Chapter 396: 370 The Path

Tang Zhao was startled, and a wave of disappointment surged up instantly. He said, "Ah, you aren't together either? It's been several years? How did you separate?"

Teng Liang sighed, his expression suggesting it was a long story. Seeing that the two of them wouldn't be finished talking for a while, Jiao Feng came up and said, "Since you are childhood friends, you naturally have much to talk about. We will head back first. Shall we meet again later?"

Tang Zhao smiled and said, "Many thanks, Old Jiao. Please give my reply to the Manor Master; I will be there on time."

Jiao Feng led the others out, and Wei Se happened to be going out to see them off, so he wouldn't be back for a moment.

Teng Liang stared at Wei Se's back, glaring at him until he went out the door.

Tang Zhao asked curiously, "What's wrong?"

Teng Liang said, "Is this your servant?"

Tang Zhao said, "Naturally not. He is my... disciple."

A Martial Artist who follows a Sword Smith is called a disciple, which counts as a teacher-student relationship. To be honest, when Wei Se first followed Tang Zhao, the title of teacher and student was not directly established due to the distrust caused by various past events. But now, after a year of living together, the trust had slowly solidified, so there was no need to deny it. Tang Zhao taking the initiative to cast a sword for Wei Se was simply fulfilling the obligations of a Sword Smith.

Teng Liang said, "A disciple... that's still a subordinate, right? Not bad, you. Back when we went to the hall gatherings of wealthy families, the gatekeepers looked just like the little ghosts in front of a temple gate. Now you've become a Bodhisattva, with a Vajra guarding the door."

Tang Zhao was startled; why did he feel that Teng Liang's tone was so snide?

But the next moment, some childhood memories surged up. Liangzi seemed to be... just like this; his speech was always full of hidden barbs. Whenever he encountered anything, he had to make a sarcastic remark or two.

Although Tang Zhao was not lacking in eloquence, he had always kept to certain principles, trying his best not to speak ill of others behind their backs. Since childhood, their personalities had been worlds apart. When they were young, they would just bicker and fight without thinking, and Tang Zhao even only remembered their friendship, having forgotten what Liangzi's temperament was like.

He was anxious in his heart to ask about the situation of the Sui Family Troupe, so he didn't think too deeply. He pulled Teng Liang to sit on a bench under the eaves and asked repeatedly, "How did you separate from Uncle and the others? And how did you end up joining the Five Poisons Society and becoming... an ordinary member?"

Tang Zhao couldn't think of a word to euphemistically describe the status of a hoodlum.

Teng Liang spread his hands and said, "It's a long story. Actually, my leaving and your leaving the troupe happened one right after the other. Back then, when we reached Baishui County, didn't we split into two paths? You went with Dafeng to join relatives in the Heiyang Xue Clan, and we went to the county seat to perform, right? According to the rules, when we entered the county seat, we first had to set up a spot to earn our travel money. Good heavens, it turned out the juggling business in the county seat was monopolized by a gang called Taohua Tower, and they didn't allow outsiders to interfere. The second day we arrived, they wrecked our stall."

Tang Zhao hurriedly asked, "Were you injured?" He vaguely remembered that Taohua Tower was the headquarters of the Lower Five Sects, a place he had a particularly bad impression of; they had even issued a one-thousand-tael silver bounty for him back then.

Teng Liang said, "That didn't happen. The old man was almost beaten, but he was cowardly and ran back. You know him; he knows how to bend and stretch, and the average person's fist can't catch up to him. We were very angry after they wrecked our stall. I cursed a couple of times, but he kept saying it was his own fault, that he hadn't entered the city for a long time and had forgotten the rules, forgotten to pay his respects to the local boss, and he prepared to spend money to apologize."

Tang Zhao nodded slowly. This was indeed Uncle's nature; he was particularly good at enduring.

"He turned around and went to Taohua Tower once. He spent a lot of money, and of course, he kowtowed a lot, but it didn't settle the matter. That group of bullies just looked down on us. They took the money but refused to let go, and wouldn't even share a patch of ground for us to perform. He came back and wanted to raise more money to go beg a second time. I told him to stop looking for trouble; if this place doesn't keep us, there are other places that will. If they won't let you eat this meal, you can't beg for it, and besides, what's the point of begging?"

Tang Zhao smiled, thinking of himself four years ago arguing with Sui Dage on the road. They were both young and couldn't hold back their temper, though their ways of expressing it were different. He said, "Good heavens, could Uncle listen to that?"

Teng Liang curled his lip and said, "Outside, he acts a generation lower than everyone, full of 'Uncle' and 'Grandpa,' but the fire he harbors in his heart he doesn't dare vent, so he saves it all for the family. He lost his temper then and cursed me, saying I was useless, that I was too old to perform, couldn't beg for money, and only knew how to cause trouble. He said I had no right to talk about it, and if it weren't for him leading me, I would have starved to death on the street after three days of begging."

Tang Zhao sighed. Everyone who wanders the world of martial arts has to train their tongue; when they start arguing, there really are no kind words.

Teng Liang said, "I'll be blunt, I had long since been unwilling to do this line of work. It's exhausting, you take all the abuse, and you aren't even treated like a human. Just thinking that I'd be an Old Sui-tou in a few decades makes me want to die now. We had a big fight. In the past, Dafeng would have come out to mediate, but wasn't he away at the time? A Yun couldn't stop us, so I slammed the door and went out to stay for the afternoon. I wanted to break up the troupe right then, but I ended up going back later."

"By evening, he said he didn't have enough money and told me to give him my money so he could go pay respects to the tower again. I said I had no money. I had been working my life away for him for years, giving him all the money; he ate the dry food, I ate the gruel, and he still had the nerve to ask me for money? He said he had long known I was hiding private money, that he had been turning a blind eye, and that not giving him money now was heartless. I was so angry I could have died. I pushed the door open and left, saying that we were finished as of today, that I didn't want the money from these past few years, and that I wasn't serving him anymore!"

Tang Zhao sighed, not knowing what to say.

But thinking about it carefully, actually... it wasn't strange.

Teng Liang's temper was completely different from the Sui father and son, and besides, he was an outsider; he was the only one in the Sui Family Troupe who wasn't surnamed Sui, which were all hidden dangers. But in the final analysis, it was all caused by money.

Sui Uncle had a side that was loyal, but also a side that was stingy. At the very least, he had always valued money very highly. Back when Tang Zhao was in the troupe, he had his own money and didn't participate in their splitting of performance earnings, so he didn't feel it as deeply. But Liangzi had been earning money since he was ten or so, and it was all clutched in the hands of Sui Laotou; if he ate an extra steamed bun or a mouthful of pickles, he would be glared at. If this were his own son, it would be one thing, but since he wasn't, it was easy for rifts to form. This breakup was bound to happen sooner or later.

However, this breakup happened too early. Four years ago, Teng Liang was only fourteen. Staying in the troupe, though bitter, would have been safer, and they could have looked after each other. Otherwise, where could a half-grown boy go to make a living on his own?

"I left the troupe and just wandered the streets. I didn't know what to do for a while, then I saw a group called the Eight Legs Gang recruiting on the street, so I joined. What kind of person am I? A natural material for martial arts. I was picked as soon as I tried out. Since then, I've been following my boss on the streets, and it's been four years today."

Tang Zhao felt complicated. The Eight Legs Gang sounded like a subordinate of the Black Spider Villa; it didn't sound like any proper martial arts force, at most a street gang. He said, "Mixing on the streets at fourteen... it must have been very hard, right?"

Teng Liang recalled briefly and smiled, "I didn't know anything back then, so it was actually fine. I just carried a stick and followed the boss, hitting wherever he pointed. Now that you mention it, I think back... it really was fine. Although there were times of danger and injury, there were also times of great fun. For example, I could eat meat and drink with my brothers, and for example, when collecting protection money, everyone would fawn over me. I didn't have to pay for food, and if I disliked someone, I could just kick them. It was really satisfying."

"You know, for us street performers, we are considered the lowest of the low. We work ourselves to death and can't earn a few coins, and instead, we take abuse everywhere. Even the prostitutes look down on us. Now, those so-called 'good citizens' who run small businesses don't even dare to breathe loudly in front of me. It shows that being a hoodlum is still better than performing."

Tang Zhao's lips moved slightly, then stopped. Given Teng Liang's experience, it was normal for him to think this way. Tang Zhao wanted to say a few words, but felt there was nothing to say.

Teng Liang said, "But being a hoodlum also means being bullied by many people—various bosses, leaders, anyone who thinks they are someone can bully you. So all I've been thinking about is moving up, the further I can climb, the better. I've been at it for four years, and only recently have I had some hope. They say I can go to the main headquarters for training, and when I come out, I'll be a proper sect disciple. This time I'm also here on a mission, said to be to pay respects to a noble person, and I didn't expect to run into you."

He patted Tang Zhao and said, "I see you're doing well? You've returned to the old house, and our boss calls you a noble person every other word. You must be doing exceptionally well. It really is you; back then, Old Sui-tou pointed at you and said you had more promise than me. I didn't quite believe it, but now it seems you are doing very well indeed."

Tang Zhao said, "It's alright. I've just been quite lucky."

The luck Tang Zhao spoke of was not a humble remark at all. It wasn't just that he often had noble people to help him when he encountered danger; the more important reason was—he could always meet good people when he was at his wit's end.

They were the kind of good people who were good to him and were themselves good; they not only saved him but didn't lead him down a crooked path.

For example, when he was captured in the night, if he hadn't met Xing Ji, but another official who wasn't so upright, someone like Jie Ya who colluded with human traffickers, what would his fate have been? What if the person who taught him skills was a master of evil arts who toyed with people's hearts?

He had several teachers, and although not everyone was flawless, each one taught him positive, correct things. If even one mentor had had ill intentions and pushed him when he was experiencing darkness, Tang Zhao probably wouldn't be the Tang Zhao of today.

This was still under the condition that Tang Zhao was lucky enough to survive to adulthood; there were too many dangers in this world that could have caused him to die halfway.

That he could reach today was purely because he was lucky. Much luckier than Teng Liang. Even if he had talent, there had to be a matching position for him to display that talent. A Sword Guest's talent was not a common talent, nor was it useful everywhere. If he and Teng Liang had gone to a gang to be hoodlums together, ten to one, he wouldn't have been as good as Teng Liang.

Teng Liang naturally didn't know what Tang Zhao's status really was. In fact, his boss didn't know, his boss's boss didn't know, and even Jiao Feng might not know, so he asked curiously, "Did you pass the imperial examinations and become a high official?"

Tang Zhao smiled and said, "Look at the place where I live; does it look like the home of a high official?"

He was actually considered an official; he hadn't resigned from his sixth-rank Instructor position, and in two months he should be able to advance further. A fifth rank was even comparable to an ordinary prefect, but on the line involving the Five Poisons Society, he would never publicly mention a word of his official status, not even to Teng Liang. Once said, if it were used by someone, it would be smearing himself and even the Inspection Division.

Teng Liang followed his line of thought and looked around the house. Tang Zhao hadn't added any valuable furniture since returning to the old house, everything was based on restoring its childhood appearance, and it looked nothing like the home of a wealthy person. He said, "What a pity. If you were an official and I were a gang boss, we could join forces to dominate both the black and white paths. Wouldn't we be able to walk sideways in Heiyang County?"

Tang Zhao smiled, but said very solemnly, "Even if I really became an official, we wouldn't join forces in that regard."

Without waiting for Teng Liang to answer, he continued to ask, "Liangzi, do you want to leave the Five Poisons Society and change your life? Do something else?"