"Your car is pretty good." Wang Jiusheng crossed his legs and caressed the genuine leather interior of the car. "It looks low-profile on the outside but it's really comfortable to sit in. Hey, Xiao-Chen, am I doing wrong by you by making you, the regional vice president, be my driver?"

The middle-aged man who was driving laughed along. "In the past, I only carried trays for other people and couldn't even make my way into the back kitchen. Were it not for you, would I be where I am today? It's only right that I do this."

Halfway through his words, he suddenly stopped meeting Wang Jiusheng's eyes in the rearview mirror. Pretending to be concentrating on the road, he reached out and turned on the air-conditioner. His hands slipped from the steering wheel, leaving a sweaty patch.

But the seat was blocking the view and Wang Jiusheng did not see that. He relaxed and stretched out his body, looking through the window at the streets of Yanning rather interestedly. "By following the right boss, you're already much better off than most people in the world. Slowly, you will understand. People whose minds are unclear are the majority. Look at that group—Yang Qing, Yang Ping, Zhang Meizhen—they hold smartphones in their hands, order food delivery and take the high speed rail, but their brains are still stuck in the last century. The times change so fast, do they think that the saying 'old gingers are the spiciest' applies to them?"

The driver agreed with him without really paying attention. Maybe it was because he had become a "president" now; his ability to bootlick had deteriorated and he couldn't come up with any flattery.

Fortunately, Wang Jiusheng didn't care. "The Xu clan are all idiots. As for the loathsome beggars in Beggars' Sect, they don't even qualify as idiots, they only have chamber pots on top of their necks. In my opinion, in the entire Yanning City, if you go through them one by one, only that Yu Lanchuan can just barely be considered a normal person. After all, his academic qualifications are high, it's just that he's a bit immature… Hey, do you feel that the words I'm saying are rather conflicting? First I say that having experience is no longer useful, now I'm saying that the young are immature."

The driver, "..."

Wang Jiusheng might have felt stifled being on the little island where he did not understand the local language, his urge to express his views was intense and after asking the question, he answered it himself like one of those inferior teachers teaching a class. "Actually, it's not. Human affairs come and go, yet after thousands of changes, they remain the same at the core. You need to know how to refine your experience and grasp that 'core,' and not just blindly do work for show. All that stuff about reputation and jianghu chivalry are just like a cup of wine in the spring wind during peach season, they would all 'change,' they are dregs. In the past, when your brothers got into a fight and you threw punches to help, that was brotherhood. Try and do the same now, and you'll be sentenced to a few years behind bars! I just don't understand, what year is it now? That group of fools in the Xu clan are still playing at collecting demonic skills? If you train until you become Dongfang Bubai, can you dodge bullets and missiles? What is it that doesn't change? It is power, authority. Sects can go out of existence but with power, your prestige remains. Even without a title, you are still an uncrowned king. I remember back in that year, how our Futongda began… Xiao-Chen, are you going the wrong way?"

"Aiyo… I am! I forgot to turn, your words were too interesting. I… I've always been out of town these few years and I'm not familiar with the roads in Yanning in the first place…"

"It's fine, we're not in a hurry anyway. Make a few more rounds." Wang Jiusheng waved, unbothered. His spirits high, he continued his lecture, "That is how you refine your experience. When you look at something, you can't only look at the surface. You have to see what kind of lesson this story is teaching us. This time, you pick up a piece of meat jerky under the table; the next time, you still only know to search under the table—that's what dogs do!"

He had barely finished speaking when the driver made a sudden turn, turning left at an intersection that clearly indicated "No left turns," then pulled the emergency brakes.

In the backseat, Wang Jiusheng was not wearing a seatbelt and his entire body was flung left and right. "You…"

"President Wang, I-I'm sorry." The driver was frozen in his seat, the words coming from his mouth trembling at the same frequency as his body.

Wang Jiusheng suddenly understood what was going on. His eyes flew open. "Chen Dazhu, what are you doing?"

"I-I-I don't have a choice, President Wang, I really… am just a hoodlum, I'm not capable of anything else… I still have a wife and children, my wife just gave birth to our second kid… Sh-She will kill them! She threatened me with my whole family, I really don't dare…"

A person who betrayed their friend when they were in their teens, when they have grown to the age of forty-five years, the price for their betrayal is a little higher.

Back then, Chen Dazhu betrayed Ruan Xiaoshan and the others; of course he could also betray Wang Jiusheng now. A dog, other than knowing how to pick up meat to eat from under the table, can't change their habit of eating shit. President Wang had imparted his teachings on how to overcome difficulties for free, his arguments and conclusions systematic and logical, but it appeared that he had forgotten to link theory to reality.

Wang Jiusheng froze for two seconds. His reaction could not be considered slow; while the driver was too busy mumbling his regrets to lock the doors, Wang Jiusheng seized the chance and sprang up, tearing the car door open and fleeing.

The sound of police sirens suddenly came from nearby.

Regardless of whether or not the police being there was just a coincidence, the police would definitely not cooperate with someone who threatened a member of the public with "I'll kill your entire family." In his fright, Wang Jiusheng naturally thought, It must be the Xu clan.

Wang Jiusheng had returned to China for the sole purpose of fighting Zhang Meizhen for power. Due to the unique aspects of this activity, added with his own suspicious nature, he was afraid that there would be people within Travellers' Sect whose convictions were not firm and might spoil his plans, so he had only kept one person he trusted the most by his side. In that incident thirty-six years ago, this person had been in the same boat as him, sinking or swimming with him, and furthermore, had relied entirely on him to make his fortune. This person would definitely not go to Zhang Meizhen's side.

But he never would have guessed that instead of going to Zhang Meizhen's side, this man went to the Xu clan's side.

And, because of his suspicious nature, he hadn't kept enough people by his side.

Wang Jiusheng knew that the Xu clan was very displeased with him borrowing them to dispose of his enemies and also causing their people to be sacrificed, but both sides had known each other for so long and had always prioritised peace between them. Harmony brings fortune, and taking advantage of the other was a mutual thing. Even if there was a misunderstanding, they should let him clean up his problems first and then slowly explain himself. He could also compensate them!

This state of things did not benefit either side! Were they mad?

In the full light of the day, Wang Jiusheng ran for his life. He felt as though there were two shadows chasing him—one was the police, the other was the Xu clan.

The many years where he had been powerful enough to summon wind and rain had entirely been due to his plots and schemes. The little bit of martial arts he had practised when young had been returned to his damned shifu long ago. Like most middle-aged men, after running just a few steps, his rotten heart and lungs joined together to riot.

Wang Jiusheng's veins were pounding on his temples, black spots were appearing in his vision and his brain was blanking out. He didn't have the time to think carefully why the police would be here and could only pray desperately for the Xu clan people to bump into the police. But when he thought about it again, this was wrong! That Chen Dazhu knew too much about him. If he fell into the police's hands, then what?

While these jumbled thoughts were going through his head, he ran in a panic without caring where he was going. The vehicle sounds behind him were coming nearer and nearer; ahead, he could already see the front of the police car that was preparing to make a turn. They wanted to trap him in the middle!

Wang Jiusheng pressed harshly on his chest. Aiming for the wall by the road, he exerted an earth-splitting force and leaped up. A person is indeed capable of exceeding their usual performance in a moment of crisis, this leap seemed to let him retrieve the qinggong foundation he had when he was young. He ignored the scrapes the bricks left on him and with a flip, he reached the top. From above, he shot a look down and saw that the police were already blocking both ends. Meanwhile, the Xu clan people were probably afraid of the police and were not showing their faces.

This was still good. Being cornered by the police was better than being hunted down by the Xu clan. He could escape.

Wang Jiusheng panted for breath. His back was aching, his chest felt suffocated. He had medicine in his pocket but he didn't have time to take them. He turned around to jump down but right at that moment, a small gust of wind whistled sinisterly past his ears. Wang Jiusheng reflexively moved his head to dodge. Something brushed past his earlobes to land on the ground with a soft sound.

Then, someone laughed. "Oh my, President Wang. What a state you're in."

Wang Jiusheng lifted his head in disbelief. He saw that on a large tree not far away, someone seemed to be standing in midair near the treetop. In the late spring weather that was already heating up, she still wore a long coat, the hood and a mask hiding her face until only a thin sliver was exposed. Her knife-life gaze pierced out from that sliver.

She reached out her left arm. A silver blade spun between her long, slender fingers. Her voice was very low and heavy. "We finally meet."

Wang Jiusheng stood where he was, dumbstruck. For a moment, he even forgot about the police who were still in mad pursuit behind him.

Wei Huan, Wei Xiao… They died by his hands one by one. But like its name, Wan Mu Chun could "steal into the night along with the wind." For countless nights he had dreamed of them, frightened into waking by that three-cun-and-two-fen blade; or, a suspicious shadow would scare him until his heart beat irrhythmically and he would neurotically check every door and window.

And right when he thought that Wan Mu Chun had been completely eliminated, the nightmare that had haunted him for years suddenly became reality.

But wasn't she already dead?

Weren't they all already dead?

Weren't all these killers like vampires, hiding in the places that were pitch dark?

Wang Jiusheng's lips started to turn purple. The veins on his neck bulged out along with his harsh breathing.

The person on the tree leaped up, light as a feather, not even shaking the tree branches. Like a specter, she pressed in on him, step by step. Her getup was similar to Wei Xiao but her manner was more like Wei Huan, refusing to let go of him. Every step she took closer seemed to compress his breathing space a little more. Wang Jiusheng thought he could smell the metal blade. He strained to raise a hand and clutched his chest. His feet seemed to be trapped in a mire, unable to move an inch.

The next second, that terrifying murderer suddenly disappeared into thin air. Wang Jiusheng's vision blurred and he thought, I'm dead!

The only thing the police who were charging over saw was their target Wang Jiusheng originally wanting to flee, then suddenly having an epilepsy. His hands waved wildly before his eyes; then, with his arms and legs shaking, he fell from the wall just like that. Amidst the chaos, he seemed to have pulled the metal zipper on his clothes up to his neck and when the chill touched his neck, he let out an anguished, blood-curdling scream.

That scream was too terrifying. It made the police at the very front think that he had accidentally injured himself and they quickly ran over to look. They saw that Wang Jiusheng was completely unharmed and that his entire body was convulsing, one hand covering his throat and the other hand clutching his chest, straining desperately to breathe.

"Call the ambulance!"

"Does this guy have heart problems?"

"How many evil deeds must he have done to be so scared at just the sight of police cars… Hurry up, hurry up, someone come and give him CPR!"

Yu Yan ran over with his colleagues. He looked up and glanced at the large scholar tree beside the wall. The fragrance of the flowers wafted to his nose, no sight nor sound of the person remained.

A debt owed must be paid, a life owed must be returned.

A coward carrying a thousand catties on his back would one day have no more strength to go on and collapse under the weight of mountains.

The person who schemes would find himself deserted and alone in the end.

The blinding rays of the sun shone into the pin drop silent Martial Arts General Assembly. Yang Qing squinted his old, blurry eyes, so dazzled by the light that a little bit of tears were leaking out.

The police officer keeping watch at the back door made a hand signal at Yu Lanchuan. They came in stealthily and took away the few remaining Travellers' Sect members in the hall. The last two police officers came to stand before Old Yang and the old members of Beggars' Sect. "The few of you should come with us and record a statement."

Yang Qing nodded. He passed his walking stick to Zhang Meizhen, then smoothed out his clothes and sank to his knees, trembling all the while. Facing the crowd, he pressed his head to the ground.

Zhang Meizhen stood at the side and looked at his back. Speaking of which, it was strange; she had once felt that he was so tall and broad, and that he could always stand perfectly straight upright no matter what was happening. That noble spine of his on his back was like a mountain ridge. But when he knelt now, he became small, so small he could shrink into a small ball. His shirt and long pants draped loosely on him, the soul and fleshly body inside dried out like the dregs of medicine left overnight.

This time, she no longer had tears because her eyeliner was not very waterproof. She would turn into a ghost once her tears surged out.

"Zhang… Branch Master Zhang, what do you…" At the side, the old Travellers' Sect members that she had invited exchanged looks and called out to her hesitantly.

Zhang Meizhen fished out the red-coloured bat made of agate from her pocket. She cupped it in both hands and studied it for a while. "Let's disband."

"Huh?"

"Beggars' Sect should disband, Travellers' Sect should also disband." She waved her hands, tossing the red Five Bat Token away without a care. "Everything's over."

The Five Supremes' very last remaining breath scattered to the wind.

Ruan Xiaoshan let out a mournful wail. More than the voice of a human, it sounded like an old crow announcing a death.