Chapter 61: The Story
Liu Fu's reaction was extremely strange. It was as if he had seen a sworn enemy—his eyes were bloodshot, and his expression was one of wanting to devour someone alive, as though he could pounce at any moment and tear that young man to shreds.
Within his hatred, there was also fear, and a very peculiar emotion mixed in.
It was the first time Chen Ming had ever seen such a complicated mix of emotions on a single person. He was very curious—just what kind of deep enmity existed between Old Liu and this young man’s father?
When the young man in brocade robes saw Liu Fu’s reaction, a trace of amusement surfaced on his face. “Before my father passed, he specifically instructed me to go to the Wu’s Martial School in Qingfeng City and find a man named Liu Fu. He wanted me to deliver a message.”
“W-What message?”
Liu Fu’s voice was hoarse, his fists clenched tight, and his breathing grew rapid—it was clear how much he cared about that message.
The young man said, “My father said, several years ago, she died in childbirth. You don’t need to keep her in your thoughts anymore.”
When Liu Fu heard the news, the world spun around him, and he stood there dumbfounded.
Seeing such a reaction, the young man found it dull and turned to leave.
“Ah—!”
Liu Fu roared like a wild beast when he saw him leaving. “Don’t go…”
He suddenly lunged forward, aiming to grab the young man by the shoulder.
The young man in brocade robes turned his head. Without drawing his sword, he thrust it forward with the scabbard still on.
It struck Liu Fu squarely in the chest.
The blow was so forceful that Liu Fu spat out blood on the spot and collapsed.
The young man looked puzzled. “With this kind of strength, you actually managed to defeat my father back then? How bizarre.”
He glanced over at Chen Ming, who showed no intention of making a move, and only then turned and walked away.
……
“Old Liu.”
After the two had left, Chen Ming walked over and helped Liu Fu up.
Seeing his face as pale as death and eyes tightly shut, Chen Ming was startled.
A quick check revealed that only Liu Fu’s sternum was fractured—the injury wasn’t too severe.
Seeing how utterly devastated Liu Fu looked, Chen Ming sighed inwardly.
He had heard bits and pieces about Old Liu’s past.
The master of the Wu’s Martial School was originally surnamed Wu.
By the time the school passed to the previous generation, the master had only a daughter. To continue the family line, Master Wu set his eyes on a highly talented, orphaned young man—Liu Fu—and intended to take him as a son-in-law.
Unfortunately, before the wedding could take place, Master Wu died under mysterious circumstances.
Some said he was murdered by an enemy; others claimed he was poisoned by a disgruntled disciple.
After his death, a dispute broke out among his disciples over the martial manuals he left behind.
In the end, some died, others left. Only Liu Fu and his fiancée remained.
Who could have known that on the very night their mourning period ended and they were finally wed, Liu Fu’s fiancée would suddenly die too?
Hit by blow after blow, Liu Fu never recovered.
Naturally, Wu’s Martial School declined soon after.
“Seems like the rumors were unreliable after all.”
From the conversation and Liu Fu’s reaction, Chen Ming surmised there must be another story behind it all. But given Liu Fu’s current state, it wasn’t the time to ask.
He could only send someone to fetch Liu Fu’s two disciples and have them take good care of their master.
He also left some silver.
Then, he left.
……
…………
“Second Master, a guest has arrived and is waiting in the main hall. He claims to be your fellow disciple, though we’ve never seen him before.”
Chen Ming had just entered the residence when old Li from the gatehouse came up to report.
Ever since he broke through to Seventh Grade, someone—no one knew who—had started calling him Second Master, and after that, everyone followed suit.
He casually asked, “Oh? What’s his name?”
Old Li replied, “He said his surname is Wen.”
Surname Wen?
A thought struck Chen Ming. When he stepped into the main hall and took a look, it really was Wen Zehao.
What a rare guest indeed.
The last time they met had been over a year ago, on the day Huo Chengkun passed away.
As Huo Chengkun’s last personal disciple, Wen Zehao hadn’t even attended the funeral, which was practically a public declaration of severing ties with the Huo family.
Of course, he had also been lucky enough to survive.
After not seeing each other for over a year, Wen Zehao appeared more mature, but when he saw Chen Ming, his expression was rather stiff, and he instinctively avoided eye contact, carrying a sense of shame as if he couldn’t face him.
A middle-aged man sitting beside Wen Zehao stood up enthusiastically and bowed, “You must be Young Master Chen. As expected, you are striking in appearance, a true dragon among men.”
Chen Ming asked, “And you are?”
With a fawning smile, the middle-aged man replied, “I am Hao’er’s father, Wen Yuantao. We just returned from out of town. Upon hearing that Young Master Chen has broken through to Seventh Grade, we came specifically to offer our congratulations.”
Seeing the expressions on the father and son, Chen Ming immediately understood.
This scene looked exactly like a small-time businessman dragging his son to visit an old classmate who had become a government official, hoping to curry favor with gifts.
No wonder Wen Zehao wore such a shame-filled, evasive look.
Back then, Wen Zehao had been the most gifted among their batch of students. He was even taken in as a personal disciple by Huo Chengkun and became engaged to Huo Qianqian, making him the heir apparent of the Huo Residence.
At the time, he basked in the spotlight and paid no attention to Chen Ming, who had mediocre talent and was persuaded to withdraw from the school.
Who would’ve thought, now he had been rejected by Huo Qianqian, and his master was dead. He had no more ties with the Huo family.
On the other hand, the very Chen Ming he once looked down on had soared upward and, in just two years, become a Seventh Grade martial artist.
Wen Zehao was still stuck at Ninth Grade.
And today, he was dragged by his own father to present gifts to Chen Ming. The bitterness of that experience was surely something only he could truly understand.
Wen Yuantao continued speaking, “I heard that Young Master and my son entered the Huo Residence in the same year. Since you are fellow disciples, you should naturally grow closer…”
“That’s enough.”
Chen Ming cut him off. “Your son has no ties to the Huo Residence anymore, so stop calling us fellow disciples. Someone, see them out.”
With that, he turned around and left without giving them a chance to speak.
Wen Zehao was publicly recognized as a traitor, a turncoat of the Huo sect.
There was no way Chen Ming would let the Wen family use him to reforge that connection.
This was a matter of principle.
……
The Wen father and son were thrown out of the Chen Residence.
While Wen Zehao’s face was ashen, Wen Yuantao was full of regret. “Sigh, back then I thought once Huo Chengkun died, the Huo family would fall apart. I never imagined such a figure would emerge… If I’d known, I wouldn’t have handled things so harshly back then…”
“Hao’er, how about we go visit Zhang Mingyu? After all, you two were fellow disciples for years. There’s still some sentiment between you…”
Wen Zehao firmly refused, “I will not go.”
He had been humiliated enough today. To go crawling to Zhang Mingyu now—he simply couldn’t do it.
With a flick of his sleeve, he stormed off.
“Hao’er… Hao’er…” Wen Yuantao chased after him and quickly disappeared from sight.
Just then, the two happened to pass by a carriage.
The carriage drove straight to the gate of the Chen Residence.
As the passenger stepped out, Old Li from the gatehouse came forward with a beaming face. “Young Master Deng, please come in.”
It was Deng Ziyang.
He asked, “What were those two doing here?”
Old Li replied, “They claimed to be fellow disciples of the Second Master. They waited all morning. As soon as the Second Master saw them, he threw them out…”
Deng Ziyang suddenly burst into laughter. “Who would've thought! So he ended up like this too.”
He laughed heartily, for the first time in over half a year, truly joyful.
When Chen Ming saw him, he asked, “Why are you so happy? Something good happen?”
Deng Ziyang chuckled, “Who would've thought Wen Zehao would one day come begging to you? Heaven truly has eyes.”
“You saw them?”
“I did. I heard that half a year ago, the Wen family’s warehouse was looted by pirates. They suffered huge losses. Now they’re coming to you for help—it seems the Wen family can’t hold out much longer.”