Guided by the marks left by Li Yuheng, Shu Bai and Li Yuheng found Junwen on the other side of the city, in an old street full of local life.
More accurately, we found the scene where it was happening.
The streets are narrow, lined with decades-old shops, including barbershops, hardware stores, and snack stalls. The streets are bustling with people, noisy yet full of life.
Against this noisy backdrop, deep within a tiny shop with a blurry sign, seemingly selling some kind of old-fashioned general merchandise, a cold, lifeless aura emanates, completely out of place with its surroundings.
Li Yuheng raised an eyebrow, grabbed Shu Bai, and with a swift movement, disappeared into the store as if blending into the shadows.
The store was dimly lit and filled with all sorts of dusty clutter, making it almost impossible to find a place to step.
In the deepest part, in a narrow space with its back to the street, a still scene of carnage unfolds before your eyes.
Junwen had his back to them, and the short blade in his hand was deeply embedded in the heart of an old man leaning against an old rattan chair.
The old man had white hair and beard, and wore a faded cotton shirt and trousers, looking no different from any other elderly person sitting idly on the street.
The only unusual thing was his open eye, the pupil of which was cloudy, a lifeless gray-white, as if shrouded in a gloom that could never be dispelled.
It's "gray eyes".
He was clearly severely injured, his breath was weak, and blood was gushing from the fatal wound in his chest, staining his old clothes red.
Surprisingly, his ashen face showed little pain or fear, but rather an almost absurd calmness, with even a faint smile playing on his lips.
Junwen was also in a bad state. There was a hideous bloody hole below his left scapula, as if it had been pierced by some sharp object. The blood was flowing non-stop, leaving his entire left arm hanging limply.
But his right hand, holding the knife, remained steady, pressing firmly against the hilt to ensure the blade remained at Gray Eyes' heart.
A seemingly ordinary but exceptionally sharpened heavy iron tent hook landed at Junwen's feet.
It looks like the weapon that caused Junwen's serious injury.
The tips of the tent hooks were stained with blood, and the old strips of cloth tied to the ends seemed to still bear the residual power of the protective mark left by Li Yuheng after it was triggered.
Clearly, at the last moment, "Gray Eyes" launched a fatal sneak attack using some unknown method. The mark on the talisman automatically protected its owner, blocking a fatal blow for Junwen, thus giving him the opportunity to complete this revenge.
The intrusion of Shu Bai and Li Yuheng shattered the dying silence.
Junwen noticed the commotion and turned around abruptly. When he saw them, a complex emotion flashed in his eyes, but he did not loosen his grip on the knife. He simply said in a hoarse voice, "...You've come."
Li Yuheng crossed his arms, floating in mid-air, surveying the bloody scene, and clicked his tongue twice: "Not bad, Junwen, you actually managed to get your tail, and you almost died together. If I hadn't held back, you would be dead by now."
"Thank you so much, Guardian Deity, for saving my life."
Junwen thanked him, then his gaze returned to "Gray Eyes'" face, filled with deep-seated hatred and a sense of emptiness at having avenged a great grudge.
At this moment, a hoarse, leaking sound came from the throat of "Gray Eyes" on the rattan chair. He could still speak, his voice hoarse and weak, yet carrying an eerie sense of relaxation.
"Heh cough cough, the Jun family brat is really tough, even this couldn't kill you..."
His gray-white blind eye seemed to turn aimlessly for a moment, then looked precisely in the direction of Li Yuheng and Shu Bai.
"Oh, you've brought two onlookers along?" He actually had the mood to joke, even though every word he spoke was accompanied by blood and foam. "One... with an overwhelming aura, must be the young patriarch of the Shu family... The other one, heh... could that aura be the legendary... Sleeping God that the Shu family worships?"
Li Yuheng raised an eyebrow, floated closer, and looked down at the dying old man with interest: "Sleep God? You old blind man, your eyesight is failing, but your mouth is quite sharp. I am a guardian deity, the real deal."
"Gray Eyes" chuckled softly, aggravating his wounds and coughing up more blood: "Guardian God... good, good... to see a true god before dying is... an eye-opening experience..."
He took a few breaths, and his gray eyes seemed to see a more distant place through Li Yuheng.
"You Jun family brat, you hate me for wiping out your entire family... but do you know... what I gave your family... was 'color'..."
He tilted his head and expounded with an almost manic logic: "This world... black, white, gray... how boring... how many people... go through their whole lives... without ever seeing... that destined color... I help them... see 'color'... even if... it's fake... that moment of... brilliance... isn't it... beautiful?"
Shu Bai stood to the side, frowning upon hearing this, his tone disapproving: "What is fake will always be fake. The splendor built on lies and deception is like a bubble, bursting at the slightest touch, leaving only deeper despair and trauma. What you're doing isn't giving color, it's selling illusions and trampling on people's hearts."
"Gray Eyes" sneered, blood splattering: "Little brat... what do you know... fake... so what? Sexual attack... is the truth? It's just... another kind of... bondage... This world... how highly it elevates 'sexual attack'... the destined color? Ha... bullshit! It's just... God's bored random game... I can't give them true color... but I can give them... a moment of illusion... the ultimate emotional experience... isn't that... another kind of reality?"
"They spend money...to buy a beautiful dream...I provide the dream...each gets what they need...what's wrong with that? Those who are hurt by real sex...come to you for purification...are they more noble than me? They are all cowards escaping reality..."
Li Yuheng, listening from the side, clicked his tongue and said, "You're quite good at making things up. According to your logic, murder and arson also provide people with a thrilling experience?"
Gray Eyes actually laughed, though the laugh made him cough up more blood: "Why...why not? Life is short...seize the day...I'm just...tearing the truth to show them...colors are fake...emotions are fake...it's all fake..."
His gray-white eyes turned to Junwen, filled with a chilling pity: "Your family...stubborn...unwilling...to cooperate...insisting on exposing...the 'truth'...blocking everyone's 'dreams'...so...they can only...forever...live in black and white..."
Junwen's hand gripping the knife trembled violently from the extreme force, and his eyes were bloodshot, almost dripping blood.
"Gray Eyes'" aura grew weaker and weaker, but he seemed completely unconcerned about his death. "Sigh, people... always have to die... sooner or later... what difference does it make? I'm old... I've lived enough... ending it this way... is good... better than lying in bed... rotting away..."
He struggled to raise a bloodstained hand, pointing to the crowded, chaotic, dusty shop and the faint sounds of bustling city life coming from outside the window.
"To die here... in this bustling, crowded place... is quite interesting..."
His voice grew softer and softer until finally, his gray eyes lost their last glimmer of light, his head lolled to the side, and he breathed his last.
Until his death, he remained immersed in his own logic.
The inside and outside of the shop seem like two different worlds.
Outside, the city bustles with life, a vibrant tapestry of everyday existence.
Inside was a bloody, deathly silence; grudges had been settled.
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