Shen Qingsan thought of his nephew’s death and felt hatred welling up in him. ‘What an unexpected misfortune’, he thought.

　　There was a saying in the State Capital of Qing, ‘There is nothing that the Shen family cannot find out in the state capital.’

　　Although the statement was slightly over-exaggerated, it was not entirely untrue. The statement described how influential the Shen family was; it was to the extent that state officials would have to let the Shen family have their way.

　　To outsiders, the two young masters of Shen family died from a fatal sickness.

　　Many mourned for their young deaths.

　　However, Old Master Shen was not convinced. He searched for the most experienced coroner in the State Capital of Qing to investigate their true cause of death.

　　The coroner was skilled, and he did notice something odd.

　　The two young masters did not die from sickness. Someone killed them with internal strength by injuring their meridians, which explained why they vomited blood before dying.

　　According to the coroner, the killer was not very experienced. An expert of this killing technique could kill with just one tap. As the victim would only die after days or even weeks of the attack, the killer would be long gone by then.

　　Someone of that caliber would not be just any Tom, Dick, or Harry. They had a unique way of doing things, and they belonged to an exclusive circle called ‘Jianghu’.

　　Jianghu was all-encompassing.

　　Jianghu was also secretive and exclusive.

　　The coroner thought that the killer would be a martial art expert; not top-notch, but of decent capabilities.

　　Whatever traces left behind by the killer would be gone by now.

　　However, as long as the killer was still a mortal in this realm, the Shen family would be able to do something about it.

　　The Shen family managed to trace the root back to an incident that took place one fine day. The two young masters had an argument with a rich outsider in green coat.

　　Due to the reputation of Shen family, the man had to give up his spot, a private room in the restaurant. But before he left, he gave them a shove.

　　That was the shove that brought forth the young masters’ death.

　　When the Shen family managed to get their hand on the information, they filtered through suspicious points and managed to narrow down their suspect list to one candidate. With the help of Green Bamboo Sect, they managed to confirm the identity of the killer.

　　The Green Bamboo Sect exerted considerable influence in Jianghu, though, their forte was that of the labor market. They controlled the hard labor taskforce of the state capital.

　　If the Shen family were to be the light, the Green Bamboo Sect would be the shadow; both coexisted without tension.

　　Despite being in Jianghu, the Green Bamboo Sect wanted mainly money and were generally not in conflict with the Shen family.

　　In Jianghu, the polar opposite would be people like the man in green – those who searched for a vigorous and adrenaline-filled lifestyle.

　　They were the ‘Robinhood’ of Jianghu; they stole from the rich to give back to the poor. Besides gaining reputation, they could benefit from having some extra cash as well.

　　It was risky, but they were skilled enough for the job. Besides, there was usually not much resistance from those who were robbed, as they were only there for the money, not to kill.

　　As they were skilled, people like the man in green were usually aggressive and untamed; they would not hesitate to kill out of anger.

　　That was precisely why they had a lot of enemies within or outside of Jianghu.

　　Those were kind of people that the two young masters had run into.

　　Experts in Jianghu were often mysterious. They could easily take on a hundred men and still managed to emerge unharmed.

　　The man in green could do anything that he wanted with his impressive skills. Even after killing the two young masters of the Shen family, he could escape and stay alive. As long as it was nothing as serious as plotting a rebellion or murdering a state official, he could basically do anything and everything.

　　However, the Shen family found their shot at revenge – the man in green was on bad terms with the Green Bamboo Sect.

　　Also, the man in green was not familiar with the State Capital of Qing. Otherwise, he would not have hung around if he knew the two men that he casually killed were the young masters of Shen family.

　　Or perhaps he was actually privy to the information and decided to stay on because he had more important things to do.

　　His ongoing conflict with the Green Bamboo Sect was the perfect proof.

　　…

　　Old Master Shen knocked on the two coffins with his crutch. The dull knock echoed throughout the hall.

　　When the older generation was sending off the younger generation who had passed away, it was a tradition for them to knock on the coffin. This was to signify them not being filial for passing away before the older generation.

　　In recent years, Old Master Shen had to send his descendants off, twice. No words could describe the grief that he was going through. He had never been vocal with his feelings and was not in the habit of wearing his heart on his sleeve; the immense grievance that he was dealing with was something that was known only to him.

　　Having started from the bottom, Old Master Shen had gone through all the hardship of being a pioneer and he had blood on his hands. His current predicament led him to believe in karma; he was reaping what he sowed.

　　Even then, he did not regret what he had done. He saw it as part of the ordinary course of events.

　　The coffins were moved out from the Shen family, and Old Master Shen did not have to follow. The rising sun shone on every fold on his face; all the freckles on his face were visible.

　　Tossing his crutch away, Old Master Shen faced the morning breeze head on. He stood defiantly and refused to be defeated by old age.

　　“Why wasn’t Shen Lian here for the final parting?”

　　“Young Master Shen Lian said he was afraid that he would be devastated. He did not want to waste away the blessings and attainments that he had accumulated for you as a Daoist monk.” It was Steward Wu who replied. He did not omit any details and presented the whole truth to Old Master Shen.

　　“I’m at the age where I don’t need any blessings. Even if I were to end up in hell, it was a life well-lived. I know what he is thinking. After all, there is still distance between us,” Old Master Shen sighed.

　　Old Master Shen had offered everything he had to Shen Lian to ensure the continuance of the family lineage. However, Shen Lian refused to participate in his plan and to cooperate. In that sense, he was just like his mother.

　　Old Master Shen was equally stubborn. Both of his sons were obedient, but his eyes were on Shen Lian; Shen Lian’s stubbornness was admirable and infuriating at the same time.

　　His life experience taught him that one could not achieve greatness without pride. The more talented a person was, the harder it was to control him.

　　But at the end of the day, he was out of tricks and patience to deal with the unruly wild pony – Shen Lian.

　　No matter what a great person he was, Old Master Shen knew that it would not change the fact that his end was not far away.

　　“There is something else. Young Master Shen Lian went out earlier, and Second Master Shen had sent a few people along to protect him in secret. Nothing should go wrong.” Steward Wu offered the information gingerly when he saw that Old Master Shen had calmed down.

　　“It’s alright, just let him be today.”

　　Steward Wu bowed slightly and stayed silent.

　　Old Master Shen had spent a lot of money and connections to secure a thousand soldiers from the State of Qing. The official story was to bring in the bandits, but the real deal was the man in green.

　　The Green Bamboo Sect caught wind of it, and it would seem that the man in green had something important that the Green Bamboo Sect desperately wanted. For that, they decided to work with the Shen family.

　　It had always been expensive to plan a big operation.

　　Even though only one thousand soldiers were involved, but they were to be gathered and dispatched on short notice.

　　The sheer amount of money that was spent and connections that were exhausted were something that even Steward Wu felt sorry for.

　　It would seem that the man in green was a well-known figure in Jianghu. He got away after committing several big crimes in other state capitals. The law enforcement units did not put much effort into securing his arrest; they merely put on a show.

　　What went into the official records was that, after fighting bravely with the criminal, he had escaped out of the state and was then under the jurisdiction of another District Magistrate.