Chapter 30: True Brothers
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People always look upward, rarely lowering their heads to look down.
Those who love you and treat you well are so often taken for granted that their true feelings are overlooked.
After regaining his freedom, Li Xunhuan shared a few more heartfelt words with Lin Shiyin, then carried two jars of wine to find Long Xiaoyun.
His sworn elder brother.
Li Xunhuan was a good judge of character. In the past, Long Xiaoyun had been a man of peerless loyalty and righteousness—the ideal man in Li Xunhuan’s eyes.
But the Long Xiaoyun of today was merely a middle-aged man afraid of losing what he had.
He had a wife who did not love him, a mischievous child, and someone he did not wish to face.
Tie Chuanjia had locked him inside a woodshed. As he agonized over what to do, the door opened, and Li Xunhuan walked in.
In an instant, cold sweat broke out across his forehead.
Could it be that Li Xunhuan had grown impatient and intended to…
Yet Li Xunhuan did not suddenly reveal the beastly nature he had imagined. Instead, he tossed him a jar of wine.
“Big Brother,” Li Xunhuan said, “I must have frightened you.”
Long Xiaoyun stared at the wine in his hands, unsure whether he should drink it.
“Big Brother may not believe me,” Li Xunhuan continued, “but the man you saw earlier was not truly me.”
Long Xiaoyun’s face was full of disbelief.
Li Xunhuan took a sip of wine and immediately began to cough. “There is someone in this world who possesses a terrifying martial art. Anyone near him can be controlled, rendered incapable of acting according to his own will!”
Long Xiaoyun believed him even less. If such a martial art truly existed, would that person not be invincible beneath the heavens?
Sitting atop the dry firewood in the shed, Li Xunhuan said, “Unfortunately, this person has a rather peculiar sense of amusement, which is why the scene just now came about.”
Looking at Li Xunhuan in this state, Long Xiaoyun realized that the man before him was slightly different from the one he had seen earlier.
“Are you really Xunhuan?”
“Genuine beyond doubt!”
“And the man from before?” Long Xiaoyun asked. The sinister, seductive expression Li Xunhuan had worn was etched deeply into his memory.
“That was before,” Li Xunhuan replied. “It has already passed. I came here to have a talk with you, Big Brother.”
About what?
Long Xiaoyun was not a fool. With a bitter smile, he said, “About Shiyin?”
“Do you still remember when we first met?” Li Xunhuan asked. “Although I was badly wounded at the time, we spoke of everything beneath the sun.”
Long Xiaoyun nodded. In those days, he had happened upon Li Xunhuan, who had been grievously injured, and escorted him back to Plum Blossom Manor.
They had met as if they had known each other all their lives. Their bond had been as close as brothers, and so they had sworn brotherhood.
It was only after arriving at Plum Blossom Manor that Long Xiaoyun met Lin Shiyin.
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The instant he first saw Lin Shiyin, he fell in love with her.
Lin Shiyin was beautiful—not merely beautiful, but kindhearted as well. She was a truly fine young woman.
Now, everyone in the martial world claimed that Lin Xian’er was its foremost beauty. Long Xiaoyun could only sneer at such talk. The people of the martial world were ignorant fools. How could they know what Lin Shiyin had been like ten years ago, in the bloom of youth?
Lin Xian’er lived in his household alongside Lin Shiyin, yet he had never entertained the slightest thought of her.
Once a man had fallen in love with Lin Shiyin, he could never have feelings for Lin Xian’er.
His heart belonged to Lin Shiyin, and because of that, his brotherly bond with Li Xunhuan had changed.
The friendship between two men could be shattered only by a woman.
Lin Shiyin loved Li Xunhuan. How could he not know that? And yet he had still begged Li Xunhuan to let Lin Shiyin marry him.
There was no reason in love. It was selfish.
Even if he could not possess her heart, having her person would have been enough.
“In those days, before I knew you, Shiyin and I were betrothed,” Li Xunhuan said.
Long Xiaoyun froze.
He truly had not known.
All he had known was that Li Xunhuan had abandoned himself to pleasure, frequenting brothels and breaking Lin Shiyin’s heart. He had never known that she was Li Xunhuan’s fiancée.
“I should have explained everything to you back then,” Li Xunhuan said. “That was my mistake. I treated you as a brother, yet I failed to be honest with you about this.”
He sighed. “I always imagined that everything would work out for the best, and overlooked what the two of you were thinking.”
Compared with the men of the martial world, Li Xunhuan was a true son of a scholarly household—the Li family had produced three Palace Graduates. No matter what, he had always possessed, deep down, a certain sense of superiority over those of the martial world.
It was determined by his birth, and at times he was not even aware of it himself.
He was the last man of the Li family, its head, and so he believed he had the right to make decisions for his cousin and for his sworn elder brother.
At the time, it had seemed only natural to him. He believed he ought to bear everything himself.
“Big Brother,” Li Xunhuan asked, “if I had made everything clear to you back then, what would you have done?”
Long Xiaoyun fell silent.
If Li Xunhuan had told him from the beginning that Lin Shiyin was his fiancée, what would he have done?
A friend’s wife…
After a long, long while, he sighed. “I suppose I would have been the one to retreat beyond the Pass.”
He could never have taken the heartless step of stealing another man’s beloved. All he could have done was endure his pain in silence.
Perhaps he would have been able to forget Lin Shiyin. Perhaps he would never have forgotten her for the rest of his life.
Loving someone did not necessarily lead to a happy ending. That was perfectly normal.
Even if one forcibly obtained what one desired, the result was not necessarily a good one.
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Just look at him now.
“Three people are involved, and someone will always be hurt,” Li Xunhuan said. “I tried my best to keep everyone from being hurt, and ended up hurting all three of us. I was such a fool.”
Long Xiaoyun said nothing.
“So it is time for all of this to end.”
Long Xiaoyun understood. It was time for him to make a sacrifice for Lin Shiyin.
He had been the third party all along.
Li Xunhuan continued, “To hurt one’s brother for the sake of a woman is hardly an act of loyalty. But to hurt both one’s brother and the woman for the sake of that brother is even more foolish.”
“When two harms must be weighed against each other, choose the lesser.”
There had never been a choice in which one could have everything. There was only what had to be given up.
There had never been a path where one could possess everything and have everything turn out well. All that existed was the side one chose.
The Li Xunhuan of the past had chosen brotherhood. The Li Xunhuan of today would choose the path that caused the least harm to all three of them. He would consider not only his brother, but the woman as well.
Once, he had thought only of his brother. Now, he would think of the woman.
Long Xiaoyun sighed. “I understand. Take everything. I only wish to continue living here, so that I may occasionally see Shiyin.”
His wife was gone. His mansion was gone. His standing in the martial world was gone as well. None of it mattered to him.
After all, he still loved Lin Shiyin. That was why his feelings toward Li Xunhuan were a mixture of envy, jealousy, and hatred.
Because Lin Shiyin loved that man.
For some people, merely catching a glimpse of them was enough.
“…Big Brother, you must let go,” Li Xunhuan said.
Long Xiaoyun countered, “Have you?”
Li Xunhuan sighed. He truly had not let go.
If he had, he would never have returned to the martial world within the Pass.
“In that case, I shall bear the infamy,” Li Xunhuan said. “In any event, my reputation in the martial world is hardly good.”
Li Xunhuan had made yet another choice. He was different from Shi Fei.
Shi Fei gave people the choice. Li Xunhuan made the choice for them.
After speaking openly with Long Xiaoyun, Li Xunhuan began preparing for his wedding.
Once the wedding was over, he would have an enemy to deal with.
And that enemy was within the Money Clan.
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