Volume Two: Shadows of the Past Chapter Ten: Chen Jing’s Past

Since the release of Chen Jing’s first solo album, his fans had heard nothing new from him, as if he had vanished without a trace. While other celebrities tried to keep themselves in the spotlight and interacted with their fans at every opportunity, only Chen Jing seemed so indifferent.

“Ah—so bored. Where on earth did Jing go? There’s not a single piece of news about him.”

“It’s fine. I still have his songs on repeat. I think I can keep looping them for another month or so. Hopefully, he’ll release a new song before then.”

“Same here. I can’t pull myself out of Chen Jing’s music.”

On this day, Chen Jing’s fans gathered as usual under his Weibo posts, filling the comments with idle chatter.

“Whoa, everyone! Go check out Chen Jing’s songs—he’s finally made a move!”

“What’s going on? Did he release a new song?”

“No, but the songs on his album just got new music videos. I just watched a couple, and let me say—Jing looks amazing.”

“Oh wow, MV releases? I have to go check them out right now. Let’s go!”

“Let’s form a group and watch together…”

The fanbase quickly organized themselves, heading en masse to watch the newly released music videos.

Meanwhile, at Jingrun Entertainment, at Lin Xi’s request, the staff uploaded all the completed MVs to their corresponding songs.

As soon as the MVs went online, they immediately attracted a wave of fans.

“The choreography, the aesthetics—I love it!”

“I never expected my idol could dance too. What a pleasant surprise.”

“The artistic style in the ‘Lanting Preface’ MV is just stunning. I love seeing Chen Jing delicately copying the ‘Lanting Preface’ with his own hand. This is what a true talent of our nation looks like.”

“The emotion in ‘Sunny Day’ is so touching. The story made me cry. The production is on par with a film.”

“If no one told me, I’d have thought I was watching a movie.”

“Did you all see the MV for ‘Huo Yuanjia’? The combination of visuals and music is simply perfect.”

“Exactly! It has the flavor of our culture. This is the kind of Chinese style we want to see.”

“Support! Jing is so versatile—I hope he’ll release even more works.”

“Wow, nine music videos at once—what a treat!”

“But don’t you feel something’s missing?”

“Yeah! Where’s the MV for ‘Jialan Temple’? And my favorite, ‘Nocturne’?”

“…”

After Lin Xi and the others uploaded all the completed music videos, fans could only shower them with praise. Among all, the most discussed MVs were undoubtedly “Lanting Preface,” “Huo Yuanjia,” and “Sunny Day.” Of course, more people left messages asking why there was no MV for “Jialan Temple,” and strongly petitioned for a “Nocturne” MV as well.

Lin Xi had anticipated this. She instructed Lin Zitan to post an explanation on Chen Jing’s Weibo, saying that Chen Jing was away on business and couldn’t participate in the filming of the “Jialan Temple” MV, but he would make it up to everyone as soon as he returned. Meanwhile, the “Nocturne” MV was also in the works, and when the time came, they would present everyone with another wonderful video.

This explanation somewhat eased the fans’ doubts. Soon, they were back to discussing Chen Jing’s dancing in the MVs.

“I’m certain—Jing must have trained in dance. Watching him is pure delight.”

“Of course! As a truly talented idol singer, there’s nothing our Ah Jing can’t do.”

“A composer who can’t dance isn’t a good singer, right?”

“Exactly!”

The fans jested among themselves, but at this moment, Chen Jing had no time to pay attention to their comments. He was now traveling with Molly and Zhang Jingzhi, the three of them boarding a plane secretly arranged by Sun Ruoqing, heading to the capital of China.

As soon as they disembarked and left the airport, they were greeted by Xie Yuanshan and Sun Ruoqing, who had been waiting for some time.

“Brother! Over here!” Xie Yuanshan waved both arms excitedly when she saw Chen Jing.

Chen Jing spotted them too, so he carried Molly and led Zhang Jingzhi over.

“Ah—this must be Molly? She’s so adorable!” This was Xie Yuanshan’s first time meeting Molly. The moment she saw Molly’s natural long hair, she took her from Chen Jing’s arms, hugging and kissing her happily.

“Hello, Miss Zhang Jingzhi. I’m Sun Ruoqing. We spoke on the phone before.” Sun Ruoqing greeted her calmly.

“Hello, Miss Sun. Very pleased to meet you.” Zhang Jingzhi was a bit reserved, aware that both women before her were no ordinary people, but, like her, gifted individuals.

Chen Jing, on the other hand, was silent. Ever since he boarded the plane, he had spoken very little. Some things, even if you tell yourself to let go, are never so easily left behind.

Everyone got into the arranged car, heading toward the outskirts of the capital, where the headquarters of the Dynasty was located.

“Are the others all here?” This was the first thing Chen Jing asked after getting off the plane.

Sun Ruoqing nodded. “Yes, everyone is waiting for you at headquarters. They all wanted to pick you up, but I stopped them.”

Chen Jing nodded in silence. The car soon lapsed into a strange quiet, even the usually lively Xie Yuanshan simply held Molly in silence.

Zhang Jingzhi, meanwhile, was burning with curiosity. Who exactly was Chen Jing? Was he really just an ordinary member of the Dynasty? Impossible! How could an ordinary member know someone as high-ranking as Sun Ruoqing, and have the organization personally arrange his transport?

Zhang Jingzhi knew that Sun Ruoqing’s status in the Dynasty was quite high. From her words, it was clear she had the authority to make many decisions herself—a power only someone with significant rank could wield.

Finally, after circling around for a while, the car drove into a military compound on the outskirts of the capital.

No sooner had Chen Jing stepped out of the car than he was surrounded by several burly men, startling Zhang Jingzhi.

“Boss!”

“Boss!”

“Boss!”

One shout after another rang out. The men surrounding Chen Jing were his former teammates—Liu Zexuan, Ji Hao, and others. Among them was a man in a wheelchair.

Chen Jing, visibly moved, patted Liu Zexuan on the shoulder and said with a laugh, “Good, good. Everyone’s here—good.”

Only the people from the Dynasty would understand the significance of those words.

Chen Jing made his way through the group and stopped beside the man in the wheelchair. Seeing that he only had casts on his legs and hadn’t lost a limb, Chen Jing let out a silent breath of relief. He knocked on the wheelchair playfully. “So, Old Six, you knew I was coming and prepared such a big surprise for me?”

The man in the wheelchair was, of course, Old Six—Li Zijie. His injuries were the result of a recent mission.

Li Zijie gave a wry smile and said, “Boss, don’t laugh at me. Blame my bad luck and carelessness—I got blown up by those bastards. Lucky for me, I activated my power in time.”

At this point, Old Seven, Wu Wen, stepped forward. “It’s not that, boss. Sixth brother got hurt saving me from Pandora’s people. It’s my fault.”

Li Zijie immediately scolded him, “Nonsense. Don’t make this about you. Go cool off somewhere else. The boss just got back—don’t upset him.”

Wu Wen bit his lip and lowered his head in silence.

Having understood what happened, Chen Jing didn’t say much more. He just patted Wu Wen on the shoulder and then turned to Li Zijie with a smile. “Well done. As long as you’re okay—take care and heal up.”

Chen Jing had seen incidents like this too many times. This was just the way things were between him and his brothers.

Watching Chen Jing blend in so easily with the group of burly men, Zhang Jingzhi couldn’t hold back her curiosity any longer. She turned to Xie Yuanshan. “Yuanshan, who exactly is Ah Jing—your brother?”

Xie Yuanshan was delighted to have her brother back. When she heard Zhang Jingzhi’s question, she turned to her with pride. “My brother is just my brother.”

“Uh, no, I mean—what’s Chen Jing’s relationship with the Dynasty?”

“Oh, that.” Xie Yuanshan looked back at Chen Jing, her eyes misty. “My brother… he was the former leader of the Dynasty’s Dragon Squad.”

“The Dragon Squad?” Zhang Jingzhi asked in confusion.

Xie Yuanshan glanced at her and explained, “The Dragon Squad is responsible for carrying out the most dangerous missions within China. Its members must all be controllers with powers above level five—the strongest fighters the Dynasty has.”

“I see.”

“In addition to the Dragon Squad, there’s also the Phoenix Squad, which manages all internal affairs and information. The Dragon Squad handles external threats; the Phoenix Squad, internal matters. These two are the most crucial departments of the Dynasty.”

“I understand,” Zhang Jingzhi nodded, then asked a key question, “Ah Jing was the former leader of the Dragon Squad? That means he’s a controller-level gifted individual? But I’ve never felt any power emanating from him.”

“Hmph, who says my brother isn’t gifted? He broke through level three at age fourteen—the youngest in history to reach the Disaster level. He was even considered the most likely candidate to break through to level six. If it hadn’t been for what happened…” At this, Xie Yuanshan bit her lip, afraid she might start to cry if she said more.

Zhang Jingzhi was amazed by Chen Jing’s past, but still puzzled. “Then why isn’t Ah Jing part of the Dragon Squad anymore? He said he’s no longer with the Dynasty.”

Before Xie Yuanshan could answer, Sun Ruoqing interjected, “That’s because Chen Jing can no longer use his powers. According to the Dynasty’s rules, only those who can use their powers may remain members. He had no choice but to retire.”

Watching Chen Jing, laughing so freely with his old comrades, Sun Ruoqing’s heart ached. She knew that, more than anyone, Chen Jing longed to stay with the Dynasty.