This punch not only stunned Zhuge Qi, but everyone around him as well.
Fu Sang hit him squarely in the jaw, without holding back at all. Caught completely off guard, Zhuge Qi staggered half a step back, and even his hair became disheveled.
Zhuge Qi’s expression was somewhat blank. He subconsciously raised a hand to touch the spot where Fu Sang had hit him, then looked up at him in confusion.
But Fu Sang’s anger had not diminished in the slightest. His fists were clenched tightly, as though he still wanted to rush over and beat him viciously until he felt satisfied. In the end, however, he did not put that thought into action. After giving him one fierce, lingering glare, he turned around and strode away without saying a word.
As dashing as when he arrived.
Only then did the people Fu Sang had knocked down finally come to their senses. They quickly got back up and indignantly spoke up for Zhuge Qi.
“Which family are you from? How dare you show such disrespect to the Shaosi!”
They seemed ready to chase after him and demand an explanation, but Zhuge Qi raised a hand to stop them. He gently shook his head, indicating that it was fine and that they should not pursue the matter.
“…Wasn’t that Zhuge Fusang?” People around them gradually came to their senses and began discussing Fu Sang’s retreating figure in low voices.
“Zhuge Fusang? The former disciple of Zhuge Lin?”
“That’s right, it’s him. He was expelled from the family a long time ago. Some time ago, he got himself involved in a whole mess of trouble and was dragged back by the old family head. It caused quite a commotion. Everyone in the family knows about it. If you ask me… can this incident really have nothing to do with him? His master planned it all, and his master caused the disaster. Can he, as his former disciple, really escape responsibility?”
“What are you talking about…? I’ve heard that the thing behind that gate nearly broke through the barrier that night. In the end, it was a Crimson Evil who sacrificed himself to stop the disaster. And that Crimson Evil…”
As he spoke, the man seemed wary of something and lowered his voice. But Zhuge Qi still heard him.
“…Was raised by Zhuge Fusang!”
“Holy shit, brother…”
Over there, Zhuge Buhuo and Huo Wei witnessed everything that had just happened. Seeing Fu Sang walk over without a word and punch the Shaosi was already shocking enough. Who could have imagined that something even more shocking was still to come…
After Fu Sang walked away, they also took advantage of the opportunity to get a glimpse of the mysterious Shaosi’s true appearance. Who would have thought that when they looked up, they would come face-to-face with a face exactly identical to that of the Crimson Evil who had sacrificed himself seven days ago?
“San You! Th-that is…”
Huo Wei was completely dumbfounded. She could barely put together a complete sentence.
She looked at Fu Sang, then at the Shaosi in the distance. Her gaze went back and forth several times, yet she still found it unbelievable. She still felt as though she were dreaming.
The legendary general from a thousand years ago, and the seventh-rank Crimson Evil from a thousand years later, Qi Changying?
The mysterious Shaosi of the Zhuge family’s main branch, who lived in seclusion and rarely showed himself?
How could these two people, separated by a thousand years and with absolutely no apparent connection, look so alike???
No, it wasn’t just that they looked alike. They were exactly identical!
“You…” Huo Wei grabbed Fu Sang by the arm.
She thought everything before her was part of Fu Sang’s plan.
“How did you know…?”
How did he know?
Of course he didn’t know.
But when it came to Qi Changying, even if he only caught a distant glimpse of him in broad daylight, let alone if he were reduced to ashes and someone pieced his shape back together, he would still recognize him.
“I’m giving you two one day.”
Fu Sang did not respond to her question. He merely said coldly as he passed them:
“I want every bit of information about this person.”
With that, he strode away, leaving Huo Wei and Zhuge Buhuo standing there with equally bewildered expressions.
Zhuge Buhuo was the first to recover.
“Holy shit, bro, do you think you’re some old-fashioned romance novel CEO?!”
Despite his complaints, under Fu Sang’s intimidating authority, Huo Wei and Zhuge Buhuo still had to quickly investigate the person he wanted information about.
Who would have thought that they would find so many intriguing details once they actually put their minds to searching?
After leaving the Xuangu Mountain Range, Fu Sang went straight home. The other two, meanwhile, had to help him gather information while also helping out at the main family. They would not be able to leave anytime soon.
Only after getting into the car on his way home did Fu Sang finally have time to close his eyes and slowly recall what had happened.
At the time, he left Jiuzhangji and ran along the long bridge. He only remembered feeling the bridge gradually dissolving beneath his feet. Then he was enveloped by a cloud-like, gentle white light. When he woke up again, he was already lying in the ruins before the Cui Xing Gate.
He appeared in the ruins of the family estate inside the barrier. If people from the Spirit Supervision Bureau saw him, he would inevitably be subjected to a round of questioning, which would be troublesome. So he broke a small opening through a concealed section of the barrier and slipped out without disturbing anyone. When he reached a certain place and saw some figures in the distance on the other side, he thought they looked like Huo Wei and the others, so he went over to take a look.
He never expected to encounter Zhuge Qi there.
Much less that Zhuge Qi would have a face exactly identical to Qi Changying’s.
Zhuge Qi. Zhuge Qi.
So the Qi in his name was not the Qi in Qiyueban.
It was the Qi in Seven Kills.
Then what was his relationship with Qi Changying?
Fu Sang’s head was aching. He couldn’t figure it out, and he didn’t want to keep thinking about it.
As soon as he got home, he went up to the attic and collapsed into bed.
When he closed his eyes, it felt as though he had a very, very long dream.
In his sleep, he returned to many years ago.
At that time, he had just left the main family and had just gotten used to going to and from school every day, living the life of an ordinary person.
He couldn’t really talk to anyone else at school. He always sat alone in a corner of the classroom, hidden behind the shadows of the dark blue curtains. It was a good spot. He could spend the entire day there without being touched by sunlight.
Back then, he had no interest in the English letters or addition and subtraction taught at school. Almost every day, he spent his time daydreaming or sleeping at the back of the classroom. That was until one history lesson when the teacher talked about the Great Li Dynasty. There was a special section in the textbook titled “The Legendary Northern Expedition of Qi Changying.”
The illustration in the book was a traditional gongbi-style portrait of Qi Changying.
The person in it wore red robes and silver armor, not much different from the portraits of other famous figures in history books. He had a broad, round face, squinting eyes, flat features, sparse eyebrows, and a small tuft of beard on his chin.
How could he have a beard?
He was only in his early twenties when he died. He didn’t even have time to grow a beard to make himself look mature.
And he shouldn’t have looked like that in the painting, either.
He should have been taller, much more handsome, even more handsome than the people on television. He should have worn his hair in a high ponytail, and when he walked or rode a horse, his long hair should sway with every step.
Why did such a thought cross his mind?
Fu Sang didn’t know.
Just as he didn’t know why, later on, he became so obsessed with learning about and collecting everything related to this person, persisting in it for so many years.
Later, Fu Sang heard a song in his dream.
The melody was gentle and soothing. A soft female voice sang in another language, accompanied by the notes of a piano and guitar. Fu Sang was a little dazed. After a moment, he gradually emerged from his dream and realized that it was his phone ringtone.
His ringtone had always been the default system one. Huo Wei thought he was too cold and boring. As it happened, she was obsessed with a movie at the time, and dragged Fu Sang into watching it over and over again. Later, she took it upon herself to change his ringtone to the movie’s most famous soundtrack song.
Fu Sang wasn’t particularly fond of the movie’s plot, nor did he appreciate the meaning of the song’s lyrics.
Because he didn’t believe in, nor did he need, any kind of liking or love. He also didn’t believe that something as abstract as love could really make someone wait for a thousand years, as the lyrics described.
“…”
Fu Sang slowly opened his eyes. Only after the ringtone stopped and then rang again for the second time did he reach for his phone and tap the screen to look.
It was already noon the next day.
He had actually slept for a full day.
“Hello?”
Fu Sang curled up further under the blanket and raised a hand to scratch his hair.
“What is it?”
The call was from Zhuge Buhuo, and his loud, boisterous voice immediately burst out of the receiver.
“What is it? Didn’t you give me one day to investigate someone for you? And now you’re turning around and asking me whether something’s wrong? You…”
“Cut the nonsense. Tell me the results.” Fu Sang’s voice was a little hoarse.
He sat up in bed and, after a moment, got out of bed with his phone. He went downstairs, turned on speakerphone, and set the phone aside. Then he got some water and lowered his head to wash up.
“Am I really your little secretary, President Fu? You tell me to do something, and I just do it? …Anyway, I have to say, this Shaosi really does have some secrets. If the main family hadn’t fallen into such chaos because of this incident, with everyone gossiping and talking all at once, I might not have been able to find out much!
“Listen carefully while I tell you all about it. This famous Shaosi is named Zhuge Qi. Qi as in one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. He’s been at the main family ever since he was born and has never left. But he doesn’t have his own residence there. Guess where he lives all day, every day?”
Zhuge Buhuo waited a long time without getting a response from Fu Sang. He couldn’t stand it any longer and revealed the answer himself.
“In the ancestral hall!
“He’s been living in the main family’s ancestral hall for more than twenty years!”
Fu Sang’s hand paused.
He suddenly remembered the scene from some time ago, when he secretly walked around the family estate at night, made his way to the ancestral hall, and poked a hole in the window paper to look inside and saw that person.
It was already late at night, after the curfew. Zhuge Qi was kneeling alone in the ancestral hall, completely motionless.
“What was there in the ancestral hall? Just a bell, a pile of ancestral tablets, a pile of copper coins, and a pile of candles. And he actually stayed in there for more than twenty years! I also heard that, all these years, he hardly ever leaves the ancestral hall. Whenever something comes up, the talisman posted outside the ancestral hall’s door occasionally lets a couple of words slip out. That’s how he communicates! So hardly anyone has ever heard him speak.
“The main family really treasures him. Usually, there are people specially assigned to stand guard outside the ancestral hall. Whenever he goes out, a whole group of people escort him and surround him. Oh, just like the grand procession you saw yesterday. And he always wears the same outfit we saw him in: a huge hat, with an entire curtain of fabric hanging around it to conceal his face. Yesterday was probably the first time everyone got to see what he actually looks like.”
“Besides that… I also heard a little bit of particularly inside information. I don’t know how much of it might have been exaggerated or made up…”
For some reason, Zhuge Buhuo hesitated when he reached this point. After a moment of silence, he lowered his voice and said:
“They say this person… used to be stupid and wooden.”
“?”
Fu Sang spat out the toothpaste foam. For once, he gave a response.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, wherever he went and whatever he did, someone else arranged it and led him there. To put it simply… he was like a walking corpse. I heard he didn’t need to eat, drink, or sleep. He just stayed in the ancestral hall every day, occasionally conveying some incomprehensible meaning through a talisman paper, giving out instructions like a weather forecast. He hardly ever spoke or showed any emotions, until…”
Zhuge Buhuo seemed unsure how to continue explaining it to Fu Sang.
But Fu Sang knew what he was hesitating over, so he finished the sentence himself.
“Until the night seven days ago, when my ghost died.”
“Yeah… Ahem, right. I heard from the people who were guarding him that the family head specifically instructed them to escort the Shaosi to the back mountain that night. They stayed there the entire time and happened to avoid the disaster. They had no idea what was happening up ahead. Anyway, after that night passed, Zhuge Qi suddenly collapsed. He lay there for several days, then suddenly woke up.”
“These people are specifically responsible for watching over Zhuge Qi. They’ve been guarding him for years and have never heard him make a sound or speak a word. Usually, wherever he was taken, he’d just sit down and wouldn’t even move. But after that day, he suddenly spoke and asked, ‘Where is this?’ They were so startled.”
“Then they told him it was the back mountain. Zhuge Qi asked which back mountain, and they said it was the back mountain of the main family. Zhuge Qi then asked, ‘How did I get here? Did something happen up ahead?’ They couldn’t explain it clearly. Zhuge Qi insisted on going back to take a look. They couldn’t stop him, so they had no choice but to follow him. And that’s when he ran into you. Without saying a word, you went straight up and punched him.”
Fu Sang lowered his eyes and remained silent for a while before giving a cold laugh.
“Fine. Got it. You’re pretty efficient.”
To be honest, the “one day” he mentioned yesterday was just something he had said offhandedly. Fu Sang didn’t expect Zhuge Buhuo to get to the bottom of things in one day, especially when he himself had spent so much time investigating and had even gone into the archives without finding anything useful.”
Who would have thought this person would actually manage it?
“Uh, well, I can’t take all the credit for being clever, resourceful, and good at investigating. Actually, this was mainly due to some reasonable exchange of information…”
“What?” Fu Sang raised an eyebrow slightly, sensing something unusual in his words.
“Uh, nothing. Anyway, I’ve successfully completed the task President Fu Sang assigned me! Don’t bother me with anything else. I’m busy.”
With that, the person quickly hung up, as though he were feeling guilty and trying to make a hasty escape.
“?”
What was wrong with him?
Fu Sang frowned at his phone screen, listening to the busy beeping from the receiver. In the end, he let Zhuge Buhuo off this time and didn’t call him back to question him. He simply switched off his phone, tossed it aside, and went into the bathroom to shower.
After standing under the hot water for a while, the dizziness and dazed feeling that had clung to him ever since he left Jiuzhangji finally began to fade. But he still felt sleepy and had no energy at all.
He dried his hair and was just about to go upstairs and collapse back into bed when he suddenly heard someone knocking at the door.
Fu Sang stopped in his tracks.
He hadn’t ordered takeout, wasn’t expecting any deliveries, and didn’t have any friends. If Huo Wei came to visit him, she would always bang on the door so loudly it shook the whole place, or simply use her key to let herself in. This measured, polite knocking clearly wasn’t her.
Then who was it?
Some kind of worker coming to read the electricity or gas meter?
He was home alone and had just finished showering. He was only wearing a pair of shorts. After thinking for a moment, he took a loose hooded sweatshirt from the clothes rack, pulled it on, and went to open the door.
The moment he opened it and saw who was standing outside, Fu Sang understood what Zhuge Buhuo meant by that guilty-sounding “exchange of information.”
The person outside was clearly not there to read the gas meter.
He wasn’t wearing that enormous bamboo hat today. His half-long hair was tied up halfway at the back of his head, with a thin red string hanging from the braid. Despite the cold weather, he was dressed lightly and loosely. Only the dark gray wool coat he wore over everything else was reasonably thick. Several strings of beads hung around his neck and wrists, making him look like a Daoist priest.
When he noticed the door in front of him opening, the person was slightly taken aback. Then he raised his eyes and subconsciously looked at the person standing behind the door.
Only then did Fu Sang notice a faint bruise at the corner of the man’s mouth.
It was from the punch he had given him yesterday.
“Hello.”
While Fu Sang was lost in thought, Zhuge Qi was the first to speak.
This made Fu Sang somewhat distracted again.
So it wasn’t just his face.
His voice was the same, too.
After greeting him and receiving no response for a long time, Zhuge Qi tilted his head slightly and looked at Fu Sang. Then he made his voice even softer, as though afraid of startling or frightening him.
“…Hello?”
As he spoke, he gently pressed his lips together. Tentatively, he looked into Fu Sang’s beautiful eyes. His gaze was sincere and friendly, with a hint of hesitation, as he continued:
“I heard from your friend that your name is…
“…Fu Sang?”
