Son

"Old man, you really didn't die!" A cold, sinister voice rang out.

"Many people hope for my death, I know that, but I didn't expect you to be one of them." Qiao Weisheng stared straight at the rafters, his tone devoid of any surprise.

The figure on the rafters drifted down silently, standing beside Qiao Weisheng with a complex look in his eyes.

"You recognize me?"

"Your eyes are exactly like hers."

"Heh, you still have the face to mention her?" The man laughed softly, as if he had heard the greatest joke in the world.

"I failed you both, I failed you both." Qiao Weisheng's voice grew lower and lower, nearly inaudible, quieter even than the ticking of the grandfather clock in the room.

"I don't need your apologies! Before today, we were nothing but strangers." The man said, "Right? Father—"

"I looked for your mother, but she went into hiding."

"Of course she had to hide! If she hadn't, would she have become your concubine, or perhaps your mistress?" The man's words were filled with resentment. "A woman as proud and noble as my mother, how could she ever bow her head to be a secondary wife to the daughter of a Minister?"

"I failed her, I failed her..." Qiao Weisheng repeated.

"Back then, you were penniless. My mother saw potential in you, taught you martial arts, and provided you with wealth, giving you the capital to trade tea in Petersburg." The man sneered. "My mother counted on you to return from Petersburg, make your fortune, and marry her properly. But when you made your fortune, the one you married properly was someone else."

Qiao Weisheng was speechless, simply watching this son who had suddenly appeared.

"People climb to higher places, and water flows to lower ones. For a business genius like you, being cold-hearted and ungrateful is only to be expected." The man pulled out a dagger and stroked the blade. "But you are a merchant; surely you know the principle that debts must be repaid. The debt you owe my mother, I am here to collect now."

"I had thought that if someone were to collect this debt, they would have come much sooner." Qiao Weisheng's chest heaved, yet his tone remained calm.

"If it were up to my temperament, I would have come to collect long ago. It was only because Mother still cared for you that she wouldn't let me."

"Your mother, she..."

"She passed away this year." The man took a deep breath. "Since you could not be husband and wife in life, you can be a pair of resentful spirits in death. I am sending you down to join her now!"

Hearing this, Qiao Weisheng trembled all over, as if struggling to move.

Seeing this, the man shook his head: "I don't know what scheme you are plotting by playing dead here. But I know that once you perform the organ-shifting technique, you cannot move for three days."

"Have some dignity! Don't forget, the Muscle-Shifting Bone-Misplacing Secret Manual you practice was taught to you by my mother."

With that, the man raised the dagger, lifted Qiao Weisheng's clothes, and plunged it once more into the wound Chen Wu had made the day before. The heart, which had already returned to its place, was struck squarely, instantly shattering. The assassin channeled his internal energy to seal the wound, preventing a single drop of blood from spilling out.

Under the stimulus of death, Qiao Weisheng squeezed out his final reserves of potential, and his left hand miraculously lifted. The assassin was startled at first, but seeing the movement was soft and powerless, he paid it no mind.

The left hand used all its remaining strength to reach tremblingly toward his hair bun, pulling out a silver hairpin and offering it to the assassin.

"Take... take it..." Qiao Weisheng's eyes were filled with pleading.

The assassin, completely caught off guard, hesitated for a moment before taking the hairpin.

The hairpin was crafted from silver, its surface tarnished and looking quite old, with a line of tiny, delicate characters engraved upon it.

The assassin focused his gaze and read softly: "A hairpin for a good marriage, a promise to stay together until our hair turns white."

Hearing these words, Qiao Weisheng finally let his hand drop, his whole body relaxing as he looked at his son, a smile appearing on his face, as if reminiscing about something.

"Ha—ha—ha—ha—" Realizing what this object was, the son suddenly burst into laughter, tears streaming down his face.

If only he had known today would come, why act as he did back then!

The son remembered a song his mother often sang to him when he was a child, though she would always end up in tears. Now, he didn't know why, but he began to sing it involuntarily, seeing off the father with whom he shared no bond.

"The peach blossoms turn red, the apricot blossoms turn white.

I search for you over mountains and ridges, Ah-ge ya ya tai..."

With his heart ruptured and his blood flow ceasing, Qiao Weisheng felt his breathing grow labored and his mind hazy, the world before him turning increasingly dark.

Suddenly, a beam of light appeared, and Qiao Weisheng saw that bright, beautiful girl from years ago once more. She was leaning against a carriage by the roadside, softly singing a song to see him off on his journey west to Petersburg.

"The tree bears fruit and blooms, the day breaks and you wake.

I don't think of others, I only think of you, Ah-ge ya ya tai.

The golden needle blooms, its six petals turn yellow.

I hope to be joined with my brother forever, Ah-ge ya ya tai—"

With eyes full of affection, the girl handed him a silver hairpin. Qiao Weisheng knew that when a woman gives a hairpin as a token of love, it means she will never be a concubine.

He reached out to take the hairpin, only to suddenly realize that he had betrayed her long ago!

As he came to his senses, everything before him collapsed and dissipated into nothingness, and Qiao Weisheng fell into a final, eternal silence.

Clang—

At that moment, the grandfather clock in the room chimed the hour; it was already the break of dawn.

"Qiao Weisheng is dead!"

Wang Zhenyi returned, bringing Chen Wu some flatbreads and a piece of news.

Chen Wu had anticipated this; Qiao Weisheng would surely fake his death at such a high cost, but her next words left him stunned.

"The magistrate's office examined the body this morning. The autopsy concluded that he died from a sharp blade piercing his heart, and they have officially named you as the murderer!"

This isn't right!

If Qiao Weisheng was faking his death, why would he let the Constabulary perform an autopsy? And a dissection at that? Could it be that Qiao Weisheng bribed the officials to create a smokescreen?

To commit to the act so thoroughly—truly the style of a veteran performer.

"Oh? Has the Constabulary issued a notice?" Chen Wu asked.

"The yamen hasn't released anything yet. Senior Brother Shui told me personally at the banquet just now; he participated in the autopsy this morning."

Huh?

"Why would General Shui be involved in this?"

"He also hails from the Sea-Pacifying Palace and has a close friendship with Star-Pulling Sword. After the assassination attempt yesterday, he went to visit Star-Pulling Sword this morning and happened to run into the dissection."

"You mean General Shui personally watched the autopsy and dissection?" Chen Wu's tone grew increasingly panicked.

"That's right!" Wang Zhenyi realized something was off with Chen Wu's tone. "Your questions are so strange. Weren't you the one who assassinated him? Now that he's dead, what's there to be so surprised about?"

"This..."

Chen Wu was bewildered. Could it be that Master Qiao wanted to use his own hands to commit suicide?

That's absolutely impossible!

Wait, Guo Xuchu! Qiao Weisheng paid for the assassination, and Guo Xuchu was there at the time!

"What did Guo Xuchu say? What did Guo Xuchu say about it?" Chen Wu asked urgently.

"As for that..." Wang Zhenyi hesitated as well. "That's the strange part. According to Senior Brother Shui, Star-Pulling Sword was acting very unusually; he didn't insist that you were the killer."

"I knew it..." Chen Wu breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"But Star-Pulling Sword didn't say you weren't the killer either; he just demanded a thorough investigation."

Ah, this...

Guo is being unprincipled!

As an eyewitness, why wouldn't he tell the truth?

Chen Wu grew anxious and struggled to get out of bed.

"Don't move around!" Seeing Chen Wu trying to rise, Wang Zhenyi quickly pressed him back onto the bed. "Even though you have cultivated the rare Copper Skin and Iron Tendons, and your body's endurance far exceeds that of an ordinary person, you were struck by the Yin-Yang Chaos Finger. You need at least two days of rest before you can move."

Copper Skin and Iron Tendons?

Chen Wu was captivated by these two terms; Old Ma seemed to have mentioned them as well.

"What Copper Skin and Iron Tendons?"

Chen Wu knew that asking this would make the girl in front of him suspicious, but she was the most suitable person to ask about such strange matters.

Firstly, she didn't know the former Chen Wu and wouldn't suspect his true identity. Secondly, she was from the Dashun Academy of Sciences and had no connection to the Golden Wind and Drizzle Tower, so even if she were suspicious, it wouldn't be a major issue. Thirdly, this girl's martial arts level didn't seem that high; she couldn't sense Chen Wu's focused spirit and didn't regard him as a master of the Spirit-Condensing Realm, which avoided a lot of trouble.

"What? You've already cultivated them and you don't even know?"

As expected, Wang Zhenyi was only surprised for a moment, much like she was surprised that Chen Wu didn't know about the Sea-Pacifying Palace.

"I'm from the countryside!" Chen Wu once again used his universal "playing dumb" excuse.

Wang Zhenyi rolled her eyes and began to explain to Chen Wu: "There are nine tiers of martial arts. The first three tiers are known as the Copper Skin, Iron Tendons, and Jade Bone realms. They are named as such because when each of these three realms is cultivated to its limit, it manifests the phenomena of Copper Skin, Iron Tendons, or Jade Bone."

"Copper Skin refers to skin as tough as copper. Iron Tendons means the major tendons are as strong as iron. Jade Bone means the bones are as solid as jade."

"This is not a metaphor. According to the research of the Academy of Sciences, those who cultivate to the limit of the first three realms will have skin, tendons, and bones that approximate the hardness of copper, iron, and jade. It can be called the physical limit."

Chen Wu listened, mesmerized, nodding repeatedly.

"But in this world, only a very small number of martial artists can cultivate these phenomena. The vast majority of masters who reach the sixth or seventh tier never achieve them."

"So rare?"

"I know you're a martial arts genius, stop showing off!" Wang Zhenyi said impatiently.

"Heh." Chen Wu had to play dumb to change the subject. "So, can I move tomorrow?"

"The day after!"

Chen Wu nodded, preparing to lay low until the day after tomorrow before heading out.

"There are people looking for you everywhere outside. Are you in such a hurry to throw yourself into the net?"

Chen Wu looked into Wang Zhenyi's eyes and said solemnly, "If I told you I didn't kill Qiao Weisheng, would you believe me?"

"I believe you."

"You actually believe me!"

"Pfft!" Wang Zhenyi threw a flatbread at Chen Wu and left the room.

Chen Wu picked up the flatbread and began to gnaw on it slowly.

"Benefactor is in high spirits, still having the mood to eat flatbread!" Just as Chen Wu was eating the last piece, a voice drifted in from outside the window.

Chen Wu ignored it entirely and continued to eat.