Upright sects of noble standing

"Get out of here! Quit feeding this old man that crap!" Lu Jin bristled with anger.

Inside, however, he was delighted.

This was the sort of genius who appeared once in a century, perhaps not even once in a millennium.

Hearing that, Wang Zhuo immediately dropped the act. "Hehehe, Elder Lu, I knew you were generous!"

"Why not just let Linglong..."

"Get lost! Get lost!"

Lu Jin refused without the slightest hesitation.

"Get on with the serious business. Quit all that yapping."

He began recounting the past. "Chulan, I'll be straight with you. A close friend of mine passed the Heaven Communicating Talisman Art on to me."

"Zheng Zibu and an elder of Feng Zhenghao, the president of the World Society, were both among those who swore brotherhood back then."

"There were thirty-six people in all, also known as the Thirty-Six Thieves."

"Although their sworn brotherhood was kept secret, word still got out..."

"How could those upright sects of noble standing tolerate their disciples associating with the fiends of Quanxing, especially its sect leader? They held themselves above others and wouldn't tolerate the slightest blemish."

"They joined forces and ordered them hunted down, regardless of whether they had ever done evil or harmed anyone..."

"For the sake of their reputation alone, they wanted to wipe out all Thirty-Six Thieves, hoping they would vanish forever."

"I was the eldest son of the Lu family then, and I knew the inside story. But the stakes were too high, and I couldn't help Zheng Zibu escape his predicament..."

At this point, his eyes darkened. "'A lifetime without blemish'... do I even deserve that?"

"Associating?"

Everyone paused and turned toward the voice.

Wang Zhuo chuckled softly, anger in his voice. "The way I see it, it was greed."

"If they were truly above worldly concerns, why would they care whether others were tainted? No dirty people in noble sects? They simply don't show their faces."

He leaned against a stone pillar, curling his lip.

"It was nothing more than giving their campaigns a legitimate cause, their murders a justification, and their plundering a clear conscience. They had to find a reason for killing, had to give murder and arson a fine name."

"Thirty-six people swore brotherhood and learned the eight true lineages. I want them, but I'm wearing a skin, and that skin is called 'moral principles'!"

"Under those 'moral principles,' I can't rob, can't seize, can't covet."

"So why not simply call them thieves?"

Everyone's pupils contracted sharply.

"I'm righteous, so I'm justified in killing thieves. I'm righteous, so I have grounds for killing."

"I punish evil and uphold good!"

"I purge the traitors from my sect!"

"I..."

"Have a clear conscience."

"But if their consciences were truly clear, why cover it up? Why not announce it to the world? They simply coveted those all-powerful arts while wanting the world to know they were righteous through and through, with no attachment to worldly possessions."

"..." Everyone fell silent.

Laid bare!

Utterly laid bare!

Utterly sincere!

With those words, Wang Zhuo had exposed the heart of the matter. Where were all those upright sects of noble standing? Where were all those lofty, pure masters?

It was nothing more than...

Murder, arson, and plunder, all while seeking a fine reputation!

In the end, they simply wanted to steal!

The Wang family had stolen.

The Lü Family had stolen.

The noble sects had stolen.

And won themselves fine reputations!

Wang Zhuo chuckled softly and said, "Truly, green mountains and setting suns, autumn moons and spring breezes. Hair black as silk at dawn turns white as snow by dusk; right and wrong, success and failure, all come to nothing in the turn of a head."

"The losers are thieves, and the victors are the righteous."

He paused, then changed his tone. "Hehe, sorry. I said too much. I'm blunt and speak my mind. I can't stomach absurd things like this or bear listening to hypocrisy."

Seated in his wooden armchair, Lu Jin shook his head helplessly and raised his teacup, only drinking after a long while.

"Boy Liu, should I call you young and reckless, or chivalrous at heart? You've laid it all so bare, stripped it completely naked. You're lucky it's just us three old fellows here."

"If that pack of mad dogs outside heard you, who knows what they'd do to you?"

Zhang Zhiwei and Tian Jinzong said nothing either, tacitly agreeing.

Wang Zhuo stepped forward to massage Lu Jin's shoulders. "Hehe, it's only because you three are here. I wouldn't dare say it to anyone else. You three are so thoroughly upright that naturally, you can take it."

"If it were those other petty, narrow-minded people, I wouldn't say a word even if you asked me to."

Lu Jin narrowed his eyes, clearly enjoying this.

Zhang Chulan clenched his fists, a jumble of feelings churning inside him.

Yes...

Yes...

It's just that we've all put on the skin of moral principles!

Everything has to be dressed in a skin, a bright and beautiful skin!

Everything has to be buried deep, stuffed away in the heart. It's all so simple, so straightforward!

People simply don't want to think about it or say any more about it.

Zhang Chulan remembered his grandfather, that old man with the large ears who had always been so kindly.

Was he an evil man?

No.

He had always yielded to others and never argued when things happened.

Was he guilty?

Yes!

An ordinary man was innocent.

Possessing a treasure made him guilty!

But was he the one at fault?

The fault lay in people's hearts!

Watching Wang Zhuo move back and forth massaging their shoulders, Zhang Zhiwei was filled with emotion.

With a few words, he laid bare the human heart.

With one glance, he saw through truth and falsehood.

His comprehension and character were top-notch, no matter how many hundreds or thousands of times one reconsidered them.

The mortal world did not blind his eyes, and his pure heart remained unchanged.

Zhang Chulan looked at Zhang Zhiwei. With his state of mind changed, he continued asking, "Grandmaster, did Mount Longhu hunt my grandfather down back then too?"

Zhang Zhiwei nodded. "Yes. We two were the ones who pursued your grandfather."

"Grandmaster... Grandmaster Tian, then back then..."

Tian Jinzong looked at Zhang Chulan. The helpless expression on his face when he saw this body of his was particularly heartbreaking.

He fell silent for a moment, pressed his lips together, then finally spoke.

"Silly child, don't go imagining things. I may have let many people down in this life, but remember this: your grandfather is the one person I did right by."

"Senior Brother, you don't mind if I tell Chulan about it, do you?"

Zhang Zhiwei snorted. "Every last one of you makes fun of me. Who cares what you do? If you want to tell him, go ahead."

"Back then..." Tian Jinzong raised his head toward the ceiling, seemingly recalling the past.

"Your grandfather, Zhang Huaiyi, swore brotherhood with Quanxing. That caused enormous trouble, and gave our Celestial Master Mansion a headache too."

"I still remember the other sect leaders coming to Mount Longhu to speak with our master, Zhang Jingqing, the Celestial Master at the time."

"After that, the eldest senior brother of our generation, Zhang Zhiwei, was summoned too. He was gone an entire day and didn't even have a bite to eat."

"That night, I went to the cliff where Senior Brother often meditated and found him there. When I learned about Huaiyi, I was shocked too. I could hardly believe it."

"The two of us discussed it all night, then went to plead with our master to let us go down the mountain together and bring Huaiyi back."

"Our master even... ahem, beat Senior Brother black and blue."

"Why are you telling the younger generation about that?" Zhang Zhiwei hurriedly interrupted, his old face reddening.

Tian Jinzong smiled and continued, "We went down the mountain together to look for your grandfather. I thought we'd surely find him faster if we split up, so Senior Brother and I went our separate ways..."

"Unfortunately, I never found him, and I was attacked along the way..."

"Your name is Liu Guanyi, right?" Tian Jinzong looked at Wang Zhuo. Seeing him nod, he continued, "Sorry for the trouble, but could you lift my sleeve for me?"

"Sure thing."