Chapter 394: 368 Old Acquaintance

In a flash, a busy half-month passed by.

The Spring Pillar of State festival was truly drawing near; the whole street was filled with the scents of stewing meat, slaughtered chickens, and spring cleaning. Every household was stocking up on New Year goods, preparing for the holiday. A heavy snowfall at the end of the month blanketed the city in white, further intensifying the festive atmosphere.

While Tang Zhao was hunched over his desk in his room working, he could hear the sound of firecrackers from time to time. Along with the firecrackers came the sounds of children laughing and playing.

Very familiar... yet very strange sounds.

It had probably been several years since he last heard them, right?

Otherwise...

He might as well spend the New Year in his hometown, Mu City.

Ever since his relatives passed away one after another, Tang Zhao had stopped caring about the New Year. Without a reunion, what kind of New Year was it?

Later, after settling down on Jiugao Mountain, he did spend three peaceful New Years there.

It was just that Jiugao Mountain was a place far removed from the secular world, distant from both the hustle and bustle and human sentiment.

The outer valleys like Baiyu Valley were a bit livelier during the holidays, but there was no New Year atmosphere among the True Jade Disciples. Xue Xianyun was obsessed with research and ignored holiday customs; if there was work to be done, he wouldn't rest for the New Year. Whoever he called over to work had to stay up all night overtime with him. Because Tang Zhao was a young Disciple he favored, he suffered greatly from this and was often not free even during the New Year.

Shi Chunqing, on the other hand... back then he was still a qualified Senior Brother. He and Senior Sister Xue Yeyu would gather everyone for a sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner, keep vigil, and set off fireworks, which was actually quite lively. But that was only for one day; there were no rituals like the Little New Year, the fifth day, or the Lantern Festival.

Now, he had forgotten how to celebrate the New Year.

Pushing aside a Sword Casting plan he had half-written, Tang Zhao stretched, took up his brush and ink again, and intended to write a letter home to Zhuoyu Villa.

This half-month had been an extremely busy one, and he hadn't enjoyed the vacation he had planned at all. Instead, he had taken on three big orders at once. Although no one forced him, he still wanted to make them more perfect.

So he stayed cooped up in his room every day, his mind filled only with Sword Casting. The plans for the three swords were twisted in his mind like a braid: the sword for Wei Se, the sword for Qin Yongcheng, and the sword for Fan Haiyu...

Until today, Tang Zhao felt he was overloaded; he wanted to rest, even wanted to just lie flat.

Once the thought arose, he could no longer hold it back. There was no deadline ahead, so why be so stubborn?

He would simply start slacking off after writing the letter home, and keep slacking until after the New Year.

Whatever it was, it could wait until after the New Year.

During the New Year, it was not appropriate to work.

As long as Black Spider Villa didn't come to disturb him, it would be fine. He hoped the Five Poisons Society wouldn't...

"Sir, people from the Five Poisons Society are here."

How unappreciative.

Tang Zhao had a headache. Although he had guessed they would come, couldn't they have come before he made up his mind to slack off?

Seeing his reluctant expression, Wei Se said, "Shall I tell them to get lost?"

Tang Zhao shook his head and said, "That would mean I broke my word. There is no reason to go back on what I promised. Ah—damn it, it's annoying. Is Black Widow here?"

Wei Se said, "It's a few young people."

Tang Zhao nodded and said, "Then I won't go out to receive them. Open the door and let them in."

Wei Se nodded and went to open the door, saying, "Come in."

Four young people entered together from outside. Tang Zhao came to the doorway, expecting to see Zhang Xu who had come to deliver gifts last time, but to his surprise, it wasn't him; instead, he saw another familiar person at a glance.

"Ah, Jiao Feng, right!"

Tang Zhao saw the young man leading them, and his memories from four years ago were instantly awakened. This was Jiao Feng, the young man who had been his neighbor in the Grape Courtyard for a month and with whom he had a friendship.

"Long time no see!"

Jiao Feng was now in his early twenties, a bit taller than he was four years ago, even taller than Tang Zhao was now. He still carried an inherently gloomy temperament and looked like someone who rarely smiled. But when he heard Tang Zhao call his name, his brow clearly relaxed, and he showed a look of joy.

Genuine happiness and a perfunctory, polite smile were naturally completely different; it was clear that Jiao Feng also remembered the friendship between the two back then.

"Long time no see, Tang Zhao."

He hesitated for a moment, but still used the address from back then; after all, calling him Young Master Tang or something would be too distant.

When he addressed him this way, someone behind him let out a "Huh?" Jiao Feng felt a bit strange. The people he brought were relatively outstanding new members of the gang and should have been tactful. Who had made such an abrupt sound?

But he didn't pay attention to that first and came before Tang Zhao.

Tang Zhao's mood relaxed, and the previous impatience vanished. He said, "It's actually you who came. Come in and sit."

Since it was an old friend, it was naturally different. Even if he was specifically sent by Black Widow, the old friendship was not fake. Tang Zhao let Jiao Feng into the study. As for the other young Five Poisons Society members, Tang Zhao did not treat them with courtesy, and he didn't even want them to enter the old house where his parents had lived.

Although it was a bit rude, he really didn't like the Five Poisons Society, so he didn't bother to entertain them.

Wei Se stayed outside and pointed to a stool in the corner, saying to them, "You guys go sit for a while. If you want to drink water, there is fresh cold water in the vat, and there's a ladle."

The young people all looked displeased, but they had strict orders not to offend the people here, so they had to go and sit. Some even looked at the water vat with malice, wondering whether to put a dose of poison in it to give these two dogs a lesson. But cowed by the Manor Master's might, they dared not take action.

Only one young man remained. He had been standing at the very back and was very young, only seventeen or eighteen years old, clearly the least experienced, and had been keeping his head down so his face couldn't be seen. At this moment, he raised his head, revealing a slightly dark complexion, a large head, and a scar on his face stretching from his earlobe to the corner of his mouth. He looked just like a street thug who loved to fight.

He stepped forward, showing a smile meant to curry favor, though it looked ferocious because of the scar, and said, "Brother, I want to ask you about something..." As he spoke, he reached out to pull Wei Se's hand in a friendly manner.

Wei Se pushed back, clamped his wrist, and bent it backward against the joint, producing a light "crack" sound.

The young man opened his mouth to cry out, but Wei Se pressed his other hand over the young man's mouth, and there was instant silence.

The few young people at the door stood up together as if to surround them, but Wei Se said coldly, "Behave."

A wave of killing intent rolled over them, and the others were instantly struck dumb with fear. They were all thugs from the underworld; though young, they were experienced in fighting and understood immediately—this person could not be provoked.

Wei Se quickly withdrew his killing intent, released the young man, and said, "You behave too. You can talk, but stop moving around."

The young man clutched his wrist; he didn't feel much pain, but it was numb from being squeezed, and his movements were not smooth, as if the joint had been dismantled and put back together. He felt resentment in his heart, but lowered his head and endured it for a while before continuing to smile, "Brother, it was my fault. Actually, I just wanted to ask, is that Young Master Tang really named Tang Zhao?"

Wei Se felt an instinctive aversion to him calling him by his name, but hearing that there seemed to be a reason for his words, he said, "Why do you ask?"

The young man said, "Is it the Tang Zhao whose hometown is Mu City and who originally lived in this old house? His father, Shopkeeper Tang Guangyi?"

Wei Se looked at him and suddenly remembered the old man Tang Zhao met when visiting the graves. That person seemed to be a neighbor of Tang Zhao's who chatted very familiarly with him. Could this also be a neighbor or a childhood friend of Tang Zhao's? So he said, "Are you..."

The young man muttered, "It really is him. He's changed so much. He wasn't like this before... Why is he so cold and distant now?"

Wei Se raised an eyebrow. He always felt that this "changed" was not well-intentioned; it seemed to imply that Tang Zhao had become arrogant. He said, "Cold to whom? To you?"

The young man just shook his head and said, "To everyone. He wasn't like this to anyone before. Even the little beggars on the side of the road or the low-lifes of the underworld, he treated them kindly and treated others as human beings; he never looked down on anyone. Sure enough, he has changed too, and looks down on people... Then, the way I am now doesn't count for much either..."

By the time he finished, the look of disappointment gradually disappeared. He rubbed the scar on his face with a hand calloused by knuckles and let out a "heh" laugh, as if feeling a sense of relief.

Weise remained silent, staring at the young man, and finally said, "If you wish to reminisce with the master, just report your name when he comes out; if there is an old friendship, you can naturally acknowledge each other."

The young man chuckled and said, "I understood your fancy words. Reminisce? He and I are not here to reminisce. What kind of friendship do we have? Reminiscing is redundant. When he comes out in a moment, I'll just call him, and you'll know."

He opened his mouth, seemingly about to shout Tang Zhao's name right there in the courtyard, but thinking of Jiao Feng inside, he shut his mouth and just stared at the door.

Weise also just watched him with cold eyes, showing no expression from beginning to end.

In truth, he was also a bit curious; this kid was so boastful, as if the two were friends through life and death, but just now, Tang Zhao hadn't recognized him like he recognized Jiao Feng, had he? If he didn't recognize him in a while, how awkward would that be?

Although he had started to complain internally, Weise still remained calm and composed.

Following Tang Zhao for this past year, his expressions had become fewer and fewer. In the past, he could still socialize with normal people and even perform vivid joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, but now he didn't do it anymore.

Because he didn't have any expressions to begin with; his previous expressions were all faked, performed by moving his muscles, which consumed extra energy and was very tiring. Now, making no expressions at all was actually quite comfortable.

"Brother Jiao, are you still at Black Spider Villa now?" inside the room, Tang Zhao asked.

Jiao Feng sat relaxed in the chair, with almost no gloomy aura left, and said, "Yes, otherwise how would I have come today? After that class graduated, I was directly appointed by the Manor Master as a guard, following by her side. The benefit is that I learned quite a few things; the downside is that there are few opportunities to take action. With less combat, there hasn't been much progress in martial arts."

Tang Zhao said, "That's actually not bad. Not to say—it's not a good thing to take action often at Black Spider Villa."

Jiao Feng said, "That is true. Actually, the villa hasn't fought any wars in these years. The year you left, the villa picked off Iron Scorpion Castle, Golden Toad Island, and Heiyang, basically occupying all the underworld forces in the surrounding counties. The Manor Master has no intention of expanding further. If sent out on missions, it's basically just guarding venues, collecting protection fees, or running businesses to build connections. Perhaps one even has to bully the weak, which is truly meaningless."

Tang Zhao shook his head; he truly did not like this kind of underworld business. His friendship with Black Widow was one thing, but Black Spider Villa had been flourishing these years, and they really hadn't done anything good.

Jiao Feng did not want to talk about it anymore. After the two reminisced for a while, he said, "The time for the Manor Master to invite you to take action should be set for the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month."