One person: Senior brother Zhang Zhiwei, the Celestial Master begged me to descend the mountain.

The night was as still as water, and the coolness permeated every inch of the rocks in Longhu Mountain.

Inside Rongku Pavilion, the dim yellow light flickered, casting long shadows of three figures on the window paper.

Gone was the daytime hustle and bustle, and the tense standoff; now, the room was filled only with an eerie yet harmonious sound.

"Ouch... hiss..."

The old master Zhang Zhiwei lay on the bed, his buttocks sticking out without any regard for his image.

He rubbed his still throbbing buttocks while occasionally gasping for breath.

"Go easy... Jinzhong, go easy on me!"

Sitting in a wheelchair, Tian Jinzhong held a bottle of safflower oil and was laboriously applying it to Zhang Zhiwei's buttocks.

Upon hearing this, Tian Jinzhong not only did not soften his movements, but instead increased the force, his wrinkled face beaming like a blooming chrysanthemum.

"Senior brother, you can't even take it anymore?"

"Weren't you acting all high and mighty in the main hall just now?"

"They even force people to buy and sell, and make their children kneel down."

As Tian Jinzhong rubbed vigorously, he said jokingly:

"What's wrong? Now you know what pain is?"

"Junior Brother Taichu's kick was a real one, without any exaggeration."

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Zhang Zhiwei was grimacing as he was being rubbed; his usually dignified and solemn old face was now scrunched up like a bun.

He turned his head with difficulty, looking at the figure sitting in the armchair not far away with a resentful expression.

"Junior brother..."

"You said you were one too."

"In front of so many outsiders, especially those younger people."

"Can't you give your senior brother some face?"

"With that one kick, you've shattered all the prestige I've built up over the decades."

Zhang Zhiwei sighed, his voice full of grievance:

"How am I supposed to lead the team now? How am I supposed to discipline those disciples and their followers?"

squeak - squeak -

A teeth-grinding scraping sound rang out.

Zhang Taichu was holding a tattered cloth and casually wiping the rusty longsword on his knee.

The sword was dull and had several nicks; it looked like a piece of junk that had been salvaged from a scrap yard.

Hearing Zhang Zhiwei's complaints, Zhang Taichu didn't even lift an eyelid.

"Save face?"

Zhang Taichu chuckled, his hands continuing their work:

"Old Zhang, you should be glad that it was me who kicked you."

"If it were that kid Zhang Chulan, he might give you a good thrashing if he got pushed too far."

Even if he's just tickling you, your reputation is truly ruined.

Zhang Taichu blew away the rust and dust from the sword, the reddish-brown powder dancing in the light.

"Forced transfer?"

"How could you even think of that?"

"The child has already made it clear that he would rather be an ordinary person than a Taoist master."

"You're really something, insisting on stuffing that hot potato into someone else's mouth."

"That is, you."

Zhang Taichu raised his head, a hint of disdain flashing in his dead fish eyes:

"Let's see who he is, I'll break his legs."

Zhang Zhiwei lay on the bed, opened his mouth as if to refute, but in the end he could only let out a long sigh.

Ignoring the pain in his buttocks, he turned over and sat up, grabbing the blanket to cover himself.

"How could I not know that it was asking the impossible?"

Zhang Zhiwei's expression turned somewhat desolate, and the light in his eyes dimmed slightly.

"But junior brother, you also know how powerful that restriction is."

"If the secrets are not passed on, they will remain buried forever."

"The story of that big-eared scoundrel Huaiyi back then, the root cause of the Jia Shen Rebellion, and the sordid affairs behind the world of supernatural beings..."

"Zhang Chulan is a stubborn kid; he won't give up until he gets to the bottom of things."

"But what if he crosses those lines..."

Zhang Zhiwei shook his head, his voice low:

"Without the protection of the Celestial Master, he would be a sitting duck."

"Wang Ai, Lü Ci, and those lunatics from Quanxing, who wouldn't want to skin him alive and see what's hidden inside him?"

Upon hearing this, Tian Jinzhong stopped what he was doing.

He looked at Zhang Taichu, his eyes also filled with worry.

"Yes, Senior Brother Taichu."

"My senior brother had no choice."

"Although this Heavenly Master's Ordination is a kind of tight band, it's also a life-saving charm."

"Now this child has refused the ordination..."

"The road ahead is probably going to be difficult."

Clang!

Zhang Taichu abruptly shoved the broken sword back into its sheath.

"Difficult to walk?"

Zhang Taichu stood up and casually threw the sword on the table with a loud bang.

He walked to the window and pushed it open.

The night wind blew in, making his tattered Taoist robe flutter loudly.

"Since the road is difficult to travel, let's level it."

Zhang Taichu stood with his back to the two men, gazing at the pitch-black mountains outside the window. His voice was calm, yet it exuded an extremely arrogant and domineering aura:

"Since the Celestial Master's Lineage cannot be passed down, let's try another method."

"If that kid wants to investigate, then let him investigate."

"He wanted to know the truth, so I took him to uncover it."

Zhang Zhiwei was taken aback, his brows furrowing.

"Dig it out?"

"Junior brother, you make it sound so easy."

"That's a huge secret that involves the very foundation of the entire world of supernatural beings."

"A single hair can affect the whole body."

"If the lid is really lifted..."

"I'm afraid the world is about to descend into chaos."

"chaos?"

Zhang Taichu suddenly turned around, a cold smile playing on his lips, his eyes appearing particularly sharp in the lamplight:

"It's good to order randomly."

"This world of supernatural beings has been too peaceful for far too long."

"Just like this sword."

He pointed to the rusty iron sword on the table:

"If you leave it unused, it will rust."

"The Wang family, the Lü family, and those rats hiding in the gutter."

"They're all bloated and fat, thinking they're invincible just because they have a little power?"

"Since they don't want to be respectable."

"Then let's help them maintain some dignity."

Zhang Taichu walked to the table, picked up the bottle of safflower oil, and tossed it in his hand:

"Rather than sitting on this mountain waiting for people to come and scheme against us."

"Waiting for someone to put a knife to your throat."

"Why not take the initiative to go down the mountain?"

"Flip this table."

"Reshuffle this deck of cards."

"Perfect timing, let's also settle the matter of Senior Brother Huaiyi from back then."

Zhang Zhiwei looked at the junior brother in front of him.

In a daze.

He seemed to see again the arrogant young man from sixty years ago, dressed in white, holding a sword, standing in front of the mountain gate, cursing the heroes of the world.

Time has etched deep lines on Zhang Zhiwei's face and turned his hair white.

But this junior brother...

Time seemed to stand still.

It's not just about appearance.

It is also that heart that is still burning hot, still sharp, and still fearless.

Zhang Zhiwei muttered to himself, then gave a bitter laugh:

"You're going to rip the sky apart!"

"If this causes a commotion, it will be difficult to explain to both the local authorities and the higher-ups."

"You might even drag Longhu Mountain down with you."

"Explain?"

Zhang Taichu looked at Zhang Zhiwei, arms crossed, a look of disdain on his face:

"When have I, Zhang Taichu, ever needed to answer to anyone for what I do?"

"As for the sky breaking..."

He looked up at the rooftop, as if he could see the endless sky through the tiles:

"If it's broken, it's broken."

"At worst, I'll just fix it again."

A silence fell over the room.

Only the wind howled outside the window.

a long time.

Zhang Zhiwei took a deep breath and slowly got off the bed.

He straightened his slightly disheveled clothes and walked up to Zhang Taichu.

His height of over 1.9 meters was now slightly hunched.

He stretched out his large, calloused hands and gently patted Zhang Taichu's shoulder.

"Junior brother."

Zhang Zhiwei's voice was somewhat hoarse:

"I know I can't stop you."

"Since we have invited you to come out of seclusion, we will not stop you too much. I will leave the matter of Junior Brother Huaiyi to you."

talking.

Zhang Zhiwei's eyes became unusually serious, even pleading:

"But... Senior brother has one request."

Zhang Taichu raised an eyebrow:

"explain."

"Don't kill them all."

Zhang Zhiwei sighed and looked out the window at the vast darkness of the night.

"Although the world of supernatural beings is rotten, there are still some promising talents."

"Those old bastards deserved to die."

"But this spark... must be kept."

"If we kill them all, the martial world will die."

Zhang Taichu looked at the old master in front of him, who was once full of vigor but now had to consider the overall situation and had become shrewd and worldly.

He was silent for a moment.

Without saying a word, he simply reached out, grabbed the broken sword on the table, and casually slung it over his shoulder.

"I'm gone."

Zhang Taichu turned around and strode towards the door.

"Where to?"

Tian Jinzhong shouted from behind.

"sleep."

Zhang Taichu waved his hand without turning his head:

"I'm well-rested, because tomorrow I'm going to rob... oh no, I mean go buy some goods."

"Purchase goods?"

Zhang Zhiwei and Tian Jinzhong were taken aback.

"With such a large estate on Longhu Mountain, I should at least bring some travel expenses with me when I go down the mountain, right?"

"Old Zhang, clean all the good stuff in your storeroom."

"If I find any defective products..."

Zhang Taichu's figure disappeared through the doorway, only his lazy voice still echoing in the night breeze:

"I'll kick your ass into eight pieces!"

Until the footsteps completely disappeared.

Zhang Zhiwei shook his head helplessly, but a long-lost, relaxed smile appeared on his lips.

"That little devil..."

"In the end, we still went down the mountain."

He turned to look at Tian Jinzhong:

"Jinzhong, tell me, how many more days can this world be at peace?"

Tian Jinzhong chuckled, turned his wheelchair to the window, and looked in the direction where Zhang Taichu had disappeared.

"Peace?"

"Senior brother, stop dreaming."

"From the moment you invited Senior Brother Taichu to leave the mountain."

"This martial world..."

"It's already turned upside down!"