Yongzheng moved with the cold precision of Number One. Raising the borrowed sword, he shot two bursts of focused internal energy at Cao Fengge. Cao Fengge was swift, flipping backward to avoid the first ray and forward to avoid the second. But Yongzheng's lightning-fast sword was already at his face. Cao Fengge ducked, sliding forward on his knees. Yongzheng, with superior agility, hovered over him and instantly slid to the opposite side.
Cao Fengge shouted a warning to his son. "Wenyan, don't enter the arena!"
Cao Fengge released his deadly red thread needles. Yongzheng, however, was prepared. He expertly wound the needles around his sword, then redirected them with force straight back at Cao Fengge. One final needle was left spinning harmlessly on the tip of Yongzheng's sword.
Cao Fengge leaped high to avoid the returning volley, but as he reached the peak of his jump, Yongzheng flicked the last needle. The small weapon pierced cleanly through Cao Fengge's right shoulder.
Cao Fengge crashed onto the arena floor. Yongzheng sprinted forward, using his lightness skill, and delivered a powerful strike to Cao Fengge's chest.
Cao Fengge turned to look at Fu Yuanjun, but instead of sympathy, he saw a smirk on his face. Cao Fengge vomited blood.
Yongzheng finished the fight with merciless efficiency. He flew behind Cao Fengge, severed the two tendons on his ankles, then struck his back with a devastating blow, destroying his lower spine. Cao Fengge vomited more blood, knelt on the arena, and slowly collapsed onto his side, crippled.
Cao Yanmei flew onto the arena, throwing her arms wide to shield the broken man. She begged Yongzheng, tears streaming down her face. "Don't kill him!"
Yongzheng was unmoved. "He killed your mother."
Cao Yanmei cried, "I know he killed my mother, but he has also raised me for more than twenty years!" She looked back at Cao Fengge. "To others, he is a demon, but to me, he is a good father who always cares about my happiness!" Her voice was ragged. "Yongzheng, please don't kill him. No matter what, he is my father. In the past twenty years, he has not treated me badly. Please don't kill my father!"
Yongzheng made a cold pronouncement. "I have no intention of killing him."
Rao Zhengsheng, witnessing the brutal but unfinished revenge, jumped onto the arena and snatched the sword from Yongzheng's hand. He roared, "If you don't want to kill him, I will kill him!" He lunged the sword at Cao Fengge, but Cao Yanmei stood firm. "Yanmei, move aside!"
Cao Yanmei cried, holding her ground. "Rao gege, I'm begging you, please don't kill him. Yongzheng has hurt his nerves, and he will be in a wheelchair like my father for the rest of his life!"
Rao Zhengsheng gritted his teeth, his fury a tidal wave. "He killed my parents! He killed my shifu who was like a father to me!" His lips trembled. "He killed my shimu…" He roared, the sound echoing through Shaolin. "He killed my shimu! Do you understand? He killed my juniors and destroyed my homes!" He pointed his sword at the prone figure. "Do you understand the feelings of watching the light dimmed out of the eyes of the person you love?"
Cao Yanmei, consumed by conflicting loyalties, wept. "Rao gege, I won't argue for his crime, but I ask for your forgiveness!"
Rao Zhengsheng's answer was final. "Today, one of us must die. I will never forgive him!"
"Alright, you kill me first! Rao gege, I won't hold a grudge against you. You are right to avenge the people my father killed, but he has raised me for twenty years. I should hate him, but I don't. I can only use my life to repay his kindness for the twenty years he had raised me!"
Dong Shun cried out, "Yanmei…"
Cao Yanmei looked at her birth father, the irony of the situation crushing her. "Helping one father is being an ungrateful daughter to another father." She turned back to Rao Zhengsheng. "Rao gege, please tell me what shall I do? Please tell me..." She continued sobbing, trapped between her two fathers.
Rao Zhengsheng was trapped, unable to answer Cao Yanmei. His hands were trembling, and the sword he held shook violently with his internal struggle.
Yongzheng stepped forward and gently grasped his brother's trembling hand. "Rao Zhengsheng, if you kill Cao Fengge today, then tomorrow, Cao Wenyan will come to kill you. Seeking revenge back and forth, when will it end?" He carefully took the sword from Rao Zhengsheng's grasp.
"Killing stops with the wise." He offered a soft, reminiscent smile. "Someone once told me that life is as simple as three meals a day and a warm blanket at night." He looked into his brother's eyes, making a plea only he could understand. "Da ge, do it for me... help me gain merit and lessen my punishment when I face Yanlou in the netherworld."
Rao Zhengsheng finally yielded, his fury exhausted by his brother's wisdom and his own moral dilemma. "Alright… Cao Fengge, today... let our family grievances come to an end. As long as you don't make trouble, I won't retaliate against you."
Cao Yanmei burst into tears of relief. "Thank you, Rao gege!"
Cao Wenyan rushed onto the arena and quickly slipped a pill into Cao Fengge's mouth. He supported his crippled father. "Father."
Cao Yanmei approached her brother. "Ge, please take good care of father from now on."
Cao Wenyan looked at her sadly. "Yanmei, will you not return with us?"
Cao Yanmei shook her head. "No." She held Cao Fengge's left hand. "Father, please take care of yourself." She knelt before Cao Fengge and performed the ritual kowtow three times, symbolizing her final farewell to the life he had given her. She then stood up, walked off the stage, and followed Rao Zhengsheng to join Dong Shun's side, formally choosing her new family.
Yongzheng walked over to his master, Liang daoshi.
Liang daoshi asked gently, "Have you untied the knots inside your heart?"
"Yes," Yongzheng confirmed.
"Are you going home with me or leaving with them?"
Yongzheng explained his delayed plan. "Shifu, I will return home in three months. When I know that the Cao family will not avenge, and Rao Zhengsheng has recovered, I will go back."
Liang daoshi smiled, accepting his commitment. "Alright. After you return home, if you still want to be a Taoist, I will let you go through the ceremony this time."
"Thank you," Yongzheng said, his path now clear.
Far down south, in the southwest region, the sun beat down on the endless rice fields. Xue Horan drove his horse carriage along the road. He spotted a small farm shelter and, next to it, a little girl catching frogs.
Xue Horan stopped the carriage and walked toward her. "Xiao meimei, do you have extra water to share with this da ge?" he asked kindly.
The young girl looked up. "Yes, I was about to go wash my hands."
"What's your name?"
"My name is Xue Nuo," the girl replied.
Xue Horan smiled, touched by the coincidence. "Really? My surname is Xue, too."
"Xue da ge, come," Xue Nuo said, leading the way.
They reached the small roadside shelter where two children were sleeping. Xue Nuo pointed to a little girl. "That is my little sister Ah Rou."
Xue Horan felt a strange sense of familiarity. "Ah Rou. Rou shijie," he murmured, recalling his own senior sister. He looked at the boy. "Is his name Zhengsheng, Ah Nui, or Horan?"
Xue Nuo giggled. "He is Ah Nui. My da ge Zhengsheng is chopping wood with my father. I heard my mother say when she gives birth to the baby, the baby will be named Horan."
Tears welled in Xue Horan's eyes. The names were too close to the family he had lost. He asked softly, "Xiao meimei, where is your mother?"
Xue Nuo pointed. "Oh, they are here."
Xue Horan's heart skipped a beat as he watched a heavily pregnant woman carrying a basket approach. Walking with her was a big boy, and beside him, a handsome young man. The pregnant woman was none other than Dong Lanying.
Xue Nuo shouted happily, "Mother!"
Dong Lanying put her basket down and looked up, seeing Xue Horan. A look of anguish and resignation on her face. "Are you here to end it?" she asked, referring to the blood feud he knew she carried.
Xue Horan shook his head. "Shi... furen, I'm passing by and just want water for my horses."
The young man—Dong Lanying's husband, Xue Long—smiled gently. "Zhengsheng, take this da ge's horses to drink water."
Xue Zhengsheng and Xue Nuo led the horses away.
Dong Lanying introduced her husband. "This is my husband, Xue Long."
Xue Horan asked about the sleeping children. "Those children."
"They are my adopted children," Dong Lanying explained. She poured a bowl of tea and handed it to Xue Horan. "Sorry, please forgive me."
Xue Horan smiled. "Xue furen don't have to be sorry, a bowl of cold tea is better than water."
Dong Lanying tried several times to speak, the true weight of her past too heavy to share.
Xue Horan reached into his robe and took out a small jade pendant. He smiled and held it out. "Xue furen, it is fate to meet you. This is for your unborn child. My mother gave it to me. She said it will protect me from harm."
Dong Lanying's eyes filled with tears as she took the jade pendant, which had the word 'Horan' written on it. She managed a choked whisper. "I'm truly sorry... Thank you."
Xue Long also expressed his gratitude. Xue Zhengsheng and Xue Nuo soon returned with the watered horses and carriage.
Xue Zhengsheng announced, "Mother, laolao is calling us for dinner."
Dong Lanying asked, "Xue gongzi, would you like to stay for dinner?"
Xue Horan politely declined. "Xue furen, thank you, but I'm in a hurry. I'm glad to see you and your family. Thank you for the bowl of tea." He smiled at the children. "Thank you for taking my horse to drink water."
Xue Long wished him well. "Xue gongzi, safe travel."
Dong Lanying, struggling with the name, whispered, "Ho… Xue gongzi, thank you."
Dong Lanying watched Xue Horan jump into the carriage and drive away. She smiled at Xue Long. "Lao gong, go and wake them up, let's go home."
Xue Long asked, "What kind of dishes is laolao cooking today?"
Xue Nuo chimed in, "She cooks a lot of dishes."
As the family began to leave the rice fields, Dong Lanying stopped and watched the carriage until it was almost swallowed by the sunset. She whispered, "Horan, thank you."
Xue Zhengsheng shouted, "Mother, hurry up!"
Dong Lanying smiled and shouted back, "I'm coming!"
Xue Long commented, "That Xue gongzi is a good person."
Dong Lanying smiled back, a heavy weight lifted from her soul. "Yes, he is indeed a very good person." She reached out and took Xue Long's hand.
As the sun set, the couple walked home with their four children, the simple beauty of their present life overshadowing the ghosts of their past.