Misery: There is a pawn shop here

Chapter 31: Lost in the East
Deep within the vast primeval forest, a fierce wind whipped up a cloud of dead leaves, tearing at towering ancient trees like ghostly hands. Beichen Yuanhuang's black dragon-patterned cloak rustled, and his fingertips condensed energy into flames, illuminating the miasma ahead. Humus made a sticky sound on the soles of his boots, and every step felt like stepping on the bones of countless dead souls.

"Leather Drummer!" The dragon's roar shook the cold dew from the branches, startling several blood-eyed night owls. The echo cascaded through the dense forest, but only met with dead silence. The golden vein between Beichen Yuanhuang's brows trembled slightly. He raised his hand to brush away the falling spider silk, and suddenly saw the faint traces of a ruined wall ten feet away.

Inside the ruins, candlesticks toppled, dark red blood clotted like rust. Seven human skins hung from beams, swaying in the wind. Moonlight pierced through empty eye sockets, casting eerie shadows on the moss-stained blue bricks. In the corner lay untanned human skin drumheads. The brain matter that had splattered when the bone needle pierced the brain had weathered into frost, drifting down in the night breeze.

"Judging from the traces inside the house, it seems no one has lived there for some time. I wonder where the drummer went."

Beichen Yuanhuang emerged from the vast primeval forest, a hint of melancholy between his brows. The previous civil strife had sapped the Beichen Dynasty's national strength and military capabilities, leaving him with few available personnel. His previous attempts to recruit the six ugly invalids mentioned in Grand Tutor Yujiefei's posthumous writings had failed, and now his personal visit to the drum master had been equally fruitless, leaving Beichen Yuanhuang feeling distraught.

Seeing his master's figure, Linwaidao Boming hurried forward and handed over the golden python pattern handkerchief: "Emperor Yuan."

Seeing Beichen Yuanhuang's expression of fear, he knew the outcome. The young emperor silently accepted the handkerchief, wiping his hands over and over again as the nightmare scene resurfaced before his eyes: Akagi City crumbling in raging flames, the Nine-Tasseled Crown tumbling into the lava, and the person who meant the most to him.

Is this God's will? No, no!
Even if fate calls for the overthrow of Beichen...

His five fingers dug deeply into his palms, and beads of crimson blood dripped down the gilded armor. I will also use this pair of cloud-turning hands to open up the Nine Heavens Palace again!
"Emperor Yuan." Dao Boming stepped forward and looked at the silent Beichen Yuanhuang with a worried look on his face.

"Nothing, it seems I came at the wrong time." After calming down, Beichen Yuanhuang raised his head and said, "It's alright. In the past, even the sages had the custom of visiting Longzhong three times. As long as I can find talented people for the dynasty, I will visit them ten or a hundred times, not just three times. Let's go back to Chicheng first and have someone closely monitor the movements of the original forest. Report back immediately if there is any news."

"Yes." Dao Boying bowed and responded, then retreated behind Beichen Yuanhuang and walked side by side with Beichen Yuanhuang's other guard Jian Wuxing.

Just as Beichen Yuanhuang was about to set out on his journey back to the Beichen Dynasty, he suddenly heard the sound of dragging metal a hundred paces away. At the edge of the wilderness, heavy black iron boots crushed jagged rocks. The demonic blade in the right arm of the newcomer plowed a three-foot furrow in the ground, and a dark, sinister aura coiled around him like a poisonous python.

"Emperor Yuan, be careful!" The two of them looked forward in unison.

Although Beichen Yuanhuang was also a martial artist, he knew his own limitations and did not try to show off. He saw a strange figure at the end of his sight. From his broken face, one could vaguely tell that he was once a handsome young man, but now he was filled with evil and murderous aura. His right arm was twisted into a demonic sword, and he looked extremely strange and evil.

Qingsha ignored the vigilance of the imperial guards in front of him, and only stared at the compass in his hand, looking at the direction of the needle on the compass, and then looked at Beichen Yuanhuang in the group of guards.

"It seems that it's you." Qingsha said in a hoarse voice.

"Stop whoever comes!"

"Don't be presumptuous!"

Seeing the approaching force, Dao Boming and Jian Suixing swung their swords and blades together in a flash, unleashing the yin-yang fusion technique. However, Qingsha twisted his right arm in a circular motion, and a demonic aura whistled from the blade, instantly breaking the yin-yang fusion. The backlash sent the knuckles of Dao Boming and Jian Suixing shattering, spilling blood onto the sand. Despite their duty, even with injuries sustained, they showed no sign of retreat, their resolve only growing stronger.

"Yuan Huang, retreat quickly. Let the two of us stop this man." Dao Bo Ming said anxiously. Beichen Yuan Huang saw this and reached out to stop the fight.

"Don't take action, and wait and see what this person wants." Beichen Yuanhuang stopped Dao Boming and Jian Suixing, then looked at Qingsha, and when Qingsha saw that the two men would not take action anymore, he also restrained his knife.

"I have never met the warrior before, so I don't know why he blocked my way."

Beichen Yuanhuang watched the killing with a calculation of his own. While Dao Boming and Jian Suixing weren't considered the top martial arts masters, their combined sword and blade skills, combined with their yin and yang, were enough to earn them a place in the martial arts world. They were no match for the swordsman before them. If they could recruit the swordsman into the Beichen Dynasty, their journey would be well worth it.

"Following my lord's orders, I am looking for the destined person." As he spoke, Qingsha threw something directly at Beichen Yuanhuang. Beichen Yuanhuang raised his hand to catch it, but it was an ebony plate with a blood-patterned word "dang" written on it.

"What is this?" Beichen Yuanhuang asked puzzledly.

"Pawnshop token. If you want to find a pawnshop to trade in the future, you can use your blood as a bond to open the door of the pawnshop." Qingsha replied.

"Pawnshop? What pawnshop?" The unclear words of love killing made Beichen Yuanhuang even more unable to understand.

"There is a pawnshop where you can get anything you want as long as you can pay the price." said the commentator of the love murder.

Have a pawn shop and get everything?
Beichen Yuanhuang found Qingsha's words absurd. He had long since passed that age of naiveté and knew that no one in the world was truly omnipotent. The word "everything" was easy to say, but in reality it was empty. However, he didn't abandon the wooden sign. Even though he didn't believe Qingsha's words, he knew that Qingsha's power was real. To be able to drive such a swordsman to do things, the pawnshop must have an extraordinary foundation, which might be of use in the future.

Even though it can't trade for everything I want, it can still be useful at the critical moment!
"Whether it's true or not, Yuan Huang has accepted it." Beichen Yuan Huang clasped his fists and bowed to Qingsha, saying, "Thank you very much, sir. May I ask your name?"

"002." Qingsha replied indifferently. He didn't care whether Beichen Yuanhuang believed it or not. He didn't pay any more attention to Beichen Yuanhuang and his group and turned to leave.

"The name Er means there's at least one person above him who's not inferior to him. The appearance of such a force in the martial arts world is unclear whether it's a blessing or a curse."

Watching Qingsha leave, Beichen Yuanhuang didn't say anything to stop him, but just muttered to himself. Then he turned around to look at Dao Boming and Jian Suixing and said, "The matter of the pawnshop and this swordsman must not be publicized to the outside world, let alone let King Bingjian know about it. Do you understand?"

"Yes!"

Dao Bo Ming and Jian Sui Xing looked at each other and bowed in response to the order.

Beichen Yuanhuang then nodded, and the group headed towards Beichen Imperial City.

(End of this chapter)