Only then did Zhou Zishu exhale, releasing the tension from his body. Gritting his teeth, he leaned onto the wall without making any sounds.

It was fortunate that his pain came in phases and bursts. He waited until feeling a little better to pull himself together before getting back inside.

Tonight seemed to be longer than usual.

Three days later, Zhou Zishu — and a Zhang Chengling who became surprisingly thinner after just a few days — reached Tai Hu.

He knocked on the door, but before he got to explain anything, the butler stared at Zhang Chengling, crying out, “Are you… are you Chengling? Are you really Chengling?”

Then he turned his head to yell at the servants, “Go inform Sir, quickly, Young Master Chengling is here! Young Master Chengling is still alive!”

A short time passed by until Sir Zhao Jing of Tai Hu was at the door to greet them himself. Zhang Chengling fell onto his knees; it seemed like the news had spread everywhere. They stood there crying together before making a fanfare out of escorting them inside.

Finally his ancestors would no longer be haunted, Zhou Zishu mused — being a good person was really exhausting.

| |

Footnotes

1 Wen Kexing’s words were taken from a line of the poem 塞下曲其一/First Song by the Border, by Li Bai. The line has an imagery of breaking a willow branch, which is often used to describe emotional events such as separation.

Chapter 9. In the Woods

Zhao Jing of Tai Hu, also referred to as the Swordsman of Qiu Shan, was once a renowned figure.

Before they got to Tai Hu, Zhou Zishu had been looking forward to meeting this elusive hero whose name preceded his appearance. The anticipation grew when he caught wind of the news that Yu Tianjie — the only son of Hua Shan Sect’s patriarch, along with Mu Yunge — lord of Duan Jian Mountain Manor and Sir “One-Eyed” Jiang Che would also be at the same place.

Zhou Zishu knew their status and background like the back of his hand — to avoid offense, Tian Chuang had a separate archive of every single event and figure in jianghu in the last fifty years.

For example, Zhou Zishu knew that Zhao Jing the heroic Qiu Shan Swordsman was once exiled from his family and spent his days in sufferings. For money, he had committed crimes not unlike what “Enchanted Song” Qin Song had done. He only started using his real name Zhao Jing again at twenty seven, marrying the only daughter of the Feng family that owned Tai Hu, using nepotism to build wealth. He also secretly killed off the ones who knew of his past, and was reaccepted into the Zhao family after the marriage.