All Bonds Severed

At that moment.

Mu Qingyue looked at Lin Bei. "You must be the master of the Martial Arts Grounds, Field Master Lin?"

Lin Bei nodded.

"Indeed."

Mu Qingyue saluted with clasped hands.

"It was a pity that I passed through in such haste last time and never had the chance to meet you. I am fortunate to meet you today. My greetings."

"You're too kind, Miss Mu." Lin Bei smiled and returned her salute.

"Field Master Lin, what do you think of my suggestion to move the Martial Arts Grounds to the Central Hall?" Mu Qingyue asked with a smile.

What did he think?

Did that even need thinking about?

Lin Bei answered without hesitation.

"Didn't you hear what Teng said? We're not going anywhere!"

At those words, Mu Qingyue froze for a moment... She had assumed that, as the master of the Martial Arts Grounds, Lin Bei would consider the bigger picture... But now it seemed that even its master did not care?

She could never have dreamed of the truth.

Lin Bei had said that not because he did not want to go, but because he could not!

There was nothing he could do.

He had already blown his own trumpet.

Follow the current and remain mortal; defy it and become immortal.

Treat everything as a whetstone...

He had thoroughly drilled those ideas into Zhang Teng's head.

Now that things had come this far, Lin Bei could only face the difficulties head-on.

In Zhang Teng's heart, he was the mountain at his back.

If Zhang Teng's Dao heart collapsed, Lin Bei really would have wanted to cry but had no tears left.

Because Zhang Teng was also the foundation of his own rise!

How could he destroy his own foundation?

Sure enough.

At those words, Zhang Teng wore an expression that said he had expected nothing less.

"Is that so? Then that truly is a pity!" Regret filled Mu Qingyue's face.

"I've done all I can in this matter. From now on, you'll have to seek your own good fortune."

Zhang Teng said indifferently, "You needn't worry, Miss Mu. Our Martial Arts Grounds has its own way of dealing with this."

"In that case, I can only wish you flourishing martial fortunes."

Mu Qingyue saluted Lin Bei with clasped hands. "Field Master Lin, I shall take my leave."

"Take care."

Mu Qingyue nodded, then turned and left.

Watching Mu Qingyue's retreating figure, Zhang Teng could not help smiling in self-mockery.

"Master, you were right after all. Better to rely on yourself than on others! I actually pinned my hopes on her once. Thinking back now, how laughable that was."

Lin Bei smiled faintly and patted his shoulder.

"Focus on your cultivation. In the end, you have to walk your own path."

Lin Bei turned and left.

Seeing Lin Bei leave, Zhang Xiaoxiao could not help asking, "Brother, now even your last escape route is gone. Why not ask Senior Lin Bei to go to the Zhang Household..."

"Enough!" Zhang Teng cut Zhang Xiaoxiao off brutally.

"There will be no next time! If I hear anything like that again, I'll send you to the woodshed."

Tears welled in Zhang Xiaoxiao's eyes.

As far as she was concerned, she was doing this for Zhang Teng's own good...

But she did not know.

Her cowardice and stupidity were cutting off Zhang Teng's path of cultivation!

Time passed.

Inside her room.

Zhang Xiaoxiao seemed to have made up her mind about something. She secretly took out a flute and began playing it softly.

Soon.

A white pigeon landed.

She rolled a slip of paper into a bamboo tube and attached it to the pigeon's right leg.

However.

Just as she released the pigeon, Xiao Liuzi happened to see her.

Xiao Liuzi said nothing. Instead, he quietly went to find Zhang Teng, who was practicing Tai Chi at the Martial Arts Grounds.

Recently, Zhang Teng had discovered that constantly sitting in meditation was not the fastest way to cultivate the Tai Chi Breath-Absorbing Art. On the contrary, combining it with Tai Chi made his cultivation progress faster.

"Senior Brother Zhang..."

Xiao Liuzi ran over.

"Xiao Liuzi? What's wrong? Do you need something?" Zhang Teng was somewhat surprised.

Normally, even when these disciples wanted to ask him for guidance, they waited until he finished practicing.

Almost none of them had ever approached him in the middle of his practice like this.

"There's a small matter..."

Xiao Liuzi hurriedly told him what he had seen.

The moment Zhang Teng heard about the pigeon, his expression turned icy.

Without another word, he went to Zhang Xiaoxiao's room and pushed the door straight open.

At that moment, Zhang Xiaoxiao was doing her hair and makeup.

Seeing Zhang Teng arrive, she immediately stopped what she was doing, a glimmer of delighted surprise flashing in her eyes.

"Brother, what brings you here?"

But the delight in her eyes did not last long, because she recognized the disappointment in Zhang Teng's gaze.

At that moment.

Zhang Xiaoxiao's heart lurched.

She realized that what she had done seemed to have been exposed!

Sure enough.

Zhang Teng confronted her directly. "Xiaoxiao, out of consideration for our bond as siblings, I chose not to lock you up. But you've disappointed me terribly!"

"You knew I was framed back then, but you didn't testify for me! I could understand that."

"Because of Zhang Conglong, the Zhang Household was bound to abandon me."

"Even if you had testified, it would have been useless. You would only have been dragged into it for nothing."

A trace of pain entered Zhang Teng's voice as he growled.

"But never in my wildest dreams did I imagine you would betray me!"

"From this day forward, our bond as siblings is severed! You'll stay in this room and go nowhere. I'll seal the doors and windows. Don't let me catch you escaping!"

With that, Zhang Teng turned resolutely and left.

Zhang Xiaoxiao immediately panicked and said hastily, "Brother, please let me explain..."

Zhang Teng shook Zhang Xiaoxiao's grip off the hem of his clothes.

"I didn't send the letter to anyone else! I sent it to Grandfather... I wanted him to help you..."

At those words.

Zhang Teng stopped in his tracks, then suddenly let out a few bitter, grief-stricken laughs.

"Grandfather?"

"You were there when he abandoned me."

"You think he'll help me? I'm afraid he won't just refuse to save me. He'll come to capture me himself!"

"Because... the bigger picture must come before everything!!!"

After a few more bitter laughs, he turned to look at Xiaoxiao.

"Is it wrong to put the bigger picture first? Is it wrong to preserve the Lineage? After all, our parents died for the Lineage! Grandfather, he..."

"Shut up!"

Zhang Teng's eyes were bloodshot as he stared coldly at Zhang Xiaoxiao.

"If none of you were wrong, then was I?"

Zhang Teng's voice was frighteningly low.

"Zhang Xiaoxiao! Remember this! I owe you people nothing, and I owe the Zhang Household nothing!"

"Brother!!" Zhang Xiaoxiao suddenly cried in terror. "If Grandfather comes, what... will you do?"

Zhang Teng paused and answered in an utterly icy voice.

"Every bond between him and me has already been severed."

"If he comes to capture me!"

Zhang Teng drew a deep breath and tilted his head back, a tear trailing from the corner of his eye.

"I will show no mercy!"