There was an elderly man in the corner, whom the kind waiter didn't chase away. The old man's body was like it had shrivelled up in water, his face full of wrinkles, dressed head to toe in old and ratty cotton robes, his sparse whiskers disheveled. His hands were pressed together palm-to-palm as he knelt on the floor, bowing continuously to those who passed. A chipped bowl was placed beside him.
Zhang Chengling peeped at him, his ears full of Cao Weining's sophisticated musing. "...They say the scent of chrysanthemum comes from the bitter cold…"
"That's not right, Cao-dage, chrysanthemums bloom in autumn, is autumn that cold?"
Cao Weining coughed. "Most of these poets sigh over things not worth sighing about, contributing nothing useful to society. They're a generation of loafers who compose boring things about nature in their libraries. Being unable to tell which season chrysanthemums blossom in is typical of them!"
"Oh, they're really a bunch of slacking bookworms who don't know anything, ahahaha…"
When Cao Weining and Gu Xiang started to discuss the beauty of the four seasons and poetry, they could drive a person to insanity. Zhang Chengling tolerated it for as long as he could, and when he finally could not bear it any longer, he dug out a few copper coins, walked downstairs, and bent to put them in the old beggar's bowl.
The old man rambled, "Good philanthropist, thank you, philanthropist, may the most merciful and compassionate Goddess of Mercy protect you…"
Zhang Chengling's lips tightened as he squeezed out a laborious smile. His father was the true humanitarian, who the heavens had protected for a lifetime. Except for that one night, the gods had gotten drunk, didn't keep watch, and his father had died.
The good had to rely on the heavens for protection, but the evil could live on viciously. Wasn't this too laughable?
He sat on the steps, and of his own accord, started reciting the things Zhou Zishu taught him, but was still befuddled about a great many things. As he recited on like a little monk reciting scriptures, his mind wandered, his gaze drifting somewhere far away, his heart wondering why his shifu was not back yet. The first thing his shifu would do upon returning would be to scold him, why did he have to be this stupid?
As a child half-matured, his bones were growing furiously; the clothes that Zhao Jing had ordered tailors to make for him a few months ago, when they had just reached the Zhao Family Manor, were small on him now. The legs of his pants were a good few inches shorter, the hems hanging laughably above his ankles.
Zhang Chengling dipped his head, reached out his fingers to pinch the hem of his trousers, rolled them up and unrolled them again--thinking, I'm not this stupid on purpose, who doesn't want to be a bit smarter, so that they can master abilities a little earlier, to seek revenge for their family a little sooner?
He recalled that time in childhood, when the shifu teaching him martial arts had complained about him to his father. His father had only patted his head, and said to that shifu with an apologetic smile, "Please be more forgiving on him. It's like how the five fingers on a hand do not grow to be the same length--this boy of mine had a bout of fever when he was younger, and is slower than others. But he's a good kid, I don't expect him to become something great in the future. As long as he can take good care of himself, that's good enough."
In this world, if there were emperors and rulers that accomplished great things, there also had to be peddlers and messengers dealing with insignificant affairs, otherwise, could the world even function?
Zhang Chengling felt that he was probably born to be a peddler or a messenger, yet the heavens didn't let him lead a peaceful life, forcing him to grow in the mold of his shifu, of Uncle Zhao. Wasn't this depriving him of a livelihood?
There were many things that his puny teenage brain could not make sense of. It could not make sense of the theories his shifu taught him, could not make sense of the sword techniques Senior Wen had taught him, could not make sense of destiny, and could not make sense of how he should proceed from here. A thought suddenly flashed past in his mind--if he could not live on, he should just die.
The thought of seeking death was far too painful; his eyes stung, and he nearly couldn't hold back his tears. Involuntarily, he thought of his shifu's unimpressed face, recalled him saying "Leaking horse piss at the slightest thing, are you still a man?", and forced his tears back.
Deeply immersed in his warring thoughts, Zhang Chengling did not notice that the black-veiled performer playing and singing the tavern was plucking at the strings of their instrument, while slowly closing in on him…
Meanwhile, just as Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing had been about to leave the alley one after the other, the atmosphere between them odd, a woman's scream came out of the blue from nearby. Zhou Zishu paused in his steps.
Right afterwards, a white shadow flashed in front of their eyes, and with a 'plop', the Green Vixen Liu Qianqiao was tossed onto the ground like a burlap sack by the intruder. She rolled to the side, trying to get up, but her acupunctures looked to have been sealed as she collapsed back down.
This person, who had no tender pity for the fairer sex and casually flung people around, was none other than that old glutton Ye Baiyi.
Ye Baiyi pointed at Liu Qianqiao, and asked Zhou Zishu, "What's with this ugly freak mad like a dog? "
These words struck a nerve of Liu Qianqiao's, and she glared at Ye Baiyi like she wanted to slice him into a thousand pieces. In that moment, Zhou Zishu realised--the reason why this Ye person was this odd, was most probably because he had been single for all of his life; if a woman was willing to spend the rest of her life with someone like him, never mind climbing a tree, a female pig would ascend to heaven!
Wen Kexing caught up, grabbing Zhou Zishu's wrist as he stepped forward, and glared at Ye Baiyi--for some unknown reason, this Valley Master Wen radiated strong enmity towards Elder Ye, but of course, this reason could be something similar to the bestial instinct that made wolves and dogs guard their food--only to hear Wen Kexing say, very unhappily, "Why is it you again, hanging around like a spectre haunting us?"
Ye Baiyi glanced at him and ignored him. It was almost as if Ye Baiyi's tolerance of him had increased by plenty ever since Wen Kexing had boldly promised to take his life within ten years. Pointing at Liu Qianqiao, he said coolly, "I came over because I was chasing a thief. Just as I was about to catch him, this woman suddenly leapt out, blocking my path insistently, and the thief escaped."
Zhou Zishu frowned as he regarded Liu Qianqiao, and asked Ye Baiyi, "Thief? Senior is so loftily above mortal affairs, but has become a constable who arrests thieves? What thief is so remarkable, what did he steal?"
Ye Baiyi said, "The night after you left, the Gao Family Manor was burgled. What else could have they stolen?"
Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu looked at each other, stunned--what kind of person was that, who had the ability to steal from the heavily guarded Gao Family Manor?
Ye Baiyi cast an eye at Zhou Zishu, and said, "Kid, you'd better watch out. Shen Zhen is dead."
Even with his quick reflexes, Zhou Zishu could not help but pause, wondering what Shen Zhen's death had to do with him and why he had to be cautious. Before he could speak, Wen Kexing had already asked on his behalf, "So what?"
Ye Baiyi didn't answer, but raised his head to look past the two of them. A very distinct line formed between his brows--unbelievably, this stone buddha frowned.
A frosty harrumph sounded from behind the two of them, and someone said, "Of course it has to do with you. That day, Hero Gao received a note. On it was written, 'If you want Zhang Chengling alive, exchange the Lapis Armour for it'. Out of concern for the son of an old friend, Hero Shen immediately left to trace the sender down, but when we found him, he was already a corpse. In his hand, he was still gripping a note identical to the one Hero Gao had received, and the Gao Family Manor was burgled that night. You tell us, what does it have to do with you?"
Hearing a disorganised mess of footsteps, Zhou Zishu knew that a huge crowd had arrived. Suspicion rising in his heart, he turned around and discovered that the one who had spoken was the Cangsan Sect Leader Huang Daoren, whom he had sent flying that day. Huang Daoren was unusually smug when he had spoken; together with his rat-like features, he looked like a gigantic rodent whose tail was sticking straight up in great pomposity.
Zhou Zishu didn't know why, but his hands and feet were suddenly itching to send him flying another time.
Not too far behind Huang Daoren, Yu Qiufeng stood calmly, his face still as water as he asked, "Master Zhou, could you explain where you went that day, after taking the Zhang boy away from right under the public eye?"
As the saying goes, "a spell of autumn rain, a bout of frost"; after that night of autumn rain at Dongting, the weather was close to freezing. Yet at the present moment, the Huashan Sect Leader could still waft his fan in hand, interrogating Zhou Zishu on the streets with clearly-enunciated words, giving off the slight air of someone independent of worldly affairs--it was most probably that the people around him could not stand such a cool breeze, and fled from his iron fan.
Zhou Zishu paused, dipped his head, and chuckled suddenly, asking, "Why, does everyone here feel that other than kidnapping Zhang Chengling and obtaining the Zhang family's Lapis Armour, I also took him hostage and ransomed him for the other two pieces from the Gao Family Manor?"
Huang Daoren said, "Isn't that the case?"
Zhou Zishu raised his head to look at the sky and sighed lightly all of a sudden, shaking his head. "I was wrong. Why did I ever think that a pig's brain could come up with human ideas…"
Wen Kexing supplemented sagely, "Nothing surpasses learning from your mistakes; it is the greatest blessing of all to change in your misguided ways."
"You…" Huang Daoren was just about to go up to him, only for Yu Qiufeng to snap his folding fan shut and stop him with an arm in front of him, addressing Zhou Zishu, "Master Zhou, may I ask this then? We, together with Young Hero Ye, were chasing a scumbag that had been loitering suspiciously at the Gao Family Manor. Why did this scumbag disappear at this spot, as we run into you two instead, and…"
He cast his eyes downwards and met Liu Qianqiao's gaze by chance. Like she had been doused with cold water, Liu Qianqiao shivered lightly, but Yu Qiufeng chuckled, and dragged his tone out as he said, "Oh? This lady can't be the legendary Green Vixen Liu Qianqiao, can she? With her thousand variations unpredictable by even god or ghost, to what does this humble Yu owe the pleasure, to be able to witness this individual's...true face--it is truly the luck of three lifetimes."
Once the words "Green Vixen Liu Qianqiao" left his mouth, surprise, disgust, and scorn flitted past on the faces of the crowd behind Yu Qiufeng; it seemed like this woman's reputation was already rotten to a certain degree. Her acupuncture points had been sealed by Ye Baiyi, and she could not flush them clear even with her full might. Laying on the ground like that, her face flushed red, the scar on her left cheek seemed to throb vividly, appearing even more terrifying and repulsive.
Out of the blue, Zhou Zishu recalled the moment she had walked into the tavern, each step and lift of her hand confident and effortless, graceful as a fairy, attracting everyone's admiring gaze in an instant. He walked towards her, eyes fixed on her; even though he knew that she was not worth sympathy, a slight trace of pity for her rose in him.
Was one's appearance really that important?
Liu Qianqiao looked at Yu Qiufeng. Her mouth opened, as if she wanted to speak, but her lips quivered twice, and she swallowed the words back down.
Ye Baiyi suddenly spoke. "Not his doing."
Yu Qiufeng chuckled, and said, "Hero Ye is still young and has lived on Changming Mountain for a long time, and thus still does not understand that people have treacherous hearts and minds--if Master Zhou claims that he has no relation to this matter at all, do you dare to strip, and let us check if there's a ghost mask on the small of your back?"
Wen Kexing instantly yelped, "What? Even if he strips, he can't strip for you. Who do you think you are?"
Yu Qiufeng ignored him, focusing all of his attention on only Zhou Zishu, asking, "Does Master Zhou refuse because he has something on him that is too disreputable to show others?"
Too disreputable to show others? A sense of self-mockery rose in his heart. This all was too ridiculous--there was absolutely nothing on the small of his back, but he had seven nails in his chest. Yet, weren't they like the ghost mask, something that could only stay hidden in the shadows?
Suddenly, he laughed, thinking: Why should I have to stay hidden in the shadows? Back when the previous Emperor had been on the throne, I was the one who set a domino chain of plans in motion to wipe out the Second Prince's gang, and was the one who picked out a whole bunch of worms who had eaten holes in the rotten court. Back when the Northern brutes had invaded the Central Plains and were headed straight for the capital, I was the one who guarded the Chengwu Gate to the death, without budging a single inch. The reason why this nation of Daqing can gradually recover from the winds and storms and the thousand holes riddled into it to show a hint of liveliness, so that all of you may live and work in peace freely, even snap at each other like dogs because you have nothing better to do--all the dirty, disreputable work behind a glorious era, I managed it all single-handedly--back then, my methods were vicious, and I hurt people, but today, I too can drag this broken body and despicable soul to do good and accumulate good karma. From the beginning to the end, my conscience has been clear, so why do I have to hide in the shadows?!
Zhou Zishu's gaze swept across Yu Qiufeng, and after a moment's silence, he said lightly, "Yeah, who do you think you are?"