Chapter 86

Chapter 86

Before today, I had never once imagined that Liu Junyan might one day leave Wufu Town Pawnshop.

On the surface, I was the one running the Pawnshop. But in the shadows, Liu Junyan was the one holding it down.

I couldn’t imagine what would happen to the Pawnshop once he left.

What would happen to me?

Jin Wuya had said that Wufu Town Pawnshop was a place that absorbed baleful energy, trapped by someone with a Formation-once you entered, there was no leaving. A hundred years ago, it had already reached its breaking point. If Liu Junyan hadn’t been there back then, all of Wufu Town might have ceased to exist.

But deep down, I also understood that Liu Junyan could never belong only to Wufu Town Pawnshop.

Nor could he belong only to me.

Behind him, there was still the Linghai Dragon Clan. There was still his own path to ascension.

He was a Dragon lying in wait, not a Snake mired in mud.

Then I thought again of his mother’s face inside that bronze cauldron underwater…

“You should go.” I pulled my hand back and pressed hard against my wound. “Your mother is still waiting for you to save her. She…”

“A hundred years ago, they used my mother to force me to submit.” Liu Junyan’s voice was heavy with sorrow. “She entered your dream and asked you to go to Wangting Mountain to bring me what she once left there, not because she wanted me to save her, but because she wanted me to… let go.”

It felt as though I’d taken a dull punch to the chest, the pain throbbing through me in waves.

So back then, when Liu Junyan had suddenly disappeared on the verge of ascension, it was because he’d made a deal with someone to preserve his mother’s life.

This was a mutual salvation between mother and son that had spanned a hundred years.

Liu Junyan reached out and pulled me into his arms, resting his chin in the hollow of my neck and nuzzling me lightly. “Xiao Jiu, what I have to face is far more terrifying than the entire Linghai Dragon Clan. If you stay with me, are you afraid?”

I shook my head without the slightest hesitation. “Wherever you are, that’s where I’ll be. Forever.”

Liu Junyan laughed, the sound restrained and sorrowful.

He held me tightly, as if afraid I would fly away the moment he loosened his grip.

I turned and nestled into his embrace, reaching out to hug him back. “Liu Junyan, I’ll work very hard to grow stronger. When the day comes that I can stand on my own, I’ll go with you to bring your mother back.”

Liu Junyan gave a muffled hum in reply.

Just like that, we held each other tightly, drawing warmth from one another until dawn.

Early the next morning, Liu Junyan hung the Hexagonal Palace Lantern back on the west side of the corridor. He said that with the Hexagonal Palace Lantern helping him suppress the Main Hall, he would be able to leave.

But no longer than three days at most. Otherwise, the drain on the Hexagonal Palace Lantern would be too great, and something could easily go wrong.

He took away the cube trapped in flowing water, while the Water Ripple remained on the middle finger of my left hand.

I knew that the day he took that thing out again would be the moment we had to face the entire Linghai Dragon Clan!

·

I went back to sleep for a while. At noon, I bought a new phone and called Tang Tang to ask about Song Ruoqing’s condition.

“She woke up in the second half of the night.” Tang Tang sounded a little emotional. “Once she was conscious, she just kept crying. Xiao Jiu, the Song Family really is too cruel.”

From Song Ruoqing’s funeral procession, to her being carried into Furong Cave in a bridal sedan, to us discovering that the poison had already seeped into her heart and lungs-when all these things were connected, what was there left not to understand?

The Song Family had intended to offer Song Ruoqing up as a Sacrifice. As for exactly which being on Wangting Mountain they meant her Sacrifice for, I didn’t know.

I asked, “Has the Song Family realized Song Ruoqing was saved?”

Tang Tang said indifferently, “They probably have, but I’ll leave my dad to deal with the Song Family over this. Anyway, I don’t know anything.”

I had to admit, although Tang Tang could be hot-tempered, she was extremely reliable at critical moments.

As long as she flatly denied that Song Ruoqing was at the Tang Family Old Mansion, with Tang Ao’s status in Huicheng, the Song Family might not actually dare to do anything.

I was very envious of the Tang Family’s family atmosphere. Whether it was Tang Ao or Tang Xun, they almost always granted whatever Tang Tang asked of them.

Tang Tang was very blessed!
“I’ve already contacted my aunt,” Tang Tang said. “She said Song Ruoqing’s situation can only be handled quietly for now. We have to keep her alive first. The Tang Family can hold the Song Family off, but she can’t interfere with Wangting Mountain.”

Tang Tang paused, and her tone turned grave. “Xiao Jiu, my aunt said the matter at Wangting Mountain will probably have to be dealt with by that man of yours in the end.”

I understood that much too.

I said, “Senior Sister, an entire Snake Clan is hidden inside Wangting Mountain. It won’t be easy to move against them. If we really want to vent some anger on Miss Song’s behalf, I’m afraid the only thing we can do right now is start with the Song Family.”

Tang Tang said worriedly, “I know that, but I’m just afraid the Song Family will join forces with Wangting Mountain again. If they do, the Tang Family may not be able to stop them.”

“They won’t,” I said with certainty. “At least not for the time being. Liu Junyan has already put pressure on Wangting Mountain.”

Only then did Tang Tang let out a breath of relief. “That’s good.”

I asked, “Have you found out how Miss Song was poisoned?”

“It was probably done through her paintings,” Tang Tang said resentfully. “During the years Qingqing was sent overseas, she learned to paint with her left hand. She never wanted to come back, but Mother Song promised to organize an exhibition for her once she returned, and that was why she agreed.

“A proper exhibition needs a lot of paintings to fill the space, so for the past half year since she came back, Qingqing has been busy painting. She barely had any contact with the Song Family. The poison in her body is slow-acting, so tampering with her art materials would have been the easiest way.”

I was stunned. “In other words, the people closest to her used the thing she loved most to scheme against her twice, and each time was crueler than the last?”

Tang Tang gritted her teeth. “Exactly! Xiao Jiu, there is one thing even more terrifying than death: being erased as if you never existed.”

Erased as if you never existed…

That was right.

This time, the Song Family hadn’t directly tried to take Song Ruoqing’s life. Instead, they had created the fact of her death and used her as a Sacrifice to Wangting Mountain.

So what if she managed to escape by some stroke of luck?

The Song Family had already held her funeral and canceled her household registration. From that point on, Song Ruoqing would have vanished completely from this world.

Worried, I said, “Senior Sister, can Miss Song make sense of all this? You have to talk to her more these days. Don’t let anything happen to her.”

“Don’t worry. With me around, she won’t have time to spiral,” Tang Tang vowed.

We had talked enough, and I was about to hang up. I still had to go to the Driving School for practice later.

But Tang Tang stopped me. “Hey, Xiao Jiu, when are you bringing that man of yours out to hang with us? He’s such a handsome guy. Bring him out and let us girls enjoy the view.”

I laughed. “Sure. When we get the chance, I’ll have him treat you all to dinner.”

Tang Tang immediately perked up. “Great! I’ll be waiting for your news!”

I spent the entire afternoon practicing at the Driving School. When I returned to the Pawnshop at dusk, I heard movement coming from the Main Courtyard.

Frowning, I strode toward the Main Courtyard.

The doors to the Main Hall were shut. Li Qingying was pressed against the door, listening to something inside, her face tense.

I walked over and immediately heard two familiar voices arguing inside the Main Hall.

“Seventh Master, give me the thing! Don’t force me to fight you!”

It was Lord Xiao’s voice.

I opened my mouth to speak, but Li Qingying clamped a hand over it and signaled for me to keep quiet.

Inside, Liu Junyan’s voice rang out, firm and decisive. “Impossible!”

“Liu Junyan, do you even have a fucking heart?!”

A muffled punch and a stifled groan sounded at the same time. Lord Xiao had struck Liu Junyan.

“You were locked up in this filthy, godforsaken place for a hundred years. Who was holding the line for you at Linghai?”

“You wanted the Crimson Dragon Scale Garment to protect your body and help your beloved retrieve her Lifebound Artifact. I gave it to you!”

“But now I only want to save the woman I love. What the hell are you doing?!”

“Seventh Master, if you still acknowledge me as your brother, give it to me!”