177 Dark Times

Zhao Fu’s task at hand was to dig pits night and day, and he and his 32 Goblins started to dig more and more.

…………………………………………

Back at Heavenstone City, Shi Jian, who had been comatose, finally woke up. He had received even heavier injuries than Zhao Fu, which was why he had only woken up now.

Lying on his bed, Shi Jian looked as if he had suddenly aged 10 or so years, and there were even traces of white hair on his head.

Liu Sheng and Yue Linping had long since been waiting at his side. Yue Linping had already recovered, and while Liu Sheng’s hands had been chopped off by Zhao Fu, they had somehow been reattached; however, his cultivation had been greatly reduced.

When they saw Shi Jian slowly open his eyes, they gently called out, “City Lord!”

Shi Jian weakly nodded and put his hand on the side of the bed, trying to get up. Liu Sheng and Yue Linping quickly came up to help, and they sat Shi Jian up against a pillow.

Liu Sheng and Yue Linping started to report as to what had gone on in the past few days. There were matters about the Qian family, the effects that the monstrous battle had on Heavenstone City, and the matters about Young Lord Shi Wen.

Hearing these things, Shi Jian sighed, “Call Wen’Er over; I want to talk to him.”

When Shi Wen, who had been placed under house arrest for the past few days, heard that his father had sent for him, he looked incredibly happy as he ran to Shi Jian’s room. However, seeing his father, who looked like he had aged and suffered much, he felt incredibly emotional. Adding on the grievances he had suffered in the past few days, he ran over and held onto Shi Jian as he cried.

After a while, Shi Jian looked at the crying Shi Wen with a kind expression and patted his shoulder as he weakly said, “Have the past few days been tough on you?”

Shi Wen looked up at his father and wiped his tears with his hand as he said guiltily, “Dad, I’m sorry; it was all my fault that you were injured so heavily.”

After the past few days, Shi Wen had heard what happened. He had never thought that what he originally thought to be a small matter would have such serious consequences.

When he saw that his son had regretted his actions, Shi Jian felt a slight sense of joy in his heart. He felt much more comforted, and he suddenly felt that being injured had been worth it. Shi Jian said, “Now you know how terrifying and cruel this world is. Even though I was chosen by a Sovereign to be a City Lord, I’m not invincible.

“Now that such a powerful Otherworlder has appeared in such a short period of time, we can be sure that there will be more and more of these experts in the future. You won’t be able to imagine just how cruel the future is; it will be a time of boundless darkness and killing.

“I can only protect you for a while, not for your entire life. If you continue to live in such a muddleheaded way and live only for pleasure, it’s possible that you’ll be killed by such an expert in the future.

“In those dark times, even if you survive by luck, you might become someone below others and be even worse off than dogs or pigs. It’s possible that dying will only be something that you can desire.”

“Dad, will the future really be that terrifying?” Hearing how serious his father sounded, Shi Wen asked in slight disbelief.

Shi Jian nodded as he smiled bitterly and said, “Everything you see is only temporary; you’ll understand when the time comes. However, when that time comes, the world will already have become hell!”

Shi Wen nodded earnestly.

Seeing this, a trace of a smile appeared on Shi Jian’s face and he felt comforted as he said, “I’ll leave the Qian family’s matter to you then!”

By now, a change had happened within Shi Wen’s heart. Before, he thought that he could do anything he wanted without fear because of his father’s position. Now that this had happened, he couldn’t help but change his thinking.

In a world where the mighty reigned supreme, he did not want to become someone below others. Now that Shi Jian had been heavily injured, this gave Shi Wen an alarming wake-up call.

When he thought of the Qian family, a determined expression appeared on Shi Wen’s face, and he looked up at Shi Jian as he said, “Dad, I’ll take care of it now; I promise that you’ll be satisfied.”

After saying this, Shi Wen left and drew his sharp sword. He went to a room with many beautiful women within it – these were all the women the Qian family had given him to play with.

Even though players could normally leave the Heaven Awaken World when they wished, they could not leave when in battle or when imprisoned. In such circumstances, they would only be able to leave if they died.

However, once they died, they would lose essentially everything, so the Qian family’s people were reluctant to kill themselves. As such, they had waited in captivity this entire time, hoping that the hedonistic young master, Shi Wen, would save them.

However, they far underestimated Shi Wen’s ruthlessness. After entering the room, the women stroked their hair coquettishly and wanted to curry favor with Shi Wen like they had in the past to ask him to spare the Qian family.

Chi!

Shi Wen had long since become somewhat tired of these women, and he used his sword to stab through one of their hearts. Seeing this, the rest of the women screamed and immediately kneeled on the ground to beg for mercy. However, Shi Wen did not react at all, and he killed the rest of the women with a few swings of his sword. Following this, Shi Wen personally took a team of city guards to the Qian family’s residence.

When the Qian family’s leader saw Shi Wen, he was incredibly delighted. If it was anyone else bringing city guards, the Qian family would be in trouble, but with Shi Wen, the situation was different. After all, he thought that Shi Wen was easy to deal with. He would bring out a few beauties and give him a few rare items, and the Qian family would be safe.

“Young Lord Shi, please save the Qian family. We were plotted against by others and had no idea about this!”

The Qian family’s leader threw off all responsibility and acted innocent and pitiful as he walked up and spoke to Shi Wen.

The other people from the Qian family all cried out to Shi Wen and told him that they were innocent and that they had been framed, trying to make it seem like they were good people.

Facing these people from the Qian family, Shi Wen savagely laughed, causing the Qian family’s leader to stare in surprise. In the next second, a sword light flashed, and the Qian family’s leader’s head rolled off his neck.

“Kill them all, don’t spare a single one!” Shi Wen ordered as the city guards started to massacre the Qian family.

At that moment, Shi Wen looked at the Qian family’s leader’s noble and dignified-looking wife, and a lewd smile appeared on his face. He dragged her into a room, and pitiful cries sounded out. After a while, Shi Wen came out looking quite disheveled. There was a satisfied smile on his face as he walked out, leaving behind a naked corpse in the room.

From then onwards, the Qian family, which had dominated Heavenstone City, was completely uprooted. This news allowed many people to sigh in relief and feel extremely joyful. That scourge had finally been rid of.

After Shi Wen had left him, Shi Jian looked out with a serious expression and said, “Now that Heavenstone City has established enmity with that person, he’ll come back sooner or later. In light of Heavenstone City facing complete destruction, we have to do something!”