Zhang Fang fell silent for a long while before finally letting out a sigh:
"All right. For the sake of our time as fellow disciples, and because I once gave my heart to you, go ahead and ask."
"Gave your heart..."
Zhou Qingmei smiled faintly, mockingly, then said:
"The man I met that night—was he your young cult master? Do I know him?"
"You do."
Zhou Qingmei's heart trembled slightly. She gritted her teeth and asked:
"Who is he?"
Zhang Fang smiled. After looking at Zhou Qingmei for a long while, he slowly said:
"Li Nanchen."
"Impossible!!"
Zhou Qingmei's head buzzed:
"How could it be him!?"
Li Nanchen was the Pearl Pavilion master's first personal disciple, the future master of the Pearl Pavilion.
How could he be the young master of the Black Sha Cult!?
In that instant, Fang Shuwen's slightly teasing words in the Zhou Family's underground secret chamber came unbidden to her mind.
"Or perhaps he's one of your Pearl Pavilion people.
"So he was afraid you'd discovered his identity and wanted to kill you to silence you."
The words she had paid no mind to at the time sounded so jarring now.
They almost left Zhou Qingmei dizzy with panic.
"Why is it impossible?"
Zhang Fang said calmly:
"Just because he grew up in the Pearl Pavilion? Or because he's the senior brother all the disciples of our generation look up to?
"Ridiculous, isn't it? The Pearl Pavilion master's first disciple is actually the young master of the Black Sha Cult.
"It's precisely because it's so hard to believe that it can achieve the effect we want.
"But it's also because of that, whether or not you recognized him back then... you have to die!"
"...How could this be?"
Zhou Qingmei's expression seemed to crumble as she murmured:
"No wonder I couldn't recognize him... Although Senior Brother is of the same generation as us, it's as though there's a chasm between us.
"We hardly ever see him normally, and he was dressed in black at night. How could I possibly have recognized him?"
"Unfortunately, it's precisely because we couldn't risk betting on your eyesight that you must die."
"But what does my family have to do with any of this?"
"For one thing, nobody knows whether you recognized him or not. If you knew nothing at all, that would be one thing, but what if he seemed even a little familiar, and you told Zhou Feixiong about it?
"Then, if you died out in the jianghu, how could Zhou Feixiong not go to the Pearl Pavilion to get to the bottom of it?
"If he brought up your suspicions, what would we do then?"
Zhang Fang held his sword horizontally and gently brushed his left index and middle fingers along its edge:
"So, just in case, naturally we had to kill every last one of you. Only then could we leave no future trouble."
"So you wanted to leave no future trouble!"
Zhou Qingmei said through gritted teeth:
"If you're with the Black Sha Cult, why were you watching the Great Xuan Bank?
"Why did you take us to Qingyang Manor?
"Weren't they... your fellow cult members?"
"Hahaha."
At her words, Zhang Fang suddenly laughed:
"So what if they were? When all's said and done, they were just a bunch of third-rate trash.
"Besides, you can blame your father for that... If he hadn't found someone as troublesome as Fang Shuwen to guard you, why would I have had to cut off my own arm to save myself?
"If I couldn't make Fang Shuwen think the danger to you had passed,
"and that the Black Sha Cult was no longer in Guangning City, how could he feel safe going back?
"If he didn't leave, how could I kill you? And how could I return to Guangning City and capture Fang Lingxin?"
"So you used Qingyang Manor as bait!"
Zhou Qingmei looked at Zhang Fang as though she were seeing him for the first time.
She had never imagined that Senior Brother Zhang, who was always so chatty, could be so ruthless.
"Yes. Didn't you notice that the trip to Qingyang Manor went far too smoothly?
"It wasn't merely smooth. It was like crushing dry weeds and smashing rotten wood!
"My Black Sha Cult has held its ground in Guangning City for years. If that were all we had, how would we dare plot anything great?
"You were so absorbed in upholding the righteous path of the jianghu. How could you have known... what you saw was only the tip of the iceberg?"
Zhang Fang looked at Zhou Qingmei:
"With Fang Shuwen around, it would have been difficult for me to carry out the young cult master's orders.
"But there's no problem in this world without a solution... Use your head, and you can always find a way to break the deadlock.
"Look, hasn't everything worked out now?
"All right, all right, I've said just about everything I should. Can you go die now?"
"One last question."
Zhou Qingmei hurriedly said:
"What exactly is this great undertaking you keep talking about?"
Zhang Fang tilted his head and looked at Zhou Qingmei, his eyes burning as though he wanted to see right through her.
Suddenly, his expression changed drastically.
The next moment, he turned and ran without a second thought!
Zhou Qingmei froze. Once she realized what was happening, she didn't turn and leave. Instead, she shouted angrily:
"Stop!!"
But why would Zhang Fang listen?
Everything before that could have been considered normal, a natural course of events.
But at that moment, the probing look in Zhou Qingmei's eyes had been far too eager.
It wasn't the question of someone about to die who didn't want to leave the world with regrets.
There wasn't a trace of fear of death in her eyes, only excitement at the prospect of the answer being revealed.
When he realized that, he knew he had most likely fallen into a trap.
So he turned and ran without the slightest hesitation.
He dodged the half of a broken sword that whistled past.
But an even fiercer gust came hard on its heels. This time he couldn't dodge, so he could only block!
Fortunately, his sword was still in his hand and hadn't been sheathed. He turned its edge, and a layer of black Qi had already covered the blade.
Clang!!!
A crisp sound rang through the blade.
It sounded lovely... but it was deadly!
The tremendous force instantly tore open the flesh between his thumb and forefinger. He could no longer hold on to his treasured sword, and it flew from his hand with a hum.
The stone, which he had failed to block completely, struck his chest hard after knocking the sword away.
It sent him flying two or three zhang through the air. Once he hit the ground, he could no longer hold back the blood in his mouth and spewed it out.
He looked up and saw that Fang Shuwen, who had claimed he was returning to Julu City, was indeed right in front of him.
A tremendous sense of helplessness suddenly welled up in his heart.
Zhang Fang slumped on the ground, rubbed his chest with a grimace, and sighed helplessly:
"How could you trick me like that?"
"Look who's talking."
Fang Shuwen came before Zhang Fang with Zhou Qingmei and said with a soft chuckle:
"Brother Zhang, if you hadn't deceived me, why would I have resorted to such a measure?"
"Where exactly did I give myself away?"
Zhang Fang was curious.
Fang Shuwen looked troubled.
Zhang Fang immediately said:
"Don't be like that. I just told my junior sister so much because I wanted to let her die without regrets.
"If you just kill me now, that would be too heartless."
Fang Shuwen shook his head:
"I was only wondering where to start, since you gave yourself away in so many places."
Zhang Fang stiffened and glanced at Zhou Qingmei:
"See? I told you this man doesn't know how to talk like a human being..."