Immortalis

Hero's Tomb - Chapter Fifteen

Before Zhou Huai could comprehend what "the Zhou Jinglei he knew" meant, Shen Qingshi led him to see the corpse with pale bluish skin.

Though it was unclear how Shen Qingshi had managed to bring the body back, it was evidently the same corpse from beneath the broken wall—and it certainly wasn't the Zhou Jinglei that Zhou Huai knew.

This person...

As Zhou Huai stared at the withered face, a sudden needle-like pain pierced his mind. Fearing an episode, he quickly jabbed his finger into the wound on his leg, using the sharp pain to stay conscious.

He had experienced this sensation before—once when he saw the eerie dungeon beneath the haunted mansion, and another time recently when he encountered the White-faced Guest.

Since learning of the Dragon Locking Coffin's existence, Zhou Huai understood what this feeling signified.

The dungeon had reminded him of the Dragon Locking Coffin.

Perhaps he had encountered that lethal weapon Zhou Jinglei used to harm others by some chance, but when he was eight years old, he had forgotten everything.

As for the White-faced Guest and the person before him now, he might have seen them before, only...

The needle-like sensation gradually intensified into a severe headache.

Yang Wujian noticed his pallor and grabbed him: "Enough. Young Master Shen is already half-dead from helping you retrieve the corpse. If you collapse too, I can't handle this mess in the tower alone."

As he spoke, he couldn't help glancing at Shen Qingshi.

The corpse bore a deep hook mark, clearly showing how Shen Qingshi had hauled it up. But...

Could an ordinary hook really be thrown that far? And when had Shen Qingshi entered the Hero's Tomb? Why had she gone down alone?

Yang Wujian was full of doubts, but now wasn't the time for details. After all, if the corpse in the Hero's Tomb wasn't Zhou Jinglei, then Zhou Jinglei might still be alive.

Yang Wujian patted the young master's shoulder: "Stop looking so grim. It seems your father might have faked his death. While that's bad news for me, it's good news for you."

Was it really good news?

Zhou Huai's brow remained furrowed.

He wasn't foolish—he knew that if the dead man wasn't Zhou Jinglei, it only proved he'd been living a lie all these years.

Not only was Zhou Jinglei a murderous madman, but until the very end, he had deceived his only son, claiming he was going to take his own life.

Was that truly good news?

"You don't recognize this person?"

Shen Qingshi asked: "He's wearing clothes similar to what your father often wore, he's also lame, and his hands bear many scars from mechanism work. You don't know him?"

"I... at least not now."

Zhou Huai's head throbbed unbearably. He knew the truth lay within his memories before age eight, yet he couldn't recall anything.

"What about this?"

Shen Qingshi produced the thumb ring.

The moment Zhou Huai saw it, his headache intensified. He clutched his forehead—though no memories surfaced, he immediately sensed this object must be connected to the two tokens he carried.Zhou Huai took out the token, flipped it over, and felt the small hole on its surface. He tentatively fiddled with the thumb ring, and sure enough, a tiny key resembling a silver needle soon sprang out from it. Without hesitation, Zhou Huai inserted it into the two tokens, and with a click, the tokens opened.

Like two extremely small mechanical boxes, what was hidden inside the tokens were not anything else, but two letters—one long and one short.

Zhou Huai tremblingly picked up the one from Zhou Jinglei's token, but his face immediately turned ashen.

The reason was none other than this being another suicide note from Zhou Jinglei.

This letter was written even earlier, sealed inside this box over ten years ago.

In the letter, Zhou Jinglei told another version of the story.

Nearly twenty years ago, shortly after Zhou Jinglei had crippled his foot while practicing martial arts to please Qi Yanbai, he met a very peculiar person by chance during his period of despondent seclusion.

This person called himself the White-faced Guest, showed great interest in his mechanical arts, and was the only one at the time who came directly to him to purchase mechanisms without going through his wife, Qi Zhongrui.

After they had known each other for some time, the White-faced Guest finally informed Zhou Jinglei that he was actually in the business of taking money to eliminate troubles for others. So, if Zhou Jinglei had anyone he wanted dead, he could approach him.

At first, Zhou Jinglei didn’t quite grasp the other’s meaning, but he soon realized that the White-faced Guest was referring to none other than his father-in-law, Qi Yanbai, who never looked at him with respect.

Zhou Jinglei was startled. After all, without the Qi family, he wouldn’t be where he was today. Although he resented Qi Yanbai, he genuinely loved Qi Zhongrui. Because of this, he initially brushed off the White-faced Guest casually and let the matter pass.

However, as time went on, some days later, Zhou Jinglei’s left foot became completely crippled. Although Qi Zhongrui stood by him unwaveringly, the good times didn’t last long. Qi Zhongrui passed away due to a difficult childbirth after giving birth to their son with great difficulty, and Qi Yanbai naturally blamed Zhou Jinglei for it.

That day, Qi Yanbai came to him with the White Rainbow Sword, not only smashing the mechanisms he had made into pieces but also forcibly taking away the newborn Zhou Huai.

To Qi Yanbai, Zhou Jinglei had never been considered a member of the White Rainbow Tower and thus had no right to have his grandson bear his surname.

This finally infuriated Zhou Jinglei completely. He kowtowed heavily before his wife’s grave and then sent a message to the White-faced Guest, asking him to retrieve his son for him.

It was widely known in the martial world that Qi Yanbai and Zhou Jinglei were enemies. Zhou Jinglei specifically instructed the White-faced Guest not to go too far. Half a month later, he heard that Qi Yanbai had died of grief missing his daughter, and he guessed that the White-faced Guest had probably poisoned him.

Naturally, with Qi Yanbai dead, Zhou Huai had nowhere to go, and the White Rainbow Tower could not be without a master for even a day.

Thus, whether it was the sharp White Rainbow Sword that could cut through iron like mud, or the renowned White Rainbow Sword Manual that shook the martial world, they all eventually ended up in Zhou Jinglei’s hands.

Zhou Jinglei was a businessman. He knew that the White-faced Guest had his own price for helping him. When he asked, the White-faced Guest said that he greatly admired Zhou Jinglei’s mechanical arts and that his help was in hopes that the position of the White Rainbow Tower’s master would change hands.After that, the White-faced Guest gave him a clear path: move to Green Bamboo Town, build an isolated tower there to shield it from the eyes of the entire martial world. Then, he could secretly seek out skilled martial artists. If he could find a way to extract their techniques from them, there would be buyers on the black market willing to pay high prices.

It was only then that Zhou Jinglei vaguely realized one of the White-faced Guest's goals was actually to collect more Central Plains martial techniques.

At this point, the White-faced Guest had helped him kill Qi Yanbai. Even without saying it, Zhou Jinglei understood clearly that this "clear path" was less of a suggestion and more of a coercion.

The reason the White-faced Guest had sought him out was simply because martial arts in the jianghu always had someone stronger, but mechanical traps were not human. As long as they were built sturdy enough, any martial arts master would eventually fall into his hands.

With his young son in tow, Zhou Jinglei had no choice but to follow the instructions. He moved the White Rainbow Tower to Green Bamboo Town and, using his previous savings, built fourteen towers. During the construction, the White-faced Guest subtly reminded him that if he ever needed to dispose of something in the future, digging straight from the southeast corner would bring a surprise.

Originally, these matters should not have involved Zhou Huai.

Zhou Jinglei also knew that the things he did would eventually bring retribution. So, from the very beginning, he actually did not want to drag his son into it. Until that day, when Gui Sanyan was locked inside the Dragon Locking Coffin, cursing and shouting that even if Zhou Jinglei obtained Floating Clouds Embracing Moon, it would be useless. If he continued practicing, he might even lose his other leg.

Zhou Jinglei hated nothing more than anyone bringing up this matter. In a fit of rage, he directly brought Zhou Huai to the startling gate of the Dragon Locking Coffin and made him practice according to the sword manual Gui Sanyan provided.

Thus, amidst Gui Sanyan's curses and pleas for mercy, Zhou Huai listened to the entire sword manual. Though trembling with fear, looking at his father's livid face beside him, he miraculously managed to learn Floating Clouds Embracing Moon.

After that, every time Zhou Jinglei repeated this tactic, he would make Zhou Huai learn, as if he were solely intent on using Zhou Huai to prove that what he, Zhou Jinglei, could not accomplish, his son could.

As time passed, Zhou Huai began to suffer from night terrors. It was only then that Zhou Jinglei belatedly realized that if this continued, even if his son became a martial arts master, he would eventually go completely mad.

Filled with regret, Zhou Jinglei finally sobered up. He had to stop this shady business. After all, he had already earned a great deal of silver by selling these sword manuals, opened many shops, and created numerous mechanical devices. For the sake of his son, he absolutely could not continue down this dangerous path.

Zhou Jinglei resolved to confront the White-faced Guest, but before that, he needed to leave this letter because, after all, the White-faced Guest was far too dangerous.

Over the years, the White-faced Guest had already taken many techniques and sword manuals from the White Rainbow Tower. Occasionally, he would even take the unique weapons of the deceased, for unknown purposes.

Zhou Jinglei could sense that this person was extremely cunning. Taking those things might be in preparation for some larger schemes in the future.

Regardless, his business had now grown large enough. As the master of the White Rainbow Tower, one of the Four Seas Alliance, he thought the White-faced Guest would not easily move against him.

However, his worries were not just for himself.

"No matter what, if you see this letter, my son, you must remember what your father said."At the end of the letter, Zhou Jinglei had written only five words.

"Stay away from that person."

"Father..."

Zhou Huai's hand trembled, causing the paper-thin letter to flutter to the ground.

Behind him, Yang Wujian and Shen Qingshi also turned deathly pale.

They now knew that the White-faced Guest was the Old Palace Master Guanri, but they never imagined that as early as fifteen years ago, before the great calamity, Guanri had already adopted the alias White-faced Guest to stir up trouble everywhere.

So, did he want those martial arts manuals and sword techniques just so that the people of Longevity Palace could learn more skills? That way, when he later practiced the art of refining elixirs using living people, the Longevity Palace members could hold off external enemies for him a little longer?

Or was it that from the very beginning, he wanted Zhou Jinglei to take the position of White Rainbow Tower's master so he could control a faction in the martial world, making it more convenient for him to kidnap people everywhere later?

Yang Wujian's mind was in chaos.

He had originally thought that Guanri had gone mad after becoming possessed during alchemy, but now it seemed that Guanri might never have been insane at all.

Long before he opened the Alchemy Furnace, Guanri had already prepared for this day.

"Why are the contents of the two letters different? And why is the handwriting completely distinct?"

At that moment, Shen Qingshi suddenly murmured, "Zhou Jinglei wrote this letter when Zhou Huai was not yet eight years old. In other words, this was written before you lost your memory."

Vaguely, the three of them had a faint suspicion, but none dared to voice it.

After Songlan, they all knew that it was possible for one person to completely replace another.

After a long silence, Yang Wujian asked, "What about the other letter?"

His head splitting with pain, Zhou Huai hesitantly picked up the short letter. On it, there was only an address and one sentence.

"Zhou Huai, the money here was earned by your father selling mechanisms. It's clean. If anything happens to White Rainbow Tower in the future, take this letter and retrieve it to use. Your father has no martial arts skills; this is the only thing I can leave for you."

"Father..."

Zhou Huai couldn't hold back his tears.

The events of recent days had overwhelmed him, but at this moment, faced with these letters and this unrecognizable corpse, Zhou Huai had only one thought left.

"Miss Yang, please perform Blood Washing on me."

He said in agony, "The truth is in my memories. If I lost my memory due to poison, then perhaps Blood Washing can help me remember. If once isn't enough, then twice. If twice isn't enough, then three times—until I remember. I want to know who this person really is, and where my father actually is."