Chapter 125: To Live Is a Sin

“We have to find a way to shake off those beasts.”

Ning Xiu glanced up at the golden eagles circling on the horizon, his expression dark.

With those feathered beasts keeping watch, Ning Xiu had no chance of putting any distance between himself and Huang Qingcang’s men. It was only a matter of time before they caught up with him.

There was a way, of course. If he could reach a densely populated area, he would soon be able to lose them.

But Ning Xiu clearly lacked the means to do that now. It would be no different from throwing himself into a trap. With no other choice, he turned and entered the mountains.

The dense forest would greatly obstruct the feathered beasts’ vision.

And if they dared to lower their altitude, they could wait to be shot down and braised by Ning Xiu.

To pinpoint Ning Xiu’s location, Huang Qingcang had no choice but to divide his forces and search separately.

But how could ordinary generals possibly be Ning Xiu’s match? At most, they could delay him for a moment. Even so, Huang Qingcang had used dozens of lives to forcefully create another opportunity to face Ning Xiu.

Having learned from his previous mistake, the instant Huang Qingcang spotted Ning Xiu this time, he leaped forward without another word. He abruptly drew the long saber at his waist and brought it crashing down toward Ning Xiu’s head.

The saber in Huang Qingcang’s hands was nearly twice the size of an ordinary steel blade. The moment it was swung, its momentum was astonishing.

An invisible blade aura, wrapped in a terrifying force, shot straight toward Ning Xiu.

Yet Ning Xiu remained utterly calm. He unleashed Chasing Wind, Seizing Shadow. Wind seemed to rise beneath his feet as his entire body shifted unpredictably from left to right, his movements so strange that no one could follow them. He easily evaded the airborne slash.

At the same time, rather than retreating, Ning Xiu launched an attack of his own. He stamped hard against the ground, and his body shot toward Huang Qingcang like a sharp arrow.

“Courting death!”

As he watched Ning Xiu charge at him, Huang Qingcang’s face revealed a cruel, bloodthirsty smile. He raised his great saber and brought it down with the force of thunder.

Because the distance between them was so short, Ning Xiu could not possibly evade the attack as easily as before.

Moreover, Huang Qingcang had already planned his next move, waiting only for Ning Xiu to dodge. But Ning Xiu had never been one to act according to convention. Not only did he refuse to evade, he charged forward at even greater speed.

Huang Qingcang had not expected such a move, but no panic appeared on his face. A vicious glint flashed in his eyes. Without changing his motion, he continued bringing the saber down.

Clang!

The collision of metal rang out, deafening in its intensity.

The golden bell surrounding Ning Xiu’s body shuddered violently. The tremendous impact left his face slightly pale. Yet by then he had already reached Huang Qingcang. He thrust out his right fist and smashed it into the other man’s chest.

Golden Wild Bull Fist!

Feeling the immense force strike his chest, Huang Qingcang was sent flying backward, still gripping his great saber with both hands. His chest caved inward, and he slid a great distance before finally coming to a stop. The blade in his hand carved a deep gash across the ground.

Huang Qingcang felt his blood and energy churn violently throughout his body. Fresh red blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, and he calmly raised a hand to wipe it away.

He lifted his head and stared fixedly at Ning Xiu, his gaze cold and sinister. Just now, he had intended to endure Ning Xiu’s full-powered strike in order to cut him down.

Who could have imagined that Ning Xiu had been thinking the same thing?

“Good. Very good.” Huang Qingcang looked at Ning Xiu and spoke in a low voice.

……

If a man had a poor memory, he would surely develop the habit of eradicating every last root.

Shen Sanqian was precisely such a man. Even while pursuing Ning Xiu, he had not forgotten Ning Xiu’s family.

Though those people were no more than ants in his eyes, he wanted Ning Xiu to suffer. He wanted him to understand, in the deepest possible way, the price of opposing the imperial court.

Naturally, such a minor matter did not warrant his personal attention.

The constables of the Six Doors were more than sufficient.

But when those constables reached the Ning residence in Lingnan Commandery, they found the courtyard completely deserted. They searched the entire commandery afterward, yet failed to find a single important member of the Ning family.

Where had they gone?

Surely they could not have vanished into thin air.

This was an order issued personally by Shen Sanqian. The constables of the Six Doors did not dare return and report without results.

In the end, they relied on their formidable intelligence network to uncover the whereabouts of Ning Mingfeng, the head of the Ning family.

“My lord, we have found Ning Mingfeng of the Ning residence.”

“Where is he?” the leading constable asked.

“On the road to Shouchun.”

“Shouchun? Why would he go there?”

His doubt was understandable. Although Shouchun was now nearly an empty city, it still remained under imperial control. If Ning Mingfeng truly intended to flee, why would he choose such an obvious destination?

“Come. Let us take a look.”

Shouchun. The Ning residence.

The servants and maids had long since been dismissed. The enormous Ning residence now contained only Ning Mingfeng.

Leaning on his cane, the old man struggled into the study. Everything of value had already been removed from the estate. Only the useless books on the shelves had been left untouched.

Looking at the familiar furnishings, the old man trembled as he extended his right hand and slowly drew a book from an inconspicuous corner of the shelf.

Boom!

With a tremendous crash, the bookshelf split in two and slowly opened toward either side.

There was actually a hidden chamber in Ning Mingfeng’s study.

It was likely that no one in the entire Ning residence knew of it besides him.

Calling it a hidden chamber was not quite accurate. A deep pit would have been a more fitting description.

In that lightless abyss, stalk after stalk of ginseng grew.

Of course, that alone was not particularly astonishing, nor did it explain why Ning Mingfeng had guarded the place so carefully.

Compared with the plump, fleshy roots that stood upright like little human figures, the countless dried bones lying in the pit formed a stark and horrifying contrast.

Ning Mingfeng lowered his head and stared at everything in the pit. Murky tears streamed down his face as he murmured repeatedly, “I have a mouth…”

By the time the constables of the Six Doors arrived in Shouchun, the Ning residence had already been consumed by flames.

……

On the night several days earlier, Ning Mingfeng had knocked upon the gates of the princely estate.

He had exchanged the sins of his entire life for a chance for his descendants to survive.

When Ning Mingfeng’s youngest granddaughter asked why Grandfather was not leaving with them, he felt only bitterness in his mouth.

For a sinner like him to have survived until now was already the greatest sin of all.

There was no mistake. The ginseng roots he had sent to the Prince of Lingnan’s estate each time had never been ordinary ginseng.

They were ghost ginseng.

And ghost ginseng needed the deathly aura of human beings to nourish it before it could survive and mature. Over the years, in order to continue supplying the princely estate with those roots, Ning Mingfeng’s hands had become stained with the blood of countless people.

Most of them had either been beggars on the verge of starving to death or condemned prisoners awaiting execution in the government offices.

To Ning Mingfeng—

to live was itself a sin, while affection meant incurring a debt.

The princely estate had shown him kindness, after all.

In the end, he had been able to exchange that sin for the lives of his family. He felt that, for one lifetime, it had all been worth it.

……