189: entrust an orphan to someone else

Ten breaths later.

“Thump thump~”

The courtyard gate was knocked.

“Shopkeeper, it’s me. Are you home?”

Listening to the familiar, hoarse voice, a face flashed through Jiang Hanwen’s mind. It had been some time since he had seen the other person.

Hearing someone outside the door, the Little Tyrant’s blooming petals closed, returning to its bud-like form, and it submerged back into the water.

Jiang Hanwen opened the door, and Li Minzhong, who had been missing for a month, appeared before him.

A month ago, he was a robust, sunny man. Now, his eyes were sunken, his cheeks hollow, like a farmer who had starved for seven days and still had to work the fields, just skin and bones.

Next to Li Minzhong, besides his wife Huang Ying and the swaddled infant in her arms, stood a man with a three-foot green sword on his back.

This was the man Xia Zhijie had warned him about, the one they had met at the auction.

Although he wore a bamboo hat at the time and couldn't be seen clearly, the way he carried his sword and the sharp spiritual aura emanating from him, there was no mistake, it was him!

“What is this?” Jiang Hanwen looked at Li Minzhong in confusion, with no intention of inviting him inside.

“Thump!”

The couple both knelt down.

Li Minzhong stared straight at him:

“Shopkeeper, my wife and I, and Young Master Fang, need to leave for a while. It could be as short as ten days, or as long as a month.

It’s inconvenient to bring Nianchu with us, so we want to ask for your help to look after him.”

What a joke! Asking him to take care of a child? Where would his peaceful days go then?

Jiang Hanwen immediately shook his head:

“It’s not that I don’t want to help you, it’s that I can’t bear the responsibility for this favor.”

“Heh!”

A cold laugh rang out. The sword-backed man named Fang sneered, lazily saying:

“On the way here, he said the bookstore owner was his last living relative.

Now it seems, he’s nothing special.

True feelings are revealed in times of trouble. Some people talk a good game, but when it’s time to act, they always hide.”

Jiang Hanwen glanced at the sword-backed man without responding, his gaze returning to Li Minzhong’s blurry eyes.

“You know I don’t like trouble.

Take this child with you. Even giving him to an ordinary family would be better than giving him to me.”

“Get up. I knew you were a coward, not even daring to help look after a child.” The man named Fang continued to mock.

Huang Ying clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms, and she moved forward on her knees, holding the child.

“Shopkeeper Jiang, Minzhong’s family, they’re all dead. He’s the only one left.

Please!”

Huang Ying’s voice choked, and her head hit the ground with a thud.

They said it was for a few days, but who knew if it was for a few days, or a final entrustment?

Jiang Hanwen himself could sense the spiritual aura on others, so couldn't others find survivors through their Bloodline?

A child who was the sole heir carried even greater implications. If the mastermind behind the Li family’s troubles came knocking...

Would Jiang Hanwen accept or not?

He had no idea if the Li family had stirred up big trouble.

Even, taking a step back, and considering the worst of human nature...

If the person in front of him gave the child to him to use him as a shield for their retreat, wouldn't he become the most unjustly deceased immortal?

There was no way; he couldn't completely trust people!

“Take the child with you! I won’t take this child!”

Jiang Hanwen spoke decisively, half-closing the door, leaving only a half-open gap.

Li Minzhong knelt on the ground, silent. Huang Ying also knelt beside him, placing the child on the ground.

“Waa waa~ Waa waa~”

Seeing that his parents were unhappy, the child began to cry, his fair face flushed red, turbid tears rolling down his clear eyes, his hysterical sobs heartbreaking.

Jiang Hanwen raised one hand, and a layer of hazy water vapor transformed into a transparent bowl, enveloping the five people, preventing sound from escaping.

He looked at the three coldly:

“Li Minzhong, when your father was alive, he told you to Cultivate, but you refused and went against him.

After marriage, you weren’t even in the Qi Induction Realm, and you even had Huang Ying stop taking her Medicinal Pills to give to you.

Now that your family is in trouble, you’re completely helpless. You haven’t fulfilled your filial duty as a son, nor your responsibility as a husband.

Now, in desperation, you’re throwing the child at me, not even capable of being a father.

I see that this trip of yours is nothing more than taking Huang Ying to her death.

When your father was alive, he was right to tell you to associate less with people like me.

I never considered you a friend. I only wanted to use your connections to gather information. Now, you have no more use. Take your brat and get out.”

The crying continued. Li Minzhong looked at Jiang Hanwen in disbelief, stunned.

He hadn't expected such heart-wrenching words to come from Shopkeeper Jiang’s mouth.

His heart ached, as if a knife had been plunged in and was violently twisting.

“Can you honestly say that you never considered me a friend?!” Li Minzhong didn’t believe it. He felt it was an excuse to deliberately force him away.

They used to be so close, drinking tea and wine together, joking and having fun, even attending poetry gatherings together.

“Whoosh whoosh whoosh!”

Clang!

Three darts shot towards the child on the ground were deflected by the sword-backed man nearby.

The powerful impact made the man squint. This wasn’t an act; he genuinely wanted to kill the child!

“Nianchu!”

Huang Ying reacted, lunging towards her child, scooping him into her arms, looking at Jiang Hanwen in terror.

Li Minzhong was dumbfounded. He acted—to kill his own son!

“Heh~”

After a cold laugh, Li Minzhong stood up, letting out a wild, deranged laugh:

“Hahahaha~ I’m truly useless~ Hahahahaha!”

“Slap!” Huang Ying stood up, holding the child, and slapped her husband hard across the face, saying coldly:

“This is the relative you chose!”

A sharp, floating ice crystal appeared in Jiang Hanwen’s hand, his expression as cold as ever:

“Get out, don’t make me use force.”

The sword-backed man, who had used provocation upon entering, glanced at Jiang Hanwen dismissively and patted Li Minzhong’s shoulder:

“Let’s go. I’ll figure something out for you.

A month’s time, it’s nothing major.”

Li Minzhong awoke from his daze, looking at Jiang Hanwen coldly. With a tearing sound, he cut the fabric from his waist, and a palm-sized piece of dark blue brocade floated up.

“Jiang Liu, I was blind before. From today on, our ties are broken!”

“Thank you, you useless person, for letting go.” Jiang Hanwen removed the soundproof water shield, his palm turning over.

“Please!”

The three, with the child, climbed over the wall and left. Before leaving, a sharp Sword Qi sliced through a tile, leaving a foot-deep black cut in the wall.

Thirty breaths later, a layer of black light enveloped Jiang Hanwen.

He moved silently through the shadows, making not a single sound, following the direction the three had departed.

After walking east for a hundred breaths, Jiang Hanwen stopped. The three darts he had thrown were laced with medicine, and their scent wouldn't dissipate for an hour.

At the corner of the wall, the scent changed direction.

South, then west, and finally north, Jiang Hanwen followed the scent to a location completely opposite to their initial escape direction.

He was very patient, not rushing, but hiding in the shadows, following the scent all the way.

The further he walked, the fainter the scent became, until finally, it disappeared about five hundred meters from the city gate.

Here, he could already see the thirty-foot-high majestic city walls. Long-burning lamps shone brightly on the walls, and Xunwu Guards, in teams of four with long halberds, moved past the uneven wall openings, casting long shadows in the light.

Did they take the child with them?

Jiang Hanwen stood in the shadows.

To be entrusted with the child, yet he had said such words—it must have been very hurtful, right?

But there was no other way. Without it, Li Minzhong might have knelt until dawn, and then it would have been even harder to handle.

Entrusting a child was the greatest trust between men.

For Jiang Hanwen, this deep bond, this entrustment, was no longer a simple favor.

He was certainly not a good person to entrust a child to.

Turning around, Jiang Hanwen did not go home. Instead, he retraced his steps, meticulously checking each house.

Making such a wide detour was definitely not to leave through the west gate.

He Cultivated during the day and followed the route at night.

After half a month, checking over two thousand households, Jiang Hanwen finally saw the little one again in a slightly spacious house.

Round-headed and round-faced, with two long, slender eyebrows seven-tenths similar to his mother’s.

The homeowner seemed well-off. Besides the main house, the small courtyard had two other small rooms and a guard dog.

Having confirmed the room, Jiang Hanwen breathed a sigh of relief, like a ship in a storm finding its mooring post, his anxious heart settling down.

He wasn't a machine, and trust was reciprocal. Li Minzhong trusted him, and he, too, had feelings for the boy.

Speaking of which, Li Nianchu’s existence in this world was partly due to him.

Otherwise, with Li Minzhong’s introverted personality, without a harsh push, would he have actively sought out Huang Ying?

However, immortality was like a red thread, forcing Jiang Hanwen to restrain his emotions.

This thread constantly reminded him not to be foolish, not to be impulsive, to be cautious, and to plan every step carefully.

Though he had gained immortality, the path to it was not smooth, and he still had many problems to solve.

“Little one, you must be well. Your parents will be back in just half a month.” Jiang Hanwen murmured softly as he left… The next day, Jiang Hanwen arrived at the teahouse. He was preparing to assign Xia Zhijie his second task.

He had just walked into the backyard.

“Chirp chirp chirp~ Little Huang, come eat~”

An eager greeting came through the courtyard gate. Through the half-open door, he saw a strong figure squatting on the ground, waving to a fluffy ball in the distance.

“Crunch~”

The sound of crushed leaves was like a gunshot. The squatting man instantly sprang up, glaring warily.

“Shopkeeper!” Xia Zhijie gripped the dagger at his waist, surprised.

“It seems you’re quite fond of this little one.” Jiang Hanwen said, pushing the door open.

Xia Zhijie’s cheeks were slightly red, feeling shy. He had only remembered to get food for Little Huang and had forgotten to close the door.

“Woof woof woof!”

The three-and-a-half-month-old pup rushed over, leaning against Xia Zhijie, barking at Jiang Hanwen, fierce in a cute way.

“Stop barking!” Xia Zhijie roared. The pup froze for a moment, as if saying, you’re yelling at me for him?

Little Huang whimpered, stopped barking, and scurried back to his little nest.

“Shopkeeper, where have you been these past few days?

If you hadn’t come, I would have used a sound transmission talisman!” Xia Zhijie said seriously.

Jiang Hanwen had forgotten. Ever since Xia Zhijie and that girl Zheng Yunxu left, no one dared to knock on his courtyard door anymore.

He Cultivated during the day and went out at night.

Xia Zhijie’s current identity made it inconvenient for him to go to the backyard, so it was no wonder he couldn't find him.

Xia Zhijie looked at him seriously: “You still remember Black Wind Martial Hall, right!”

“I remember. What about it?” he asked.