Book 18 Chapter 15

Uncle's Wound

-a hand stroking your back

"Your Majesty, your Majesty, we're in trouble!"

Kang Representative Du, who was in a hurry, said urgently, not quite catching his breath.

"Once is enough for a sovereign, so what's going on?"

Zhang Wuyang replied, a little annoyed. Now she honestly suspected deliberate intent, but the report that followed blew away any such notions.

"My… kids are gone."

Boom!

"What!"

Zhang Wuyang jumped out of his seat in horror.

"I told you to keep your eyes peeled! Those children could be the key to unlocking the Blue Dragon Silver Field! How could they have left the country and no one noticed?"

"I guess I let my guard down, I never thought a kid like that would do something so brazen."

"Then wake up from your dream. These are children who have attempted to use an entire nation as a shield. And with such suspicious creatures chasing them, they must have something of value on their person that they covet, so how could they not be uneasy? Wouldn't you be uneasy? I wouldn't be able to sleep at night with anxiety. You wouldn't want to stay in one place for long, and you'd probably think everyone in sight was a bandit. So I would hold back my curiosity and try to remain indifferent until the children let their guard down. Isn't that simple?"

"……."

There is no guarantee that what is natural to one person will be natural to another. This was true even if it seemed obvious and simple. Zhang Wuyang's mistake was that he thought it was too simple and overlooked it.

"Release the people and find the children. Hurry up. The children are in danger."

* * *

"Brother, it hurts!"

The girl frowned. But the force in the hand that was pulling her away was unabated.

"Brother, you're going too fast!"

But the second shout hadn't slowed him down one bit. She was suddenly terrified. He hadn't looked back at himself at all.

"Aaaahhhhhh!"

Crying broke out. The boy's steps slowed and finally stopped. She was only seven years old. The strength drained from his grip on the girl's frail, fern-like hand. The boy turned around and patted her on the back, soothing her.

"I'm sorry, Mian. I was too hasty, and I won't do it again. So stop!"

Only then did the real girl stop crying.

"Big brother, where are we going?"

The girl asked. The boy said in a soft voice.

"Alas, I'm going to a place called the Temple of Heaven."

"Why there?"

"Because I have to go."

The boy replied.

"But……."

The girl trailed off.

"But what?"

The boy asked.

"You guys told me not to move from there, it's dangerous."

The boy let out a small sigh.

"It's dangerous to be in one place for too long, and we don't know exactly what the people of that country are like."

Even at such a young age, the boy realized that he was not yet discerning enough to understand what it meant to be human. Moreover, the amount of money he had on his person made him feel very insecure. The nervousness of not knowing when it would be taken away from him was always there. It was a tough mental ordeal for a boy who was only thirteen years old to endure, so he decided to run away.

"There's only one place we can trust."

Just then, a huge shadow was cast over the back of the boy who was kneeling and soothing the girl. It stretched out and swallowed the shadows of the two brothers in an instant. The startled boy nervously looked behind him, where a middle-aged man with a long sword at his waist stood with a stern face. The three scars on his chin made his face even more gruesome, but the man's stony expression quickly relaxed.

"Eh? Are you not Yan Yi and Sun Yat-sen? What brings you to this far-off place of Nanchang, and have you come with your father?"

The soft, gentle voice, so different from his rugged face, brought out the sadness he had been suppressing. The wariness in the boy's hardened face had long since been swept away by the soft voice, and in its place, sadness surged.

"Uncle Yun!"

"Aaaahhhhhhhh!"

Finally, the dike burst and the boy and girl ran into the middle-aged man's arms.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's wrong, what happened?"

The middle-aged man patted the two children on the back, bewildered by their sudden reaction. Then the cloak on his back swept away, revealing a single crest. The middle character, guarded by four swords. It was the coat of arms of the Middle Kingdom.

"Ugh! I can't believe all that terrible stuff happened……. You guys must have had a really hard time."

The man who had heard all of Yoo's sobbing confessions looked up to the heavens and burst into tears. He was still holding his two children in his arms.

The man's large hands were moving gently over the small backs of the two children, in the name of soothing their grief. His hands gently brushed over the children's backs with care, but no one knew that death lay beneath these gentle touches. His hands were still gentle, stroking the children's backs with care and sensitivity. At one point, his hands reached the boy's waistband, and he felt something hard touch him. At that moment, the man's eyes lit up. But he didn't stop stroking the children.

The boy felt the weight of a large, firm hand on his back, and he felt relief from the warmth of the touch. But the two children in his arms could not see the cold, hardened eyes of the man's predator; only the whiteness of tears clouded their eyes.

"Stop that hand!"

The cold voice from behind his back made the middle-aged man who called himself Uncle Yun jump in place in anger. Ever since he met the children, he had never let his guard down. Instead, he had been exploring his surroundings with all his nerves on edge. Everything had to be done in the dark and in secret. And yet, right behind him, a voice called out, "Hello! His ears perked up and he jumped. By the time he hit the ground, his body had already turned to face the mysterious intruder, and his longsword, which had just been drawn, was emitting a hostile siffern beam. It was a dazzlingly fast, swift foot sweep.

"Woman?

It was a woman, to his surprise, who had taken up residence at his back without a sound, a woman of dazzling elegance and grace, but she was not to be trifled with. She was glaring at him with an arrogant, cold stare.

"Yes?"

He had to fight to keep from yelling, "Who are you, bitch?" and that restraint saved him for now.

The beautiful woman in the snow-white robe was Qin Xiaolong. Her sword was still sheathed in its scabbard, but her demeanor was flawless, embodying the ultimate in perfection. Even as she stood still, an impenetrable majesty naturally radiated from every strand of her hair.

"Strong!

She was so powerful that a man could not calm down unless he unconsciously drew his sword. In fact, he didn't draw his sword because he wanted to, because that would immediately draw attention to himself, and that was not what he wanted. His survival instincts told him to defend himself by drawing his sword in the face of a huge enemy, and his body dutifully fulfilled that command. But despite his efforts, things didn't seem to be getting much better.

The woman spoke in a quiet voice, her dignity intact, as she stared stoically at the tip of the knife pointed at her own throat.

"Stay away from the children!"

The man's eyes widened at that.

"What if you don't want to?"

The man said, rising to his feet.

"No?"

Qin Xiaoling asked.

"No!"

"Then I can't do it."

A brilliant flash of light flashed before the man's eyes. He tried to move, but he couldn't even flinch.

"Oh, no……!"

He stared at his sword in a daze. Even as the light of the sword flashed before his eyes, his arm remained frozen.

The next moment, he had an even more eerie sensation: his right sleeve was torn to shreds and scattered into thin air. He stared blankly at his severed sleeve. He could have salvaged an arm, but this seemed to say enough was enough. If the woman had had any hope of survival, his arm would have been a flattened piece of flesh, lying on the ground.

"Huh!"

Seeing that scene, Liu Ying's eyes widened in surprise. It wasn't because Uncle Yun had been struck by Qin Shaolin's sword. What surprised the boy was the forearm that appeared inside the torn sleeve: a scar on his right arm, as if a dragon had flown through it. The scar hadn't been there since he'd bathed with his uncle when he came to visit half a year earlier in the summer. Moreover, it was clear from the condition that the wound had been inflicted recently. Some unknown shock rattled the boy's brain. For a moment, he couldn't think of anything. He must have known something, but his body wasn't ready for it. The realization was too much for his young mind to handle, and it caused him to stop thinking for a moment.

"Have you changed your mind now?"

Qin Xiaoling asked again.

"No!"

The man replied stubbornly.

Then Qin Shaolin's eyes turned cold.

"Now, wait a minute, neither of you, don't fight!"

The boy called out in an urgent voice. Qin Lie's puzzled gaze turned to the boy.

"Do you know him?"

The question wasn't directed at him, of course. Was he not even in her field of perception? The boy answered immediately. Her head was still spinning, but she couldn't collapse in a place like this. He fought back an unexplained wave of nausea as he spoke.

"Oh, yeah. This is my uncle. My father's half-brother and the head of the Zhongyuan Clan, the Wind Demon Swordsman Yi Zheng, Uncle Yun. He's also known in the Jianghu as the Golden Twelve Walls."

Qin Wentian remembered hearing the title of the Golden Twelve Walls; it was the sign of the Zhongyuan Clan, designating the twelve most outstanding representatives of the Zhongyuan Clan.

"Is that so, did you know him?"

Yoon Yi-jeong's status in the company didn't seem to excite her. She was just scratching her head in disbelief.

"Was it my imagination, or did this man seem to have a sinister streak in him?

But no matter how tenuous the life, there was no mistaking it. But the children's uncle was now one of the few people they could turn to. She stopped trying to question him, but her suspicions were not allayed.

When he realized that the woman was acquainted with the children, Yun Yizhong also sheathed his sword and said.

"Pardon me, Mistress. I hope you can forgive my rudeness. My name is Yun Mo, and I hold an insignificant position in the Zhongyuan Marking Bureau. If you don't mind, would you please give me the honor of receiving the dignity of the Ye Family?"

The panicky attitude from a moment ago is nowhere to be found.

"……."

But Qin Xiaoling did not reply, even though it was a great disrespect, she did not reciprocate. Instead, she gazed into Yun Yizheng's eyes with a cool, clear, deep gaze of unknown depth.

Yun Yizheng was furious at the other party's disregard, but when he looked into her glassy eyes, he didn't dare to be disrespectful.

The unspoken pressure. It was definitely something to be called that.

Yoo stepped in to break up the awkwardness, and in that sense, he was no ordinary kid.

"Oh, he's so famous, I guess you didn't introduce him because you were afraid he'd make a scene if his identity was known. I bet your uncle would freak out if he knew."

Yu Yongyong began to speak with deliberate exaggeration. Qin Xiaolong didn't seem to be trying to restrain her. He took it as unspoken permission to reveal her identity.

"I bet you're wondering who this is?"

"Yeah, I'm curious."

Yoon nodded.

"Don't be surprised to hear this, this is the famous Army Goddess Qin Xiaolong, Qin Yehyeop."

Yun Yizheng's eyes widened in surprise. If this was true, then he was far too powerful for her to face. Compared to the brightness of her sun-like radiance, his reputation was no more than the light of a firefly's tail.

"I've always admired you, and it's a great honor to meet you. I am truly sorry for the great disrespect that Yun Mo committed earlier."

"I don't care, it's better to be vigilant, even if it's a little overkill, than to be unattended."

There was a dagger in her words; they were her words to herself. Most of all, her straight eyes, still unflinching, made it clear that she hadn't let her guard down at all.

"Thank you for your understanding."

The Blue Dragon Silver Pavilion was also within Amifa's territory, and the donation was too good to pass up. The Blue Dragon Silver Pavilion was under the protection of the Amifa, which is why a full-time team had already been assembled to investigate the Blue Dragon Silver Pavilion's extinct artifacts.

In fact, to say that the Amifa's influence had been diminished was to say that they had not been able to lift a finger to stop the destruction of the Blue Dragon Silver Pavilion. It was a huge disgrace, and the Amifa had to do something about it or lose face. The fact that he had to watch from afar as someone trampled his front yard with muddy feet and then played with fire was too late after he had traveled thousands of miles on a footless horse. I was sure to be criticized by the neighboring clans. There was no telling what kind of disregard they would receive, so the Amifa was fighting tooth and nail on this matter, and Qin Xiaoling, as one of the Amifa's disciples, could not afford to sit on the sidelines.

So even with Amifa's apprentice by his side - even with Amifa himself, the First Sword - there would be no greater disgrace than for the last of the Blue Dragon Silver Clan's blood to be offended. Amifa would no longer be able to show her face in front of Jianghu. How could she neglect the welfare of these two children?

"Management, Seon-ah!"

Yoon affectionately called the children's names.

"Yes, Uncle!"

The children replied.

"Won't you come with me?"

"With your uncle?"

Yoo asked.

"Yes. Me and your father are brother-in-law and sister-in-law, so how could I be silent after what happened to my brother, and how could I pretend not to see you homeless? In the current state of the country, the two of you would be fine. And whoever they are who are after you, they will not be able to take advantage of the Middle Kingdom. It will be a shield of protection for you. What do you think, will you come with me?"

"That's me……."

Yun Yizheng's unexpected suggestion caught Liu Yun off guard. Then, with nervousness in her eyes, she glanced at Qin Shaolin, which was an extremely instinctive act. Looking into those eyes, as if she was extremely afraid of something, Qin Shaolin couldn't help but feel puzzled.

"So… so……."

How should I respond? He couldn't decide, so he kept saying the same thing over and over again. There was only one thought filling the boy's mind as he stared at the unique scar on his uncle's arm, and that was that he shouldn't follow it, no matter what. The only question was how to say no in the most skillful way. Finally, the boy made up his mind and lifted his head to look Yun Yi Zheng straight in the eye.

"Thank you for your kind offer, Uncle Yun. I'm flattered that you care so deeply about us even though our backgrounds as Qinglong Silvermasters are gone. I'm sure my father would appreciate your kindness."

"Oh, so you're going to follow me?"

Yoon said, unable to contain her excitement.

"But……."

The boy didn't answer, but continued to talk.

"I have received help from many people in the Zhongyang Marking Bureau, including Xin Ning, and they have told me that they will protect us, that they will strictly investigate the blood of the Blue Dragon Silver Chief and bring the truth to light, and I believe them."

He had said it, but he hadn't honestly believed it, so he had sneaked out, but that fact hadn't entered the boy's mind. Liu Yun paused for a moment, then began to speak again.

"My father told me that the most important thing for a merchant is his faith, and if he loses that faith, he loses everything. How could I, as my father's son, forsake that teaching, a teaching that might now be a lesson?"

"Then your story is……."

Yun's face hardened. The three-strand gash on her chin and the new scar on her forehead twitched ugly.

"I'll stay with the Zhongyang Markers, they say they'll protect us, so we'll have to trust them."

"I understand what you're saying, and if that's what you want, I'll respect that, but……."

Yun Yi Zheng glared at Yu Yun with a sharp glint in her eyes.

"I deeply doubt that the Chinese flag is a reliable shield, and I hope you will reconsider. It's late today, so we'll talk about it another time."

After bluntly spilling out the fragments of words she had been harboring, Yun Yizheng's face remained stiff, and she lightly stomped away from Qin Shaolin before turning and walking forward.

And I never looked back.