Chapter 1485: Going Home and the Bridge Underpass

Wu Tongyuan was silent.

The gentle breeze blew his simple, elegant monk-like outer robe. Wu Tongyuan slowly picked up a piece scattered on the ground and placed it gently back into the chess basket…

“What hasn’t happened is vanity; why bother caring?”

“I said, I’m curious.” Chen Ling replied truthfully.

“I don’t know.”

Hearing these four words, Chen Ling’s eyes narrowed slightly, as if he wanted to peer through Wu Tongyuan’s deep gaze and see into his heart... Did he really not know, or was he just pretending?

“So... you never actually intended to make a move on me from the very beginning, did you?” Chen Ling countered.

Wu Tongyuan didn’t follow Chen Ling’s lead; he knew this was Chen Ling testing him.

“You should go.”

“Are you really just letting me go like this? This might be the only chance I’ll ever have to be left alone in the Lingxu Domain... If you miss this opportunity, you’ll never find a better time to kill me.” Chen Ling paused for a moment.

“You know what the Twilight Society needs to restart the world...”

“Even if you don’t kill me, when the final moment arrives, I will come to claim your corpse myself. If you haven’t turned into a corpse by then...”

“I will kill you with my own hands.”

This was a probe, a threat, and a warning.

But this time, Wu Tongyuan had no intention of answering. Faced with Chen Ling’s provocative words, he acted as if he hadn’t heard them at all and slowly stood up...

He gave Chen Ling a calm look, turned around, and walked toward the Lingxu Ancient Temple.

His simple, elegant monk-like robe fluttered without a breeze.

“I’ll be waiting for you to come and kill me...”

His voice sounded faintly, “If you can manage it.”

……

Wu Tongyuan was gone.

Leaving with him were the six Great Knight Orders.

In the vast plaza, aside from the swarming crowds, only Chen Ling and the four K-cards remained... There were no guards, no escorts, no guidance. The Lord of Lingxu seemed completely unafraid that Chen Ling might start a massacre here, having withdrawn all security measures.

The hem of his red-bottomed, black-patterned opera robe fluttered in the plaza. He took one last deep look at the back of the Lord of Lingxu as he left, surrounded by the crowd, and then turned to walk out of the Lingxu Domain.

As Chen Ling approached, the crowd clogging White Dove Avenue to watch the spectacle immediately parted, clearing a path for him in a flash...

Unlike the adoration and cheers that followed Wu Tongyuan’s departure, after Chen Ling passed, the people stopped talking and arguing. Pairs of eyes—filled with curiosity, fear, wariness, or tension—watched him. Those closest to Chen Ling felt their hearts leap into their throats, terrified that this temperamental man might suddenly tear them to pieces.

The giant tree in White Dove Plaza still swayed.

To its left lay the high tower supported by thousands; to its right, an abyss of wariness and fear.

Chen Ling was long accustomed to these gazes. He hummed an opera tune as if no one were around, his cinnabar-like earrings swaying slightly in the sunlight.

“Little Junior Brother, where are we going now?” Ning Ruyu asked softly.

Chen Ling thought for a moment.

“Home.”

……

A few hours later.

A bleak, cold wind swept across the edge of the Lingxu Domain.

On the desolate, gray land, three figures sat in a neat row, facing the direction of the Lingxu Domain as if waiting for something.

“Wait... why hasn’t Heart come out yet?” Jian Changsheng rubbed his backside after sitting for so long. “It’s been several hours. He wouldn’t have actually gotten into trouble in there, would he??”

“There wasn’t a single sign of a fight inside; what kind of trouble could he get into?” Sun Bumian sighed. “I told you, the Lingxu Domain has several exits. How could it be easy to block him? He must have left through another exit long ago...”

“...Surely not?”

Jian Changsheng muttered, “We’re his old comrades-in-arms, after all. He wouldn’t even come to see us once...”

“Sigh, the fact that Heart became the Red King is truly unexpected...” Sun Bumian shook his head. “During the time we were in the Xuanyu Domain, he must have gone through a lot. Not to mention anything else, his relationship with the previous Red King was very complex. With the Red King ascending to heaven, he must be having a hard time...”

Jiang Xiaohua thought for a moment before speaking.

“Should we go and comfort him?”

“Comfort him where? We’ve been blocking the entrance and couldn’t even catch him.”

Just as the three were talking, a figure dressed in tattered, beggar-like clothes walked leisurely around the edge of the domain.

Jin Fugui, the 7 of Hearts, saw Jian Changsheng and the others sitting there and was slightly stunned.

“Why are you guys still here?”

“We’re waiting for Heart,” Jiang Xiaohua answered truthfully.

“? You mean the Red King?” Jin Fugui looked at the three with a strange expression. “He left a long time ago... He went out through the east gate with the four K-cards. I saw it with my own eyes.”

Hearing this, Jian Changsheng’s anxious heart finally died. He stood up, rubbing his sore backside, and couldn’t help but grumble:

“Well, look at that Heart 6. After becoming the Red King, he’s forgotten all about us old comrades... Hmph, and to think I was the first one to rush out to protect him earlier.”

“The east gate?” Sun Bumian was thoughtful.

“Could it be... that he returned to the Opera Path Ancient Treasury?”

“That, I don’t know. As a beggar, how would I know where the Red King wants to go or what he’s doing?” Jin Fugui shrugged.

“Then where are you going?”

“Me? I’m going back to the Tianchu Domain.” Jin Fugui pointed toward the Lingxu Domain. “I don’t dare go to the Lingxu Domain anymore; I’m afraid of being caught and forced into hard labor. It’s easier to beg for food in the Tianchu Domain.”

“……”

Sun Bumian turned to Jian Changsheng. “What do you say? Should we go to the Opera Path Ancient Treasury to find him?”

“...Forget it.” Jian Changsheng thought seriously for a long time and shook his head. “He’s the Red King now; he has important things to do... It wouldn’t be good for us to go looking for him so rashly. Let’s just go to the Tianchu Domain and stay there for now.”

Although in the hearts of the 6-generation, Chen Ling was still that Heart 6, he now bore the responsibility of the entire Twilight Society. The fact that they didn’t catch Chen Ling this time meant he wasn’t ready to see them yet. Even Jian Changsheng didn’t dare to just show up uninvited like before...

Red King Chen Ling and Heart 6 Chen Ling were perhaps, to some extent, different.

Sun Bumian noticed the trace of disappointment Jian Changsheng couldn’t hide, but he didn’t say anything, just nodded slightly.

“True, we can just wait for him to come find us.”

“What does that mean? You guys are coming to the Tianchu Domain with me?” Jin Fugui blinked. “Let’s get this straight: the bridge hole I live in can’t fit four people!”

Jian Changsheng’s mouth twitched. “...Who wants to live in a bridge hole with you? We have our own money!”

Sun Bumian: “You’re getting triple the salary, and you still can only live in a bridge hole??”

Jin Fugui: “Ah, my situation is a bit special. I just can’t seem to hold onto money...”

Jiang Xiaohua: “Actually... I kind of want to live in a bridge hole.”

Everyone: ...

Jian Changsheng glanced one last time in the direction of the Opera Path Ancient Treasury before turning to leave. The four figures gradually faded into the distance at the edge of the Lingxu Domain, disappearing at the end of the horizon.