The shop was deathly silent, with only the faint sounds of bustling city life coming from outside the window, making the small space seem even more eerie.
Junwen slowly pulled the short blade from "Gray Eyes'" heart, drawing out a stream of dark red blood.
He swayed, blood loss and exhaustion making him almost unable to stand, but he still forced himself to stay upright, looked at Li Yuheng and Shu Bai, and said in a hoarse voice, "...Thank you again for the protection of the Guardian God's mark. His shop is full of traps. This hook... he must have secretly manipulated it to pop out. If it weren't for the Guardian God's mark blocking most of the force and the insidious curse power attached to it, I would be dead by now."
Li Yuheng floated closer, examining the gradually cooling corpse of "Gray Eyes," then glancing at the bloody hole in Junwen's shoulder blade, and raised an eyebrow, saying, "The price you paid for your revenge was quite high. But how did you find this old fox? He's been hiding very well."
Junwen slid down onto the floor, leaning against the dusty shelf. He tore off a piece of his shirt to painstakingly bandage his wound, explaining as he gasped for breath:
“He trusts no one. All his subordinates communicate with him through a single point of contact, using encrypted messages and dead mail to pass instructions, and even his voice is censored. No one knows what he really looks like or where he is... except me.”
He raised his eyes, his gaze filled with a hatred that had been building up for ten years and an obsession with tracking him.
“Before my family’s tragedy, my father… accidentally intercepted a fragment of a command that hadn’t been completely destroyed. It mentioned an extremely obscure location code that was linked to… a way of recording information in an old ledger that he personally preferred. It took me ten years to investigate all possibilities before I finally pinpointed this area, this dead mailbox and contact point disguised as a grocery store.”
He coughed and continued, "I know he occasionally comes here in person to read or place information, like performing some kind of ritual, enjoying the sense of control he gets from being hidden in the city. I've been lying in wait here for two months, and that's how I got him to come here alone today... He really doesn't have any protection around him, because he only trusts himself."
"Gray Eyes" died alone due to his extreme paranoia, and was eventually buried by a moment of carelessness and a decade-long relentless pursuit.
Shu Bai listened quietly, then spoke up: "So, what about Qin Ren? Why are you protecting him? Even at the cost of interfering with his memories."
Junwen paused in his bandaging, a complex emotion flashing across his face.
“That kid Qin Ren… I know everything about what happened to him before and after his mother’s death, the difficulties his shop faced, the harassment from that thug… Because he was the bait I deliberately released to lure ‘Gray Eyes’.”
"Qin Ren is typical: fragile, lonely, yearning for color... a perfect target. I originally intended to use this as a starting point to investigate, but I didn't expect..." Junwen closed his eyes, "I didn't expect him to collapse so quickly and so completely. By the time I arrived, he already had blood on his hands."
He looked at Shu Bai, his eyes carrying the weight of someone who had been through it all and a hint of barely perceptible pity.
"He's only in his early twenties. Shu Bai, you've taken over the family at such a young age, you probably haven't fully experienced... the kind of madness that comes when a person is driven to the brink of despair, the destruction of everything, including their own madness. He killed someone, yes, unforgivable. But at that moment, it was more of a loss of control after his mind completely collapsed, an explosion of long-term repression, bullying, and despair."
“I had two options: one was to hand him over to the police, in which case he would end up in a mental hospital after the trial, or worse; the other was to… forcefully intervene, seal away his bloodiest and most unbearable fragments of memory, and give him… even if it was false, a ‘reality’ that would allow him to catch his breath and get back on his feet.”
He gave a wry smile: "I chose the latter. I know it's wrong, it goes against the principles of a purifier, and it also goes against the law. But sometimes... things aren't just black and white."
Shu Bai listened without any change in expression, and said calmly, "You gave him a false reality, making him think that he was just deceived, and even almost committed suicide. This may not be a mercy to him."
“I know.” Junwen leaned against the shelf, his face pale from blood loss. “But this will allow him to live temporarily, to walk out like a ‘normal person,’ instead of rotting away in prison or a mental hospital. As for the truth…”
He paused for a moment, then said, "When he becomes powerful enough, perhaps one day those sealed memories will return on their own. How he chooses to do then will be his own business."
Li Yuheng listened intently from the side: "Oh my, you sure know how to arrange things. Avenger and life mentor at the same time, how can you manage?"
Junwen looked at Li Yuheng and forced a smile: "Guardian God is joking. I am just... paying off a debt and atoning for my sins."
Shu Bai didn't press Qin Ren's matter further, his gaze sweeping over the messy, dark shop and the gradually stiffening corpse.
What are your plans to do here?
Junwen took a deep breath, enduring the pain: "I will handle it cleanly. 'Gray Eyes' has many enemies; his disappearance like this won't attract much attention. But..." He looked at Shu Bai and Li Yuheng, his eyes pleading, "I ask that you two..."
“Master Jingse doesn’t concern himself with grudges,” Shu Bai interrupted him. “We’ve never been here.”
Junwen breathed a sigh of relief and said in a low voice, "Thank you."
Li Yuheng floated to the corpse of "Gray Eyes," reached out and grabbed a wisp of gray energy mixed with twisted obsession, which he played with between his fingertips.
"This old fellow, even in death he can't rest in peace, his thoughts are quite 'colorful'." He flicked his fingertips, and the wisp of gray smoke dissipated like smoke. "Alright, I'll clean up this last bit of residue for you."
Junwen thanked him again.
Seeing that his injuries were quite serious, Shu Bai took out a small porcelain bottle from her sleeve and tossed it to him: "It's more effective than ordinary medicine. Take care of yourself."
Junwen accepted it without saying much, only nodding solemnly.
Shu Bai didn't linger and turned to walk away.
Li Yuheng and Chong Junwen waved their hands and transformed into a streak of light to follow.
Stepping out of the noisy old street and basking in the sunlight once more, Li Yuheng stretched.
"Tsk, this whole thing is a mess. I might as well go back to sleep."
Shu Bai, walking beside him, glanced at him upon hearing this and said, "Oh my, don't be ridiculous. Weren't you watching it with great interest?"
"I was protecting you and watching the show along the way. But speaking of which, Junwen is quite interesting. He's ruthless to himself, even more ruthless to his enemies, but he shows a bit of ambiguous softness towards Qin Ren."
"He wasn't being lenient. He saw in Qin Ren his own past self, powerless to resist and ultimately losing his family. His interference with Qin Ren's memories was less about saving Qin Ren and more about saving the version of himself that couldn't be saved back then."
Li Yuheng raised an eyebrow and leaned closer to look at him: "Oh, little Shubai, you see things quite clearly. You're not that old, but you're quite shrewd."
“It has nothing to do with age.” Shu Bai pushed away his head, which was almost touching her face. “The more you see, the more you understand. The things people are obsessed with in this life are just a few kinds.”
"Then what about your persistence? Staying with the Shu family business, 'cleaning up' things for others, what are you after?"
"...A family craft has to be passed down. Shu Huaijin and Wen Rui are getting old, and we can't count on Shu Wenyan and Xiang Yudie. If I don't do it, who will?"
"It's that simple?"
"Otherwise what?" Shu Bai turned to look at him. "Do you want me to say it's to save the world and maintain the color balance of the world?"
Li Yuheng stroked his chin, pretending to think: "Hmm, you know what, you really have to admit, this ambition is quite suitable for me."
"..."
…
The old house's rustic eaves are already in sight.
Shu Bai suddenly remembered something, stopped in his tracks, and took out a small notebook and a very old-looking fountain pen from his sleeve pocket.
Li Yuheng curiously leaned closer: "What kind of old antique is this?"
"The ledger." Shu Bai opened it and quickly wrote a few lines. "Li Yuheng, since you woke up, I've been paying for all your food, clothing, and other necessities. When are you planning to settle this debt?"
Li Yuheng's eyes widened as he pointed at himself: "Me? Pay the bill? Shu Bai, look carefully, I am a god! The guardian deity that your Shu family worships! Have you ever seen a family that charges money for offering sacrifices to their ancestors?"
Shu Bai closed the notebook, looking completely matter-of-fact: "That was before. Times have changed now; economic independence is important. Now that you've 'awakened' and have the ability to act independently, you should naturally be responsible for your own daily expenses. You can't keep sponging off your parents, can you?"
"...Huh? I'm taking advantage of you?! I was protecting you! It was a favor! Do you understand? Without me, would your Shu family be so safe and sound?"
“I understand,” Shu Bai nodded. “That’s why the offerings have never stopped, and the incense has never been lacking. But extra expenses will have to be calculated separately. Even close brothers should keep clear accounts, let alone gods and men.”
Li Yuheng suddenly covered his forehead, staggered a step, and his eyes instantly became blank and shocked, as if he had just woken up from a long dream.
"...What? Who are you? Where is this? How did I get here? Shouldn't I be...undergoing tribulation? Could it be that I...time-traveled?! What year is it now?"
"If you feel sticky, go take a shower. Personal hygiene is important, and so is the divine."
"...No? Do you know what you're saying, Xiao Shubai?" Li Yuheng's acting completely broke down. "I! Asked! About! The! Year! of! The! Era! Who asked you about that...?! I've discovered that you have a lot of problems with your thinking!"
“Oh, an era.” Shu Bai nodded in realization. “Then why don’t you just ask what year it is? Using ‘what year’ sounds like ‘sticky’ and can easily cause misunderstandings. These days, you have to be clear and accurate when you speak to avoid misunderstandings.”
He paused, looked up at Li Yuheng, his eyes filled with a pure inquiry: "So, are you clingy or not?"
Li Yuheng: "..."
He took a deep breath and told himself that he was a noble guardian deity and could not stoop to the level of this little old man.
But the urge to both laugh and pinch someone was too strong to suppress.
"I'm not sticky!"
"Hmm, very good. Keep it up."
Just then, the wooden door of the old house opened from the inside, and Wen Rui, carrying a winnowing basket of freshly picked red beans, happened to hear the second half of the sentence and looked up in surprise:
"Sticky? What sticky? Little White, you just said sticky? Does the Guardian God already know that Grandma is making sticky rice dumplings today?"
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