Luojia Mountain. Bamboo Sea.
The blazing sun hung high in the sky, and Shen Qingping’s forehead was streaming with sweat, his clothes long soaked through.
Yet, he still knelt on the ground, spine ramrod straight, not daring to slacken in the smallest degree.
He was very clear in his heart that this hurdle was not an easy one to overcome.
Life and death hung in the balance.
But the longer he waited, the more fearful he became; the longer he waited, the colder his heart grew.
The heat on the outside of his body and the chill on the inside formed a stark contrast.
"Is it just that I wanted to do a trivial little thing, why has it come to this?"
Shen Qingping could not understand.
Right at this moment, a tall figure approached from the exit of the bamboo forest.
Shen Qingping’s heart filled with expectation. Could it be that Second Uncle had agreed to let him in?
But when he saw his father’s gloomy and sorrowful face, he felt that things were not so simple.
Shen Anyuan walked up to Shen Qingping, forced a smile on his face, and said, "Qingping, get up."
"Second Uncle agreed to let me in?" asked Shen Qingping.
"Get up first..." Shen Anyuan reached out to take his son’s arm and said, "Let’s stand up and talk."
"I won’t get up." Shen Qingping stayed kneeling, resolute, "If Second Uncle doesn’t agree to let me inside, I will not stand up. I will stand when he agrees to let me enter."
"This door..." Shen Anyuan glanced back at the path he came from and said bitterly, "You won’t be able to enter for now."
"Dad, what do you mean by this?" Shen Qingping asked in a heavy voice.
Shen Anyuan threw the wooden tablet he was holding onto the ground and said, "Your Second Uncle wants you to take this to the Undying Army and find Wang Hai. Volunteer to guard Ghost Mountain... Survive three years, and the Shen Family will welcome you back."
"Ghost Mountain?" Shen Qingping widened his eyes as he looked at his father.
He knew what Ghost Mountain was, as did everyone in the Phoenix Empire.
It was the most dangerous area at the border, where they had to defend against Barbarians dwelling in the caves.
Generally, those who were dispatched there were old soldiers with serious faults or death row inmates with major offenses.
"Second Uncle actually wants to send me to a place like that? It would be better to kill me with a single stroke." Shen Qingping could not repress the rage in his heart.
This wasn’t exile, it was banishment.
It was sending him to his death.
"Qingping, you absolutely can’t have such thoughts," Shen Anyuan urged him in a panic, "You’ve practiced since you were young; you have a solid foundation and entered the Tongyou Realm at a young age... Sharpening yourself at Ghost Mountain for a few years, you might gain something different."
"Besides, your Second Uncle is furious now. Once he calms down, I’ll speak to him, try to bring you back. It’s said to be three years, but it might just be a matter of a few months..."
"Dad, you know Second Uncle’s temper. Once I go, I won’t be able to come back."
"It won’t be like that. You will definitely be able to come back. I promise you, I will find a way, and I will ask Xing Lan for help. You two have been close since you were kids, and he wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to you... I will definitely find a way to bring you back."
"I won’t be able to be brought back... No one’s words will make a difference." Shen Qingping felt as if his heart had turned to ash.
He had envisioned countless answers, yet he never expected to be met with such a conclusion...
This was worse than the worst possible outcome.
"Qingping, you must not give up. Even if you can’t come back, let’s treat it as a trial, as if you had gone to Blood Glacier... The environment in Blood Glacier is so harsh, but didn’t you also come back safe and sound?"
"It’s different, it’s different..."
"Qingping, remember this: Your mother and I will be waiting for you at home. We will be waiting for you to come back..."
Shen Qingping picked up the wooden tablet from the ground and gritted his teeth, "Ghost Mountain, I will go. As for waiting... don’t."
With this departure, survival was a slim hope.
"Qingping..." Shen Anyuan watched his son, his voice filled with sorrow, "Before you leave, go back and see your mother. If you leave without a word, she will worry..."
"I won’t go back, to spare her the pain."
Shen Qingping turned and bowed deeply in the direction of his family’s home to the west, pounding his head on the ground three times, and said, "I prostrate before her this way. An unfilial son, unable to attend to the needs of my parents... Pretend you never had this son..."
"Qingping," Shen Anyuan’s eyes were moist as he knelt to the ground, embracing his son tightly in his arms.
As a renowned tycoon in the business world, in the time of his son’s crisis, he was just an ordinary father.
Sending his own son to his death was something no father could bear.
"You must come back alive."
After listening to Chen Fenglei recount the whole story, Zhong Daolong smiled and said, "Oh, Shang Xiulin is so tough this time? He even dared to make a move on the Shen Family? That’s why I say, you can’t offend scholars; they have natural pride... Once truly provoked, they’d dare pluck a few hairs from a tiger’s head."
"Isn’t that the truth. Shang Xiulin is a genuinely nice guy, always buried in his studies, holding the position of dean at the Imperial First Military Academy for decades. The King offered him a promotion, but he refused... Had he wanted it, wouldn’t the position of Minister of Education have been his for the taking?" Chen Fenglei agreed.
"Are you hinting at something else?" Zhong Daolong stared at Chen Fenglei and asked.
"Not at all, not at all. I’m just echoing what the King said, no other implications."