Chapter 259: 251 Betrayal and Answer

On a narrow slip of paper, only these five characters were written.

The handwriting was very ugly, to the point where the penmanship was unrecognizable; it trembled from the very first stroke, grew increasingly sloppy, and the final character "escape" was barely formed, with the last stroke almost flying off and dragging out a long tail, after which there was nothing more, as if the person writing could not manage another stroke.

Tang Zhao looked left and right, staring fixedly at the slip of paper, as if he wanted to stare at these five characters until the end of time.

Then, he put down the slip of paper and saw the bewildered Jiang Shenyi.

Jiang Shenyi was angry, and he was also bewildered; he was the one who had smashed the cups and plates a moment ago, and he was the one now sitting at the table, stunned like a wooden chicken.

At this moment, it was hard to describe his mood with a single emotion.

The two stared at each other for a long time, and Jiang Shenyi finally said, "What does it mean?"

Tang Zhao opened his mouth, but in the end, he could only repeat, "The Senior Brother has defected."

Jiang Shenyi's voice turned hoarse: "What do you mean by 'defected'... how is that considered defecting? How could the Senior Brother defect?"

He repeated it several times, and Tang Zhao knew what he meant—for Zhuoyu Villa, what would the Senior Brother have to do to be considered a defector?

Zhuoyu Villa was not an army, nor was it some secret organization; what kind of defection could there be?

Years ago, the Second Senior Brother had a big fight with their master and left the mountain on his own, not returning for several years; Xue Xianyun would curse him whenever he was mentioned now, but could that be considered defecting?

The Senior Brother and their master were even closer than father and son; even if some conflict had erupted and he had run off in a fit of anger, or even if he had smashed some things or hurt someone, at most the master would scold him or even expel him from the sect, but it would hardly amount to defection, would it?

What exactly had he done?

Jiang Shenyi's gaze flickered, and he suddenly pointed at the owl on the table: "I remember now! That is... the... Shi Chunqing's owl!"

Tang Zhao nodded; at first, he hadn't recognized it either, but after seeing those characters, he remembered. It was the gift Xue Yeyu had given to the Senior Brother when they were celebrating Shi Chunqing's birthday before leaving Zhuoyu Villa.

The scene from that time was still vivid in his mind.

Jiang Shenyi was somewhat impatient and said, "What is it here for? To deliver a letter? Delivering a letter to you alone? What is written on it?"

Xue Yeyu's letter was for both of them, but this letter from Shi Chunqing was for Tang Zhao.

After the owl came in, it went straight to Tang Zhao, making it clear that it was a private letter for Tang Zhao.

Moreover, it didn't leave after dropping off the letter. Tang Zhao had previously thought the bird of prey was hungry and wanted to rest. But after seeing the letter, he suddenly realized—

It wasn't leaving because it was likely Shi Chunqing's order: once the letter was delivered, don't go back.

Perhaps it was to prevent tracking, or perhaps it was to show that everything connected to Zhuoyu Villa was to be cut off cleanly.

Tang Zhao suppressed his turbulent emotions, forced himself to stay calm, and opened the thin bamboo tube; he pulled out another slip of paper, his expression changed abruptly upon seeing it, and he reached out to crumple the paper into a ball, his fingers trembling slightly.

Jiang Shenyi was taken aback instead; he discovered that Tang Zhao was beyond furious.

It wasn't strange for Tang Zhao to be angry, and Jiang Shenyi was angry too, but when he had just seen the words about Shi Chunqing's defection, he clearly hadn't been that angry.

What exactly had Shi Chunqing written to him to make him suddenly so angry?

If Shi Chunqing was defecting and didn't write to anyone else, but only to Tang Zhao, could it be that there was some grievance he was specifically mocking him for?

Jiang Shenyi felt a surge of curiosity, stepped forward to take the slip of paper that Tang Zhao had nearly crushed, and unfolded it to find two lines of text, a couplet:

"Ten years of hardship, no one asks; one leap to fame, the world knows."

Other than that, it was headless and tailless, with no signature. It should be Shi Chunqing's handwriting—Jiang Shenyi did not recognize Shi Chunqing's writing.

This is...

Jiang Shenyi seemed to understand, yet seemed not to, and said: "Is this his confession? Does he feel that life on the mountain was too hard, that he gave too much and no one cared about him, so he did this?"

Although Jiang Shenyi hadn't thought much about it before, these two sentences were very straightforward and not hard to understand.

Because he felt it was unfair, he defected?

It was possible, but... how could it come to this?!

"It is a confession, and it is also an answer to me."

Tang Zhao replied, still unable to calm his anger; he wanted to grab something from the table to smash, but unfortunately, everything that could be smashed had already been smashed by Jiang Shenyi, leaving him with only a belly full of pent-up frustration.

"That day when we celebrated his birthday, I wrote a couplet for him—"

"'A treasure sword's edge comes from sharpening; the plum blossom's fragrance comes from the bitter cold.'"

"When he left, he specifically gave me an answer. It was these two lines—abominable!" Tang Zhao finally hammered the table hard, making a thumping sound.

Jiang Shenyi asked in confusion: "Isn't this a good blessing? Saying that his efforts would be rewarded and he would surely see the end of his hardships, why would he specifically answer you? Could it be that he felt you were just talking without feeling the pain, that you weren't qualified to encourage him, so he wrote a letter to refute you? Wait—"

He turned half a circle on the spot, "No, it's too strange. This question and answer of yours seems to have a tacit understanding that others don't know. Were you that close? Or is it... when you were on the mountain, you had already sensed that he had problems? Or even had some suspicions?"

The more he thought, the more right he felt; he reached out and grabbed Tang Zhao, saying: "Am I right? Tang Zhao?!"

Tang Zhao met his eyes, and after a while, he nodded slightly.

Jiang Shenyi was furious and gave him a hard push, saying: "You bastard! You guessed it early on... why didn't you tell the master? Why didn't you tell us? Are you in league with him?"

Tang Zhao retorted: "Who said I didn't tell the master? Since I had sensed it, why wouldn't I tell the master?"

Jiang Shenyi was stunned and said: "You told the master? Then how did it still..."

How did it still end up like this?

Tang Zhao didn't answer and said: "As for you all... how could I tell you? How could I tell the other fellow disciples? I only sensed something was wrong at the time. The Senior Brother had been away for a year and brought back the precious material for the master's Sword Casting, the 'Bitter Cold Qi'. The master gave me a little bit too. When I went to analyze it, I discovered that the Bitter Cold Qi was not pure; it was mixed with some 'Evil Cold Qi' that had similar properties but was diametrically opposed. If the master used this Qi to cast a sword without discerning it, he would definitely fail at the final moment."

That night, he put the Bitter Cold Qi into the pool water, and the fairy actually came up twice; the first time was for the Bitter Cold Qi, and the second time was for the Evil Cold Qi. From that moment, he guessed it—Shi Chunqing's intentions were wrong.

Actually, even earlier, had he not noticed signs?

After a year, Shi Chunqing returned from Liangzhou in the north, only to be hunted by the Baixiong Mountain bandits from Lingzhou in the south; wasn't that strange? One in the south and one in the north, they weren't on the same path at all, and it would be hard to even go around; how could his enemies be from Baixiong Mountain? And at the time, he only had the Bitter Cold Qi as a material; although it was precious, it was a standard material for a Sword Smith. What would a group of bandits from Baixiong Mountain, who sought wealth, want with these materials?

Furthermore, when it came to disposing of the captured Baixiong Mountain bandits, Shi Chunqing wanted to kill them all without asking a single question, as if he were in a hurry to silence them. Shopkeeper Liu didn't kill them all immediately, wanting to interrogate them, but the result was that these bandits committed suicide one after another; how was that like bandits? They were clearly like death-sworn soldiers.

The implications of this were impossible to explain clearly.

And this was just suspicion with some basis; if one spoke of things without basis... from every word and action of Shi Chunqing since he returned, Tang Zhao had felt vaguely uneasy.

But could one use these things to accuse the Senior Brother who had worked diligently for Zhuoyu Villa for twenty or thirty years?

Never mind these unsubstantiated things, even the Evil Cold Qi had plenty of room for sophistry; one could just say it was a moment of carelessness, that the collected material wasn't pure, or that it had been contaminated by an accident. At most, he could apologize, and what could be done then?

On the contrary, Tang Zhao—don't look at how he was doted on by his brother and sister; if he confronted the Senior Brother, even if he had some evidence, as long as it wasn't ironclad proof, he would absolutely never win.

The villa was like a family; in a family, does the one who is right win? Isn't it the one who is closer to everyone else who wins?

Originally, Tang Zhao intended to beat around the bush, or even leave a letter to warn his master before leaving, but after thinking it over repeatedly, he still secretly met his master under the cover of night and laid out everything he knew. He did not receive a reply until he left.

In the end, it still turned out like this.

Don't look at how angry Jiang Shenyi is right now; if Tang Zhao had taken those clues and told him his speculations one by one earlier, it really wouldn't be certain whose side Jiang Shenyi would have stood on.

Only at this very moment could he review the situation with his senior brother again.

"Actually, the senior brother has been very strange since he returned. He would sigh and moan, constantly saying that his natural talent was insufficient and that he had wasted his years. He was full of envy for the junior brothers and sisters with higher talent, and his frustration was written all over his face. This might have been his true feelings, but mentioning it again and again sounded like he was making up his mind."

"Is that so..." Jiang Shenyi frowned and recalled deeply. In fact, he had a lot of contact with Shi Chunqing after he returned to the mountain; it was he who brought the injured Shi Chunqing back to the mountain villa, but... was there something wrong at that time?

Tang Zhao said solemnly: "Yes. At the time, before I discovered he truly harbored malicious intent, I thought he was just depressed and had knots in his heart that he couldn't untie, so I had a foolish thought: was it because we cared too little about the senior brother? He took care of us year after year, taught us knowledge, gave us gifts, and cared about our lives, but although we respected him, we rarely truly felt close to him. For example... the day I chatted with him about Junior Sister Hua's birthday, I only then learned that he and Junior Sister Hua shared the same birth month. But I never knew. I celebrate Junior Sister Hua's birthday every year, but I have never celebrated his."

Jiang Shenyi was stunned and said softly: "This thought... is not foolish. I also didn't know his birthday. I came up the mountain several years earlier than you, yet I never thought to ask. I don't understand him at all. Senior brother... to me, he is like a father and brother. I only felt that he was a good senior brother who took care of us, tolerated us, and helped us..."

"But—" Jiang Shenyi suddenly said indignantly: "If he truly felt disappointed and aggrieved, and naturally became annoyed, resentful, and distant from us because of it, why would he betray our master?"

Tang Zhao shook his head. How could he know the entanglements between Shi Chunqing and Xue Xianyun? He was just following his own foolish thoughts, wanting to do his best to remedy the situation in a foolish way—for example, calling everyone together to throw a lively birthday party for the senior brother, having everyone surround him with blessings and give him gifts, letting Shi Chunqing know that we, his younger brothers and sisters, are not truly heartless, and that everyone loves him.

Or for example, giving him that pair of couplets; that wasn't chicken soup for the soul to encourage him, but to remind Shi Chunqing that no matter how we juniors might neglect you, Master has always valued you the most. In his heart, you are the most important, and no one compares to you. He treats you so well, must there be a regret that lasts a lifetime between you?

However, in the end, a foolish method is a foolish method. It might cover up some flaws, but it cannot make a broken mirror whole again.

Spilled water cannot be gathered!

Fortunately, Tang Zhao was not stubborn to the point of stupidity; he ultimately chose to give Xue Xianyun a direct warning on the night before he went down the mountain, entering Gongyu Hall all by himself.

As for the result, even though he spoke tactfully, Xue Xianyun flew into a rage and chased him all the way, leaving Tang Zhao with no choice but to flee down the mountain overnight and let the old man figure it out himself.

Perhaps he was still too conservative.

Whether it was thunderous means or appealing to emotions, Xue Xianyun did not handle this matter well. In any case, things still reached this point today. He was not a person with brilliant methods to begin with, otherwise, how could a master and disciple who were like father and son have reached this day?

Who knows if his handling of it resolved the conflict or incited it?

Or perhaps it was unsolvable from the start.

"I don't know how things are on the mountain..." Tang Zhao thought of this, and only worry remained. "Put other matters aside for now, let's return to the mountain!"