Chapter 10: Borrowing Longevity from Heaven |
“Oh? That fast?”
“Though the item itself is ordinary, it is issued by the authorities, and its patterns differ each year. All distributions are recorded in detail. This subordinate led a team to conduct a thorough comparison…” Wu Kuang lowered his voice. “In the end, we confirmed that the owner of this piece of cloth is none other than Sun Bo, a remnant of the Xiang Kingdom who has already been taken away by the Black-Robed Envoys!”
“Sun Bo? Are you certain?” Fang Xun raised a brow, his tone carrying a faint trace of amusement.
“Absolutely certain! I stake my life on it. There is no mistake.”
“Enough. I understand. You may leave.” Fang Xun waved his hand casually.
The study fell silent once more.
Standing alone by the window with his hands clasped behind his back, Fang Xun gazed at the swaying bamboo shadows in the courtyard, his expression unreadable.
“Framing another, leaving no evidence behind. Interesting.”
He naturally did not believe that Yu Niang, that brainless and shallow woman, possessed the capability to pull off such a flawless deception, erasing his marks and stealing the Lengshan Venerable.
“Most likely, that foolish woman Yu Niang discovered the Lengshan Venerable had been stolen by some mysterious figure. Knowing my methods, she feared retaliation and fled.”
“As for the true thief, they are clearly not a remnant of the Xiang Kingdom. Rather, it is a hidden schemer lurking in the shadows, perhaps even right under my nose.”
“Furthermore, the initial leak of information regarding the Lengshan Venerable was already suspicious. Those who knew of it were either silenced by me or are my trusted aides…”
Fang Xun tapped lightly on the window frame, his mind cycling through countless faces within Lengshan County. Even Li Shun and Feng Guan, the two laborers who had reported the matter, were not excluded. Yet no matter how many times he analyzed the situation, it all felt absurd.
“Interesting.” A cold smile curled at Fang Xun’s lips. “To seize an opportunity amidst such chaos yesterday, snatch the treasure from the flames, and retreat unscathed…”
“Setting aside their cultivation level, this person’s skill in theft and concealment is truly extraordinary.”
“Heh…”
Unexpectedly, there was little anger on his face over the loss of such a precious treasure.
“It is merely a Lengshan Venerable. Losing it is no great matter. Initially, I was only moved by greed, intending to use this once-in-a-century treasure to advance my standing in the Sacred Capital.”
“But now, with the immense merit of capturing a legitimate royal heir of the Great Xiang alive, it is only a matter of time before I am recalled to the Sacred Capital. At the latest, by next spring, I will return to the central court and rise in rank. To me, this Lengshan Venerable is now dispensable.”
“As for Yu Niang…”
Fang Xun let out a soft chuckle. “It’s good that she’s gone. Truly good. I was worried she might cling to me endlessly.”
…
At the same time, the “peerless thief” occupying Fang Xun’s thoughts was facing quite a dilemma.
In reality, Li Shun lay miserably on his bed, feigning recovery from the torture he had suffered in the dark prison.
But within the Fangcun space, his primary consciousness was fixed on a long, narrow brocade box, his brows tightly furrowed.
He could clearly sense that the Lengshan Venerable, a treasure capable of defying fate itself, lay quietly within the box, just within reach. Yet…
No matter what methods he tried, Li Shun simply could not open the small wooden box, which had been sealed by Fang Xun!
“This is the sorrow of being weak, of lacking any transcendent means,” Li Shun sighed helplessly. “A peerless treasure lies before me, yet it is as if separated by an insurmountable chasm. I can only stare at it.”
“If only that complete stone statue could be controlled by me. Even borrowing a trace of its killing intent might be enough to split this seal open.”
At this thought, Li Shun’s mind stirred. Without hesitation, he tossed the brocade box to the foot of the statue.
As expected, under the statue’s oppressive aura, the faint frost that continuously flowed across the surface of the box began to show signs of melting, albeit almost imperceptibly.
However, the process of eroding the seal was agonizingly slow, like water dripping through stone.
Li Shun remained patient, staring at it for an entire afternoon, silently calculating in his heart.
“At this rate, to completely break the seal without damaging the Lengshan Venerable inside, it will take at least a month…”
“I’ve already endured twenty-six years. Waiting a little longer makes no difference.”
The Great Qian Dynasty operated with astonishing efficiency.
Only ten days later.
On the thirteenth day of the third month, an imperial decree of rewards from the Sacred Capital arrived in Lengshan County at full speed.
How the officials of the county government secretly divided that immense merit among themselves was something Li Shun neither knew nor cared about.
But he and Feng Guan, two insignificant laborers at the very bottom of society, had indeed received tangible rewards.
Though both were initial informants, their contributions were ranked differently.
Li Shun had merely been the one to raise suspicion.
Feng Guan, on the other hand, had risked his life to verify the evidence and personally report it, earning the primary credit.
Thus, the reward Li Shun received amounted to nothing more than three hundred thousand coins, a somewhat spacious yet otherwise ordinary residence within Lengshan County, and… exemption from the next ten years of corvée labor in Lengshan.
As for Feng Guan, the reward he obtained was enough to drive every laborer in the world into jealous frenzy.
He was granted a first-rank noble title of the Great Qian: Gongshi.
And along with it, complete exemption from Lengshan’s labor duties, removal from his lowly status, and the right to return home in glory.
Upon learning that the disparity between their rewards was as vast as heaven and earth, Feng Guan, despite his injuries not yet fully healed, dragged his body to Li Shun’s bedside. His aged face flushed red with shame, guilt filling his heart as he hesitated to speak several times, clearly unable to bear it.
Li Shun, however, appeared calm and unbothered. He even offered a few words of comfort in return.
After all, having Feng Guan step forward to report the matter had been a calculated move on his part, a deliberate strategy to shift the disaster elsewhere. What he sought was to remain behind the scenes and withdraw unscathed.
As for Feng Guan turning misfortune into fortune, stumbling into an immense contribution and even being granted a noble title, that had been entirely beyond Li Shun’s expectations.
Still, it was not unreasonable.
And Li Shun did not particularly mind.
After all, he had successfully stolen the Lengshan Venerable. With this treasure in hand, if he so wished, he could cast off his identity as a laborer at any time.
However…
After witnessing the blood-soaked chaos that swept across the entire county, seeing with his own eyes the overwhelming, heaven-shrouding might of Xiong Jin, and that single beam of golden light descending from the Sacred Capital to suppress all things…
A different thought began to take root in Li Shun’s heart.
“A noble title may be valuable, but true strength is the foundation of survival.”
“The Lengshan Venerable… even someone like Xiong Jin was willing to risk everything to seize it…”
Within the Fangcun space, Li Shun quietly gazed at the brocade box ahead, now slowly thawing as frost melted away. His thoughts churned endlessly.
Although the imperial decree of reward had already been publicly announced, the actual distribution and handover of documents, land deeds, and silver would still require several days to process through official channels.
March fifteenth.
Li Shun still lay sprawled across his dilapidated wooden bed, refusing visitors under the pretense that his injuries had yet to heal. In truth, he had long since secretly dispatched that tireless puppet double, sending it deep underground to work day and night, sealing shut the hidden tunnel that had once saved his life, packing it tight with earth.
Once the awarded residence was officially handed over, he would be leaving this place. Before that, he had to erase every possible trace that might expose the secrets of the Fangcun space and the puppet.
It was undoubtedly a massive and laborious task. Fortunately, the puppet knew no fatigue, and Li Shun needed only to issue commands.
Just as Li Shun rested with his eyes closed in concentration, a sudden bang rang out.
The already fragile wooden door was violently pushed open without warning.
Li Shun’s heart skipped a beat as he snapped his eyes open.
Against the backlight, a strikingly handsome young man with a tall, upright figure strode into the room.
He appeared to be around seventeen or eighteen years old. His brows carried a sharp vitality, and his entire body radiated the youthful vigor and boundless life force unique to someone in their prime.
After entering, he said nothing. He simply stood there, staring fixedly at Li Shun on the bed with an extremely strange gaze.
“Has something been exposed?”
Alarm bells rang wildly in Li Shun’s mind, a chill shooting straight to the top of his head. Forcibly suppressing the storm within his heart, he struggled to sit halfway up, clutching his chest as he cupped his hands weakly.
“This humble one is severely injured and unable to rise and pay proper respects. I hope this young master will forgive the discourtesy. May I ask what brings you here?”
The young man still did not answer. He merely narrowed his eyes slightly, staring coldly at Li Shun, the corners of his lips carrying a faint, almost imperceptible eerie smile.
Li Shun frowned inwardly.
The air inside the room seemed to freeze into suffocating stillness.
A growing sense of unease filled his heart. He had already begun to split off a strand of consciousness, descending it upon the complete stone statue within the Fangcun space.
If this youth made even the slightest move, he would not hesitate to cast the statue forth and descend it into reality, even if it meant mutual destruction.
Just as the tension reached its peak—
The handsome youth suddenly tilted his head back and burst into loud, unrestrained laughter.
“Haha! Cripple, it’s me! Didn’t recognize me, did you?!”
“Hm?!” The killing intent Li Shun had gathered abruptly halted. His entire body froze as if struck by lightning, completely stunned.
He stared fixedly at the young man’s face, overlapping it again and again with the image of a withered, aged figure in his memory. An absurd yet strangely plausible guess exploded within his mind.
“You… you are… Old Feng?!” Li Shun’s face was filled with disbelief, his voice trembling with shock.
“Haha! In this Lengshan County, who else besides me, Feng Guan, would come visit you, you cripple!” The youth planted his hands on his hips, proudly admitting it without hesitation.
“You… how did you… this…”
A storm surged within Li Shun’s heart. At such close range, he could feel the overflowing vitality and youthful blood energy radiating from the other party. His mind went blank, nearly losing the ability to speak.
Just a few days ago, Feng Guan had been a hunched old man in his forties, his head full of white hair, like a dying candle flickering in the wind.
Yet in the span of mere days, he had reversed the flow of time itself, transforming into a vigorous seventeen-year-old youth!
Seeing Li Shun’s stunned reaction, Feng Guan seemed immensely pleased. He swaggered over and sat by the bed, leaning closer as he lowered his voice mysteriously.
“Cripple, stop guessing. After I was granted the first-rank Gongshi title, the county magistrate personally summoned me yesterday and taught me a profound technique. I cultivated it overnight, and when I opened my eyes this morning… hehe, I ended up like this!”
Li Shun’s mind trembled violently.
He had long heard that the Great Qian possessed methods capable of restoring youth and extending life. It had even been one of the goals he secretly pursued.
Yet he never expected to witness it firsthand through Feng Guan.
Feeling Li Shun’s blazing gaze, which seemed ready to burn through him, Feng Guan was about to continue boasting when he suddenly recalled something taboo and terrifying.
His expression immediately turned cautious, even apologetic. Lowering his voice, he said:
“Cripple, it’s not that I’m unwilling to help. This technique… is a secret art personally created by the current Emperor of Great Qian. The laws surrounding it are strict beyond measure. Not a single word can be passed on lightly. Without official authorization, if I were to teach you, both of us would face severe punishment.”
He paused, looking at the faint disappointment on Li Shun’s face. In the end, he gritted his teeth and leaned in close, whispering in a voice barely audible:
“I can only tell you its true name—”
“Borrowing Lifespan from Heaven, Cycle of Twelvefold Longevity.”
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