Before she set off, Shen Yanxiao went to Ye Qing, Yun Qi, and Xie Ling to ask for a leave of absence.
Ye Qing and Yun Qi reacted to her request calmly. However, when Xie Ling learned that Shen Yanxiao wanted more days off, even though she had just restarted her lessons, he almost lost his mind.
Shen Yanxiao quietly snuck away while Xie Ling bombarded her with blame.
She hired a carriage and a wheeler and started her way to the Graveyard of the Sun.
It was a quiet ride. As they went further away from the Black City, the areas along the road were increasingly sparsely populated.
Shen Yanxiao had hired an older man in his 50s to be her wheeler. She had wanted to find someone younger since it was a long and arduous journey. However, most of the wheelers had run away with tails tucked between their legs when they learned of her destination. The old man was the only one who had stayed.
Ancient battlegrounds were often off-limits to the people in the Brilliance Continent. To make the matter worse, the Cave Wolves Mercenary Group had only returned from the same destination with such significant losses. Everyone thought that the Graveyard of the Sun as a land of absolute peril, and no one would go there no matter the price.
“Little brother, why are you going to the Graveyard of the Sun?” The wheeler who drove the carriage was called the Crippled Elder. When he was young, he was once a mercenary as well. However, his left leg was wounded in a mission. Therefore, he could no longer further his career as a mercenary and had become a wheeler.
When all his peers were scared out of their wits by the name Graveyard of the Sun, he stayed behind and accepted Shen Yanxiao’s assignment.
“I have some business to attend to there. Don’t worry. You don’t have to send me to the Graveyard of the Sun. You can find a place and wait for me to come back. You can leave if I am not back within ten days.” Shen Yanxiao sat in the carriage. Since it was a long journey, she was in the mood to chat with Crippled Elder.
“Ah, that is not what I am worried about. You are so young, yet you are heading to such a dangerous place, not to mention that you have a little kid with you. It is not safe. It’s true; I have accepted your assignment. But I am old, and I have gained many experiences in my long life, so please don’t blame an old man for speaking out of turn. Do not go there if you do not have to.” Crippled Elder tried to talk some sense into Shen Yanxiao as he drove the carriage.
Shen Yanxiao laughed gently.
“Crippled Elder, you are an interesting man. Aren’t you afraid that I would not pay you if we were to go back halfway?”
Crippled Elder replied, “Well, money is good, sure. But I cannot ignore my conscience. You two are so young. You must learn to cherish your lives.”
Shen Yanxiao said something in return and made it clear that she would have to go to the Graveyard of the Sun.
The old man did not try to persuade her anymore. However, Shen Yanxiao was shocked to hear his next words.
“Never mind me, let’s go if you insist. I just did not expect that I would go back there someday.”
Taken aback, Shen Yanxiao asked in haste.
“Crippled Elder, what do you mean?”
Crippled Elder kept silent for a moment as if he realized that he had said something he should not have. A few moments later, he slowly said, “My leg was crippled there.”
The crippled old man had been to the Graveyard of the Sun?
Shen Yanxiao was stunned by that information.
Since he had admitted that he had been to the Graveyard of the Sun, the Crippled Elder decided not to hide any more information. Perhaps it was the distant memories that flashed in his mind when he heard the name of the place that he had once been.
