Chapter 649: A Lonely Seed, a Solitary Grave

Chapter 649: The Lone Grave

Northeast of Liaodong, at the ruins of Zhenlu Court.

On the mountaintop rumored to have been flattened by Thunderous Dao Techniques, there was no trace of snow, and even the withered yellow grass roots had been cleaned away.

Beneath the small tree that had shed all its leaves, leaving only bare branches, there were no longer just two lonely graves nestled together; around them, many new grave mounds had been added, scattered in an orderly fashion.

In front of these new graves stood stone tombstones, rare in these times.

The inscriptions invariably began with the characters 'Tian Que', tidy yet not rigid, clearly chiseled manually stroke by stroke.

"Listen well, all of you. Being able to come here and be neighbors with Old Man Su is a blessing accumulated from your past lives. So each of you must behave properly and never slack off in your duties."

"Otherwise, when Li Jun later settles accounts with me for disturbing Old Man Su's peace and exhumates you one by one, I won't protect you. Then, lying exposed in the wilderness will be your own doing."

A tall, thin figure moved among the old and new graves, bending over as he carefully wiped each tombstone with a damp cloth, sparing not even a speck of dust.

The man's topknot was disheveled, with a few strands of gray hair falling over his brows, and his angular features were hidden beneath a messy beard, giving him a ragged appearance.

The people living in the nearby county knew that not long ago, at the ruins of the once Liaodong martial arts sect Zhenlu Court, a young tombkeeper named Jiang Wei had suddenly appeared. He spent his days wandering that desolate hill and rarely came down.

Even when he occasionally went to the city, it was only to buy incense, paper money, wine, and cigarettes, leaving immediately without staying long or interacting with outsiders.

However, discussions about him did not last long, and no one was idle enough to investigate further.

Because major events were happening within the empire too frequently—events that once occurred only once in several years were now unfolding almost daily.

This morning, a prefecture on the coast had seen yet another Honghu rebellion, and by afternoon, rumors spread that a clan in South Zhili had been wiped out entirely.

Just as news came of the spectacular 'Hundred-Man Break Sequence' on Longhu Mountain, a horrifying tragedy occurred elsewhere: hundreds of addicts died overnight in the Yellow Millet Dream.

Confusing and contradictory news buried the entire Liaodong like a blizzard, and people shifted from initial curiosity to numbness, then to unease and fear.

With ominous signs before a storm, in such chaotic times, naturally no one cared about a madman wandering among the graves.

"Old Man Su, guess what this is?"

At Su Ce's grave, Jiang Wei took a sealed wine jar from his bag beside his foot and held it up like a treasure.

"Look, this is the famous Old Dragon's Mouth from Liaodong, brewed using the most traditional techniques from a thousand years ago, and rumored to have been aged underground for many years—a truly good thing."

"Don't rush. I know you're not interested in wine, but take a look at this."

Jiang Wei placed the wine jar on the ground and pulled a tightly sealed white strip from his bag.

"Familiar? It should be. This is a special supply from the Brocade Guard. It's your favorite from when you were in the Japanese territory. I had someone specially get it from the Liaodong Hundred Household Post."

Jiang Wei sat cross-legged before the grave and opened the wine and cigarettes.

The pungent aroma of wine wafted in the wind as the expensive strong liquor was poured onto the ground.

In the faint white smoke, three cigarettes, spaced two fingers apart, were stuck into the soil that had just been drenched in spirits.

"Don't worry, Chi Zhu. How could I forget you? See? There's plenty of high-quality engine oil."

After doing all this, Jiang Wei changed from sitting to kneeling. The weariness on his aged face faded, replaced by deep guilt as he kowtowed three times to Su Ce with utmost respect.

"Old man, please don't be angry. I know that during your life, you always looked down on Tian Que's way of doing things. You thought we were all spineless and disgraced the martial arts order. But this time, I truly didn't know where else to place them to keep them safe, so I had no choice but to bring them here."

Jiang Wei's eyes darkened. "The Tian Que I knew is no more. As the old saying goes, when a person dies, their debts vanish. I hope you won't hold a grudge against them for whatever they might have done to wrong you. Grant them a plot of land so they can also find peace."

Jiang Wei paused, his dirt-smeared forehead touching the ground again.

This time, he remained bowed for a long while, listening to the wind passing through the wilderness, as if it bore Su Ce's voice.

The wind sobbed, like a vague, indistinct agreement.

"On behalf of the one hundred and thirty-two souls of Tian Que, and Shen Li, I thank you."

Another jar of Old Dragon's Mouth, but this time Jiang Wei did not pour it on the ground; instead, he gently placed it beside the tombstone.

"Take your time smoking and drinking. Don't scold me for being useless, hiding here to tend graves and not daring to avenge them."

Jiang Wei took a deep breath and said, "I'm not afraid of death, and I never thought of clinging to life under Li Jun's reputation. I'm not that kind of person, Jiang Wei. Though the Sheji is destroyed, the Eastern Palace still stands. Once I've arranged everything for them, I will naturally go to seek revenge against the Eastern Palace. I won't linger here to offend your sight."

After saying this, Jiang Wei was silent for a long time.

When the cigarettes on the ground had burned more than halfway, he spoke again, but his voice had become inexplicably hoarse.

"I know I'm not strong enough. A fourth-rank sect member seeking revenge against the Eastern Palace sounds like boasting. In fact, I realized my gap with them back in Xin'an City. Even just one Blood Flesh Creation Field left me powerless, unable to save even a single person."

Jiang Wei knelt on the ground, his hands on his thighs slowly clenching into fists, with veins bulging on the backs.

"That day, I saw Shen Li outside Xin'an City. He was still alive."

Jiang Wei's lips pulled back as if trying to form a relaxed smile, but he couldn't move the corners of his mouth, which were heavy as mountains.

"I don't know if you've seen him. That kid is a scoundrel, arrogant and extremely proud at heart. He often boasted to me about being a gang leader in Tianjin, saying that if I ever couldn't make it, I should call him big brother and he'd protect me, ensuring I had all the good food and drink, with no one daring to bully me."

"But when I saw him that day, I almost didn't recognize him."

Jiang Wei breathed heavily. "Martial arts completely wasted, sequence voided. A warrior who once feared nothing in heaven or earth had fallen to the point of not even standing steadily. Yet, even in that state, Shen Li pushed me hard, shouting and cursing for me to leave Xin'an immediately, saying it was no place for me to meddle."

"That bastard, even beaten into a cripple, his mouth was still so sharp. I didn't argue with him and planned to break out with him. When I did, Old Man, guess what he said?"

Jiang Wei gazed at the gray tombstone, his voice tinged with resentment, like a young man wronged outside who returns home to complain to an elder of the same order.

"He said he couldn't leave. He had to stay because his big brother Li Jun was trapped in the Creation Field while trying to save him. He couldn't be a coward who betrayed his promise."

"If he couldn't be a coward, how could I? If he couldn't abandon Li Jun, how could I abandon him?"

Jiang Wei shook his head. "I'm not afraid of death, and I didn't want to leave. But Shen Li said something to me. He said Tian Que couldn't all die; someone had to live on, to remember these grudges and hatreds, and no matter the cost, to avenge them."

"He said he was already a useless person, no different from dead, so this task had to be given to me, and only I could do it."

Jiang Wei laughed bitterly. "I was so damn stupid. At Tian Que, he often tricked me. He'd stir up trouble everywhere, and I'd end up taking the blame, punished by the elders. This time, I still let him persuade me and escaped Xin'an alone."

"Even though Shen Li didn't die in the end and even rejoined the Lone Walker order, I really regret listening to him back then and leaving him alone in Xin'an. If I couldn't even take care of the living, how could I take care of the dead? Am I right?"

"Old Man, don't blame me for talking too much. I really don't know who else to tell these things to."

Jiang Wei slowly lowered his head, looking at the nearly burnt-out cigarettes.

"I'm not a smart man, but you can rest assured that I won't disgrace the martial arts order. I will bring back a few heads from the Eastern Palace, as payment for their burial ground here."

Before he finished speaking, Jiang Wei suddenly reached out to his side. A blade materialized eerily from the twisted air and slammed into his palm.

Hum.

The restless mechanical heart stirred up a gust of wind. The cigarette butts on the ground flared with a final bright spark, and the remaining ash scattered in the breeze.

A fierce glint burst in Jiang Wei's eyes. His right hand gripped the blade that tried to pull away, while his left arm supported him on the ground as he twisted his body up, lashing out a kick that struck the attacker's shoulder.

The attacker's shoulder took a heavy blow, causing him to stagger. He decisively let go of his weapon and retreated clumsily.

But Jiang Wei, who had just landed, pressed forward like an arrow from a bowstring, closing in on the opponent. He lowered his shoulder, dropped his elbows, tucked in his chest, and arched his back. Reversing his grip on the confiscated blade, he struck the opponent's chest with the heavy pommel.

Crack!

The sound of mechanical bones breaking was far more crisp than human bones.

The attacker's body was sent flying high, then slammed down by Jiang Wei, who grabbed his ankle. The collapse of his chest was horrifying.

Jiang Wei twisted his wrist, touching the blade's edge to the opponent's twisted, broken sternum, pressing it against the mechanical heart that was about to enter overdrive.

The drumming heartbeat came to an abrupt halt, becoming barely audible, daring not to beat recklessly.

"No wonder you survived escaping Xin'an. You must have tempered one martial skill and one body-forging technique. Among the remaining martial arts orders in the Great Ming Empire, you must be the strongest one, right?"

A scornful laugh sounded behind him. Jiang Wei whirled around with a start.

He saw the man standing by Su Ce's grave, unaware of when he had arrived. Unhurriedly, he bent down, picked up the cigarette pack placed on the ground, took one out, tapped it firmly against the pack, lit it, and clamped it between his lips.

Then he lifted the jar of Laolongkou, saw that the clay seal on the mouth was still intact, and a satisfied smile immediately spread across his face.

"A mere Fourth Order like you dares to boast of taking revenge on the East Hall? Isn't that a bit overconfident? Even if you were fooling ghosts, you wouldn't say such big words, would you?"

The man tore off the clay seal, took a deep whiff, revealing a look of ecstasy, and squinted at Jiang Wei, whose face was gloomy.

"Oh, right. My name is Jin Wei, of the Six Strategies, Third Soldier."

The other introduced himself, but Jiang Wei turned a deaf ear and only said coldly, "I don't care who you are. You'd better take your dirty hands off that and put things back where they belong!"

"All good things; what a waste to leave them for a dead man. But since you asked, I'll grant you that favor."

Jin Wei's fingers loosened, the wine jar fell and shattered, and the splashing wine stained a trail of wetness on Su Ce's tombstone.

"You asked me to put it down, so I put it down. In return, shouldn't you also do me a favor?"

Jin Wei leaned his arm on the tombstone, a burning cigarette between the fingers of his right hand, and gave a little nod toward Jiang Wei.

"We didn't come to this godforsaken place for you today. So just put down your knife, listen obediently to my arrangements, and once this is over, I might just spare your life."

Long before the wine jar hit the ground, Jiang Wei's eyes were already red. He had no intention of exchanging words. His right hand, gripping the knife, drove it downward.

Squelch!

The blade pierced through the mechanical heart, burst out the other side, and plunged deep into the ground.

"A stray dog without a home still has quite a temper."

Jin Wei slowly exhaled a puff of smoke, calmly watching the scene through the curling mist.

"Since you don't understand human speech, then go down and become wandering ghosts with them."

Clang!

A fierce malevolent wind howled behind him, and a discordant frequency exploded near his ears, like a soul-devouring magic tone, drilling straight into Jiang Wei's mind.

Jiang Wei's sword-brows knitted sharply. Without any evasive movement, his blade met the frost-encrusted axe head-on, without any flourish.

Crack!

The sparks that burst forth were instantly extinguished by the dissipating freezing vapor; chipped edges flew in all directions together with ice shards.

This soldier confronting Jiang Wei had white eyebrows and hair, and a ghastly white mist surrounded him, exuding a bone-chilling cold.

Having smashed Jiang Wei's weapon with one axe blow, he thought himself in the upper hand. His overclocked mechanical heart instantly erupted with a sharper whine as he swung the hand-axe at Jiang Wei's neck.

"Clan martial artist? Today I'll finish off your kind completely!"

Thump!

A dull sound as of a blunt object hitting flesh. The glaring scarlet that had just splashed was instantly frozen into ice crystals.

The white-browed soldier's pupils trembled, his joy suddenly frozen.

Jiang Wei, with bare hands, still did not dodge or evade, seeming to know no martial arts. He only propped his elbow by his ear and took the axe blow on his body, letting the flesh of his arm be torn, leaving a gruesome bloody gash and the exposed white bone beneath.

Five stiff fingers sheathed in frost reached into the blinding white chill, directly grabbed the opponent's hair, stepped forward in one stride, and using his head as a hammer, smashed down fiercely.

Crack!

This soldier's neck bone snapped at the sound, and a coldly gleaming mechanical bone pierced out from the side of his neck!

As long as the mechanical heart is not broken, the soldier does not die.

So close, the white-browed soldier also gave up the idea of using weapons. The madly pumping mechanical heart stirred up an even fiercer ice storm, completely engulfing Jiang Wei's figure.

Without a moment's pause, the freezing fog that could instantly kill an ordinary person continuously delivered the dull sounds of fists and bones colliding, suppressing the mechanical heart's whir to a weaker and weaker drone.

Finally, it nearly wailed, like a man begging humbly.

A mountain wind passed, blowing away the mist to reveal the scene.

Jiang Wei was covered in bloody frost. The wound on his left arm had stopped bleeding, but there was not much good flesh left. The rolled-up flesh was white from the cold, already looking necrotic.

Beneath his feet he trod a broken mechanical body, nearly torn to pieces. In his right palm he gripped a mechanical heart that was still twitching.

Slick!

Five fingers closed, flesh overflowing between them.

"You have some skill. Another one, come on."

In the distance, Jin Wei flicked away his cigarette butt, clapped his hands, and said with a smile.

"We must make sure our martial artist Lord is satisfied, completely satisfied!"