Chapter Thirty-Six: The Thief's Farewell

  Everyone knew that Su Feng had some worries, and no one wanted to disturb him, letting him calm down by himself. Perhaps it was because of his separation from Bi He, or perhaps it was due to his concerns about the journey, a whole day and night passed. The Water Dragon Boat sailed out of Zhejiang and along the coast until they finally stopped to rest in Haizhou.

  That night, while Feng was still meditating in his room, he suddenly heard a commotion outside the door. Feng was slightly startled and thought to himself that something unexpected must have happened. Then, he heard the sound of clashing weapons, and only then did Feng realize that an assassin had arrived.

  Just wanted to go out and take a look, but remembered that Liang Zei and Mu Rong Xuanfeng were both outside, so even if he went out, he wouldn't be of much help. So he stayed in the house, sat down, and regulated his breath. After about half an hour, the noise outside gradually dispersed. Su Feng didn't go out to ask about the situation either, but instead closed his eyes and continued to practice his breathing exercises.

  Time passed quietly like this, and the assassin incident earlier seemed to be just a small episode. After two days of practicing without distinction between day and night, Xunfeng's skills had also made great progress.

  The Renmai acupoints that had been loosened by his true energy earlier were all opened up by him with one breath that night. Originally, the number of Renmai acupoints was much less than that of Dumai, and most martial artists would open up Renmai first before opening up Dumai. Going against the wind is easier to reverse its direction, compared to which, opening up the Small Heavenly Cycle is within reach.

  Just as he was about to make his move, "Bang Bang", the door rang. For the past two days, everyone seemed to know that he had something on his mind and no one came to disturb him. Who could it be this time?

  As soon as he got up with the wind, he heard a voice outside the door: "Xiao Feng, it's me." It was Liang Ze's voice.

  "Brother Liang." Xiang Feng responded with a single word, opening the door. He saw Liang Ze's somewhat apologetic gaze, previously Liang Ze had been carefree and playful all day, but today he suddenly looked a bit heavy-hearted. Xiang Feng's heart tightened, had something happened?

  Let Liang steal into one of them. "Didn't you know that an assassin came in 'Shui Long Yin' last night?"

  Su Feng smiled carelessly and said, "With you and Murong Xuanyi here, if you both can't handle it, then I'd just be going to my death for nothing."

  Liang Ze's son sighed and said, "Tonight we just stopped in Haizhou for a short rest, but we've already attracted assassins. It seems that Li Linfu is getting anxious, although there are only three assassins, they are all top-notch masters who can shake the world. Even the leader of them was not below me, and it was only with the help of Murong Xuanyu's wind that I managed to force him back. You alone would be in danger even if you were on a Water Dragon Wharf."

  "Am I alone?" Suddenly startled, he asked back: "Are you leaving? Don't go to Penglai with me?"

  Liang Zei shook his head and said: "I just received a letter yesterday, urgently summoning me to Mount Song Shaolin. I'll set off at dawn."

  "Mount Song Shaolin? What are you going there for?" asked Su Feng.

  "I have a friend on the road who has taken a liking to something and has been squatting there for a long time. He said earlier that it would take a long time to prepare and make arrangements, so I wasn't worried about the trip. Recently, there's finally been some progress, and when I go over to discuss it with him, we'll be ready to make our move."

  He was slightly startled and exclaimed, "You actually went to Shaolin Temple to steal the monks' things!" In his opinion, the Buddhist door is a pure land, and stealing things is really too blasphemous.

  Liang Ze's expression also turned somewhat desolate, and he said: "We have a friend who has been seriously injured and needs the golden relics formed by the Buddhist faith to save his life."

  Listening to the wind, it's also a moment of silence. To save people, stealing something, even if it offends the Buddha, what does it matter? All the sins in the world seem pale in comparison to human life. The so-called right and wrong, where is the final verdict? What you see as evil may be seen as supreme good by others, and vice versa. Although he knows that stealing is wrong, stealing from the Buddha's door is an even greater mistake, but if it can save his loved ones, he will do it without hesitation.

  Liang Tou'er's voice paused for a moment, then continued: "After I get off the boat tomorrow, it will take another day to reach Penglai. Fortunately, we have already left the southeastern region and are out of Li Linfu's sight. However, be careful not to let your guard down, and remember not to reveal any information about these matters when traveling in the future. With the Xuanfeng brothers on the Water Dragon Boat, nothing should happen, and I suppose the Blood Hidden Hall doesn't want to offend the Murong family either."

  "Who would have thought we'd be parting ways so soon?"

  Liang Ze's smile was forced as he said, "It doesn't matter, we'll have plenty of chances to meet again in the future. If you really can become a disciple of Master Hua and make a name for yourself, I think it won't be difficult for you to find me again."

  Liáng Tuōér's words made him sigh inwardly, "What if I couldn't? What if Huā Qiānbei didn't want to take me in?" At this moment, he himself wasn't clear whether it was a worry about the unclear future or a hesitation. Hesitation itself is a kind of fear of failure.

  Liang Ze's expression changed, and he said seriously: "When I first joined my master's sect, my master asked me, 'I have no reputation in the Jianghu, are you sure you want to join my sect?' At that time, I was young and didn't know much, so I casually replied, 'I only want to learn skills, I don't care about having a reputation in the Jianghu.' Later, my master told me something that I still can't forget."

  I didn't expect that the mischievous Liang Tou'er would have such a story, and I hurriedly asked: "What did your master say?"

  "He said, 'What's important isn't who you learn from or what you learn, but whether you've gained a Dao that belongs only to you.' Just this one sentence, every time I think about it, I have different feelings. Whether or not you can become a disciple of Master Hua is unimportant, and whether or not you can learn his Reversal Technique is also unimportant. What's important for you now is knowing which path you should take next."

  After listening to the wind, he was stunned for a long time. All along, his goal had been to enter the door of Huajiu Gong as Changming said. Later, due to a combination of circumstances, he obtained the Xitian Jue, and his strength increased, but he became worried that Huajiu Gong might not accept him because of this. It seemed that for him, entering Huajiu Gong's door had become everything, and the future he could think of seemed to only continue from there. He imagined many times, but each time it was just thinking about what would happen after entering Huajiu Gong's door, never thinking about how he wanted to grow in the future, or what kind of person he wanted to become.

  Liang Ze saw him in a daze and deep in thought, and couldn't help but pat his shoulder, comforting him: "Within a month, no matter what, if you have any difficulties, you can come to Mount Song to find me." As soon as he finished speaking, the entire boat suddenly swayed slightly.

  Liang Ze'er raised his head and looked out through the quartz porthole, muttering to himself: "Have we reached the shore yet?"

  Feng Zhe suddenly woke up and looked at Liang Ze and said: "Are you leaving now?"

  Liang Ze nodded and quietly stood up. Su Feng also followed him out of the room. As soon as they came out, they found that Murong Xuanfeng and Qingfeng had been waiting on the deck for a long time.

  Seeing the two of them come out, Murong Xuanfeng said: "Brother Liang, take care on your journey."

  Murong Qingfeng also said: "If Brother Liang encounters any trouble with bad people, just mention the Murong family name. Most people in the Jianghu world will show some respect." Who boasts about their own family like that? As soon as he finished speaking, Murong Xuanyi let out a light cough.

  Liang Ze's son knew he was still young, straightforward and not good at talking, so he wouldn't mind. He laughed and said: "What Qingfeng said is indeed interesting, you all take care of yourselves too. Today we part ways, who knows when we'll meet again."

  Murong Xuan clasped his hands and said, "In the future, if Brother Liang comes to Zhejiang, you must come to Hangzhou for a visit. I've long heard of Brother Liang's reputation as a divine hand that shakes the heavens, but unfortunately, due to the haste of this trip, we didn't get to see it in action."

  Liang Ze laughed and said, "The road ahead is yours to walk alone, take good care of yourself. Next time we meet, you must be even more formidable than now." With that, he lightly jumped off the Water Dragon Whirl, his figure flashing by in a hurry before disappearing completely into the darkness.

  "The road ahead is yours to walk." He had heard this once when parting with Wang Changming, and unexpectedly, less than a month later, he heard it again. The change before and after was just too great. Liang Ze's back figure had long been invisible, but he still stood on the deck, gazing out at the distance. This sea state has always been a major port, with various ships coming and going at the dock. In each ship's cabin, there were some faint fishing firelights, although only a few stars, but from afar, they were scattered all over the sky, gathering into a magnificent starry river.

  "What are you looking at? He's already gone." Murong Qingfeng suddenly stood beside him, gazing out at the various boats on the dock, saying softly.

  "Just felt a bit stifled in the cabin and came out for some fresh air."

  Murong Qingfeng smiled and said: "With such exceptional talent, you still shut yourself in every day to diligently practice martial arts. I can only sigh that I am not as good as you."

  "Sighing with the wind, 'Clear Wind, I and you are both born into a prominent family since childhood, so naturally we can understand each other's experiences and feelings. However, you cannot understand my experiences. If you were to reach my current state, you would definitely work harder than me, and your feelings would be even more profound.'"

  Murong Qingfeng listened to him say this, although he didn't completely know his experiences, but could somewhat imagine, and said sincerely: "Qingfeng is not like you, drifting outside since childhood, without experiencing wind and rain. But Qingfeng can also feel the pain of parting with friends..."

  She turned her head to look at him as the evening sea breeze blew by, a strand of hair floating beside her ear. She smiled and said: "Since getting to know Big Brother Liang, he has taken care of us all along the way. In my opinion, it's like having an elder brother of my own. If not for him, I would have died in the wilderness outside Yangzhou long ago. You're still young and haven't experienced drifting around on your own, so you don't understand, which is normal. Many people may help you along the way, but that doesn't mean someone will always be there to help you at every moment. So at critical moments, one still has to rely on oneself. I think he must also want to see a more mature and capable me. You're the same, don't live under the halo of Xuanfeng all day. In fact, you're not weaker than him, are you?"

  Murong Qingfeng was taken aback, and a sense of grievance inexplicably rose in his heart, almost to the point of tears. Every time someone mentioned him, they would inevitably compare him to Murong Xuanyi. He thought he had extraordinary talent, but when facing Murong Xuanyi, he couldn't help feeling a deep sense of loss. It seemed that no matter how hard he tried, there would never be a day when he could surpass him, just like the rainbow on the horizon, forever out of reach.

  After a long time, Murong Qingfeng shook his head and sighed, "No, I'm different from him. He is... Hmm, what's that?" As he spoke, he pointed towards the direction they came from. The moon was bright and the stars were sparse, the sea breeze was gentle, and the entire sea surface was calm and peaceful, with only some faint ripples and water sounds.

  On this calm sea surface, a red light spot appeared in the distance, rapidly approaching them. The night was too dark to see what it was.