Chapter Twenty-Two: The Past (Supplementary Chapter)

“Are you truly so loyal to your duties?”

Lin Lan looked at Shen Zhongzhu, whose expression was unusually serious, and spoke with mocking suspicion.

“You brought eight prison guards here, which means you know something has happened that ordinary guards cannot handle. That also suggests there is something here that matters greatly to you.

I won’t pry into your secrets, nor do you need to question my true intentions.

At least for now, we share a common goal: to find out who killed this Bixie and smuggled these two monsters inside.”

Shen Zhongzhu’s clear eyes met Lin Lan’s mocking gaze, his tone calm.

“For matters like this, you should seek out Li Xiaoyan.”

The sarcasm faded from Lin Lan’s face, and his delicate features became tranquil, as still as an ancient well.

“So your prized possession is still safe, then.”

Shen Zhongzhu smiled and turned, but before he could see what was behind him, Lin Lan suddenly spoke.

“But as Deputy Warden, I can accompany you to find the culprit who killed the Bixie. Its mother may be a tiger demon, but its father is a genuine Azure Dragon.”

“Then, Deputy Warden Lin, please lead the way. I’ll follow close behind.”

Shen Zhongzhu turned to Lin Lan, who had changed his tune, and smiled faintly.

“Very well.”

Lin Lan flicked his sleeve and strode toward the interrogation chamber, the eight prison guards trailing behind him.

“Guard the dungeon doors well. No one is to enter or leave, not even those two Grade C guards who can come and go with authorization.”

Shen Zhongzhu did not immediately follow. Instead, he glanced back at Xu Weiyang, and his lazy tone carried a hint of caution.

“Remember everyone who comes here and sees the body of the Bixie.”

After speaking, Shen Zhongzhu reached out across the air and gently brushed his damp robes. Droplets of water flew from his clothes and gathered in his palm, while his garments dried and became neat before their eyes.

“I have a junior brother at the Astronomical Bureau, serving as Supervisor. Perhaps he can, in the Emperor’s presence, use the pretext of ‘Virtue Stars converging’ to have you both recalled to the capital, sparing you this tedious hardship.”

Shen Zhongzhu glanced at the bowed Zhuang Xiaochen and spoke calmly.

“Is Deputy Warden Shen truly capable of this?!”

Zhuang Xiaochen raised his head abruptly. Even with his golden helmet concealing him, the excitement in his eyes was unmistakable.

---

“If Deputy Warden Shen can really bring us back to the Forbidden Army, not only will I obey your orders now, but I’ll immediately forget your solo descent into the dungeon earlier.”

Xu Weiyang clasped his hands respectfully, his gaze lowered.

“Oh?”

Shen Zhongzhu’s phoenix eyes narrowed into a slit. Xu Weiyang’s words were respectful, but the underlying threat was clear enough that even Zhuang Xiaochen noticed, quickly reaching out to pull Xu Weiyang’s sleeve.

“As long as the Emperor still values the heavens’ signs, I believe it won’t be difficult to have you both reinstated in the Forbidden Army.”

A faint smile appeared on Shen Zhongzhu’s face.

“Deputy Warden Lin emerged today at the hour of noon, from the end of Bilo Lane, through the Yin-Yang Wall.”

Xu Weiyang replied, head bowed.

“Yin-Yang Wall… You’ve given that dead wall quite the poetic name.”

Shen Zhongzhu suddenly chuckled, the slits of his phoenix eyes opening slightly, their clarity betraying no emotion.

But neither the bowed Zhuang Xiaochen nor the respectful Xu Weiyang noticed the cold indifference in Shen Zhongzhu’s gaze as he opened his eyes.

“Very well. When the Sancang Sea vessel returns, I’ll have someone send word to my junior brother. Within half a year, you’ll hear good news.”

Shen Zhongzhu spoke softly.

“Thank you, Deputy Warden Shen!”

Zhuang Xiaochen and Xu Weiyang spoke in unison.

“Of course, provided you handle this matter well.”

Shen Zhongzhu’s voice drifted away, and when Xu Weiyang looked up, he caught a glimpse of Shen Zhongzhu’s departing figure at the end of Bilo Lane.

“Weiyang, do you think Deputy Warden Shen can be trusted?”

Only now did Zhuang Xiaochen raise his head, staring at the corpse of the Bixie on the floor ahead, swallowing nervously.

“Whether or not he can be trusted, what we’re asked to do isn’t dangerous. Better to agree than to stand guard here.”

Xu Weiyang turned, his gaze calm as he looked at the pitch-black stairs of the dungeon. After a moment’s pause, he slowly closed the equally dark door.

“Wait! Isn’t there still a guard inside?!”

As Xu Weiyang closed the dungeon’s door, Zhuang Xiaochen slapped his forehead, suddenly remembering what he’d forgotten.

---

Xu Weiyang pressed down on Zhuang Xiaochen’s wrist as he tried to push open the door. He turned and looked at Zhuang Xiaochen’s astonished face without saying a word.

The bewildered expression gradually faded from Zhuang Xiaochen’s face as understanding dawned. His hand, poised to open the door, fell in defeat.

“He didn’t mention it. We’ll act as if no one is inside.”

Xu Weiyang spoke quietly, watching the shifting emotions on Zhuang Xiaochen’s face.

“Weiyang, what was our original purpose in joining the Forbidden Army?”

Zhuang Xiaochen leaned against the door, kicking the gray wolf’s head at his feet toward the base of the red wall, and spoke slowly.

“I’m not like you. I never thought of protecting the Emperor or defending the royal capital as my duty. I only joined the Forbidden Army for the unique points it offers, so I could eventually unlock the thirty-sixth floor of Ling Heaven Pavilion and exchange them for better cultivation methods.”

Xu Weiyang turned, standing calmly to the right of the dungeon door.

“Then why not go to the mountain sanctuaries, Daoist temples, Buddhist monasteries, or the sects and palaces of the Twelve Provinces? Aren’t their rules and restraints far more lenient than the Forbidden Army’s?”

Zhuang Xiaochen asked, puzzled.

“Unfortunately, to them, I have no immortal fate, no wisdom, and certainly no spiritual roots or artifacts. In their eyes, I am nothing more than a rough fighter who wields a spear.

It’s laughable; even a rat demon I once hunted was accepted as a disciple by a master in a mountain sanctuary simply because he took a liking to its appearance.

That master didn’t realize his new disciple had already taken three lives in a distant village.

Me? I ended up hunted by that master’s Daoist magic, chased out of the mountain like a stray dog, all for pursuing his murderous disciple.”

Xu Weiyang gazed at the sky, his tone as indifferent as if he were speaking of someone else’s affairs.

“Don’t assume those so-called ‘immortals’ in blessed caves are good people, nor that palace concubines and ministers are especially clever and worthy of awe.

Strip away their noble titles, and you’ll find they’re no different from us—perhaps even more foolish.”

Xu Weiyang withdrew his gaze, looking sideways at the fellow Forbidden Army soldier who had joined at the same time.

The blue-glazed sparrow-feather jade cup of Consort Ning in Yixiu Palace had originally been broken by him alone, but this foolish fellow insisted on sharing the blame, no matter how much he was persuaded to leave.

As for why the Forbidden Army’s commander pleaded for mercy?

It was only because this daft Zhuang Xiaochen was his cousin. Otherwise, Xu Weiyang’s lowly life would never have been worth more than the noble consort’s blue-glazed sparrow-feather cup.