Simultaneously traversing: traversing countless heavens

Chapter 106 Loading

Huang Rusong walked steadily, with the Chen family head following closely behind. The two arrived at the magnificent gate of the Chen residence one after the other.

As expected, the head of the Chen family saw a man in black sitting on the front of the carriage outside the gate, facing away from them, pouring himself a drink, completely ignoring the guards and servants who were on high alert in front of the Chen mansion.

Feeling much more confident, knowing Huang Rusong was backing him up, he stepped forward, cleared his throat, and prepared to speak in the most arrogant tone, taking the initiative: "Hey! You madman! Do you know who this is? This is the young master of the Nangong family of Northern Mang—"

However, Huang Rusong, who had been calmly standing with his hands behind his back, ready to intimidate others with the demeanor of a master, suddenly froze on the spot as if struck by an invisible lightning bolt the moment his eyes fell on the silhouette of the man in black in front of the carriage!

The composure and calmness on his face froze instantly, then turned into an incredulous look of horror. His pupils contracted sharply, and even his breathing seemed to stop.

The Chen family head, completely oblivious, continued his "performance," deliberately raising his voice to convey a smug, arrogant tone: "—Huang Rusong, Lord Huang! A second-rank Grandmaster! Representing the Nangong family! You dare to commit violence in territory protected by the Nangong family, injuring members of my Chen family? You're simply courting death! If you know what's good for you, immediately kneel down, kowtow, and admit your mistake, offering up all your wealth. Perhaps Lord Huang will consider—uh?!"

His words came to an abrupt halt once again.

This time, it was because of a slap that was so loud it almost echoed, which landed hard on his face!

"7

The head of the Chen family staggered a few steps from the sudden and powerful slap, half of his cheek instantly swelled up, his ears rang, and he saw stars before his eyes.

He covered his face, completely stunned, and looked at the person who had made the move in astonishment—it was Huang Rusong, on whom he had placed all his hopes!

Huang Rusong's face was ashen, veins bulging on his forehead, and his gaze toward the Chen family head was like fire spitting out. He wished he could strangle this blind fool who was desperately pushing him into the fire!

The moment Huang Rusong realized that the person in the carriage was this gentleman, he was filled with deep regret!

He would rather have pretended to be deaf and dumb in the flower hall, or even acted like a coward, or simply slipped out the back door, than come out and face this evil star!

This is a ruthless person who could fight his way out of the encirclement of the Nangong family, right in front of the old patriarch, and take the person away!

He is a terrifying existence that caused the eldest son, Nangong Batian, to be seriously injured and vomit blood, and that the entire Nangong family keeps silent about!

I'm just a lowly second-rank Grandmaster, what am I to them?

The Chen family idiots are actually shamelessly threatening the other party with the Nangong family's name?

Would people be afraid of that?

This is like an old man who's tired of living and wants to drag others down with him!

Huang Rusong was so angry that she trembled all over. No longer caring about her manners, she slapped him and then turned to the carriage without looking at the stunned Chen family head. Her expression of utter horror was instantly transformed into one of extreme respect and even fear, and she involuntarily bent over.

Huang Rusong's rapid change in attitude and humble demeanor is a prime example of going from arrogance to obsequiousness.

Zhou Yi merely glanced at him indifferently, his gaze calm and unwavering, yet it sent Huang Rusong's heart pounding wildly, his back instantly soaked with cold sweat.

"A misunderstanding! My lord, this is all a huge misunderstanding!" Huang Rusong plastered an almost obsequious smile on his face, bowing repeatedly to Zhou Yi, his waist bent even lower, his voice hurried and deliberately ingratiating, "The Chen family father and son are blind and ignorant, offending you and the young lady, they deserve to die! It has absolutely nothing to do with the Nangong family, it was purely their own doing, acting recklessly under the Nangong family's name!"

The Chen family head, standing to the side, covered his burning cheek, finally recovering from the shock and pain of the slap.

Although he was terrified by Huang Rusong's sudden change in attitude toward the man in black, seeing that his backer seemed to be about to collapse and the crisis of annihilation of his family was imminent, his strong will to survive and his instincts honed over the years made him want to make one last gamble.

He even went so far as to publicly expose Huang Rusong's true purpose for his trip, attempting to divert the trouble back to the Nangong family, or at least make it impossible for Huang Rusong to easily sever ties.

"Lord Huang! It's not a misunderstanding! You—you were sent by Young Master Nangong to find these two, weren't you? They—they are the ones the Nangong family is looking for—"

Huang Rusong's expression changed drastically. Before the Chen family head could finish speaking, he suddenly turned around, and the forced flattery on his face was instantly replaced by a ferocious killing intent!

His eyes flashed with a fierce light, and he no longer hesitated for a moment. This fool who didn't know his own death actually wanted to drag him down, and even tried to implicate the eldest young master's scheme?!

In a flash, Huang Rusong's right hand, fingers pointing like a knife, unleashed the powerful true energy of a second-grade minor grandmaster, creating a sharp whistling sound as he slammed his palm into the heart of the Chen family head with lightning speed!

"Pfft!"

The dull palm strike pierced through his body. Before the Chen family patriarch could even scream, his eyes widened in shock and resentment. His chest bones shattered, and his heart was instantly reduced to a pile of mush. He swayed, a stream of black blood mixed with fragments of internal organs spilling from his mouth, before falling straight backward and crashing onto the bluestone slab with a thud, lifeless.

The sudden bloodshed terrified the servants and guards who had been on high alert. They screamed in terror and retreated, their hands trembling as they dropped their swords.

The neighbors, merchants, and passersby who gathered around were stunned and dared not utter a sound.

The head of the Chen family, who had been tyrannical in this city for decades, was killed on the spot as easily as swatting a fly!

Huang Rusong acted as if he had merely brushed away a fallen leaf. The ferocious look on his face quickly disappeared, and when he turned around to face the carriage, he put on that cautious, almost humble smile again.

He was terrified that the fool's ramblings might have given Zhou Yi some bad ideas, and that he might end up like the Chen family.

In a flash, desperate to survive, Huang Rusong racked his brains, exhausting all his quick wit, and concocted what he thought was a plausible reason that could absolve him of any involvement and even "show goodwill": "My lord, please understand! The eldest young master—the eldest young master was merely worried that the young lady was too young to leave home so suddenly and be exposed to the elements. Therefore—therefore he specifically instructed me that if we happened to meet them, I must—I must deliver some travel expenses to you and the young lady as a token of my goodwill. There is absolutely no other intention! Absolutely no other intention!"

As he spoke, he suddenly turned around, his back to Zhou Yi, and faced the group of Chen family servants who were terrified.

He grabbed the trembling old butler with a single glance, his eyes as fierce as a wolf's. Lowering his voice, he forced out the command through clenched teeth, his mouth silently forming the words "gold" and "silver": "Go now! Fetch the 'travel expenses' I prepared for the young lady!"

The steward trembled at the undisguised murderous intent in his eyes. He instantly understood what was meant, scrambled away, and ran frantically toward the treasury at the fastest speed he had ever traveled, without even having time to say goodbye.

Huang Rusong finally breathed a sigh of relief, turned around, and continued to maintain that stiff and respectful smile towards Zhou Yi, his back bent at almost a right angle. He didn't even dare to say another word, for fear that he might offend the other party with the wrong words.

Zhou Yi remained silent, sitting on the carriage shaft, slowly sipping his wine, his gaze unfocused. Huang Rusong dared not speak again, barely daring to breathe, standing stiffly in front of the carriage, cold sweat streaming down his face, which he didn't bother to wipe away. The atmosphere was oppressively suffocating.

Time slipped by, each breath feeling like torture.

Fortunately, the ordeal didn't last too long. The steward finally came back, stumbling and crawling, clutching a bulging, heavy blue cloth bundle tightly in his arms. He was panting heavily and his face was deathly pale.

Huang Rusong snatched the package, feeling its weight and calming himself down a bit.

He held it with both hands, almost as if offering tribute, and respectfully presented it to Zhou Yi on the carriage, his head bowed, not daring to look directly at him.

"My lord, please accept this small token of my appreciation. Consider it—consider it some snacks for the young lady on her journey—"

Zhou Yi didn't even glance at the package, let alone reach out to take it.

He said something seemingly unrelated to the scene before him, his voice flat: "To cut the weeds, you must pull them out by the roots."

Huang Rusong was startled, immediately understanding the deeper meaning behind the words, and hurriedly replied, "Understood! I understand! I will handle it cleanly and leave no future trouble!"

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, the old horse that had been pulling the carriage, which had been standing quietly, seemed to understand human nature. Without being driven, it started to move on its own, pulling the carriage slowly along the cobblestone road from where it had come from. The sound of the wheels was particularly clear in the quiet street.

Huang Rusong felt a little relieved, thinking that the other party had accepted the "gift." Although he didn't take the package, the meaning behind his words seemed to be tacit approval, and he was preparing to leave.

He remained bowed, not daring to move. Only when the sound of horses' hooves could no longer be heard did he dare to raise his eyes.

However, in his own light, the carriage stopped again.

Zhou Yi's voice came again, this time addressed to the carriage: "Get out."

A small hand lifted the curtain of the carriage, and Nangong Pu She cautiously peeked out, her face still a little pale. She looked at Zhou Yi, then obediently moved to the carriage shaft and sat down next to him, her little hands nervously gripping the carriage floor.

"What's to the south?" Zhou Yi asked, his gaze falling on the fork in the road ahead.

Nangong Pushe paused for a moment, carefully discerned the direction, and then timidly pointed out the direction they had just come from, which was the gate of the Chen residence, in a soft, sweet voice: "It's—it's behind."

The carriage then slowly came to a stop and turned around.

The wheels rolled, and the carriage returned along the same route, passing once more the wide-open gates of the Chen residence, and passing by Huang Rusong, who was still standing there bowing, his heart almost stopped.

Huang Rusong's muscles tensed instantly, cold sweat broke out again, and he was horrified: Had he done something wrong? Or had the other party changed their mind? He even held his breath, his mind went blank.

However, the carriage did not stop.

It simply and smoothly drove past him, its wheels crunching over the road and kicking up fine dust. The man in black on the bus remained silent, and the little girl clung tightly to him, not even glancing in his direction.

It was as if he were just an inconspicuous stone by the roadside.

The carriage gradually moved further and further away, eventually disappearing around the street corner, leaving Huang Rusong still standing stiffly in place, and the lingering stench of blood and death in front of the Chen residence.

After a long while, until the sound of horses' hooves completely disappeared at the end of the street and blended into the distant hustle and bustle of the city, Huang Rusong dared to slowly and very carefully straighten up.

He gazed in the direction the carriage had disappeared, as if he could still feel the lingering, icy, suffocating sense of oppression.

With a long, uncontrollable tremor, he exhaled a breath of stale air, only then realizing that his undergarments were completely soaked with cold sweat, clinging coldly to his skin, and a gust of wind sent chills down his spine.

"Damn it!" A mixture of relief at surviving a disaster and pent-up anger surged in his chest, but he only dared to curse silently in his heart.

This is simply an unexpected disaster, a completely undeserved calamity!

He had come here on orders to find someone, and also to show off his power and gain some benefits, but he never expected to run into this jinx and almost lose his life here.

That response just now was like dancing on the edge of a knife; if there had been a slight misstep, it probably wouldn't just be the head of the Chen family lying on the ground right now.

The thought of the instigator made Huang Rusong's anger flare up.

It's all the fault of that stupid father and son in the Chen family!

The old man is already dead, so it's a good thing for him.

That little one————

A fierce glint flashed in Huang Rusong's eyes.

He is now filled with fear, lingering dread, frustration, and unvented anger, and desperately needs an outlet.

But when he turned around, he realized that Young Master Chen hadn't followed him at all.

"Trying to run away? You almost got me killed here, and you still expect to get away with it?" Huang Rusong gritted his teeth and muttered to himself.

He immediately set about "cleaning up the mess".

First, he dealt with the Chen family with swift and decisive action, following the instruction of the Book of Changes to "cut the weeds and remove the roots," and cleaned up the male members and close associates of the Chen family head who posed a threat.

At the same time, he sent people to search for Young Master Chen's whereabouts.

Young Master Chen was quite shrewd; he slipped away through the back door, intending to escape far away, but ultimately he couldn't escape the net that Huang Rusong had cast.

When Young Master Chen was dragged to Huang Rusong like a dead dog, his face had already lost all color, leaving only boundless fear.

Huang Rusong looked at him with an almost cruel sneer on his face.

Then, amidst Chen Dashao's agonizing and desperate wails and struggles, they stripped him naked and threw him into his lavishly decorated "boudoir" —

The door was locked from the outside.

Cast with molten iron.

Throughout the entire night, from a deep corner of the Chen residence, inhuman, chilling screams and roars echoed continuously.

The sound gradually faded as dawn approached, eventually fading into complete silence.

On the other side, Zhou Yi led Nangong Pu She out of the city.

The carriage traveled along a somewhat desolate official road, with monotonous scenery along the way.

Passing by a slightly bustling market, Zhou Yi replenished his drinks and, looking at the stall selling dry food next to him, decided to buy ten large, seemingly filling flatbreads to keep for the little one beside him to nibble on the way.

However, he clearly overestimated the "friendliness" of roadside pancake stalls in this era and underestimated his own lack of "experience" in the trivialities of life.

In this respect, he is actually not much different from the little thing beside him.

Camping at night, a campfire was lit. Nangong Pushe, who had been hungry all day, carefully held a large flatbread, opened his small mouth, and took a big bite—"Crunch!"

With a soft sound, the little guy cried out "Ouch!" and covered his cheek, tears welling up in his eyes from the pain.

The pancake remained unmoved, leaving only a few shallow teeth marks on its surface.

It almost broke her teeth.

Zhou Yi frowned, picked up a large pancake, and tapped it with his finger.

"Knock knock".

The sound was dull and solid, comparable to striking hardwood or cast iron, and could even be used as a weapon.

He then realized that he had taken it for granted, subconsciously assuming that this thing was like the soft or just chewy flatbread or naan bread of his previous life, forgetting that in those days, the primary consideration for the dry food that ordinary people carried when traveling far away was its storage life and ability to keep them full, and its hardness was often beyond imagination.

Perhaps his only slight advantage is in fishing.

Without any salt or other seasonings, the grilled fish had a strong fishy smell, and the cooking time was only so-so. But when you're extremely hungry, the taste of the food itself doesn't seem to matter much anymore. The little one reluctantly ate the fishy-smelling grilled fish, which served to fill its rumbling stomach.

The campfire crackled, illuminating Zhou Yi's expressionless profile.

The bumpy ride, coupled with fright and hunger, had left Nangong Pu She utterly exhausted. After eating, his small body curled up in the corner of the carriage, wrapped in an old blanket he had found inside, and fell into a deep sleep, though occasionally he would furrow his brow in unease during his dreams.

Zhou Yi, who was sitting quietly by a large rock, waiting for the night, was waiting for someone to load the cargo.

The night was deep and the dew was heavy; the fields were silent except for the chirping of insects and the sound of the wind.

A clear yet slightly abrupt sound of a flute pierced the night without warning, drifting in softly. The flute's melody was not stirring, but rather carried a deliberately crafted air of aloofness and loneliness.

Under the cold moonlight, not far away, on the top of a bare old tree, a white figure had quietly appeared.

With flowing robes, holding a bamboo flute, and back to the moonlight, his face is blurred, and only his silhouette reveals a rather pretentious air of a "master".

Zhou Yi remained expressionless, hefting the hard pancake in his hand that had nearly broken the little thing's teeth.

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