Chapter 42

Jinwu held the letter containing the secret tightly, which his mother had given him, as he stood at the classroom door and took a deep breath.

Jin Zongxia shrank his shoulders, but Lian did not stop talking.

"Moreover, the key to the Jinwu saber is not just to swing it more flexibly or forcefully, but to time it accurately. Since you lack this, even a slight misjudgment in timing can disrupt your steps."

Jin Zongxia's eyes widened as he listened silently to Lian's words. Thinking he might have talked too much, Lian quietly closed his mouth, but Jin Zongxia quickly waved his hand.

"Keep talking!"

"If it's too hard to listen to, I was going to stop."

"No, it's not hard…"

Lian muttered.

"Well, if I tell you and you gain some enlightenment, wouldn't I be the one at a loss…"

At this, Jin Zongxia jumped up and spoke passionately.

"No, no, how can this be? We're here to learn and improve through sparring and conversation, not to calculate gains and losses! That's what small-minded people do! And I, I will also tell you things!"

He spoke so quickly that his face turned red and he panted for breath. Lian stared at Jin Zongxia intently.

"Then… keep talking?"

"Yes!"

"Well, the Jin family's saber technique is such that if you mispredict, everything goes wrong."

"…So you're saying I mispredicted? You were…"

"Not that, but I moved in a way that would make you mispredict, and you really fell for it."

"…!"

Jin Zongxia's mouth dropped open.

Unable to bear the sight, Ye Yun whispered.

"What if he starts crying…?"

At this, Huayun muttered.

"He's already cried."

Lian pouted. Just because he got a bit beaten up in a sparring match and had this conversation, he cried. Ye Yun had spent the whole night reviewing his words and gained enlightenment!

Thinking about this, Lian glanced at Ye Yun, who straightened his posture and smiled slightly.

Meanwhile, the servant beside Jin Zongxia was fidgeting, worried that Jin Zongxia might cause some trouble.

Lian decided to get to the main point.

"But more importantly, I have a question."

"Uh-huh?"

'Instead of scolding me, he has a question…'

Jin Zongxia looked at Lian with a somewhat dazed expression.

"Why did you apply for this sparring match?"

"…!"

His dazed expression shattered. He looked as if he had been ambushed by an assassin.

Then, he moved his lips and gestured to the servant.

"What?"

"…That's what I said."

"Master?"

"Get out of here!"

Jin Zongxia almost shouted, but the servant, with a worried look, glanced between Lian and him and finally took a few steps back.

When Jin Zongxia urgently gestured again, the servant took a few more steps back.

Then, Jin Zongxia glanced at Huayun standing beside Lian. He meant to tell the servant to go away, but Lian quickly grabbed Huayun's hand with one hand and looked at Ye Yun, who was sitting beside him.

"Huayun is like my younger brother, so it's fine for him to listen. Master Ye is my friend."

"No… he's also my… No, never mind."

Jin Zongxia, with a very aggrieved expression, moved his lips and finally spat out.

"Our father was upright, but you keep saying something about it."

"…?"

Lian tilted his head.

"Who are 'you'?"

"You! The Dangmu family!"

"When? What did we say?"

Lian stared at Jin Zongxia. After the second sparring match, Jin Zongxia finally raised his voice.

"You keep saying that our father killed your father!"

"That's true, but we never said anything about it!"

"It wasn't intentional! But you called him a vicious and cowardly person…"

Lian also got angry.

"Who! When! Where!"

Lian slammed the table. Jin Zongxia flinched.

"…"

"Besides, it's true! Our father had been injured since the fight with Xuelagou! And the year we sent the sparring invitation, our family was attacked. Knowing all this, if we had deliberately challenged you to a sparring match…"

"I didn't know!"

The boy shouted.

Lian took a deep breath and slowly replied.

"Even if you didn't know, our father is already gone."

"Ah…"

Jin Zongxia, who was about to shout, moved his lips and then closed them. His face turned red again, but this time it was a mix of unspeakable shame and guilt.

Lian stared at Jin Zongxia and slumped his shoulders.

His father's face was blurry. It had been about 20 years since he last saw him. Even though he had defied death and returned through time, he couldn't even say a word to his father, which made his heart turn black and white.

But.

"Our father is gone now…"

Lian pressed his ear. For some reason, he felt more exhausted now than during the sparring match.

"But we never said anything. Not once."

The sparring match was fair, and Dangmu Xiancheng's death was an accident. Even with all the anger and hatred, the Dangmu family never said anything about it.

* * *

The absence of the children made the atmosphere not just cold but awkward. They were facing each other, but Jin Jigui was silent.

If it weren't for Wei Zhiqing's relatively gentle expression, they might have turned to stone.

The silence was broken by Dangmu Tianji.

"The Jin family has grown a lot."

It was a condescending remark, but Jin Jigui, without showing any hurt pride, slowly nodded.

"If my parents had seen this, they would have been amazed. How did you manage to grow your family so much in Hangzhou?"

Jin Jigui's words omitted a part. "In Hangzhou, where the Dangmu family is."

They fell silent again. Only Wei Zhiqing quietly sipped his tea. A bird flew over their table, pecked at some pastries, and flew away.

Jin Jigui, looking awkward, frowned and gazed in the direction the bird had flown.

"…I didn't know that Zongxia's sparring match would be against Xiancheng's daughter."

A pale, almost colorless face, a small and frail body, as if it had never seen sunlight.

Jin Jigui knew immediately when he saw Dangmu Lian. He had already heard the various stories circulating in Hangzhou, including that Dangmu Xiancheng's daughter had been ill for a long time, and even the rumor that she might be terminally ill.

"Then, you were planning to have her fight the daughter of the Waidangzhu who just arrived from Henan?"

"Yes."

"Did you know about Lian's condition before applying for this sparring match? You're saying you just found out now?"

Dangmu Tianji's voice was somewhat dry. Jin Jigui's eyebrows twitched, but he neither confirmed nor denied it. Instead, he brought up another point.

"Let's say we knew. If we knew, then why did you, the Grand Patriarch, put her on the sparring stage?"

"…What?"

"If we knew and still did this, why did you put a child who has just recovered on the sparring stage?"

"…"

Dangmu Tianji's mouth opened in disbelief, then he let out a hollow laugh.

"…You're asking us this?"

"If you had just said the child wasn't ready for a sparring match, it would have been over. Why didn't you?"

"When someone challenges with martial arts and chivalry, it is the way of the martial world not to refuse!"

"Even if it means losing the successor?"

"Enough!"

Dangmu Tianji's thunderous shout made the air vibrate, and birds flew away in a hurry. The atmosphere around them turned icy.

Wei Zhiqing quietly looked at Dangmu Tianji. Dangmu Tianji took a deep breath, his face contorted with the scars on it.

"Are you daring to say such things? Because of which you grew the Jin family so much?"

If the young master of the Dangmu family hadn't died prematurely, the Jin family would never have risen to prominence.

Jin Jigui's face turned red, but not because his efforts and the Jin family's growth were being belittled.

"Yes, you said I grew the Jin family. That's true. From a humble dojo known only to our neighbors in Hangzhou, I have grown it to what it is today. Then, at that time… how could I, a child from a dojo no one knew, have known about the Dangmu family's successor's private matters?"

Jin Jigui's fingertips trembled. Finally, he jumped up and shouted.

"Who in Hangzhou knew about it back then! No one knew, because you kept it a secret!"