Guchen stood like an ice sculpture, unmoving, bowing slightly as he saw Mu Chengyan.
“Your Highness, not a single person is missing.”
Seeing the elderly folk nearby still trembling in fright, Mu Chengyan rubbed his brow helplessly. Guchen was simply too menacing; he never wore a smile for anyone.
“Your Highness, what are we to do with so many people? We have no place to accommodate them.” They were already impoverished enough, with their Crown Prince receiving a mere twenty taels of silver in salary annually.
Mu Chengyan was suddenly troubled. He didn’t even have a place of his own to stay, let alone a way to settle so many elderly people.
“Perhaps we should send them back to their homes. As long as we capture Shen Jin, no one will dare to use them as bait again.”
“Your Highness… we do not wish to return…” Several elders knelt down, as if seeing their savior. What choice did they have when their own sons were so unfilial? If they returned, they would only be… sold to others once more.
“Your Highness… we are penniless, and have no way to settle them.”
Mu Chengyan was at a loss; he wanted to secure the seniors’ safety but was utterly broke…
Jun Xun furrowed his brows slightly. Why hasn’t that guy arrived yet?
Not long after, a small group of people arrived from the distance, led by a young man draped in dark red robes, his peach-blossom eyes brimming with flirtatious charm. When his gaze fell upon Jun Xun, the smile on his lips deepened.
“City Lord of Sunset City, Feng Qi, has come especially to welcome the Crown Prince.”
Song Jinxuan cleared his throat ostentatiously, coughing a few times. Who is this City Lord? Does he not see me?
Mu Chengyan turned his head and pointed at himself with an innocent expression. “Me…” He was merely the Crown Prince of a small nation was he really that well-known?
“Correct! I have long heard that the Crown Prince of the Yuanqi nation is one who holds the world in his heart, loves his people like his own children, and possesses a beauty that can topple empires a face of peerless perfection. Seeing you today, the rumors are well-deserved.”
He was immediately met with a fierce glare from the side, causing City Lord Feng to promptly seal his lips. So that is the type he fancies; no wonder he has been without a woman by his side for all these years.
Mu Chengyan lowered his eyes, feeling embarrassed by the praise. “M—many thanks.”
Feng Qi’s peach-blossom eyes shimmered with a light smile. Such a gentle voice. So he favors such soft, delicate beauties the very “White Moonlight” he’s been constantly prattling on about. Feng Qi seemed to have uncovered a heaven-shattering secret, covering his mouth to hide a light chuckle.
“Cough, cough.” Song Jinxuan coughed again. Had these people completely ignored him? He was the Third Prince of the Great Song nation, for goodness’ sake! Were they all blind, not seeing him standing here?
“And this…”
Was he finally going to be recognized? Song Jinxuan straightened his posture.
Feng Qi’s tone turned abrupt. “And who is this? He looks rather unfamiliar.”
“Presumptuous! This is the noble Third…”
“Luo Yuan, do not be rude. Stand down.”
“Third what?”
“Third Master. Just a merchant, passing through.”
Song Jinxuan held his head high with pride; if they didn’t recognize him, then so be it.
“I see. Then I shall take my leave with the others. Third… Third Master presumably has no intention of gracing my humble abode?” Feng Qi said, struggling to suppress the laughter in his eyes.
Song Jinxuan glanced at Mu Chengyan. If that great beauty doesn’t have my protection, what if he gets swindled? This City Lord looked like a villain; he was clearly not a good person.
“The hour is late. I trust the City Lord would not mind if we borrowed a room for the night?”
“Of course, please, come inside.”
Jun Xun swept a sharp, cutting glare toward him, and Feng Qi shrugged helplessly. He is the Third Prince, after all; I cannot afford to disregard his face entirely.
Turning around, Feng Qi saw the woman kneeling on the ground and felt a massive headache coming on. “It’s you again!”
Ten years. Ten whole years, and their grudge had yet to be resolved.
The woman clutched the scrap of fabric, murmuring to herself:
“Bro. Jin… Bro. Jin loves me. He came; he came again. Even if I marry others, he will come; he does not want me to marry another. He promised he would marry me. That is what he said.”
Feng Qi sighed in resignation. “Send her back home and assign people to protect her.” It was a miracle she had lived this long; this woman had stared death in the face countless times, yet always survived.
“She is the key to this case; we cannot simply let her go.”
Feng Qi replied, “If the Crown Prince wishes to know about this case, I know more about it than anyone else.” It was the only case he could never bring to a close.
“Sunset City was divided into three factions back then. The Feng family, the Su family, and the Yu family. The Su and Yu families had a son and a daughter, Su Xing and Yu Wei. They were childhood sweethearts. Su Xing was always good to the Yu family’s daughter, but when Yu Wei turned sixteen, she fell in love with a boy from the countryside. How could the Yu family agree? They forced her into marriage with Su Xing. On the wedding day, Yu Wei indeed fled.
Though Shen Jin was born into humble circumstances, he had a master who taught him martial arts, allowing him to easily carry Yu Wei away. The two had made a pact to roam the ends of the earth together.
How could Su Xing agree? He had lost face, his fiancée had been stolen, and he had become the laughingstock of all Sunset City. With his volatile, irritable nature, he took many men to Shen Jin’s village in a fit of rage and slaughtered all one hundred and sixty-eight inhabitants.
When Shen Jin heard the news, he ran back in a madness, and seeing the river of blood and the mountain of corpses, he spiraled into a demonic obsession. That very night, he went to the Su estate and exterminated all one hundred and one members, leaving not a single soul alive, painting the grounds red with blood…
Ever since, Shen Jin has always worn a mask, appearing with a different one each time he commits a crime. Over the past decade, he has killed countless people any wealthy household, any family bearing the surname Su, he has wiped them all out, striking terror into the hearts of all who hear his name!”
He didn’t know who was right and who was wrong; he could not pass judgment.
Mu Chengyan sighed; so that was the story. With so many lives standing between them, it was impossible for them to ever be together in this lifetime…
Jun Xun’s gaze grew darker and darker. If it were him, what would he do? No… it couldn’t be him. He had no family, no friends he only had Gege. For Gege, he would do anything. Gege was the most important person in his entire life.
“So, she is the only way to lure Shen Jin out? What of her parents?”
“Both elders of the Yu family passed away long ago. She… she is a pitiful soul…”
The three of them had grown up together, and she had once been a very vivacious young girl. Alas, fate was cruel; now she was neither human nor ghost, suffering from bouts of insanity. Feng Qi cared for her deeply, always sending guards to protect her. Yet, each time Yu Wei would escape, only to be captured and used as bait he had lost count of how many times this had happened.
“Truly pitiful, even more so than Ah-Xun.”
Mu Chengyan stroked the young boy’s hand; it was somewhat icy. Feng Qi curled his lip. Pitiful? How could he be pitiful!
“Is Ah-Xun cold?”
“Gege, Ah-Xun is not cold.” Jun Xun’s voice was sweet, soft, and slightly childish.
Having grown accustomed to his cold, icy demeanor, Feng Qi felt goosebumps rise at the sight of him acting spoiled…