Bai Yin firmly told himself that the person before him absolutely could not be A’Jin.

His A’Jin, even when grown up, wouldn’t have grown to look like this.

By coincidence, Song Zhi, who had gone out earlier to fetch charcoal, returned.

Just as he arrived, he saw the scene before him.

He was utterly frightened.

This…

His footsteps abruptly halted in place.

When Lian Que saw Song Zhi, he knew his chance to escape had come.

So taking advantage of Bai Yin staring at him in a daze, he pushed him away with one motion, leaped up, and reached Song Zhi.

He seized Song Zhi from behind!

His fingers locked around his throat.

Song Zhi was startled. Before he could even cry out, his body involuntarily tilted backward.

The basin of charcoal he held in his hands crashed to the ground with a “bang.”

It landed on his foot.

“Ugh!”

How it hurt!

Jingrong immediately took a sword from one of his guards and aimed it at Lian Que: “Let him go!”

Lian Que: “I can let him go if you let me leave.”

“Fine!”

Without a moment’s hesitation.

Because he truly worried that Lian Que would kill Song Zhi.

If that bookworm died because of this, wouldn’t they become criminals!

But Bai Yin was unwilling. After all, Lian Que had broken free from his grasp, and if he hadn’t been momentarily distracted, things wouldn’t have turned out this way.

He said: “We can’t let him go.”

Blocking the way.

Jingrong shouted: “Stand aside.”

“But…”

“Do you want to trade Song Zhi’s life for his?”

Of course not!

Bai Yin clenched his fists tightly, truly annoyed with himself for being distracted at such a time. Fine then.

In the end, he could only back down.

Lian Que then held Song Zhi hostage as he walked toward the gate.

Song Zhi’s face remained deathly pale throughout.

When they reached the gate, Lian Que whispered softly in his ear: “Don’t worry, I won’t take your life. You just need to obediently follow me to the alley entrance.”

Inexplicably, Song Zhi actually trusted him.

The deathly pallor on his face gradually faded.

He obediently allowed Lian Que to hold him hostage to the alley entrance.

Jingrong, Bai Yin, and the others slowly followed behind.

Upon reaching the alley entrance, Lian Que said another sentence in Song Zhi’s ear: “Thank you!”

After speaking, he pushed him away with one motion, then his body leaped up and disappeared into the tranquil night.

When Jingrong and Bai Yin caught up, they only saw Song Zhi clutching his neck and coughing forcefully.

“Are you alright?” Jingrong asked.

Song Zhi shook his head: “I’m… fine, it’s just… who exactly was that person?”

“Not sure.”

Bai Yin looked into the distance and said: “I’ll go chase him.”

“Don’t chase.” Jingrong stopped him.

“It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t been distracted just now, he would have already been torn to pieces by me.”

“What were you thinking about just now?”

“I…” Bai Yin glanced at Song Zhi. “Let’s talk about it when we get back.”

When everyone returned to the old residence, Ji Yunshu was already standing in the courtyard.

She had picked up the sword that Lian Que had dropped.

Examining it carefully.

The sword hilt was embroidered with some beautiful patterns.

Holding it in her hand, it didn’t feel cumbersome at all.

Seeing them return, she quickly asked: “How did it go?”

Jingrong said: “He got away.”

“As long as none of you were injured, that’s good.” Ji Yunshu asked Song Zhi, “Young Master Song, how are you?”

“I’m fine, just my foot hurts.”

From being struck by the basin containing the burning charcoal.

Speaking of which, he suddenly remembered that charcoal and quickly jogged over.

Heartbroken, he picked up the scattered pieces of charcoal one by one.

It was all money!

Completely forgetting about the danger he had just faced.

Jingrong noticed the long sword in Ji Yunshu’s hand and asked: “Is this sword what that person left behind?”

“Yes, I noticed this sword is quite different from ordinary swords. It’s very light.”

“Let me see.” Bai Yin took it over.

And when that sword came into his hands, a scene suddenly flashed through his mind.

A person of not very tall stature stood before him, holding precisely this sword in their hands.

A snippet of words also suddenly flashed by his ears: “A’Jin, when I grow up, I will definitely protect you. If anyone dares to harm you, I’ll fight them desperately with this sword.”

Familiar, yet strange.

Jingrong noticed something was off with him. He had seemed strange ever since seeing that person earlier.

He placed his hand on Bai Yin’s shoulder: “Are you alright?”

Bai Yin said nothing, his gaze staring blankly at the sword in his hand.

Then he silently walked away.

As if his soul had left his body.

Jingrong and Ji Yunshu exchanged glances.

Not knowing what was going on.

The time it takes to burn one incense stick later.

Bai Yin held that sword, sitting in the pavilion in the back courtyard.

Lost in thought and dazed.

Jingrong walked over.

He had probably already guessed something and asked: “Have you remembered things from before?”

Uh!

A trace of astonishment flashed across Bai Yin’s face as he looked at him in surprise: “Why do you ask?”

“You told me before that you seemed to have seen that person somewhere. Just now when you saw him, you became distracted again, and now you’re holding the sword he left behind and spacing out here. So I’m guessing, could you actually know him?”

“I really can’t hide anything from you. You didn’t tell Yunshu, did you?”

“No.”

“That’s good then.”

Jingrong sat down across from him: “Tell me, what exactly did you remember?”

Bai Yin looked at the sword in his hand, his fingertips lightly gliding over it as he said: “To be honest with you, I really feel that not only have I seen that person before, but I’m also very familiar with this sword. It’s as if I’ve seen it before and even touched it, but the memories are fragmented, flashing by.”

“Specifically, how?”

“When I picked up this sword, a figure suddenly flashed through my mind—the figure of a child. I also heard someone calling me… it seemed like they were calling my name, but in the blink of an eye, I couldn’t remember what that name was anymore. I don’t know if my past… is related to that person just now, or related to this sword?”

“Let me see.”

Jingrong took the sword over.

The sword hilt was carved with very exquisite patterns, but due to years of wielding the sword, the patterns had been worn extremely smooth and shiny.

“This sword is indeed very light! And very refined. It’s definitely not an ordinary sword.”

“Did you see anything?”

Jingrong shook his head: “No clues.”

He prepared to give the sword to Bai Yin.

But just as he was handing it over, the sword blade suddenly flashed.

It was this flash that made him discover that the sword blade seemed to have something imprinted on it.

“Wait! There’s something on here.”

Jingrong immediately took the sword and walked under a lantern.

The sharp blade gleaming with silver light, under the reflection of the candlelight, faintly showed some patterns imprinted on it.

Jingrong examined the sword blade from left to right.

After quite a while, he finally made out what pattern was carved on the sword blade.

Bai Yin stood to the side.

Asking: “What is it?”

Jingrong’s face showed shock as he said: “A peacock. The pattern on it is a peacock.”

“A peacock?”

“You might not know, but the people of Huyi regard the peacock as a sacred bird. Objects carved with peacock patterns are mostly possessed by princes, marquises, generals, and ministers.” Therefore, this sword was indeed no ordinary weapon.