Note: Don't Forget to join my Pãtreon : flokixy to get access to Advance Chapters support so I can bring more Chapters for you
Qingyun Continent, Beiliang City. A small boy, only six or seven years old, was curled up by the stone lion at the back gate of the Zhao Manor.
In the icy snow, the little boy shivered, clad in ill-fitting single-layered clothes. Strangely, his eyes were covered with a black cloth strip. The black cloth revealed sharp, sword-like eyebrows, a high nose bridge, and thin lips. His cheeks were slightly sunken due to emaciation, and his jawline was distinctly angular.
Creak~
The back gate of the Zhao Manor opened, but then a dull thud followed.
Thump!
A stiff corpse was thrown out from the back gate. The small body hit the ground, making a shallow pit in the accumulated snow. Zhao Qing, dressed in a thick padded jacket, hesitated, a trace of reluctance in his eyes. He tossed down four strings of copper coins, then pulled the rest back into his sleeve.
The boy quickly got up, shook off the snow from his body, and forced a gentle smile as he spoke. "Brother Qing, were there leftover dishes or rice thrown out from the manor just now?" Saying this, the boy squatted down and reached towards his feet. The smile was still on his face, but his hand touched a corpse that was already ice-cold! Li Guanqi's hand froze in mid-air. His throat bobbed, and his body trembled slightly.
A moment later, the boy knelt on the ground, his trembling hands reaching for the girl's face. His trembling hand touched the girl's chin, then suddenly recoiled as if shocked! He had touched a long scar; it was from two years ago when his uncle, drunk after losing money gambling, had hit his sister.
"Sis..." A slightly mournful murmur escaped the boy's lips. The smile on his face had long vanished, and two streams of clear tears flowed uncontrollably from his eyes.
Disregarding the goose-feather snow falling from the sky, the boy took off the only tattered hemp robe he had and wrapped it around the girl's body! His emaciated body was covered in hideous scars, and the bruises on his back hadn't faded. He stretched out his hands, raw with chilblains, and gently stroked the girl's soft hair. The boy lowered his head, his voice hoarse as he mumbled, "It's good that you're dead. Living... is suffering."
Ignoring the biting ice and snow, the boy rummaged on the ground for the four strings of copper coins. A wave of sadness instantly welled up in the boy's heart. He never expected that his sister, even in death, couldn't retain her last shred of dignity! Was money from the dead really that easy to take?!
A cold wind blew past. Zhao Qing couldn't help but tighten his sleeves, looking at the boy and speaking. "Your sister... had a bad fate. Take this money and go back."
The boy tore off the cloth covering his eyes, revealing a pair of ghastly pale eyes. He looked up in the direction of the voice, slowly extended his right hand, and said softly, "A servant died unjustly; the master should compensate ten strings!"
"This money... is my sister's last dignity. You shouldn't take it!" Zhao Qing, his hands tucked into his sleeves, heard the demand for money, and the pity on his face instantly vanished. He said coldly, "Stupid blind boy, take these four strings if you want them! Get lost!"
Li Guanqi, only six years old, was frail, yet a fierce look appeared on his face! He quickly stepped onto the Zhao Manor's steps, grabbed the man's hand, and shouted, "Give me what's due!"
Zhao Qing saw Li Guanqi's chilblained hand grabbing him, and his brow furrowed. A cold glint flashed in his eyes. He grabbed the boy's hair with one hand and flung him down the steps.
Thump!
The frail body was violently slammed onto the snow-covered ground. Beneath the snow were bluestone slabs. Falling on them would leave bruises, let alone a boy flung half a zhang away. Zhao Qing looked coldly at the boy lying on the ground and said viciously, "Stupid blind boy! Get lost with that corpse!"
"If I didn't pity you, I wouldn't even give you four strings!"
"Ptooey!"
Just as Zhao Qing turned to go back inside, the corner of his clothes was suddenly grabbed. Zhao Qing turned around to see that the boy had somehow appeared behind him, his hands desperately clinging to his clothes.
"Give me the money!!"
"This is my sister's life-buying money!"
Zhao Qing's fury surged. He was about to act viciously when he looked down and saw those ghastly pale eyes! Those eyes clearly couldn't see, yet he felt as if the other party was staring at him. A chill rose from the bottom of Zhao Qing's heart. He then looked again at the girl who had been worked to death.
Zhao Qing finally lowered his raised fist and stuffed the remaining copper coins from his sleeve into the boy's hand. "Here, here, you're really unlucky!"
Li Guanqi let go, numbly counting the copper coins in his hand.
Thump!
The manor gate closed. A slightly young voice came from inside. "Little Qing~ What are you doing! Hurry up and feed my young master's birds!"
"Young Master Yuanlin, I'm going, I'm going."
"What were you doing just now?"
"..."
"It's just a maid who died, no big deal. Quickly make that dead blind boy get lost!"
Li Guanqi thus looked blankly at the sky, holding the copper coins, and sat on the Zhao Manor steps for a very long time. He walked down the steps, laboriously carried the already stiff corpse onto his back, and turned to leave.
Creak... creak...
That was the sound of Li Guanqi's feet treading on the snow. His steps were slow, but firm.
All of this was witnessed by an old man in a restaurant dozens of zhang away. The old man wore a plain grey robe and had white hair and beard. His nose bridge was high, and his lips were slightly thin but not at all harsh. There was no trace of decline in his brows and eyes; instead, his eyes were exceptionally clear.
On the table were a few small dishes and a pot of warm wine. Looking at the boy who was fumbling his way along the wall, the old man's hand holding the wine cup suddenly stopped in mid-air. A faint, almost imperceptible glint flashed in the old man's eyes as he looked at the boy. He murmured in a low voice, "I never expected the prodigy I've been searching for hundreds of years to be a little blind boy..."
"Never mind, never mind. Perhaps this is fate."
Then the old man slowly rose, his voice mellow and resonant, saying, "Waiter, check please!"
It was the dead of winter, when the north wind bit to the bone. Gusts of cold wind were like sharp knives piercing the young Li Guanqi. He rested several times along the way. Only when night fell did the boy place the already stiff corpse at the entrance of a medical hall.
The grey-robed old man was also thinly clad, but the swirling snow would automatically part when it passed by him. "The person is dead, and their three souls and seven spirits have entered reincarnation. Why come to this medical hall?"
Not long after, the boy's hands held a few bundles of herbs. He laboriously carried the corpse and continued on his way. Then he arrived at a small shop, with white mourning cloth hanging at its entrance. Before long, the boy emerged from inside, holding an urn. A piece of paper was pasted on it.
'Li Cuiwei.'
He wrapped it in the girl's pink clothes. From beginning to end, there wasn't much emotion on the boy's face. Along the way, the boy also picked up two steamed buns, hard as bricks, from the entrance of a steamed bun shop. At this moment, a hint of a smile actually appeared on the boy's face.
This greatly puzzled the old man who had been following him. Why did the death of the boy's own sister not cause any emotional fluctuation in him? Yet, he stubbornly clung to the Zhao family servant having withheld the due copper coins. The boy, holding the ashes, also showed no particular expression, but smiled because he had picked up two unwanted steamed buns. The old man's curiosity was completely piqued, and he continued to follow the boy.
Suddenly!
The old man, in the snow, paused. He looked up at the sky. His expression was calm as he softly said, "Tsk tsk, I merely dismantled a sect a while ago. Is the Protector Mage of Beiliang Kingdom coming to visit me personally?"
"A mere Nascent Soul... it's good to meet him, saves both of us trouble."
Swish!
The old man took a step, instantly traversing dozens of li, appearing in an outdoor pavilion. The brocade-robed old man had already warmed wine and brewed tea, seemingly having waited for a long time. Upon seeing the old man appear, the Protector Mage of Beiliang Kingdom hastily rose and bowed respectfully, saying, "Greetings, Senior..."
In the south of Beiliang City, in a dilapidated small courtyard with a gate that couldn't even close, the boy stood at the entrance, hesitating for a long time. Finally, he took a deep breath, pushed the door, and stepped out of his home.
Creak~
In the dark room, not a single lamp was lit. The home was bare, with holes in many of the window papers, but no money to fix them. On the cold earthen bed, a dark shadow stirred slightly, and then a weak voice slowly emanated.
"Guanqi... you're back?"
The woman's voice was very gentle, yet unusually weak. The person who spoke was Li Guanqi's mother, Song Wanrong. Song Wanrong, who had risen, looked haggard, her cheeks sunken. But when she looked at the boy, her eyes were full of tenderness.
Song Wanrong looked around by the moonlight, and softly asked, "Where's Cuiwei?"
Li Guanqi, fumbling for a candle in the drawer, suddenly stiffened. He lit the candle, illuminating the lone clay pot beside him. His voice hoarse, he spoke, "Sister Cuiwei... died. The Zhao Manor compensated ten strings of copper coins."
"I got all the money back. I've hidden it well, for Mother's medicine." After speaking, the boy took out a steamed bun from his bosom, which had softened slightly from his body heat, and handed it to Song Wanrong. He fumbled for herbs and walked towards the kitchen, saying hoarsely, "I'll go boil medicine for Mother."
Song Wanrong gently pulled Li Guanqi's hand and placed the steamed bun on Li Guanqi's hand. Forcing back tears, she said, "Mother... Mother isn't hungry, you eat." Her dry hair covered most of her face, but Li Guanqi heard a few drops of tears hitting the mat.
Thump!!
The door was kicked open, and a biting cold wind suddenly rushed into the room. The boy's body trembled, not from the cold, but from fear. The newcomer was Li Guanqi's distant uncle, Li Dashan. Li Dashan was short, dressed in a dark blue padded jacket, with prominent cheekbones, triangular eyes, and an aquiline nose. He looked fierce, and before he even entered the door, his sinister voice echoed from afar.
"Damn it! Where's the money!!"