Red-faced, Zhang Chengling mumbled, “Shifu, I haven’t familiarised myself with the ones you taught me the last time, I...I know I’m stupid, so I set a rule for myself. I have to practice each move ten thousand times, before I start practicing the next one, and I’ll revise it every now and then. Every morning, I’ll get up early to recite...recite...”

Recalling that Zhou Zishu did not like his constant recitation of the mantras, he halted and spoke no more. Carefully, he lifted his head to peek at Zhou Zishu, and stuck out his tongue sheepishly.

Zhou Zishu looked at him with a complex gaze. Wisdom hidden underneath a fool’s skin, quickness concealed within clumsy limbs; unhurried and patient, every step honest and true--the Scorpion had said that Zhang Chengling was lucky, but all of a sudden, he felt that he was the luckier one, who had received the cream of the crop for a student.

So he patted him on the shoulder, and said, “You can leave tomorrow. Do what you can manage, and don’t…be undeserving of the sword that Lord Seventh gave you.”

The next day, the four of them--Gu Xiang, Cao Weining, Gao Xiaolian, and Zhang Chengling--set off on their journey. They were looking for Ye Baiyi, but at the same time, Cao Weining was worried about Qingfeng Sword Sect. Gao Xiaolian and Zhang Chengling also desired to uncover the truth, and decided to covertly hunt for the tracks of Zhao Jing and the others. Gao Chong had been one of the holders of the Realm’s Command; Ye Baiyi would not stand aside when he had run afoul of tragedy, and they might come across him.

Just as he had seen these four most raucous ones off and was planning to return to his room to rest, Zhou Zishu pushed the door open and saw Wen Kexing waiting for him in his room. Wen Kexing was sitting on the windowsill, one leg dangling outside, the other curled up, his fingers interlaced and resting on his knee. Noticing that Zhou Zishu had entered, he lifted his head and smiled.

Then he said, “A-Xu, I’m leaving too.”

Zhou Zishu paused, and asked, “Back to Fengya Mountain?”

Wen Kexing nodded. "I've come out to roam for long enough--I've met almost all the people and seen almost all the sights that I’ve never encountered in my life before. It’s time for me to return and finish up my business. A-Xu…”

He seemed as though he had something to say, but did not know where to begin. All he could do was to grab at his own hair, and then blurt, "You… recuperate properly, and you're not allowed to cheat on me. I'll go look for you on Changming Mountain, if…"