The sky was gray, and the fog was like wisps of smoke. The sun was coming up on the eastern side, and dawn was breaking. The orangey-yellow color was spreading through the dark sky. Ye Hai, who was resting, opened his eyes. The expression on his wizened face shifted slightly.
“Is it Leader Lin?” Ye Hai slowly stood up. Without turning around, he knew who had shown up behind him. Lin Chang had a high status in the Ye family. Even Ye Hai had to defer to him as the leader of the Six Flowery Blades.
“It is,” Lin Chang replied.
“Are you here… because you have news about our master?” Ye Hai asked. It was the day of the duel, so Ye Hai believed that Ye Cheng should be there already.
“Indeed.” Lin Chang smirked. “The news is… Ye Cheng is dead.”
“What did you say?” Ye Hai was shocked. He turned around to see a wicked and emotionless face. Lin Chang was not joking. In the first place, it was not funny, and he was not one to joke about such things.
“Thank you for your service, Elder Ye.” Lin Chang’s tone was even, but there was undeniable excitement and gloating in his eyes. “You helped me clean up the rookies from the martial world and spies from the government. That saved me a lot of trouble.”
“What do you mean? Help you?” Ye Hai felt the murderous air from Lin Chang, so he instinctively turned hostile.
“Hehe… Do you still remember the duel letter?” Lin Chang said with a smile. Ye Hai’s brain buzzed, and white light flashed across his eyes. Something hit him, but he refused to believe it was real. If it was any other normal old man who received such a news, they would have fainted already.
“You… you… master…” Ye Hai’s breathing was messed up, and his emotion was a mixture of shock and anger.
“Didn’t I tell you that Ye Cheng is dead?” Lin Chang replied easily. “If you have not gone senile, you should have understood everything by now. It was me who wrote the duel letter, and it was me who arranged everything. The order for everyone to stay away from the Blade Cemetery and the order for you to stay here to watch the roads… that was all me.”
“You!” Fire crawled toward Ye Hai’s heart, causing his internal energy to go haywire. He staggered back two steps. “Impossible… how did you…”
“How did I manage to kill Ye Cheng? Humph…” Lin Chang snorted. “That is easy. I am simply more powerful than him.”
His murderous aura grew, but he kept his hands behind him. He did not move to take the blade by his waist. “Compared to killing him, mimicking his handwriting is more difficult. I’ve followed Ye Cheng for so many years, spending all that time studying his handwriting so that my copy can be perfect. But… even if I was confident that I could fool everyone else, I wasn’t confident about fooling your eyes.”
He took deliberate steps forward. “When I handed you the letter, I was really worried you might see through my copy. Thankfully, you did not say anything and followed the orders.”
“I indeed noticed something off about it…” Ye Hai’s body was shaking. He gritted his teeth. “But I think…”
“Hahaha…” Lin Chang cut him off by laughing madly. “You think murdering the master, inciting the duel, faking a letter… none of that is possible, right? Hahaha… And all those things are even more impossible to have been done by me, Lin Chang, right?’
“Lin Chang, the Ye family has given you everything…” Ye Hai said. “Why…”
“False!” Lin Chang’s face was suddenly colored by anger. “They have given me everything? That’s false! I practiced my current kung fu on my own; the status of Clear Sky Blade was my own hardwork. I have contributed so much for the Ye family over the years. Don’t I deserve more? Of the kung fu that I’ve learned at the Ye family, any disciple at Ye Family would have the chance to learn it. But the ultimate kung fu of the Ye family is only limited to the people of Ye family, no? Ye Cheng and Ye Mu Han can both learn the Ye family’s Blade Technique and Falling Snow Kung Fu, but why can’t I? Because I am ultimately an outsider, no… a servant!”
At this point, Lin Chang lowered his eyes, and the murderous aura rushed at the elder before him like a wave. The sharp blade aura shot out from Lin Chang’s finger. At that moment, he was more powerful bladeless than when he was armed. Several fallen leaves wreathed into the blade aura and flew at Ye Hai. At the same time, Lin Chang mocked, “You are such a laughable old servant. You have served Ye Family like a livestock your whole life, and you think that is a kind of generous gesture.”
This skill was meant to kill. Ye Hai had not even seen a skill like this before, much less tried to evade it. Instantly, he was cut by the sharp, blade-like leaves and coughed out blood. Perhaps knowing that this was the end, Ye Hai was surprisingly calm after being injured.
“Sigh… Perhaps you are right, but such is the truth of the world. I, Ye Hai, was not born in a rich family, nor do I come from a powerful background. This is my destiny, and I have no one to blame for it. I know how sincere the Ye family treats me. They have done no wrong by me, and I will always try to repay that; I am in their service willingly, which is what righteousness is. We play the hand that we are dealt. I am unable to change my destiny, but at least I have no guilt or regret.
“But you, Lin Chang, humph… If the Ye family did not accept you as a disciple, how would your journey have begun? Without the Ye family’s support, how would you have made a name for yourself in the martial world? Even if you think the Ye family has done no right by you, but have they done you any wrong? This is due to your own ruthless ambition. Do not paint it like you have been wronged…”
“Shut up!” Lin Chang raised his finger. An aura shot out from his finger and pierced through Ye Hai’s chest. “Since you think you can’t change your destiny, then accept your end!”
Lin Chang regarded the old man with emotionless eyes. “I am different from you… My destiny is in my own hands!”
One second later, the aura burst out of Ye Hai’s body as blood bloomed in the air. Ye Hai now understood… why Ye Cheng had died.
Lin Chang’s kung fu was far beyond Ye Hai’s level. He was probably unmatched in the current martial world.
“What do you plan to do? What is the purpose of this duel…” Blood burst out from Ye Hai’s lips and leaked out of his every other orifice. He leaned against the tree and slowly slid to the ground as he forced out that final question.
“Humph… You can ask your master when you’re down there.” Lin Chang said that and turned to leave. Even if he had been willing to answer the question, Ye Hai would have been unable to hear it.
To the east, a red sun burst through the thin veil, coloring the purplish sky blue, adding a golden shimmer to the rolling clouds.
On the mountain, under an old tree, in a pool of blood, an old gentleman sat. He would never wake up, but his eyes would never close.