Looking at Old Master Du, who was covered in wounds, Wang Xicai not only refused to help him but instead revealed his true nature.
"Brother Wang, please help me! Take me to see a doctor." Old Master Du cried out in pain.
In response, Wang Xicai glanced at Old Master Du with cold indifference, revealing his savage fangs, and picked up a stone from the ground, viciously smashing it onto Old Master Du's head.
Crimson blood flowed uncontrollably from Old Master Du's head.
He lay in a pool of blood, barely clinging to life, the blow of betrayal chilling him to the core, his despairing eyes staring at Wang Xicai as he angrily questioned, "Why... are you doing this?"
Wang Xicai watched him coldly and callously said, "What did you think I pretended to be your brother for? What did you think I followed you all this way for?"
"..." In Old Master Du's eyes, there was a desolate grief; he was utterly desperate.
So the human heart could be this treacherous! People could be this merciless and fickle!
Wang Xicai continued, "Brother Du, my Wang Family has already hit rock bottom, we've reached a dead end here. Finding you was my last resort, and yet you refused me, even saying you would take me to Xiliang to do business? You know business is inherently risky, and this trip could either profit or lose, but my Wang Family can't afford any more losses, neither can I, Wang Xicai! Anyway, the business was a gamble; better that you hand over your money and silk, to secure the future of my Wang Family!"
"So... you had planned this from the start?" Old Master Du asked laboriously, the physical pain already overshadowed by his inner hatred! Even if he had to die, he had to know the truth.
"Yes! From the start of this journey, I had planned everything; with so many bandits and thieves around here, one more or less dead would raise no suspicion, and your fate was just unfortunate." The flickering candlelight distorted Wang Xicai's features.
"You..." Old Master Du's heart was filled with despair and sorrow! A surge of blood suddenly gushed from his mouth, trickling slowly down the corner of his mouth; he had never thought there would come a day when he was betrayed by the one he trusted most!
And this person approached him solely to steal everything from him! Such scheming! Such malice!
"Brother Du, you can't blame me, you can only blame your bad luck!" Wang Xicai had completely lost his humanity; greed had blinded him, and once more, he picked up the bloodied stone with a feral grin and smashed it onto Old Master Du's head repeatedly, until it resembled a shattered watermelon, spilling blood everywhere.
Afterwards, Wang Xicai stripped Old Master Du of the Jade Token and silver notes, and buried his body in a deserted wilderness.
Mo Bai, having finished reading this section, couldn't help but gasp, "Can a person truly be so insidious and deceitful, so cold and heartless?"
"People have desires; once blinded by desire, they make wrong choices," Shen Yanli remarked.
The scene shifted again, flashing forward to three years later. After Old Master Du's death, the Du Family completely declined. Because Old Master Du had mortgaged their home and lands before leaving, the Du Family was ruined overnight; with the tea gone cold, Mrs. Du couldn't bear the blow and died of illness, while Du Lingling ended up in a brothel.
Throughout the three years, Du Lingling regularly wrote to Wang Xicai hoping for news of her father, but she never received a single reply. Though she knew her father's life was likely in jeopardy, she longed to know for certainty whether he was dead or alive!
Not to mention that the person accompanying her father was the one who had once sworn to protect his safe return!
But she never received any reply, until finally, she despaired! She resigned herself to fate! Perhaps Uncle Wang had also met with misfortune on the road, perhaps he had truly given everything to protect her father, perhaps he...
She thought of too many things, all excuses she made for others.
As for Wang Xicai, ever since he ruthlessly murdered Old Master Du, he sold Old Master Du's silk in Xiliang for a good price, and returned to White Cloud Village wealthy. Instantly, the Wang Family became affluent, completely escaping their fate of decline.
Nobody knew that their newfound wealth buried such a sordid past, and Wang Xicai believed that as long as he remained silent, no one would ever know.
Those letters Du Lingling sent, he never even opened, fearing to confront his disgraceful past, subsequently burning them all himself, and not receiving any more letters later on finally put his mind at ease.