"I told them not to go! Told them not to go, but they insisted!"
"So many people have been beaten, legs broken, hands broken, and those are our livelihoods! The troupe master was even beaten to death!"
"In a few days, I won't be able to keep them in the troupe either. Shantong City is poor, can't support idle perforrs. Better to scatter so money and let them return ho. Ah! Ah! Why are you pushing ?! Don't go in, don't go in!"
In the courtyard lay a corpse. It was the troupe master, who ca to the troupe later like Little Tao. He used to be a prominent lead actor, but later ruined his voice. Fortunately, he found work in this troupe. He was such a kind man, so kind that when he laughed, the wrinkles on his face could squeeze out two smiles.
But now, he was dead.
Little Tao couldn't stop her tears from rolling down.
Her own leg was broken too, and death wasn't far away.
The doorfra suddenly shuddered, as if struck by a fierce gale. Dong Gong Ruoshu barged through the door, and the dazed Little Tao fell into her sight.
Miss Donggong's heart twisted with sorrow, and she called out: "Little Tao!"
Little Tao seed to regain her senses. Dazed, she glanced over, forcing a feeble smile: "She… did she go to find you?"
The "she" Little Tao referred to was, of course, her personal maid.
Chen Yi entered behind Dong Gong Ruoshu, and his heart sank when he saw that pale visage.
Clearly a girl in her pri, whose cherry-like smile just days ago brightened her peach-blossom face, now stood there gaunt and wasted. Her calf bent at an awkward angle, wrapped in thick fabric. A pungent dicinal odor lingered around.
"Thank you… to the two… young masters…" Little Tao's voice trembled weakly, "for visiting ."
Little Tao was already struggling to stay alive. The maid accompanying the two heard her frail words and burst into tears, collapsing onto the ground.
"Little Tao sister… Little Tao sister didn't want to find the young masters, but I couldn't help it. Yuanfeng Building burned down. So many people died. People gathered, but couldn't go to the building owner for compensation, so they forced the troupe instead. Just because the troupe earned the most money!
The people in the troupe discussed, thinking they could rely on old acquaintances to secure so relief. But instead… instead they were beaten. Three lead actors had their bones fractured. Soone else died too. Little Tao sister's leg crippled—she'll never be able to step onto the stage again! Never again!"
The leg was crippled.
She would never step onto the stage again.
Dong Gong Ruoshu raised her hand to touch the bandaged leg wrapped in thick fabric. Inside, the bones had been shattered, leaving only soft flesh. She could feel the scattered fragnts of bone even through the wrapping. She couldn't believe that the benefactor who had once helped her now suffered such a tragic fate. Little Tao's body trembled slightly from the pain.
Looking at Little Tao's crippled leg, her heart—though clumsy—was soft, and tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Who doesn't speak well of Little Tao sister? The young masters gave her three hundred taels of silver, but Little Tao sister still pitied others and divided it up," the maid cried out as she fell onto the sickbed, burying her head.
Little Tao instinctively tried to reach out to pat her head, but the motion pulled at her injuries. She cried out in pain, repeatedly trying but unable to extend her hand, lying there helpless, shaking her head with closed eyes as a single tear slid down.
Chen Yi stood in place, taking all this in.
He could've chosen not to co. After all, he had little connection with this actress—it was just a chance encounter, two travelers eting away from ho.
But he still ca. Was it for the so-called Jianghu sense of justice, or was it simply that traversing the mountains makes one grieve for those who've lost their way? Chen Yi didn't know. He just felt a surge of fire in his heart, heating his chest, burning violently.
After a long silence, Chen Yi finally spoke slowly:
"If you can no longer perform, afterward co to my estate. I will find you a place in a Daoist temple."
Little Tao and the maid both turned their heads blankly to look at him.
"Heal there and leave, or stay and take vows—it's up to you. There's plenty of magic on the mountains; it can cure you."
Chen Yi paused and continued:
"Other than the ones who struck you—who else was involved?"
"… Chongzi is dead. He played Lin Chong brilliantly. Then there's Jiazi, Little Lian, and Little Zhan. Their hands were broken. And one of them lost a leg…"
"Did Huang Jing personally order the attacks?"
"… It was the building owner Huang… Young master, why ask this…"
Before the sentence was finished, Chen Yi spared them one last glance before abruptly turning and walking out.
"Where are you going?"
Little Tao wiped her tears, her voice rising in panic.
"This injustice,
I'll confront it for you!"
......
Rain blanketed Shantong City, shrouding Yuanfeng Building.
Fine drizzle fell steadily. Cries, shouts, and clamoring rose again and again. Scores of commoners crowded outside the building, bickering endlessly. Soon, burly servants ca forward to drive them away. If they resisted, flashes of cold steel appeared, scaring the umbrella-wielding crowd into retreating circle after circle.
The building was now a ruin, indistinguishable whether the stains on its burned walls were blood or ash. A band of Jianghu experts stood pale-faced, their expressions stiff, while Huang Jing stood silently in front of the building, seemingly still haunted with dread. He hadn't anticipated that the Western Jin spies would be so audacious and utterly ruthless.
In the swirl of rain, a funeral robe lood.
Huang Jing's entire being seed like rugged stone, unmoving before Yuanfeng Building, with a coffin standing by his side.
Wearing funeral robes, placing the coffin—it was a declaration of deathly resolve.
He took a deep breath, the rain making his throat sticky.
Six Yang Dao Elder stepped forward slowly, his aged brows furrowing as he glanced at the building, then the man, unsure of how to begin comforting him.
Just as he prepared to speak, a voice cut through the rain:
"It's just a building, after all."
The voice was heavy yet calm.
Huang Jing turned around, rage igniting in his eyes, though his figure remained erect.
"Today, I must have made a spectacle in front of you all!"
Suddenly, he cupped his fists, his voice ringing high,
"Since the mont my son died, I, Huang, have been nothing but a wandering ghost,
Yuanfeng Building represents my reputation. It is burned, and my na is ruined—but so what?"
His voice was like clashing steel, resonating through the crowd outside Yuanfeng Building, spreading waves of energy outward. Huang Jing's stature, far from diminishing with Yuanfeng Building's destruction, only seed to rise taller in the eyes of the Jianghu crowd.
"I, Huang Jing, have only six thousand taels left. Today, I will distribute it all, leaving penniless. They say if you take soone's money, you must do their bidding. I, Huang Jing, plead with my life: to all heroes—whether for one tael or more—avenge my son! Avenge !"
Six Yang Dao Elder, Thunder Bear, Flying Sword, nas both renowned and obscure among Jianghu, suddenly found Huang Jing's aura towering. Amidst rising fervor, it seed vows were ready to be made, pledging to seek vengeance for this bereaved father and respected martial arts elder.
Vengeance was justice. In Jianghu, there exists no justice greater than this.
A child avenging a father, a father avenging a child—killing for the sake of righteousness. Even in Eastern Han's history, the renowned official Qiao Xuan killed a County Magistrate on behalf of a filial son. The people praised and rejoiced at the ti.
Huang Jing shouted boldly, "Forget one Yuanfeng Building! Even if I had hundreds or thousands, they are just worldly possessions! I, Huang Jing, would rather see thousands burned to the ground, so long as that Lonely Smoke Sword is beheaded!"
Just as the crowd's emotions surged, seeming ready to cheer along, an icy voice split through the rain:
"To hell with your damned beheading!"
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