Fa Cai walked in and said, "Master, the mission is accomplished."
Upon hearing this, Feng Xuan was even more delighted. The loose ends had been tied up neatly. Now, no matter who investigated, they could only find out that it was Second Brother who did this, and it was Fifth Brother who broke the case, nothing to do with him.
Thinking of this, he became very happy. The way he had used someone else’s hand to exact his revenge, to deceive and manipulate, had been truly successful.
"Alright, you can go now."
Feng Xuan suppressed his joy, sent Fa Cai away, and then buried his head in the blanket, laughing loudly. He had succeeded, he had finally succeeded—it was still him, hahaha... still him!
He laughed delightfully.
Outside Feng Xuan’s Mansion, atop the garden wall.
Si Xi was drinking when he looked up to see Fa Cai standing on the garden wall with a sword.
Si Xi gestured with his hand, and Fa Cai leapt down. Si Xi passed him a jug of wine.
Fa Cai took a sip and said, "Are you in a bad mood?"
"Not really bad, just a bit upset."
Si Xi took a sip of wine, and Fa Cai accompanied him with a sip, asking, "Why upset?"
Old Zhou... Old Zhou could have stayed out of this muddy situation. His wife had just given birth to Bean when he went undercover near Zheng Chuan for me.
"For five full years, he passed his own home several times but dared not enter. Once in the street, he saw Bean, who stared at Old Zhou. Maybe thinking this uncle looked familiar, he approached Old Zhou and asked, ’Uncle, are you here to find someone?’
Old Zhou dared not answer and just said he was passing by.
At that moment, Bean looked very disappointed and told Old Zhou, ’I thought you were here to find someone. Mom said my dad would come to find me someday. I thought you were my dad, coming for me.’
Si Xi said bitterly, "When Old Zhou told me about this, he was in tears. I could feel his despair, his pain. His own son right before his eyes, yet he couldn’t acknowledge him or even dare to talk more. What agony it is."
"Do you understand this feeling?"
Si Xi looked at Fa Cai, who was expressionless and just took another sip of wine.
"You couldn’t understand, you’re just a heartless block of wood."
Fa Cai remained expressionless.
Si Xi continued, "The last time I saw Old Zhou, he said he could finally settle down. Once this mission was over, he would take his family to live quietly in the countryside, build three large tile-roofed houses, plant a vegetable garden, and put some fruit trees along the courtyard wall. In the summer, when the branches and leaves are lush, he’d put two rattan chairs—one big, one small—there, lie down with his son, and tell him stories. What a beautiful life that would be."
"I even told him I’d definitely go ask him for some fruit, and that he better not be stingy!"
"But the mission is already completed. Why kill him? Why? I don’t understand, I just don’t!"
"He knew too many secrets."
Fa Cai finally spoke.
"But he was ready to retire to the countryside. He could have hidden."
"There was still the risk of being discovered. And if there’s risk, it must be eliminated."
Fa Cai said indifferently, as if life meant nothing to him.
Hearing this, Si Xi looked at him and said, "Then you and I also know too many secrets. Should we die too?"
Fa Cai looked at Si Xi, a flicker of surprise crossing his face, but he quickly returned to his usual indifference, "If necessary, yes!"
Si Xi looked at Fa Cai, "So for just one person, everyone else can be sacrificed, right?"
Fa Cai looked at Si Xi and then said, "Si Xi, remember, both of us were picked up from the refugees by the master. Without him, we would have died long ago. Our lives today are all thanks to the master’s cultivation, so we should be ready to die for him.
Si Xi responded, "Zheng Chuan was also picked up from the refugees by the master, so why would he disobey the master’s orders?"
Fa Cai said, "He didn’t. All along, he just secretly sold iron wares and didn’t do anything to wrong the master. And his sale of iron wares was just to raise money for favoritism."
"As for the master, he has never wronged the master! He has always treated the master as a ruler, as a father."
Si Xi looked at Fa Cai, "You were able to say so much in one breath, hahaha..."
Fa Cai looked at him and said, "Boring—"
Si Xi then looked up at the moon and stars in the sky, "Like a ruler, like a father, like a ruler, like a father..."
He then hugged the wine jug and fell asleep, leaned against the stone lion of Feng Residence.
Watching Si Xi asleep, Fa Cai stretched out his hand to lift him up, "No tolerance, still forcing a drink."
"Cough cough... cough cough..."
"Master, you can’t drink any more, no more."
Peng Shizhong stood in the courtyard, holding a wine jug and looking at Zheng Chuan’s corpse, taking big swigs of wine.
Peng Fu had returned and immediately went to snatch the wine jug from Peng Shizhong’s hands.
But Peng Shizhong just wouldn’t give it to him.
Helpless, Peng Fu stepped aside, and Peng Shizhong said, "Ah Fu, do you remember the first time we saw this boy?"
Peng Fu paused, looking at Peng Shizhong, who continued, "This kid was actually fighting with a stray dog over a meat bun."
"Yes, he was very wild back then. When he saw us coming, he even thought we were after his bun, sigh... It’s been over a decade in a blink."
Peng Fu added from the side.
"This kid was smart. Back then, Feng Xuan had already started learning martial arts, and he too clamored to learn, and practiced very diligently. If Feng Xuan practiced for five hours, he would practice for six; if Feng Xuan did six, he would do seven, even forgoing sleep."
Peng Fu said, "Yes, Second Master really did push himself back then."