Chapter 382: Letting Go

Guan Fangyi still wore a look of disbelief, but in the end she slowly accepted the reality before her.

Just as she had wondered earlier, why would a mere mirror allow Niu Youdao to demand so many concessions from Xiaoyue Pavilion?

And just as Niu Youdao had said: if it were not that object, what right would he have to demand so much?

Those two reasons were enough to convince her. She tried asking, "How did you get this? Did Dong Guo Haoran really give it to you?"

Niu Youdao inclined his head and sighed. "The whims of fate. Back then, Dong Guo Haoran was gravely wounded. At death's door, he reached our village, already too weak to return to the Shangqing Sect. He happened to meet me. The reason he accepted me as his disciple was probably so I could bring this bronze mirror back to the Shangqing Sect."

As Guan Fangyi slowly recovered from her shock, she teased, "Who would've guessed he'd run into a treacherous bastard who never handed it over to the Shangqing Sect?"

Niu Youdao gave her a sidelong look. "That's how you see me?"

"Isn't it?"

Niu Youdao shook his head. "There are things outsiders don't understand. You simply don't know what happened."

Guan Fangyi probed, "Because the Shangqing Sect confined you and treated you badly, so you refused to turn it over?"

Niu Youdao shook his head again, his expression carrying a trace of memory. "It wasn't what you're thinking. Perhaps the object was too important, or perhaps Dong Guo Haoran had no confidence in the others of the Shangqing Sect. Before he died, he solemnly warned me that I was to give it only to his senior brother, Tang Mu, and that it must never fall into anyone else's hands. After I reached the Shangqing Sect, I repeatedly asked to see Sect Leader Tang Mu because I wanted to give it to him. Who would have thought Tang Mu would die as well? I was caught in a dilemma. Handing the object to someone else would violate Dong Guo Haoran's dying command, but keeping it also seemed improper, so I hesitated. Later, I discovered the Shangqing Sect had confined me. I couldn't even properly communicate with the sect's senior figures, knew nothing about what was happening outside, and was completely in the dark. I didn't dare act rashly. They kept me confined at Peach Blossom Spring for a full five years, then later even tried to kill me. Heh! Tell me that isn't the whims of fate."

"So that's how it was." Guan Fangyi nodded thoughtfully. She could understand Dong Guo Haoran's behavior. Naturally, he would not want news of such an object spreading throughout the Shangqing Sect. Entrusting the knowledge to Tang Mu alone was perfectly reasonable. Then she asked, "A man like you had this thing in his hands all these years. Don't tell me you never studied it in secret. Come on, tell me. What exactly is special about it? Why is it called the foremost of the Eight State-Protecting Divine Artifacts? It looks perfectly ordinary to me."

This time, Niu Youdao did not tell the truth. "I studied it. I couldn't find anything unusual. No matter how much I examined it, it remained an ordinary mirror. I have no idea why it's called foremost among the Eight State-Protecting Divine Artifacts."

Guan Fangyi sneered. "With a mind like yours, you've had this thing for so long and still couldn't dig anything out of it?"

Niu Youdao shook his head. "You flatter me. Think about it. If this truly was the State of Qin's state-protecting divine artifact, then after holding it for so many years, how could Qin not have poured manpower and resources into studying it? Yet it never displayed the power it was supposed to possess while in Qin's hands. There are only two possibilities. Either they were like me and couldn't unravel its secret, or they did unravel it and found it was of no practical use."

Guan Fangyi fell silent for a moment. Thinking it over, she had to admit he had a point. Niu Youdao alone could hardly surpass the combined resources of the entire State of Qin in its day. If Qin itself had failed to make anything of it, Niu Youdao was even less likely to have done so.

She curled her lip and mocked, "Now that you've let me know this thing is in your hands, aren't you afraid I'll spread the word?"

Niu Youdao suddenly became very serious. He stared directly into her eyes.

The two held each other's gaze for a while, until Guan Fangyi started feeling uncomfortable all over. "Why are you looking at me like that? Am I that pretty?"

Niu Youdao's tone was equally serious. "My feelings for you are sincere."

Guan Fangyi froze. Whatever meaning she took from those words, embarrassment instantly turned to fury. She raised a foot and kicked at him. "Go die!"

Niu Youdao flashed aside and dodged, turning away with a cheerful laugh.

"Stop right there!" Guan Fangyi called him back, then stepped forward and asked, "Xiaoyue Pavilion killed Black Peony. Can you really hand something this important over to them?"

The subject was a heavy one. The smile immediately faded from Niu Youdao's face. "If I don't hand it over, can you stop them? Can I? Faced with a colossus like Xiaoyue Pavilion, do I have the strength right now to avenge Black Peony? We crossed hands in the State of Qi and they took a loss. They won't let me go. At present, the only one who can swallow the loss is me. Only by paying a price that satisfies them can I calm their anger. I'm giving this object away because I don't want you to become a second Black Peony, and I don't want anyone else around me to follow in her footsteps. Since all of you have chosen to follow me, I have to shoulder the corresponding responsibility. Otherwise, who would still be willing to work for me?"

Guan Fangyi fell silent for a moment, then sighed regretfully. "When you crossed hands with them, you should have known they wouldn't let you go. If you knew it would come to this, why do it in the first place?"

Niu Youdao answered, "You follow me because you want your lives to become better, not worse. What everyone hopes for is also my responsibility. If I can't let the people around me see any hope, who will keep following me? I can't cower because I'm afraid of certain things. I can't let fear stop me from moving forward. Advance three steps and retreat two; at least you're still moving ahead. And perhaps it isn't even retreating. Maybe you've only stepped two paces sideways for the moment to avoid the blade."

He continued in the same steady tone, "Now that matters have reached this point, unless I pay a price of corresponding weight and make them satisfied, they won't stop. If the people are gone, what use is it to keep this object? As long as the people remain, everything is possible. They've already fixed their eyes on me. Without sufficient strength, I can't hold onto this thing. Once we have that strength, there will naturally be opportunities to take it back. You have to let go to gain. If you refuse to put something down, your hands will never be free to do anything else. Only after you let go can you pick something up again. Besides, this thing is of no use in my hands right now. Handing it over lets me maximize what I can gain in exchange. Why wouldn't I? The world is difficult and the situation complicated. Our shoulders are still too weak to carry too heavy a burden. When necessary, you cut through the tangle with a quick blade. Trying to clutch every advantage in your own hands is asking for death."

Guan Fangyi sighed. "This thing is simply too valuable. Handing it over like this seems such a waste... You just said even the entire State of Qin may have failed to see through it. Could we make a fake and give them that instead?"

"No!" Niu Youdao rejected the idea without hesitation. "No one knows whether Xiaoyue Pavilion has a way to determine whether it's genuine. Giving them a fake would be far too risky. If they saw through it, the consequences would be unthinkable!"

There was another, even more important reason for handing the object over that he had not told Guan Fangyi: Monkey.

He knew Monkey far too well. Monkey would never see him in difficulty and simply ignore it. He would definitely try to find another way to make contact with Among the White Clouds and think of some other means to help him.

Monkey had spent too many years at his side, and too many people knew him. The fact that he had not yet been exposed did not mean he would never be exposed. Repeated contact with Among the White Clouds would inevitably make Xiaoyue Pavilion suspicious. They would investigate Monkey's background thoroughly. Perhaps his identity had already been exposed. His situation was far too dangerous.

Once Monkey's identity was uncovered, Xiaoyue Pavilion would naturally know he was one of Niu Youdao's people.

If Monkey fell into someone else's hands, that person might not necessarily kill him. But if he fell into Shao Pingbo's or Xiaoyue Pavilion's hands, that was another matter. Leaving aside the feud with Shao Pingbo, and even leaving aside every other grievance with Xiaoyue Pavilion, Niu Youdao had killed three hundred Xiaoyue Pavilion people at sea.

The final condition he had demanded of Xiaoyue Pavilion—that they were not to move rashly against his people—was a retreat route he had prepared for Monkey.

Of course, Monkey was no fool. Niu Youdao did not know what measures Monkey would take to protect himself, and at present he could not reveal Monkey's identity to Xiaoyue Pavilion either.

As for Monkey's decision, there was little Niu Youdao could say. He could give Monkey his freedom, but that did not mean he could simply watch him walk into danger. Niu Youdao had to create a more forgiving environment for him in secret. No matter what danger Monkey encountered, he would do everything he could to preserve Monkey's life.

Since Niu Youdao had put it that way, Guan Fangyi stopped arguing. But there was still one thing she was curious about. "Why are you helping Linghu Qiu get free?"

Niu Youdao said, "We did become sworn brothers, after all. I'm not so bloodthirsty that I must kill him. When I arranged for him to be captured, I never intended to take his life. If I can give him a path to survival while I'm at it, there's no need to force him to his death. It also spares me trouble. Carrying the reputation of murdering my sworn brother would sound terrible. When you live in the jianghu, you can't treat people's hearts as worthless. Once you've lost every heart around you, you're walking a road to death. I can't do what Shao Pingbo did, killing his mother and elder brother. There are times when I have to swallow some grievance myself. If I could casually kill even my sworn brother, wouldn't that chill all of you?"

"Stop trying to fool me. It's not as though you've done only a few ruthless things." Guan Fangyi rolled her eyes and gently waved her round fan. "He may not appreciate your kindness."

Niu Youdao shrugged, unconcerned. "He intended to harm me, and I'm still leaving him a road to live. I've done all that righteousness could demand. If he refuses to appreciate it, there's nothing I can do. Once he's left Xiaoyue Pavilion and can no longer call on its power, he won't be able to do much to me anyway. If he truly refuses to let it go, once can be forgiven, twice can be endured, but there won't be a third. Everything has a limit. He'd better not force me past mine."

As they spoke, Uncle Chen returned. The two immediately stopped discussing the matter.

"I lost him. Someone was waiting for him in the mountains he went to. He mounted a giant flying bird and left immediately. I couldn't continue following." Uncle Chen reported with visible guilt. He too knew that Black Peony had been killed by Xiaoyue Pavilion while covering Niu Youdao and Guan Fangyi's escape to the ship, and he had wanted to do something to help.

Guan Fangyi said nothing. Niu Youdao waved a hand. "Uncle Chen, it's fine. Since someone from Xiaoyue Pavilion dared come here, of course he came prepared. How could he be so easy to follow? This was within expectations. Don't take it to heart."

At Fufang Garden, Dugu Jing hurried into a pavilion.

Mr. Yucang, who had been pacing inside while he waited, stopped at once and asked urgently, "Well?"

Dugu Jing replied, "We got them." He pulled two sheets of paper from his sleeve, spread them out, and handed them over. They were the rubbings of the Shang Mirror's front and back.

Mr. Yucang took them, looked them over, then quickly walked to a nearby desk and sat down. He opened a booklet lying there.

The booklet looked old, but its pages seemed to record many things, along with numerous seal impressions.

He turned to one page and spread it flat. On the yellowed, aged paper were two rubbing images resembling the Shang Mirror.

Holding the newly received sheets beside the old page, Mr. Yucang carefully compared the rubbings.

[End of Chapter 382]