Book 16 Chapter 25

An Unfinished End… and a New Beginning

"Uh… how did this happen……."

The old man stood before the rampaging flames, greedily devouring everything.

Without a word of acknowledgment, the fire horse was burning everything in its path.

The shadows of the flickering flames stained the old man's white beard and hair a sunset red. The shadows danced to and fro at the whim of the seemingly temperamental flames.

Ding!

Thump!

The two massive pillars that supported the gate were topped with two flaming serpents, their tongues lolling. Like the gates of hell, the plaques that hung above the fiery gates clattered against the stone floor, scattering red dust. Already there was no life beyond those flaming gates. The banquet hall of destruction and murder had been reduced to ashes with the flames.

The old man's gaze fell on a plaque that had fallen to the floor as if to symbolize the fate of the place. The plaque had once been decorated with fine typefaces and ornamentation that reflected the cinema the city had once enjoyed, but now it was engulfed in flames and charred to a charcoal black, and only the large letters could be made out. In the flames of the more than half-burnt sign, four words were scrawled.

Qinglong Silver Pavilion (青龍銀莊)

The old man clutched the piece of paper in one hand and stared at it in disbelief. What had once been called an "absolute pension" had gone up in flames and was now worthless trash. His living expenses, his drinking money, were burning together in there. It was the only 'inheritance' that the runaway disciple had saved by any means necessary. When that was gone, what would he have to sustain himself with? It was clear that this piece of toilet paper, which should be renamed "before the fire" instead of "never", would be of no help. When he arrived, instead of the stolen gold and silver, the whole place was in flames, and there were a hundred or so humans poking at the corpses in the name of verification. Needless to say, they didn't like the idea of witnesses, so they lunged to cover the old man's mouth, and now they were sleeping behind him, never to wake up again. They had been punished for their sins, which had had a tremendous negative impact on the old man's drinking. But none of that mattered to the old man now. His life was over. Not being able to enjoy tomorrow's new batch of muji with a delicious snack was a real problem.

"Should I look her up again……."

The old man muttered in a low voice. I don't know where it is, but there's nothing I can't find if I go looking for it. A few clues were in his hands. First and foremost, he couldn't let them starve to death.

"Let's go for a long, hard run……."

The gray-haired old man tossed the deed into the flames, and with the ashes and fluttering silver behind him, he took a step toward his new destination. It may have been a small step for an old man, but it could be a huge step for a powerful man.

<Continued on page 17 of "Lightning Resistance"