Chapter 220: Five Years Later
The once-mighty Zhen family of Zhuzhou had fallen.
The Zhen family patriarch fled Zhuzhou City with the remaining family members, leaving behind many properties and even the grand estate hailed as Zhuzhou’s finest mansion. Years in the making, it was abandoned in their haste to escape, with only a few valuable items in tow.
Everyone knew this had something to do with Yu Guang, but no one could say exactly what he had done to terrify the Zhen patriarch to such an extent that he chose to sever his roots for survival.
With the fall of the Zhen family, the old Exorcism Bureau lost its greatest backer and began to crumble.
Everything they once handled was now dealt with by Yu Guang and his team. Initially, they thought Yu Guang’s ragtag group would eventually run short of manpower and come crawling back to them.
To their shock, the youths Yu Guang trained were all extraordinarily capable and formidable.
On top of that, Yu Guang had the support of the Divine Academy, which sent a fresh batch of newly graduated cultivators to bolster his ranks. The old bureau watched helplessly as their remaining foothold was further squeezed out.
Zhuzhou City had become uninhabitable!
The head of the Zhen family led the way by fleeing with his people, and soon many others followed suit, moving away from Zhuzhou to seek a new beginning elsewhere.
The old Exorcism Bureau lost a wave of supporters as many defected. Sensing the shift in power, the remaining influential families in Zhuzhou—led by the Pei and Ban clans—quickly switched allegiance to Yu Guang.
In just one year, the once-glorious Exorcism Bureau had become a thing of the past. Only a small fraction of its former members remained, thoroughly subdued under Yu Guang’s control, unable to rise again.
From that point on, whenever people spoke of the Exorcism Bureau, they referred only to the new bureau established by Yu Guang.
…
Five years later—
A group of young people, dusty from travel, arrived at Zhuzhou City’s gates and reined in their horses in front of the Exorcism Bureau.
At the forefront was Yu Guang, the most spirited among them. He strode briskly into the grand hall of the bureau.
Compared to a few years ago, Yu Guang, now a young man, appeared taller. Though his physique had not changed drastically, he now carried a more balanced and fluid strength, exuding a restrained yet potent aura.
Upon seeing him, Wu Shan, who had been lounging in the grand hall yawning out of boredom, immediately perked up and stood excitedly. “Big Brother, you’re back!”
Glancing at the group of youths following behind Yu Guang, he chuckled, “This year’s batch of recruits from the Divine Academy can’t compare to us. Just a few days of travel, and they’re already worn out. Back in our day, we’d be out for three months without feeling a thing!”
The exhausted youths slumped on their chairs, scratching their heads in frustration. Yet, seeing their Big Brother, they dared not talk back.
These once-proud youngsters had been thoroughly humbled and worn out over the past few days under Yu Guang’s rigorous training.
At that moment, Ban Ying walked in from outside, carrying a stack of account books. She smiled upon seeing them. “Big Brother, you’re back. Was the mission to eliminate the evil spirits successful?”
“Do you even need to ask? With Big Brother on the job, how could it not be?”
After these years of governance, Zhuzhou had seen very few evil spirits. Every year, Yu Guang led a group to travel across the city, not only eliminating evil spirits but also overseeing various local matters.
This year, they had only heard of three locations where evil spirits had appeared. Before this trip, there had been two whole months without any incidents, so it was safe to assume that things would likely be quiet for a while.
With little to do, the young people of the Exorcism Bureau had been assigned other tasks by their Big Brother.
Ban Ying led a team managing the pearl farms and several stores—once owned by the Zhen family and the old Exorcism Bureau, but now under their control. The profits from these businesses were used to fund the bureau’s expenses.
Pei Wenjue was in charge of maintaining Zhuzhou Park, which had been converted from the Zhen family mansion. He and a small team took care of the park’s upkeep.
Occasionally, he also helped Ban Ying and the others with their duties.
Wu Jin led a group of about ten people, mainly serving as prison guards.
As the number of evil spirits continued to dwindle, Yu Guang’s responsibilities expanded. Not only did he continue to lead efforts against the spirits, but he also began overseeing interpersonal conflicts, essentially taking on the duties of the city’s mayor.
For those who committed wrongdoings, Yu Guang imprisoned them according to his own rules and arranged labor reform based on their situations.
Wu Jin was responsible for overseeing the prisoners and monitoring their labor, making him the busiest of them all.
Ming Yu spent most of his time at the Divine Academy, acting as a teacher, educating a group of reckless youths.
The others either stayed at the Exorcism Bureau, patrolled the city, or helped out where needed.
Everyone had their tasks.
Yu Guang, as the stabilizing force, remained stationed at the Exorcism Bureau, though there were times when he had to go out, like these past few days.
When he was away, the bureau was under the care of Yu Yin.
“Where’s Youngest?” Yu Guang asked after drinking a pot of water. Not seeing his brother around, he asked with some curiosity.
When Yu Guang asked this question, Wu Shan scratched his face, his eyes shifting awkwardly as he forced a dry laugh.
“Yu Yin… he’s, uh, over by the Zuoshui River.”
Yu Guang thought for a moment. “Oh, is he fishing?”
Wu Shan looked up at the sky. “Fishing? Well, you could say that.”
Yu Yin was “fishing” by hanging people by the river.
Black spider silk was used to bind several young men and a thirteen-year-old named Shi Bai, suspending them halfway in the water like bait, with the other end of the silk tied to a tree by the riverbank.
“Yu Yin, we know we were wrong, we won’t do it again! Please, let us go this time!” one of the young men pleaded.
“Yeah, yeah, little brother! We won’t steal anymore! Absolutely no more stealing!” the others chimed in.
The young men promised earnestly, but Shi Bai’s face was one of utter despair. He seemed to have grown accustomed to being hung up like this and didn’t even bother struggling.
Yu Yin stood quietly by the riverbank, not uttering a single word. His neatly tied black hair swayed gently like the willow branches by the water.
These people were the original members of the Tianchong Class. They had been together for several years, and the closer they became, the bolder they grew.
They actually dared to form a group and steal his spider silk.
It all started when the first person discovered that Yu Yin’s black spider silk could be used as fishing line, easily catching fish. From there, things escalated quickly.
Yu Yin’s spider silk didn’t need bait. When placed in water, it would seek out the scent of living creatures and pierce the body of the fish, making it an automatic fishing line.
All it took was to pull up the line, and fish would be caught—fishing had never been so easy and enjoyable.
After that, the original Tianchong Class group developed a fishing addiction, frequently coming to Yu Yin asking for spider silk.
From Pei Wenjue to Ban Ying, and now the ones hanging by the river, every one of them had asked Yu Yin for some silk at one point.
But spider silk was a consumable; after two uses, it would vanish.
So, this group of people, not knowing when to stop, had finally angered Yu Yin, who refused to give them any more spider silk for their antics.
As a result, these individuals, feeling bold, convinced Shi Bai, who often followed Yu Yin, to sneak into Yu Yin’s house to steal some silk for fishing.
Unfortunately for them, Yu Yin discovered their plan, and this scene unfolded.
Realizing they were in the wrong, the group felt embarrassed but dared not resist as they hung there, unable to do anything but beg for mercy. They spoke so much that their throats went dry, but Yu Yin remained silent by the riverbank, unmoved.
Finally, Shi Bai spoke up. “Big Brother should be back today. Are you still going to waste time with us here?”
As soon as those words left his mouth, the spider silk tugged upward, lifting them out of the water.
The young men grinned and exchanged knowing glances, silently complimenting Shi Bai for his quick thinking.
Indeed, with Big Brother returning, Yu Yin, this younger brother, likely had no time to waste on them anymore.
Once they were all lifted from the water, Yu Yin’s hand began to emit a fresh coil of spider silk, which automatically twisted into a black whip, alive with motion.
He raised his hand, and the whip lashed toward the group.
“Agh!”
“Ow!”
“Ah, it hurts, it hurts! Stop! Stop!”
The young men, still suspended from the tree, howled and twisted in pain. Suddenly, one of them spotted a figure approaching from the distance and cried out, “Big Brother! Big Brother, help!”
Yu Yin paused mid-swing, but then, with his usual calm, he continued to strike, causing them to scream out in agony.
Yu Guang’s voice, filled with amusement, came from behind. “Big Brother can’t save you now, just hang there.”
He placed a hand on Yu Yin’s shoulder. “Little brother, I’m back.”
Yu Yin turned his head, revealing his pure white mask that covered his face.
As Yu Yin’s age and strength grew, even with his eyes covered, his presence could easily influence those around him. To help him control this, Yu Guang found him a mask. This mask didn’t even leave room for the eyes, which led to one of the biggest mysteries among the Tianchong Class: Why did Yu Yin, who couldn’t see, often act as though he could?
“Let’s go. Time to head back and eat with Big Brother,” Yu Guang said.
Yu Yin released the group hanging from the tree and casually tossed the black whip made of spider silk onto them, before turning and walking off with his brother.
The group picked themselves up from the ground, rubbing their sore backsides and waists. They quickly scrambled to pick up the black whip on the ground.
Though they had screamed loudly earlier, the pain hadn’t been much. Compared to that small pain, the real concern was the large amount of spider silk now in their possession.
“Hehe, so much! Let’s go, let’s gather people and go fishing together!”
…
Yu Yin walked beside Yu Guang, his body leaning slightly toward him as Yu Guang had his arm draped over his shoulder.
Now eighteen years old, Yu Yin had fully grown and stretched out, standing even a little taller than Yu Guang. Among the more than a hundred people in the Exorcism Bureau, only Wu Jin, the tallest and most muscular, was still taller than him.
However, despite his height, Yu Yin’s build didn’t seem “solid” enough. After years of training, Yu Guang had managed to strengthen him, but Yu Yin still appeared slender and fair-skinned, in stark contrast to the rougher physiques of others.
Yu Guang had finally accepted that his younger brother had this special, natural physique, and, somewhat regretfully, had stopped pushing him so hard in training.
The two brothers returned to the Exorcism Bureau to eat, take care of some matters, and by dusk, they went together to the back courtyard for a bath.
A medicinal bath had been set up in the back courtyard to help strengthen their bodies. Whenever Yu Guang was around, he would take his brother there to soak.
At first, Yu Yin hadn’t been fond of it, but over time, he had gotten used to it and would often take the initiative to pull his brother along for a soak.
Thinking about the changes in his younger brother over the years, Yu Guang wiped the droplets of water from his face and stepped into the medicinal bath.
Yu Yin followed him and, sitting in the bath, removed the mask from his face.
The face revealed was even more striking and otherworldly compared to the one he had first shown at twelve, when his demon features began to emerge.
His eyes were narrow, naturally lined like they had been painted on, and his long eyebrows appeared to have been delicately drawn with a fine brush. His eyebrows were complemented by lips painted a vibrant crimson, as though touched by a master’s hand.
This face, so meticulously outlined, paired with his jet-black long hair, resembled a painted demon from a portrait—no matter how you looked at it, he didn’t look entirely human.
Over the past two years, Yu Yin had rarely removed his mask in front of others. Even the members of the Tianchong Class, when catching a glimpse of his face, would often freeze in surprise.
The only person who remained unaffected by his appearance was his big brother, Yu Guang.
At this moment, Yu Guang glanced at him, rubbed his arm, and casually began talking about the people he had hung up on the tree earlier that day.
Yu Yin, sitting in the medicinal bath close to him, placed his hand on his brother’s shoulder.
No matter the season, Yu Guang’s body always felt warm. As he raised his hand to wash, the muscles beneath Yu Yin’s palm subtly tensed, forming slight bulges.
Following the contours of those muscles, Yu Yin’s fingers slid downward.
Yu Guang trained relentlessly every day, expending much energy. Unlike Wu Jin, who had turned himself into a muscular giant, Yu Guang’s physique was perfectly proportioned, striking a balance between strength and grace.
It was a beautiful body, brimming with youthful vitality.
As Yu Guang joked about the people who were so eager to fish, his chest subtly vibrated with laughter, unaware of the fingers that were gently moving across his back.
It wasn’t until Yu Yin pressed his hand fully against his brother’s back that Yu Guang turned to glance at him and casually asked, “Are you going to give Big Brother a back rub?”
Yu Yin made a sound of indifference from his throat, still slowly and deliberately placing his palm on Yu Guang’s back.
The excessively pale hand always felt cool to the touch, gliding over the warm skin with an almost magnetic sensation, as if it were drawing something from the surface.
Yu Yin moved his hand slowly, a satisfied expression appearing on his face as he rested behind Yu Guang.
A gray-eyed cat, tightly curled up on a stone at the edge of the pool, flicked its tail lightly and stared at Yu Guang’s unaware face.
Yu Guang tilted his head back, wiping his neck and said, “Youngest, this isn’t a back rub. Use some strength.”
Yu Yin’s hand slid downward to Yu Guang’s waist, his chin resting on his brother’s shoulder.
His slightly parted lips, with a seemingly unconscious motion, gently brushed away a droplet of water from his brother’s shoulder.
Yu Guang didn’t notice, twisting the towel in his hands and shrugging his shoulders. “Are you slacking off while helping Big Brother with his back rub?”
