Chapter 33: The Cause of Kōjō's Death

  New Year's Day, Kang Cheng's uncle, looking at him I thought of Kang Cheng.

  Kangsheng, a boy with a heart of glass, recognized a boy who would give everything for him.

  My current situation is all because of Kang Cheng, it's not an exaggeration to say that. If he hadn't insisted on giving me the family heirloom 'Jade Symbol' back then, I wouldn't have been hunted down and ended up in this mess. To say that I don't resent him at all would be a lie.

  But it's too late now, what can I do? Moreover, the fact that Kang Cheng died and still came to warn me is enough to show his intention.

  Since things have already happened and can't go back to the way they were before, why not put down the hatred in your heart and accept everything.

  As I thought of this, the confusion and shock in my eyes dissipated, and I calmly looked at the tall man in front of me and said "Hello, may I ask what's going on?"

  "I came to talk to you about the cause of Kang Cheng's death and what he left behind." Hsin Tian replied calmly, but the calm gaze of the person in front of him made his heart skip a beat. Maybe everything on the file was wrong.

  "Come on in, you have a lot of questions and so do I. Let's see what information we can bring to each other." As for the cause of Kang Cheng's death, I had wanted to investigate it long ago, but I never had the time or ability. Now that someone from the Kang family has arrived, it couldn't be better. Moreover, this new person doesn't seem like a simple character at all. On this point, I trust my intuition.

  "Oh, since you also have doubts, that's even better. You're the most trusted person in Gangcheng, so tell me."

  "Don't move, I do have doubts, but you need to prove that you're Uncle Kang first. If you're real, you should know my situation; if you're fake, then you should know even more." Xīn Tiān's face was calm and composed, but I wasn't reassured at all. As he sat down, I 'accidentally' pulled out the handgun Lan Jie had left me and pointed it at him.

  "Hehe, young man is still quite vigilant, not bad. Come on, you want to see the evidence? This is our family photo, taken when Kang Cheng was a kid. But my appearance hasn't changed much." Xīn Tiān didn't show any fear at all, instead he smiled and took out an old yellowed photo from his wallet, and even removed his sunglasses.

  "Hmph, just a photo, now that technology is so advanced, what's the big deal?" I snorted, and indeed there was this person in the picture, but I still wasn't at ease.

  "Still not reassured?" Xīn Tiān was somewhat displeased, but still patiently said "Then I'll tell you about our Kāng family's affairs. Our Kāng family has been landlords for several generations. My father had two sons, me and Kāng Chéng's father. My older brother is honest and simple-minded, never leaving the county town his whole life, only knowing how to farm. So, Kāng Chéng's mother divorced my older brother when he was very young and went out to make a fortune, earning quite a bit of money. She wanted to take Kāng Chéng back from our hometown, but that didn't succeed. After that, Kāng Chéng became somewhat melancholic, and I also got stimulated by that incident, dropping out of school to work hard. Now, I've achieved something. How's that? Did I say it right? Do you want me to reveal more secrets about our family?"

  "What do you mean? How am I supposed to know if what you're saying is true?" I frowned, what was this New Heaven talking about? I couldn't understand.

  I was puzzled, but Hua Xin Tian saw my expression and became even more puzzled, saying "You don't know? That's impossible, Kang Cheng clearly wrote in his diary that he told you everything"

  "What's that thing, does Kang Cheng keep a diary? I didn't know. And what did he say to me again? Family... damn, I don't remember."

  "Maybe I didn't notice, but I really don't know what's going on with your family. Never mind, I also care about the truth now, let's talk about Kang Cheng's cause of death first."

  Let's not worry about whether it's true or false for now, let's just get some words out first.

  "Alright, I'll ask you first. On the day of Kang Cheng's death, did you see him? Who else did he see? Did he leave any message for you?" asked Xin Tian.

  "No, the last time I saw him was the day before my graduation, which was also the day before his accident. I told him that I was leaving and graduating, and he said he would see me off. The next day when I went to visit him, he had already passed away. But what's strange is that I saw him in front of his dormitory building, and he asked me to throw away the 'jade' pendant he gave me, saying it was a source of disaster. That's all.

  I tried my best to recall the scene from that day, but there's really nothing left. The only thing I'm hiding is what Lin Kaiyuan told me two days ago, about letting Kang Cheng and Li Mingxue come find me at the same time."

  "After death, you can't see, do you know that five days ago, which was Kang Cheng's seventh day, we didn't even summon his soul, how could you have seen Kang Cheng's spirit?" Hua Xin Tian shouted excitedly.

  This is still a heart-wrenching pain for the Kang family. Although Kang Cheng is dead, his soul cannot rest in peace and it's unknown where he is now. This has absolutely touched their nerves. The hatred will not be resolved until death, so the Kang family has gone from initial shock to extreme anger. They have mobilized all the power they can to investigate this matter, but strangely, they seem to have no news at all. All the clues were cut off in school.

  "There's no soul summoning, how is that possible? I clearly saw him after he died. Right, do you guys know who killed him? Is it those people from the Three Gods Sect?" I asked hastily. Having experienced so many things, of course, I also believed in the seventh day of resurrection, but to say that Kang Cheng's soul had disappeared was too suspicious. My first reaction was to think of those people from the Three Gods Sect.

  The eyebrows of the new Tian of "San Shendao" were furrowed into a river character, and he had also heard rumors about what San Shendao did, but they had always been like well water not offending river water, so why did they want to do this.

  "Alright, I understand. I'll send someone to investigate the Three Gods' matter. From Kang Cheng's diary, I saw that he gave you the family heirloom 'Jade' symbol, and recently you've been missing and even lost your job, presumably related to this 'Jade' symbol. Can I take a look?" asked Hsin Tian again.

  "The Jade Symbol", that's something I couldn't take out anymore, because it has already grown on my hand, but I don't mind letting him see it. Saying this, I've already got 80% confidence to confirm he's the real deal, this thing originally belonged to his family anyway, so looking at it won't hurt, therefore I slowly tore open the gauze in my hand.

  "This, this, how is it possible, this can't be, this isn't real" Seeing the eyes in my hand, Hsin-yu was shocked, his eyes wide open, with an expression of impossibility.

  I slowly wrapped the gauze back on, and at first I had this feeling too. Moreover, I was still the one involved, so the shock was really beyond words.

  "But the fact is, because I merged with that 'Jade' symbol, I've been hunted down by evil sects to the point where I can't even return home. Before long, perhaps everyone in the world will be hunting me down."

  "No, I'm not talking about that. What I'm saying is that the prophecy of our ancestors in the Kang family actually came true, this is too unbelievable."

  Only after he finished speaking did he feel that he had misspoken, but it piqued his interest. Ancestors, prophecies... was this the tail of a 'plot' being revealed?

  "Don't get me wrong, Gang Cheng didn't know about this prophecy. In fact, not to mention him, even we didn't know. It was only after reading Gang Cheng's diary and searching through my father's belongings that we found out," Xīn Tiān hastily explained, but I wasn't entirely convinced, taking a step back without leaving any traces, and increasing the distance between us again.

  "Hey, since you want to know, I'll tell you. As I said earlier, my family used to be landlords. Actually, during the Qing dynasty, our family was just an ordinary farming household, working hard on the land from dawn till dusk. But one day, our ancestor saved someone in the mountains, which changed the fate of our entire family. According to my father's records, the person our ancestor saved was actually a tomb raider. During a raid, all his companions were killed and he himself was severely injured before escaping. Luckily, he was rescued by our ancestor or else he would have died in the mountains."

  "In order to repay the ancestors of the Kang family for saving his life, the tomb raider gave my ancestor seven pieces of 'jade', each with a different shape and material. He said that these seven pieces of 'jade' would bring honor and wealth to the Kang family, but also warned that if used improperly, they could bring disaster upon us. The only way to eliminate this side effect is to sell one piece of 'jade' per generation, neither more nor less. The previous six pieces of 'jade' were all priceless treasures, so from the Qing dynasty to my father's generation, our Kang family was a wealthy and noble household, with each generation living a life of luxury thanks to just one piece of 'jade'."

  "It was the same with my father's generation, but unfortunately, my father didn't encounter a good era. In the 1970s, our family was searched and confiscated, I'm sure you know the specific reason, it was during those 'turbulent' ten years. However, my father still managed to preserve this 'jade', hoping that our family would regain its wealth and prosperity. After the turmoil ended, my father tried to sell the 'jade' again, but no one believed him, and the priceless treasure became worthless junk. This made my father very heartbroken, thinking that all the ancestral legends were lies. In a fit of anger, he threw the 'jade' into a corner, where it remained until Kang Cheng was born."

  "When Kang Cheng was born, something unexpected happened. He was a premature baby and his body was weak. At that time, our family didn't have any money, so my mother went to the temple to pray for blessings. Under the guidance of the master in the temple, she used that piece of 'jade' to make a 'jade' charm, which was passed down to Kang Cheng. This legend, my father didn't even tell me about it, perhaps he had already forgotten."

  Xin Tian slowly and leisurely began to talk about his ancestors, sighing repeatedly. Of course, he had also concealed some things in the prophecy of the Kang family. In fact, when the tomb raider gave the "jade" to the ancestor of the Kang family, it was already clear that among these seven pieces of "jade", six could bring good fortune, while one would bring disaster. However, even the tomb raider did not know which one was bad, so in order to protect themselves, they had no choice but to sell the "jade" piece by piece. This is also why the Kang family was already a wealthy and noble house, but each generation still had to sell the "jade".

  It's just that time has passed too long, and the world of last century was 'chaotic', so many things didn't get passed down, which is why his father thought those prophecies were all fake.

  "To be honest, I'm also a bit shocked. I didn't expect there to be such a story behind this 'jade' symbol," "But what does this have to do with the eye in my palm? Is it mentioned in your prophecy?"

  "That's not it, the prophecy only said that this 'jade' would bring bad luck to people, but what exactly it is, no one knows." Xing Tian shook his head and said, passing the calamity on to others and keeping the wealth for himself, the ancestors of the Kang family were indeed unscrupulous.

  No, I lowered my head and still didn't know any news about the Wheel of Reincarnation. It seems that the Kang family can't be relied on either. In the end, I can only rely on myself.

  "Don't worry, this trouble was brought to you by Kang Cheng, although he's already dead, but the son repays the debt of his father. My brother's affairs are my affairs, I will protect you." Heng Xin Tian saw that I looked a bit down and suddenly said with great enthusiasm, "The Kang family has always been known for their poetry and etiquette, with righteousness as their priority. Since this person suffered for Kang Cheng and the Kang family, he can't just stand by and do nothing. Besides, it's easy for him to protect one person with his status."

  "No need, Kang Cheng didn't mean it and I've already accepted it." I declined his kindness. To be honest, I'm afraid of relying on others, just like relying on Li Huaiguang, who almost got me killed. Besides, am I familiar with him?

  "You, young man, don't be ungrateful. I'm genuinely trying to help you, and besides, haven't you avenged Kong Cheng's grudge yet? You're Kong Cheng's friend, don't you want to avenge him?"

  "Revenge, huh? You'd better find the murderer first." I sneered, how could such a heretical cult dare to talk about taking action without any real power? Haven't you seen that even Fatso and the others can't do anything to him?

  "Haha, it seems you still don't know who I am. Don't worry, the murderer will be found soon," Hao Xintian laughed loudly. He wasn't worried about avenging himself at all. With countless people under him searching, he didn't believe that the murderer could escape their intelligence network.

  "Hmm" is beyond comprehension. The new heaven doesn't know what kind of existence it needs to face in order to avenge Kang City, but I do know that at least for the time being, I don't think anyone can do it.

  "Don't believe me if you don't want to..." The expression of utter disbelief on Hsin's face left Haru Tian somewhat speechless, just as he was about to explain. Suddenly, a voice came through the earpiece "Alert, three people are rapidly approaching, agile and quick, do we intercept?"

  "Stop them!" Heng Xinyan said quickly, then turned to me and said "Follow me, you're in danger now."

  "What" I only realized he had a tiny earpiece in his ear when I heard him intercept them, which made me feel a bit uncomfortable. Fortunately, nothing secret was revealed, or else we would have been sold out without even knowing it. And I also realized that compared to them, I'm still too tender.

  "Hurry, someone is approaching with ill intentions, they must be after you," said Hsin New City quickly, then walked to the window and pulled open the curtains to take a look, outside his men had already begun to "exchange" blows.

  "Who is it this time?" I heard that they were rushing towards me, and I wasn't surprised at all. It's been more than a day, and it's normal for those people to find me with their skills.

  "It's not suitable to fight head-on, follow me," said Xin Cheng coldly. He accelerated and grabbed the hand I was holding the gun with, and in a flash, the gun in my hand fell to the ground, and my arm was tightly grasped by him, leaving me struggling to break free.

  "Wait, my backpack!" Xīn Tiān pulled me to leave, I didn't feel his malice, so I didn't struggle desperately, just wanting to take the backpack and run away.

  "Quickly!" Brother Heng Tian grabbed my backpack and pulled me out of the door rapidly.

  It's okay, I've always kept things inside my bag, otherwise it would have been a big loss.

  As soon as I stepped out, I realized that this hotel had long been taken over by the new management. The service staff and guests in the corridor seemed to be exchanging ambiguous glances with him, which made me feel uneasy.

  Why didn't I ask clearly earlier, what's the story behind this uncle from Kang City?