Chapter 32 – True Identity (Part 4)

"Xia Hei? The black market big boss, Xia Hei?" Gu Sheng jumped up from his seat as he exclaimed in shock.

Zheng Qing Yao, who was sitting calmly right opposite of him nodded in affirmation.

Gu Sheng immediately frowned in disapproval, "No, Qing Yao. Do not touch this muddy water. I do not care what trouble this will bring to your sister, but this is for your own sake. Xia Hei is not someone you want to mess with."

"I am not trying to find any trouble with Xia Hei. I just need the antidote."

Gu Sheng banged his fist on the table as he continued to argue, "You barely knew her! And now Xia Hei is going after her! This is insane, Qing Yao!"

To his dismay, Zheng Qing Yao returned his argument with a resolute look. Desperate to get his point into his friend's thick skull, he turned to Mu Yin for help. Unfortunately, she was too focused on her current task to say anything.

"Am I the only voice of reason here?" Gu Sheng asked annoyedly, "Mu Yin, why aren't you saying anything? You know what kind of person Xia Hei is. You should help me to talk him out of this!"

Loyal to a fault, Mu Yin curtly replied without even looking up from the piece of paper that she was drawing on. "He has made his decision."

Gu Sheng harrumphed in disbelief at her response. Seeing his reluctance, Zheng Qing Yao continued to reason with him, "Please Gu Sheng. You are the only one I can ask for help now. She doesn't have much time left."

Zheng Qing Yao was very persistent, and however unwilling he was, Gu Sheng knew he could not completely reject his friend's request.

"You know the black market very well, and you have connection with the pugilist world. You are the only person I can entrust this to."

The hopeful eyes kept staring at him, making Gu Sheng unable to refuse anymore, so he finally gave in and replied grudgingly, "Fine! I'll see what I can do!"

Crossing his arms, Gu Sheng paced forth and back in contemplation, but was interrupted when Mu Yin placed her brush down and announced, "It's done."

Both Gu Sheng and Zheng Qing Yao walked over to the desk to look at the drawing. The colour of Gu Sheng's face drained as soon as he saw the unique symbol drawn on the white piece of paper. He looked toward Zheng Qing Yao in disbelief. "What is this?"

Seeing the look on Gu Sheng, Zheng Qing Yao had a hunch that he recognized the symbol. He asked urgently, "You have seen this symbol before? This is the marking Mu Yin saw on Meng Yu's back."

Gu Sheng's eyes darkened, and his expression turned somber. He whirled around abruptly and marched out of the study room. His hand reached toward the iron chain dangling around his waist. Sensing his murderous energy, Mu Yin quickly chased after him. She grabbed onto his shoulder and snapped, "Gu Sheng, what is it?"

Gu Sheng glared at her with grave expression as he tightened his hand on the iron chain dangerously. He growled angrily, "Mu Yin, you all have no idea what kind of person you have brought into the manor! I must get rid of her immediately!"

"What are you talking about?" Mu Yin cried as he shook her hands off and continued to stomp off towards Meng Yu's room. Zheng Qing Yao felt a sense of urgency as he quickly stepped out of the study, "Gu Sheng, stop right there!"

However, Gu Sheng did not stop. Instead, he increased his pace decisively. Zheng Qing Yao felt a surge of complicated emotions as he immediately raised his voice and commanded sternly, "Gu Sheng, stop right there. This is an order!"

Mu Yin looked back at Zheng Qing Yao in surprise. It had been a long time since she had last seen him being so imposing. It was so long that even she had forgotten that this young man had a side of him that he kept hidden from the outside world for so many years. No matter how hard he tried to deny his birth right, he would always have it in him, as the rightful leader of the Zheng clan.

Taking a deep breath, Gu Sheng slowly turned around. He no longer had the killing intent in him as he eyed Zheng Qing Yao silently. It seemed that Zheng Qing Yao's outburst had snapped him out of it. Back to his composed demeanour, Zheng Qing Yao strode out of the study and stopped in front of Gu Sheng. He asked calmly, but with a hint of authority, "Where have you seen this symbol before?"

Gu Sheng sighed as he replied hesitantly, "Five years ago… when I was with the mercenaries. We were contracted by the Yin army to infiltrate the Mo Empire."

"Five years ago? Mercenaries? This is what you have been doing after you left?" Mu Yin asked in surprise.

Gu Sheng glanced at Mu Yin ruefully as he jokingly said, "Well, I did a lot of things after I left the capital. This is just one of it."

"Five years ago. It was the mission to extract the Jing Clan out from Mo Empire?" Zheng Qing Yao asked placidly.

Gu Sheng nodded reluctantly, as he continued, "Yes. It was when Jing Clan sent an emergency request for help because the Scarlet Emperor was planning to massacre them. Yin army could not get into the Mo Empire, so they had us, the mercenaries to infiltrate and help them out."

There was a moment of pause as Gu Sheng expression became twisted. He began to recall the painful and horrifying memories. It was as if everything had happened yesterday, when the cries of agony echoed nonstop in his ears, piles of dead bodies lying on the bloodstained ground, and the sickening stench of blood assaulted his nostril. He took a deep breath to recollect himself, before speaking again.

"I have been through many battles, but not something like that. That… was like hell being unleashed. A crazy bloodbath with the Mo armies. I have no idea what Jing Yun Sheng did, but the Scarlet Emperor was dead set to annihilate him and his clan. But Jing Yun Sheng-"

Gu Sheng halted in the middle of his speech as he thought of Jing Yun Sheng. Brows knitted tightly, he shook his head and continued, "Jing Yun Sheng is another crazy fellow, I would say. But that is not important. For me, I will never forget that day… that very day when I laid eyes upon the devil himself."

Gu Sheng could still clearly remember that very day. It was scorching hot and the sun was high up in the sky. He was barely catching his breath as he ran across the piles of bodies in the middle of battlefield, looking around desperately. Looking for the one person he was tasked to protect. Glancing up, he saw that perfectly placid gentleman standing high on the top of the wall. A lotus jade pendant was hanging by his waistbelt, as he stood tall with his hands clasped behind his back. His pale blue robe fluttered in the wind as he gazed calmly into the distant. The scene was just too bizarre for Gu Sheng to take in.

Why did he stand up there?

Gu Sheng was fuming in anger, as he rushed up the wall toward Jing Yun Sheng. Knowing full well that he was the one being hunted down, yet he stood fearlessly at the most visible place, completely defenceless. It was as if he was waiting to be seen by his hunter. Gu Sheng kept yelling at the top of his lung, yet Jing Yun Sheng did not seem to hear him, or perhaps he did, but he choose to ignore his warning.

Somehow, Gu Sheng remembered very well the expression on Jing Yun Sheng's face as he ran toward him, because he did not understand how a man could be so calm in the face of death. Even he himself was not sure if they could make it out alive that day, but that man was completely unfathomably composed. Gu Sheng almost reached him when he saw Jing Yun Sheng lips curled slightly into an ambiguous smile. The pair of lucid eyes suddenly glimmered with an indescribable childlike excitement. It appears that what he had been waiting for had finally arrived.

Following his eyesight, Gu Sheng turned toward the direction Jing Yun Sheng was looking at. Even though it was just a glimpse, it was etched deeply into Gu Sheng's memory. He was riding on his mighty stallion, charging forward fearlessly. The steel armour on his body was completely drenched in blood. That person wore a mask, but he exuded an extremely fearsome aura with just his gaze alone. There was no compassion nor emotion in those pair of eyes - it was like staring into the death's eyes itself. As the rider blazed across the battlefield like a storm, the opponents in his way were all slaughtered mercilessly. It was during that moment of chaos that Gu Sheng caught sight of the unique symbol. It was engraved on the long sword held firmly in the Scarlet Emperor's hand. It was the legendary Devil's Hand.

Snapping out of his flashback, Gu Sheng gritted his teeth and said in a low voice, "Qing Yao, I will never ever forget that symbol. That is the symbol of the Mo clan!"