Gu Xiang opened an umbrella and held another one close to her chest while wading through the rain. Her embroidered shoes stepped on the stones underneath, causing the water to splash on her pant legs. A gust of cold wind caused her to shiver; she felt like no one could be more of a dedicated and loyal individual than her right now.
When the girl looked up, she saw a man walking alone in the rain with his head down.
Wen Kexing was soaked to the bone, messy clothes sticking to his body. He paid no mind to his slightly tumultuous state.
Gu Xiang caught up to him and called out, "Master!"
Wen Kexing didn't turn to look back at her, but he evidently heard her voice as he stopped to wait. Gu Xiang ran up to him and gave him the other umbrella, internally feeling like suffering outdoors in this miserable weather was such a waste of her effort—seeing how her Master usually behaved, Gu Xiang was pretty sure that he had just been doing some indecent activities at some indecent places.
So she pursed her lips and asked somewhat disapprovingly. "Did you go fool around somewhere, Master?"
Wen Kexing opened the umbrella, taking a few steps before replying quietly, "Went fighting."
Gu Xiang asked, out of instinct, "In the bedroom?"
As Wen Kexing turned to stare at her, she was smart enough to slapp herself lightly, her tone serious, "Stupid, stupid mouth, what kind of trash are you spouting? You can't just say such things!"
"Ah-Xiang." Wen Kexing cut in, not humoring her.
Gu Xiang blinked. It only rained harder, the water creating a thick fog-like layer that prevented her from seeing Wen Kexing's expressions clearly. After the solemn silence, he looked down and said softly. "He said… He'd die soon."
Gu Xiang made a questioning noise, unable to react to that, "Who's going to die?"
"Zhou Xu."
There was a pause from Wen Kexing that might be either for him to compose himself or for Gu Xiang to take it in. As he continued walking forward, he molded his voice into the usual nonchalance it possessed, "He suffers from internal injuries, but from the way I see him go about, I assume that they are non-threatening. But today I learned that they were incurable, and he would only last two or three more years. The moment I heard that, I knew who he was… Hah! Had I known that from the beginning, I would have never followed him!"
Gu Xiang's eyes were wide open as she seemed to have difficulty processing the truth. After a good while, she asked cautiously. "Zhou Xu?"
"Yeah." Wen Kexing's voice was low. "At first I thought he couldn't be from Tian Chuang. There's no escaping that place, and the ones who try will have to suffer the Nails of Seven Apertures for Three Autumns, resulting in the loss of their martial art skills and all senses; they will be turned into invalids who can keep secrets better than the dead. At first, I thought that there was no way he was carrying the Nails on him, seeing how capable he was… But just now someone let me know that he had a particular method to slow down the damage, but nonetheless he wouldn't survive for more than three years."
This was the first time Gu Xiang ever heard about this; she barely breathed while listening to him. At that, she asked, "Master… how do you know all this?"
"Me?" Wen Kexing let out a strange laugh, "Do you think I can survive until now if I don't know more than I should?"
After a short silence, Gu Xiang continued. "Then… that Zhou Xu, he…"
"I met someone who escaped from Tian Chuang once." A pause. "There has never been someone who can evade the fate of turning catatonic, but he can. From it I can guess that his rank was Great Butler at the very least; he… he might have been the former leader even."
Gu Xiang was surprised. "If he was the leader, then why would he run…" Then she stopped, seemingly having realized something.
Wen Kexing was walking very quickly now, as if he wanted to leave something behind him as far as possible. With Gu Xiang's short legs, she had to jog lightly to catch up to him. Seeing that he only got quicker and quicker, Gu Xiang disrupted the silence between them. "Master, are you heartbroken?"
Wen Kexing asked gently without looking back. "What would I be heartbroken about?"
After mulling it over, Gu Xiang had to admit that she wasn't sure. She heard him laugh softly, his feet almost gliding over the ground rather than moving. "With his disguise, I can't even know for sure if he's a beauty or not… Besides, I prefer the soft type, so he won't be of my taste even if he is beautiful."
Even with her qinggong Gu Xiang was unable to catch up, and she blurted out, "But didn't you say once that you liked the tall ones with tiny waist and pretty butterfly bones…"
"You remember it wrong," he interrupted. Then he added, justifying to no one in particular. "I just felt like… I'd finally found someone I can relate to—Gu Xiang, stop following me."
"Huh?" In a blink, Wen Kexing was already meters away from her. Gu Xiang called out sulkily, "Why, Master? Did I anger you again?"
Wen Kexing had already disappeared in the rain with only his distant voice reaching her ears. "You talk too much."
Gu Xiang, left all alone, stomped petulantly and cursed him under her breath, "I was nice to you and this is what I get!"
Then she raised her head to stare after the direction Wen Kexing had vanished to, suddenly being reminded of the image of his soaked back, his broad shoulders, his unwavering steps under the rain that didn't wait for her one bit. There was no one beside him but he never looked sideways, like he had been travelling alone for a while now.
She pitied him a little.
Finding someone you could connect with or whatever was fine… But that person was a flickering lamp that would die out in a few years, so what was the point?
Under the cold wind and rain, one thought they could have attained something but couldn't. Who in this world could really live how they wanted to?
Could you?
No one knew where Wen Kexing went that night.
In the early morning, someone consistently banged hard on Zhou Zishu's door. When he opened the door, Cao Weining almost crashed into him, but then the younger dragged him outside, telling him while running, "How can you be so calm in your room, your disciple is about to lose his life!"
"Who?" After that chaotic night, Zhou Zishu's thoughts had yet to untangle themselves. It took him a few seconds to react, and he frowned. "You mean Zhang Chengling? What happened now, why is it always him?"
Cao Weining sighed. "Feels like this year is his unlucky year, I have no idea how he keeps getting into these kind of situations—yesterday someone tried to assassinate him, but fortunately Sir Zhao next door was alerted and they managed to capture the person responsible. Unfortunately though, that man was on a suicide mission and he poisoned himself the moment he was caught. Say—"
Cao Weining paused, suspicions creeping in. He thought back to what his Senior Uncle Mo Huaikong told him earlier this morning: Among all of the big names that gathered here in Dong Ting, who was so determined to mess up the life of a kid who was not all that bright? Rather than to try to finish the job, it would be more likely that the motive was to cover up something.
Even with his simple minds, Cao Weining could sense that something was amiss. There was something wrong in the atmosphere—it was repressed by Gao Chong's side for the time being, but doubts and theories spread like a plague.
What exactly was the Lapis Armor?
By the time Zhou Zishu arrived, Zhang Chengling and Zhao Jing's rooms were already surrounded by a huge crowd. Zhao Jing was naked from the waist up, shoulders seemingly bleeding, currently sitting on a long bench with someone bandaging his wounds. He wore an unpleasant expression, a sword carried on his back with blood still on it.
There were two corpses on the ground, face all purple; it looked like they had been poisoned. Zhou Zishu saw a hook beside one body and instantly knew that it was from the Scorpions.
There were actually several factions amongst the Scorpions, depending on the hiring price. For instance, those who were with the Delighted Mourning Ghost and helped him lure out Zhang Chengling were not those who would lay down their lives; to acquire those, one would need to pay a higher price.
It was more troublesome with these lot. There's no telling how many they were; once a group failed another group would advance, and they were all the fearless type. If they succeeded, they got paid handsomely; if they didn't, they would have to leave their own body right there.
That's why it was not at all cheap.
Who would spend this much to kill Zhang Chengling? Did they feel like the snot-nosed brat possessed some kind of intelligence that would create troubles in the future?
A strange idea popped up inside Zhou Zishu's head. He thought, I've made plenty enemies back in my day, but not this excessive.
His gaze thrown at Zhang Chengling carried some indescribable feelings.
Zhou Zishu, however, didn't expect the young boy currently standing at a corner to be unsurprised and unafraid. He only lowered his head as if looking at the two bodies, showing the top of his head. Silence fell over him completely; whenever people asked him something he would only nod or shake his head.
Gao Chong bent down a little and asked Zhang Chengling with a kind face. "Chengling, do you know these people?"
Zhang Chengling glanced at him, then shook his lowered head.
Gao Chong, in turns, spoke even more gently, hand reaching out to pat his head. "Don't be afraid, my child, we will avenge you. Tell me, what did these two vile individuals say to you last night?"
Zhang Chengling didn't look him in the eye and shook his head again. Gao Chong was starting to become perplexed when someone cut in enigmatically, "What good would come out of asking that question, Sir Gao? We elders all know that these two are Scorpion martyrs; they are merely blades and blades don't talk, do they? What a joke! You should ask the boy if he knows something we don't instead."
That was Feng Xiaofeng, currently standing on the ground instead of perching on Gao Shannu's shoulder. Because of his height, he had to crane his neck with his nose facing the sky; completed with his mocking tone, he made it hard for people to not want to beat him up.
Gao Shannu stood behind him quietly. With his scary face, he was like a demon in folk tales.
Gao Chong frowned at that. Zhao Jing, on the other hand, discarded all manners as he stood up, pointed at Feng Xiaofeng and shouted, "You despicable dwarf, how can your conscience let you say those words?"
Feng Xiaofeng scoffed, "Sir Zhao, why is it that ever since you took in the Zhang orphan, you didn't let him leave your side for one second? You and I know the reason all too well, don't think I'm an idiot!"
With shining eyes, he looked at Zhang Chengling, his voice sharp as knife, "Tell us the truth, boy, do you know where your family's Lapis Armor piece went? Is it still with you? Or is it stolen by this Zhao– no, Sir Zhao?"
Zhao Jing was enraged. "You dwarf, curse your family all to Hell!"
Gao Shannu suddenly looked up to pin Zhao Jing down with his stare. Feng Xiaofeng stopped him with a wave of an arm, and Gao Shannu obediently stepped back to his place behind him. Feng Xiaofeng continued. "Did I hit a nerve, Sir Zhao? Don't be so discourteous."
Zhao Jing wanted nothing more than to charge forward and teach him a lesson.
Gao Chong quickly stepped in, his voice serious, "Brother Feng, unfounded accusations should not be thrown around to disturb our solidarity—someone come take these bodies away first, then we will discuss something long-term…"
But then someone spoke up, "Sir Gao, why are you being so secretive? Shouldn't you ask the boy now that everyone is present? This is for his own good at the end of the day."
Zhang Chengling looked up at that, his face pale, eyes unfocused. He felt like everyone was staring at him, gossiping about him, forcing him to give them an explanation, but he truly knew nothing.
Zhou Zishu, who was used to blending in with the crowd without anyone noticing, felt a surge of anger when he saw Zhang Chengling's empty expressions.
He wanted to push at everyone, then dragged the young boy far away from all this filth. But that was not something Zhou Zishu would do, wasn't it? To think carefully before he acted, to keep himself hidden away from the scene: These had always been his principles.
Back then, even His Majesty would praise him for being increasingly calculating and cautious as the years went on… but old man Ye Baiyi had told him that he would show his tail eventually.
Zhou Zishu suddenly felt a gaze shoot towards him, like someone was watching him in specific, and turned his head at just the right time to meet with Ye Baiyi's line of sight. The man was also standing in the crowd at a distance neither far nor close; he indicated nothing, not even nodding or calling out to greet him, and only stared at him with unblinking eyes. That expression was serene, as if in that moment, he was telling Zhou Zishu "you're about to die".
You're about to die, and you've been a tortoise with your head drawn into that shell on your back all your life, Zhou Zishu narrated silently within himself. He thought: what's with the seriousness? Everything's gotten to this point; what road is being so conscientiously paved, and what for? What's with the plotting, too? If someone goes their whole life never being impetuous, wouldn't that be too oppressive, too miserable?
He spontaneously discovered the reality that his wish turned out to be nothing more than not being a bastard turtle that tucked its head away.
Just then, all these unceasingly noisy people heard a soft chuckle. His laughter should not have normally been so clearly audible in the clamor of the crowd, but he had used some sort of method to exponentially keep everyone's voices down. After that, a man of sickly and plain looks walked out and laid things straight in a lowered voice. "All of you – what's the logic in making things difficult for a child under the eyes of so many?"
Zhang Chengling opened his eyes, parted his lips, and soundlessly mouthed "shifu".
Cao Weining had referred Zhou Zishu for Gao Chong, so Gao Chong had paused for a moment before calling out his identity. "Brother Zhou."
He felt it very odd, though. This man currently had an imposing aura that was characteristic of a masterly type, so it stood to reason that Gao Chong absolutely should have had an imprint of him in his memory. On the contrary, the day Cao Weining had brought them to the Gao's Manor, he had never paid attention to him. Even right now, he could only barely recall that his surname was Zhou, and he couldn't remember his first name. There was a faint chill in Gao Chong's heart.
All he saw was Zhou Zishu beckoning to Zhang Chengling. "Get over here, brat."
Zhang Chengling promptly pounced into his arms with no questions asked, practically more affectionate than if he had seen his own dad.
"And who are you?" Feng Xiaofeng asked in his shrill voice.
Zhou Zishu loosely held Zhang Chengling by the shoulders as he inclined his head to glance at Feng Xiaofeng, and, upon witnessing his appearance, felt extremely upset. He subsequently provoked him, calmly. "Do you not recognize who your daddy is, dwarf?"
Feng Xiaofeng was enraged. Gao Shannu didn't wait for him to say anything this time, giving a deep roar as he rushed to throw himself at Zhou Zishu. His form was massive, and every time he took a step, it seemed like the ground's surface shook thrice with him. Paired with the enormous momentum of his leap was a meteor hammer about the size of a human head swinging in his hands, since he wanted to hammer Zhou Zishu into meat paste.
He seemed to treat every person that had the audacity to humiliate Feng Xiaofeng as if they were an arch-nemesis that had killed his father. The relationship between the two was really quite bizarre.
Zhou Zishu's form flickered and was no longer in the same place, casually bringing Zhang Chengling with him. The meteor hammer slammed into the ground and smashed a huge pit into the bluestone tile.
Gao Chong looked on with a detached eye, getting the sense that this man's qinggong had apparently reached the stage of perfection, as he still had such a speed while holding someone.
As Gao Shannu's hit failed to land, he raised his arm and swept the hammer out again with a whizz. Zhou Zishu kept watch for the timing carefully, then used the tip of his toes to lightly nudge its chain up a little bit, pulling it another two chi. Then, going along with the path the weapon's swing was taking, he added a kick to the hammer's head — it was unknown how much strength he used for it, but by the time people reacted, the hammer was already circling back and flinging itself straight towards its owner.
Gao Shannu didn't have a very nimble figure, so he truly wasn't able to avoid it. In a fit of desperation, he braced his entire body, shrunk back his head, and barely managed to lean to the side. With a huge shout, he used his shoulder to take the blow, and his entire person flew out from the hammer strike and got thrown down to the ground.
Feng Xiaofeng screeched as if he was the one struck. He didn't care about others at this moment, leaping up to go take a look at his Gao Shannu before anything else. Gao Shannu's shoulder was shattered on one side, but he ultimately had thicker skin and flesh than anyone else, so he was still alive, awake, and fully conscious. He was huddled up into a huge lump on the floor, not making a sound, and his eyes gazed at Feng Xiaofeng with such pain.
Feng Xiaofeng lifted his head then, casting Zhou Zishu a ferocious look.
Zhou Zishu looked as placid as water. "He wanted my life, but I don't want his." He tugged at Zhang Chengling. "Let's go."
"Hold it!" This time it was the Hua Shan Patriarch, Yu Qiufeng*, the few Elders of the Hua Shan Sect all following behind. His complexion was utterly poor as he examined Zhou Zishu, and soon after he half-heartedly and sloppily cupped in fists in salute towards him, gritting his teeth as he spoke. "Wayward champion, you're taking this child away right before the eyes of this land's heroes, but aren't you paying too little attention to the elephant in the room?"
Zhou Zishu shot him a glance. "What about it, then, Patriarch Yu?" he asked with indifference.
"You can go," Yu Qiufeng said, "but first, make him say why he's been repeatedly chased by people with the intent to kill him. Is there or is there not actually a relationship between the Zhang family and the Lapis Armor? And who has the Lapis Armor right now?!"
Zhou Zishu put on a skin-deep smile as he watched the incredibly bitter Hua Shan Patriarch. He lowered his head to question Zhang Chengling. "Do you know what he's talking about?"
Zhang Chengling pursed his lips and shook his head.
"Do you want to say anything about what he asked you?" Zhou Zishu questioned once more.
Zhang Chengling reached out and cautiously tugged at his clothes, not saying a word. Zhou Zishu nodded, turning his head back to Yu Qiufeng. "Patriarch Yu. What you've asked, he can't answer. Let's just leave it at that, and any of our future meetings will be fine."
Finished speaking, he pulled at Zhang Chengling and lifted his foot to walk away. The Cang Shan Patriarch, Huang Daoren, laughed coldly from behind Yu Qiufeng. "This punk thinks everyone beneath him!" He thereafter took the lead in making trouble. This Huang Daoren was absolutely nothing special to look at, with a dark, egg-shaped face whose ugliness had the utmost of ability to make gourds break open, and he had a preference for wielding a folding fan all that year. It wasn't clear what he was thinking, standing behind the eternally-elegant Yu Qiufeng's sort. He unexpectedly acted out of resentment at this moment, shooting over like a colossal potato.
Zhou Zishu inwardly laughed. Saying that he thought everyone was beneath him was correct. All the hennish commodities here that could only make noise were things he couldn't bear to look at, in any case. He looked on as Huang Daoren's maneuver drew near. Zhou Zishu never once released Zhang Chengling's hand – the crowd was only aware of a pattern blooming before their eyes as the two exchanged an untold amount of blows that lasted as long as a spark, following which Huang Daoren let out a muffled groan, retreated backwards three steps, spurted out a mouthful of blood, and fell right on his ass.
He had turned into one withered-up potato.
Alarmed cries of "Patriarch!" and "Shifu!" rose up at once. Yu Qiufeng had anxiety in his eyes, pointing a finger at Zhou Zishu. "What crooked, evil path did you come from? Are you an affiliate of those Ghosts? Don't let him get away!"
They couldn't beat him, so they secured a nice big label on his head. Zhou Zishu's lips hooked. He picked Zhang Chengling up and got a few zhang away in the blink of an eye, as he had no intention of getting tangled up with them. The scene was chaos; there was Cao Weining stuttering as he defended him, Gao Chong, Zhao Jing, and others cryptically standing by, and that gang of riled-up good-for-nothings headed by Yu Qiufeng who were following after him to cause trouble for reasons unclear. The humongous fuss was akin to a market of dogs.
Zhou Zishu shuttled through the throng of people like a spirit, occasionally striking out and dispatching a few that ran into him. The kid in his arms, due to his connection to the Lapis Armor, had pretty much become a hunk of meat everyone wanted to take a bite of. Yu Qiufeng suddenly seemed to be the reincarnation of a rabid dog, as he was pursuing him from behind relentlessly. Zhou Zishu only felt that this Hua Shan Patriarch was after him like an old wife and wasn't letting up for anything!
His heart yet burned with rage. He paused in his steps, whirled around, and planned on meeting him head-on.
In that moment, the image of a whip split the air in the nick of time to cut off Yu Qiufeng's path, followed after by the nose-assaulting stench of alcohol. That drunk-smelling person in disheveled clothing was the one who had left without saying a word last night: Wen Kexing.
His eyes were noticeably scarlet, his steps the distinctive messy ones of a drunkard. He grinned at Zhou Zishu in a way that was completely racy – he intended for his over-the-shoulder glance to have a smile that was infinitely charming, but his intoxicated hiccuping destroyed that. "Ah-Xu, you… you go on ahead, I'll stop them f… for you."
Before he was done talking, he stumbled, looking like a tumbler doll in the wind with his head bobbing and tail-end swaying. It was terrifying to watch, but he ended up avoiding Yu Qiufeng's calling out to him.
While he careened back and forth, the whip in his hand flung out without any regard for order, and through mysterious means, very 'coincidentally' wound around Yu Qiufeng's calf. While everyone was watching, the Hua Shan Patriarch tripped and did a huge faceplant.
Wen Kexing rubbed at his eyes with vigor, walking on soft, noodle-like legs as he stepped like he was doing a yangge dance, and simultaneously cocked his head to peer at the utterly indignant Yu Qiufeng. He waved his hand in front of the other's eyes, his tongue thick as he spoke. "Hey, that's… two. Two heads. You… you drink too much, too? Why're you on the floor?"
Zhou Zishu gave him a quick glimpse, mentally shaking his head. He got the sense that Hua Shan Sect was going to become irreconcilable enemies with Wen Kexing this time around.
He'd gotten Wen Kexing's message, and without delay, he snatched the chance to grab Zhang Chengling and strut away. Somehow, he thereafter managed to get two horses by stealing them under the cover of the crisis, threw Zhang Chengling onto a horse's back, and brought him away so quickly the horses' hooves didn't even touch the ground.
Zhang Chengling was no good at horse-riding — he could hardly do anything at all, and he didn't get very far before he wasn't quite able to catch up with Zhou Zishu, wobbling to and fro on the horse.
Zhou Zishu sighed in his heart, aware that he was a chunk of rotten wood and shouldn't be asked to be a support beam. They abandoned the horses after a spell, and he took Zhang Chengling into a courtyard that had been abandoned for quite some time, ordering the teen that had been on edge for the greater part of a day to stop and rest.
There hadn't been a whole lot of time to work on that when the entrance of the desolate courtyard was suddenly pushed open by someone from the outside. Zhang Chengling promptly jumped up in blind panic just to see that it was Wen Kexing, who hobbled in with three sways to every step.
At the start, Zhang Chengling had believed that he was faking drunk, but against all present expectations, he found out that the other couldn't distinguish between any of the cardinal directions and was moving about like a headless fly. The man plopped into a one-knee kneel in front of Zhou Zishu, then threw his body forwards and fell down.
Zhou Zishu quickly hefted the other's face upwards for a look, seeing that his ruddy complexion showed absolutely no signs of injury and learning that he was smiling like an idiot at him. With two arms firmly embracing Zhou Zishu's legs, he rolled to the side and laid on the ground, using those legs as either a pillow or a quilt (who knew which). "Did you fall into a wine jug?" Zhou Zishu couldn't help but ask.
"Yesterday, I… found a wi— wine cellar… mmm, I soaked in it for a night, drank a dozen jars… merry, merry!"
He really had drunk too much, as once he started laughing, he couldn't stop. He tightly hugged Zhou Zishu's legs, snuggling his face onto them, and kept indistinctly mumbling "merry".
Zhou Zishu silently watched him with a tilted head as he snored deeply in broad daylight. He thus concluded that this man had more than enough of his fill.
Thus the three of them casually clapped their asses and beat it. Meanwhile, the Gao's Manor was a ball of chaos. Cao Weining was still indignantly informing those beside him that the Hua Shan sect was clearly being unkind in this matter when Mo Huaikong dragged him away and gave him a brief command. "Shut up."
Cao Weining turned to look at his shishu. Just as he wanted to ask "shishu, how could you yield to evil forces?", he saw Mo Huaikong point at Yu Qiufeng. "Didn't you see him go looking for death? Shut up, turn off the bullshit, and take a good look!"
Cao Weining obediently shut up.
He took a moment to glance all around, then lowered his voice. "Shishu, you said that with Warriors Gao and Zhao here, how could Brother Zhou take away the Zhang's child so easily?"
Mo Huaikong's eagle eyes had been trained ahead, but at hearing that, they coldly swept over to Cao Weining. "Did your brain get eaten by a dog?" he squeezed out through his teeth.
Cao Weining had been harshly scolded by him for so long yet his face didn't display any redness, very sincerely waiting for his shishu to clear up his doubts. Against expectations, Mo Huaikong turned his face away and didn't pay him anymore mind. It took Cao Weining a short moment to suss out why, making the discovery that his brain really had been eaten for him to not even realize such a thing — his shishu also clearly had no idea!
Grandmaster Ci Mu quickly rushed over, a middle-aged man following behind him. The man was of gaunt stature with black clothes and deep laugh lines, the corners of his mouth cast downward, his sword-like brows shooting into the hairs on his temples and his eyes extremely clear; one look told that he was a master not to be trifled with. Upon witnessing this farcical scene, Grandmaster Ci Mu had no choice but to use the Shaolin's Lion Roar skill to make a loud bellow. Many of meager martial arts saw black before their eyes at his call, the crowd then settling down.
Gao Chong and Zhao Jing saw the man behind Grandmaster Ci Mu and both stood up, Zhao Jing taking the initiative to unveil his identity. "Brother Shen!"
Cao Weining heard Mo Huaikong gasp in surprise, quickly taking the opportunity to question him. "Who is this, shishu?"
Mo Huaikong's brows furrowed. "That's the head of the Shuzhong's Shen family, Shen Shen. He's normally a big young madam-type and never steps foot out of his residence, getting a white face from being shut up in his house for fear that he'd get tan. Why would he be willing to part with all that soft skin to run a good distance over and see the sun in Dongting? Very strange."
Cao Weining had never heard of him, so he just made a dumb-sounding "ah". Mo Huaikong hated seeing that stupid look of his the most, so he sent him a glare and gave an explanation. "Most people your age don't know this. Back in the day, the five most famed major families of jianghu were Jiangnan's Zhang, Taihu's Zhao, Dongting's Gao, Shuzhong's Shen, and Taixing's Lu. Nowadays, though, apart from Gao Chong and Zhao Jing, the Zhang family has one member left, the Shen family has long since washed their hands of jianghu's affairs and ignored them, and the Lu family is gone. The 'Five Great Clans' have been more name than fact for a while now, and lots of young folk already don't remember them."
Cao Weining counted them on his fingers. "Something's wrong, shishu. Counting the Zhang's descendant, that's only four surnames here. Where's the fifth family?"
"That's because the head of the Lu family has been dead of illness for a decade now," Mo Huaikong replied impatiently. "He didn't accumulate enough merit in his last life, so in this one, his family line was cut off, and he left behind no sons or daughters. Because he'd had something of a friendship with Tai Shan Sect Leader Hua Fangling, who's since turned into a stiff, he entrusted his family property and few young disciples to the Tai Shan Sect. Hua Qingsong and the rest are here now, so don't they count as the Lu family? Why don't you understand shit? Where are so many questions coming from? Don't go telling others I'm your shishu! You're a disgrace!"
Shen Shen was witnessed saying something in a low voice to Grandmaster Ci Mu, who then sighed, spoke the Buddha's name, and nodded. Soon after, Shen Shen stood up, turned to take a box held by a junior of the Shen family, and opened it. Within was a small bundle wrapped in silk, which Shen Shen peeled open; someone sucked in a breath, automatically crying out, "It's the Lapis Armor!"
Cao Weining also stretched out his neck to take a look, sighting the completely exposed object in the case. It was indeed an extremely delicate fragment of colored glass only about the size of a palm, glinting feebly under the daylight. Were it not said to be so, who would've known that it was exactly this little trinket that incited such great carnage? Yu Qiufeng gulped, then cleared his throat. "Is this really one of the five pieces of Lapis Armor?" he muttered.
"That is the truth," Shen Shen replied, turning his gaze to Gao Chong after he finished speaking. It was unclear what the expression on Gao Chong's face was, and it was only after a long moment of silence that he spoke to Deng Kuan at his side. "On the shelf to the left of the door in my study, behind the third tome of the Classic of Rites, there's a hidden compartment. Open it and fetch the contents for me."
Deng Kuan accepted the order, not understanding the reason for this. He returned a moment later, a small box having come into his possession. Gao Chong took it, sighed, then opened it up for the crowd; placed side-by-side with Shen Shen's small case, two pieces of the Lapis Armor from legend thus made a public appearance.
"As things have gotten to this point, this aging old man has to make things clear to you all," Gao Chong announced. "The Lapis Armor… really does have five pieces altogether, and each of us five was holding one all these years. Brother Lu met his early death a few years back, thus delivering his piece to Warrior Hua, Sect Leader of Tai Shan. Unexpectedly, though… that would actually attract the calamity of death upon him."
Grandmaster Ci Mu grabbed onto the subject. "Amitabha. This old monk also knows a little bit about that incident."
Everyone's eyes turned to this kind-looking, entirely white-haired senior Shaolin monk. "I'm unsure if anyone present here still remembers that martial circle catastrophe of thirty years ago," they all heard him say.
As soon as that statement came out, the looks on some of the older generations' faces immediately underwent change. Even Ye Baiyi, who had seemed to be spectating the occasion on the side all this time, lifted his head up slightly.
At the same time, Zhou Zishu was also going along with his memory as he told the completely fog-covered Zhang Chengling of the Zhang family's past. Wen Kexing was passed out at the side, having been kicked away by Zhou Zishu yet still tightly gripping his sleeve with no letting go, lying there sprawled out on his back and utterly unpresentable. At the time Zhou Zishu had been dragged out by Cao Weining in the morning, he had just been about to eat a little something, though he hadn't the time to in the end and had no choice but to bundle it up and put it away. He took it out for Zhang Chengling in this interim, watching the boy hork it down all at once.
"I only have general knowledge of what happened thirty years ago. It was around the time your father was still young. There was a martial genius in jianghu named Rong Xuan*; he was a hero that wielded a longsword, rarely met a worthy opponent within the four seas, and was fond of wandering around and making friends from all sides, reportedly having very confidential dealings with the younger generations of all Five Great Clans back in the day. The Five Great Clans are no longer brought up nowadays, but as a descendant of the Zhang family, you've always known of them, right?"
Zhang Chengling nodded, bits of snacks still around his mouth. "But dad never mentioned him."
"It wasn't just your dad that didn't; his name has been taboo for the past thirty years." Zhou Zishu sighed before continuing on. "Rong Xuan got married later on. His wife was a young lady far above the norm and very pretty, who came from the Divine Medicine Valley…"
His speech suddenly stopped at that point. He bowed his head to glance at Wen Kexing, thinking to himself: he was also born of the Divine Medicine Valley. Was this a coincidence, too?
When he raised his head, Zhang Chengling was in the middle of staring at him unblinkingly following his pause. Zhou Zishu had some doubts within, but was not going to reveal them in front of him. "The two were in deep spousal love," he continued on, "Dao companions for life. However, unexpectedly, there would come a day that Rong Xuan's wife was murdered."
Zhang Chengling froze, then asked a silly question. "Why?"
Zhou Zishu grinned. Was a justification needed to kill someone?
He thought it over before he explained. "Most likely… an average man is guiltless, but being talented is a crime. I never saw Rong Xuan's swordsmanship, only hearing that the words 'unprecedented and unreplicable' were truly loathed. He hadn't yet reached thirty when he made up his own sect, creating the renowned 'Feng Shan Sword' – not being able to witness the mountain-splitting, sea-dividing Feng Shan Swordplay in this lifetime is a huge regret. His Feng Shan Sword was split into two volumes; the first was a martial core method, and the second was a sword technique. The latter was his own creation, while the former was said to be an ancient book passed down in secret that he happened to obtain, that which affected and weaved the heart. You should know… the words 'a peerless master' alone could make someone go mad."
"What happened after?" Zhang Chengling asked.
"After, Rong Xuan's immense grief was enough to put him into a qi deviation; his nature changed greatly, and he began to slaughter innocents at will. With no other option, the Five Great Clans took the lead, even requesting aid of Shan Heling, wanting to join forces to hunt him down —— even though the last time Shan Heling had been in worldly affairs was about thirty or more years. Then, Rong Xuan fled to Qing Zhu Ridge of Feng Ya Mountain, and there, with the people hunting him that were headed by the Five Great Clans, a fierce battle broke out. It was unknown how many died, and purportedly, the dead can still be heard to weep there at night. Who would've ever expected that they'd be crossing forces with someone they had been through thick and thin with in the past, not stopping until annihilation?"
Was 'affection' in this world truly so fickle?
He paused for a moment, nodding. "That's right. Qing Zhu Ridge is Ghost Valley. No one can understand to this day why the Ghosts stood by Rong Xuan's side back then. It's unknown how many days and nights the battle took, but it ended with Rong Xuan's suicide. Over half of the realm's heroes had been impaired, and the Five Great Clans also took a stumble they would henceforth never recover from. As both sides sustained great losses that time, it was only after its conclusion that the Ghost Valley made the rule that those that entered couldn't leave, buying thirty years of peace."
Having spoken up to that point, Zhou Zishu frowned. He'd merely heard of this tale and hadn't added in his own conjecture, but talking like this left many areas of unknowns. What happened at Feng Ya Mountain then, for example? How did Rong Xuan's wife die? How did a such prodigy that should have been the master of a generation fall into the Ghost Valley, keeping company with its people? Thankfully, Zhang Chengling was not an astute child, merely listening on in ignorance and not having epiphanies at all.
The details of this, buried for so many years… how many could be brought to light?
Those who participated had either died or kept their lips sealed. Even all of Tian Chuang couldn't gather together the truth. Zhou Zishu had a suspicion… that the Lapis Armor was a relic of the day of the battle on Feng Ya Mountain.
In the evening, Zhou Zishu finally managed to pry open Wen Kexing's hand that was tugging firmly at his clothes. He shot a few wild animals and brought them back, roasting them for eating. He mulled over how no matter where he went, bringing such a little thing along was cumbersome.
But he didn't want to force him, only letting Zhang Chengling think of what path he should take himself.
Wen Kexing was so very drunk that the day had darkened and he was still not getting up from his mud-like paralysis. Zhou Zishu taught Zhang Chengling a few mnemonics, told him to catch onto them himself, then leaned to the side and closed his eyes to rest, falling into a dazed sleep an unclear amount of time later. He then suddenly sensed a single hand feeling about his body, very sneakily trying to undo the buttons on his upper clothes.
Zhou Zishu grasped the person by the wrist, opening his eyes.
Wen Kexing was still a bit drunk at the moment. He didn't panic upon noticing that he'd been caught, simply smiling towards him in the darkness and then justifying himself. "I only wanted to see what the fabled Seven Aperture Nails look like, not to grab you in whatever way or deliberately act like a felon."
The phrase went, 'explaining is just concealment, concealment is just the beginning of a mistake' — and this vulgar Wen man had given one specific elaboration. He'd been grabbed by Zhou Zishu on one wrist, the other hand propped up against the ground, and he was nearly half-stooping over Zhou Zishu's form. Zhang Chengling was already dead asleep at this time; they breathed and spoke very lightly, and in the dark, that had a sort of indescribable ambiguity. Wen Kexing abruptly got closer, taking off his own outer robe and bundling the other in it, stirring up the hair on his temple as he spoke in a low voice. "Ah-Xu, is 'Zhou Xu' really your name?"
Zhou Zishu flung the man's hand off and pushed him away. "What kind of joke is that, Brother Wen? As if 'Wen Kexing' is your real name," he said with bold confidence.
Wen Kexing raised his brow at that, replying with another, even lower and softer question. "Then, according to your view, what should I be called?"
Zhou Zishu went quiet for a moment before he whispered back. "Brother Wen, is your surname really Wen? I feel like you ought to be a Rong."