Chapter 98. This was the first time he felt such lingering fear, and also the first time he felt such a sense of relief...

Shen Yun had once suspected that Lan Yunzhi sent her to burn down the princess's mansion because of what happened to the Lan family back then.

But when they actually went there, they found that what the other party said was not entirely alarmist.

After nightfall, the entire princess's residence fell into a deathly silence.

However, the silence was not because no one was actually there, but because everyone in the mansion, including the steward, maids, servants, and old women, had fallen into a state of deathly stillness.

There was no breathing, no heartbeat... Everyone lay in an unusually uniform posture on their respective bunks.

On the night of the fifteenth of the lunar calendar, the bright moonlight shone softly on every window, making the faces of those who were neither alive nor dead appear even more pale and eerie.

Due to the nature of Chen Yun's profession, he inevitably has to deal with the dead.

He had seen corpses with the most gruesome deaths before.

It was the first time in my life I had seen such peaceful-looking dead people, and I had seen so many of them at once.

That night, the subordinates who accompanied Shen Yun were also greatly surprised after carefully examining each room.

"What... what exactly is going on?" the subordinate muttered under his breath.

Shen Yun didn't hesitate much. He had come here to kill people, and since these people were already dead, there was nothing more to worry about.

He looked at the knife that had been pulled from the chest of a servant-looking man. The knife was clean, without a trace of blood, only covered with some black, carbon-like substance.

He then turned around and ordered his men to proceed according to the original plan.

Before long, flames rose everywhere in the vast princess's mansion, which looked particularly spectacular in the dark night.

Thick smoke billowed straight into the sky.

At that moment, something even stranger happened.

As the fire spread, the corpses that should have been lying there waiting to be burned to ashes suddenly jumped up stiffly from where they were lying.

As if suddenly brought to life, they began to frantically flee and shout throughout the burning room.

Strangely, even though the doors and windows were all open, these people remained trapped in a fixed area and couldn't get out no matter what.

It was as if there was an invisible barrier trapping them in the fire.

Shen Yun watched helplessly as a person, eyes wide with terror, collapsed to the ground and turned into a charred corpse. The way he gesticulated and danced before his death made it seem as if he were engulfed in flames.

—But the fire hadn't even reached that person yet.

It's like a play that somehow went out of place.

The actors and the set design were operating independently...

Extremely bizarre.

Shen Yun restrained her curiosity.

Don't ask what you shouldn't ask, don't look at what you shouldn't look at... just focus on doing your best.

He looked up at the sky, and amidst the towering flames, the full moon seemed to be tinged with a crimson hue.

Things seem to be going too smoothly.

Shen Yun felt that way.

As if to confirm his feeling.

When Shen Yun arrived at the courtyard where Princess Yuan was, she saw Li Jinzhi being stabbed through the chest by a sword.

Blood stained the man's front, but he simply stared silently at the murderous Princess Yuan, a slight smile even playing on his lips.

"This day has finally come... I should have died at your hands long ago..." Li Jinzhi murmured, her eyes filled with no blame, only pity as she looked at Princess Yuan holding the sword.

The latter tightened his grip on the sword slightly, and the blade was pulled sharply out of the other's flesh.

With a soft "pfft".

Just hearing about it sends chills down your spine.

Li Jinzhi staggered two steps and fell to the ground at Princess Yuan's feet without uttering a sound.

Blood spread rapidly beneath him.

Li Jinzhi struggled, reaching out to touch his wife's skirt, but she avoided him.

Seeing this, Li Jinzhi seemed somewhat disappointed, but she still managed to lift her head and look at that indifferent face. In the end, a bitter smile appeared on her lips.

"I...I'm sorry, Wan'er. I shouldn't have...I shouldn't have hurt you and Xiao Rou because of my own wishful thinking...But I just...I just couldn't control myself. I wanted you, I wanted to be with you—"

Li Jinzhi was unable to finish her last sentence.

Because Princess Yuan's sword fell again, piercing through the back of the neck and directly piercing the other person's throat.

More blood gushed out, splattering onto Princess Yuan's body, instantly blending into the red of her skirt and disappearing without a trace.

Princess Yuan bent down without blinking, gazing at her dead husband, a flicker of emotion finally appearing in her indifferent eyes.

“You shouldn’t have mentioned her,” Princess Yuan said softly, “because you are not worthy.”

Then, Princess Yuan stood up unsteadily, without looking at the corpse on the ground again.

He casually tossed the sword in his hand aside.

Then I saw Shen Yun standing not far away.

"It's you."

Princess Yuan spoke calmly, not at all like someone who had been insane for over ten years.

Chen Yun remained silent.

Princess Yuan continued speaking to herself: "You and your mother look so alike, equally beautiful, perhaps even more so. Back then, she was the most beautiful among us. And she was the only one who managed to marry the man she loved."

At this point, Princess Yuan paused slightly before saying, "In the end, she was the one who left the earliest. Tell me, why did Lin Pianran die so young?"

Lin Pianran is the maiden name of Shen Yun's mother.

“My mother felt very guilty. She never forgot what happened back then. She was still thinking about it until her death.”

Upon hearing Shen Yun's reply, a mocking smile suddenly appeared on Princess Yuan's expressionless face.

"Yes, that's why she deserves to live to be a hundred, to live, and to suffer all kinds of torment!"

Princess Yuan's tone suddenly became agitated: "But what about Lin Pianran? What did she do? In the end, she still chose such an easy way to die. She's free now, but what about Xiao Rou? My A Rou suffered so much, who can she seek revenge from?!"

Princess Yuan questioned loudly, her voice hoarse.

No one answered, and no one could answer.

After a furious outburst of emotion, Princess Yuan finally quieted down, as if she were exhausted.

"If you want to kill me, then do it. I won't resist," she said, surrendering without resistance.

Shen Yun gazed at Princess Yuan quietly for a moment, then asked a question: "Where is Li Xiao? Is he still alive?"

Upon hearing this name, Princess Yuan opened her eyes again, which had been closed, and her expression appeared somewhat dazed.

"Who knows?" Princess Yuan replied with a light laugh. "What does that man's son have to do with me?"

Shen Yun paused for a moment: "Li Xiao is also your son."

Princess Yuan chuckled: "Son? He's nothing but a monster that crawled out of my belly. Every time I see that face that looks seven or eight parts like his father's, I want to strangle him with my own hands!"

Princess Yuan said through gritted teeth.

It's like they hate you to the core.

Upon hearing this, Shen Yun simply said, "But you didn't actually do that."

These words were like a heavy hammer blow, shattering the woman's forced smile.

Princess Yuan slumped to the ground, as if her last bit of strength had been suddenly drained away, as if she herself did not understand why she had not actually done so.

—Perhaps because the other person had called his mother with utmost care?

Perhaps it was because the expectant and respectful look in the other person's eyes when they looked at me coincided with the memory of a shy friend?

Perhaps it's because that face still retains some of the features it had when it was young?

In particular, when the boy looked at the child named Pipa, he was overjoyed, but he still tried his best to pretend that he didn't care.

Isn't that just like that foolish and naive version of myself?

The child named Pipa clearly resembled Arou in his features.

Even that man was suspicious of this, so how could I not see the clues?

Besides the similarity in their eyes and eyebrows, the two even share the same taste preferences and the types of flowers and plants that can cause allergies.

Most importantly, the child knew the tune they had composed together.

So, without a doubt, this is Arou's child.

Arou is dead.

He died protecting the child.

So, this is the last thing her Arou left behind in this world.

It was a gift that Arou left for her.

In her youth, she was unable to express the love she felt for Arou, but years later, she could finally do so through the mouth of someone connected to her by blood, speaking to Arou's child.

Princess Yuan thought that this might be a deliberate arrangement by fate.

But at the same time, Princess Yuan couldn't help but wonder, why?

How can that man's son be allowed to openly be with the precious child that Arou risked her life for after he did all those things to wrong Arou?

Princess Yuan was torn between two diametrically opposed thoughts, feeling sometimes gratified and sometimes filled with hatred.

She thought that perhaps the only way was to let them leave, away from this place of trouble and away from the turmoil of the previous generation.

She also wanted to know just how far her son would go for the other person.

So, Princess Yuan told Li Xiao that they could be together, provided they left this place and went somewhere else to live their own lives.

This means giving up the comfortable life of luxury that one has had since birth.

They gave up readily available money and power, and instead shouldered the responsibility of an unknown future.

"Can you do it?" she asked.

The boy nodded, offering no further vows or promises.

The boy's eyes had already told her that he would do everything in his power to do so.

Princess Yuan smiled.

She truly didn't know where Li Xiao was.

Logically speaking, Li Xiao should have already reunited with Pipa by this time.

Then they will leave this place together as the sun rises above the horizon, heading towards their future.

By staying here and killing that man, I can eliminate all future worries between the two of them.

They wouldn't harbor any resentment due to the grudges and entanglements of the previous generation. They were simply themselves, two teenagers who liked each other, nothing more...

After doing all this, Princess Yuan felt an overwhelming weariness.

Not far away was the man's corpse, and in front of him was a young man with a face that resembled that of his deceased friend.

I heard that it was Shen Yun who was the first to discover Lin Pianran's body back then.

Now, it doesn't seem like it's impossible to let the other party take my life.

But Shen Yun did not make a move.

He said, "You are my uncle's wife and my cousin's mother. I will not do that."

He added, “This princess’s residence has confined you for so long. Now that it’s collapsed, perhaps you can try going out for a walk.”

Upon hearing this, Princess Yuan seemed somewhat surprised, and a hint of emotion appeared in her eyes as she looked at Shen Yun.

After a while, she said as if talking to herself, "He's more humane than your father."

Chen Yun did not linger.

News of Li Xiao arrived from below.

The young man, who was supposed to leave the princess's residence that very night, was inexplicably trapped in the fire. He was found unconscious.

He had burns of varying degrees on his face and hands.

Fortunately, his life was not in danger.

Even so, the boy, who was in a coma, clung tightly to a box.

It must have been protected under her body the whole time, so there were no signs of burning.

"I wonder what's inside, it's so precious." Someone wondered.

However, considering that the eldest son of the princess's mansion has seen everything since childhood, the item that is valued so highly must be something extremely rare and precious.

Therefore, no one dared to make a decision on their own; they waited for Shen Yun to arrive and decide how to handle the situation.

When Shen Yun arrived, she indeed took the box away directly.

It seems they already know what's inside.

A group of curious guys, some even betting on what was in the box, were left staring at each other, itching with curiosity.

—Who is Ke Chenyun?

No one can pry anything out of him that he doesn't want to say.

Shen Yun held the box, thinking about what Princess Yuan had said before.

They were already 90% certain about what was inside the box.

But when I actually opened it and saw it, I still felt a little bit of turmoil.

It was a box full of gold, silver, pearls, jade, and receipts, some in small amounts and some in large ones, as if it had been collected for a long time.

Shen Yun stared at the box for a long time.

Almost...

If Li Xiao hadn't fallen into a coma due to the accident—

If they change the agreed meeting time at the last minute—

If even one step were different, the boy and his cousin would have already left the city before dawn.

Where will they go next?

The world is so vast; if you are determined to stay away, you will eventually disappear without a trace, like a drop of water flowing into a river.

It can never be found again...

The thought of that possibility, the thought that she almost never saw that child again, never saw the way the child looked at her again, filled Shen Yun with an uncontrollable fear in her heart.

This was the first time he had ever felt such fear.

This was the first time I'd ever felt such a sense of luck...

After that night, the princess's residence was destroyed by fire, and not a single person survived.

When the news reached Huayuelou, Shenyun knew that Pipa couldn't possibly remain indifferent.

He lay in ambush there in advance, and a few days later he indeed saw Pipa coming to the ruins alone.

Shen Yun placed the box on the path the other party would inevitably take on their return, and made a small, inconspicuous noise.

Sure enough, the loquat found the box.

Her face was filled with disbelief. She stared blankly for a while, then suddenly seemed to come to her senses and wiped away her tears with her sleeve.

Then he hugged the box tightly to his chest, as if protecting some fragile porcelain, and left with his head down.