SC Chapter9

When Shen Yunjie woke up, he was already a thousand li away from Jinling with Xiao Yuan sitting beside him, tilting his head and sucking his hand. The coachman was a Tianyi Guard deathsworn, and upon seeing Shen Yunjie awake, he stopped the carriage, silently handed him a package, and said, “The Division Master asked me to tell Young Master that the poison in your body is called Wang Duan Chang. You will gradually weaken and die in three years. If you have any regrets, return to Jinling to see him.”

After delivering his master’s message, the deathsworn did not linger anymore and left the carriage to Shen Yunjie, then departing. Shen Yunjie coughed a few times, placed his fingers on his pulse, and knew that the man’s words were true. Now his core was empty and exhausted, he had not an ounce of internal power left.

Jinling was far away. From now on, there will be no more Shen Guan of Tianyi Division. One life exchanged for three years of freedom—he was willing.

“Uncle…” A soft, small hand pulled at Shen Yunjie’s clothes. Xiao Yuan crawled out of the carriage, looked up with a pitiful little face, and said, “Hungry.”

Shen Yunjie’s eyes stung, and he reached out to clutch the child tightly in his arms, choking out, “Xiao Yuan, call me father; alright?”

Xiao Yuan blinked, looking somewhat blankly at the handsome and gentle uncle before him. In his previous home, the mute servant could not communicate much with him while the mute servant’s wife had never dared to teach him to call them “father” or “mother” due to Xiao Yuan’s identity.

“Father?” Xiao Yuan tried calling out with a sense of novelty. Shen Yunjie’s heart warmed, and his eyes were reddened as he smiled and held Xiao Yuan even tighter: “Xiao Yuan, Father is here.”

Three months later, Shen Yunjie brought Xiao Yuan to Yongjia Commandery in Kuozhou and knocked on the door of a pastry store…

The rain came down like a breached dam outside. The dim candlelight illuminated Xiao Ning’s cold face. Five years ago, he had been taken in by the Xiao Sect and removed his entire face with acid to adopt a new one. The former Xie Yunyi had a naturally boyish face, with innocent and youthful dimples when he smiled. But the current Xiao Ning had sharp, gloomy, cold, and merciless features.

Xiao Yuan was held up by Xiao Ning while shaking with fear and continuously calling for his father. The child’s appearance was exactly like the Xie Yunyi of the past, as if they were carved from the same mold.

Mockery filled Xiao Ning’s eyes. He leaned close to Shen Yunjie, his thin lips slightly curled up as he breathed out, “Lord Shen, you committed a capital offense by privately releasing a rebel member back then. Why are you now giving birth to another remnant?”

Shen Yunjie leaned on the door while struggling to breathe. He looked up at this unfamiliar face and felt a sharp pain in his chest. The Xie Yunyi of the past had died by his own dagger.

“Are you here to die?” Xiao Ning’s expression was cold, his words heartless.

Shen Yunjie closed his eyes in despair: “I failed Young Master too much back then. If this life can repay a little, then Young Master should take it.”

After the thunder, the room fell into a moment of deathly silence. After a long while, Xiao Ning chuckled softly: “That would be… far too easy for Lord Shen.”

Silver-white flashes lit up the pitch-black sky as the rain grew heavier. Xiao Ning carried Xiao Yuan in one hand and dragged Shen Yunjie in the other upstairs. Once upstairs, he immediately locked Xiao Yuan in the warm inner chamber.

“Xiao Yuan!” Shen Yunjie violently banged on the door. From the warm chamber came Xiao Yuan’s sobbing cries for his father.

“Don’t worry. Since he is my son, I won’t hurt him.” Xiao Ning pulled Shen Yunjie up from the floor and shoved him onto the bed: “Now, let me properly ask Lord Shen, what exactly do you want? You endured hardships and humiliation back then, you could have retreated with your life, so why did you lure me into your bed on the night before the incident? Shen Yunjie, how could you be so utterly despicable?”

Shen Yunjie’s face was deathly pale, and his vision was spotty. Xiao Ning gripped a handful of his soft long hair, flung Shen Yunjie beneath him, and easily tore off the clean, simple robe on his body. His tone was cold and calm: “I would never dare to forget the words Lord Shen spoke in prison back then. If you never loved me, then why did your dagger miss by an inch?”

Shen Yunjie’s legs were spread apart. Xiao Ning sneered, “Now you want to come back to atone for your sins? Fine, I’ll grant you your wish.”

A scorching breath poured into Shen Yunjie’s ear. Xiao Ning said in a deep voice, “Didn’t you enjoy giving me children? Then receive it well; don’t waste a single drop…”