Chapter 707: Brothers

The sky was like ink; it was the darkest moment just before dawn.

The Che Mansion was brightly lit.

Ordinarily, at this hour, even the most debauched revelers should have been resting. But who told them that just before setting out, someone from the Land Inspection Division had mentioned: "Don't let the banquet break up."?

Although it was merely his personal opinion, Master Che did not know the underlying details, so naturally, he dared not disobey; he absolutely could not let everyone go home just like that.

In order to keep the guests, he brought out all the fine wine stored in his cellar and told everyone to drink their fill. He personally poured the wine, constantly urged them to drink, and even sent his family to buy more wine from the taverns.

Seeing his generosity and knowing they could not break out, the crowd steeled their hearts to drink to their hearts' content. In less than half the night, a whole group had been drunk under the table. With so many people, the guest rooms could not hold them all, so most were carried to lie in the main hall. For a time, the sounds of snoring, belching, and drunken babbling filled the hall, and the smell of wine, food, and vomit mingled together—it was certainly not a place for a sober person to stay.

Master Che could not stand it either. Seeing that some people in the hall were still sober, especially a few distinguished guests—the members of the Sui Family Troupe, of whom only Sui Laotou had been unable to hold his liquor and had passed out, while the rest were still clear-headed—he smiled and said, "It's stifling in the hall; shall we go to the backyard to admire the moon?"

In truth, there was no moon that night, but the crowd truly could not stay there any longer, so they all agreed and followed him to the backyard. The remaining drunks were left to be watched by the servants; specifically, to take care of Sui Laotou, Master Che gave special instructions to have him taken to a precious guest room to rest.

As soon as they entered the backyard, they saw a large, dark moon hanging in the sky. There was no silver frost covering the ground as one would expect on a moonlit night; instead, it felt even more eerie than other dark and windy nights.

"Mother! A Calamity Moon!"

Someone let out a strange cry, and the crowd reacted, scrambling to run back.

A night without a moon suddenly having a moon, a date that was not a full moon suddenly having a full moon—if it wasn't a Calamity Moon, what was it?

A Calamity Moon was a hundred times more terrifying than the hall reeking of wine. Although it was temporarily harmless, who knew what monsters might crawl out of the shadows in the next moment? Some already felt as if their whole bodies were being pricked, and while a portion of the crowd ran back to the hall, another portion wanted to stay nowhere at all and, taking advantage of the chaos, charged straight toward the main gate.

Master Che hurriedly called out, "Don't leave, don't leave, you can't leave yet!"

It would have been better if he hadn't called out; the moment he did, the crowd ran even faster. Those who dared to leave were all loose practitioners of the Jianghu who had happened to come for the feast; in truth, they had nothing to do with Master Che. They figured that if they ran out the gate and left the city tomorrow, could the Che Lin Town Guardian really put out a wanted notice for them? As long as they stepped out of this door, they would be safe.

At this moment, a figure flashed and blocked their path, shouting, "No one is allowed out! By my brother's order, until he returns, no one is to step out the door. All of you, get back!"

The crowd looked and saw it was the second YoungMaster of the Che family, Che Yu, who had originally intended to become a Sword Guest but had his plans ruined.

Although they were somewhat wary of Che Lin, Che Yu had no deterrent power. Not only was he not a Sword Guest, but it seemed he wouldn't be one for a while either. Like a suckling tiger roaring, he could not intimidate the hundred beasts, so someone shouted, "Is your brother's word an imperial decree? We aren't under his jurisdiction. If your brother doesn't come back for a year, are we supposed to wait a year?"

Che Yu said sternly, "You certainly won't have to wait a year, but it isn't now either. The Land Inspection Division is doing this for your own good! In short, if you want to leave, you'll have to step over me!"

The crowd looked at each other, and then someone said, "What are we afraid of? All together now!"

Just then, several young people walked out from the side; they were all young Disciples of the Yanyun Sword Sect, including Yue Lai. They stood on Che Yu's side in a row, pressed their hands on their weapons, and shouted, "What's this? Want to force your way through? Then try it, and step over us together!"

The Yanyun Sword Sect had a great reputation in Youzhou and was much more effective in the Jianghu than the Land Inspection Division. The crowd immediately lost their nerve, and someone said resentfully, "You... you members of big sects only know how to group together to bully people."

In truth, Che Yu might not have had such great appeal within the Sword Sect, but Yue Lai had just suggested going up to help. The Disciples were still young, valued loyalty, and were bursting with a sense of honor for their sect, so naturally, they did not object to helping their fellow sect member, and with a rush, they all came forward.

As the two sides stood in a standoff, they heard someone outside the gate sigh, "A-Yu, well done."

They saw the gate open, and a stern-looking military officer walked in.

The Land Inspection Division Town Guardian, Che Lin, had returned.

The crowd was both shocked and pleased; those who wanted to run were greatly alarmed, while the Che father and son were naturally happy.

However, when Master Che looked closely, he noticed Che Lin's face was pale; after half a day, he seemed greatly haggard, and although his clothes were black, they were faintly stained with blood. He could not help but feel a wave of worry and said, "Da Lin, you..."

Che Lin waved his hand and said, "Everyone, that you could come to the Che family for a banquet is giving me face, and the entire Che family is grateful. But it has come to this point—one who travels a hundred miles may stop at ninety—is it really so hard to wait for this last bit of time? I wonder if, on my account, you could stay for a few more hours?"

What else could the crowd say? Naturally, they nodded and said with a forced smile, "Of course, of course, who said we were leaving? We were just thinking of staying."

Che Lin nodded and took a step forward, appearing to stagger. Che Yu hurriedly supported him, firmly bracing his body so that outsiders would not notice.

Master Che hurriedly said, "Xiao Yu, accompany your brother back to rest for a while. Come, come, let's go back and drink."

Seeing the crowd return to the house, Master Che caught sight of a person still standing outside the gate—it was the unforgettable Tang Zhao. He hurriedly stepped forward and said happily, "Young Master Tang, you've returned. Sui Ye and the others are resting in my humble abode; would you like to go over and have a cup of wine?"

Tang Zhao smiled and said, "Many thanks, Old Master Che. But please wait a moment; I will go over and discuss something with Town Guardian Che, and then I will meet with them in a while."

Having said this, he followed in Che Lin's footsteps.

Seeing this, Master Che felt some worry in his heart: how could this matter still not be over?

Che Yu sending Che Lin to rest was naturally not to the guest rooms, but back to his own house. Che Lin had his own small courtyard; because he had not started a family, there were no inner household members, so it was very quiet, with only two servants to serve him. Today, because people were needed outside, the servants had been sent away. At this moment, only the two Che brothers were left in the room.

After placing Che Lin in a chair, Che Yu asked, "Big Brother, are you injured?"

Che Lin shook his head and said, "Thanks to that lord, I am not injured."

Che Yu asked curiously, "A lord?"

Che Lin gave a hum and said, "You are so clever, you should know who I am talking about."

Che Yu said 'oh' and replied, "So it was him, that handsome young master; it is thanks to him... Was the trip to the Demon Cave smooth? In any case, it's good that you're fine." Having said this, he handed Che Lin a cup of water.

Che Lin took it but did not drink a drop; he set it aside, looked him straight in the eye, and said, "Suppressing the Demon Cave was smooth, which is good for us, but what good is it for your Demon Sect?"

As soon as the words were spoken, the flame on the Lamp flickered. The surrounding light dimmed, as if invaded by the thick night outside the window.

Che Yu retreated a few steps as if electrocuted, reached behind his back, and laughed dryly, "Big Brother, what are you saying? You... what kind of joke are you making?"

Che Lin slowly stood up and said, "Don't hide back there; come closer and let me look at you properly. I haven't looked at you carefully for a long time, to the point that I even misjudged my own brother."

Che Yu's eyes flashed, and he saw a figure standing at the doorway—it was Tang Zhao.

He swallowed, turned back, and smiled, "Big Brother, your words are too disjointed. You say I am of the Demon Sect? As a member of the Land Inspection Division, you cannot fabricate things out of thin air; you must provide evidence."

Che Lin said, "Indeed, I do not wish to wrong you, so I came back to see you with my own eyes. Now that the Wind-Catching Sword is dead, seeing you, I know the answer."

He shook his head and said, "Truly remarkable. Not only did you join the Demon Sect without a sound, but you are already a veteran Sword Guest. You have been a Sword Guest for about as long as I have, perhaps even longer than me. Back when I had just become a Sword Student and fought you, the Ornamental Column had already recorded that I had defeated you, a Sword Student. It is just that I never looked closely at the events of that year, and thus I failed to realize early on that my brother's talent and ability were above my own."

Che Yu opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to continue arguing, but in the end, he only gave a cold laugh and said, "When have you ever paid attention to me?"

This was tantamount to an admission. Che Lin had long known this, but his heart still sank, and for a moment, he felt extremely miserable.

In this instant, he was very vulnerable and could easily have been ambushed, but Che Yu did not move. Perhaps it was because of Tang Zhao at the door, and of course, it was also partly because of Che Lin himself.

After a moment, Che Lin raised his eyes to look at Che Yu and said, "I should still thank you. In the end, you still had some regard for me and did not have someone kill me directly. Otherwise, to ensure I kept the secret, wouldn't the best method be to eliminate the root of the trouble? For the sake of our shared flesh and blood, you spared my life and only 'punished my heart,' destroying the foundation of my Sword Image; that can be considered extremely merciful."

Che Yu gave a short laugh and said, "Then you should thank yourself. The things you have done in the Land Inspection Division for many years were enough to 'punish your heart'; otherwise, even a clever woman would have a hard time cooking without rice."

Che Lin said candidly, "That is exactly so. The wrong things I did myself have come back to haunt me today, and I should accept it. However, if it weren't to hide your existence, the Heavenly Demon would not have needed to rack its brains to punish my heart. Furthermore, your punishing my heart is secondary; the important thing was to destroy the sword given to you at home. Because you are already a Sword Guest, if you were to hold a sword in public, there would be no reaction, which would instead expose you. It is no wonder that the Demon Sect took the sword and destroyed it without hesitation, making it impossible to restore, and was even able to hide a person in a 'long-prepared' tunnel. With you at home, what is digging a tunnel? Even collapsing the house would be easy. The reason they still called outsiders to perform a show was merely to make people think the theft and destruction of the sword were to make me lose face, and they would not pay the slightest attention to you, who appeared to be the one suffering the greatest loss."

He sighed, "Was this the scheme of that Wind-Catching Sword, or did you plan it? Looking at how the timing and location were calculated, and how my personality was grasped with such precision, it actually seems like you planned it. It seems my brother is not only hiding his strength but also possesses all kinds of schemes and holds a high position. You knew my Sword Image long ago but never made a move to destroy it; I suppose you were always lying in wait, not needing to startle the snake? Why have you spread your wings and displayed your talents today? Could it be that you have finally crawled out of the dirt to be like a seven-day cicada, shocking everyone with a single cry?"

Che Lin stared at the face that was sixty or seventy percent similar to his own, only younger, and said, "Can you tell me where you are going to spread your wings and display your talents?"