102: The news brought by Shen Jianhong

The construction of temples in Qingzhou Prefecture City was in full swing, but a dusty team arrived on the bluestone path of Chang Sheng Village.

Shen Jianxing stood under the old locust tree at the village entrance, looking at the familiar figure at the front of the team, his throat suddenly tightening.

"Big Brother!"

He strode forward, the hem of his dark robe sweeping over the dew-kissed grass.

"Xiaoxing's complexion has improved quite a bit."

Shen Jianhong dismounted, a smile playing on his lips. It seemed that Chang Sheng Village was indeed a nurturing place; Xiaoxing's recuperation here was excellent.

He used to lie sickly in bed, but now he could walk around.

He just wondered if his younger brother's problem had been resolved.

In his previous letter, Shen Jianxing had only mentioned in a few words that he was under a curse, which Lord Chuping had suppressed, and told them not to worry too much.

He didn't elaborate on the rest.

"Big Brother, you've finally come all this way; we must have a good chat."

"Okay."

Shen Jianhong hesitated, and it wasn't until they returned to Shen Jianxing's small courtyard and sat opposite each other, drinking tea, that he finally spoke.

"Younger brother, the curse you mentioned in your letter... is it the Nine Nether Heart-Eating Curse?"

Shen Jianhong put down his teacup and stared intently at Shen Jianxing, a strange expectation in his eyes, hoping Shen Jianxing would deny it.

Shen Jianxing's hand, holding the teapot, trembled slightly, spilling a few drops of tea onto the table.

He hadn't mentioned the name Nine Nether Heart-Eating Curse in the letter, only vaguely stating it was a curse and not a corpse poison.

He had been evasive because he didn't want his family to worry.

From Lord Chuping, he already knew the methods to break the curse. Besides killing the caster, the other two methods were something even he, as the son of the richest man, had never heard of.

Let alone breaking the curse.

Deep down, Shen Jianxing had already given up. It had been over three years; his father and brother had been running around for him, seeking doctors and medicine everywhere. It was enough, more than enough.

Now, the effect seemed counterproductive; Big Brother was even more worried.

Shen Jianxing slowly looked up, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes: "How does Big Brother know about this curse?"

Shen Jianhong took out the information he had found from his embrace and placed it on the table.

"After receiving your message, I sent people to scour ancient texts and finally discovered this Nine Nether Heart-Eating Curse, which is very similar to your symptoms."

The Nine Nether Heart-Eating Curse is an evil curse of unknown origin; those afflicted will not live beyond five years.

Those implanted with the Nine Nether Heart-Eating Curse would feel their heart being gnawed by countless cold, sharp objects, suffering excruciating pain.

All victims of the curse eventually died from severe heart pain.

As Shen Jianhong spoke, his voice suddenly choked up. He grabbed Shen Jianxing's wrist, his fingertips trembling slightly.

"I've searched through all the ancient texts, and I found that this curse... is incurable!"

Shen Jianxing, however, gently withdrew his hand, refilled his brother's tea, and a faint smile played on his lips.

"Big Brother, there's no need to worry. Lord Chuping has already suppressed it for me. I have a tough life; a small Nine Nether Heart-Eating Curse won't take me away!"

"But, ancient texts record that once this curse is planted, death is certain! At most... at most five years..."

Shen Jianhong still didn't believe it, his eyes red as he stared at his younger brother.

Shen Jianxing was silent for a moment, then said softly.

"Big Brother, actually, it's not incurable. As long as the caster is killed, this Nine Nether Heart-Eating Curse will naturally be cured without medicine."

"Kill the caster?"

Shen Jianhong murmured, repeating the phrase.

This method sounded easy, but it was extremely difficult to implement.

Ever since he learned that Shen Jianxing's condition was not poisoning or Gu, Shen Jianhong's investigation had lost its direction.

The difference between curses and Gu poison is that poisoning and Gu require contact, so one can start investigating people who had contact with the victim.

However, casting a curse requires no contact at all; it only needs specific conditions to be met.

As for what conditions need to be met, a curses master would know, but others would not.

Shen Jianxing looked at his Big Brother's confused expression and shook his head with a bitter smile.

"Big Brother, you don't know that the most insidious part of this Nine Nether Heart-Eating Curse is that the caster often hides very deeply."

"The reason for this is that the Nine Nether Heart-Eating Curse is a vicious curse from the Netherworld, and it is very rare."

"Big Brother, I have something I want to ask you."

Before Shen Jianxing finished speaking, Shen Jianhong immediately agreed.

"Younger brother, what's with the formalities between us? Just speak your mind."

"Big Brother, I want to ask you to help me investigate if there have been any other cases throughout history of people diagnosed with heart palpitations, with symptoms similar to mine."

Shen Jianhong was startled by the words, then immediately understood his younger brother's intention: "You want to find clues of the caster through other victims of the curse?"

Shen Jianxing nodded.

"Even if it doesn't lead to the caster, it won't be completely without direction."

"Big Brother, let's not talk about this anymore. What differences do you see in our Chang Sheng Village now?"

Only then did Shen Jianhong notice that there were far more villagers in Chang Sheng Village this time than before.

Moreover, everyone was walking out of the village in groups, with joyful expressions on their faces, as if they had found a great bargain.

"On the way here, I already noticed that the villagers were all coming and going, and the Qi has expanded to several neighboring villages. Have all the evil spirits in this vicinity been dealt with by you?"

"Big Brother, it's more than just the vicinity of Chang Sheng Village!"

"Go ahead and guess boldly; guess bigger."

Seeing his younger brother's teasing manner, Shen Jianhong carefully recalled the journey and indeed found a few differences.

After arriving in Qingzhou, he had hardly seen any demons or monsters along the way.

He had previously thought they were just lucky this time, but with Shen Jianxing's reminder, Shen Jianhong realized.

It wasn't that they were lucky not to encounter evil spirits, but that there were no evil spirits left in the entire Qingzhou!

Besides Lord Chuping, who else could have such great power to directly exterminate the evil spirits of an entire prefecture?

But, how was that possible?

That was Qingzhou!

To be honest, every time he came to Qingzhou, Shen Jianhong brought the Shen Family's elites, because in a place even the Imperial Dynasty had given up on, one could never be too careful.

But now... thinking of this, Shen Jianhong asked with a trembling voice.

"Xiaoxing, is it as I guessed? Big Brother encountered no obstacles when entering Qingzhou this time."

Shen Jianxing nodded with a smiling expression.

"Big Brother, you guessed correctly."

"A few days ago, the Blood Fiends, not knowing their place, attacked Chang Sheng Village. Lord Chuping, in a rare display of anger, directly exterminated all the evil spirits in Qingzhou. It's said that the heavenly lightning alone struck for an entire night..."

Shen Jianxing spoke with great animation, and Shen Jianhong listened intently, the teacup in his hand cracking with a faint line.

As the eldest legitimate son of the Shen Family, he naturally knew what this meant—even the Great Yan Imperial Dynasty's national protection array didn't possess such formidable power!

"Younger brother, this Lord Chuping actually..."

"Shh—"

Shen Jianxing suddenly pressed his brother's wrist.

As a scion of an aristocratic family, Shen Jianxing understood what Shen Jianhong wanted to say. He shook his head at Shen Jianhong.

Lord Chuping was not someone they could question.

"Big Brother, some things, we don't need to delve into the truth. It's enough to cherish our blessings."