When Meeting Is Hard, Parting Is Harder

Clang. Clang. The watchman's gong sounded from outside the window.

Zhang Rongfang lay on his bed, staring up at the gray-white mosquito net overhead, unable to fall asleep no matter what.

Earlier, he had poured out everything to his senior brother.

Other than not mentioning the source of his information, he had said everything that could be said, warned him of everything that could be warned.

But... his senior brother's reaction had been strange.

And that evening, when they were about to return to Qinghe Temple, Li Heng, the temple master who should have gone back with them, had looked deeply unsettled. No one knew what had happened.

From what I heard before, the Rice Gang's dissatisfaction with Qinghe Temple and their intention to make them pay blood for blood were announced during a meeting, right in front of many people. They clearly released that news on purpose.

Even if I hadn't secretly overheard it at the Chen Family, Qinghe Temple should have people in the Rice Gang who could obtain the information.

But after the compensation, the Rice Gang was already run ragged after I framed the Chen Family—yet they still wanted revenge. Does Shao Quanhu not intend to keep living in Huaxin County after this? Zhang Rongfang could not understand.

It completely defied the logic of a businessperson. Even if Shao Quanhu dearly loved her son and had gone mad with vengeance—

Would the others in the Rice Gang really be willing to risk their lives alongside her? Once they did something like this, whether they succeeded or failed, it would be no different from abandoning everything they had in Huaxin County.

For a moment, Zhang Rongfang's thoughts were tangled like a ball of hemp.

He slept fitfully through the night and, in a haze, dreamed of his Previous Life.

It was as though he were still working in that old office, handling documents.

"Brother Zhang, did you finish yesterday's documents?" Dai Yiyang, a young colleague who had only recently joined the company, asked.

"Documents? What documents?" Zhang Rongfang answered groggily.

"The ones the boss told us to prepare yesterday. They need to be put out for announcement soon, right?" Dai Yiyang's grinning face leaned close.

"Isn't it right there on your desk, Brother Zhang?"

Zhang Rongfang lowered his head and saw that a document had somehow appeared on his previously empty desk.

It was densely covered in red words: Murder is against the law.

Murder is against the law.

Murder is against the law.

Murder is against the law.

The entire document was packed with blood-red writing. Those words seemed able to crawl, able to move.

They wriggled like insects, spreading rapidly from the paper, flowing across the desk and into the surrounding space.

They even crawled onto Zhang Rongfang's clothes.

He saw red words crawling over his hands and legs.

Those blood-like characters frantically burrowed toward his nostrils, ears, mouth, and eyes.

Crash!! Zhang Rongfang shot upright in bed and kicked away the quilt.

His kick tore a hole through the middle of it, exposing the cotton stuffing within.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!"

He gasped for breath.

His heart was still steeped in the emotions of that dream.

Murder was against the law. Yes—this had always been the fear hidden deepest in his heart.

He feared others discovering that he had killed someone. He feared becoming an enemy of the Government Office and its laws.

He was still clinging to the mindset of the law-governed society from his Previous Life.

But he had forgotten. This was Great Ling, not the modern society of his Previous Life, where legal systems and surveillance were far more complete.

"I... I..." Zhang Rongfang got out of bed. "I'm afraid."

Wearing only Plain Clothes, he walked to the window, removed the window bar, and pushed it open.

A small courtyard, bright beneath the sunlight, unfolded before him.

Xiao Jiu was kicking a shuttlecock in the yard beneath the sun.

Kick after kick, a brilliant smile still hung on his childish face.

The sweet fragrance of morning Osmanthus Cake drifted over from the kitchen.

The two Servant Disciples were making a simple breakfast.

Zhang Rongfang placed a hand on the Windowsill, unconsciously gripping the wooden frame.

Its rough grain and faint coolness abruptly pulled his heart back to reality.

The lingering terror of the dream slowly faded beneath the wash of the real world.

"Senior Brother Rongfang, want to come kick it with me?" Xiao Jiu waved when he noticed Zhang Rongfang was up.

"No. Play by yourself." Zhang Rongfang wiped his face. Salt crystals from dried sweat covered his forehead and temples.

After closing the window and putting on his Daoist Robe, he calmed his breath in the room, trying to soothe the agitation in his heart.

But unfortunately, it was just as it had been when he had first arrived in this world.

He was lost and helpless, without any sense of security. He worried, he feared, and he did not know what he wanted to do.

Restlessness and tension, worry and anxiety—all of it had grown worse because he had killed someone.

He feared the Government Office would discover him. The Government Office's power was vast, sweeping across the land with no rival.

If they found out, he certainly would not escape. He would die. He might even drag his Master and senior brother down with him. Even after meditating and practicing the Guanxu Skill for an hour, Zhang Rongfang still could not suppress the agitation in his heart.

There were simply too many things he feared, worried about, and dreaded.

Thinking back to when he was still at Qinghe Temple, his heart had not been so chaotic then, nor had he been so restless.

Even with the Attribute Special Ability, that powerful sense of insecurity still coiled around his heart, impossible to pull out by the roots.

After sitting silently in his room for a while, Zhang Rongfang tidied himself up and left the Daoist Temple.

Outside, the streets were bustling and crowded with people coming and going. Yet those people seemed completely cut off from him now.

To escape the clamor, he unconsciously headed toward somewhere cold and quiet.

He left the city and entered the forested mountains.

The far quieter woods settled his heart a little.

Without deliberately seeking any direction, he somehow found himself once more before the Mountain Gate of Qinghe Temple.

He looked at the three arched entrances of the gate, each representing one of the Three Realms.

Zhang Rongfang walked forward and stepped through. It felt as though, by crossing the Mountain Gate, he had leapt beyond the Three Realms.

This time, after returning to the Mountain Gate, he did not immediately seek out his Master. Instead, he slowly wandered through the Dao Palace without purpose.

From the viewing platform wrapped in clouds and mist, to Shangde Garden blanketed in flowers, then to the three grand halls where Incense Guests flowed through in an endless stream.

Of the three halls, the Wealth God Hall and Profound Heart Hall had the most people. The Spirit Official Hall was the most deserted.

As Zhang Rongfang passed by, he inexplicably walked into the Spirit Official Hall.

Before the Three-Eyed Spirit Official Statue, the elderly Daoist Hall Master at one side softly chanted scripture.

Beyond the altar table, a few Incense Guests and Daoists knelt sparsely on Prayer Mats.

Xiao Qingying was among them.

Her eyes were closed as she devoutly kowtowed again and again.

Her once baby-fat cheeks had grown much thinner, giving her a cool, lovely beauty.

After chanting for a while, she noticed Zhang Rongfang entering as well.

But she did not come over to greet him, continuing with her own actions in her own rhythm.

Only after the entire Lingguan Baode Sutra had been recited did she bring her Hands together and slowly fall quiet.

"Your heart is in turmoil."

Xiao Qingying lifted her head. She did not turn toward him, still gazing up at the Statue, but her words were directed at Zhang Rongfang.

Zhang Rongfang was silent for a moment.

"I'm fine."

Xiao Qingying picked up three sticks of incense and lit them from a candle flame.

Once the incense caught fire, she gently waved it up and down to extinguish the flame.

She lightly inserted the incense into the burner.

"Thank you for saving me several times before."

"Ever since Father died, I have thought about many things alone on the mountain."

"Without the old disturbances, without anyone to accompany me and indulge me as before... and without anyone making things difficult for me or punishing me. It was like falling from a bustling market into a deep hole in an instant."

She turned her head and looked at Zhang Rongfang.

"There are many people around me, yet not a single one can touch me."

"Senior Sister... aren't you sad?" Zhang Rongfang did not know how to answer.

"I'm not sad. I'm only afraid." A trace of remembrance appeared on Xiao Qingying's face. "Do you remember? Father always used to say, 'I named you Qingying because I hoped you would be as crystalline and precious as a yingluo ornament.'"

"A green yingluo is a symbol of purity and life... Only after he died did I understand that only while he was alive could I be precious like a yingluo."

Zhang Rongfang had no answer.

He did not know what to say to someone whose only family member had just died.

"You have someone who sees you as a treasure too, don't you?" Xiao Qingying's words suddenly dragged him from his silence.

Almost instinctively, Zhang Rongyu's figure flashed through Zhang Rongfang's mind.

That Girl who, for her Younger Brother's sake, had nearly been willing to give everything—she must have been such a person.

"I do."

"That's wonderful." Xiao Qingying smiled, and there was only calm in her expression.

She said nothing more and turned to walk out of the hall.

Zhang Rongfang watched her departing back, unable to speak for a moment.

After a moment of silence, he walked to the Prayer Mat where Xiao Qingying had just knelt and slowly knelt down himself, looking up at the imposing Three-Eyed Spirit Official Statue.

I just don't want to be hurt.

He brought his Hands together, clasped them in salute, and bowed deeply.

And I don't want anyone else to be hurt because of me.

At that moment, his heart calmed considerably.

Since he feared being hurt, then he would strive to create a place where no one would be hurt. ...

Two days later.

Qinghe Temple.

A group sat together, holding bowls and picking up food as they ate.

Stir-fried tomatoes and eggs, shredded cabbage with pork, steamed white fish.

Three small dishes, along with a soup of cucumber and river shrimp.

Everyone at the temple ate with great appetite.

"When I went to buy vegetables just now, I saw a Wanted List posted at Caishikou. Did you all see it?" Unable to bear the silence, Xiao Jiu spoke up.

"There was one at the city gate too. I saw it," Servant Disciple Xiao Li quickly added.

"Three people from the Rice Gang suddenly Disappeared. They haven't been seen for several days running, and their families reported it to the authorities."

A Daoist named Hong Dao, who had come down the mountain with Zhang Rongfang and Xiao Jiu, replied.

"They weren't ordinary people, were they? Otherwise, it wouldn't have caused such a stir." Zhang Rongfang asked.

"Mm. All three were upper-level bosses in the Rice Gang. I heard they were Martial Practitioners too. Three of them vanished in one go—maybe they secretly did something bad and fled." Xiao Jiu nodded.

"That's what I think too. They said one of them was colluding with Mountain Bandits outside the city. He was even Qinghe Temple's former Patrol Inspector."

"Chen Zhihan?"

"Yes, yes, that was the name. That last character has too many strokes—I couldn't recognize it." Xiao Jiu nodded repeatedly.

Zhang Rongfang's Heart Shivered.

He recalled the Rice Gang's earlier conspiracy, then thought of his senior brother's strange reaction.

The Rice Gang's affairs had seemingly just... vanished without explanation?

Two days ago, he had gone to the Chen Family to take a look and had not seen Chen He return home. Most of the Chen Family's belongings had been moved away, and the relatives had divided into separate households, leaving behind only an empty shell of a house.

He had heard that Chen He's two sons had even taken their dispute over the family inheritance to court.

But why did it turn out like this?

Zhang Rongfang guessed that something he did not understand must have happened behind the scenes.

Thinking of his senior brother's abnormal expression earlier, he swiftly shoveled the rice in his bowl into his mouth and set the bowl down.

"I'm heading back up the mountain this afternoon. Don't count a meal for me."

"Alright. Since Senior Brother is going back up the mountain, could you bring something back for Xiao Chun for me?" Before Xiao Jiu had finished speaking, Zhang Rongfang had already vanished from sight. He sighed.

"It's always like this. Is Senior Brother a rabbit or something? How does he run so fast?"

The others around the table could not help curling their lips into smiles.