Martial Cultivator

Seeing Chen Chao raise his middle finger, Zhou Gouqi smiled faintly. Then, clasping his fists together in front of him, he slowly raised two middle fingers.

Chen Chao was at a loss whether to cry or laugh.

It immediately reminded him of the old days in Peach Blossom Alley, where the two of them would argue whenever they met. Back then, no one could have imagined that Chen Chao would one day become one of the foremost young martial artists of his time, nor would anyone have thought that this seemingly crude man, Zhou Gouqi, could become a Confucian Saint.

However, the present was not the past. The two no longer exchanged insults about each other's ancestors. It was still fine for Zhou Gouqi, but Chen Chao's lineage traced backwards, were the emperors of Great Liang.

Zhou Gouqi glanced at the bodies strewn across the ground and, seemingly unconcerned, stepped into the alley. He sighed, “When the neighbors see this mess tomorrow and learn that it's your work, I'm afraid your ancestors up to eighteen generations back will all be thoroughly cursed.”

Chen Chao smiled and did not speak.

By now, a group of constables had already entered the alley. With the young county magistrate lying dead in Peach Blossom Alley, the acting authority in Tianqing County was now the equally young warden. He glanced at Chen Chao, smiled without speaking, and just directed the constables to begin clearing the alley.

Zhou Gouqi paid him no mind and instead walked a few steps forward, saying, “Come on, there's something you need to know.”

The two went to Chen Chao’s small courtyard, though it could hardly be called a courtyard anymore. Much of the wall had collapsed, leaving it a wreckage, exuding a sense of desolation.

Zhou Gouqi looked at Chen Chao's dark expression and grinned. “What's the matter? Feeling sentimental over just a little courtyard?”

Chen Chao's face remained expressionless. “This little courtyard is all Your Father has. Now you've gone and wrecked it. I really feel like chopping you to pieces right now.”

Zhou Gouqi clicked his tongue and said, “Even if I stood here and let you hack at me a hundred times, I doubt you could kill me.”

Chen Chao spat, “So what if you're a Saint?”

Without waiting for a response, Chen Chao ignored Zhou Gouqi and went into the ruined house. He dragged out two wooden benches, tossed one to Zhou Gouqi, and leaned against the last intact beam himself. Pulling off a piece of peeling lacquer, he brought it to his nose for a sniff and let out a contented sigh.

In the years since he had left Peach Blossom Alley, he had traveled to many places, but no place gave him the same sense of ease as this one.

The days of trading insults with the man across from him were worth remembrance.

“Don't be so stingy. You're not rolling in wealth, but you're hardly broke either. Rebuilding a small courtyard like this, how much could it cost in skygold currency?”

Zhou Gouqi kicked away some debris, set down the stool, and sat with one leg crossed over the other, displaying none of the demeanor one might expect from a Saint.

Chen Chao gave an "oh and continued, “Working as an official in the court, who knows how long that'll last? You're well aware of my reputation. Maybe one day I'll have to find some hole to hide in. What will I do without money then?”

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Zhou Gouqi clicked his tongue again. “Speaking of which, I didn't think you were so ruthless. Your own elder brother, you killed him just like that? And the Second Prince, he died by your saber too, right?” �

The former was now common knowledge across the realm. As for the latter, though discerning individuals had their suspicions, there was no evidence. As long as the Great Liang Emperor refused to acknowledge it, that matter would remain buried in the dust of history, never to resurface in the public eye.c

Chen Chao remained silent, merely tightening his grip on the saber's hilt.

Zhou Gouqi suddenly sighed with emotion. “Come to think of it, Your Father almost became your brother-in-law. Shouldn't I count as half of one now?”

“Tell that to her,” Chen Chao spat out a turbid breath, feeling a little irritated. Mentioning that elder sister of his always left him irritable, most likely because of the night he killed the Second Prince.

Zhou Gouqi's expression turned somber as well. There were many people he had wronged in his life, but none more so than the princess.

Glancing at the kite in his hand, Zhou Gouqi let out a self-deprecating laugh.

“All right, let's drop it. Don't make my Dao heart collapse and lose the Saint Realm I've just achieved.”

Zhou Gouqi gave Chen Chao a resentful look, like a wronged wife.

Chen Chao felt his scalp tingle.

“Let's talk about something interesting. Want me to tell a story first?” Zhou Gouqi fixed his gaze on Chen Chao. There were words he had bottled up for years, he really wanted to say them now.

Chen Chao dug his ear. “I'm not really into stories.”

Ignoring him, Zhou Gouqi spoke softly, “If it were my little junior sister here instead, I probably wouldn't need to tell this story at all. But even after staying in the Divine Capital for so long, you don't seem too interested in the stories that happened there.”

Chen Chao did not refute it, because it was true. It was not that he was disinterested, it was just that he had been too busy over the years. There was hardly ever a moment to spare, let alone time to listen to stories.

“I was born into the Zhou Family of the Divine Capital. We weren't a first-rate clan and couldn't compare to the great families like the Xie or Wei families, but we still had several elders serving as officials in the court. I was fortunate enough to be chosen by Teacher and became his disciple. If nothing had gone wrong, my future might have led me to become the next dean of the academy, bringing honor to my family...”

Zhou Gouqi continued, “At the very least, even if I couldn't become the leader of the scholars of the world, I could've been an ordinary lecturer in the academy. No matter what, I could've gained the title of great scholar, cultivated diligently, and Nepenthe shouldn't be a problem. I never imagined that one day, my Zhou Family would cease to exist entirely.”

“The entire clan, countless people, wiped out in a single night. Not one survived.”

Zhou Gouqi looked at Chen Chao. Though he tried hard to maintain a calm demeanor, there was no peace to be found in his eyes.

Chen Chao said, “You provoked the foreign lands.”

Zhou Gouqi laughed mockingly, “It was a conspiracy.”

“But I only recently figured it out.”

Zhou Gouqi spoke calmly, “The cause of it all was actually quite simple. Someone in the family, through a stroke of luck, befriended a foreign cultivator. The two became close, and later, it was discovered that the cultivator possessed a sect's secret treasure, stolen from their sect. After that person was caught and taken back, the treasure wasn't found. Naturally, the investigation turned toward the Zhou Family.”

Chen Chao asked curiously, “So, did that person take it or not?”

Zhou Gouqi shook his head and said, “It didn't really matter. Whether it was taken or not, it was just an excuse. What they wanted all along was to wipe out the Zhou Family.”

Chen Chao fell silent. There was no need to elaborate on what happened next, he could already guess how it unfolded.

Chen Chao said, “A foreign lands power wanting to destroy a Great Liang Dynasty's noble family, and in the Divine Capital no less, His Majesty surely wouldn't stand by and do nothing.”

Zhou Gouqi nodded. “A ruler as ambitious as His Majesty naturally wouldn't want to see such a situation. After all, the foreign forces were openly oppressing us. Unfortunately, back then, His Majesty had only just ascended to the throne and had yet to solidify his position. Many things were beyond his control.”

“What about the Dean? Since you're his disciple. Did he just stand by and watch?”

Chen Chao furrowed his brows.

“That sect wasn't small.”

Zhou Gouqi said with a faint smile, “As for which one it was, I won't tell you. Sooner or later, I'll pay them a visit myself.”

“The most crucial part is that their plan was flawless. The secret treasure was indeed found in the Zhou Family, and they had long set things up. They had the perfect reason for eradicating every Zhou Family member who knew anything.”

Zhou Gouqi spoke calmly, “There was no way to resist. I could only watch it happen.”

That night's fire in the Zhou Family estate burned far deeper into Zhou Gouqi's memory than the fire in the Imperial City.

After all, stories that happen in the world only truly resonate when they involve you personally.

Chen Chao was silent.

"In the end, His Majesty still helped the Zhou Family, allowing me to survive. But I could only live under an assumed name."

Zhou Gouqi sighed. The destruction of a family was a heavy blow, no matter who endured it.

Chen Chao said, "But you haven't been idle all these years. Why did you come to Wei Prefecture?"

"That's the later part of the story that followed."

Zhou Gouqi asked, "Haven't you noticed a major problem in this story?"

Chen Chao thought for a moment and frowned. "The reason."

Yes, the reason.

How did the Zhou Family provoke that sect? Why did the sect go to such lengths to wipe out the entire Zhou Family?

There had to be a reason.

Zhou Gouqi nodded. "I only figured it out after coming to Wei Prefecture."

Chen Chao said, "It all comes back to one word: traitor."

The Zhou Family was not a great family, and it did not play a significant role in the Great Liang Dynasty. For someone to go to such lengths to destroy it, there had to be a deeper conspiracy.

"You people discovered a traitor?"

Chen Chao looked at Zhou Gouqi and said, "It was that traitor who arranged for the extermination."

The Great Liang Dynasty had a traitor, the biggest one. It had remained hidden within the Great Liang Dynasty, still undiscovered to this day.

This traitor lurked in the shadows, in critical positions within the Great Liang Dynasty, continuously carrying out actions that benefited those from beyond.

Over the two hundred years of the Great Liang Dynasty, this traitor likely played an extremely pivotal role in many significant historical events.

"Wrong."

Zhou Gouqi shook his head. "Since that traitor had remained hidden for so many years, how could the Zhou Family have uncovered them so easily? Moreover, while some members of the family held official posts in the Three Judicial Chief Ministries back then, but there were no clues either."

"But by orchestrating the Zhou Family's extermination, that traitor exposed a flaw instead."

Chen Chao felt somewhat confused.

Zhou Gouqi said calmly, "I investigated for many years and uncovered the truth."

Chen Chao asked, "Who is that traitor?"

Zhou Gouqi gave an unrelated answer, "The great flood of Tianjian Year 11 was not a natural disaster but a man-made calamity."