is still a luxurious mansion, but it lacks the laughter of the past.

Since losing their only son, Su Yanmo, three years ago, the Su family and his wife have aged a lot overnight. Since then, although Su Jun is still busy in the trading house every day, and Mu Manru is still shopping in the market with a group of Kuotai, pushing Pai Gow, but after all, something is different.

There seems to be a big hole in their family, no matter how it is covered, it stays there so silently, devouring all the joy and vitality.

I don't know when both of them began to run away from home. Su Yanmo's room is restored to its original state, every time I see the items left by my son, I think of the fact that he once existed and lived with them, but now it has become a gradually yellowed memory in the old photos, and the intertwined reality and reality often make their hearts ache.

This scar, time cannot be erased, years cannot be healed, it will always be pain, hate, and the curse of this family.

But, no matter how much they wanted to go home, they still had to spend most of their time in the house for three years. Because, there is a new little life here.

On this day, Su Jun was sitting silently by the fireplace, supporting the table with one hand, looking at the mahogany patterns, as well as the beating of the flames in the afterglow, his eyes and thoughts were in a trance. It wasn't until there was a faint sound in front of the door that he woke up like a dream, gently holding his forehead, and slowly turning his gaze.

"Xiao Xiao fell asleep?"

Mu Manru walked in with a gloomy face, and slammed the clothes in her hand into the basket: "Xiao Xuan, Xiao Xuan, you know Xiao Xuan! Today is Mo'er's death day, do you remember?"

Su Jun sighed, silently reached to the bottom of the table, and took out a gold lacquer tray. The plate is filled with some fresh melons and fruits. In the corner of the plate, there is also a small incense burner, and a few incense candles are inserted in the stove. The aroma of the fruit and the smoke rising from it are mixed together, solemn and sad.

Seeing that her husband had already prepared the sacrifices, Mu Manru's face looked a little better. But when he thought of his son who died early, his eyes couldn't help but turn red again.

After the two of them worshiped the incense burner for a while, Su Jun couldn't help but speak: "I know, after losing Mo'er, you have always felt uncomfortable, and you can't get over this hurdle." But Mo'er is gone after all, why can't you take care of Xiao Xiao as Mo'er?"

Mu Manru's eyes widened, and she spat viciously: "Phew! That's a wild seed, and it has such a dejecting name...... Does he deserve to be compared to my Mo'er?" his sharp gaze swept towards Su Jun again, "After all, what are you going to do about our Mo'er?"

Su Jun sighed and shook his head heavily: "It's because you usually spoil him too much, so used to him doing that kind of thing...... He's going to kill someone!"

Mu Manru said unhappily: "Oh, what do you mean is that if he kills someone, he won't be your son?"

In the past three years, they don't know how many times they have quarreled about this matter. According to Mu Manru's intentions, it is to buy off the jailer and secretly solve the murderer, anyway, this kind of thing is very common in prisons. Although Su Jun hated it deeply, he inevitably had such thoughts, but whenever he thought that his son had also committed murder first, it made it difficult for him to stand in the position of the victim and seek justice for his son. Ultimately......

"Okay, aren't you just afraid of taking responsibility?" Mu Manru nodded with a sneer, stepped out of the room quickly, and turned back after a while, holding a piece of jade slip in his hand, almost pushing the tip of his nose, "I have a nephew who works on an errand in the Nine Shadows Palace, if something really happens, he will carry it for us, so you can rest assured, right?"

Su Jun was stunned: "Why didn't I know, you also have a nephew who is so big?"

In the final analysis, Su Jun can not care about the law, but he can't care about the impact of this matter on himself.

Although I heard that the murderer had no background, he was still a figure with a face in the business world. If you really go to the crime against a prisoner, it is difficult to guarantee that the news will not leak out, including the complete cause and effect, it is very likely that it will be dug up by those who make a living by selling news. When the time comes, what will the rest of the business community think of him, and how will his business suffer?

Mu Manru snorted coldly: "Oh, I'll tell you everything, can you point to it in the end?" In the past, at home, although she was spicy by nature, she would always be a little more restrained in front of her husband. But after confessing her nephew's identity, her whole person's momentum seemed to have risen a lot in an instant.

"Okay, I'll go dredge it up......" Su Jun sighed and finally made a compromise. But when he was about to walk to the door, he cautiously folded back: "But let me confirm again, your nephew, is it really someone, right?"

……

The Nine Shadows Hall at this time.

Mu Hansha held the jade slip in his hand and leaned weakly on the corner of the corridor. Although the light on the screen had long since been extinguished, he was still staring at it in such a daze, as if he was thinking about a century's problems.

Now he looks extremely fragile, not at all like the arrogant young man who was domineering and drove the rest of the candidates out of the examination room during the original Heavenly Rune Master assessment.

Standing in silence for a long time, Mu Hansha's gaze moved slightly, and he tentatively raised his gaze, and after seeing the figure in front of him clearly, he hurriedly bowed and saluted: "Nine Venerables." ”

Chu Tianyao nodded: "Don't be so restrained." I just have a little time now, so how about we play a game of chess?"

Mu Hansha was stunned, but the difference in the identities of the two made it impossible for him to say anything against him, only respectfully thanking him.

Set the chessboard, and the two of them each landed. With the passage of time, black and white are also clearly distinguished on the chessboard.

What puzzled Mu Hansha was that Chu Tianyao seemed to really just want to play chess. He didn't say a word to himself, nor did he look at himself more, his mind was immersed in the trend of the chess game. But...... Why?

Although Mu Hansha wanted to ask him, is it okay not to go on a mission? But this kind of thing is obviously not qualified to say it.

In the past, when they were also serving as the Nine Shadows Holy Envoy, Chu Tianyao always didn't talk much among his colleagues, and only focused on dealing with every task, and at that time they had almost no intersection...... At that time, he was still his senior......

Chu Tianyao flipped a sunspot in his hand, and his gaze quickly scanned between the empty seats on the chessboard. The Aragami Tomb has not been opened for thousands of years, and there is no telling what will be underneath. Before waiting for the last batch of villagers to complete the rehabilitation, he had to walk through a few more cells, pulling more death row inmates to explore the way ahead...... And before the official departure, there is just a little time to give yourself a break.

"What, do you have something on your mind?" Chu Tianyao finally raised his eyebrows and looked at Mu Hansha. Since the beginning, he has made an unknown number of times to "send to death", just like when he first saw him, he looked like he was not giving up......

Mu Hansha looked at the white children who had been cleared in large numbers on the chessboard again, and when his fingers reached out to the chess box, he suddenly paused briefly.

"Nine Venerables...... If it's you, if someone is always forcing you to do something you don't want, then ...... What will you do?"

Chu Tianyao smiled incomprehensibly: "I think you have to think clearly before doing something, what benefits you can get by doing something, and what disadvantages you will get if you don't do it." So, is this something you really want to do?"

Mu Hansha shook his head decisively, but his gaze quickly dissipated: "However, that's what I have to do." ”

Gently picked up a chess piece and slowly put it on the chessboard, "I always feel that in fact, people are no different from chess pieces. These chess pieces, they cannot resist their fate, they can only be at the mercy of the chess players. So whose fate is under whose control?"

Chu Tianyao stared at him lightly: "Listen to me." Your destiny is up to you. As long as you don't give up, those who have stepped on your head will become a stepping platform on the soles of your feet, allowing you to go to a higher place. When he still didn't seem to understand, he suddenly changed his words: "By the way, do you want to participate in the assessment of Tiangongmen?"

Mu Hansha's brain was shocked, and he raised his head in surprise: "Me, is it really possible?"

Chu Tianyao smiled kindly: "When the time comes, I just need to add you to the recommendation list." You also know that the hall master has always been the most enthusiastic about selecting talents for the Heavenly Palace Gate. You serve the master of the heavenly palace, and in the eyes of the hall master, it is the same as serving him. While talking, next to Mu Hansha's previous white seed, a black seed slowly fell.

***

In the dark cell, a group of prisoners sat crookedly, all wearing the same prison uniforms. The dim light enveloped them, reflecting a different whiteness.

This group of people, old and young, some have already accepted their fate, lying lazily in the corner, waiting for the same day after day, some seem to have gone mad after long captivity, their eyes are glazed, and they bang their heads against the wall one by one, some lie in front of the cell door all day long, waiting for a turn that does not exist, and some are usually quiet, but from time to time they will let out a howl, which attracts the reprimand of the guard.

"I really didn't kill anyone!"

Of course, there are also people like this young man, who are anxiously pacing in the cell repeatedly, avenging themselves over and over again. In exchange, most of them were contemptuous glances from other prisoners.

Since he was imprisoned three years ago, Leng Qi has not given up calling for injustice for a day. The one who killed Su Yanmo was clearly Ye Shuo, and he was wronged! He still had to enter the Heavenly Palace Gate, and he had to prove himself through hard work, how could he be trapped here all the time!

"Hey, buddy, everyone who came in here said they didn't kill anyone, is it useful?" a ragged, unshaven prisoner who looked like a beggar pouted impatiently, "Look at the one over there, it was locked up more than ten years ago." When I first came, I shouted all day long that I didn't kill anyone, and I was dragged out by the jailer every day to practice alone, but for half a month, I honestly confessed my guilt and was detained......!

This person was probably also extremely boring, and in the blink of an eye, he counted the crimes of the prisoners to Leng Qi one by one. Only when it comes to a pale teenager in the far corner, it is temporarily stuck. And the young man's response was only an indifferent side look.

Speaking of this teenager, he is really the eccentric of a group of prisoners. He came in more than a year ago, he looked weak, there was no spiritual power fluctuation on his body, he just shrunk in the corner without saying a word every day, and occasionally when he was out of the wind, he acted alone and never communicated with others.

People like this are the most vulnerable to bullying among prisoners. In addition, although this young man never spoke, his eyes seemed to have a deep hatred with everyone, and he was always silent and cold. At first, some people volunteered to "let him understand the rules", but even if the young man was beaten to death, he still didn't say a word, his eyes didn't change, and he was indifferent as if he was a person who didn't really exist.

Soon, the prisoners lost interest and simply treated him as transparent. And the boy still sat in the corner as always, staring at a pair of indifferent eyes, hating the whole world.

Leng Qi didn't pay much attention to him. It can be said that he doesn't care about any of his fellow inmates at all except himself. Seeing that he didn't inquire in detail, the previous prisoner naturally skipped the young man and turned to another little man.

"Don't look at me, I'm just a pickpocket, I'm just locked up for a few days to reflect, it's not like you death row prisoners!" the little man spoke before the prisoner could give an introduction.

The prisoner pursed his lips and pointed to a strong man with long hair and a shawl: "And that one, use the forbidden spell." He also deserved to be unlucky, and an old antique catcher happened to be nearby that day, and he was arrested on the spot. ”

"Forbidden spells?" Leng Qi's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he hurriedly ran over: "Senior, do you know forbidden spells?" Can you teach the junior one or two?"

The long-haired man glared at him coldly, Leng Qi was startled, and hurriedly smiled and retreated. At this time, he could hear the snickering of several prisoners in the corner.

"It's time to eat! it's time to eat!" A short time later, a jailer came up with a rice basket, and the keys hanging from his waist collided with each other with a crisp sound.

Leng Qi pounced in front of the cell door again: "Big brother, please help me keep up with the boss, I am really wronged......" similar words, he has said countless times in the past three years, and no one paid attention to him at this time, and after the jailer distributed the meals one by one, he quickly picked up the rice basket and left. The other prisoners also picked up their rice bowls and ate them in large gulps.

"I said you, if you have something to eat, eat it quickly. If you don't eat it, give me your portion. One of the prisoners glared at him disapprovingly, and reached for the bowl on the floor.

"Ah, wait......" Leng Qi hurriedly picked up the bowl, no matter what, he still had to eat first before he had the strength to escape.

For a moment, the sound of gobbling became one. But at some point, an extremely strange voice suddenly sounded.

"Ah...... Ah......h But in a moment, he opened his mouth and spewed out a large mouthful of black blood, planted it forward, and stopped moving.

The prisoners around them seemed to be accustomed to seeing this kind of scene for a long time, and there was nothing strange on their faces. The pale boy in the corner was still quietly tugging at the rice in the bowl, as if he hadn't seen it at all, and there was already an extra corpse in front of him.

(End of chapter)