had a way to survive? My meaning should be clear. If you don’t believe me, there’s nothing I can do. You might as well take a gamble.”

These reasonable and persuasive words even made Wu Jinliang secretly nod. His gaze towards Shen Youkun softened considerably; he was beginning to hold some hope for him.

Ultimately, Shen Youkun decided to take a gamble.

Regardless of his uncle’s warnings or whether his family would spare him after he spoke, he decided to first secure his immediate chance at survival. His reasoning was not without merit: if there was no present, what future could there be?

So he confessed his relationship with Qi Ziru and the purpose of the excavation. He answered every question, spilling everything he knew.

The result greatly surprised Shi Chun: the nephew and uncle actually didn’t know what the shimmering purple nebula was, which was precisely the mystery he was desperate to solve.

However, this also explained why, despite digging up such an important item, neither the nephew nor the uncle was present to oversee it. It was indeed possible that they didn’t know its true significance.

“Chaos, chaos…” This answer made Shi Chun mutter repeatedly.

He recalled the strange vision he had seen in his right eye; he could see it just moments ago, but now it had vanished. He wanted to see it again, but no matter how he tried to conceptualize it or use his abilities, it was useless. He couldn’t trigger that bizarre, illusion-like scene again.

Shen Youkun, who had already stood up to answer, watched him eagerly, waiting for words of reassurance.

Shi Chun, regaining his composure, met Shen Youkun’s gaze. He felt a hint of regret, wondering if the fellow was concealing something. Shen Youkun genuinely didn’t know to whom the excavated dragon bones were to be handed over, or even where or with whom to make contact. Qi Ziru had surprisingly not told him the truly important details. Otherwise, Shi Chun might have tried digging further to see if he could gain more means of self-preservation.

Under Shen Youkun’s expectant gaze, Shi Chun slowly gave his reply, “From this day forward, our grievances are cleared!”

Shen Youkun first froze, then his face drained of color, and his whole body stiffened in panic. He waved his hands repeatedly, but he was not faster than Shi Chun drawing the saber from the ground.

Swish! A cold light flashed, hot blood spurted skyward, and another head tumbled up, its wide-open eyes filled with disbelief.

Shi Chun shook the blood off the saber and inserted it into the sheath on his back.

Staring at the head rolling on the ground, Wu Jinliang asked in astonishment, “You’re not keeping him to help deal with the Qi family?”

Shi Chun replied, “You’re overthinking it. Based on what he said, the Qi family could discard even his uncle so easily, let alone him. Our grievances with him are just personal matters in the eyes of the powerful figures who control the Qi family; they might not take it too seriously. But if it gets tied to the affairs of this place, the Qi family will definitely not give us any way out.”

“Sigh.” Wu Jinliang scratched his head. “Never mind, the man’s dead, and whatever you say makes sense.” He turned around and eagerly rushed towards Qi Ziru’s body, reaching out to pick up the black cloth pouch and the two talismans that Qi Ziru had tightly clutched.

Shi Chun glanced over and urgently yelled, “Don’t move!”

Wu Jinliang, who was bent over with his hand extended, froze and looked up in astonishment. “What do you mean? Shen Youkun said that this ‘Qiankun Bag’ is no ordinary magic treasure in the outside world. How can we miss such a valuable item? Taking it out would be enough to ensure we never have to worry about food and drink.”

“Don’t touch it!” Shi Chun warned again, then walked towards the corpses slain on the hillside. “No matter how good it is, we can’t touch it. We can’t take a single item from their bodies. If we want to live, we have to restrain ourselves. Remember, we have never been here. Everything that happened here has nothing to do with us!”

Wu Jinliang, whose hands were itching, wasn’t foolish. He understood. After forcibly retracting his hand, he quickly moved to follow Shi Chun. When he saw Shi Chun uncover the masked man’s face, he exclaimed in surprise, “Is that him? Isn’t this Tian Zhan, the leader of Youlechuan? Have you forgotten? You’ve met him before and even exchanged pleasantries.”

Shi Chun frowned slightly but said nothing. He then found the heads of the other two sedan bearers, uncovered their faces to examine them, and only stopped when he didn’t recognize them. He looked around, took a deep breath, said, “We cannot stay here long,” and then vanished.

Wu Jinliang, who had been looking around, hoisted his great saber and quickly gave chase. The two swiftly disappeared into the night.

Not long after the two left, a figure flew unhurriedly from high in the sky.

It was a very strange middle-aged man. In the middle of the night, with no rain, he was flying while holding a large black umbrella.

He was tall and slender, with long black hair flowing in the wind. His face was handsome, with a slight stubble, exuding a mature and attractive masculine charm. He wore black robes with gold patterns, covered by a loose violet gauze cloak, appearing elegant and unrestrained, with an aura of detached dominance that surveyed the world.

Suddenly, he paused mid-air, stopping his flight. His gaze, which had been searching and surveying the ground below, fixed on a valley. The extensive signs of trench-filling and earth displacement were evident, clearly not natural formations, but precisely the place where Shen Youkun had organized large-scale excavation.

He had come because of the collapse in this area. The collapse did not seem like something individuals of normal cultivation in the land of exile could cause, so he had rushed to this vicinity to investigate.

His gaze suddenly swept again, and the weapons scattered on the ground outside the valley reflected the moonlight, attracting his attention.

The next moment, he vanished into thin air, instantly reappearing beside the scattered weapons, and began slowly pacing with his umbrella.