Chapter One: Heaven's First Floor

  "It's you..." Shen Shi's eyes involuntarily glanced over the old carman's shoulder, but only saw emptiness around him, without any other figure in sight, let alone the person he had been waiting for.

  The withered old man turned his neck, making a strange creaking sound like the rusty joints of many years, and then said in a hoarse voice: "Follow me, Young Master Shen."

  Shen Shi's pupils contracted slightly, staring at him silently for a moment, then asked, "Where are you going?" He paused for a moment, and couldn't help but ask another question, "Where is Uncle?"

  "Big uncle?" The old cart driver furrowed his brow, then reacted and let out a strange laugh, looking at Shen Shi with an amused expression, saying, "You're referring to that butcher? Heh heh, looks like you have a good relationship with him. You'll understand when we arrive."

  Shen Shi remained silent, and the old cart driver also stopped bothering him, turned around and left. Shen Shi hesitated for a moment, but finally slowly walked out of the door, following behind the gaunt old man.

  This courtyard is not big, only two rooms, Shen Shi followed the old man and soon left the inner yard, back to where they came from. The horse carriage that had been parked for ten days was still in the yard, along with the thin horse, but the old driver had already unloaded the carriage from the horse's back and placed it on one side of the yard.

  The thin horse heard the footsteps, turned its head and looked over, saw the old carman's figure, showed a few points of intimacy, came forward and rubbed his arm with his head, while continuously chewing something in his mouth, as if eating food.

  The old groom chuckled and patted the thin horse's head with his hand, then turned to Shen Shi and said: "Young Master Shen, please go to that house over there and wait for a moment, I have something to show you."

  Shen Shi followed his gaze and saw that it was a room on the west side of the courtyard, but unlike the other bright houses, this one had its doors and windows tightly closed. Shen Shi's heart skipped a beat for no reason, and he said, "What do you want to show me?"

  The old man didn't say anything else, he just looked at him deeply.

  Shen Shi's whole body suddenly felt a chill from that one glance, as if a basin of cold water had been poured over his head, and he even had the illusion of feeling a creeping sense of dread. Unconsciously, he took a step back. In his twelve years of life, he had never been stared at with such an eye, which was icy cold with indifference and cruelty, as if what it saw was not a human being. However, what was even more eerie was that after Shen Shi's initial shock and fear, he somehow felt a faint sense of familiarity with this gaze, as if he had seen this kind of look somewhere before.

  A moment later, the thin horse that had been standing beside the old man seemed to have sensed something as well. It turned its head towards Shen Shi, and when Shen Shi's gaze fell upon the horse's head, his heart skipped a beat once more. Clearly visible were the horse's eyes, which were utterly different from those of ordinary horses, displaying an eerie blood-red color that made it look like a ferocious beast.

  The eerie and gloomy scene before his eyes was like a huge mountain weighing heavily on Shen Shi's heart, almost making him feel suffocated. He involuntarily turned around and slowly walked towards the tightly closed door, step by step.

  Behind him, the gaunt old carter's eyes slowly narrowed, a cruel and cold smile spreading from the corners of his mouth. At the same time, his right hand reached into his waistband, and a flash of light suddenly appeared, revealing a strangely shaped half-blade knife, curved like a crescent moon, resembling a sickle, looking razor-sharp.

  The thin horse standing beside him seemed to suddenly become excited, let out a loud snort, and jumped up and down in place.

  Shen Shi heard some noise behind him, and although he had only taken a few steps, the inexplicable pressure and almost bursting fear made his whole body break out in cold sweat. For a moment, he sincerely hoped that the door was far away in the sky and he would never have to walk up to it, but the yard was only so big, and this path was only so short.

  A moment later, he was standing in front of this tightly closed door.

  He stopped in his tracks, slowly raised his hand to push open the door, but when his hand was halfway up, it suddenly froze. At that moment, he, who was only a few inches away from the door, suddenly smelled a faintly unusual scent.

  He was no stranger to this smell.

  In recent years, in a quiet alley in Xilu City, Yin Province, he often came into contact with and smelled this breath.

  That's bloody!

  Faintly, bloody smell.

  It was at this moment that he suddenly remembered why he had felt that the old man's sinister gaze seemed familiar, because he had indeed seen it before, in these years, in the small courtyard of Xilu City, when the butcher slaughtered those fat pigs with a knife, it was the same gaze...

  His hand slowly fell down, and his heart was like falling into a bottomless abyss, sinking all the way down.

  The atmosphere in this small courtyard seemed to be freezing and suffocating at this moment, only the thin horse looked more excited, its eyes blood-red, staring fixedly at Shen Shi's back, its hooves constantly scratching the ground, as if it would rush over at any moment, without a hint of its usual gentle and obedient appearance, just like those ferocious beasts in the wild mountains.

  And beside him, the old car husband's face became more and more ferocious, his right hand slowly pulled out that sharp and strange knife blade, which was about to reveal its entire body.

  Just at this critical moment, a tall and majestic figure suddenly appeared behind the old man, as if blocking out the light from the sky, casting a shadow over the old carman.

  A steady and powerful big hand grasped the old coachman's right hand, as firm as a rock.

  The old man's face sank slightly, and his eyes narrowed.

  A surge of power came from that big hand, slowly pushing the knife blade back under the old man's collar. The old man's mouth twitched slightly, a hint of ferocity flashing in his eyes, but seemingly thinking better of it, he took a deep breath and ultimately did not counterattack.

  The tall figure walked slowly in front of him, it was the butcher who had been gone for a long time.

  The old butcher slowly raised his head, staring at the slaughterer, with a hint of resentment and venom in his eyes. The slaughterer, however, showed no fear, gazing back at him coldly, without any intention of backing down.

  By the old carter's side, the lean horse, which had apparently sensed hostility, had already shifted its attention back from Shen Shi and let out a low snort, with a hint of ferocity, staring at the butcher.

  The butcher suddenly slapped him with a loud slap.

  The big hand lifted a sharp whistle in mid-air, like lightning, before the thin horse could react, it had already heavily hit the horse's head. With a "slap" sound, the thin horse's entire body was knocked into the air and flew out, accompanied by a mournful cry. It flew over half of the courtyard, with a "crash" sound, heavily hitting a white wall, then fell down again.

  "Ee-ee-ah...!" A few strange and muffled wails came from the thin horse's mouth at the corner of the wall, and the old carman's face changed greatly as he stepped forward fiercely.

  The butcher looked at him coldly, without saying a word.

  The old man glared at him for a long time, then suddenly let out a cold laugh and said in a hoarse voice: "You're ruthless."

  Having said that, he actually turned around and walked towards the corner of the wall to take a look at the thin horse.

  The atmosphere in the yard relaxed gradually as the old butcher turned and left, when the butcher turned around, what he saw was Shen Shi who also turned around to look at him, along with the pale face of the young boy.

  The butcher walked slowly over and stood in front of Shen Shi.

  Shen Shi opened his mouth, but found that his throat was extremely dry. After a while, he only called out in a low voice: "Uncle..."

  The butcher nodded, gazing at the young man in front of him, and after a moment of silence, said: "That thing..."

  Shen Shi suddenly lifted his head, his heart seemed to have been lifted up all at once, and he stared unwaveringly at the butcher.

  The butcher looked at Shen Shi's expectant gaze, paused for a moment, nodded and said in a low voice:

  "It's done."

  Shen Shi was stunned for a moment, and suddenly his body softened, stumbling almost to the point of falling down. Fortunately, the butcher's eyes were bright and his hands were quick, and he grabbed hold of him. As soon as he touched Shen Shi's hand, the butcher couldn't help but wrinkle his brow, discovering that Shen Shi's palm was actually sweating, while the space between his fingers was icy cold.

  Although it was just that, but after hearing the news, Shen Shi seemed to have finally put down a heavy burden of a thousand pounds, and his whole person in a state as if he had fainted, yet completely relaxed, letting out a long breath, a rare smile finally appeared on his face.

  Perhaps influenced by his smile, the butcher's solemn face also cleared up a bit, nodded and said: "Alright, things are over now, let's go."

  Shen Shi nodded heavily.

  When the butcher took Shen Shi out of the gate, unlike when they came, the old carter and his carriage with a thin horse did not follow. And when Shen Shi stepped out of the gate, he also subconsciously looked back, his gaze was far away, looking at that house with closed doors and windows.

  In the warm sunlight, that house seemed to coldly reject all light, hiding darkness within and standing alone in solitude.

  That faint scent of blood, here has become almost imperceptible, but for Shen Shi, the breath from not long ago was as if it had already clung to his body, lingering on and on, the tip of his nose seeming to still smell that bloody air.

  If the butcher doesn't come back in time...

  If he really pushed open that door...

  What else is waiting for him?

  Shen Shi took a deep breath, shook his head violently, and threw away the thoughts in his mind. Then he turned around and followed Tu Fu's side, walking away from the mansion with big strides.

  Walking back onto the main street, the sounds of people grew louder, giving Shen Shi a feeling as if he had returned to the world of humans. Everything seemed different from before, everything looked so beautiful.

  "Uncle, where are we going now?" he asked the butcher.

  The butcher thought for a moment, then said: "We'll go to the southern coastal state of Hai Zhou, to the shores of the Cang Hai Sea. As previously agreed, we'll send you to Mount Jin Hong and have you join the Ling Xiao Sect."

  Jin Hong Mountain, Ling Xiao Sect!

  Shen Shi clenched his fist, and the hourglass in his palm gave him a solid and steady feeling. He raised his head, smiled slightly, and said:

  "Alright!"

  This day was March 15th, and it was a time of bright spring light.

  In Tonghe City of Lanzhou, young Shen Shi is about to embark on his journey.

  The road ahead is vast and endless, but at this moment, every step of the way seems to promise a unique beauty and loveliness.

  What will the future be like? Who knows?