True Feelings

"You're my friend, Gu Yanzhi!" Gu Yanzhi's eyes were bloodshot, and he ground out the words through clenched teeth.

"Friend?"

Gu Wanshan seemed to have heard the greatest joke in the world. He set down his teacup and gave a scornful laugh. "Yanzhi, you're still too young. In this Ten-Mile Foreign Field, what does 'friend' even mean?"

"A miserable rickshaw puller who barely scrapes by, who's only just gotten lucky enough to reach the threshold of the Mid Force Refining Realm, and is already in his thirties. His blood and qi have settled. He's reached the end of the road in this life."

Gu Wanshan looked down on him with contempt.

"If he were in his early twenties, or a master in the Late Force Refining Realm, he might just barely count as a 'friend' of the Gu Family, someone worth cultivating. But a mere middle-realm martial artist in his thirties? A hundred silver dollars to buy his services as a shield against blades on the river—that's a perfectly fair deal!"

"Father!"

Gu Yanzhi suddenly hurled the folding fan in his hand to the floor. It hit with a sharp crack, its ribs snapping.

His chest heaved violently. Facing his father's cold gaze, he shouted each word through gritted teeth:

"Friendship means treating people with the same sincerity you expect from them! You've calculated everything so carefully, treating human lives as numbers and bargaining chips in a ledger. If you can't even be honest, why should anyone risk his life and place his trust in you?!"

"All you get by throwing silver dollars around is a pack of fair-weather friends who'll scatter when the tree falls! When the Gu Family faces life and death, what use will they be?!"

Gu Wanshan's face darkened. He slammed his hand down on the rosewood table. "How dare you speak to me like that!"

But Gu Yanzhi didn't back down another step. He took a deep breath and turned away, resolute.

"I was the one who invited Lu Zhen onto the ship. I can't let him become your unwitting scapegoat. I'm going to save him on the river!"

With that, Gu Yanzhi yanked off his silk robe and strode out of the main hall without looking back.

Silence fell over the hall.

The steward beside them was too frightened to make a sound. He cautiously stepped forward. "Master... The eldest young master is acting rashly. Blades don't spare anyone on the river, and the Shen Family is serious this time. Should we send someone to bring him back?"

Gu Wanshan sat in his grand chair, the walnuts in his hand turning once more. He stared at the spot where Gu Yanzhi had disappeared and said nothing for a long time.

At last, he coldly uttered three words:

"Let him go."

Until he saw blood, the boy would keep thinking the jianghu was all righteous vengeance and heroic freedom, like the stories in books. He didn't understand what true survival of the fittest meant.

The steward was about to withdraw when Gu Wanshan's low voice drifted after him again.

"Have A-Kuan take the Black Guard and follow him."

"Yes!" The steward breathed a sigh of relief and withdrew respectfully.

The steamship pushed upstream.

By late afternoon, the river ahead abruptly narrowed.

Sheer cliffs towered on either side, like two black swords thrust into the clouds, squeezing the river into a perilous passage.

"We've reached Soul-Falling Gorge."

Zhao Si stood at the bow.

Soul-Falling Gorge was notorious along the Yangtze waterway for its treacherous currents and reefs hidden beneath the water.

Even stranger, as soon as the steamship entered the gorge, a mass of dense white fog rose over the river without warning.

The thirty-odd guards who had been chatting on deck fell quiet without realizing it, each gripping the hilt of his blade.

"Brother Zhao, this fog came up strangely."

Hou San stepped forward, his triangular eyes filled with the vigilance of a man facing a great enemy. "It's too quiet all around us. There isn't even a waterbird calling. Something feels off."

Chen Er huddled his shoulders, his teeth chattering. "That's right, Captain. Is some monster going to rise from the river again?"

Zhao Si surveyed the surroundings. Only after seeing that the men gathered around him were all trusted brothers did he lower his voice.

"Keep your wits about you! Don't jump at shadows."

"I'll tell you the truth. This trip by water is Old Master Gu's 'empty-ship stratagem'!"

"The hold is full of ballast stones and scrap metal. This ship is bait, meant to lure the Shen Family's best fighters out of hiding!"

Everyone sucked in a sharp breath.

A cruel glint flashed in Zhao Si's eyes. "But don't panic. Old Master Gu made arrangements well in advance.

"Hiding in this ship's secret compartment are ten Western rapid-fire guns and six heavy Armor-Piercing Crossbows.

"If the Shen Family dares come alongside, we'll make sure they never leave! Besides, our second fleet is downstream. The moment they hear the signal arrow, they'll come right away and surround them!"

The guards finally felt their worries ease. A few of the bolder ones were already rubbing their hands together, eager to make a fight of it with the guns on their side.

Only Lu Zhen's eyes remained icy.

An empty-ship stratagem? Bait?

Gu Wanshan might have calculated everything to perfection, but he was still putting the lives of everyone aboard on the gambling table. With fog blanketing the river, once blades clashed for real, even the finest guns couldn't stop a few enemies from slipping through. Blades didn't have eyes.

Lu Zhen would never entrust his life to someone else's scheme!

"Brother Zhao, I'm going back to the cabin to regulate my inner breath and prepare for battle." Lu Zhen made up an excuse on the spot.

"Go ahead. Get some rest. We'll probably have a tough fight on our hands soon." Zhao Si didn't suspect a thing. He nodded in agreement.