Han Wang died.
I killed him.
One day, master and disciple were passing through Ya County.
"Master, why is this place...?"
"Oh, it seems there is a famine."
<Zhang San>'s tone was unusually indifferent.
"Is it because of our last mission?"
"It appears so."
The 18-year-old <Zhang San> looked at the bodies on the ground.
But his master's face was indifferent, calm, as if the corpses around them were of no concern to him.
<Zhang San> asked his master confusedly why he could be so cold-hearted.
His master said...
...
...
When dawn broke, <Zhang San> woke up in a cold sweat.
Perhaps because he had practiced his skills late last night, <Zhang San> slept unusually deeply and even dreamed.
He looked around and saw the corpses from his dream were gone.
<Zhang San> felt some relief. The cold winter air helped clear his head as he got up.
"That dream again." <Zhang San> muttered.
Since killing Lin Nu Zhi, the frequency of <Zhang San>'s nightmares had significantly decreased.
But the nightmares didn't disappear completely.
Occasionally, they still came.
The tragedy in Ya County back then, bodies lying everywhere starving to death, always filled <Zhang San> with a horror a hundred times more than that caused by a fisherman with a fishing rod.
<Zhang San> helplessly shook his head, then knocked on his head twice, mumbling: "I know I'm a villain, but I don't dislike being a villain, so you don't have to keep reminding me."
Just then, <Wang Xiaoer>'s voice came from the hall: "Master, breakfast is ready!"
Under his pillow, <Zhang San> had hidden the 1,000 taels <Lu Gaosheng> had paid him for the painting. <Zhang San> checked it was still there every morning before he felt at ease. After doing so, <Zhang San> slowly made his way to the dining table outside the room.
As a steady killer, food safety was naturally very important to him, especially after realizing he was being watched.
The porridge and fried dough sticks for breakfast were made by <Wang Xiaoer> himself.
However, <Zhang San> did not feel this was safe enough.
So as he did every morning, <Zhang San> started questioning <Wang Xiaoer>:
"Xiao Er, did you check the water used for cooking the porridge?"
"Xiao Er, setting aside that we bought the rice for the porridge from outside, it sat in the kitchen all night. Are you sure no one tampered with it?"
"Xiao Er, similarly, regarding the flour and oil used for frying the dough sticks, we can't be careless."
"Oh right, did you wipe down the pots in the kitchen with my 'disinfecting solution'?"
After confirming this was a 'safe' breakfast, master and disciple finally started eating.
"Speaking of which, recently when you've gone out, have people still been secretly watching you?" <Zhang San> asked.
<Wang Xiaoer> sighed and said: "I don't know why, but there seem to be more than before. I wonder what the magistrate is thinking, even keeping watch over a child like me."
<Zhang San> also sighed softly.
If only he could first send <Wang Xiaoer> away.
...
...
Today was the last day of the year. The streets were deserted, most shops were closed, and few pedestrians about, likely because everyone was home preparing for the Lunar New Year's Eve dinner.
<Zhang San> hadn't expected any customers today. But a customer did come to his book store. This time it wasn't anyone special. In <Zhang San>'s eyes, he seemed to be a student going to the imperial examinations. Because he lacked money, he was staying in a shabby inn in a poor neighborhood. There were many scholars like him in the South City.
<Zhang San> guessed the student was 25 or 26, a couple years younger than himself. He was looking everywhere for a copy of "Strategy for Governing the Country". Apparently he had somehow heard that this year's civil service exam topics would likely be related to theories on governing countries. So he wanted to study it in advance.
Of course a poor student could not afford to buy a licensed copy from the Book Courtesy Office. That's why he came to a small shop like <Zhang San>'s to see if they sold pirated copies.
Naturally <Zhang San> did not have what he was looking for. He casually chatted with the student for a bit before sending him off.
After the customer left, <Wang Xiaoer> who had been sweeping while overhearing his master talk asked with puzzlement: "Master, don't you think it's strange?"
<Zhang San> asked: "What's strange?"
<Wang Xiaoer> said: "As you said, over history, so many scholars and sages have written so many works on governing countries. Why is the world still in turmoil? Why are there still so many bad people, like those three hoodlums the other day?"
Thinking of the 1,000 taels under his own pillow, as well as today's breakfast, <Zhang San> replied: "That's simple. Because all those sages and scholars wrote absolute nonsense!"
<Wang Xiaoer> asked in astonishment: "Master, what do you mean by that?"
<Zhang San> glared and scolded in a low voice: "You don't understand this? All those fancy theories of governing countries, let me tell you plainly in two sentences: The country will be harmonious if there's enough food and money; if there's shortage of food and money, unrest will arise."
<Wang Xiaoer> had never heard his master speak this way before. He asked: "Wow, Master. What you said sounds somewhat sensible. Can you explain in more detail?"
<Zhang San> said: "Human nature is actually quite similar to that of beasts. The main purpose in life is simply to live. If everyone has enough to eat and a roof over their head, the possibility of uprising or rebellion would be very low. If on top of that everyone also has a little money in their pocket, they'd be even less likely to rebel."
Issues that could be plainly explained in two sentences, yet some people wrote entire books about them.
<Zhang San> really did not understand the world of scholars.
But <Zhang San> did not continue.
With the New Year nearing, the streets were quieter than usual, as there were fewer workers coming out to buy street snacks. Thus, the approaching footsteps could be heard more clearly than normal, even from inside the shop. Although he could not see outside, <Zhang San>'s ears picked up someone walking towards his shop.
<Lu Gaosheng> leisurely approached.
Able to hear whispers from the street while in his room three floors up, <Lu Gaosheng> had overheard <Zhang San> and <Wang Xiaoer>'s conversation. Besides <Li Xing> and <Bai Fang>, no one else in the world knew of <Lu Gaosheng>'s extraordinary hearing ability. So <Lu Gaosheng> kept an inscrutable expression, only smiling faintly to himself.
<Lu Gaosheng> thought: This man does indeed have some insight, but he's still too naive. Speaking of clothes to wear and food to eat, did lack thereof cause Song Yan Shi to frame <Bai ShiXuan> twenty years ago? Or does the family of Wang Jue, who fights the battle at the northern borders without retreat, face financial adversity?
The so-called 'state of the world' is not as straightforward as that.
The so-called 'human nature' is even more complex.
A traveling merchant sauntered slowly through empty streets.
A man in laborer's clothes sat by the roadside eating roasted meat.
This time, <Lu Gaosheng> had one purpose only.
Disaster would not end that simply up north. <Lu Gaosheng> had decided to devote his full energy to the struggle for position of county magistrate, as well as the aftermath of calamity up north.
<Bai Fang> had been his only concern.
The unknown agenda of this <Zhang San> could become troublesome. So he decided to abandon his original plan and eliminate him in one strike.
However, 'eliminating' as <Lu Gaosheng> referred to it this time was not killing. Or to say, killing was not his first option.
After obtaining a transcript of interrogation results from <Li Xing>, he wanted to recruit <Zhang San>, just as how he had recruited the Twin Wolves.
...
...
Yet in the end <Lu Gaosheng> did not enter the shop.
Instead <Lu Gaosheng> turned and retreated to a hidden corner on the street.
All because a little girl cheerfully skipped into the book shop.
Bai Xiaoyu!
From the shadows, <Lu Gaosheng> watched <Bai Xiaoyu>, hesitating for a moment.
As <Bai Xiaoyu> entered the shop, <Wang Xiaoer> immediately went up with a smile across his whole face, full of flattery.
<Zhang San> saw this scene and sighed inwardly. He turned to look at the street outside.
What a coincidence, <Zhang San> spotted a large black dog across the street, gnawing on a bone with little meat left.
<Zhang San> looked at <Bai Xiaoyu>, then the dog.
<Zhang San> looked at <Wang Xiaoer> telling her things like "you look lovely today". Then back at the black dog.
<Zhang San> recited in his mind: Why does my disciple resemble a dog increasingly? Is that my imagination?
Of course <Wang Xiaoer> had no idea what his master was thinking at the moment. <Wang Xiaoer>'s full attention was on <Bai Xiaoyu>, circling around her, telling jokes to make her laugh, offering candy for her to eat.
Clearly, faced with a little beauty, <Wang Xiaoer> had completely forgotten about his own master.
Seeing this scene, Zhang San recalled what he had said to his master at his master's grave in Xiaoyun County: that our righteous sect still had hope for the next generation to carry on.
Zhang San lamented: Does our righteous sect really still have a future?
Alas!
Bai Xiaoyu was amused by Wang Xiaoer's jokes, and it took her a while before she remembered her mother's instructions.
Bai Xiaoyu turned to Zhang San. Because her mother had said to be polite to scholars, Bai Xiaoyu first bowed, then said to Zhang San: "Mr. Zhang, my mother said today is New Year's Eve. You two men probably can't cook anything decent. Would you like to eat with us?"