Chapter 40: An Excessive Request

Su Tang glanced over and saw that the old man brought only one attendant. Compared to Su Tang’s side, he seemed to lack sufficient support.

Su Tang judged that there were two possibilities. One was that the man maintained his status; after all, Miaodao Pavilion was founded by Great Master Wen Ping, and he was the true owner. Returning to his own home, there was naturally no need to put on airs. The other possibility was a lack of talent under his command; at least compared to Wen Xiang and the others, leading a group of low-life characters around him would be more embarrassing than traveling light.

“What were you talking about just now? Look how upset you are, old sir…” Su Tang smiled, then looked back at Long Qi. Long Qi shrugged.

“I have known him for over ten years, so I understand his temper and know he is stubborn. How could he be angry over such a small matter?” Seeing that Su Tang appeared very respectful, a smile finally appeared on the old man’s face. “However… I did come this time to discuss some matters with you.”

“Please speak,” Su Tang said.

“It is like this…” The old man paused. “Everything regarding your situation has been investigated. It was all Zhao Bocheng’s fault. I do not know whose provocation he believed, but he hired several Wandering Martial Artists with evil intentions. Fortunately, Mr. Su’s martial arts skills were outstanding, and he defeated those petty criminals in one blow.”

Su Tang did not expect this topic to be discussed, but his smile remained unchanged as he listened quietly.

“Sigh… speaking of which, I have known Zhao Bocheng for many years, and we were considered old friends. I truly did not expect him to do such a thing. He was smart his whole life, yet foolish for one moment…” the old man sighed. “On the day of the incident, Zhao Bocheng suffered a stroke and fell into a coma, then died the next day. Heh… he left quite abruptly. Otherwise, I would never have forgiven him!”

“The mastermind failed and died, and those petty criminals were also executed one by one. I think… this matter should end here. Making too big a scene would bring no benefit to my Miaodao Pavilion,” the old man said. “Zhao Bocheng has only one son, named Zhao Liangdong. As the saying goes, it is better to forgive than to punish. Confiscating all the Zhao Family’s property and then driving Zhao Liangdong out of Changshan County should be enough. This would leave some bloodline for the Zhao Family.”

Su Tang understood. The Great Master wanted to protect Zhao Liangdong. Long Qi and Wen Xiang remained silent. They were waiting, or rather, they were curious to see what decision Su Tang would make.

After people get to know each other, as time passes and the number of interactions increases, they should naturally become more familiar. However, they found they understood Su Tang less and less. Guiming’s death proved that Su Tang’s judgment was accurate, but what kind of experience did a person need to possess such keen insight? Then there was the arrow Su Tang shot on Xiangshui Street. Wen Xiang, who had treated Su Tang’s injuries, had searched Su Tang’s entire body out of curiosity but found no weapon. This completely overturned common sense!

“Mr. Su, your meaning is…” Seeing that Su Tang had remained silent for a long time, the old man became somewhat impatient.

Mo Xiaobai bent over to pour a cup of tea for Su Tang, using this to remind Su Tang not to drift away at this moment. Su Tang smiled. After entering Miaodao Pavilion, although he had not had the chance to meet this Great Master Wen, Su Tang had already learned about the grievances and entanglements between Long Qi and the Great Master from Mo Xiaobai.

Indeed, Miaodao Pavilion was created by Great Master Wen Ping, and it had enjoyed a period of glory. Later, a man with great prestige among Wandering Martial Artists built a Gathering Sages Hall and began to steal business from the Great Master.

That man was named Tang Wanli. Because he had excellent and wide-reaching connections, he took away most of the Wandering Martial Artists from the start. Great Master Wen Ping was unwilling to sit and wait for death, but unfortunately, his methods were far inferior, and he suffered a series of losses.

Right at that time, the Great Master met a nobleman. He asked the nobleman for help, but the nobleman was unwilling to waste time on such trivial matters. However, he recommended a person to Wen Ping, who was precisely Long Qi. After interacting with Long Qi a few times, the Great Master highly praised Long Qi’s talent and appointed Long Qi as the Pavilion Master.

The situation of Miaodao Pavilion became worse and worse. The Great Master simply handed over all power to Long Qi and took his family to seek refuge with a friend in Kaiyuan County. But a tragedy occurred on the way; Tang Wanli personally led the pursuit. In the end, only the Great Master escaped, fleeing miserably into Kaiyuan County.

Meanwhile, Long Qi launched a desperate counterattack and struck the Gathering Sages Hall. Tang Wanli’s right-hand men and over a dozen brothers with life-and-death bonds were all killed in battle. The Great Master’s family suffered heavy casualties, which did not affect the strength of Miaodao Pavilion much, but Tang Wanli’s core team was almost destroyed. With one side weakening and the other strengthening, the conflict between the two sides entered a period of equilibrium.

Two more years passed, ending with Tang Wanli’s death and a total victory for Miaodao Pavilion. The Great Master also left Kaiyuan and returned to Miaodao Pavilion.

During the conflict, the speed of replacement between the old and new was always very fast. Upon returning to Miaodao Pavilion, the Great Master found that eight or nine out of ten of the original old members were gone. The vast majority were newcomers promoted by Long Qi himself. Furthermore, Long Qi’s prestige in Changshan had already surpassed his own. The Great Master had no choice but to accept the established fact and retreat behind the scenes.

At the beginning, the Great Master was able to calm his mind and enjoy sightseeing and cultivating his nature. But as time passed, he gradually became unable to bear the loneliness and wanted to return to lead the Miaodao Pavilion.

Long Qi’s personality was originally very easy-going, but he could not tolerate a person representing the position of Miaodao Pavilion to say foolish things and do foolish deeds. This was like a painter who was pouring his heart and soul into sketching his work; if someone more skilled than him gave him guidance, he would accept it gladly. But if someone who knew nothing about art pointed fingers from the side or even scribbled randomly, he would naturally refuse.

Contradictions and frictions inevitably occurred. During one banquet, the Great Master was somewhat drunk and actually accused Long Qi in public of being ungrateful. He claimed Long Qi knew Tang Wanli would attack his family but deliberately hid the news, exchanging the blood of the Wen family for a great victory. Long Qi flew into a rage because this was a slander against his character. He then harshly criticized the Great Master for being a complete coward who abandoned all his brothers-in-arms to seek refuge with his family in a time of crisis.

Both men walked away in anger, and the rift became irreconcilable.

Looking from their respective positions, neither seemed wrong. But in Su Tang’s eyes, the Great Master was a failure, a discarded product of the natural law of survival of the fittest. From the moment he took his family and fled Changshan County, he had completely lost.

Therefore, since entering Miaodao Pavilion, he had never gone to visit the Great Master. There was no need.

“Mr. Su?!” The Great Master raised his voice. Seeing that Su Tang was ignoring him, he was clearly displeased.

Su Tang smiled and ignored the Great Master, turning back to look at Wen Xiang and the others. “It is the middle of summer, and you are wearing such heavy cloaks. Aren’t you hot? Take them all off; the Great Master is not an outsider.”

Hearing Su Tang’s words, Long Qi’s body trembled slightly, and a flash of reluctance and sorrow swept through his eyes. Xiao Buhui ripped off his cloak and looked at Su Tang with a playful expression. Tong Fei and a gaunt old man also revealed their true faces. Only Wen Xiang did not move; she was looking at Long Qi.

Long Qi stood there like a statue and gave no hint. Wen Xiang sighed softly and finally untied her cloak.

Su Tang lightly rotated the tea cup with his fingertip, a lazy and indifferent smile on his face. The emotional changes of everyone present were under his observation. Long Qi, Wen Xiang, and Xiao Buhui probably guessed what might happen. Of course, it was only a possibility; in fact, even Su Tang himself did not know what would happen next. He was waiting for the Great Master to provide an answer. If the Great Master had another hidden side, he would choose to endure for now and plan slowly for the future. If the Great Master proved once again that he was nothing more than a decayed old fool, Su Tang would do as he pleased.