In the Lu nation, inside the Crown Prince’s mansion.
A man clad in a black cloak reached out to seize Lu Yunting by the throat, his eyes gleaming with a fierce, brutal light, like a wild beast on the verge of madness.
“Correct, I did kill her, and she is already dead! Clearly, I am the one… the one who grew up by your side, the one who has supported you all these years. Why… why is it that in your heart, there is only room for that madwoman!”
Lu Yunting’s lips were drained of color, and tears cascaded down his cheeks, one by one, landing on Shen Jin’s hand and searing his heart with pain.
Shen Jin released his grip instantly, pulling the man into a sudden, fierce embrace.
“Ah-Ting, have I not told you? My heart holds only you; there is no one else.”
“Then why… did you want to kill me just now?” Lu Yunting wiped the tears from his eyes, looking aggrieved.
“I did not. I was merely blinded by rage. As for that woman you did well to kill her.”
Shen Jin’s fists were clenched tight, suppressing the fury in his heart as a mask of false smiles appeared on his face.
A glimmer of joy touched Lu Yunting’s brows as he wrapped his arms around the man’s neck.
“Bro. Jin, I knew you loved me best. Just wait a little longer once Jun Qingyu is destroyed, the Great Song nation will fall without a fight. I promised you, I will definitely help you restore your country.”
“Mn, I trust you, Ah-Ting…”
With a sweep of his large hand, Shen Jin scooped the man up into his arms and carried him toward the inner sleeping quarters.
As his black cloak fell away, it revealed a face of exquisite, ethereal beauty—dark, arched brows, star-bright eyes, and clean, sharp features. Though he had already entered his thirties, time had left no mark upon his face.
Lu Yunting gazed obsessively at that face, unable to stop his hand from reaching out…
The person he had loved for a lifetime for him, he was willing to do anything.
“Bro. Jin…”
As his golden robes drifted to the floor, Lu Yunting’s brow furrowed slightly, and his lips parted involuntarily…
The falling bed curtains shielded everything within.
On a tranquil path, the crisp, clear sound of a bell rang out as a carriage moved slowly forward.
Mu Chengyan looked at the empty seat beside him, reached out to push aside the carriage curtains, and gazed at the distant sky, his expression tinged with loneliness.
The building appearing before them was the very household that had adopted Jun Xun just yesterday.
Ah-Xun.
Farewell.
Mu Chengyan was just about to let the curtain fall when, suddenly, a familiar, small figure appeared in his line of sight. Following behind him was a tall man brandishing a wooden club, in hot pursuit.
“Don’t hit Ah-Xun, Ah-Xun will be a good boy, please don’t hit Ah-Xun.”
The youth’s small body curled into a ball, shivering in the corner.
“You’re a slave I bought with my own money, and you dare sneak into the kitchen to steal food? Watch me beat you to death!”
The sturdy club descended upon the boy’s back. Mu Chengyan’s heart gave a sharp, agonizing thud. “Stop the carriage! Yueying, stop the carriage!”
Before the carriage had even come to a complete halt, Mu Chengyan jumped down and rushed over in a flurry.
“Ah-Xun…”
Seeing someone approaching, the man retracted his club.
“Gege.”
Jun Xun threw himself into Mu Chengyan’s warm embrace, tears glimmering in his dark, ink-black eyes.
Mu Chengyan held the boy tightly, stroking his head gently, his heart filled with stinging heartache.
“Ah-Xun, it is Gege’s fault; I should not have given you away. I am sorry.”
Mu Chengyan felt an overwhelming sense of guilt toward Jun Xun. He had expected the boy to live a peaceful life, but it seemed he had been sorely mistaken.
Jun Xun looked up, pouting in grievance. “It is not Gege’s fault; it is Ah-Xun… Ah-Xun is not likable.”
“You… you are his older brother, and you intend to take him away? This is a slave my household bought for a high price; you cannot just take him!”
The man brandished his weapon, charging toward the two of them! Yueying flicked his sword, cleanly slicing the wooden club in half; it clattered to the ground with a crisp clang.
“Murder!”
Terrified, the man tossed aside the broken stump of the club and fled as if his life depended on it.
“Gege… I have to go back. I still have to cook; if I am late, they will beat Ah-Xun.”
Mu Chengyan gripped the youth’s small, reddened hand. “You are not going back; you are coming with Gege.” Never again would he ever let Ah-Xun go.
Inside the carriage.
Mu Chengyan and Jun Xun sat side by side. Jun Xun slowly inched his way closer, finally reaching out to lightly grasp a pair of jade-white hands.
“Ah-Xun, does your back still hurt? Let me take a look.”
That strike earlier had landed squarely on his back; it must have been torn and bruised.
“Gege, it does not hurt anymore. It stopped hurting a long time ago.”
Jun Xun lowered his head, clutching his clothes tightly.
Mu Chengyan withdrew his hand. Ah-Xun seemed exceptionally terrified of undressing.
Could he have scars on his body?
“Ah-Xun, where are we heading? We are already about to leave Sunset City.”
“The imperial capital. Has Ah-Xun ever been to the imperial capital?”
“What does Gege intend to do in the imperial capital?”
Mu Chengyan explained patiently, “There are some matters that might require us to stay there for a period of time. I hear the person one should never provoke in the Great Song imperial capital is the Little Regent. Does Ah-Xun know of him?”
Legend held that he was a man who slaughtered without mercy, a bloodthirsty tyrant, and that no living soul could remain within three feet of him… His Imperial Father had also warned him never to cross paths with this man, for his fate would surely be a tragic one.
“I know of him.” Jun Xun lowered his eyes.
“Then what kind of person is he? Is it true, as the legends say, that he is cruel and violent?”
Mu Chengyan’s curiosity was piqued, and he continued to press.
“He… he has weaknesses, too. Gege need not fear him; he is but an ordinary man.”
“Weaknesses…”
A man so powerful… has weaknesses?
Jun Xun said slowly, “His weakness is a person a person of great importance to him. As long as one captures this person, one can command him to do anything.”
“That person must be very difficult to capture. Is it his kin?” Mu Chengyan asked, lost in thought.
Jun Xun let out a soft chuckle. “I wouldn’t know of that. But I have heard that he is disfigured and wears a mask year-round.”
A mask… Mu Chengyan suddenly recalled the cave…
A mask—could it be him? But he shouldn’t be in the imperial capital.
And how would he… how would he ever do such a thing to me? It must be my imagination.
Mu Chengyan shook his head violently to scatter the thoughts in his mind.
“Gege, why has your face turned red?”
Jun Xun rested his chin on his palm, gazing at his slightly reddened complexion, and couldn’t help but reach out.
“N—nothing…”
Mu Chengyan turned his head away. It was the first time he had ever been treated like that; he would never forget it for the rest of his life. His purity the purity he had guarded for so many years had been ruined just like that, at the hands of a complete stranger.
“Ah-Xun, how are you so familiar with him? Have you met him before?”
“Naturally, I have.”
A smile touched Mu Chengyan’s lips. “To think Ah-Xun, despite his youth, has had such extraordinary experiences.”
In his own youth, he too had traveled to the Great Song nation, a high-spirited boy in his prime. He had once saved a child of a few years old on the battlefield; he wondered what had become of that child now.
“When I was a beggar, I went to the imperial capital, so I had a brief encounter with him. He is not as terrifying as the legends say, so Gege need not fear him.”
“Mn.”
Mu Chengyan nodded. He, too, felt the rumors were likely exaggerated. He had never met him in his previous life, but now, he wished to see with his own eyes just what kind of person he truly was, to strike such terror into the hearts of everyone across the Jiuzhou Continent.