Chapter 660: He Has Returned

In midsummer, Yingzhou City here has already completely settled down, and there are still many matters that need to be brought to the imperial court for resolution.

Unlike the tense atmosphere when they came, everyone relaxed considerably on the way back.

Along the way, the scenery was all peach-red and willow-green, with laughter and cheer filling the ears, feeling like a spring outing.

On the road from Yingzhou City back to Jing Cheng, Xiao Yin deliberately took a detour to Qi Sha Gu.

After all, Yingzhou City is not far from Yanbei Pass, and south of Yanbei Pass lies Qi Sha Gu, once the forbidden zone for all of Southern Qi.

It has been over nine years, no one dares to approach; the locals say that when night grows deep and quiet, they can still hear weeping rising from the valley's depths.

Xiao Yin ordered to stop at the mouth of Qi Sha Gu, and the troop behind him also stopped.

Gu Jiu Ling had been somewhat fatigued along the way, dozed off, and now woke with a start, lifted the carriage curtain to look outside, and couldn't help but frown slightly.

Over the past two years, the term Qi Sha Gu has appeared far too frequently in Gu Jiu Ling's personal dictionary.

Now truly seeing Qi Sha Gu, although it was midsummer, what met the eye was nothing but desolation.

On both sides loomed towering mountains, with only a narrow gap left in the middle.

Carriages and horses slowly entered through that gap, and before them lay a downward-sloping path; ahead was Qi Sha Gu.

So‑called valley is actually a giant pit formed by a mudslide.

Both sides were barren of vegetation, and the stones by the road remained scorched black.

Xiao Yin dismounted and stepped forward, step by step.

Back then he had been severely wounded, carried out by General An, and now he returned here once again.

Faintly in his ears still echoed the deafening screams; before his eyes lay charred corpses, the smell of burning oil mixed with the stench of corpses assailing his nostrils.

With each step Xiao Yin took, his face grew a little heavier.

The short stretch felt impossibly long, heavy, and difficult to traverse.

"My sworn brothers, I have come! I have avenged you; you may now rest in peace!"

Xiao Yin whispered, fearing that a louder voice would disturb the spirits not far away.

As they approached the edge of the pit, Xiao Yin's steps suddenly halted; Gu Jiu Ling and the others behind him nearly bumped into him.

Gu Jiu Ling wondered what had happened to him, why he had stopped while walking.

She hurried around Xiao Yin's tall back and looked ahead.

She froze in place; besides their party, someone had already arrived in the valley before them.

It was a group of ordinary folk, each dressed in coarse cloth, using cloths to cover their mouths and noses as they bent over to pick up the scattered remains strewn across the pit.

Some women even held open bags, waiting for their men to place the remains inside, then tied the mouths shut and set them aside carefully.

Obviously these people had been here for a while; many bags were neatly stacked at the pit's edge.

Xiao Yin had previously ordered people to come here to collect the remains of the soldiers killed in Qi Sha Gu, but at that time the injustice of Qi Sha Gu had not yet been redressed.

In the eyes of the Southern Qi populace, they were still seen as utterly incompetent, even as traitors who had invited the Bei Di cavalry to breach the pass.

Therefore they spent heavily to hire some martial‑arts jianghu folk to gather and bury the remains, daring not to do so in daylight, and could only work at night.

After these nine years, the remains at the pit's bottom still have not been fully collected.

Whenever this was done before, someone would always come out to obstruct, either officials or...

Xiao Yin, in order to preserve the last trace of the Azure Dragon Army's bloodline, could not openly come to pay his respects.

Now that the eight great clans have been overthrown and the truth exposed to all, Xiao Yin can finally come in broad daylight to pay his respects.

But after all his calculations, he never expected that someone had already come ahead of him.

At this moment, seeing Xiao Yin's party approach, the people standing in the pit all lifted their heads.

The leading elder, noting their respectable attire and that they were clearly heading straight here, hurriedly rose, supported by the younger folks beside him, and climbed up with his cane.

These people looked like nobles at a glance, and since hardly anyone ever visits this place, it was obvious they had come for the corpse‑filled pit.

He clasped his hands toward Xiao Yin and said, "I don't know if honored guest, you have come here also to pay respects?"

Now it was Xiao Yin's turn to be stunned—how did these people know he was here to pay respects?

"We are old friends of the Azure Dragon Army; I don't know, elder, what this is……

A flicker of guilt and sorrow crossed the old man's face as he sighed: "It's been nine years, exactly nine years; we all thought the Azure Dragon Army nine years ago were traitors who disregarded the common folk, never imagining they had been framed."

"They were clearly loyal defenders of home and country, yet earned a curse for the ages; we are ordinary folk living near Qi Sha Gu, and we cannot bear to see loyal bones scattered here, unburied—it's simply unbearable."

"I, the old man, have brought the villagers here to gather the loyal bones, give them a proper burial, set up a grave, so that later generations coming to pay respects will find it more convenient."

Xiao Yin's heart gave a slight pause, his eyes filling with a touch of gratitude; he stepped back and bowed low before the elder.

"Honored guest… this… this must not be!" the elder said, seeing Xiao Yin's exalted status, daring not to let a noble bow to him.

He hastily stepped aside, smiling: "May I ask where honored guest comes from? You must also be here to pay respects to the loyal souls buried in Qi Sha Gu—quite a few people have come to do so lately!"

"Elder, this is Prince Rui!" Ling Feng laughed.

The elder's face instantly turned pallid; he reflexively stepped back, thinking, "Could this be the Prince Rui who has recently overthrown the eight great clans, rumored to be cruel and ruthless, killing without mercy?"

He instantly flustered, moving his lips but finding he didn't know what to say.

Seeing the tension and fear of the villagers before him, Xiao Yin signaled to Ling Feng: "Pass the order to set up a shade tent; let the villagers first rest inside, drink tea, and have some snacks."

"Yes!" Ling Feng turned and ordered the men to pitch camp on the spot, erecting a tent.

Soon the villagers were summoned, and they were served fine silver‑needle tea—so precious that a common farmer's yearly income might not buy even a few leaves.

Now Xiao Yin produced all of it to entertain the villagers, and Gu Jiu Ling ordered Jiu Yue and Yun Duo to distribute the pastries she had brought along the way.

Having finished here, Gu Jiu Ling then walked over toward Xiao Yin.

At this moment, the sun's shadow slanted westward; she stared fixedly at the man bending over, bowing low in the pit.

He had always kept his spine straight; even when he had been oppressed, framed, and slandered in Shang Jing, he never harbored the slightest thought of bending his waist to seek peace.

This time his whole body was somewhat hunched; he bent over earnestly, carefully scooping the rotten‑mud remains from the pit and placing them into a bag on one side.

All around, no one dared disturb Xiao Yin; they silently watched him bit by bit retrieve what had been lost nine years ago, picking it up step by step.

That is his soul, the soul that was lost, has come back.