Chapter 263: A Nightmare Life

Li Chong’s face paled, and he hurried to explain, “Brother Yan, this time we mainly came to pay our respects to your establishment…”

Before he could finish, the voice of Constable Su Xiao, calm and gentle, interrupted, “This matter involves the death of an assistant constable, one of the most serious cases our Six Gates must investigate. It is only natural that several constables have come to inquire. Mr. Yan, as a loyal citizen of the Great Jin, we hope you will cooperate.”

Li Chong stared in astonishment at Constable Su Xiao, watching him remain composed, his smile still pure and clear, speaking rationally and logically, as though the man before him were not a powerful underworld figure from Yangxia, but an ordinary silk merchant.

Didn’t we agree that I would do the talking while you only used secret transmissions? He was momentarily stunned.

“Haha!” the scarred man laughed loudly, finally turning his head. His flabby cheeks quivered, and his eyes, devoid of any mirth, scrutinized Meng Qi.

Outwardly handsome, as expected, but what left the deepest impression was his fresh, masculine aura and his clean, gentle smile, like winter sunshine or a summer spring.

“A citizen of the Great Jin, haha, a citizen of the Great Jin!” Scar had encountered many with similar auras over the years of bloodshed, so he didn’t pay much attention. His voice gradually turned cold, and his eyes, lacking any warmth, revealed a cruel glint.

Suddenly, everything around him darkened. The Constable Su Xiao before him vanished, and the surroundings became tattered ruins. The walls were filled with holes, and the only thing on the bed was a patched-up quilt.

This scene was so familiar that sudden fear and terror surged in his heart. From his throat, two words involuntarily burst forth:

“Help!”

“Hey, you’re pretty cute, stubborn and ruthless. That’s exactly what I love most,” a voice, which had haunted him with hatred and fear his entire life, unexpectedly sounded. The former Yangxia underworld lord pressed onto him.

His jaw was dislocated, his hands wrenched off. No matter how Scar struggled, he could do nothing but feel humiliation and unbearable pain, so intense that he wished to die.

He felt as though there wasn’t a single intact patch of skin left on his body. His vision blurred and hollowed, staring blankly ahead. Suddenly, he sensed someone watching from the doorway, smiling cleanly, exuding a fresh and refined aura, his eyes neither cold nor indifferent, as if a god were observing the suffering of the mortal world, impartial and detached.

Wave after wave of pain overwhelmed him, and Scar fainted. When he awoke, he resolved that no matter how much he had to endure, he would rise above others and kill this bastard who liked men.

Thus, he was ruthless to others and even more ruthless to himself, flattering superiors and secretly learning the martial arts of this underworld lord. Eventually, on a dark and stormy night, he avenged his great grievance.

“You!” Scar stared at the several men who had followed and fought alongside him, unable to believe the expressions on their faces—eager to eliminate him.

A sword pierced his abdomen, splitting it open, churning his intestines, unbearable pain surging to his head. A steel blade scraped across his face, cold and piercing, leaving an indelible mark.

“Why should you be the leader?”

Surrounded by traitors and gravely injured, this was the most desperate moment of Scar’s life, so desperate that he dared not recall it.

Suddenly, footsteps approached, and a middle-aged Confucian scholar, dressed in the manner of a scholar, smiled as he emerged from the darkness. Everything nearby seemed to freeze, and the traitors stood like statues.

“Do you want to live? Do you want to learn true divine kung fu?” the middle-aged scholar whispered in Scar’s ear.

Scar felt the man was like the Mara of the Heavens described in Buddhist sutras, tempting him into an irresistible descent: “Yes!”

As he spoke, he saw a young man standing behind the scholar, smiling cleanly, exuding a refined and fresh aura, his deep eyes devoid of any emotion, blending seamlessly with the heavens and earth, awe-inspiring.

All the traitors instantly turned into mummies, and a martial arts manual appeared in Scar’s mind.

During cultivation, his body felt pain everywhere, his spirit constantly on the brink of collapse. Scar didn’t know how he managed to persist.

His life was replaying itself, yet he was powerless to change it. Moreover, things representing life’s pleasures—power, beauty, food, slaughter—passed by in fleeting moments, while various pains and despair, things that could drive one mad, were vividly clear, forcing him to relive them again and again!

Each time he experienced pain, Scar saw the clean-smiling young man, like a god or demon, gazing down at him without the slightest pity, as if he were the embodiment of suffering itself, the source of all!

When Scar felt he could no longer endure, when he was about to collapse, the pain seemingly reached its end. He gained support from aristocratic families and sects, becoming a powerful figure in Yangxia, a well-known underworld figure across four provinces. He no longer needed to practice that agonizing martial art, could indulge in gluttony, hiding the delicate appearance of his youth, and could enjoy the service of beautiful women, doing everything he had ever dreamed of doing in his youth.

Just then, someone pushed open the door. A man with a handsome appearance, a refined and fresh aura, a clean smile, and eyes that seemed to encompass his entire life stood there.

“Ahhh!” He screamed in pain. The beautiful women beside him transformed into burly men, their hands full of fine needles piercing his flesh.

He tried to channel his energy but felt the ultimate agony of cultivation!

All the beauty vanished, and his entire struggle was trapped in a hell of unending pain.

The scene before his eyes shifted again. The surroundings were tattered ruins, the walls filled with holes, and the only thing on the bed was a patched-up quilt.

“Hey, you’re pretty cute, stubborn and ruthless. That’s exactly what I love most.”

“No!” The cycle never ceased, and the pain never ended. Scar completely collapsed.

Tears and snot streamed down his face, smearing it, his bowels and bladder releasing simultaneously, emitting a foul stench. His body curled into a ball, making the black bed creak precariously. His throat gurgled, but no scream emerged.

In Scar’s eyes, the image of Constable Su Xiao was clearly reflected. He sat upright, exuding a refined and gentle aura, smiling cleanly at him.

“No!” Scar collapsed even further, curling tighter, feeling that the person before him was a Mara demon, a malevolent ghost, a ferocious beast wearing human skin!

His scream was not loud, failing to attract the guards outside. The white-robed women serving him either trembled in fear or fainted outright. Strangely, not a single one cried for help or sought assistance.

Li Chong watched in stunned disbelief, unable to comprehend why Yan Xiao, “Scar,” had suddenly fallen ill, convulsing, tears and snot streaming, the bedsheet stained yellow, foul stench spreading.

The broken Scar trembled, staring at Constable Su Xiao, who gently tapped the hilt of his sword with his right hand, his smile still gentle and clean: “Mr. Yan, where is that sailor?”

“He’s dead, I killed him!” Scar only wished to drive away this evil spirit as quickly as possible. His body curled tightly, his voice trembling uncontrollably.

Li Chong had already regained his composure and was about to take Constable Su Xiao away, not wanting to disturb Scar during his episode. However, upon hearing this response, his instinct as a constable compelled him to restrain his impulse.

Scar saw Constable Su Xiao gently pinch his temple, his handsome face still bearing a warm and clean smile: “Why did you kill him?”

“It was, it was Old Zhong who ordered me to do it. I don’t know the exact reason.” Scar had completely collapsed, answering every question.

“Old Zhong…” Meng Qi frowned. There had been no mention of this person in the previous secret records.

Li Chong’s face paled, as if this name were a monster from a nightmare.

“How much do you know about Old Zhong?” Meng Qi asked.

Scar shivered: “Not much, only that he’s terrifying, terrifying. He once helped me, and this time he asked me to repay the debt. I didn’t dare refuse.”

Meng Qi still wore his clean, harmless smile, appearing gentle and scholarly: “How did he help you? What did the sailor really see?”

He saw Constable Cai stepping off the ship owned by the Qiu family. He then leaped into the water, swam to the shore, and made his way toward the distant unmarked graves. In his haste, Constable Cai collided with him, and both fell to the ground. It was then that he realized Constable Cai was already dead—his body seemed freshly deceased, yet a foul, pus-like liquid oozed from his nostrils.” The more innocent and gentle Meng Qi’s smile appeared, the more Scar trembled in terror, sinking further into despair: “Over twenty years ago, Old Zhong once saved my life.”

“Yangxia’s Qiu family…” Another name absent from the secret records, another uninvestigated lead. Meng Qi believed the previous constables had all been obstructed at Scar’s hands.

Li Chong swallowed hard, his throat dry. This matter was growing increasingly sinister, not only involving Old Zhong but also implicating the Qiu family. He sincerely wished Scar would return to his previous silence!

After asking a few more questions, Meng Qi smiled and comforted him: “I won’t disturb Mr. Yan’s rest any further. Illness must be treated; one must not avoid medical treatment out of shame.”

Li Chong followed Constable Su Xiao out the door, suddenly hearing Scar’s muffled sigh of relief from within, leaving him momentarily perplexed.

“Do you think I lacked a silk handkerchief just now? If I had wiped my hands or lips while smiling, it might have felt even better,” Meng Qi suddenly remarked. That would have better embodied the image of a refined, scholarly, yet cold-blooded “doctor”!

“Eh?” Li Chong was puzzled. “Constable Xiao Su, you want to buy a silk handkerchief? I know a few good shops.”

After speaking, he turned back to glance at Scar’s residence, sighing: “Who would have thought Scar had a hidden illness? No wonder he indulged himself so much. Fortunately, his illness flared up, or else we wouldn’t have obtained any useful information.”

They couldn’t use force against Scar. He was stronger than any constable in Yangxia’s Six Gates!

“Hey, Constable Xiao Su, wait for me!” He realized only after his sigh that Meng Qi had quickened his pace.

Meng Qi gazed silently at the sky, suddenly feeling melancholic:

“Ordinary bystanders are common, but Wang Zai is rare…”

Upon entering, he had used the Undying Seal Art’s mental detection and energy sensing techniques to detect the enemy. He discovered that “Scar’s” energy flow was balanced without any weak points, constantly shifting, making it impossible to predict his attacks. His martial arts had reached the peak of the Nine Openings, and not ordinary martial arts at that. No wonder he had been among the top thirty on the Ten-Year List a decade ago. If not for Meng Qi’s Jiujie Xuangong excelling in controlling hand and foot movements and energy flow, adept at deception, Scar might have already judged his approximate cultivation level.

If they had to fight directly, Meng Qi would likely have to use an external technique to win. Judging from Scar’s attitude, he clearly had no intention of cooperating. Without other options, the investigation would have to end here—Scar had “hidden” the sailor, and no constable would have been able to extract him, cutting off the clues entirely.

However, seeing Scar’s indulgence and significant mental vulnerabilities, Meng Qi seized the opportunity during his low-key approach and tested his newly learned “Heaven-and-Earth-Shaking Impact Method,” hoping to obtain crucial intelligence!

Drawing from his experience practicing the Ananda Blade of Breaking Precepts, Meng Qi mastered the Heaven-and-Earth-Shaking Impact Method within a month. Although still far from awakening the fragmented memories of past lives deeply buried in one’s consciousness, and although he might not even reach the level of the Nine Openings, he could already use it similarly to “Breaking Purity,” awakening all of the opponent’s painful memories, forcing them to relive their tragic lives repeatedly.

Using the Heaven-and-Earth-Shaking Impact Method consumed about half the mental energy of “Breaking Purity,” but limited by Meng Qi’s current cultivation, it couldn’t be used on everyone as “Breaking Purity” could. If the opponent’s mind wasn’t vulnerable or was as solid as a rock, the technique’s effectiveness would be limited. Further cultivation would be required for Meng Qi to improve its potency.