At this moment, Cao Weining was very disheveled. He had tumbled and was as covered in mud as a mudskipper, the rags of his clothes stuck to him. One of his eyes was swollen nearly shut. Both his hands were tied behind his back, and his sword had been taken from him. Despite being shoved and stumbling for the whole journey, with Feng Xiaofeng bellowing and cursing sharply by his ear every now and then, for some reason, he was very much at peace.

He realised that he was really worthless. The teachings of their Qingfeng Sword Sect’s ancestors dictated that “The individual goes where the sword goes; the individual dies when the sword shatters; uphold morality and righteousness; exterminate demonic evil.” Now, despite the fact that his sword had been snapped and that he had probably been taken for one of those unorthodox villains, he did not take it to heart. Cao Weining had never considered himself one of those great figures who had the tremendous talent to govern, or the ability to shake the pugilist world with a stomp of his foot. As long as whatever he did was within his conscience, done without guilt, he was alright with it.

He only saw Zhou-xiong doing good deeds; saw Gu Xiang, such a frail and petite maiden, protecting the child of the Zhang family with her life. Conversely, it was the venerable orthodox who were bitterly forcing them to desperation.

What was good, and what was evil? All along, Cao Weining’s greatest strength was his ability to keep an open mind.

Qingfeng Sword Sect taught him the path of good and evil, but did not teach him to pursue fame and personal interests. So, if others said that he was bad, that he had veered off the righteous path and willingly fell to evil, what could he do? Cao Weining thought about it. He felt quite sad, but sad as he was, he did not find that he had erred in any way. In a haze, he thought, If others do not think me good, then forget it. Anyway, by pursuing their own path in life, no one interferes in another’s life. It’s just that…I feel like I’ve let down my shifu and shishu a little.

It felt like Green Willow Grandpa had broken a rib of his: his chest blazed with agony every breath he took, and he was growing slightly disoriented. They threw him into a dark place, but without even glancing around first, Cao Weining closed his eyes and started regulating his qi. He intended to recuperate enough of his energy before escaping—he was still planning to escape, it didn’t matter what happened to the others, but Gu Xiang was protecting Zhang Chengling all alone. Wasn’t the situation going to be very troublesome if they couldn’t find Zhou-xiong and Wen-xiong, and ran into the Poisonous Scorpions again?