Killing God - Chapter 347

Chapter 347 Lose One’s Solitude
After leaving the Xu Clan’s mansion again, Shen Shi walked all the way to the Southern Treasure Square in the south of Liuyun City City. When he passed by the entrance of the immortal association shop on the bustling street, he looked inside and hesitated. However, he shook his head and walked towards the Southern Heaven Gate Square at the end of the street.

As in the past, South Heaven Gate, the place where loose cultivators gathered and set up stalls, was still crowded and noisy. Countless cultivators were here arguing over a little bit of profit or all sorts of spirit materials that they didn’t know were real or fake. Every time Shen Shi saw this scene, he would often feel that from another angle, the so-called cultivators who were far above ordinary mortals were actually ordinary people, and they also had the seven emotions and six desires of ordinary mortals.

He strolled through the crowd, seemingly aimless, no different from most of the surrounding cultivators. Not long after, he arrived at the middle of the loose cultivator market and stopped in front of a somewhat familiar stall. Eight years ago, when he was still a teenager, he discovered an ordinary black pot at a stall here and discovered the Heart Cleansing Chapter of Demon race’s secret technique, the Yin Yang Curse. This was the reason why he had such a unique path of cultivation.

Shen Shi turned his gaze and was suddenly stunned. He saw that the person sitting on the stall was not the Old Hou he had seen before, but another middle-aged man who looked at the wrinkles. At the same time, when the man saw Shen Shi stop in front of his stall, he immediately greeted him warmly, “Young Master, do you have a fancy for the spirit materials I have here? Choose whatever it is. My things are definitely good.”

Shen Shi frowned and squatted down in front of his stall. He glanced directly at the piece of silk cloth in front of him and knew that six or seven of the top ten were fakes or inferior goods. The remaining few genuine goods were also common goods. He shook his head. Naturally, he wasn’t interested in these spirit materials at all. Instead, he looked at the stall owner and said,

“Boss, let me ask, isn’t this stall from Old Hou? Why isn’t he here?”

The man was stunned. Obviously, he didn’t expect Shen Shi to ask about this. He looked at Shen Shi suspiciously and said, “What are you looking for Old Hou for?”

“You know him?”

The man nodded and said, “Yes, I think I do.”

Shen Shi was delighted and hurriedly said, “Then do you know where he is now?”

The man hesitated for a moment and laughed. However, he shook his head and said, “It seems like he hasn’t been here for a long time. I can’t remember clearly.”

Shen Shi looked at him. The man helplessly spread out his hands, but his eyes flashed. After a while, Shen Shi sighed and took out a shiny spirit crystal from his Ruyi bag and threw it over.

The man stretched out his hand and grabbed the spirit crystal. He immediately smiled. He put it in front of his eyes and took a closer look. He laughed at Shen Shi and said,

“Thank you, Young Master!”

④

When Shen Shi left the Southern Heaven Gate, he already knew something about the old marquis from that man. In fact, this man really did not know the current situation of the old marquis, because the old marquis had suddenly stopped coming to the Southern Heaven Gate to sell spirit materials. Fortunately, in the past, this person had always set up a stall at another stall near the old marquis, so he was somewhat familiar with the old marquis. He actually knew the old marquis’ usual address. Basically, this was what that spirit crystal bought.

According to the address given by the man, Shen Shi walked all the way to the east of Liuyun City, which was near the old mansion of the Hou Clan. Actually, after Hou Sheng joined Lingxiao Sect and became a direct disciple of the Origin Condensation Realm, his father was noble, and Old Hou’s status in the Hou Clan had also improved. In this respect, he was somewhat similar to Zhong Qingzhu. However, the Hou Clan did not suffer the same defeat as the Zhong Clan. There were many outstanding talents in the clan, so Old Hou was not as glorious as Zhong Qingzhu’s mother.

However, the Hou Clan suddenly fell, After being divided up by other aristocratic families, the old marquis was also forced to move away. It was almost at that time that the old marquis’s life began to undergo an unknown change. Although he was not implicated because of his estrangement from the Hou family’s bloodline, he never went to the South Heaven Sect to set up a stall again, and few people saw him again.

Shen Shi walked along the main street. He stopped at a small alley a hundred feet away from the once glorious mansion and thought about it in his heart. He discovered that Old Hou’s abnormality should have happened shortly after the mutation in the Gaoling Mountains that day. It was also when he discovered that his only son, Hou Sheng, might never be able to return.

Shen Shi sighed in his heart and walked into the alley. The alley was on the side of the street, but it was much more lively than the dirty and filthy alley where Ling Chunni’s godmother used to live, and there were many people living there. Most of the houses in the alley were grey and narrow. Most of the people who lived here had a somewhat numb and exhausted expression on their faces. There were only a few young children with bare buttocks who were still playing and chasing each other in this dim alley, sprinkling with innocence and joy that was somewhat incompatible with this place.

Shen Shi passed the children and walked to the end of the alley. He knocked lightly on the broken wooden door at the innermost part of the alley.

“Dong dong dong dong.” A deep knock echoed on the door. There were several numb gazes in the surroundings, but no one had the intention to interfere. For some reason, Shen Shi felt a little uncomfortable in his heart, and there was no reaction in the door. He frowned slightly, wondering if the man in front of him was giving him false information. Or maybe Old Hou doesn’t live here anymore?

He knocked for a while, but there was still no sound coming from the door. Shen Shi couldn’t help but feel a little anxious. He exerted a little more strength, but the wooden door creaked and directly opened inwards. It was actually unlocked.

Following the opening of the door, an unusual stench drifted out. Although it wasn’t particularly strong and choking, it still gave off a very uncomfortable feeling. Shen Shi paused for a moment and didn’t immediately walk inside. Instead, he stood at the door and took a look. He saw a figure lying on the ground in the grey and narrow room.

His heart skipped a beat. He hesitated for a moment before walking in. He walked to the side of the man and pulled his body. When that haggard and skinny face appeared in front of him, Shen Shi really didn’t recognize that this person who was almost no different from a dead person was actually Old Hou.

This person did not really die. There was still a breath left between his nose and mouth, and his breathing was weak. However, it seemed that as long as no one cared about him, he should die in this dark Little Hei house soon.

As for this old man who looked like a skeleton, judging from the outline of his face, Shen Shi could barely recognize that this was Old Hou.

Looking at that face, Shen Shi did not say anything for a long time. Although he would have thought that losing his only son, Hou Sheng, would cause some damage to the old marquis, it was unexpected for him to end up in such a state of heartbreak after losing his loneliness.

Perhaps, a son, or a young man, could not understand the feeling of an old man losing his beloved child in the end.

Shen Shi crouched down beside the old marquis and softly shouted, “Old marquis, do you still remember me?”

Within the cloudy and empty sockets of the old marquis, his eyes remained motionless, as if he hadn’t heard anything.

After a moment of silence, Shen Shi said, “My name is Shen Shi. I’m Hou Sheng’s fellow disciple. Do you remember?”

The old marquis’s eyes suddenly lit up. It was as if after hearing the word “Hou Sheng”, he suddenly retracted his gaze. Then, he slowly turned his head and looked at Shen Shi with some difficulty.

His eyes were slow and powerless, and after seeing Shen Shi’s face, a trace of indifference and disappointment flashed, as if he was about to return to the numbness and wait for death from before.

But at this moment, something suddenly appeared in front of Old Hou. It was a puppy made of old cloth. It was very tattered, and it was even somewhat shapeless. One of the puppy’s hind legs and tail on its butt had already disappeared.

This worn-out puppet puppet was in Shen Shi’s hand. I don’t know where he got it and where he took it out, Just like that, he placed it in front of the old marquis. Upon seeing this cloth dog, the old marquis’s body suddenly trembled. An unbelievable radiance suddenly appeared in his eyes. It was actually the strength that came from somewhere. He suddenly raised his head and uttered a few vague words. It was just that perhaps it had been too long since he had spoken, or perhaps he had lost his strength. Shen Shi did not hear what he was talking about.

However, there was no surprise on Shen Shi’s face. Instead, he sighed softly and whispered,

“Follow me.”

Old Hou slowly turned around and looked at this unfamiliar young man. However, he quickly used up all the remaining strength in his body and nodded desperately.

④

Liuyun City, Xu Clan West Garden.

“Have you ever seen the ten scenes of Tianhong City? Is it really that beautiful and magical?”

Ling Chunni leaned against the table in Zhong Qingzhu’s room and looked at Zhong Qingzhu, who was sitting on the bed not far away. She asked curiously.

Zhong Qingzhu shook his head and said, “That’s not true. Probably after that time, I only saw five or six wonders. Although Tianhong Ten Sceneries are famous, some of them are not something I can see all year round.”

Ling Chunni pursed his lips, his eyes filled with yearning. He whispered, “When Shi Tou told me about this, he said that he had only seen three wonders when he was in Tianhong City. They were the setting sun of the Dragon Bridge, the Great Wall, and the City of Night. Because of the lack of time, he didn’t go to see the rest.”

Zhong Qingzhu said indifferently, “These three places are indeed the most common. As far as I know, five of the ten scenes are common. The other three scenes appear according to the seasons. They can only be seen for a certain period of time in a year. The last two scenes have actually disappeared completely, and they can no longer be seen.”

Ling Chunni was stunned and asked, “What?”

Zhong Qingzhu smiled and said, “Emperor Palace Qiuyang and Hongjun Column. These two sceneries were once one of Tianhong’s ten sceneries. However, after the Human-Demon War ten thousand years ago, the Imperial Palace of the Heavenly Demon Palace was reduced to ruins. The Hongjun Column in front of the Demon Emperor Palace was destroyed, and the things they took were no longer as they used to be.”

Ling Chunni nodded. She didn’t say anything for a long time, but her eyes flickered as if she was thinking about something. After a while, she gently raised her head and suddenly shouted, “Qingzhu.”

Zhong Qingzhu replied, “What?”

“Do you know how to get to Tianhong City?”