On his way home, Qin Xun held A-Liang's urn in his arms, his face expressionless.
Images of A-Liang's scarred face flashed through his mind.
He desperately wanted to know what A-Liang had been through these past few years.
But he was also afraid to find out.
"We're home, A-Liang..."
The streets were cluttered and the roads pitted with potholes. After decades as occupied territory, the entire city was dilapidated and scarred.
In 2080, the world saw the revival of Spiritual Qi.
That year became known as the first year of the Revival Era.
In Revival Year 101, the Gate of the Demon Realm opened, hordes of demonic creatures poured out, and twelve demon palaces rose into the sky.
By now, the war between humanity and the Demon Clan had lasted a full century.
In those hundred years, the Demon Clan had occupied two-thirds of Great Xia's territory. These occupied areas were known as the Fallen Zones.
To better manage the Fallen Zones, the Demon Clan assigned each city a number and selected suitable people in each zone to serve as district chiefs.
Zone 108 had fallen fifty years ago, and Qin Xun had never seen it in its prosperous days.
He had only heard some elderly people say that before its fall, Zone 108 had been a famous tourist city in southern Great Xia.
Fortunately, there were no members of the Demon Clan in Zone 108, and they did not usually come there either.
Sadly, the District Chief of Zone 108 and his subordinates knew better than the Demon Clan how to torment and bully their own people.
In their eyes, civilians were nothing more than tools for their amusement.
When Qin Xun got home and pushed open the heavy wooden door, he heard his sister coughing in her bedroom.
He set the urn on the shabby table and hurried into the bedroom.
A little girl in her early teens lay in bed.
Her hair was completely white, as pale as her face. She looked sickly, and even her breathing seemed weak.
Although demon soldiers did not usually come to Zone 108, from time to time, demonic creatures or things affected by them would emerge from the Misty Forest.
Poisonblood mosquitoes.
Mosquitoes that had fed on the blood of demonic creatures and mutated instead of dying.
Xiao Ling had been poisoned by that very kind of mosquito.
Their parents had also died because of those poisonous mosquitoes.
Only a small number of people had the specific medicine for this poison, and it came at a price no ordinary person could ever afford.
Xiao Ling had been infected and poisoned two years ago, and Qin Xun had started fighting in the arena at the same time.
His agreement with He Laowu was that he would make money for him, and He Laowu would help him get the medicine.
All this time, He Laowu had delayed under one pretext or another.
But every so often, he would produce a bottle of medicine that could temporarily suppress the poison, keeping Qin Ling alive.
"Brother, you're back?"
The girl struggled to sit up. Ever since she had been poisoned, she had lain in bed and never gone outside.
Qin Xun had not told her about fighting in the arena either.
Even when he was badly hurt, he did his best to hide it.
"I'm tired today and need some rest. Don't worry, I'll get the medicine soon."
"Brother, I don't care about the medicine. I just want you to be safe."
The girl knew that in Zone 108, only the noble lords could afford the medicine.
The so-called nobles were people who, like the District Chief, had pledged their allegiance to the Demon Clan early on.
They enjoyed the finest supplies, ate the most exquisite food, and toyed with the cheap lives of civilians.
For civilians like them, it was already good enough if they could barely keep themselves fed and clothed.
Getting the medicine might not have been harder than ascending to heaven, but it came close.
For a civilian poisoned by a mosquito, it was practically a death sentence.
"What are you saying? Without the medicine, you'll die." Qin Xun affectionately stroked his sister's head. The more considerate Qin Ling was, the more his heart ached.
"Brother, I just want you to be all right." As soon as she finished speaking, the girl began coughing violently. She did not stop until tears welled up in her eyes.
Qin Xun patted her back and said softly, "All right, I'll be fine. Get some rest. I'm tired and need to sleep for a while. I'll make you something tasty when I wake up."
He did not tell her about A-Liang.
After leaving Qin Ling's bedroom, he took A-Liang's urn back to his room.
He stared at the urn for a long time, recalling moments from his past with A-Liang, until he grew tired and lay down on the bed.
Although it was only two in the afternoon, he needed a good sleep to restore his energy.
In his sleep, Qin Xun hazily dreamed of that scene again.
It was a scene that had appeared in his dreams for as long as he could remember.
In a pitch-black space, nine iron chains covered in flames wound through the darkness like fire dragons.
The chains collided with one another, their grinding making one's hair stand on end!
He did not know what it meant for this dream to recur, or why it was always those nine chains.
He had tried to control the chains in the dream.
But he had never succeeded.
Of course, he did not dream of this scene every time he slept.
Sometimes, he also dreamed of the beautiful older sister downstairs... and her mother, who had aged but was still charming...
Gasp!
Qin Xun jolted awake, his head drenched in sweat!
He quickly got out of bed, left the bedroom, and pushed open the heavy wooden door.
There was no one outside, but a note lay on the ground.
He picked it up and unfolded it.
A single unsigned line was written on it: "They'll make you lose tomorrow's match!"
Qin Xun looked both ways, then quickly shut the door and destroyed the note.
Late at night, on a silent, deserted street, a dark figure slipped through the darkness like a ghost.
The figure skillfully avoided every surveillance camera and circled around the patrols on the road.
Generally, there were only two kinds of people outside at this hour.
One was the patrol teams.
The other was people looking to cause trouble.
The figure stopped outside the arena's office building.
In the guard booth on the ground floor, three young men were drinking and playing cards.
The peanuts and fried scorpion-rat meat on the table were already decent snacks to have with their drinks.
Qin Xun had given them all of it during the day.
The three had no idea that, while they chatted and played cards, a dark figure had slipped into the office building.
After ninety-nine life-or-death fights, even though Qin Xun was only seventeen or eighteen, his skills were beyond those of ordinary people.
Dressed in black, he kept close to the wall as he climbed the stairs to the third floor, stopping outside He Laowu's office.
He took out the wires he had prepared, twisted them together, inserted them into the keyhole, and lifted and turned!
With a click, Qin Xun slipped into the office and quietly closed the door behind him.
Without turning on the light, he glanced around the office, then went over to the safe and crouched down.
He took a small flashlight from his pocket, switched it on, and shone it on the combination lock.
He was not sure what the combination was.
After watching He Laowu open the safe in front of him many times over the past two years, he could only make a rough guess.
He could not guarantee he would get it open.
It would be best if he could.
If he could not, he would carry the whole safe away!
He had come all this way, so he could not leave empty-handed!
Fortunately, after a few tries, the combination lock opened!
Qin Xun let out a long breath inwardly.
He had always known He Laowu was no good.
He was certain that even if he won the final match tomorrow, He Laowu would not give him the medicine to save Xiao Ling, and might even kill him to silence him.
That was because he knew about many of He Laowu's underhanded dealings.
Even without the note left at his door today, he would not have fought in the arena tomorrow.
His reason for coming here was simple: to do what someone sneaking around outside late at night ought to do.
The safe was divided into upper and lower compartments.
The upper one held documents.
Qin Xun did not care what they contained.
What he cared about was in the lower compartment.
The medicine that could save Xiao Ling!
There was also a black bag filled with gold coins stamped with skulls!
There were enough gold coins for an ordinary family to live comfortably for the rest of their lives, as long as they did not spend recklessly.
Qin Xun had always lived with a clear understanding of things, and he could distinguish one matter from another.
He Laowu had promised him the medicine before but had never given it to him, so taking it meant reclaiming what should have been his.
As for this bag of gold coins, although they could be considered money he had earned for He Laowu, ultimately He Laowu had earned them through his own ability and wits.
So the gold coins could not be counted as something he was taking!
It was stealing!
Qin Xun put the gold coins in the backpack he had brought with him and gazed at the medicine in his hand, his heart full of excitement.
"With this, Xiao Ling can be saved!"
Click!
The sound of a key turning suddenly came from the door he had locked.