Killing Monks

"It's not that I don't trust you two."

Lu Fei looked at Guangyuan and Chu Kuangjun, his tone earnest.

He paused, seemingly considering his words, and finally said in a deep voice, "Knowing too many secrets of the martial world is of no benefit."

Not telling them about the Lu family was indeed for their own good.

Guangyuan and Chu Kuangjun exchanged a glance.

The secret of the Black Knife seems to be more complicated than they thought.

"You don't have to tell me," Guangyuan nodded. "If you need help, just call me and Brother Chu."

He paused, then suddenly sighed.

"I only hope that many years from now, when Brother Chu and I come here, we won't end up like that old Taoist priest, watching helplessly as you die by your own son's blade."

Lu Fei's expression changed slightly.

Guangyuan looked at him and lowered her voice: "Why don't you give us a hint? Let us guess, or just tell us a part, so we can help you figure it out."

Lu Fei remained silent.

In just two days.

His life took a complete turn.

The Lu family's three-hundred-year-old secret had to be kept hidden, the Black Knife had to be suppressed, and the bloodline had to be continued. These matters weighed heavily on the head of the family, making it hard for him to breathe.

He fears.

I'm afraid I can't handle it.

What I fear even more is that if I take on the responsibility, it will still be wrong.

Last night he suddenly had a strange dream.

There was fire in my dream.

An endless fire.

A person sat upright amidst the flames, wearing a crown reaching to the heavens and a crimson robe, clearly in the attire of an emperor.

The man held a knife in one hand and a jade seal in the other, looking down at him with a smile on his lips.

Good riddance.

Continue, let's revitalize the Song Dynasty.

The Song Dynasty lasted for three hundred years.

ZTE my foot!

Lu Fei finally spoke, saying, "Have you ever encountered such a situation? Have your elders made unrealistic expectations of you?"

Chu Kuangjun shook his head and answered decisively, "No. My master only told me two things. Don't die in the martial world, and take care of him in his old age."

He spoke casually, without restraint or burden.

Lu Fei looked at him, a hint of envy flashing in his eyes.

This kind of person, unrestrained and free, is the kind of chivalrous person he wants to be!

But now, he is the head of the Lu family.

Guangyuan said, "I grew up in the temple and have no elders. They offered me a path, but I don't want to walk it."

"As for those elders who put pressure on you..." Guangyuan smiled slightly and said, "Just retort, 'Why should I do what you can't do?'"

Lu Fei was stunned, then his eyes suddenly lit up.

Seeing him like this, Guangyuan said, "Instead of being pressured by others, you should pressure others."

He continued, "Was your elder's background better than yours?"

Lu Fei nodded.

"Is what he wants you to do something you simply can't do right now?"

Lu Fei nodded again.

Guangyuan shrugged.

"That settles it then. He comes from such a good family, has such abundant resources, and he couldn't even accomplish this himself, yet he's now pushing it onto you?"

He paused, then asked with a hint of sarcasm, "What's this called?"

"That's called irresponsibility. That's called incompetence."

"Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you. Why should you do something he himself cannot do? What gives him the audacity?"

Yeah, where does he get the nerve!

A thought suddenly flashed through Lu Fei's mind.

Lu Zhu was the last emperor of the Song Dynasty.

When he ascended the throne, the Song Dynasty still had half of its territory and civil and military officials.

And what about yourself?

Can a small Lu family, a nobody in the martial arts world, compare to half of the Song Dynasty?

He lost the world when he had it all, and finally set himself on fire in the palace.

How can a ruler who has lost his country have the audacity to ask his descendants to revive it?

The pressure weighing on my heart seemed to ease a little.

Lu Fei was silent for a moment, then asked, "What if... that elder is unreasonable?"

Guangyuan raised an eyebrow.

"Being unreasonable, putting on airs, and acting like an old man—isn't that just being a giant baby?"

"A giant baby?" Lu Fei was taken aback.

After thinking about it, I found it to be somewhat fitting.

Seeing that he had taken it to heart, Guangyuan's expression became more serious: "Don't take everything on yourself. Some problems weren't your fault, so why should you clean up their messes?"

"When they did something wrong, did they ever regret it?"

"Given the current state of the Lu family, they must account for at least two or three out of ten cases, right?"

Lu Fei shook his head and said with certainty, "Eighty or ninety percent."

The fact that the Lu family is now in this state of fratricide is largely due to the actions of their ancestors.

In a respectable family, who would have a son attacking his father every day?

Guangyuan scoffed upon hearing this.

"That's the old bastard. Old bastards like that deserve to be roasted!"

He looked up at Lu Fei and said sincerely, "Now that the Lu family has put you as the head of the family, I'm afraid you may not be convinced. You should be careful and not try to shoulder everything yourself."

He thought the "elder" Lu Fei mentioned was a clan elder of the Lu family.

Lu Fei smiled.

For the first time in the past few days, I didn't manage a bitter smile.

"Monk," he shook his head with a smile, "you have quite the sharp tongue."

"I'll take this as a compliment." Guangyuan raised an eyebrow.

That night, the moon was bright and the stars were few.

Lu Fei embraced Tang Shuangshuang and drifted off to sleep.

Having gone through marriage and shared life and death together, they are truly husband and wife. No other couple in this world has experienced a more genuine bond than they have.

In my dream, it was indeed that great fire again.

Flames engulfed the sky, and the golden palace collapsed.

In the firelight, the man was dressed in imperial robes, holding a knife in one hand and a seal in the other, his eyes fixed intently on him.

"The Restoration of the Great Song Dynasty—!"

The sound echoed in the fire, carrying resentment and obsession.

"The Restoration of the Great Song Dynasty—!"

Lu Fei stopped and stared at the figure.

"The Song Dynasty was destroyed by you."

"Nonsense!" the man shouted, "May my Great Song Dynasty last forever!"

"You ruined it with your own hands," Lu Fei shouted.

In his dream yesterday, he faced the lingering remnants of his ancestor within the black blade, and he felt a sense of awe.

Now, he's being talked about by Guangyuan so much.

Suddenly I understood.

What gives you the right to speak to a king who has lost his country?

He continued, "Do you still expect us, your descendants, to revive it for you today?"

The man trembled, his anger surging: "I am the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty! It is those treacherous officials who have ruined me! It is those treacherous officials who have misled me!"

In the firelight, his face was contorted and grotesque.

Lu Fei looked at him quietly.

"But the Song Dynasty ultimately perished in your hands."

"When you were born, it was the Song Dynasty. When you died, the Song Dynasty was gone."

Lu Fei stepped forward and asked again in a stern voice, "Is the responsibility for this country's downfall yours or mine?"

The figure in the fire froze.

The anger remained, but he couldn't utter another word.

He could blame the rebellious ministers, the traitors, and the unfavorable timing and circumstances, but he could not blame the young man before him.

Because the person before me was never born in the Song Dynasty!

"You must revive the Song Dynasty... Do not forget the glory of Emperor Taizu Lu Que..."

"Glory? Glory was ruined in your hands!"

"..."

"You must revive the Song Dynasty... We are the rulers of the world..."

"The very foundation of the world was destroyed by you. What kind of ruler am I now? Just a nouveau riche in the martial world!"

"...Don't forget our Lu family...the Lu family..."

"Because of you, more members of the Lu family have died than outsiders have killed. How dare you speak ill of the Lu family!"

"..."

The man in the fire said something, and Lu Fei retorted.

Unlike the previous night, Lu Fei slept soundly that night.