Chapter 939: Not Worth Pitying Even in Death

The face was intensely familiar, though far older than it had been in the past.

The man spoke, "The Blind Man greets the Lord."

Chen Changsheng looked at the man and asked, "The Blind Man? What is your name?"

The Blind Man paused. "To answer the Lord, my original surname was Zhang, my given name Chang. After the elders of my family passed away, I became a tooth broker and went by the alias Golden Toad. When I later left that business, the people around me started calling me 'the blind man,' so I simply took it as my name."

Chen Changsheng nodded. "Why did you come tonight?"

"I came tonight solely to pay my respects to the Lord. There is nothing else."

Chen Changsheng gave him a look, offered a slight nod, and said, "Sit and speak."

They walked into the Pavilion.

The Blind Man did not dare sit; he remained standing.

Chen Changsheng asked, "How have these past few years been for you?"

The Blind Man hesitated. If he were to speak the absolute truth, a part of him felt a secret thrill of joy—but far more than that, it was sheer torment. An inescapable torment.

Although he was now a man standing above others, he had surrendered his freedom from the very beginning. He had lost his sight, and everything around him had been plunged into darkness.

He had already been a rat hiding in the shadows of the streets, but he had sunk into an even deeper, more profound blackness.

The Blind Man finally spoke. "It is all thanks to the Lord's blessing. Things are much better now than they used to be."

Chen Changsheng's voice was soft. "Is that so?"

He tapped lightly on the stone table. "A man like you is not worth pitying, even in death."

The Blind Man froze.

Chen Changsheng looked at him. "Whether you feel bitter or regretful, you will spend your remaining years in absolute darkness. So, you had better start thinking about your next life. There is nothing left for you to hope for in this one."

Chen Changsheng felt absolutely no sympathy for this former tooth broker.

The Blind Man kept his head bowed, not daring to argue. "Yes... yes..."

Yet inwardly, he was struggling violently.

He had come here tonight specifically to beg for a chance.

Even if he could not regain his freedom, he had hoped for an opportunity to see the light of day once more. But in just a few short sentences, Chen Changsheng had severed every last thread of hope.

Chen Changsheng said, "You knew of my arrival, which means White Night must have quite a few eyes planted in Shangjing City. I will count this as your merit. However, there will be no reward. Do you have any objections?"

The Blind Man kept his head bowed. "I would not dare."

"You would not dare say them aloud, you mean."

With a heavy thud, The Blind Man dropped to his knees. Cold sweat broke out across his back. Through clenched teeth, he gasped, "I beg you..."

The Blind Man suddenly jerked his head up. "Let me die."

Facing a future stripped of all hope, he no longer wanted to live.

He had toiled in darkness for who knew how many years to reach his current position, all for the faint hope of reclaiming his freedom. Yet now he was being told that no matter how hard he worked or how perfectly he performed, it would all be for nothing.

In an instant, The Blind Man's spirit plummeted into an endless, lightless abyss.

To live without hope and without meaning, moving through tasks like a hollow, emotionless husk—enduring days like that was worse than death.

Chen Changsheng looked up, contemplating for a moment before speaking. "Give it some time. Once the upcoming matters are settled, I will grant you a merciful end."

The Blind Man's body swayed. His heart screamed in agony, yet he had to choke down his bubbling resentment and press his forehead to the ground in gratitude.

"Thank you... my Lord."

The words were squeezed out through tightly clenched teeth, utterly devoid of willingness.

But Chen Changsheng did not take offense. He simply said in a calm voice, "The jianghu is shifting right now, and the North-South Martial Alliance has risen to prominence. Go and assist those two little ones. Once the grand scheme of this world stabilizes, This Chen will let you die."

The Blind Man kowtowed in submission. Beyond that, he said nothing more.

Chen Changsheng waved a hand, dismissing him.

Just as silently as he had arrived, The Blind Man melted away into the night.

Once he was gone, Chen Changsheng turned his head to the side. "He has already left. Are you still not coming out? What are you hiding there eavesdropping for?"

Yu Hongjin poked her head out from behind a nearby tree. She blinked her large eyes and asked, "Who was that? Mister, are you plotting some kind of evil scheme?!"

Chen Changsheng let out a helpless laugh. He reached over and lightly rapped his knuckles against her head. "What scheme? Stop talking nonsense."

Yu Hongjin sat down. "Hey, it looked to me like that guy really hates you. It's like Mister did something horrible to him."

"This Chen blinded him and stripped him of his freedom, forcing him to work for This Chen for the rest of his life. But in exchange, This Chen also gave him the opportunity to stand above the masses. Would you consider that horrible?"

"Ah?!"

Yu Hongjin blinked in shock. "Really? What did he do to deserve that?"

Chen Changsheng asked, "Hong Jin, have you ever heard of a tooth broker? Human traffickers, essentially."

Yu Hongjin tilted her head. "You mean the people who sell servants?"

"Correct."

"This man lured away innocent young women, abducting and selling them off to the Border Pass. There is no telling how many families he destroyed. A man like that is not worth pitying, even in death. The fact that This Chen still allows him to draw breath is already an act of immense generosity."

Yu Hongjin smacked her lips. Hearing him speak like this gave her a strange, jarring feeling.

This side of him was vastly different from the Mister Chen she held in her mind.

Mister had never seemed to hold such a deep, burning hatred for evil. Even if he truly despised someone, he would not usually display it so openly.

Yu Hongjin looked at him. "Mister seems to really hate that tooth broker."

Chen Changsheng paused, snapping out of his thoughts. He gave a small nod. "That is part of the reason, yes."

In his eyes, a person who lured and sold others into slavery simply could not be spared.

Yu Hongjin did not pry any further.

She let out a light sigh. "Let's not talk about such depressing things. Time to drink, time to drink!"

With that, she reached into her Brocade Pouch and lugged out that large jar of wine.

Chen Changsheng raised an eyebrow. "I suspect you have quite a bit of fine wine stashed inside that Brocade Pouch of yours, yet I've never seen you bring any of it out."

Yu Hongjin immediately clutched her Brocade Pouch to her chest, trying to hide it. "Mister, don't even think about scheming for my Brocade Pouch! Absolutely not!"

Seeing her intense reaction, Chen Changsheng could not help but laugh. "This Chen was merely making an observation. Since when was I eyeing the liquor in your pouch?"

Yu Hongjin let out two indignant huffs. "It's all mine."

"If you just leave it sitting there without drinking it, isn't that a waste?"

"And Mister still claims he isn't eyeing it."

"Ah, but This Chen treated you to quite a lot of Autumn Moon Brew in our earlier years. Shouldn't you show a little gratitude in return now?"

"I don't have any! None! Not even a single jug!"

Yu Hongjin guarded the pouch as if her life depended on it. Looking entirely restless, she hurriedly jumped to her feet. "No, we can't drink this wine anymore. I'm drunk! Mister, I'm already drunk! I'm not talking anymore. Hong Jin is going back now! See you! See you!"

She spun around and sprinted away in a panic, her hands fiercely gripping her Brocade Pouch the entire time.

It was as if she were terrified that Chen Changsheng might cast some demonic spell to snatch her precious wine.

Chen Changsheng burst into bright laughter, musing to himself about how incredibly easy it was to tease Yu Hongjin.

However...

The very next morning, Yu Hongjin went straight to Yunxiang and tattled on him.

Thanks to that, Chen Changsheng had to endure a lecture from Yunxiang.

"Mister, please stop bullying the little girl," she scolded gently. "If she were to find even a single jug of wine missing from her Brocade Pouch, I am afraid she would fight you to the death."

Chen Changsheng could only sit there and take the scolding.

Standing off to the side, Yu Hongjin looked incredibly smug, acting as though she had finally discovered the ultimate method to keep Mister in line.