69: Chapter 69 The Death of Young Master Yin

[Simulation Year 2, April. According to clues from Dongying Temple, you begin your journey to find the Sixth Young Master, Qi Tao.]

[Simulation Year 2, late April. You leave the capital region. The prosperity along the way is gone. Everywhere you look, there are simple thatched huts where the impoverished commoners live. Under Qi Yuan's rule, the people live in hardship, struggling for survival. Seeing all this along the way, you want to do something to change the status quo, but you lack the ability at the moment.]

[Simulation Year 2, May 3rd. You arrive at a coastal county in the north and see a market selling live Jiao people for the first time. Jiao people are mermaids, but they are not beautiful; they have human faces and fish bodies, looking ugly. They are not human, but fish, capable of making strange cries. Their hair resembles seaweed, and their facial features resemble those of humans. Seeing the moment the Jiao people are skinned and deboned, and the Jiao pearls are removed, you feel this scene is cruel, somewhat like harvesting brains from live monkeys on Earth... yet the Martial Master protecting you watches with great interest.]

[Simulation Year 2, mid-June. You arrive at the Northern Frontier, where heavy snow seals the mountains, and the seasons are like winter all year round.]

[Simulation Year 2, July 11th. A sudden avalanche occurs on the snowy mountains of the Northern Frontier. The Martial Master accompanying you dies while trying to save you. You sadly bury him in the snow and continue on alone. The Martial Master was named Gao. He did not have a complicated life experience like Jing Ge; he was born into an ordinary Family of warriors, then drafted into the royal Family to serve as a guard, and had followed Prince Yin ever since.]

[Simulation Year 2, August. You cross the snowy mountains and see a vast, swampy area to the north that looks like a boundless ocean. It is said that this swamp is ten thousand miles in radius and impossible for anyone to cross. Without a guard, you are forced to turn back south.]

[Simulation Year 2, September. When you return to that coastal county, someone from the government office finds you and hands you a letter. The letter is from Crown Prince Qi Xiaobai. It says that he has now achieved a Breakthrough to the Martial Master Realm and is learning to contact his father's old subordinates. However, Prince Yin's health seems to be deteriorating; he is bedridden, and sometimes his breathing is barely perceptible...]

[Simulation Year 2, October. You arrive at the Great Forest in the west. As a Mortal, you cannot cross the Great Forest, which is infested with Yao Beasts, alone, so you hire a Great Martial Master as a guide and guard...]

[Simulation Year 2, October 10th. In the Great Forest in the west, you and the Great Martial Master guide encounter a Fifth-Rank Yao Beast, the Yuan-Devouring Beast. Seeing that he cannot win, the Great Martial Master abandons you and flees alone. But this time, you escape death; the Yao Beast seems to have no interest in you at all, instead chasing after the fleeing Great Martial Master. Later, you learn that this Yuan-Devouring Beast likes to devour the Primordial Spirit of warriors. It smelled a trace of a Primordial Spirit on the Great Martial Master, which is why it chased him, while you are a Mortal with no Primordial Spirit or True Qi Spiritual Root at all...]

[Simulation Year 2, November. You walk out of the Great Forest in the west, only to be greeted by the endless Great Desert in the west, and you are forced to turn southwest.]

[Simulation Year 2, late November. You arrive at the Ten Thousand Mountains in the Southern Frontier. The Southern Frontier is heavy with miasma. After inhaling the miasma, you become ill, breaking into cold sweats and unable to walk, until you collapse by the roadside... A kind-hearted native saves you and heals you with a folk remedy. After thanking the person, you continue your journey.]

[Simulation Year 2, December 8th. You accidentally fall into a deep karst cave. You thought you would die here, but unexpectedly, you meet the Sixth Young Master, Qi Tao, here!]

[You carefully compare him to the portrait in your hand. Although the Sixth Young Master has changed from a dashing, refined Young Master into a rough, bearded man, there is no mistake—this person must be the Sixth Young Master!]

[You explain your purpose. The Sixth Young Master sighs and tells you that he has not reached the Martial King Realm, nor is he a match for Qi Yuan.]

[Just as you are deeply disappointed, the Sixth Young Master tells you that in five years at most—give him another five years—he will be able to achieve a Breakthrough.]

"Then I will come to find you again in five years."

Su Fan marks the location of the Sixth Young Master on the map, intending to leave with his help.

At this moment, the Sixth Young Master suddenly frowns and says anxiously: "This is bad, the Fourth Royal Brother is going to die. I can sense it..."

The Sixth Young Master tells Su Fan to return to Zidu first. Once he achieves a Breakthrough to the Martial King Realm, he will return to the capital to seek revenge against Qi Yuan, and Su Fan will not need to find him.

Knowing that Prince Yin is about to die, Su Fan leaves that place and rides back to Zidu at full speed.

Zidu, Eastern Zidu Count's Mansion.

The mansion is filled with gloom, permeated with an oppressive atmosphere.

The moment Su Fan steps off the carriage, Crown Prince Qi Xiaobai is watching him from the doorway. But at this moment, the usually lively Crown Prince Qi Xiaobai seems to have become a taciturn little adult. He walks over with a cold expression and murmurs to him: "Did you know from the beginning that my father would not live past three years..."

His tone lacks inflection, carrying only a deep sense of sorrow.

"Master... has he passed?"

"Father... he... seven days ago... his Primordial Spirit dissipated almost entirely, with only the last sliver of consciousness remaining..."

Tears stream uncontrollably down Crown Prince Qi Xiaobai's face as he says intermittently: "Father... he... he could not... could not let go of his last breath... saying... he must see you..."

Hearing this, Su Fan uses all his strength to sprint into Prince Yin's bedroom.

In the room, there is no one attending, not even Jiang Ji, because Prince Yin did not want her to see him on his deathbed...

Seeing Su Fan push the door open, everyone rushes into the room together.

Everyone's face is more or less streaked with tears. Prince Yin treated people with kindness and generosity, and he treated his servants very well. Even when dismissing them, he would give them a large sum of money, which made them deeply grateful and very reluctant to let this Master leave just like that.

"Master!"

Su Fan comes to Prince Yin's bedside, looking at the face that has aged until it is full of wrinkles, and his eyes instantly turn red.

Although this man had regarded him merely as a slave from beginning to end, he had never beaten or scolded him. On the contrary, he valued him highly, gave him a lot of help, and if he hadn't followed Prince Yin, he might have already been mining in the Northern Frontier.

"You... have returned... I have waited for you... for... many... days..." Prince Yin's chapped lips move slowly, struggling to spit out each word.

Immediately, his gaze seems to carry a faint glimmer of light as he looks at Su Fan, wanting to ask something, but it is difficult for him to speak again.

Su Fan knows what he wants to ask, so he grips his aged, skin-and-bone hand tightly and nods to him: "Master, please rest assured! I found him! I found him! He needs another five years to achieve a Breakthrough!!"

"Five years... Xiaobai... also... should be grown up..."

A bitter smile appears on his chapped lips. Prince Yin grips Su Fan's hand tightly, as if using his last ounce of strength, and says: "Ugly Slave... are you... are you willing to be... to be my foster son?"

"Foster Father, please accept Ugly Slave's kowtow!"

Su Fan quickly kneels and kowtows once.

"Still... still... calling yourself Ugly Slave... how unpleasant... you should be called... be called... Qiqi... Qi..."

Prince Yin's voice is intermittent, his breath as thin as silk. One withered hand, having just raised a little, hangs down powerlessly...

"Qi Xunying!"

Su Fan looks at Prince Yin and shouts: "I will be called Qi Xunying from now on!"

"... Good... good..."

Prince Yin glances at the others once more. When looking at Jiang Ji, he reveals a helpless, bitter smile. He wants to say something, but in the end, it is too difficult to speak. He uses all his strength to wave his hand slowly...

Even Jiang Ji does not understand what this means. Su Fan immediately says: "All of you, leave!"

The servants disperse. Prince Yin points at Jiang Ji and Crown Prince Qi Xiaobai, then shakes his head...

Su Fan is slightly stunned, but still says: "Mistress and Young Master, please leave for a moment..."

Prince Yin nods. Jiang Ji, whose eyes are red and swollen from crying, is slightly startled but still takes Crown Prince Qi Xiaobai out of the room and closes the door.

Prince Yin moves his fingers again, seemingly having something to say. Su Fan has to lean his ear close.

Prince Yin whispers in his ear: "If... if my son is incompetent... you... you may replace him... do not... do not..."

This...!?

Su Fan is full of astonishment.

And at the very moment of his astonishment...

Prince Yin, who has not finished speaking, has his last sliver of consciousness dissipate completely, and he closes his eyes forever...

[Simulation Year 2, December 29th, the day before the New Year, Prince Yin passes away.]