Fang Shuwen wasn’t surprised by Chen Qi’s outrageous display of filial piety.
He just said thoughtfully,
"The one you want to kill... I’m afraid it’s not just the Undying Dragon Emperor, is it?"
"That’s right."
Chen Qi was blunt.
"Everyone in the Dragon Emperor Hall deserves to die."
"Before you tell me your story about the Dragon Emperor Hall, there’s something I want to ask you."
Fang Shuwen put down his wine cup and looked at Chen Qi.
"The first time I left Flying Snow City, that group of Vermilion Bird Guards and the Vermilion Bird Envoy I ran into... you sent them, didn’t you?"
"..."
Chen Qi paused for a moment, then gave a frank, shameless nod.
"That’s right... But my goal wasn’t to kill you. It was to..."
Fang Shuwen waved his hand dismissively.
"Your main goal wasn’t to kill me, but to provoke me.
"Thinking back, we only started traveling together after Wangbei Pass.
"At Qiuyue Nunnery, you witnessed my Martial Arts. You then used your connection with Qin Hu, the leader of the Fierce Tiger Gang, to join our group.
"That’s how you learned more about my methods... You started plotting to use me way back then.
"So when I wanted to leave Flying Snow City, you sent people to kill me.
"You knew they couldn’t kill me, but you also knew I would turn around and go cause trouble for the Dragon Emperor Hall because of it.
"Those six hundred-plus people outside Flying Snow City were your test for me.
"You were watching from the shadows that night.
"If I had died, it would have proven I was no use to you—that I wasn’t all that special.
"But I didn’t die, and that’s why we’re having this meeting today."
"..."
Chen Qi pursed his lips.
"You’ve said it all. There’s nothing left for me to say."
Fang Shuwen sneered.
"Not going to apologize to me?"
"If you were the type of person to accept apologies, at least half the people who’ve died by your hand would still be alive."
Chen Qi spread his hands.
"If you’re unhappy about it, you can kill me right now. It’s not like I can beat you anyway."
"Playing the shameless rogue won’t work on me."
A hint of killing intent had already appeared in Fang Shuwen’s eyes.
"And don’t try to play any more mind games with me. You know I won’t kill you right now."
"Because you still need me to find Undying Island,"
Chen Qi said softly.
"Actually, you don’t need to blame me... All I did was make something that was bound to happen, happen a little sooner.
"The Dragon Emperor Hall is indeed vengeful over the slightest grievance. And what you did at the Zhuji Pavilion was like stepping on the Undying Dragon Emperor’s face and grinding your heel in.
"Even if I hadn’t sent people to kill you that night, you would still have had to face them eventually.
"The only difference is that now, you have the initiative.
"If it had happened then, you would have only been able to react passively to everything..."
There were some things he left unsaid, because saying them would have sounded like a threat.
The people Chen Qi sent only targeted Fang Shuwen, and he did so knowing Fang Shuwen could handle them.
As for the six hundred men later... if Fang Shuwen hadn’t chosen to return to Flying Snow City, the battle that made him famous might never have happened.
Similarly, without this incident, things might have seemed calm on the surface, but in reality, the crisis would have only been delayed.
When the Dragon Emperor Hall eventually found the time to retaliate, they would have started with the people around him.
Even with his supreme Martial Arts, could Fang Shuwen have protected everyone by his side?
’In truth, this was something Fang Shuwen had always worried about.’
’Once you make an enemy, you have to settle the grudge completely.’
’It wasn’t just for himself, but for the people he cared about.’
That was why he was relentlessly hounding the Dragon Emperor Hall.
Fang Shuwen drained his cup in one gulp and looked up at Chen Qi again.
"Tell me. About your grudge with the Undying Dragon Emperor and the Dragon Emperor Hall."
"There was no Dragon Emperor Hall in the past,"
Chen Qi said softly.
"Before it was the Dragon Emperor Hall, it was called the Cyan Dragon Hall.
"The Cyan Dragon, Vermilion Bird, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise... these four halls protected the Qilin Hall at their center.
"Four great masters served under the Qilin Master. Whether you say they dominated a region or were content in their own corner of the world, they all coexisted in peace.
"What shattered this peace was a gate.
"The Dragon Gate!"
"The Dragon Gate?"
Fang Shuwen was slightly taken aback.
"As in, ’the carp leaps over the Dragon Gate’?"
"That’s right."
Chen Qi nodded.
"It doesn’t have the power to turn fish into dragons, but it is indeed a rare treasure.
"It can rapidly advance a person’s Cultivation.
"This gate fell into the hands of the Cyan Dragon Hall’s master."
It was a very old story.
A story of betrayal... When a subordinate obtains superior Martial Arts, he is no longer willing to bow before another.
A world-shaking change at the Dragon Gate.
That was the tale being told.
That night, the Undying Dragon Emperor conspired with the other three hall masters in a rebellion. The Qilin Hall was massacred, and the Qilin Master, Chen Qiusheng, was killed.
And the original master of the Cyan Dragon Hall transformed overnight into the Undying Dragon Emperor of the Dragon Emperor Hall.
And Chen Qi... was the son of Chen Qiusheng. The former Young Master of Qilin Hall, and the current Young Venerable of Dragon Emperor Hall.
The story was simple, but it raised many questions.
Fang Shuwen asked the first one.
"Why are you still alive?"
"Because... I didn’t know."
Chen Qi’s words seemed like an explanation, but they only left Fang Shuwen completely baffled.
He was forced to elaborate.
"When all of this happened, I was just a babe in swaddling clothes.
"I was raised by the Undying Dragon Emperor. In my heart, he was my father.
"I’m still alive because I didn’t know about the old grudges, didn’t know my own history."
"Then how did you find out who you are?"
"Every action leaves a trace. No matter how cleverly you try to hide some things, a lie is still a lie."