After some time had passed, We had finally stepped out of the room, as the door was opened, all the people outside tensed, the Senior Brothers and Sisters were all standing there having unnerved expressions on all their faces, waiting for me to say anything .
But I didn't know what to say, I had checked Master's body after I heard what uncle Li had said before about Master passing away, at first I didn't understand why would something like this happened, also I sensed that something else seemed to be going on, Uncle Li was calm about this, too calm that made me start to suspect that he even seemed to be relieved at this news .
My steps were quite heavy, my eyes were red and I fought the urge to shed tears, I didn't understand what or why was I feeling this sad for a person that I had only known for no more than half a month, but I was devastated about this news .
After I checked Master's body, there was no pulse, his body that had started to become a bit warmer at me treating his ailment become as cold as a corpse, my heavy steps were a result of my inability to comprehend the news .
Seeing the tensed atmosphere outside the door to the Main Hall, I was once again plagued with how should I relay this piece of news to all of them, but it seem that I didn't need to be the one doing so in the end, Uncle Li's solemn voice sounded and he was the one who informed them of this terrible piece of news .
He finished saying this and instantly, the one who was mostly struck by this news was none other than Boa'er, Master's daughter, she instantly collapsed in the hand of senior sister Liu Ru Yu, who even though she looked more steady than even senior brother, I saw her biting her lip and her eyes too become clouded with confusion and started to become red, even more intense than mine .
She was hit strongly as well, but she seemed to still able to hold on, on the other side my senior brothers were struck harder and was unable to hold back their turbulent emotions .
Some were in disbelief, some were in shock, even senior brother Bai who was quite strong-headed, suddenly spat a mouthful of blood and he leaned on his sword and managed to barely stabilize himself from falling down on the floor .
All of the people who heard the news were devastated to a varying degrees, Lu Chiang was the least one who seem to have been impacted, maybe it was I had bad blood with him, but I could see that among those who were hit the most, his reaction to this happening was quite mild, this guy was the youngest member here as well .
But as if Uncle Li wasn't reading the room, completely disregarding of how all of us were currently at loss of what to say or day, he continued to say with solemn tone :
I know that you are all devastated by this news, but I want you to hide the news about your Master passing away for the time being, Tian Long, you don't need to beat yourself over it, you did do your best, it's just that the Dragon Slaying Poison which your Master had been plagued with was incurable .
Even though you had dealt with the Poison, it seem that it have already damaged your Master's vitality devastatingly, you don't need to beat yourself over it much, now is not the time to mourn over our loss this time, my words are to all of you, each one of you need to still do their duty without any delay, I suspect that enemies should be trying to deal an even more severe blow to us soon, do you understand .
His tone carried solemnity to it, but it also contained unquestionable authority, it forced everyone present to comply to his words, all but me who was still engrossed in finding what exactly was wrong with all these guys, what was wrong with Uncle Li .
Why was he acting weird and quite hurried, did he truly wanted the position of Master this strongly, my interaction with Chu Cheng had made me a bit more suspicious of people, Chu Cheng was an uncle to Chu Jian and Chu Ji Xi, but in front of inheritance and greed for benefits, he forsake that kind of relationship and overlooked it .
As I was thinking like this, Uncle Li suddenly asked if Master had left anything for him before he started his retreat, senior brother Fu suddenly passed an envelope that had the seal of Master on it, then uncle Li proceeded to open the envelope and ready the letter inside it silently .
After he finished reading the letter, he nodded his head solemnly, then the piece of paper in his hand was burnt to crisps mysteriously as if he was doing a magic trick, then he told us not to worry and told Liu Ru Yu to take care of Chen Boa'er and notify him the moment she wake up .
Then he flashed and disappeared from our sight, then we were left there unable to comprehend what is it that we should do from here on out, we all just there staring blankly at where Master was now slumbering, I heard a few sniffs and sobs coming from none other than the first and the oldest Senior Brother Gu Chu .
But after a while, he stopped sobbing after he saw that he was starting to make a scene here, so with a heavy steps, he passed by me and patted me on the shoulder before he flashed out of here as well, his actions seemed to have set us free from whatever that was burdening us and immobilizing us .
But not in a good way, if we all were still in the denial stage, then there seem to be someone among us who had already reached the stage of throwing blame, the stage of making accusations, Lu Chiang was that person .
Seeing that we were all mourning like this, he actually started to accuse me that I might have been the one who plotted to kill Master, him saying this made the girl embraced by Liu Ru Yu body shook a little, she even opened her eyes wide at this and stared at me with cold eyes, I was still engrossed in my own world, so I only sensed a glare coming from my two sides and didn't gave them much thought .
Is this what happened ?.
A soft voice sounded beside me and I saw that Liu Ru Yu appeared before me while still holding Boa'er and she asked this, this was the very first time this heroic girl did speak to me, I was startled by her actions and the killing intent she was releasing, but instead of saying anything, I turned to Lu Chiang and shook my head at this fellow who dared to even accuse me of such a thing .
I was about to leap at him and teach him why roses are red, even though now wasn't the time for something like this, I wasn't in the mood for dealing with him currently, else I really might kill him, but I heard a ~clank~ sound right behind me and saw that Senior Brother Bai Ming was now clashing with the sword in the hand of Liu Ru Yu .
She actually attacked me just now and I wasn't able to notice her doing this, when have my senses been so dull ever before, if Senior Brother hadn't interfered would I have died, my reserveof Azure Wood Pill had already ran out as well, so all that I could have depend on was luck and that weird energy currently stored in my heart .
Senior Brother Bai had calmed the situation by saying that if I indeed someone who would do such a thing, then how could have Uncle Li stop by and watch me do something like this, he also turned to Lu Chiang and said coldly :
Nowisn't the the time to have internal fighting or solve personal greaviances, I trust him and know for certain that he didn't commit any hideous acts, I Bai Ming will support him today with all I got .
Liu Ru Yu saw this and had retreated in a hurry then she sheathed her sword, she apologized for her offence and she directly flashed away while the girl in her arms start to sob in grieve, Lu Chiang merely snorted and he too left the place .
Fu Liu, Ba Zi, Bai Ming had circled me before as if safeguarding me, but none of them said anything other than Bai Ming, I understood that they were still having some troubles in dealing with Master passing away, so I didn't blame them, I was already content with them doing this .
We stood there for a long time and no one dared to say a word, soon I was brought by them as they headed towards an inn, after drinking the first cup, I heard the beeping sounds of the Panel's notifications telling me that it had removed the drunkenness effect those drinks have .
For the first time, I started to think that just for once I wanted the Panel to stop working for a brief moment, drinks seemed to have brought some relief to my senior brothers, at least they had started to converse and comfort each other in their drunk state .
I on the other hand struggled to even breath, not to mention talking, I didn't know what should I say, I wasn't even sure of what I was feeling, I was angry at myself for not taking actions more quickly and more decisively before, I should have used Retribution to hold him back as I finished healing Master's injuries .
A lot of scenarios where I could have been able to save my master started to play on my mind, with each scenario, the guilt in my heart began to increase and become more heavy, I found myself guilty for his death, I couldn't help but look at my hands and wonder if I was the one to have actually killed Master as that hatful guy's said .
Don't pay his words any mind, I Bai Ming had no discerning eyes for people's true nature, but I can tell that you are a good guy and that you have tried to the best of your ability to save Master, if he were to be here now, he would have said this to you himself, pity, pity .
Bai Ming suddenly seemed to be more talkative than I had heard about him patted my shoulder and said this, soon I sensed two more people patting me in the shoulder, Ba Zi and Fu Liu, looking at them, all they did was to nod back at me as if indicating their agreement with Senior Bai's words .
Ba Zi hiccuped suddenly and I saw that a faint smile appeared on his face as he said :
You are a good guy Tian Bong, a good guy that almost as handsome as me .
I guess he had completely lost it, he was completely drunk, I looked at Fu Liu hoping that he might do something to help, but not only he didn't do anything to help, but he had made the situation even more complicated with him being drunk as well, there was no fixing this situation now, he said while slapping the back of Ba Zi's head :
Aren't you thick-skinned, what comparable to you, Tian Long is clearly more handsome than you, you are just shamelessly boasting .
Ba Zi seemed to put his face worth at quite the high regard, he started to quarrel with Senior Brother Fu and saying that he was wrong, the latter didn't stand down and become fully committed in the argument,as a last resort, I looked at Bai Ming and hoped that he would interfere and solve this predicament, but I didn't expect that he would directly draw his sword and he aimed his sword at me .
I couldn't help but wonder what had gotten to him all of a sudden and why he was pointing his sword at me, then I saw his face becoming icy cold as he said :
You demon had wracked havoc in the world for more than enough time, I will slay you today and let the world finally become peaceful again .
Just as he was about to thrust his sword forward, Fu Liu suddenly started to fight with Ba Zi, they were just exchanging moves without the use of Martial Arts and just as Bai Ming was about to pierce my chest with his sword, I turned to the side and he was pushed in the back by a drunkard Fu Liu .
Then he directly crashed into the bar table and split it in two, the bartender who was behind it, start cursing but once the cold sharp blade went right beside his head, he swallowed all the words he was about to say, Bai Ming didn't like being interrupted like this, he like a demon himself went berserk and start to fist the other two, the three guys continued to spar with one another in their drunk state .
There was no winner in the end, the three of them collapsed on the floor and they looked to be bruised, tired and asleep, the people who were initially bustling in the inn had already fled without paying for the drinks they had drunk when the two senior brother of mine started to squabble .
I paid the man for the damages, even though he didn't want to accept it at first, then took all the three of them out, while looking at the moon already bidding us farewell, I understood that the dawn will be upon us soon, so I helped them back to the dojo gates and went on my own way .
I was strolling through the city, my heart was eased slightly by the amusing scene and warm words that my senior brothers shared with me, but as if my heart suddenly had a tight knot in it, I couldn't help but feel a heavy mood assaulting me, he was my Master for a few days, but he had brought so much warmth to me, he was now dead because of me, completely or partially, it didn't matter .
As I kept strolling through places I was familiar with and some other places that were not, I couldn't help but wonder if Master would have did all this for me, if he were to have known the secrets that I kept from him, I was regretting lying to him, but only slightly, me telling him my secrets might have made him die even more quicker .
I finished thinking like this and for some reason start to smile bitterly at the fate that await all of us after Master perish, should I leave the city, but will that City's Lord leave my Senior Brothers and Sisters alone if I were to do so, I felt that the possibility was quite low .
Whatever happens next, I still hope to keep the Dojo running as my tribute to Master, as I was deep in thought, I suddenly saw two spears blocking my bath, I woke up from my trance and found that I was standing in front of the Lu Family Mansion gates, I walked absentmindedly around the city, but to think that I had still arrived at my destination .
The guards had stopped me from entering, I told them about my business here and their answer was to wait for tomorrow, I told them that they should call their Lu Family head, but the two merely scoffed at me and were quite disrespectful, I still didn't want to cause a scene and told them to notify Young Master Lu of my Tian Long visit and me waiting for him here .
The two looked at me and burst out laughing, I understood what they were thinking, but there was little that I can do about their narrow mind, another guard seeing the commotion had become interested to see what was going on here .
At first, I didn't expect much to happen with the arrival of this guard, but seeing who he was, I had finally understood that things might be getting better for me, this guard was a middle-aged man that was responsible for collecting the collateral for going out of the family before, I can say to haven't interacted with him that much .
But he seemed to know me, he directly slapped the two guys who were laughing at me and introduce me to them as a Core Disciple to Master Chen, my heart bled as he mentioned this, but I was still forced to act alright, the two other guards bowed on the ground and started pleading for their life .
I didn't gave them much trouble, since my conscience was already troubled dealing with enough guilt for today, I looked at the guard and had once again repeated to him why was I here, but unlike the two nasty guys from before, this Middle-aged man seemed quite sensible, he led me inside the mansion and brought me to the still familiar gate leading to the Inner area of the mansion .
Where he had once again introduced me to the guard there and the guard was startled at first, but then he went out of his way to go and deliver this message to his superiors, he didn't dare to delay, but he also didn't dare to let me go inside without asking for permission first .
I came here at quite late time of the night, so I very much understood his reasons, he went inside and I waited for him to come back a few minutes later, but after some while, he still hadn't come back and he seemed to never will .