FW (Eng)

Chapter 5 - The Evils

"My last name is Zhang, I'm Zhang Chengling." The young boy sat down, face dark; but even when his clothes were in tatters, the colors made it clear that they were made from expensive materials and not something a commoner would wear. "Zhou..."

He stopped, unsure how to address this beggar-looking man.

"Just call me uncle." Zhou Zishu replied blatantly.

Zhang Chengling tried to smile but didn't really succeed. He lowered his head, looking at the ground inside the shrine that was covered in dust and overgrown with grass, still in a state of shock. The great tragedy came in a blink of an eye without knowledge, and his mind had yet to catch up to what happened.

Gu Xiang whispered, "Zhang Chengling? Sounds kind of familiar."

Zhou Zishu asked, "Is your father Sir Zhang, lord of Nam He Holdings?"

Gu Xiang blurted out in surprise, "You're Zhang Yusen's son?"

Doubt and 'How on earth does Zhang Yusen have such a useless offspring like this one' was evidently written on her face.

Zhang Chengling must have seen it too, as his head dropped even lower, hands balled into fists by his side.

Zhou Zishu had to swiftly interrupted Gu Xiang's spirit crushing session. Having realized earlier that this girl would just say whatever people hated hearing, he coughed, "I hadn't known, my apologies."

Gu Xiang started bombarding him with questions. "Your father has quite a reputation, huh... A few days ago when we arrived here, we got to hear about his glory days back when he was younger, and that the family and business recently have been doing really well. People said after getting successful he's settled here and half detached himself from society, never engaging in any affairs. The holdings were also said to house guests who are pretty decent at martial arts, so no one dared stir up troubles. Who would hunt you down when you have a father like that?"

Her voice carried a flippant attitude since the whole problem didn't concern her in the slightest. The old woman clearly felt indignant as she stood up, "My lord is the best well-doer you can find, the most honorable, kind-hearted and generous; he will always help people even when he has no idea who they are..."

Gu Xiang only scoffed, tone enigmatic, "Alright alright auntie, we know how good of a father this little one has already. But does this honorable, generous father stop you two from being chased down at late night..."

Zhang Yusen had only reached fifty not long ago, and it was not an exaggeration to deem him someone of virtue and prestige. He had not been doing a lot of jianghu business ever since he started building a family for himself; but if there was ever a grand event, it'd still be obligatory to send him an invitation. Zhou Zishu felt the dead should at least deserve some respect; and while the girl's attitude might be unintentional, it was still ill-mannered of her to have said those things. He cut in, "Just now, who was that person trying to kill you?"

Zhang Chengling went silent for a bit, then spoke under his breath, "He's Xue Fang the Hanged Ghost."

"What did you say?"

"What did you say?"

Zhou Zishu and Gu Xiang both exclaimed. The former was frowning, and on the latter's face was quaint surprise.

Zhang Chengling repeated with emphasis on every word, "It's Xue Fang the Hanged Ghost, I heard someone calling him that with my own ears..."

He took a deep breath suddenly, as if remembering and realizing something: the blood that night, the smoke and fire, the screaming – they all came back to him at once. He stood up shakily, face pale, whole body twitching, not uttering a single word.