Chapter Twenty-Three: Fury

Listening to the old man recount Li Xunhuan’s background, Shi Fei remarked, "So, you actually have an older brother!"

The reason "Little Li" was known as "Little Li the Tanhua" was precisely because he had an older brother. Thus, he could only ever be "Little Li."

When Li Xunhuan heard others speak of his family history, his eyes dimmed. For everyone, childhood and time spent with family are memories worth cherishing. He once had parents, an older brother, and a cousin. Now, he was all alone.

Oh, and there was Tie Chuanjia.

"What about Chuanjia?" Li Xunhuan asked. "He..."

Tie Chuanjia had been conquering far and wide within the Money Gang; possessing immense strength and an indestructible body, he charged into the fray, one man against ten. He was the "Indestructible Demon God," a figure whose very name struck terror into the hearts of those in the martial arts world.

Shi Fei took a sip of wine and asked, "Do you know his past?"

"A little," Li Xunhuan replied.

"I don't," Shi Fei said, "but I do know he hasn't been living happily."

Li Xunhuan sighed. "In the world of martial arts, who truly lives happily?"

"The martial arts I imparted to him only serve to magnify the anger in his heart," Shi Fei said.

Li Xunhuan looked at him. "Anger?"

"Yes, anger!" Shi Fei continued. "In this world, whose anger runs the deepest?"

Li Xunhuan ventured a guess, "People with bad tempers?" People with bad tempers were always the quickest to flare up.

Shi Fei sighed. "No, it is the honest, submissive ones."

Li Xunhuan was puzzled; how could such honest, simple people harbor anger?

"Because they have never lost their temper, never vented their emotions," Shi Fei’s voice carried a peculiar weight. "That is why, when they are bullied, they swallow their pride and suffer in silence."

"But when the day comes that they can no longer suppress the rage within, that fire erupts from their hearts."

"It destroys others, and it destroys themselves."

"Tie Chuanjia is like that."

"His hair is already turning gray; he has already walked more than half of life's path."

"He harbors resentment, he has made compromises, and hidden deep within is an anger he himself does not even realize exists!"

"Why should the world be this way? Why must he be the one to suffer? Why must he be the only one to endure it all in silence?"

"You tell me, why?"

Li Xunhuan remained silent; he did not know why. He eventually said, "But he shouldn't be like this!" Everyone carried regrets and anger, but Tie Chuanjia seemed like a different person, a stranger to him.

"Spare him," Li Xunhuan said again. "Whatever you want me to do, I will cooperate." He knew Shi Fei had a purpose in all of this, even if he couldn't quite fathom what it was. He felt a pang of regret for inviting Shi Fei into his carriage on that snowy road. Who knew that a casual encounter would so drastically alter his life? Changing his own life was one thing, but he shouldn't have changed Tie Chuanjia.

Shi Fei said, "You are always like this, thinking of others. But have you ever asked Tie Chuanjia himself?"

"I have," Li Xunhuan said.

"He made his choice. We should respect it," Shi Fei replied.

Li Xunhuan insisted stubbornly, "That was not his choice! He isn't like this..."

"What should he be like?" Shi Fei retorted. "Should he live according to the version of him you keep in your heart?"

"..."

"I gave him a choice, and he chose this path!"

Hearing this, Li Xunhuan couldn't help but ask, "Why?" Why treat Tie Chuanjia this way? Why treat him this way? He still could not comprehend it.

Shi Fei shook his head. "You always look at them with pity, helping them make their choices. Therefore, I will not give you a choice, either."

The two fell silent, drinking in gloom. Such arguments occurred often. Suddenly, Li Xunhuan broke the silence. "Shall we make a wager?"

"A wager?! What do you have left to gamble with?"

"I’ll bet my freedom!"

Downstairs, they heard the old man continue, "...who would have known that ten years later, Little Li's Flying Dagger would return from beyond the pass, looking like a completely different person!"

"His personality changed drastically; he acted with high-profile recklessness. There are even rumors that he likes not only women, but men as well!"

The girl with the braided hair was shocked. "Little Li's Flying Dagger is that kind of person?"

"Little Li's Flying Dagger is exactly that kind of person!" the old man declared. "Rumor has it that every night, he must have a man and a woman!"

The girl’s eyes lit up. "Oh my, Little Li's Flying Dagger certainly knows how to have fun!"

The old man glanced at his granddaughter. "However, these may just be rumors, for no one has seen it with their own eyes. And no one has ever claimed to have been favored by him."

"All of his actions are full of contradictions. It is highly likely that his temperament has simply become unstable."

A person's actions usually follow an internal logic. There were so many contradictions in Li Xunhuan that it was like trying to view a flower through a thick fog. He could only force an explanation based on his own understanding:

"Perhaps he suffered inhuman trauma beyond the pass, or perhaps he practiced some unknown, forbidden martial art and went insane."

"You say so much, but it's all 'perhaps' and 'speculation'!" the girl said.

The old man laughed. "I am just an old man; isn't this what martial arts rumors are? If I were accurate, would you even believe me?"

The people in the dining room laughed. They knew that what they heard was not necessarily the truth; rumors were a mix of reality and fabrication—who could say for sure?

"As for the other leader, that is Shangguan Jinhong, ranked second on the Weaponry Record!" The old man took a puff of his pipe. "He is extraordinary."

"He has been hidden from the martial arts world for twenty years, and now, suddenly, he is with..."

On the second floor, the two men drinking in silence broke their quiet.

"He is a master," Li Xunhuan said.

"How great a master?" Shi Fei asked.

"Not as great as you!"

"How great am I?"

"Very, very tall—like a bamboo pole."

To be compared to a bamboo pole was not to be called human at all. Li Xunhuan could not beat Shi Fei in a fight, so he had to settle for a verbal jab. Being a Tanhua scholar by origin, if it came to culture and biting sarcasm, there was likely no one in the entire martial arts world who could outdo him.

"How do you plan to deal with him?" Shi Fei asked.

"Isn't that for you to handle?" Li Xunhuan replied. He had been brought here by Shi Fei today just to listen to this storyteller.

Shi Fei shook his head. "I am merely a nameless nobody in the martial arts world, while you are the leader of the Money Gang. Naturally, it is for you to deal with them."

Li Xunhuan was speechless. So, he was to do the dirty work and bear the infamy?

"Then does what I say count for anything?" Li Xunhuan asked.

"Of course," Shi Fei said. "You are the leader of the Money Gang; your word is law!"

"If it were up to me, I wouldn't deal with them at all," Li Xunhuan said. "They are just an old man and a young girl. Isn't one of the Money Gang's rules to respect the elderly and cherish the young?"

The Money Gang had many rules, one of which was not to kill women or children.

"That may be so," Shi Fei said, "but you are the leader of the Money Gang; you can break the rules."

"This pair is spreading rumors about the Money Gang, though it seems they are trying to whitewash your reputation. Why not silence them first and then kill them, to bolster your prestige?"

Li Xunhuan looked at Shi Fei, and Shi Fei looked back at him. Li Xunhuan’s heart sank; he knew Shi Fei was not joking.