Volume One: The Wild Child Chapter Forty-One: Shackles

The atmosphere in the air felt somewhat uncanny, as though the weight of the name "Li Qing Shan" was so heavy it pressed upon all things, leaving them gasping for breath.

In the courtyard, the old man stroked his beard and tidied his sideburns. Chen Mo was still lost in his memories, while Lin Chang Tian gazed toward the northern realm, watching the stars with a touch of melancholy.

"These stars are strange: sometimes they look like Yu Bai Li, sometimes like the fat one, sometimes like Chen Zi Liang and his lot. Fickle creatures are truly annoying," Lin Chang Tian murmured, rubbing his eyes gently, afraid to startle those odd stars above.

In truth, the stars resembled no one. It was simply the chaos of their arrangement, always drawing the mind into another's world.

Chen Mo seemed to recall something at last, exhaling softly and his expression easing. He looked at the old man and spoke slowly, "To be honest, I truly can't remember the name 'Li Qing Shan.' But the northern realm's Sin Clan—I have heard of them. Weren't they the ones who guarded the border for a thousand years? Later, when Ting Sui was destroyed, the entire city of the Sin Clan was massacred. They say the smoke and clouds stretched for a thousand miles, blocking out the sun, and piles of white bones stacked up ten yards high. But Wen Yuan Divine Continent is separated from the northern realm by countless lands, and yet you claim to be a descendant of the Sin Clan here—this seems somewhat illogical."

Lin Chang Tian snapped out of his reverie and eyed the old man, who called himself Li Qing Shan of the Sin Clan, with suspicion. "He's right. We don't know each other, and you come up with these outlandish tales, which are hard to believe. How about this—I’ll mention someone. Do you know Yu Long Xiang?"

Chen Mo glanced at Lin Chang Tian with curiosity. After all their time together, this fellow had never spoken of his origins, always brushing off questions with vague answers, shrouded in mystery.

The name Lin Chang Tian brought up startled Li Qing Shan. His hand trembled as he held his teacup, spilling it all over himself, but he paid no heed to the burning water. With a peculiar expression, he looked at Lin Chang Tian and said, "If that boy told you his real name, your relationship must be close. Hah! Yu Bai Li, the fierce tiger who swept the northern realm—how could I not know him? But as for you, I’ve never seen you at the border."

Lin Chang Tian responded brightly, "Ah, we met amid the chaos of the Bohai disaster. If you count it, Yu Bai Li is my master. Isn’t the northern border one big family? By that logic, we’re all on the same side." Despite his usual unruliness, Lin Chang Tian dared not lose sight of the obvious powerhouse before him.

Yet Li Qing Shan, upon hearing Lin Chang Tian’s words, snorted coldly, almost "indignant": "If Yu Bai Li survived Bohai, why hasn’t he come to the central lands to seek me? Is he afraid I’ll cling to him and never let go?"

Lin Chang Tian was befuddled by Li Qing Shan’s response. The old man before him bore no trace of his former sage-like demeanor; now he seemed like a child denied his favorite toy. "What do you mean by that? After the Bohai disaster, he took me south of the northern realm to carve out a domain. Not to boast, but before coming to the central lands, I could at least claim the second-in-command of Yi Mountain."

Li Qing Shan sighed, somewhat relieved. "Well, at least the boy has some heart and hasn’t forgotten how I treated him. He still remembers the revival of the northern border, but it’s a hard task. Best to give it up early."

Having said this, seeing Lin Chang Tian’s confusion, Li Qing Shan hunched over and drank up the spilled tea from the table, then continued, "To be honest, I left the northern border long ago. Who destroyed it, only Yu Bai Li knows. But one thing is clear: every major figure in the central lands, without exception, is complicit. None of them can stand the northern realm thriving, and none wish for the Sin Clan to rise again."

Li Qing Shan spoke with difficulty, as if truly an aged man lamenting the injustice of the world.

He gasped for breath, walked over to Lin Chang Tian, and patted his shoulder. "Yu Bai Li must have told you: before the great war, the central lands conscripted all their own realm guardians, leaving the Sin Clan to face the invaders alone. Even now, the powers of the central lands keep this secret, letting not a whisper escape. They even plan to rewrite the history of the realm guardians, erase the Sin Clan's achievements, so that the songs of praise echo only for the central north, forever extolling those powerful figures. But one day, all this will come to light; it will become the greatest shame in the history of the central lands!"

Li Qing Shan coughed violently, tears streaming down his face as he gripped Lin Chang Tian’s hands tightly. "When that day comes, the Sin Clan will finally be vindicated. When future generations speak of us, they won’t always label us as the defeated. Out of every ten people in the central lands, at least one will remember their peace was bought with the lives of thousands of our sons!"

"Senior," said the silent youth who had stood behind Li Qing Shan all along, his voice suddenly resounding, "You’ve lost your composure, and it’s disgraceful. Your words are too much."

Li Qing Shan glanced at the youth’s calm eyes, nodded slowly, straightened his back, and spoke in an even tone, "He’s right. I was a bit out of sorts—hope I didn’t frighten you two."

Chen Mo hurriedly waved his hand. No joke—when the old man was agitated, even the breath of heaven and earth seemed to halt; who would dare offend him? Lin Chang Tian remained silent, seeming lost in thought. Li Qing Shan, seeing this, assumed he still had doubts and quickly added, "Are you puzzled by my presence in Wen Yuan Divine Continent? To be frank, long ago, a very few members of the Sin Clan were permitted to travel the world. I was one of them. But later, the clan recalled them all. Unfortunately, I was caught in an emotional crisis at the time and settled in the southern central lands for years. After the awakening era began, I took to wandering again. When I arrived in Wen Yuan Divine Continent, I happened upon its greatest upheaval in a century. You know, someone actually tried to restore the empire—and succeeded. In such an advanced technological civilization, it’s absurd."

Lin Chang Tian suddenly looked up, interrupting the old man’s lament. "These boys honestly don’t care much. I know a bit of what you mentioned, but I’m curious—why did you trick us here? Sin Clan guardians—are you planning to meddle in the central lands, now that the northern realm is lost?"

Li Qing Shan scratched his head, unused to such shrewd youth. If he hadn’t learned today that Lin Chang Tian was an old friend of Yu Bai Li, he would have kept him in this courtyard by any means. Li Qing Shan nodded toward the youth behind him. "Better you explain the whole matter to him; then I’ll clarify my intentions."

The youth nodded, addressing Lin Chang Tian calmly. "I am Wei Mou, a name more famous than Senior Li Qing Shan here in Wen Yuan Divine Continent. The four emperors of east, west, south, and north, the Yun Qiang earth brutes, and the thirteen masters—all covet me."

His words stunned Lin Chang Tian and Chen Mo. Chen Mo drew a sharp breath—well, here was someone who could boast even more than Lin Chang Tian. He replied solemnly, "I am Chen Mo. My name is unknown here, but in the central north, if you mention it in a pinch, people might think you’re a bit odd and spare your life. Still, there’s a chance you’ll be sent straight to the asylum, which would be rather awkward."

Wei Mou was not offended; he smiled. "Don’t be hasty. It sounds incredible, but I didn’t lie to you when we first met. If you really count it, I am nobility—and by Wen Yuan Divine Continent's tradition, the most legitimate royal lineage. I am the greatest obstacle to the four emperors unifying the continent."

Lin Chang Tian’s interest was piqued. "Oh? Tell us, brother. Had you said so earlier, Chen Mo wouldn’t have dared to hit you."

Wei Mou’s eye twitched, doubting the need to continue his prince’s vengeance plan, but he spoke anyway. "In truth, the first emperor of Wen Yuan Divine Continent was my father. The Wei family has ruled for thousands of years. The four emperors are merely offshoots who once served the main house. Honestly, the restoration wasn’t my father’s ambition; he was forced into it. Yet only fourteen days after he became emperor, he died mysteriously in the street. The four emperors joined forces to divide the continent, each claiming to avenge the main house while fighting among themselves. In this chaos, I, a mere child, became the coveted prize in their eyes."

Lin Chang Tian frowned deeply. "Using you as a hostage to command the lords? Surely not—this is the modern age! Wen Yuan Divine Continent’s technology isn’t backward; how can their thinking be so feudal?"

Wei Mou shook his head, helpless. "Though compared to the other four domains of the central lands, Wen Yuan Divine Continent has a rich heritage and ancient history, the core of the central lands. But decay breeds within. No matter how enlightened, how awakened, here people bow to kings and kneel to emperors. Traditions that should have been buried with the coffin are rooted in Wen Yuan hearts, more precious than their lives."

Lin Chang Tian and Chen Mo were both staggered, never having heard such absurdities. "Shouldn’t civilization progress alongside technology? How can thought be so obsolete?" Chen Mo’s tone was forceful, brooking no doubt. As a native of "Yu," he had traveled far and wide, yet never encountered such extreme deformity.

For Lin Chang Tian, it was even more startling. Even in the wild, backward northern realm, he’d never heard of bandit chiefs demanding their own men kneel.

Prejudice in the human heart is like a towering mountain: not only scorn for the wild, but also doubts about the mother of civilization. It’s as if backwardness and openness were never of the same household, but someone insists they must be separated—backwardness belonging to the wild, openness to civilization.

It is like an iron chain, loosely bound, with nothing else restraining. A little effort could break it, yet it serves as a shackle, and those trapped within wait for a hero to unlock it with a key—a key that never existed.