Pei Wu’s grave was placed right next to Elder Pei and Madam Pei Li’s graves.

Pei Si had changed both his and his brother’s names. Pei Wu’s tombstone bore the three characters “Pei Tongchen.” The villagers who had insisted on coming whispered quietly among themselves: “Pei Tongchen, what does that mean?”

“Maybe it means like dust?” Someone shook their head and said in a low voice, “This name has bad implications. Maybe he died because he changed his name…”

“Look, three out of four people in the Pei family died, leaving only Pei Si. No matter how capable he is or how much money he can make, isn’t he just a lonely man now…”

“Alright, show some virtue with your words. You’re just jealous of him.”

“Don’t talk nonsense, I’m not… I’m just speaking the truth. My mother said that when he was young, a very powerful fortune teller came to our village and told his fortune – he was born under the lone star of calamity. Look, as soon as he grew up, he brought death to his father, mother, and younger brother!”

“Hey, are you getting more excited as you talk?”

“Enough, stop arguing. Be careful or Pei Heguang will deal with all of you!”

“Hmph, ungrateful thing. Look, he put ‘light’ in his own name, but when it came to his brother, it became ‘dust.’ What kind of person does that!”

Pei Si, who was standing at the front, turned around and gave those people a cold look. The noisy voices instantly disappeared without a trace.

But someone still silently rolled their eyes and pursed their lips. “What’s he acting for? Now that his brother is dead, he doesn’t have to take care of him anymore. He’s probably overjoyed…”

Pei Si withdrew his gaze and grabbed a handful of paper money, scattering it high into the sky.

The fluttering paper money fell on the grave mound, fell into the blazing fire, and reflected in Pei Si’s cold pupils.

A few days later, Yuquan Village became exceptionally lively.

“Pei Si said he discovered a piece of exceptionally rare jade!”

“Hey, don’t call him Pei Si anymore. His name is Pei Heguang, and he’s now a favored person beside the county magistrate! Be careful or Pei Daren will chop off your head!” someone laughed jokingly.

“Tsk tsk tsk, remarkable. Always with a long face. If he had revealed the secret given by the immortal earlier, we would have gotten rich long ago, instead of being taken advantage of by that county magistrate…”

“Oh, in a few days we can’t call him county magistrate anymore. I heard he’s going to be promoted!”

“Good heavens, even that son of a b*tch can get promoted?”

“Why not? Who told him to keep such a good dog that can find jade stones and carve jade even better…”

The few people laughed and turned the corner, only to see Pei Si standing at the doorway, coldly watching them.

“Fourth Brother, don’t listen to their nonsense! They’re all just kids fooling around and don’t understand!” someone awkwardly tried to smooth things over.

Pei Si pulled at the corner of his mouth, but there was no trace of a smile. “Has the county magistrate arrived?”

“He’s here! Almost at the village entrance!” someone shouted from afar. “Fourth Brother, hurry up and greet him. It seems a prefect came too. Wow, what a grand procession!”

Upon hearing this, Pei Si showed no reaction and only murmured, “It’s good that there are many people.”

The entire population of Yuquan Village gathered in a black mass at the village entrance. The county magistrate sat on his horse with a beaming smile, his protruding belly swaying back and forth, a fine jade pendant hanging from his waist. His advisor rode behind him while fanning himself. Beside them was a grand and luxurious sedan chair, surrounded by more than ten guards.

“Pei Si, where is the jade stone you mentioned?” The county magistrate looked down at him condescendingly from his horse.

Pei Si cupped his hands. “Please, Daren and Prefect Daren, move this way.”

“Good, let’s go!”

Pei Si smiled slightly.

Half an hour later, Yuquan Village was engulfed in towering flames. The firelight illuminated half the sky, red as if blood were about to drip down.

The villagers in the village were on fire, fleeing in panic everywhere, only to discover that no matter what they did, they could not escape from Yuquan Village.

The county magistrate wailed and rolled on the ground trying to extinguish the fire on his body, painfully calling out to his subordinates. But his subordinates were equally busy trying to save their own lives and could not attend to him at all. The advisor was fighting with a villager over water in a water vat when someone struck him heavily on the neck with an axe, spurting out a large spray of blood.

The prefect was surrounded by his guard attendants at the village entrance, roaring angrily, “What on earth is happening? Where did that Pei Si go?!”

“Daren, this village is very strange! It seems we’re trapped in ghost hitting the wall!”

(TL: 鬼打牆, which literally means “ghost hitting the wall,” a folk term for being supernaturally disoriented—often looping back to the same place.)

“Daren, watch out for the fire! Quick, quick! Put out the fire!”

Pei Si stood at the village entrance, watching the towering flames and the painful wails coming from the village, his face remaining completely calm.

He held a thin book in his hand.

This was a strange book that Ning Xingyuan had accidentally left behind. He had understood it and originally thought that if Ning Xingyuan really returned, he could tell Ning Xingyuan this good news. But now it seemed unnecessary.

He had never harbored hopes of being taken away by Ning Xingyuan. He only hoped to properly bid farewell to Ning Xingyuan, but he had failed to do so. He only wanted his family to live peacefully and steadily, but he had also destroyed that.

Ning Xingyuan probably never would have imagined that the book he left behind would be used by him to do such unconscionable things.

The person who had been gossiping at Pei Wu’s grave earlier ran toward him with a terrified expression, shouting loudly, “Fourth Brother, save me! Help!”

“Pei Si! Pei Si, quickly put out the fire!” It was the person who had brought him eggs.

“Fourth Child! Quickly save Uncle!” It was his great-uncle.

“Pei Si! This official orders you! Quickly put out the fire!” The county magistrate roared hoarsely.

Pei Si looked at them with calm eyes, then grabbed a handful of paper money from his hand and threw it fiercely into the fire. The flames instantly burned even more fiercely.

He smiled slightly. “Have a safe journey.”

The raging flames instantly drowned out all the cries for help and wails.

Pei Si reached out and threw the book into the fire.

“Ah, Eldest Young Master! This won’t do!” A young man appeared from nowhere and snatched the book back from the fire, extinguished the sparks on it, and carefully wiped off the dust with his sleeve. He held the book with both hands and respectfully handed it back to him. “Eldest Young Master, your book.”

Pei Si had never been called “Eldest Young Master” by anyone, much less been addressed so respectfully. He unconsciously stepped back.

The young man raised his head, looking honest and simple in appearance, and smiled. “This humble one is Ning Fan from a branch family. Does Eldest Young Master not recognize me?”

Pei Si’s expression tensed, and he looked at him warily.

“If Eldest Young Master wants to deal with these insignificant mortals, why go to such great trouble? I have a better method.” Ning Fan smiled. Seeing that he didn’t answer, thinking he agreed with his words, he flicked his sleeve, and several purple talismans fell in. Instantly, a murderous aura shot up to the sky.

“Young Master, this way, the souls of these mortals will be forever trapped here…” Ning Fan stepped forward. “I swear to the Heavenly Way that I will absolutely never speak of this matter.”

Pei Si stepped back again. “You’ve mistaken me for someone else. I’m not Ning Xingyuan.”

After saying this, he turned and ran.

“Ah, Eldest Young Master!” Ning Fan was stunned. “Wait for me! I’m willing to serve Eldest Young Master like a dog or horse!”

Pei Si ran forward in one breath for a long distance, unknowingly arriving at the place where Ning Xingyuan had left before.

Unable to use sword flight in the mortal realm, Ning Fan could only pursue relentlessly behind him, shouting from afar. “Eldest Young Master——“

While running, Pei Si looked back and suddenly bumped into someone, then was steadied by hands on his shoulders.

“What are you running for? Don’t tell me we really have some connection, and you knew I was coming today?” A familiar voice sounded in Pei Si’s ear.

Pei Si looked up in amazement and saw Ning Xingyuan looking at him with a smile.

Ning Fan, who was following behind, looked at the two identical people and was equally amazed.

He stumbled back a step in fright, his face turning deathly pale. “You, how did you come?”

“Naturally, I came to take you away.” Ning Xingyuan said, “I’ve already investigated what happened back then. I originally wanted to come back immediately to take you away, but I was delayed by some matters. As soon as I finished dealing with them, I came to get you.”

Pei Si stepped back again.

Ning Xingyuan’s appearance had changed quite a bit from three years ago. He had become more mature, carrying the gentle nobility of a noble family’s young master, and unconsciously bearing the certainty and composure of someone in a position of authority, making people hesitant to approach.

But he was still very patient, pulling Pei Si’s hand without any sense of distance, saying helplessly, “What are you hiding from? Why is there so much dust on you? Where did you go to play?”

Pei Si abruptly pulled back his hand and hid the book behind his back.

“Alright.” Ning Xingyuan patted his shoulder. “Take me to your home?”

This place was somewhat far from Yuquan Village, but if you looked carefully, you could still vaguely see the reddish firelight. Pei Si grabbed Ning Xingyuan’s hand. “Don’t go!”

Ning Xingyuan was stunned, but seeing his pale expression, he still nodded compliantly. “Alright, we won’t go. What’s wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell? Or… did you get beaten again?”

It seemed that in Ning Xingyuan’s mind, he was still that silent and awkward youth.

Pei Si’s expression was complex. He pulled him forward a few steps, positioning himself so that the distant firelight was directly behind him, away from Ning Xingyuan’s view. He asked in a low voice, “Are you really planning to take me with you?”

“Of course, as long as you’re willing.” Ning Xingyuan nodded. “Last time, Jinzhou told me that before we left, it seemed like someone was calling my name. I guessed it was you, but there wasn’t time to come back then.”

Pei Si was stunned. “You’re not angry?”

Ning Xingyuan was puzzled. “What would I be angry about?”

“When you left… I didn’t come to see you off.” Pei Si said.

“That’s nothing.” Ning Xingyuan said unhurriedly, “You are my biological twin older brother after all.”

Pei Si said in a muffled voice, “Didn’t you say I was the younger brother?”

“Cough, I’ve investigated everything clearly. You are the older brother… This matter is too complicated to explain. I’ll tell you properly when we return to the Seventeen States.” Ning Xingyuan said, “There, now you should be happy, right?”

Pei Si pulled at the corner of his mouth.

“So are you willing to go with your younger brother, older brother?” Ning Xingyuan looked very happy, his whole person seeming to glow.

Pei Si’s gaze went past him to look at the blood-red firelight spreading to the horizon, and he slowly nodded.

“Then let’s go back and tell your adoptive parents first.” Ning Xingyuan wanted to pull him around, but was held back by Pei Si again.

Ning Xingyuan hesitated, “Aren’t we going to tell them? Although you can come back to visit them anytime, it would be better to say something.”

Pei Si shook his head. “They’re all dead.”

Ning Xingyuan was stunned. “How could that be?”

“They died of illness.” Pei Si looked at him with sad and complex eyes, his voice heavy as it pressed down through the firelight.

“Ning Xingyuan, take me away.”