A Conversation

"In short, that's what happened. Most of the schemes against me were planned by Lin Yan. He and I won't rest until one of us is dead!"

The hall fell silent.

The look Yao Xingzhi gave Chen Feng changed. "Is everything you said true?"

"Every word I said is true! If I've lied, may heaven strike me down! The fact that I'm the only one left in the Chen Family is the greatest proof."

Chen Feng's expression was resolute, leaving no room for doubt.

"Besides, it's only been a few months since it happened. With Senior Brother's abilities, it won't be difficult to get to the bottom of it. I have no reason to lie here."

"The Lin Family and Li Family are truly lawless!" Yao Xingzhi said indignantly. "Lin Yan looks so honest, yet who would've thought he was such a venomous person!"

"Xingzhi!"

Zhou Bingzhong's stern rebuke made Yao Xingzhi stop at once, his mouth snapping shut. Chen Feng couldn't help thinking that Senior Brother Yao really was... a man of strong feelings.

Zhou Bingzhong looked at Chen Feng.

"Let me ask you this. If an opportunity were laid before you right now—an opportunity to kill Lin Yan on the spot—and you had to choose between your hatred and the martial arts school's rules, what would you do?"

Chen Feng was just about to answer when Zhou Bingzhong stressed:

"Answer me from the heart."

After thinking it over, Chen Feng gave his answer—

"I would kill him."

Yao Xingzhi's eyes gleamed. He could hardly wait to clap his hands in approval.

But under his master's pressure, he remained obediently seated on the stool, without so much as moving.

"Have you considered the consequences of killing Lin Yan?"

Before Chen Feng could answer, Zhou Bingzhong continued:

"I can see that your Qi Blood is full and you're on the verge of a breakthrough. So why choose to kill Lin Yan instead of swallowing your humiliation and waiting until you become my Personal Disciple? Once you have no more worries, you could take your revenge then."

"If you kill Lin Yan and break the martial arts school's rules, what will you do if I refuse to accept you as my disciple because of it?"

"Or what if I don't want to interfere in your feud with the Li Family and Lin Family, and hand you over to appease their anger? What would you do then?"

"Have you considered any of this? Chen Feng, answer me from the heart."

Zhou Bingzhong's gaze settled on Chen Feng, and now it seemed to weigh a thousand jun.

Chen Feng was stunned by his words. He couldn't help wondering if Zhou Bingzhong had seen him act, and was now pressing him for an answer.

These hypothetical questions clearly put Chen Feng in the place of the killer.

Chen Feng looked up, and his eyes met Zhou Bingzhong's. The man seemed to have seen straight through everything long ago.

After pondering for a moment, Chen Feng met Zhou Bingzhong's gaze without flinching, his eyes resolute as he slowly said:

"Master, I've considered it all."

"Go on."

"They say a gentleman can wait ten years to take his revenge. But from the moment Lin Yan learned yesterday that I was your Registered Disciple, the Lin Family would do everything in its power to eliminate me as a threat."

"Continue."

"Also, Lin Yan mocked me yesterday and insulted my family. If I don't kill him, I'll be left with a knot in my heart. My thoughts won't flow freely, and distracting thoughts will plague me when I practice my fists."

"So as long as Lin Yan is alive, I won't be able to focus on my martial arts."

Yao Xingzhi quietly nodded, his eyes full of approval. In his eyes, if someone faced a blood feud and still cowered like a turtle with its head tucked in, what was the point of practicing martial arts?

Zhou Bingzhong's expression remained unchanged as he said:

"That's passably reasonable... But you still haven't answered the most important question. What if I refuse to acknowledge you as my disciple?"

Chen Feng hesitated, his eyes filled with conflict.

"Speak!"

Chen Feng gritted his teeth. "You'll accept me."

"Oh? Why?"

At last, Zhou Bingzhong's face showed some other expression—perhaps a touch of curiosity, perhaps a hint of interest.

"Because I'll make my feud with Lin Yan widely known..."

"And then?"

"Then you'll have no choice."

Yao Xingzhi didn't quite understand. Zhou Bingzhong, however, smiled and asked, "Explain why I'll have no choice."

"First, the Lin Family is only a second-rate power. If you cast aside a Registered Disciple for the sake of the Lin Family, you'll be bowing to a second-rate power. The martial arts school cannot accept that. The reputation of the Dragon Walk Martial Arts School would plummet."

"If you cast aside your disciple for profit, then today you can cast me aside, and tomorrow you could cast aside another disciple for the same reason. From then on, the school would have no unity, and its many disciples would have no reason to be loyal to it."

"Second, the Sacred Dynasty governs the realm through filial piety. Taking revenge for my parents is only natural—and in the eyes of those who practice martial arts, it's all the more right."

"The people's hearts are with me. If you refuse to acknowledge me as your disciple, you'll be telling the common folk that the dignified Zhou Guanzhu is nothing but a petty man who can't tell right from wrong and helps the wicked."

With every sentence Chen Feng uttered, the corners of Zhou Bingzhong's eyes curved a little more, as if with pleasure. Meanwhile, Yao Xingzhi's gaze turned a little colder, as if with anger.

"So... you'll have to take me as your disciple."

"Outrageous!" Yao Xingzhi sprang to his feet and glared at Chen Feng, his face full of disbelief.

"You—you! How could you say such a thing? I thought you were a man who pursued vengeance without hesitation and would rather die than yield! How could you..."

...use moral blackmail.

A trace of guilt flashed through Chen Feng's eyes. Every word of what he'd said was meant to morally blackmail Zhou Bingzhong.

He had carefully considered this plan beforehand. It really was rather shameless toward the martial arts school.

But all of those hypotheticals depended on one premise—that Lin Yan really had been killed by Chen Feng.

A strange glint flashed through Chen Feng's eyes.

He believed he'd covered his tracks well. When he killed Lin Yan, he hadn't used the Five Elements Fist Technique—or even Tai Chi Fist—because he'd feared the trail might lead back to him.

As long as there was no evidence, none of those hypotheticals would come to pass. He wasn't the killer, so there was no question of using a scheme to morally blackmail the Hall Master into protecting him.

"Master, forgive me."

Chen Feng looked earnestly at Zhou Bingzhong, his gaze unwavering.

Yao Xingzhi was so furious he couldn't speak. In his eyes, Chen Feng's methods were downright filthy.

He'd splashed every bit of mud he could on his master, then slapped a huge black pot on him for good measure.

And according to Chen Feng, the Dragon Walk Martial Arts School really would have to take him in.

This kind of open, impossible-to-counter scheme left Yao Xingzhi in such a foul mood that he could hardly suppress his irritation. He wanted nothing more than to grab the staff beside him and beat Chen Feng to death with it.

What kind of reasoning was this!

By contrast, Zhou Bingzhong only smiled and nodded, just as Yao Xingzhi had a few minutes earlier—with appreciation and approval.

"To think you could already figure out how to enlist someone else's help and think the problem through so thoroughly at your age. In that regard, I'm not as good as you."

"You have insight, strategy, and perseverance. Chen Feng, I can't find a reason to turn you away."

Joy suddenly appeared on Chen Feng's earnest face.

"Master, do you mean...?"

Zhou Bingzhong smiled and nodded.

"From now on, you'll join my school."

"You don't need to wait until you become a Martial Artist. Starting today, you'll be my Personal Disciple. What do you say?"

Without the slightest hesitation, Chen Feng stood up at once, lifted the hem of his robe, and knelt to perform the formal kowtow.

Everything he'd said today came from the bottom of his heart.

He had practically exposed all his secrets to Zhou Bingzhong because he wanted to treat him with sincerity.

He had been taking a gamble.

He'd gambled that Zhou Bingzhong would choose him.

Now it seemed... he'd won.

"Chen Feng pays his respects to Master!"