The crackling of the distant fire and the faint scent of smoke permeated the abandoned temple. As the old and young martial artists listened to Zhou Guotin's graphic account of his encounter with the Man in Black—the murder of his two brothers and the horrific manner in which the killer had dragged their bodies—they were all stunned. Everyone remained silent for a long, heavy time.
Then, the quiet shattered. Muttered suspicions and theories began echoing as the martial artists shared their doubts about the true identity of the man in black.
Li Kong Bai, the master of the Huangshan Sect, spoke, confirming his recent movements. "I came as soon as I received the news. I was in Sword Village at the time."
Zhou Guotin, fueled by grief and conviction, directed a pointed question at the master. "Shifu, do you see Chief Cao in Sword Village?" He rolled his eyes, a clear gesture of suspicion, toward Cao Wenyan and Cao Yanmei.
Yong Taihua answered on behalf of the sect. "No, Chief Cao is not in Sword Village."
Cao Wenyan, bristling at the implication, defended his father. "Zhou qianbei, I don't like your tone of voice when you speak of my father. My father is not in Sword Village. He and my mother are visiting my grandparents in Jiangnan."
Fu Yuanjun of the Tianshan Sector intervened, trying to maintain order. "Cao gongzi, please calm down. Zhou qianbei, why do you ask about Chief Cao?"
Zhou Guotin delivered the core of his accusation. "Because the man in black used a needle with thread. The only person who is highly proficient in using the needle with thread technique is Chief Cao of Beixing Sect."
Hearing Zhou Guotin repeatedly slander his father's good name with circumstantial evidence; Cao Wenyan couldn't bear it. He stood up, his face flushed with rage and confronted the injured man. "Zhou Guotin, you didn't see his face with your own eyes! How dare you accuse him!"
Zhou Guotin, seeing the anger of the Cao siblings, quickly tried to backtrack without retracting his core point. "Cao gongzi, I didn't say that it was Chief Cao. I said that the technique used by the Man in Black is similar to that of Chief Cao."
Cao Yanmei, however, was not appeased. "Your words are spoken directly towards him! You said that my father is the only one who practices red needles and threads! Many of the people accused of a crime by the six sectors and four clans might not be all true!"
Cao Wenyan seized the opportunity to inject a politically sensitive point, drawing dangerous comparisons. "The Devil Fist is supposed to belong to the Wang household, but who had known that the Gu household also practiced it?" He then leveled his gaze across the room. "When everyone says that Mu Jiao Long is the only one who cultivates Killer String, who would have known that Mu gongzi skilled as he is, is beyond Mu Jiao Long in many ways!"
Yan Zhanjin reacted immediately to the mention of his Shizun's name. "Cao Wenyan!" He stood up and pointed a furious finger at the arrogant youth. "Don't drag Mingyang into this matter!"
Yong Taihua was equally offended. "Cao gongzi, do not bring my Shizun into this too!"
Chen Dandan quickly moved to hold both Yan Zhanjin and Yong Taihua's arms, trying to physically restrain them. "Calm down!"
Cao Wenyan merely smiled, entirely unrepentant. "I'm just making comparisons."
Kuo Wenqian then offered a plausible explanation that aimed to diffuse the situation by returning to the original culprit. "Cao gongzi, I know where you are going. The Man in Black must be someone who has an antagonism with Chief Cao, so he wanted to imitate him to make trouble and destroy the fetters of the six sectors, four clans, as well as the four households."
Cao Wenyan, his frustration boiling over, said angrily, "And I know who that would be!" He rushed out of the deserted room and went straight to the corner of the temple where Rao Zhengsheng was resting with Xue Horan. Cao Yanmei quickly followed her brother.
Yong Taihua called out, confused by the sudden change in target. "What's the matter?"
Fu Yuanjun of the Tianshan Sect hurriedly chased Cao Wenyan into the center of the temple compound, trying to stop the impending violence. "Cao gongzi, what do you think you are doing?"
Cao Wenyan pointed straight at Rao Zhengsheng. "The only person I know who has hatred with my father is Rao Zhengsheng. I know he caused this ordeal!" Cao Wenyan stepped forward, but Fu Yuanjun grabbed his right shoulder. Cao Wenyan shook his shoulder abruptly, turning around with fury. "Chief Fu, don't think that just because you are the leader of Tianshan, I wouldn't dare to go against you. This is between the Cao and the Rao. You stay away!"
Fu Yuanjun tried to reason with him using the only authority he knew Cao Wenyan respected. "Cao Gongzi, think carefully before you do this. If Fa... your father knows, he will punish you. Your father is a very strict person, you know better than anyone else."
Cao Wenyan was past reason, driven by a deeper turmoil. He said madly, "Chief Fu, you seem to know my father well! I tell you, no matter what I do, I will take full responsibility!" He began to move forward again.
Fu Yuanjun grabbed Cao Wenyan's hand, but Cao Wenyan violently pulled his hand away and began to fight with Fu Yuanjun.
Fu Yuanjun defended himself and refused to fight back against Cao Wenyan. He spoke while dodging the attacks, trying to calm the heir. "Cao Gongzi, you are the heir to the Cao Household, the rightful son. You are not an illegitimate child without status. You must hold your integrity high and show everyone that you can be the next heir to the Cao Household!"
Cao Wenyan, refusing to back down, continued to punch Fu Yuanjun with everything he had. He spat out his pent-up, lifelong resentment. "What do you know about position and title? You are not someone who needs training since childhood! You are not the one who has no childhood memories! Anything except your sword and your books! My position and entitlement were not handed to me like yours!" Cao Wenyan threw a punch heavily, and Fu Yuanjun finally caught his fist, stopping the blow just short of his face.
Fu Yuanjun had endured the verbal and physical assault, but Cao Wenyan's cruel minimization of his life finally broke his control. He was furious. He delivered a severe, focused strike to Cao Wenyan's left chest. With the force of Fu Yuanjun's blow, Cao Wenyan staggered back twenty yards, managing to keep his footing only by sheer will.
He stood there, breathing hard, and said angrily, "You have never walked in my footsteps, so don't talk to me about position and entitlement!"
Cao Wenyan was utterly enraged by the counterattack. He quickly released his signature red thread needle directly at Fu Yuanjun.
Fu Yuanjun, however, was prepared. He quickly grabbed the needle and began to reel the red thread rapidly between his left and right hands, pulling the thread taut until Cao Wenyan was within reach. He immediately grabbed Cao Wenyan's neck with his right hand; the needle's tip pointed menacingly at Cao Wenyan's jugular.
Fu Yuanjun gritted his teeth, his own anger now on full display. "Are you done throwing your tantrum... Cao Gongzi?"
Cao Yanmei rushed over, terrified for her brother, and grabbed Fu Yuanjun's left hand. She pleaded, "Fu Yuanjun! Loosen my Ge's neck!"
The other martial artists hurried into the courtyard and were stunned to find Fu Yuanjun's hand tightly clasped around the neck of the Cao Household heir. The martial artists knew that for someone to anger the usually composed and highly respected Leader of Tianshan, that person must have truly crossed a dangerous line.
Fu Yuanjun sighed, his breathing deep and ragged. He decided not to escalate the situation further, realizing the gravity of the onlookers. He loosened Cao Wenyan's neck, then delivered a final, emotionally charged retort. "Cao Gongzi, not everyone in the world is as lucky as you, who was born with both parents, and the rightful son as the heir of his father's legacy."
Li Kong Bai, who had just lost two of his beloved disciples, intervened, his grief lending weight to his words. "Leader Fu, Cao Gongzi, no one is pointing their finger at Chief Cao. Perhaps this is exactly what the culprit wants; causing disagreement between the six sectors, four clans, and four households."
Liu Huang, one of the non-sect members, walked up to Cao Wenyan to support the call for caution. "Cao Gongzi, I am not a member of the martial arts world. Chief Li has not blamed anyone. I agree with Chief Li's view on this issue."
Cao Yanmei stood beside her brother, placing a hand on his arm. "Ge, tomorrow we will go to find father and ask for his opinion." Her words gave Cao Wenyan the excuse he needed to retreat. Cao Wenyan, still simmering with rage, abruptly left the group of martial artists and stormed out of the courtyard.
Cao Yanmei turned her head to look at Fu Yuanjun and saw that the red thread was still tightly wrapped around Fu Yuanjun's index and middle fingers, with blood dripping from his fingertips from the violent arrest. She reached out, surprisingly gentle, and took Fu Yuanjun's hand, carefully untying the red thread. She took out her handkerchief and wrapped Fu Yuanjun's injured fingers while saying, "Chief Fu, please be the better man and forgive my dage. I'm sorry, he hurt you and thank you for not hurting him." She tied the handkerchief securely at both ends. She smiled genuinely at Fu Yuanjun. "Thank you." She nodded at Fu Yuanjun and quickly left the courtyard to find her brother.
When Cao Yanmei went to find Cao Wenyan, she ran straight into Yongzheng, who was carrying two items. Yongzheng dropped his two roasted sweet potatoes on the ground. He bent over and picked up the two food items.
Cao Yanmei, still highly emotional, snapped at him. "Are you blind?" Then she realized that the person she had bumped into was the 'stinky Taoist' who had repeatedly saved her and her brother.
Yongzheng, utterly composed, simply said, "I'm sorry."
Cao Yanmei, unable to fully shed her aggressive persona, retorted, "You should be."
Yongzheng merely said, "Excuse me." He tried to walk past Cao Yanmei.
Cao Yanmei stopped him. "Hey, wait…" She walked up to Yongzheng, stretched out her hand, and handed Yongzheng a pass jade of the Beixing Sect. "Take it…"
Yongzheng looked at the valuable token with indifference. "For what?"
Cao Yanmei's expression softened, a hint of sadness in her eyes. "With this, ordinary martial artists will not harm you." She looked at him. "Tomorrow, my dage and I are leaving."
Yongzheng accepted the news with his usual detachment. "Have a safe travel." He then continued to walk away.
Cao Yanmei watched him go, then muttered angrily under her breath, a conflicted mix of affection and pride. "You dumb stinky Taoist."