Chapter 551

How could it be like this? I felt as if struck by lightning, unable to regain my senses for a long time, that familiar outline, and that unique blind eye. Even though his appearance had changed somewhat, I could never forget his look.

Han Duo's angry shout drew nearer to my ear, and I could already feel that chilling, yin-filled aura. I hadn't thought, but at that moment I stepped before the grey-robed corpse, blocking the command flag Han Duo thrust at him.

Behind me came Han Duo's startled cry; the command flag struck the pillar, and at the critical moment Han Duo turned her direction, then lunged straight at me.

"What the hell are you doing, are you brain‑dead?" Pangzi, shouldering the grey-robed corpse's copper arm, cursed at me angrily.

"I can't kill him, he's..." I hadn't finished speaking when the grey-robed corpse suddenly roared, strained, and swung its copper hand, slapping Pangzi's cheek and sending him flying, blood spraying from his mouth.

He had lost all humanity, his eyes devoid of any affection. I watched in terror as he lunged at me, tears streaming, sobbing two words: "Master."

He never heard my shout; perhaps at that critical moment no one could. How could I understand that the master who had always loved me like his own son would now try to kill his own disciple with his own hands?

"Be careful..." his arm drew nearer, the scorching, foul smell grew closer, and his eyes remained expressionless, still icy cold.

That "be careful" seemed to have been shouted by Han Duo, and she shoved me aside; I stood there dazed, unable to recover from the blow.

Then I saw Han Duo's chest burst with a bright flower of blood; that copper hand pierced her heart, and finally she collapsed helplessly to the ground.

"No..." I and Pangzi burst into tears; at the moment Han Duo was thrown aside, I rushed forward without hesitation, embraced the grey-robed corpse's body, and shoved him against the pillar.

Pangzi also wept, shouted a curse, pulled the bone spur from Yao Wenju's chest, seized the chance, and viciously stabbed it into the grey-robed corpse's neck.

Resentful energy and wronged spirits drifted from the grey-robed corpse's body, and he finally went limp and collapsed to the ground.

"Milk, milk" I scrambled to Han Duo's side, lifted her; her heart had been pierced, blood staining her clothes.

"Hai Sheng, I.... it hurts so much, I feel awful..." Han Duo gasped, her face ashen.

"You're fine, you'll be okay," I said in anguish, tearing off my clothes to press against her wound, but her blood kept seeping through the fabric, flowing endlessly.

"Hai Sheng," she gripped my hand tightly, her pale lips pressed together, and asked, "Am I beautiful?"

"You are beautiful, you are very beautiful; in my heart you will always be the most beautiful one. No one can replace you, no one can ever take your place." I was already sobbing uncontrollably; this foolish woman, why, even at the very end of her life, was she still so stubborn?

"Really?" she wanted to lift her weak hands to smooth the disheveled black strands on her forehead.

"I still have many things left undone; the murderers who killed my younger siblings haven't been caught; the children of Tongyuan Bay still don't all have books to read; the money I've earned isn't enough, never enough for them to live happily." Han Duo whispered, her face ashen. Her eyes turned to me, filled with a water‑like tenderness.

"In your eyes, what kind of person am I? Probably just a market‑savvy person who never knew tenderness. Actually I'm not strong; I also wish I had a broad shoulder to cry on, to be comforted, to bite hard. But I cannot be weak, because I must protect, must guard the children of Tongyuan Bay."

"I constantly remind myself, Han Duo, you cannot be weak; those leisurely sentiments, the ordinary life of cooking rice, do not belong to you. You must be strong, bear this responsibility. If you cry, if you show weakness, people will look down on you and bully you. So I want to cry but dare not; in this bustling city, my weakness only ever flickers briefly in a corner, never daring to linger." Han Duo clenched my hand, tears streaming, then suddenly asked me:

"Hai Sheng, do you still remember what you said yesterday? You said that if I ever gave up everything and became an ordinary woman, you would come back to eat the rice I cook."

She suddenly sat up and bit my shoulder hard; when the tooth marks sank deep into my flesh, I heard her smiling through tears.

"Hai Sheng, remember your promise; this is what you owe me, and I want you to carry it into the next life. In your next life, remember the tooth mark on your shoulder—it is the debt you owe a woman from this life." Han Duo's voice grew weaker and weaker, until she finally slumped limp against my shoulder.

Her shoulder and mine were both drenched. I fought back the tears, refusing to let them spill from my eyes, but in the end I could not hold back, could not be the so‑called strong one. Tears swam in my eyes; I could not smile as I sent off the girl I loved on her final journey.

"Han Duo, you tomboy..." Pangzi sobbed, gritting his teeth, then suddenly threw his head back and howled in rage, as if gone mad, grabbing furniture from the room and smashing it down hard on the grey‑robed corpse.

"Pangzi... don't desecrate him, he's my master." I said, holding Han Duo, my voice empty.

"What are you saying? How could he possibly be Uncle Feng?" Pangzi shouted in disbelief. Yes, I couldn't believe this fact either, but his similar outline told me it must be true.

"Cough, cough..." a violent cough suddenly rang out, echoing through the quiet manor.

That sound pulled me out of my grief; the cough was so familiar—when I was a child, my master's cough sounded exactly like that.

"Master..." I turned around in disbelief, and the grey‑robed corpse slumped against the pillar had eyes that were clear and lucid.

"Master, is it really you?" I trembled, slowly crawling toward him. As the master looked at me, his eyes quickly flashed with confusion.

"You... you are Hai Sheng?" he repeated, slowly raising his hand as if to touch me.

"It's me, Master; you've finally come back—seventeen years, you've been gone seventeen years, you've finally returned, you've returned." I wailed, throwing myself onto the master.

My father—at this moment he finally returned; though he is not my biological father, I remember that my life was saved by him. My feng shui, my skills were taught by him. For my sake, that Li Feng of Yin Mountain, who once looked down on worldly strife, ultimately chose to leave the mountains, to tell fortunes for people and collect incense oil to support me.

I still remember seventeen years ago, when Xuan Ku came to the door, Master endured a heart bleeding with pain and handed me over to QingSongShu. He told QingSongShu: "Hai Sheng is like my son; you must teach him well, treat him as you would your own biological son—don't let him go hungry, give him whatever other children have."

"Who... who is he?" the master looked bewilderedly at Pangzi, who was raising a stool.

"Maple Uncle, I'm Weijiang, QingSongShu's son. Strange, where did that person just go? How did he run away?" Pangzi held the stool, looking around blankly, as if searching for an enemy.

"Cough cough..." The master coughed violently a few times, his eyes filled with a nostalgic reverie as he said: "Turns out it's the third brother's child, all grown up like this, good, good."

"Hai Sheng, I never imagined, worldly affairs are like chess. After so many years, we master and disciple meet again; these years the master hasn't been by your side to properly care for you, hasn't fulfilled his duty as master—do you hate the master?" He suddenly grabbed my hand and asked.

"Hate? From beginning to end I have never hated him, nor should I; he is my master, like my father, it was he who rescued me from King Yama's hands, it was he who gave me new life."

"Only Han Duo's death has always left me unable to let go."

"Master, how did you become like this!" I asked gloomily.

"After the master regained consciousness, he also seemed to understand his current state, he gloomily shook his head, looked at me, yet his eyes fell into confusion."

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