SHEN JIU THOUGHT a lot about why Yue Qi never returned to look for him. Perhaps he’d been discovered while making his escape, and the human traffickers had broken his legs. Perhaps he had been unable to find any food on his journey and, being unwilling to beg, he’d starved to death. Perhaps his potential had been too meager, so none of the immortal mountains had been willing to take him in. Shen Jiu even imagined walking to the ends of the earth looking for Yue Qi’s remains, and how, after finding them, he would dig him a grave with his own two hands. Perhaps he would even do his best to shed
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