Not long before, in Danyang.
At noon, this gateway to the Capital City outside Purple Emblem Mountain was as bustling as ever, with hawkers and porters everywhere on the streets.
The Lin Family Clinic beside the Chongming River was open as usual, but without the woman once known as the flower of the Chongming River seeing patients there, business had dwindled considerably.
Clear Spring Lane, not too far away, had shed its former quiet. It was filled with young people from far and wide, paying homage to the place where Old Devil Xie had first risen.
The retired County Commandant Yang Ting, perhaps having nothing else to do, had even set up a reclining chair outside. With a Tobacco Pipe between his teeth, he explained to the admiring youngsters, "Last year, when Xie Jinhuan had just returned, my son didn't recognize him. As a result, I accidentally arrested him over in Dongcang Ward and even locked him up for half the night-"
"Whoa! You really are something, Lord Yang-"
Across the Chongming River, the Zhang San Restaurant, which had not been open long, had quietly ceased business several days earlier.
Behind its tightly shut doors, autumn sunlight streamed through the cracks, falling on the tables and chairs Zhang Chu had wiped spotlessly clean.
A young man in black robes fetched wine from behind the counter and sat drinking alone in the empty dining hall. After a long wait, he suddenly said:
-
"You spent your whole life being cautious, yet you didn't live as happily as He Can. Those hundred years before this were all wasted."
There were no outsiders in the dining hall, but there was indeed something unclean.
Shang Lianbi had already had his mortal shell confiscated. Now, only a wisp of his life soul remained in the