Chapter 285: To Kill or Not to Kill

Duan Rong and Ximen Kankan spent the whole morning killing in Weiyang Workshop, and all the various factions were sent reeling by them.

Seeing that it was time for lunch, Ximen Kankan was still full of excitement, but Duan Rong had long been so hungry his stomach was growling; he had only eaten a few steamed buns that morning.

Ximen Kankan had no choice but to accompany Duan Rong out to eat.

"We're just eating wontons?" Duan Rong was clearly very dissatisfied with Ximen Kankan's suggestion.

"It's just like this for lunch. Tonight, I'll treat you to drinks at Babao Building."

As Ximen Kankan spoke, he pulled Duan Rong toward the wonton stall across the street; he was still worried about his dice, so naturally, he wanted to eat whatever was fastest.

The two of them each held a large bowl of hot wontons and, with a sesame flatbread in hand, began to slurp them down.

Ximen Kankan ate even faster than Duan Rong, and once he finished, he kept urging Duan Rong on.

Duan Rong ignored him, not wiping his mouth and standing up until he had finished the sesame flatbread dipped in chili, along with every drop of the wonton soup.

"You're a starving ghost reincarnated; you eat wontons and don't even let a drop of soup go."

"What do you know! Do you know how many families can't even put food on the table at this time of year, relying on digging up wild vegetables to stave off hunger every day..."

"You're the one who doesn't know anything! It's precisely because the harvest is bad that I, your grandfather, save a mouthful..."

As Ximen Kankan spoke, he saw the boss clearing the bowls and chopsticks from their stall. In Ximen Kankan's bowl, there was still some soup and wonton skin left. Just as the boss was about to pour it into the slop bucket, a beggar immediately ran over with a broken bowl, pleading with the boss.

The boss moved his hand and poured the remaining soup into the beggar's broken bowl.

Ximen Kankan glanced at Duan Rong and said, "See that? If everyone were like you and drank every drop of soup clean, how would all the beggars on this street survive?"

Duan Rong was left speechless by Ximen Kankan's words; the real world is often not driven by logical deduction, but by vivid scenes that throw themselves directly before your eyes.

As the two spoke, they had already crossed the street and arrived at the entrance of the gambling den.

Just then, Duan Rong subconsciously turned his head. He saw that at the mouth of an alley not far from the wonton stall across the street, amidst the bustling crowd, Yang Zhen was standing there, looking toward the entrance of the gambling den with a nervous expression; he had clearly seen Duan Rong.

The moment Duan Rong turned his head, the two locked eyes across the crowd, gazing at each other from afar!

Although the crowd was moving, Duan Rong still clearly saw the shock and fear in Yang Zhen's eyes!

With his head turned, Duan Rong was still dragged into the gambling den by Ximen Kankan. The thick curtain at the entrance fell, cutting off Yang Zhen's shocked and fearful gaze outside the gambling den.

Duan Rong's expression was deep; Yang Zhen's reaction to him had clearly changed since they were shooting at the goal at Liu Lu that morning. Even across the crowd, he could feel that genuine fear.

The look in Yang Zhen's eyes as he gazed at him across the street was like staring at a monster!

A thought stirred in Duan Rong's mind, and he immediately understood what had happened. It seemed Xie Daohan's corpse had already been discovered. Yang Zhen's expression suggested he must have already seen the body.

Duan Rong gave a miserable smile, and his eyes couldn't help but turn red.

Duan Rong and Ximen Kankan gambled inside the den for an entire day. By the time night fell and the lanterns were lit, no one in Weiyang Workshop was willing to gamble with them anymore.

Ximen Kankan was satisfied and took Duan Rong to Babao Building to eat.

Ximen Kankan had actually wanted to call Jiang Qingyu to come along today, but seeing that the day of departure was almost here, Jiang Qingyu was busy saying goodbye to Lan Ying of Huaying Pavilion and had no time to mess around in the gambling den with Ximen Kankan.

In the private room, Ximen Kankan ordered quite a few dishes and chatted with Duan Rong while drinking, not sparing any insults for Jiang Qingyu during the meal.

Duan Rong held his wine cup and watched Ximen Kankan, whose face was flushed and who was still muttering curses at "that little wench" Jiang Qingyu, and couldn't help but smile.

As Duan Rong smiled, a tear fell from the corner of his eye.

He envied Ximen Kankan very much.

In Ximen Kankan's life, there seemed to never be those heavy and cruel things.

The face of Ximen Yong flashed before Duan Rong's eyes, and Duan Rong murmured, "If one had a father like that, life would probably be much easier."

At this moment, Duan Rong's heart felt as if it were pressed by a stone, leaving him feeling stifled and irritable.

The two had already finished four full jars of wine, and Ximen Kankan was dead drunk. The night watchman's drumbeats came from the street; listening to the sound, it was already midnight.

Duan Rong looked at the dead-drunk Ximen Kankan, but a cruel smile hung on his face.

Duan Rong scooped up Ximen Kankan with one arm and held the remaining unopened jar of wine with the other, walking slowly out of Babao Building.

Ximen Kankan's Personal Attendant, Shi Kang, was already waiting there with the carriage.

Seeing Duan Rong come out, Shi Kang immediately jumped off the carriage, took Ximen Kankan from Duan Rong's hands, and helped him into the carriage. Only then did he look at Duan Rong and bow, saying, "Master Duan, please get in! This small one will take you back first!"

Since Duan Rong had advanced to become a Registered Disciple of the Sect, even Shi Kang's way of speaking to him was no longer as intimate as before; although respectful, it had ultimately become distant.

Duan Rong held the wine jar and said, "No need, it's not far. I'll walk back myself. It's just right to let the night breeze sober me up!"

Seeing Duan Rong say this, Shi Kang bowed to say goodbye and drove away.

Duan Rong stood at the alley entrance, watching Shi Kang drive away, but he did not walk along West Street toward Yuanshun Escort Agency. Seeing no one around, he suddenly darted, clutching the wine jar, into the shadows of the alley.

In the pitch-black night, Duan Rong turned left and right along the alley, his figure as fast as a ghost.

Amidst the howling night wind, Duan Rong stopped at the gate of a residence.

This was Yang Zhen's home. He didn't know how many times he had been to this residence; almost every time, he would get dead drunk with Yang Zhen.

Duan Rong tightened his grip on the wine jar in his arms; he still intended to get drunk with Yang Zhen one more time today.

A thought stirred in Duan Rong's mind, and his Divine Sense suddenly surged outward, passing through the courtyard and sweeping into the room!

Yang Zhen was in the bedroom in the Inner Room, but he was not asleep; an oil lamp was lit on the cabinet beside the bed.

The bean-sized lamplight reflected Yang Zhen's anxious and grave face as he paced back and forth in the cramped bedroom.

Duan Rong withdrew his Divine Sense, but he did not knock. With a leap, he soared over the wall like a large bird and landed lightly in the courtyard.

A dim yellow light shone from the window of the Inner Room, and the door to the main room was open; this was Yang Zhen's usual style—he never closed the door.

Duan Rong walked through the courtyard with light steps, his feet landing without a sound, like a civet cat!

Duan Rong stood at the entrance of the main room. The oil lamp in the Inner Room cast a patch of dim, mottled light at Duan Rong's feet, and the sound of Yang Zhen's anxious pacing in the Inner Room was exceptionally clear in the silence.

Duan Rong stood there, pausing for several breaths, before walking straight into the Inner Room with the wine jar.

Yang Zhen was pacing back and forth in the cramped room when suddenly, his peripheral vision caught a shadow flashing at the doorway.

Yang Zhen turned his head in horror and saw Duan Rong standing there holding the wine jar.

The moment Yang Zhen looked at Duan Rong, the anxiety and terror in his eyes receded like a tide. Because he knew clearly that the moment that would decide his fate had arrived.

For many things, when they have yet to come, you will be terrified and anxious, but the moment they truly arrive, you will instead become calm.

Yang Zhen's gaze swept over the wine jar Duan Rong was holding, then looked at his expressionless face, and he said in a calm tone, "You've come."

"Mm, I've come." Duan Rong seemed to repeat Yang Zhen's words pointlessly, then he smiled, lifted the wine jar he was holding, and said, "I brought wine. Are there any bowls?"

Yang Zhen took the oil lamp from the cabinet to the table in the main room, then went to the kitchen to fetch two pottery bowls.

Duan Rong pecked open the wine seal, and the fragrance of the wine instantly filled the main room; the thirty-year-old aged brew from the Babao Building was no joke.

Yang Zhen's eyes brightened instantly.

Duan Rong grabbed the wine jar, filled the two pottery bowls, and handed one to Yang Zhen.

Yang Zhen took it, flared his nostrils to sniff the wine's fragrance, then poured it down his throat in one gulp; he smacked his lips, looked at Duan Rong with a satisfied expression, and said, "Good wine!"

The wine Duan Rong usually drank with Yang Zhen was bought at the wine shop in the small alley. How could it compare to this thirty-year-old aged brew from the Babao Building?

Duan Rong had always had the silver to treat Yang Zhen to such good wine, but this jar of wine was worth half a year of Yang Zhen's salary; how could he show it off?

After finishing one bowl, Yang Zhen poured himself another; he downed three full bowls before his craving for wine was slightly satisfied, then he smiled, looked at Duan Rong, and said, "Where did you get such good wine?"

Duan Rong said with a calm expression, "Thirty-year-old aged brew from the Babao Building."

Yang Zhen nodded and said, "It truly is good wine. This wine is suitable for a farewell; not bad!"

Upon hearing the words "farewell," Duan Rong felt a prick in his heart; he looked at Yang Zhen with cold, sharp eyes and asked, "How much do you know about my affairs?"

Yang Zhen smiled and said, "Not that much. You killed Xu Ruhu and Xie Lei. You also killed Head Xie."

Duan Rong's expression did not move. "You have no evidence!"

Yang Zhen restrained his smile. "True! But I just know."

The air seemed to grow heavy in an instant.

After a long while, Yang Zhen said, "I am very curious. Head Xie was an expert of the True Qi Realm; how did you kill him?"

Duan Rong poured a bowl of wine down his own throat and remained silent.

Yang Zhen smiled; he knew Duan Rong would not tell him.

The two stopped speaking and just drank in silence.

After drinking several bowls, Yang Zhen suddenly asked, "Duan Rong, will you kill me?"

Duan Rong's body stiffened, and he spat out a single word stiffly from his throat. "Yes!"

After this word was spat out, Duan Rong's heart felt as if it were being pressed by a giant boulder, blocked and uncomfortable.

Yang Zhen did not speak again, but just drank.

Both of them drank very quickly, and the jar of wine soon hit the bottom.

Yang Zhen smiled faintly, let out a wine burp, and said, "Duan Rong! Since you were able to bring wine, this brotherhood of ours, we haven't lived in vain."

Yang Zhen suddenly jumped away, pulled out the barrier saber at his waist, and said, "The wine has been drunk! Come!"

Duan Rong sat there without moving, glanced at Yang Zhen, and said, "Is there anything else you need me to do?"

"I only have one second uncle. With no worries or attachments, I don't need you to do a damn thing! Less nonsense! Come!"

Duan Rong said, "You cannot beat me."

Yang Zhen said, "Damn! That's my line!"

Duan Rong and Yang Zhen had been inseparable since they were young, but occasionally the two would have conflicts; every time this happened, the tall and sturdy Yang Zhen would tell the thin and weak Duan Rong, "You cannot beat me."

But he never expected that at this moment of life and death, it would be Duan Rong who said these words.

It seemed as if scenes from the past emerged, and in this heavy atmosphere, the two actually smiled slightly.

Just at this moment, Duan Rong suddenly flicked his sleeve, and a cloud of Medicine Powder, like white mist, scattered onto Yang Zhen's face.

Yang Zhen's eyes went black, and he collapsed to the ground; the barrier saber in his hand clattered as it fell beside his feet!

The faint smile on Duan Rong's face dissipated, replaced by an indifferent and cold expression.

No matter what, Yang Zhen had to die, because only the dead could keep secrets!

However, Duan Rong truly could not face Yang Zhen's gaze; what he feared most was the look in a person's eyes when they were dying.

And he could face Yang Zhen's dying gaze even less!

Duan Rong walked over, picked up Yang Zhen's barrier saber, and aimed it at Yang Zhen's chest—that position was the heart; he only needed to stab down gently, and Yang Zhen would never wake up again.

Duan Rong's hand trembled slightly and pushed forward a little.

The tip of the blade had already pierced into Yang Zhen's body; the hand Duan Rong used to grip the hilt could feel the sensation of it piercing in!

But at this moment, Duan Rong's heart felt a spasm of sharp pain!

He was not sure if it was he himself in pain, or the original body in pain!

Duan Rong's hand froze there; if he only stabbed in another inch, perhaps just half an inch, Yang Zhen would die!

He had to kill Yang Zhen; this was the answer he had decided upon after seeing Yang Zhen at the entrance of the casino at noon. It was also from that moment on that a stone had been pressing on his heart.

Duan Rong did not know how long he had been frozen there when he suddenly felt his face was very itchy. He thought a spider had fallen from the rafters onto his face, so he reached out to touch it.

As a result, he found his hand covered in tears.

He did not know when, but his face was already covered in tears!

Duan Rong's heart trembled, and he pulled back the blade that was stuck in Yang Zhen's chest!

He stared blankly at the unconscious Yang Zhen on the ground, as if petrified, and did not move for a long time.

If memory is a person's personality, then the original body was still living inside Duan Rong's body.

Because his memories had been inherited by Duan Rong.

Those bits and pieces of getting along with Yang Zhen from childhood to adulthood were so real!

At this moment, Duan Rong already understood that he could not kill Yang Zhen!

If he killed Yang Zhen, he would loathe himself forever for the rest of his life!

Duan Rong threw away the barrier saber in his hand, suddenly scooped up the unconscious Yang Zhen, exerted his movement technique, flipped out of the courtyard into the pitch-black night, and moved through the alleys, turning left and right, his figure as fast as a ghost.

Carrying Yang Zhen, Duan Rong landed gracefully inside a dilapidated courtyard!

The surroundings were deathly silent, the houses were pitch black, and a parasol tree outside the courtyard wall stood indifferently in the dark night!

This place was that remote abandoned residence of Xie Lei; ever since Xie Lei died, it had long been deserted.

Duan Rong carried Yang Zhen on his shoulder and arrived beside the dry well in the courtyard.

Duan Rong swept his Divine Sense across, and in the darkness, everything was perfectly clear.

Carrying Yang Zhen, Duan Rong drifted down from the mouth of the well.

The entrance to the secret passage at the bottom of the well was narrow, and it took Duan Rong a great deal of effort to drag Yang Zhen inside.

Duan Rong placed Yang Zhen inside the Secret Chamber where Xie Lei had originally kept Xu Ruhu.

In the spring season, the underground Secret Chamber was somewhat damp; Duan Rong felt inside his lapel, pulled out a Fire Folder, and blew it until it ignited.

By the faint light of the Fire Folder, Duan Rong looked at the unconscious Yang Zhen. Duan Rong suddenly flipped his hand, produced a Medicine Pill, stuffed it into Yang Zhen's mouth, propped up his chin, and massaged his throat to make him swallow the pill.

This was a type of drug developed by the wicked doctor Shen Ping that could induce feigned death. After swallowing this drug, a person would gradually enter a state of feigned death within half an hour.

This state would last for five days. After five days, the medicinal effect would dissipate, and the person would slowly wake up.

Under special circumstances, this drug could be used to deceive others. But at this moment, Duan Rong feeding it to Yang Zhen was to buy himself time.

In five days' time, he would have long since left Xiangu County.

By then, even if Yang Zhen knew he had killed Xie Daohan, he would have no evidence; how could such an absurd story be trusted by others?

And who would dare, without evidence, to go to the Taiyi Sect and arrest him, a Sect Registered Disciple?

Duan Rong believed that after five days, he would be safe.

Of course, absolute safety would be to kill Yang Zhen! It was not that he hadn't thought about it; he felt he had ten thousand reasons to kill Yang Zhen.

But he had only one reason not to kill Yang Zhen. A most simple reason: that was, he could not kill him!

Duan Rong sat in the damp underground Secret Chamber until half an hour had passed; he felt Yang Zhen's pulse and breath, discovering that his breathing had stopped and his pulse was no longer beating.

Duan Rong stared blankly at Yang Zhen and said, "Yang Zhen, I did not kill you. I also do not know if what I have done is right or wrong. I just do not want to live my whole life in disgust. Take care!"

It was unclear whether Duan Rong was saying these words to Yang Zhen or to himself.

After he finished speaking, he extinguished the Fire Folder in his hand, exited the dry well, vaulted out of the courtyard, and returned to Liu Lu in the pitch-black night.

(End of chapter)