Ch 33: The Cannon Fodder Won’t Play Along Anymore [QT]

He told Xie Wang about what had happened the night before.

Ah Yue had already recounted the first part, so Xie Wang only learned the rest from Mu Xing.

When he heard Mu Xing bragging with pride about how strong he was, Xie Wang couldn’t hold back: “Winning against a few amateurs, and you’re this pleased with yourself?”

Mu Xing replied cheerfully, “Of course I’m pleased. What man hasn’t dreamed of being some invincible, super-powerful hero?”

“Hero?” Xie Wang found the word interesting.

But he didn’t linger on it and instead asked, “You didn’t kill those men?”

Mu Xing: “……”

Just as he couldn’t understand why his master was so indifferent toward human life, Xie Wang looked down on his little disciple’s softness.

Still, because of how much he cared for Mu Xing, he didn’t take it to heart.

Mu Xing tried to explain, “It wasn’t a fight to the death.”

Xie Wang said nothing to that, and asked instead: “The Marquis household is targeting you because of that fake young master?”

Mu Xing nodded. “That family is cold-blooded and foolish. I can’t begin to understand them.”

Xie Wang said casually, “This is actually easy to solve.”

Mu Xing looked up at him.

Xie Wang spoke as if stating something ordinary: “I’ll kill that fake young master for you, and the matter will be settled.”

Not a hint of jest in his tone or expression.

Mu Xing was horrified. “This… Master, it hasn’t come to that.”

The Marquis household might be heartless, but they hadn’t tried to take his life.

Xie Wang assured him, “Don’t worry. I have countless methods. No one will ever link it back to you, nor will the Mu family be implicated.”

Mu Xing pressed his hand to his forehead. “Really, there’s no need. Master, don’t go killing people… think of it as helping me accumulate some merit, all right?”

Xie Wang gave him a cold look, and after a long pause, said, “I told you your heart is too soft. You really don’t resemble a disciple of mine.”

Mu Xing smiled obediently. “How can you say that? Didn’t you say I was just as gifted as you, Master?”

Xie Wang handed him a small bottle of medicine. “One pill a day. Don’t use your inner force for now. Rest and nourish yourself for a month.”

Mu Xing bobbed his head like a little pecking chicken. “Got it, got it.”

By the time Zhang shi came in with porridge, master and disciple had finished talking.

Xie Wang exchanged a few words with her before leaving.

Zhang shi sighed. “Mr. Xie is truly our family’s great benefactor. He stayed by your side for two whole days this time.”

Mu Xing thought of someone. “Where’s Ah Yue?”

Zhang shi replied, “That child was frightened too. He stayed by your side for ages until he fell asleep. I carried him to bed.”

When Mu Xing finished his porridge, the rest of the Mu family came in, crowding around his bed. Wang shi even secretly slipped him a little jar of candied fruits.

They hadn’t been there long before Wang shi shooed them away. “Don’t make noise. Let Xiaobao rest more.”

Mu Xing actually felt fine. He had slept for three days, and though he felt weak from lying down too long, his body didn’t hurt anymore.

But the Mu family always treated him like this, convinced their delicate Xiaobao needed plenty of sleep. So, in a flurry, they all left.

He could only ask Zhang shi to bring him a book, propping himself up to pass the time.

Not long after, Ah Yue quietly pushed open the door.

He carefully came to Mu Xing’s side and asked, “Brother Xiaobao, are you still feeling unwell?”

When Mu Xing reassured him, he added, “Reading tires the mind. I’ll read to you.”

Mu Xing chuckled. “You’re treating me like porcelain, being this cautious?”

Ah Yue said nothing.

He truly had been frightened by Mu Xing.

In his heart, Mu Xing had always been so powerful. But seeing him burning hot and lying unconscious no matter how he was called—it was terrifying.

Only from the Mu family’s reactions did Ah Yue finally understand that “Brother Xiaobao has always been frail and sickly” wasn’t just talk.

Seeing his look, Mu Xing stroked his soft hair and said gently, “Don’t be afraid. This was just an accident. My health is fine, and I’ll be more careful from now on.”

He didn’t realize that this incident would etch itself deeply into Ah Yue’s mind—and the belief that “Brother Xiaobao is fragile and needs protection” would take root firmly there.

Because of this illness, Xie Wang ordered him to rest at home for ten days. Naturally, the Mu family followed Mr. Xie’s orders to the letter, taking turns to watch Mu Xing so closely that even getting out of bed felt difficult.

What Mu Xing didn’t know was that during those ten days, Xie Wang had gone alone to the capital.

The Marquis household of Cheng’en suffered disaster.

Since his disciple had told him not to kill, Xie Wang indeed refrained from killing.

That boy who had taken Xing’er’s place—hadn’t he once deliberately used medicine to feign illness? Xie Wang simply granted his wish and made sure he would never recover for life.

The Marquis household was too idle? Idle enough to still remember to harass the Mu family and Xing’er?

It was time to give them something else to worry about.

The key figures of the household—from the old madam, to the Marquis himself, to the marchioness—all fell ill one by one.

The symptoms were the same: weakness, fatigue, unable to do more than lie in bed.

Even the imperial physicians could not find the cause.

At just that time, a court official obtained a secret ledger, detailing years of the Marquis household’s embezzlement and private dealings.

None of it was enough for capital punishment, but taken together, it was plenty to enrage the emperor, who exploded in fury on the throne.

And with the whole Marquis household bedridden, they had no strength left to scramble for solutions.

Fortunately, thanks to the noble consort’s persuasion and the Second Prince’s mediation, His Majesty did not deal a lethal blow to the household.

The Marquis household, trembling with fear, handed over more than half of its wealth to the national treasury to preserve its title. Still, imperial favor was no longer what it once was.

Coupled with the family’s strange illness, no one thought for the time being of Mu Xing—the “true young master” living quietly in the countryside.

Xie Wang never mentioned the matter, and Mu Xing had even been surprised that the Marquis household had finally quieted down.

But to him, this was a blessing. He only wished the Marquis household would never remember him again for the rest of their lives.

---

Time passed steadily for eight years.

Mu Xing grew into a slender, delicate young man, and Xie Wang finally could not hold on any longer.

“As your teacher, I am glad I lived to see you grow this much.” His hair was now completely white, but his face had miraculously grown younger, with only a few fine lines at the corners of his eyes. To look at his features alone, one could believe he was merely in his thirties.

But Mu Xing’s heart sank: he recognized this as the final flare of vitality from the Xiaoyao Heart Method.

His master’s life was at its end.

Xie Wang gazed at him gently. “Do not grieve. Meeting you and passing on my Xiaoyao Heart Method was an unexpected joy.”

“In this life, I have known both glory and defeat. I have no regrets, and no final words to leave behind. After I die, cremate me, and scatter my ashes in the mountains and wilds.”

“In the future, if you meet a child of great talent, take them as a disciple and continue my Xiaoyao lineage. If not, it does not matter. Leave behind the legacy, and someday it will find a destined inheritor.”

With these words, Xie Wang closed his eyes as though falling into sleep.

But Mu Xing knew—he was gone.

His expression calm, Mu Xing carried out his master’s last wishes.

The Mu family worried deeply, afraid he might be too sorrowful and harm his health.

Ah Yue worried as well.

Now nearly fourteen, Ah Yue already looked like a young man.

Unlike Mu Xing’s frail build, Ah Yue’s training in external martial arts had made him tall, strong, and strikingly handsome, his sharp features resembling Xie Wang’s more than Mu Xing’s did.

As they grew older, when the two stood side by side, Ah Yue looked more like the elder brother.

“Shixiong (senior brother), don’t be too sad. Master passed without regrets,” Ah Yue tried to comfort him.

Two years earlier, he had barely qualified to be considered a proper disciple. Though Xie Wang still disapproved of him, acknowledging only Mu Xing as his true successor, he reluctantly accepted the title of “master.”

Thus, Ah Yue now naturally addressed Mu Xing as “shixiong.”

“Why would I be sad?” Mu Xing shook his head, looking at him in puzzlement. “I really am not.”

He had said this several times to his family already, but everyone thought he was forcing a smile.

“Master lived to an old age. He left with no regrets and without suffering. I will do my best to find a gifted successor for the Xiaoyao sect in the future.” Mu Xing glanced at Ah Yue, now as tall as himself, and repeated, “I am not sad.”

Ah Yue looked into his eyes.

They were still the same as when he was a child: clear, bright, and without shadows.

There was some sorrow, but no grief.

He really wasn’t heartbroken.

Ah Yue suddenly realized—perhaps he had never truly understood his shixiong.

Tender-hearted and pure, able to befriend animals in the mountains, unable to bring himself to kill…

He was no cold-blooded man. Yet regarding his master’s death, he was more accepting than anyone.

“Everyone dies. Nothing is eternal. Master himself said he had tasted everything in life and had no regrets. Since that’s so, what good is grief except to make yourself suffer?” Mu Xing said.

Ah Yue was silent for a long time.

A few days later, he sought out Mu Xing. “Now I finally understand why Master said you are the one most suited to the Xiaoyao Heart Method.”

“Mm?” Mu Xing was baffled by the sudden remark.

But Ah Yue changed the subject. “I’m leaving, shixiong.”

“Leaving? Where to?” Mu Xing was surprised.

“Beizhai has been restless. I’m going to enlist,” Ah Yue said.

He paused, then added, “And to avenge my family.”

Mu Xing nodded after hearing this. “All right. If you wish to go, then go. But you must explain properly to grandmother and mother—they will be reluctant to let you leave.”

Especially Grandma Mu. Though she was still healthy, at her age, she couldn’t bear to see her grandchildren far from her side.

“Shixiong won’t try to dissuade me?” Ah Yue asked.

Mu Xing looked at him oddly. “You’ve endured for so many years for this revenge. Do you think a few words from me could make you give it up?”

“I won’t,” Ah Yue admitted.

“Exactly.” Mu Xing tossed a handful of freshly picked flowers into Ah Yue’s arms. “Put these in the studio. And remember—keep yourself alive, come back home, don’t make your family grieve.”

Three days later, the Mu family saw Ah Yue off from Dazhuang Village.

That night, the light orb slowly drifted into Mu Xing’s dream.

Its glow had grown faint, and its tone was weary. “The old madam of the Marquis household has passed away. Now the heir controls the household. Lu Jiaming seems to have realized he’s being excluded from the inner circle, so he’s begun maneuvering for power.”

Mu Xing waited a while but heard no more. “Mm? That’s it? You’re not going to urge me to seize this chance and reclaim my identity?”

The orb sighed faintly. “Would you go if I urged you?”

“Of course not.”

“Exactly.” The little light actually sounded resigned, almost Buddhist in its detachment. “So let it be.”

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