“Ghost? Where is there a ghost? Who is it that is playing tricks in my Feilong City? Today, this City Lord will turn you into a real ghost!”
Long Qingtian wore dark green robes. Although he was already middle-aged, his features remained quite handsome, tinged with the rugged wildness characteristic of people from the borderlands.
“Feilong City Lord certainly puts on quite the spectacle. You intend to turn this Prince into a ghost?”
Long Qingtian stood stunned for a moment… that voice, both familiar and unfamiliar, echoed in his ears.
With a single step, the man strode in and sat before the table, one hand propping up his forehead. The mask on his face seemed even more dazzling under the candlelight.
“Why, has City Lord Long forgotten this Prince?”
A low, sexy voice cut through the air, pulling Long Qingtian out of his stupor. “Prince… Prince Regent…”
Long Qingtian muttered in disbelief, his legs going weak with terror as he dropped straight to his knees. How could he have come to Feilong City? Their location was merely an insignificant, desolate border region.
A woman walked in, dressed in lavish robes with heavy makeup painted on her face, making her look significantly aged. “Who is bullying my son? Why are you kneeling here?”
Long Qingtian signaled for the woman to stop, warning her not to speak recklessly. But Liu Yan, accustomed to her own arrogance, refused to heed his warning. She turned to look at the masked man and asked coldly, “Who are you? Why are you in our house?”
Looking down, she saw Long Yin lying on the floor. One of his eyes had become a bloody, gaping socket, blood streaming down his face in a terrifying sight.
Liu Yan shrieked and threw herself over him. “Ah-Yin… who turned you into this state? Who did it!”
Long Yin, seeing his mother, burst into tears and pointed a finger at Jun Qingyu. “Mother… it was him!”
“It was you who turned my son into this! Give me back my son’s eye!”
Liu Yan stood up like a madwoman, but before she could get anywhere near Jun Qingyu, she was repelled by a barrier surrounding him, landing hard on her backside. “Liu Yan, withdraw!”
Long Qingtian looked at this mother-son pair with disgust, wishing he could kick them out of his home! They were exactly as expected of people from the red-light district devoid of any grace or status, losing face to the extreme.
Liu Yan raised her head in disbelief. “Old Master, he has beaten your son into this state, and you still order me to withdraw?”
“The Prince Regent must have his reasons for acting as he has. You will withdraw.”
Jun Qingyu curled his vivid red lips. “It seems City Lord Long is a man who knows the score. He offended someone he ought not to have, so take this as a lesson. Discipline him well in the future.”
“Yes…” Long Qingtian bowed his head respectfully. If this noble person were displeased, their Feilong City would not be able to survive…
The only person one dared not offend in the Song nation was not the Emperor, nor the Crown Prince, but this young Prince Regent who held the Son of Heaven hostage to command the vassals.
Young as he was, his cultivation had already reached the Huashen stage; no one dared to match him. Even the Emperor treated him with utmost respect. He recalled the one time he had visited the imperial palace to report on his duties and had witnessed this: the Prince Regent had scolded the Crown Prince into the ground, and the Emperor hadn’t dared to utter a word, while the ministers all trembled in fear, kneeling on the ground.
Truly an unforgettable impression… one could never forget such a Prince Regent!
In the chilly inn, the candles were burning bright. A white figure was rushing about, frantically searching for something.
“Ah-Xun…”
His gentle voice was laced with a hint of anxiety. Mu Chengyan wiped the sweat from his brow, his refined eyebrows furrowing slightly.
He had searched upstairs and downstairs, yet he could not find Jun Xun anywhere. Mu Chengyan’s white robes were stained with dust, and his hair was in disarray, but he no longer cared for such things.
“Cough, cough, cough…”
Perhaps due to the haste of his movements, Mu Chengyan’s face took on an unnatural flush. Yueying, who had just returned from outside, had already searched the perimeter without a trace of Jun Xun to be found.
“Your Highness, stop looking for him. Perhaps he has already left; you won’t be able to find him even if you keep searching.” Was a little boy picked up on the road really that important?
Mu Chengyan’s face filled with worry. “Left… he is all alone in the world; where could he go? Could he have been snatched away by someone… Ah-Xun has no family, and he is not very bright. What if he was deceived and taken away?”
I’ve heard many people specialize in kidnapping boys to force them into hard labor.
Ah-Xun looks so foolish… what if he was abducted by those people!
The more Mu Chengyan thought about it, the more uneasy he became, his footsteps refusing to slow down. Yueying, conversely, felt little worry, and even a sense of relief;
“That boy is clever enough; he won’t be taken away by others. Your Highness, you may rest easy.” That boy is no ordinary person; how could he possibly be snatched away by someone else?
Perhaps he realized there were no clues here and decided to leave on his own. Leaving is for the best; it spares me from having to monitor him every single day.
Mu Chengyan left the inn, searching for Jun Xun outside. “Ah-Xun…”
His call echoed repeatedly, exceptionally melodious in the silence of the night. Yueying wanted to stop him, but couldn’t, stomping his feet in frustration.
“Your Highness, it is already this late. Please go to sleep; we still have to travel tomorrow. I will search for him here.” His Highness’s health is already so fragile; how can he withstand staying awake all night? Once that little brat returns, I will certainly teach him a lesson!
“Cough, cough, cough… I must find him myself. Ah-Xun has no family and nowhere else to go.”
A wave of dizziness washed over him, and the scenery in front of him began to blur. Mu Chengyan reached for his forehead, his vision went black, and he collapsed forward.
“Gege!”
Jun Xun sprinted toward the light, spreading his arms wide to catch Mu Chengyan’s fragile body.
His slender waist had not an ounce of excess flesh, so frail he was nothing but skin and bone.
“Gege…”
Heartache spilled from the youth’s eyes. His trembling hand gently stroked the face he had longed for, only to jerk back abruptly.
Gege… Gege would despise him…
“Let go of His Highness! It is all because of you that His Highness has become this way. Where did you run off to in the middle of the night? Do you know how worried His Highness was? He had to find you himself, dragging his sickly body, searching for you in the cold wind for so long!”
Yueying was so angry he gritted his teeth, wishing he could end him with a single stroke of his sword, but he knew His Highness would blame him.
Jun Xun’s eyes brimmed with profound self-reproach. “I… I am sorry…”
“What use is your apology? Put His Highness down and get out of here. You truly are a star of misfortune. Not a single day of peace has His Highness known since meeting you.”
Jun Xun lowered his eyes… He truly was a star of misfortune.
In a deserted corner, a man attached a letter to a pigeon, and the gray bird flew rapidly into the night sky.