Revisiting Old Haunts

The starlight had faded, the moon's shadow was gone; it was the moment just before dawn.

At this time, the back gate of the Chu Family was quite lively.

When Chu Qing arrived here, carrying his shoulder pole and following the others, the staff from several other inns and restaurants had also arrived.

They were jostling and crowding here; after all, the back gate wasn't large. Even though the door had been opened early and people were allowed in one by one, it still took some time.

The head steward of the Chu Family was standing here with a few servants and martial artists from the security detail. After a simple check of the items being carried, they let people in.

It was quite a while later before it was Chu Qing's turn.

He glanced at the head steward, Zhou Miao, and lowered his head slightly.

As the third young master of the Chu Family, he had practically been raised by this head steward since he was a child; they were simply too familiar with each other.

Although Chu Qing had disguised himself last night, it was hard to say if Zhou Miao would detect any clues.

And as Zhou Miao looked at this young porter, he did indeed feel a strange sense of familiarity.

Today was simply too busy, with too many things going on, so he didn't have the time to examine him carefully.

After looking at him for a couple of seconds and not recognizing him, he didn't dwell on it.

After the servant beside him finished checking and confirmed there were no issues, he let Chu Qing through the gate.

It wasn't until he was out of the sight of Head Steward Zhou that Chu Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief... This was the first hurdle to getting inside.

But once this hurdle was cleared, the rest wouldn't be difficult.

Everything he saw around him was simply too familiar.

The Chu Family compound was large, but every part of it was etched in Chu Qing's memory; after all, this was his home.

If he wanted to, he could have simply announced his identity and walked in openly; no one would have stopped him.

However, doing so would also bring a lot of trouble.

It wasn't that he minded having an extra father and two older brothers... After all, inheriting this body, while a bit awkward, didn't mean he wouldn't acknowledge them.

The problem was, he was still being hunted by the Mirror of Sin.

It might be fine if no one knew his identity, but if they did, it was hard to say they wouldn't be dragged into it.

Furthermore, given the current situation, remaining hidden was more advantageous for him.

Following the servant's guidance, Chu Qing carried the wine to a storeroom in the back courtyard.

The servant told Chu Qing to leave the wine here, and once it was checked and found to be fine, he could leave.

Chu Qing nodded to show he understood. The servant didn't stay any longer and returned to the back gate.

Inside the storeroom, there were also a few servants keeping watch.

A few of them were yawning constantly, clearly not having slept enough... This was normal, though. These servants were all young, some fourteen or fifteen, others sixteen or seventeen.

Growing boys could eat and sleep well; getting up before dawn, how could they not be sleepy?

Chu Qing put down the wine for inspection. One person, yawning, took out a silver needle about half a foot long and carefully inserted it through the gaps. After taking it out and finding that the silver needle hadn't changed color, he nodded and placed it aside.

After everything had been counted, they told Chu Qing he could leave.

Chu Qing agreed and left the door with his shoulder pole.

When he arrived, a servant had guided him all the way, but there was no one to guide him out. They were simply too busy; both the front and back courtyards needed staff, so they couldn't spare time to waste on these porters. Having the security detail's martial artists keep an eye on them was enough.

But how could these security detail martial artists keep an eye on Chu Qing?

Taking advantage of a blind spot, he turned his steps with the shoulder pole and ducked behind a rock garden.

After hiding the shoulder pole in a concealed spot, he followed the winding path of the rock garden forward, but was blocked by a wall after only a moment.

Without any hesitation, he climbed directly over the wall.

At this time, there should be no one in this courtyard. If there were, they definitely wouldn't be members of the Chu Family.

Because this was Chu Qing's courtyard.

His footsteps fell silently, and the courtyard was indeed empty, but it wasn't messy; clearly, someone cleaned it regularly.

The doors and windows of the room were closed. Chu Qing came to the door and gently pushed it open. With a creak, the door opened.

The furnishings inside the room came into view one by one.

To the left was the living area; the bed was made with a new quilt.

The wooden sword hanging at the head of the bed was a birthday gift that Chu Yunfei had personally carved for him when Chu Qing was three years old.

To the right was the study; there were many books, but he hadn't read many of them.

As a youth, he was fond of leisure and disliked work, enjoyed practicing martial arts but was limited by his natural talent, and absolutely detested reading.

Chu Qing casually picked up a book. The book was well-preserved; clearly, someone took it out periodically to air it, preventing it from rotting or being eaten by worms.

Everything was unchanged, just as it was when he left home.

Pulling out a chair and sitting down, Chu Qing let out a soft breath, feeling an indescribable sense of relief.

"Just because I had something bottled up inside, I left a perfectly good life and ran away from home. What was the point of all that?"

"For these past seven years, life hasn't been easy. I held onto a stubborn desire to make something of myself, only to end up being tricked into becoming an assassin..."

As Chu Qing thought of this, he couldn't help but shake his head gently.

In that final moment before death... what was on his mind?

He hadn't recalled the memory of that instant for nearly a month.

But sitting here now, he suddenly felt that perhaps... he was homesick?

The morning light was faint, the long night about to end.

As the morning rays shone in, Chu Qing suddenly snapped back to attention. Why was revisiting this old place making him sentimental?

Shaking his head, he was about to get up.

But then he suddenly heard approaching footsteps. His expression didn't change, but his gaze shifted slightly:

"They've... still come."

He stood up unhurriedly, and before the figure appeared, he had already leaped onto the beam.

The next moment, a figure appeared in front of the room.

Dressed in black, wearing a mask over their face.

The Mirror of Sin.

A trace of coldness appeared at the corner of Chu Qing's mouth.

Of course, he hadn't come here just to revisit an old place.

He understood that person too well.

Since that person had come to Heavenly Dance City, they would naturally have gathered the necessary information.

Therefore, they definitely knew that Chu Yunfei had a son who had run away from home seven years ago.

And, this Chu Family head missed this son dearly, often coming to the younger son's room to reminisce.

No matter who they are, everyone has moments of weakness. Even if Chu Yunfei was unparalleled in martial arts, at this moment he was just an ordinary father.

Therefore, taking advantage of the morning when the Chu Family was busy, the plan was to sneak in beforehand and hide in Chu Qing's room.

Waiting for Chu Yunfei to arrive and fall into sentimentality would be the perfect moment for a surprise assassination!

It was just a pity that Chu Qing had arrived first.

The assassin entered the room, looked around, and then leaped up, intending to hide on the beam.

But at that instant, the corner of their eye caught a glint of sharpness.

Their pupils contracted, and they reached out to draw their sword... but it was already too late.

The long sword, which had only been drawn halfway, was pushed back into its sheath, a severed arm hanging from the hilt.

Blood splattered everywhere, dripping like rain, like falling plum blossoms.