6kv Chapter 41: Qingyang Revisited, Seeking the Truth
Chapter 41: Qingyang Revisited, Seeking the Truth
"Thirty years... thirty years! A full thirty years!" Li Mo's voice trembled, like a traveler who had groped in the dark for too long and finally saw the light. "Senior brother has been setting up this scheme for thirty years, and finally, he's waited for you! Finally... he's here!"
His shoulders were shaking violently, his hands gripping the counter as if supporting his body, which seemed poised to collapse at any moment. Lin Chen didn't disturb him, but simply stood there quietly, the silver starlight in his palms still shining, as if giving the old man a silent answer.
After a long while, Li Mo finally calmed down. He wiped his face with his sleeve, his hands still trembling slightly. He walked unsteadily from behind the counter, bent down to pick up the laundry detergent that had fallen on the floor, put it back on the shelf, and then took a clean glass from the drawer under the counter and poured Lin Chen a glass of water. Although his hands were shaking, the motion of pouring water was very steady—it was an action that had been repeated countless times over thirty years and had been etched into his muscle memory.
"Sit down, sit down and talk." Li Mo moved an old wooden chair over, wiped the dust off the surface with his sleeve, and gestured for Lin Chen to sit down. He himself sat back down in the old rattan chair behind the counter. The rattan of that chair was a bit loose, and it creaked when he sat on it, clearly indicating that it had been with him for many years.
He slowly recounted the whole truth of the past thirty years. He remembered every time point, every name, and every detail clearly, as if those events had not happened thirty years ago, but yesterday.
"Thirty years ago, my senior brother and I were both students at Qingyang No. 3 Middle School. We were both eighteen years old that year, full of youthful vigor, thinking that we would become the strongest martial artists in the future." Li Mo's voice was low and slow, as if it were a memory retrieved from the depths of time. "My senior brother's talent was much better than mine. His cultivation speed was three times that of his peers, but his temperament and character were even more outstanding than his talent."
"That summer, the old school building was being renovated, and my senior brother and I discovered a hidden chamber in the basement. Inside was the cenotaph of the first Martial Emperor—there were no remains, only a neatly folded robe, a broken sword, and a stone box sealed with star power. As soon as my senior brother's hand touched the stone box, the seal automatically broke as if it recognized him. Inside was the book, 'The Basic Star Martial Arts Manual'."
"We spent three days studying the contents of the boxing manual. The more we read, the more alarmed we became—it turns out that what's sealed beneath Qingyang City isn't an ordinary evil clan lair, but the main force's lair! In the great war a thousand years ago, the first Martial Emperor used himself as the core of the formation, suppressing the most elite main force of the evil clan deep underground. The critical point of the seal appears every three hundred years, and the third critical point will occur 1000 years after the spiritual energy revives—that is, in half a year—and it will also be the time when the seal is most vulnerable."
Li Mo paused here, picked up the enamel mug in front of him, and took a sip of water. The enamel mug was printed with the words "Labor is the most glorious," and several pieces of enamel had been chipped off the inside, revealing the black iron base underneath.
"Just as we were preparing to hand over the boxing manual to the Su family—the most reliable martial arts family in Qingyang City—Wang Xiaotian found us. At the time, he was the vice president of the Qingyang City Martial Arts Association, holding a high position and seemingly upright. None of us expected that he had already sided with the evil race. He wanted to steal the boxing manual, find a way to break the seal, open it at the critical point, and release the main force of the evil race underground."
"After we rejected him, he dropped his pretense and, with a minor leader of the evil race and Wang family assassins, ambushed us in the abandoned factory area in the west of the city. In that battle, my senior brother told me to take the Fist Manual and leave first, while he covered our retreat. I carried the Fist Manual and ran all the way back to school. By the time I arrived with my teacher and the Su family..." Li Mo's voice choked up again, and his eyes reddened. "My senior brother was already severely injured, covered in blood, and could barely stand, but he still used his last breath to kill that minor leader of the evil race. Wang Xiaotian escaped in the chaos, and all my meridians were broken by Wang Xiaotian's men, and my cultivation was completely destroyed. I was only eighteen years old that year, eighteen years old! An eighteen-year-old boy, overnight, went from a genius with the potential to break through to the Human Martial Realm to a cripple."
Lin Chen listened in silence, without picking up his water glass.
"Later, my senior brother was poisoned by the evil race's bone-corroding poison, and all his true energy was corroded, making it impossible for him to cultivate anymore. But he didn't give up. He used all his savings to help me take over this general store in the south of the city, so that I could live in anonymity and wait for you." Li Mo's gaze slowly swept over the small, dimly lit shop. "He donated the boxing manual to the provincial key ancient book museum and used star power to set up a triple seal—only those who inherit the Star Martial legacy can open it."
"In the following years, he infiltrated the Northwest Forest Area three times, each time facing near-death experiences. He drew a map of the evil formation's distribution, marking each key point of the Twelve Capital Heavenly Fiend Formation set up by the Wang family and the method to break it. Twenty-three years ago, the seal leaked, triggering a beast tide, with countless ferocious beasts rushing from the Northwest Forest Area towards Qingyang City. Senior Brother could have left; with his strength and wisdom, he could have easily survived. But he didn't. He detonated his own Star Power Source, perishing together with the Beast King, sacrificing his life to temporarily stabilize the seal and secure another twenty-three years of peace for Qingyang City."
When Li Mo spoke these words, his voice became calm, a calmness that was even more heartbreaking. It was a calm that came from having endured so much suffering and waiting, a calmness that had settled all the grief deep within his heart.
"Before he died, he wrote a third blood letter, calculating everything—the third critical point in six months, the martial arts association would definitely organize martial artists to reinforce the seal, and the provincial key joint training would definitely be held in Qingyang City. He had already planned everything out."
"For the past thirty years, I've sat behind the counter of this general store every day, watching people come and go, wondering when the person who will inherit the Star Martial Arts legacy will finally arrive. Will I be able to wait until that day? I'm afraid that if I die, no one will be able to give you this evidence. I'm afraid that if I die, the secret that my senior brother risked his life to protect will be lost forever."
At this point, Li Mo finally broke down. He braced his hands on the counter, his knuckles turning white from the effort, and collapsed onto the counter, his shoulders shaking violently, tears streaming down his face. Thirty years of loneliness, thirty years of waiting, thirty years of walking on thin ice—all of it melted into tears at this moment.
Lin Chen listened, a deep respect rising within him, a surge of emotion welling up in his chest. Chen Feng—the senior he had never met—had used the last five years of his life to lay the groundwork for Qingyang City and for humanity, a scheme that would last thirty years. The moment he detonated his Star Power Origin, he wasn't thinking of his own life or death, but of the safety of this city, and of the person who might appear thirty years later. And Li Mo, for thirty years, had waited in solitude, guarding this secret that concerned the survival of his race. Every day, sitting behind that counter, watching time pass, watching his black hair turn white, he held only one belief in his heart—to wait, he must wait.
"Mr. Li, please rest assured." Lin Chen stood up, walked to the counter, looked into Li Mo's eyes with unwavering determination, and every word was filled with power. "I will definitely inherit the legacy of the first Martial Emperor and Senior Chen Feng, strengthen the Demon-Suppressing Array, and protect Qingyang City. I will definitely expose the Wang family's crimes and make them pay for their crimes in blood! Senior Chen Feng's blood will not be shed in vain, and your thirty years of waiting will not be in vain."