This person was one of those who had jeered at Zhang Meizhen. He wore a grey-coloured short-sleeved shirt. When he realised that there was no signal there, for some reason, he had an ominous feeling. He quietly went closer to the window, trying to find some signal. At the same time, he kept an ear out for what Zhang Meizhen and the others were saying.

He heard Zhang Meizhen ask, "You're saying that Wang Jiusheng has never done anything for you guys?"

"After I came out of prison, I once thought of looking for my old brothers but they have all become rich and are all 'directors.' I couldn't contact them… The ones running errands below them are all from the younger generation and I don't know them." The person who called himself Ruan Xiaoshan kept fiddling with his clothes, keeping his hands and eyes occupied, not daring to look towards Beggars' Sect. His mouth moved. "Because of a moment's impulse, because of my poor understanding of the law, and because I only knew to care about the so-called 'jianghu loyalty,' I was not able to fully consider the consequences of my actions and even caused such a disaster, harming others and myself…"

This long spiel came out in a single breath, smoothly without a hitch. It could be seen that during his reform period in prison, he had done not a small amount of reporting on his thoughts. Throughout his seven years prison term, his tongue had gone through hundreds and thousands of rounds of training, and had gained muscle memory from all that.

While Zhang Meizhen was still stunned, he had already he had finished reciting the two main points of "regretting past deeds" and "deep grief of repentance," his words coming out at a steady and uniform beat, and was just about to enter a higher theme—the part about looking forward to the future.

Zhang Meizhen quickly interrupted his report on his thoughts. "What are you doing for a living now?"

Ruan Xiaoshan gave her a lost look. He stood where he was and thought for a while. He seemed unable to come up with any kind of valid conclusion to sum up his life and could only say vaguely, "I help out… here and there, I guess. And people give me some pocket money."

"In that kidnapping case back then, were you the leader?" Zhang Meizhen asked him.

Ruan Xiaoshan lowered his head and stared at the tips of his shoes. He nodded, there was nothing left in his life to live for, this was a question he had answered too many times.

Zhang Meizhen raised a pointed eyebrow and asked a loaded question, "Think carefully, was it you yourself who wanted to go? Did anyone instruct you? Did anyone urge you to?"

In the corner, the grey-shirted man failed to send his message for the third time. Sweat beaded on his forehead and he was starting to be anxious. He happened to hear Zhang Meizhen's words and couldn't help opening his mouth. "Zhang Meizhen, what do you mean by that? Who are you trying to implicate with what happened thirty-six years ago?"

"I only want to bring this feud to a complete conclusion," Zhang Meizhen replied mildly. "Back then, our two sides were so busy making a racket over this matter that we didn't have the time to sit down and discuss the hows and whys together. Everyone should have calmed down by now, right? It's time to lay this matter out clearly so that we don't carry it to our graves."

Upon hearing that, Ruan Xiaoshan fell to his knees with a thud. The few people behind him followed suit and knelt too, like they were doing so reflexively. Ruan Xiaoshan shuffled forward a few steps on his knees and faced Yang Qing, tears in his voice as he said, "I'm sorry to you all… I only wanted to give you all a scare, I never thought people would die… I never thought…"

Behind Yang Qing, a row of elderly were seated sparsely. A single glance was all it took to see the thick and heavy lethargy. After being tormented by hatred and guilt for over thirty years, these family members of the victims did not even have the strength to smack the table and rise in anger. Right now, they were only listening to the perpetrator's howling, numb and silent. A few pairs of eyes were fixed on Ruan Xiaoshan. No one said a word.

"Sect Leader Yang," Zhang Meizhen turned to Yang Qing and said, "back then, I watched these kids grow up. For what they did wrong back then, those who should be jailed have served their jail term, those whose lives should be ruined have had their lives ruined. Until now, they still don't know how that fire started. They were wrong but their crimes were not so severe that they should die, am I right?"

Sect Leader Yang's hand rested on the plastic walking stick. His eyes fell slightly shut.

"But in this matter, there should be someone paying with their life." As Zhang Meizhen spoke, she glanced at the door like her words were meant for someone some distance away. She asked Ruan Xiaoshan, "Stand up and talk. Back then, why did you guys want to kidnap those people? What were you thinking?"

Pulling his two rather stiff legs up, Ruan Xiaoshan climbed to his feet with some difficulty. "At that time, I… was barely twenty-one. I was a delivery boy at a restaurant in a guest house. At the restaurant… there was a server, a young boy, small and thin and also not a local. There were always people bullying him. I helped him a couple of times before, so that boy really looked up to me. He felt that I knew a lot of people, that I was amazing, that I knew the ways of the world. He kept pestering me, wanting to join Travellers' Sect."

At that point, Ruan Xiaoshan's expression was rather distracted, as though he didn't feel that it was real, as though his memories did not belong to him. Back then, had he been someone important? Had there been someone who looked up to him? Had there been a time when he was so spirited?

Zhang Meizhen asked softly, "And then?"

"That day, I went to that shop and when the boss was taking inventory, the boy came over and said secretly to me…" Ruan Xiaoshan looked towards the victims' families behind Old Yang, his eyes shifty and evasive, moving back and forth a few times before he finally saw some familiar traces in those aged faces. Finally, his eyes fell on the leftmost person—the "Old Song" that Zhang Meizhen had found by going to the retirement home herself. Ruan Xiaoshan stared at him and mumbled, "I already said it back then… They kept asking me and I kept saying the same thing, but no one believed me…"

Old Song slowly stood up. "Which guest house was it?"

"It's called… Ping'an Road Guesthouse."

"Ping'an Road." The corner of Old Song's eyes twitched slightly. There was a rather strange smile on his face. "Sect Leader Yang, back then, Yang Ping had a falling out with you. He left his wife and newborn at home and walked away without a word. Didn't you find out where he was staying? It was none other than Ping'an Road Guesthouse. All of us knew, we just didn't tell you. The two of you had deep feelings for each other and insisted on bringing the two sects together. No matter what other people thought, Elder Zhu and I were panicking internally. We went to Ping'an Guesthouse to look for Yang Ping for drinks, and also discussed how to put this thing to a stop… We never thought that the walls had ears and that a little mole from Travellers' Sect overheard us."

Ruan Xiaoshan said, "That younger brother of mine said that he heard you guys plotting to fabricate a kidnapping to drive a wedge between both sides and force Old Sect Leader Yang and Travellers' Sect to have a falling out… After hearing that, I found out which room Yang Ping was staying in and climbed to his window to monitor him. I heard him contacting other people and in a short time, I understood how they were planning to carry it out and where they were going to keep those people."

Before he could finish speaking, a buzz went through the entire place. Those who were hearing about what happened behind the scenes for the first time were completely in chaos.

Ruan Xiaoshan's eyes reddened. Ignoring everyone, he curled up where he was and said as though to himself, "I was so good to that young boy. What did this thing have to do with him? Why did he have to eavesdrop? If he heard them, fine, but why did he have to tell me? Wasn't he just causing trouble for me…"

The grey-shirted man stuck to the side of the wall and slipped out through the back door under the cover of the chaos. Once outside, his phone had a signal again, but it kept breaking off and reconnecting. He cursed in a low voice, and ran to the other side of the road.

Once he crossed the road, the signal bars were full.

The grey-shirted man found a secluded corner and hid himself there. He made a call. "Hello, President Wang. They called the police and even blocked off the mobile signal in the place. I couldn't even send messages just now… That old demoness dug out the scapegoats from over thirty years ago from who knows where—Ruan Xiaoshan, do you remember him? That guy who led the kidnapping. He's gone silly from prison. The old demoness keeps digging traps for him, leading him to say that there was someone behind him giving him instructions. I think she wants him to drag you into the matter."

"Are they using the police to bolster their courage and make me too scared to show my face?" On the other end of the call, Wang Jiusheng laughed. "This Zhang Meizhen, all her life she's acted like she's the boss. She seems a hero among women, full of aggression, but in actual fact, she's foolish and naive, like she has never grown up. Even if she bribes those few fools and accuses me right there and then of pulling the strings behind the scenes, can the police arrest me? It's been thirty-six years. Those little officers that she called to fill up the space weren't even born yet at that time."

"Exactly!" Grey Shirt saw his chance and immediately sucked up to him. "She must know that once you come back and show your face, her turn on the stage is over."

Wang Jiusheng was used to listening to bootlickers. He turned a deaf ear to him and lit a cigarette for himself.

He knew what Zhang Meizhen was thinking. Back then, due to a moment's carelessness, she plunged into confusion and submissively handed over the position of North Branch Master to him. At that time, both Travellers' Sect and Beggars' Sect were affected by the crackdown on illegal societies and were severely shaken. The people involved on both sides either lost their loved ones or went into prison. He, Wang Jiusheng, was the sole winner. After so many years, even a donkey would have realised what that meant. It appeared that Zhang Meizhen wanted to take advantage when Travellers' Sect was going through yet another internal strife and Wang Jiusheng was forced to leave the country to bring the old case to light and set things straight.

Her preparations were quite complete too. She had even somehow managed to invite Beggars' Sect to put on a performance with her.

But did this foolish old woman really know what her gentlemanly Yang-dage had done?

Grey Shirt asked, "President Wang, what should we do now? Will you be coming over?"

"No. Let them act on stage as much as they want, I won't be going up to act like a monkey," Wang Jiusheng said. "Wait ten minutes. I'll get someone to send something to you."

Grey Shirt received instructions from Wang Jiusheng and gained a boost to his confidence. He put his phone away and went to a nearby supermarket to buy cigarettes, then stood by the roadside and leisurely blew out clouds of smoke.

Right now, spring was waning, the season changing to early summer, and there were hints of summer heat in the air. The scholar trees everywhere in Yanning filled the view with flowers, their dense leaves blocking the sunshine—and also blocking prying eyes. On the large scholar tree behind Grey Shirt, Gan Qing quietly laid low at the treetop, hiding herself under the cover of the leaves rustling in the wind. She took out a Malteser from her pocket and threw it into her mouth. The chocolate was a little melted, leaving sticky stains on her fingers which she casually wiped on the tree.

At the event hall, the perpetrator Ruan Xiaoshan had at first been suppressing his choked-up emotions but after a while, he could not hold back anymore and started to bawl like a child. The atmosphere in the hall was exceptionally strange. The perpetrators and the victims' families looked at each other but no one seemed to want to take revenge on the other side. Instead, they seemed a little like they wanted to cry their hearts out.

Thirty-six years. Even the strongest spirit of loyalty had been scattered by the wind. When recalling those bitter years spanning half their lives, what had been in those years? What had they strived for? What kind of life had they lived?

How absurd everything was!

Even three dogs gathered together would snap at each other to sort out their ranks; power struggles existed everywhere and the ones that were more tragic and more absurd than this were too many to be counted. It was just because the old jianghu was already buried by mountains and carried away by the rivers, the jianghu customs and loyalty already becoming the dregs of feudalism, that the things they care to fight over were—in the eyes of their descendants—merely them having nothing better to do with their time. Hence, other than the absurdity of the situation, it was also especially comical.

Yan Hao sneaked a glance at Qiao-Qiao. The little mute girl seemed to have turned into a statue standing far from what was happening, watching all those people wipe out the debts and enmity between them.

He shivered. His neck shrank back and his shoulders hunched up. He felt that his social anxiety was getting worse.

When they were done crying, Zhang Meizhen, who had been watching like a bystander the whole time, again signalled to everyone to quiet down and asked Ruan Xiaoshan, "Are you still in contact with that brother of yours who worked at the guest house? What is he doing?"

Ruan Xiaoshan's reaction was a couple of beats slower than it had been just now. After a while, he finally shook his head and stammered, "Later on, I didn't see him again. I heard that he entered Travellers' Sect. I guess someone else must have introduced him… He should be at Futongda now. He changed his name and went to be a vice president at a branch somewhere in another part of the country. I thought of looking for him before but I couldn't contact him. When I finally got his number, his calls were taken by his secretary."

"I see." Zhang Meizhen narrowed her eyes slightly. "Among you, there are those whose wives and children left you, and those whose families were destroyed and lives lost. After everything was over, no one obtained any benefits. It looks like only two people achieved anything—one of them is Wang Jiusheng who 'stepped up at a moment of crisis' and took over as the North Branch Master; the other one is the eavesdropping little server who, at the start, was a rural migrant who was bullied every day but transformed in a flash and is now a person of power."

"What do you mean by that?" Old Song asked, his eyes red.

"Nothing," Zhang Meizhen said. "I just want to know, the three of you back then—you, Elder Zhu and Yang Ping—might not have been skilled experts but you were not deaf, right? A little server who can neither fly in the air nor drill into the ground eavesdropping outside for so long, and none of you three knew about it?"

Old Song was stunned.

Zhang Meizhen turned towards Ruan Xiaoshan. "What happened after you eavesdropped?"

"They planned to first find a guest house to stay the night, then rent cars to go out of town for a trip. I found a few brothers and we hid ourselves in advance at the place I overheard them saying. Halfway through, we launched a sneak attack, knocking them unconscious and taking them away. At that time, we had a bit to drink and we hadn't thought of what to do with them. So we just found a place to lock them up and waited to see… to see how Beggars' Sect would react the next day."

"Only the few of you knew about that old factory?" Zhang Meizhen asked.

Ruan Xiaoshan shook his head. "No, North Branch… Wang Jiusheng also knew."

"How did Wang Jiusheng know?"

"One of the brothers working for him told him," Ruan Xiaoshan mumbled. "He has wide connections."

Zhang Meizhen laughed. "Indeed. I'm impatient and bad-tempered, and spend every waking second only thinking about being in love. I didn't have any plans for the sect's future either. That's why, whenever you guys had any problems, you all went to Elder Wang for help, am I right?"

Ruan Xiaoshan looked warily at her and said, "He hurried there to advise us to let them go. He brought alcohol with him and patiently persuaded us and drank with us for half the night. In the end, he convinced us. We definitely had to let them go, otherwise, what could we do? They were all either old people or children. No matter how angry we were, it's not like we could hit them or kill them. But Beggars' Sect did something so disgusting, we weren't content with letting them off just like that. We wanted to wait and see when they would realise they had lost their people, and when they were panicked and desperate, we would come out again and force them to admit what they had done before returning the hostages to them. I.. at that time, I really hadn't thought too much and I didn't take the hostages seriously either. Everyone had too much to drink so we left one person to keep watch while the rest of us went back to sleep."

"I think this explains it." Zhang Meizhen straightened up. Her eyes swept across the Travellers' Sect crowd behind her. "Everyone, on a usual day, no one would go to that old factory. It didn't burn earlier, it didn't burn later, it just had to catch fire on the day there was a roomful of people trapped inside. Other than these few people who fell into the trap themselves, Wang Jiusheng alone knew about this… Ah, that's right, he also plied the people keeping watch there with alcohol. After the incident, he was not implicated at all and even soared to success… Aren't you wondering what kind of act he's putting on? He alone holds such a large corporation like Futongda in his hands and who knows how many villas he has in Yanning. Is it unreasonable of me to want to check his accounts?"

"Of course it's unreasonable." Someone pushed open the back door. Grey Shirt, who had slipped out to look for a mobile signal just now, swaggered in and held up an envelope smugly. "Everyone, back then, this Zhang woman already wanted to kneel down and fawn over Beggars' Sect but she didn't succeed. Now she wants to take the chance while our North Branch Master is away to hug Yang Qing's thigh, and is back to stir up trouble, slandering our North Branch Master by accusing him of murder and arson. Zhang Meizhen, Yang Qing, take a good look, who on earth was the one who committed murder and arson!"

Outside the hall, the Travellers' Sect disciple who delivered the letter to Grey Shirt angled his head and listened for a few seconds. He looked around him and seeing that no one was paying him any attention, he slipped back into a minivan, humming a tune and preparing to retreat in victory. He didn't notice that someone had slipped silently into the back of the van.

Gan Qing stayed close to the back of the backseat to conceal herself. She unlocked her phone and shared her real-time location.