"Senior Brother Sect Leader, I still do not understand what that murderer was truly trying to accomplish. Even if he could drive a wedge between us and Junior Brother Bai, what would come after that?
Junior Brother Bai may be highly skilled in martial arts, but the Golden Cauldron Sect has more than just one Bái Xī Wén."
Once the outsiders had left, only members of the Golden Cauldron Sect remained in the main hall. With no need for so many reservations, Shi Jian asked with a face full of confusion.
"Whatever his purpose may be, we cannot lower our guard.
There is still much for us to do next.
The first step is to root out that mole. If he truly is one of those outer disciples, finding him will not be difficult. Once we do, he will be handed over to you, Shi Jian.
I do not care what methods you use. You must pry from his mouth whether he has accomplices on the mountain and who stands behind him.
Next is the Ruan family at the foot of the mountain. Zhiwei, Ruan Dong was your disciple. Now that he has died on the mountain, the Ruan family will certainly not let the matter rest. Go and pacify them."
Ruan Dong had come from the Ruan family, wealthy merchants of Wei Prefecture. Their family fortune was exceedingly abundant, so although Ruan Dong's aptitude was not particularly good, they scattered silver by the handful and forcibly turned the impossible into possible, making him Liu Zhiwei's disciple.
Over the past three years, the Ruan family had not only presented the Golden Cauldron Sect with a sum of silver each year as Ruan Dong's fixed tuition for martial training, but had also aided Liu Zhiwei in many ways. Now that Ruan Dong was dead, they naturally had to give the Ruan family an explanation.
"I understand."
Bitterness filled Liu Zhiwei's face. The Ruan family was no ordinary household. Now that their child had died, they would certainly demand justice. He could only hope their demands would not be excessive, or he would find himself in a difficult position.
Within the inner residence of the Ruan family in Daming County, a white-haired old man with hawkish eyes held a watering can, sprinkling clear water over the flowers blooming brilliantly in a small flowerbed. Several maidservants and attendants stood nearby, waiting upon him.
His manner was leisurely, his movements practiced, and a faint smile rested on his lips, making him seem especially approachable. He truly appeared to be a kind and benevolent elder.
Suddenly, a middle-aged man dressed as a steward hurried in through the arched gate at the rear of the garden, his expression exceedingly grim. Reaching the old man's side, he waved at the servants and dismissed them, leaving only himself and the elder in the flowerbed.
"Old Xu, what has made you so nervous? Could there be some trouble with the business?"
The old man stopped what he was doing and looked at the middle-aged steward with great familiarity.
This was a man he had personally promoted and instructed. Not only was he clever, he was also loyal, the best possible candidate to help his young son guard the household and expand its estate in the future. He treated him as one of the family.
Otherwise, what ordinary steward would dare to overstep his authority before the master and issue orders to the servants?
"Master, Liu Zhiwei has come. He brought news that... that... Young Master, he... he was murdered on the mountain."
Steward Xu haltingly relayed the news he had just received, his face filled with indescribable ugliness and worry.
His expression was grim because the young master had been murdered; his worry was because he feared his master would be unable to bear such a blow.
The elder before him was Ruan Xiang, head of the Ruan family. He had navigated the commercial world of Wei Prefecture and amassed a vast fortune. He was an exceptionally formidable man, and the person Steward Xu admired and revered most.
Yet no matter how formidable a person was, they had their soft spot, their weakness. Ruan Xiang's weakness was his son, Ruan Dong.
Ruan Xiang had gained a son late in life, only having one when he was nearing fifty. He doted upon and cherished Ruan Dong beyond measure, granting him wind when he wanted wind and rain when he wanted rain, never refusing a request.
When Ruan Dong grew older and developed the desire to learn martial arts, Ruan Xiang spared no favors or vast sums of money to have him become a disciple of the Golden Cauldron Sect's vice sect leader. Such was the heart of a loving father.
Now that Ruan Dong had been murdered within the Golden Cauldron Sect, it would surely be a devastating blow to Ruan Xiang, an old man past sixty. No one knew whether he would be able to endure it.
"What?"
The watering can fell straight from Ruan Xiang's hand. His vision blurred, and his aged, frail body swayed as though about to collapse. Fortunately, Steward Xu reacted quickly and caught him, steadying him.
Gripping Steward Xu's arm tightly, Ruan Xiang's clouded eyes brimmed with unprecedented fury. Like a male lion whose cub had died, wanting to tear everything apart, he roared,
"What exactly happened? How could Dong be murdered within the Golden Cauldron Sect? Explain it clearly to me."
Before he had even finished speaking, tears had already flowed from Ruan Xiang's eyes in fine, unbroken streams. Images of Ruan Dong filled his mind, from his babbling infancy to the youth he had become when he left home to study martial arts. It felt as though someone had clenched his heart in their fist, the pain unbearable.
Of all the bitterest griefs in the world, none surpassed white-haired parents sending off their black-haired child. What was more, Ruan Dong had been born in Ruan Xiang's old age, cherished twice over, bearing all his hopes and affection. Now Heaven had brutally stripped him away. How could he not be pained? How could he not be furious?
Ruan Xiang even hated himself. Over the past two years, his strength and energy had greatly declined, and he had long considered bringing Ruan Dong home to cultivate and instruct him so he could inherit the family estate. Who could have imagined that one moment of hesitation would cost him his son?
"I do not know the details either. Liu Zhiwei is waiting outside. Master, you may as well hear what he has to say. He was Young Master's master; since Young Master was murdered, he cannot escape blame."
Seeing that Ruan Xiang was both grief-stricken and furious but had not been utterly crushed by the blow, Steward Xu secretly breathed a sigh of relief before speaking bitterly.
Back when Ruan Dong had begun learning martial arts, Ruan Xiang had paid an enormous price to have him directly accepted into the Golden Cauldron Sect because the sect's reputation in Wei Prefecture was thunderous, and it was considered a prestigious great sect.
Who could have expected the Golden Cauldron Sect to be all show and no substance, so utterly useless that their young master had actually died within its gates? It was simply the greatest joke under Heaven.
"Right. Liu Zhiwei. I would like to see how he intends to explain this matter to me."
Only after hearing Steward Xu did Ruan Xiang recall the important matter at hand. Suppressing the grief and fury in his heart, he pushed him aside, wiped away the tears at the corners of his eyes, and regained his composure. Yet his tone was exceedingly hostile, and his original anger seemed to have found an outlet.
Having weathered the ups and downs of the business world and clawed his way from poverty to the estate he possessed today, he was naturally no ordinary man.
Inside the main reception hall of the Ruan residence, Liu Zhiwei sat in slightly disheveled purple robes, absentmindedly rocking the teacup in his hand as he considered how to settle the matter perfectly.
As his disciple, Ruan Dong was not actually someone Liu Zhiwei liked very much.
His aptitude was average, yet he was lofty in ambition, arrogant and conceited, with simply too many flaws.
The only thing Liu Zhiwei liked about him was his family background.
Ruan Dong often brought him rare and precious trinkets to curry favor with him, while also heavily subsidizing his martial training expenses, allowing him to live comfortably for the past two years.
Now that Ruan Dong was gone, the support Liu Zhiwei had received in the past had become a hot potato in his hands. After all, he had failed to watch over their son.
Soon, Ruan Xiang entered the main hall with Steward Xu. He and Liu Zhiwei exchanged formal greetings, and neither immediately turned hostile. Their self-restraint was quite good.
After sitting down again, Ruan Xiang directly asked why Ruan Dong had been murdered and who the murderer was.
Liu Zhiwei had already prepared his account and did not delay. He laid out the entire sequence of events behind Ruan Dong's murder, while also conveying the Golden Cauldron Sect's guilt and expressing their hope to offer some compensation to soothe Ruan Xiang's pain at losing his son.
"He lost a sword match? Left in shame and indignation? Was used by someone and killed?"
After learning the entire matter, grief covered Ruan Xiang's aged face. His hands clenched tightly, veins bulging.
To think he had died in such an unjust, suffocating manner. If Ruan Xiang did not seek justice for Ruan Dong, what face would he have to meet his beloved son after death?
"So the murderer who killed my son certainly cannot escape. But what about that man called Duàn Yì?
If not for him, my Dong would not have left in shame and indignation, giving others an opening to exploit. Does he bear no responsibility at all?"
Ruan Xiang suddenly narrowed his eyes and questioned Liu Zhiwei. The one who had killed Ruan Dong was naturally guilty, but the one who had led to Ruan Dong's death could not be spared either. That was what he believed.
Although he knew the other man was merely an elderly man without any martial skill, Liu Zhiwei still felt a chill in his heart. What a terrifying, venomous gaze that was.
"Master Ruan, Duàn Yì used no tricks in the sword match. He had indeed won openly and honorably. What happened afterward could only be called an unfortunate chain of coincidences; he truly cannot be blamed.
"Moreover, if not for him, we would have been deceived as well and nearly mistaken Ruan Dong's death for suicide, allowing the true murderer to escape. In that light, making Duàn Yì take responsibility would be rather unreasonable."
Liu Zhiwei had no favorable impression of Duàn Yì, but Bái Xī Wén stood behind him, and Qū Dōng Liú did not wish to create further trouble, so he spoke a few good words on his behalf.
"Wrong. In my view, if there had been no Duàn Yì, my son would not have left alone and given others an opening to exploit. Though he did not directly kill my son, he is still an indirect murderer.
"I do not want any compensation from your Golden Cauldron Sect. I want only the murderer's life and Duàn Yì's life as compensation. Vice Sect Leader Liu, can you agree to that?"
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