"Bei Bei, I'm sorry. I dream about my parents' faces every night. They ask me why I don't avenge them. I can't wait any longer. Tang Sect I leave it to you. Don't come to me. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
Bei Bei read out the content of the letter word by word. His voice was very flat, so flat that there was almost no fluctuation. But it was this flatness that made Wang Dong's eyes suddenly sore.
Because Bei Bei was not reading the letter, he was breaking it. He knew every word by heart. He didn't know how many times he read it under the tree, and the creases on the letter paper were almost worn out.
After he finished reading, he was silent for a long time.
The wind passed through the locust trees, blowing down a few leaves and falling on his shoulders. He did not brush them.
"I searched." He said, his voice began to tremble, "I searched every place in the college where she might go. The small garden behind the library, where she likes to go to watch fish when she is in a bad mood. Snack Street The third home She eats a bunch of them every weekend at the candied haws shop. The old warehouse behind Martial Arts Arena, where we used to practice Tang Sect Secret Arts secretly for fear of being seen by others. And the wild grass outside the east gate."
His voice was choked here, and his Adam's apple rolled up and down twice before he could squeeze out the next words.
"Nowhere."
Bei Bei's hands were clenched into fists, her knuckles dug into her palms, and the skin around her fingernails was pinched until it turned white. "She was alone. She went to find the murderers alone. How high is she? What does she use to get revenge? It's not that she doesn't know how powerful those people are, But she just left alone, without bringing anything, not even a change of clothes." His voice became lower and lower, as if he was talking to himself, "Why didn't she tell me? Why didn't she even discuss it? I can accompany her, I can help her, even if it means death,"
"Bei Bei."
Mu Chen's voice was very calm, but it was this calm that interrupted Bei Bei's increasingly rapid breathing. Bei Bei raised his head and met Mu Chen's blue eyes.
There was no sympathy or pity in the light in those eyes, only something very heavy and steady, like a dull knife, not sharp, but capable of cutting through all the emotions floating on the surface and piercing straight into the core of the problem.
"Tang Ya is going for revenge, not to die." Mu Chen said, "Since she chooses to go alone, it means that she has her own plans. You have ruined yourself here. How will you show up to see her when she comes back?"
Bei Bei looked at him blankly, his lips parted but no sound came out.
"Tang Ya said in the letter that you should take good care of the Tang Sect." Mu Chen continued, his tone not emphatic, but every word was serious, "Have you done it?"
Bei Bei lowered his head and looked at the letter in his hand. The writing on the paper was slightly trembled by the wind, and the words "I'm sorry" looked particularly dazzling in the sun.
"I..." his voice was hoarse, "I can't manage it alone. There are only a few people left in the Tang Sect now. Tang Ya is gone, and there is not even a sect leader." He smiled bitterly, and the smile was uglier than crying, "She wants me to be the sect leader. But I can't even be a deputy sect leader, and I can't even keep her, so what kind of sect leader should I be?"
"I'll do it."
Three words.
Not "I can try", not "How about I do it", but three straight words, "I'll do it." There was no hesitation, no foreshadowing, or even any unnecessary embellishments. It was as if he was just answering a question for which the answer had already been calculated.
Bei Bei raised his head suddenly, a glimmer of disbelief flashed in his bloodshot eyes. "You...?"
Wang Dong and Huo Yuhao also turned to look at Mu Chen. Wang Dong's eyes widened, and Huo Yuhao's mouth opened slightly. Both of them were a little confused by these words.
Mu Chen's expression did not change. He stood under the shade of the locust tree, his blue hair swaying slightly in the wind, and the sunlight cast bright and dark spots on his face through the gaps in the leaves. His eyes were as calm as ever, but that kind of calm was not indifference, but a kind of determination after seeing everything in his eyes.
"What was the thing that Tang Ya couldn't let go of the most before he left?" Mu Chen asked.
Bei Bei has no answer.
"It's Tang Sect." Mu Chen answered for him, "She would rather let you stay and take care of the Tang Sect than accompany her to die, which shows that Tang Sect is more important to her than herself." He paused, "She gave Tang Sect to you, and you gave Tang Sect to me. Can't you?"
Bei Bei was silent.
He looked into Mu Chen's eyes, trying to find some false politeness, some impromptu haste, and some reluctance just to comfort him.
But he couldn't find anything. The light in those blue eyes had not changed from beginning to end, as steady as the sea and as heavy as iron.
"Are you... really willing?" Bei Bei's voice is no longer as hoarse as before, but it is still trembling. "You know what Tang Sect is like now. There is no mountain gate, no industry, no resources, and can't even afford to rent a decent residence. The members on the roster can be counted with one hand. If you become the leader of this sect, you will get nothing."
"Then let it change back to its original appearance." Mu Chen said, "Ten thousand years ago, Tang Sect was the number one sect in the world."
This sentence was said very lightly, but every word seemed to carry some invisible weight. Bei Bei's shoulders shook.
Wang Dong stood behind Mu Chen, looking at his back. She had watched this back for a whole year, in the dormitory, on the ring, and every night during fusion training.
She thought she already knew this person very well, but every time when this happened, the words Mu Chen said would still make her heart skip a beat.
Tang Sect was the number one sect in the world. Ten thousand years ago. It was not that she didn't know this information, but when it came out of Mu Chen's mouth, it felt completely different. It was as if he was not recalling a period of history, but stating a fact that was about to happen.
Huo Yuhao stood next to Bei Bei, moved his lips, and then nodded vigorously. "Brother Bei Bei, I believe that the eldest brother will be the master of the house."
Bei Bei closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he opened his eyes, stood up from the stone ridge, and straightened the gray-stained blue gown. His fingers were still shaking slightly, but his whole back had slowly straightened.
He folded the letter paper in his hand, put it back in his arms, then clasped his fists and bowed to Mu Chen.
"Tang Sect Deputy Sect Master Bei Bei, I have met the Sect Master."
There is no ceremony, no witness, and no red tape. Under the shade of the old locust tree, the handover of five words, a scene that is blown away by the wind, is like a nail, firmly wedged into the lifeblood of the Tang Sect, a ten thousand year old sect.
Mu Chen reached out to hold Bei Bei's arm and lifted him up. His movement was not heavy, but Bei Bei felt like he was being pulled up by an irresistible force. It was not brute force, but a kind of gravity that made people instinctively want to follow.