Chapter 991: Sun Bumian’s Lifeblood

"—Achoo!!"

Jian Changsheng sneezed violently.

"The air quality in the Wuji Domain is really bad," Jian Changsheng muttered. "It’s foggy everywhere, you can’t see anything... and the smell is very pungent too."

"That’s normal, this is a factory area after all."

Wu Duo closed the window, confirmed that no one outside was looking in, and pulled the curtains shut. The whole room was plunged into darkness.

Click—

Fang Liangye pulled the light cord, and the pale light bulb illuminated the warehouse, reflecting face after face covered in dust and looking disheveled.

Most of the Rat Party members who had escaped from the underground stronghold were hiding here. Most of them were injured, but the deep exhaustion in their eyes was even more shocking under the incandescent light than their injuries.

The stronghold was destroyed, brothers were killed, and their leader Dulan was missing, making the already difficult situation of the Rat Party even worse...

For a time, the atmosphere in the warehouse was dead and oppressive.

"Is this place safe?" Fang Liangye asked Wu Duo in a low voice.

"Of course it’s safe, have you forgotten? This is your base camp!"

"Base camp?"

"Isn't this where your Human Rights Union was formed in this factory area? It was your people who cleared this place for us."

"Human Rights Union..."

Fang Liangye tried to recall the name, but only emptiness remained in his eyes.

Wu Duo looked into Fang Liangye’s eyes and let out a long sigh. "Fine, your memory is completely messed up... The Human Rights Union is a union secretly formed by you residents of the factory area, who have been working hard to fight for reasonable rights and interests for the residents... You even often wrote letters to petition."

It was impossible for any relevant memories to remain in Fang Liangye’s mind, and the version of him that Wu Duo described made him feel incredibly strange.

He walked forward slowly, looking at the factory area in the smog through the edge of the curtains, his expression somewhat complex...

He is not Heart 6 of the Twilight Society.

Everything in his memory is the life of another person... Then, who is the real him?

In the gray smog outside the window, haggard figures wearing protective suits walked into the factory gate one after another with their heads lowered. No one communicated, just like a group of hollowed-out puppets, mechanically swallowed into the belly of the factory beast.

Just as Fang Liangye was lost in thought, a voice came from behind.

"If we hide here, will Heart be able to find us?" Jian Changsheng asked with confusion.

"Yes," Fang Liangye regained his senses and nodded slightly. "I left marks outside. If it’s him, he will definitely be able to find his way here."

"That’s good..."

Seeing Jian Changsheng look relieved, Fang Liangye’s heart stirred. He recalled the memories belonging to Chen Ling in his mind, and after a long while, he suddenly said:

"You guys have a really good relationship."

"Huh? What?"

"You and Heart."

Jian Changsheng was stunned. He scratched his head. "Is that so? Actually, I have that feeling too... Back in the Tian Shu Domain, I just felt like I had to come... Are we iron brothers?"

"No, you used to be enemies."

“？？？”

Fang Liangye was different from Chen Ling. Although he possessed Chen Ling’s memories, he wasn't as cold in his bones. Compared to Chen Ling, he was more willing to express his emotions directly.

He looked at himself in the reflection of the glass and spoke again.

"Heart is... truly pitiful." Fang Liangye paused for a moment. "Almost no one in this world can understand him, and no one can share his pain and confusion. He carries everything on his own... He is forcing himself to move forward, becoming dangerous, cunning, and cold."

"The only kindness this world has shown him is that he still has people he can trust... and you are one of them."

Fang Liangye’s tone was heavy. Perhaps only he knew how much heartache and pain those few words contained; they were a microcosm of the path Chen Ling had crawled through.

Chen Ling’s face surfaced in Jian Changsheng’s mind once again, and his heart felt as if it had been pricked by something, aching inexplicably.

He didn't know how to answer, so he just nodded silently:

"...Yeah."

Fang Liangye looked at him deeply, and seemingly without reason, spoke again:

"You all must live well."

Jian Changsheng looked at him blankly, not quite understanding. "You all?"

"You all." Fang Liangye pointed to his own chest. "Everyone whom Heart keeps in his heart."

"Why?"

Fang Liangye didn't continue the conversation. He simply walked quietly to a corner, sat down, and closed his eyes to rest.

Jian Changsheng was baffled and didn't press further. He just looked out the window, imitating Fang Liangye’s posture from a moment ago, and fell into deep thought...

Suddenly, he slapped his forehead.

"Holy crap, wait... I hid here, but what about those two??"

……

Wuji Domain.

Elsewhere.

Heaps of heavy soil were shoveled into the sky. In a deep pit, a figure dressed in a Tang suit was holding a shovel, sweating profusely as he dug downward.

"Damn it... did I really dig this deep back then?"

The pit was now about twenty meters deep. Sunlight couldn't reach the bottom, making it incredibly dim below... Sun Bumian leaned against the wall to rest for a moment, then took a deep breath and continued digging, shovel by shovel.

Sun Bumian had gone through the trouble of crossing so many domains to get here just for what was beneath this spot...

Nine boxes of gold bricks in total.

Over a thousand years and countless reincarnations, Sun Bumian had been poor, hungry, and afraid... So, in every life, he lived frugally, like a hamster, turning the wealth he earned from his hard work as a performer into gold bars and hiding them in one place.

Who says you can't take money to the grave?

For Sun Bumian, his money could not only be taken to the grave, but it could also be saved for his next life.

At first, Sun Bumian buried coins, but he soon discovered that they became worthless whenever dynasties changed, and paper money would simply dry out underground. The only currency that could circulate forever was gold.

This way, whenever he truly couldn't afford to eat, he could return here, dig up the ground, and take out a few gold bars to spend... This was his foundation!

Upon hearing the news that Wuji Domain was about to fall, Sun Bumian became extremely anxious. He worried that once fighting broke out here, his savings from several lifetimes would be in jeopardy, so he spared no effort to travel across mountains and rivers just to confirm their safety.

Time ticked by, and after an unknown amount of time, the edge of the shovel hit a hard object in the soil, emitting a soft clink.

Sun Bumian’s eyes lit up instantly!

He bent down and quickly brushed away the soil below, revealing several heavy, sealed iron boxes gradually exposed to the air.

Rather than iron boxes, they were more like oversized safes. These boxes looked as if they had been buried for many years, yet there were no obvious rust marks on their surfaces, and each one was incredibly heavy.

Sun Bumian slapped the surface of one of the boxes with force, and the heavy lid slowly opened...

The next moment, Sun Bumian let out a sharp, explosive shriek!