Volume One: A Thousand Years by the Stream Chapter 31: The Explosive Master and Disciple Duo

Sun Zikai sat beside Fu Zhe, the two of them sharing breakfast at the same table.

"This is the cream milk offered by the city; have some more."

"Very well."

Sun Zikai took the pot, poured a bowl for his master first, and then filled a cup for himself.

"It tastes good, Master!"

"Mm."

As Sun Zikai raised his cup again, Fu Zhe continued eating and asked, "Did you kill someone?"

Sun Zikai spat out his drink, choking with three or four sharp coughs. "Ma... Master, why would you say that?"

Fu Zhe stared at him, still chewing, and shrugged dismissively. "You seemed in such a good mood, I figured you must have killed someone again."

"Hiss... ha-ha," Sun Zikai replied, "Master, please, stop joking."

A moment later, a servant entered the room to announce that Sect Leader Ma had arrived, but before he could finish, Ma Guanzheng stepped into the room.

Fu Zhe remained unfazed, continuing his breakfast, while Sun Zikai cast a cold, indifferent glance at Ma Guanzheng before turning back to his meal.

Seeing the master and apprentice ignoring him, Ma Guanzheng grew irritated. With a wave of his hand, he sent the servant flying out of the room and slammed the door shut.

"You wretch, Fu!" Ma Guanzheng roared. "When did you grow the guts to lay a hand on my Ma family's people?"

Fu Zhe still did not acknowledge him. Sun Zikai set down his bowl and chopsticks, rose, and walked slowly toward the door. Ignoring Ma Guanzheng, he pushed the door open and stepped out to the side of the servant.

The man was severely injured; though it was merely a casual strike from Ma Guanzheng, it was fatal for a mortal.

Sun Zikai rolled the man over and cradled his head. The man coughed up blood, knowing he was dying, yet could do nothing but shed a tear. At that moment, a massive surge of potent vitality flowed into him. The man's internal organs seemed to rejuvenate, but just as he was filled with hope, his life was abruptly extinguished.

Sun Zikai froze, then understood the reason. Because he was unfamiliar with the flow of vitality within a human body, the energy he poured in was not absorbed; instead, it destroyed the man's remaining intact meridians, accelerating his death.

Laying the man on the ground, Sun Zikai stood up and tucked his hands into his pockets. He was not wearing the inner-sect uniform; to him, it was no honor.

Fu Zhe set down his chopsticks, wiped his mouth with a blue linen handkerchief, and said, "Sect Leader Ma, to come to my room to kill someone early in the morning..."

Before he could finish, Ma Guanzheng barked, "I am not like you. I killed him right in front of you, so what? You little bastard, playing tricks in front of your elders—come, let me see what you've got!"

Fu Zhe's expression remained unchanged, though he was actually seething with rage. His fingers gripped the edge of the table so tightly the legs creaked, yet he was far from being a match for Ma Guanzheng, let alone the entire Ma family.

Ma Guanzheng pointed at the bridge of Fu Zhe's nose and cursed for several dozen breaths, while Fu Zhe remained silent.

"You wretch, remember this: if you want to stay in this sect, keep your tail tucked!" Ma Guanzheng kicked the door off its hinges and headed toward the courtyard gate.

"Sect Leader Ma," Sun Zikai called out.

Ma Guanzheng stopped in front of Sun Zikai and spat in disgust. "You little bastard, born of a mother but never taught how to behave."

"Sect Leader Ma, what about him?" Sun Zikai calmly gestured to the dead man on the ground.

Ma Guanzheng naturally did not care about the life or death of a servant, but Sun Zikai stopped him once more.

"Sect Leader Ma, I only want to ask you one question: if you have a grudge against someone, do you always let that hatred spill over onto those around them?"

Having been called out by a junior three times, Ma Guanzheng flew into a rage, seized Sun Zikai by the throat, and lifted him up to eye level.

"Let me tell you, you little brat, if you dare to cross the Ma family, I will slaughter everyone you have ever known. Heh, you're from that pathetic pass, aren't you? I’ll raze all fourteen of those cities to the ground!"

"You aren't just saying that out of anger, are you?" Sun Zikai asked calmly.

"Why don't you try me, little brat?"

"Very well, I have the answer I wanted."

Ma Guanzheng snorted, threw Sun Zikai to the ground, and strode away, kicking the courtyard gate off its hinges as he left.

Sun Zikai climbed to his feet and brushed the dust off his clothes. He was completely unharmed, but Fu Zhe, inside the room, was weeping. It was not out of sadness or fear, but an involuntary response to extreme, suppressed rage. His complexion was ghastly, and his breathing had slowed to a crawl; at this rate, he might die of heart failure from sheer fury.

Sun Zikai pressed acupoints on his body to regulate his blood flow and channeled some energy into him, helping him regain his breath.

Gently patting Fu Zhe's back, Sun Zikai comforted him: "Master, you should learn from Sect Leader Wu. When she has grievances, she vents them. You don't have to keep it inside. At worst, argue with him; if that fails, fight him. Even if you lose, it doesn't matter. He wouldn't dare kill you right now. The most terrifying enemy is not one who is stronger than us, but one who keeps coming back no matter how many times we knock them down."

Fu Zhe's condition improved, though his throat was hoarse from the heat of his rage. Seeing he could not speak, Sun Zikai poured him a cup of water.

Fu Zhe drained it in one gulp and said, "Little Kai, am I a coward?"

Sun Zikai considered this carefully before answering. "Yes, Master. Truly a coward. Even though you could resist again and again, your Golden Core rank is fixed, and the Ma family's influence is too great; you will never get ahead."

He continued, "Actually, you could live without being a coward. Turn a blind eye to the Sect Elder, do the same for the Ma family, and focus on your cultivation—or your inner peace. Even without clinging to the Ma family or relying on the Sect Leader, you could live quite freely."

Fu Zhe smiled bitterly. "What you are describing is the Sect Elder's attitude. He lives comfortably, caring for no one, offending no one, focusing only on hoarding gold and silver, planning to leave the sect for a better life. But I... I..."

Sun Zikai sighed. "Master..."

Fu Zhe suddenly pointed at the corpse in the courtyard. "A person like that... he is at least a human being. Why must he be treated like a dog? I have never been able to accept these things, which is why I cannot be as carefree as the Sect Elder."

Sun Zikai was deeply moved. He looked at Fu Zhe with gratitude. "Master, that was indeed not a dog. It was me. He was just like me, from the fourteen cities behind the ridge. He had a name, a family, and perhaps a wife."

The master and apprentice sat by the table in silence for a long time. Sun Zikai poured Fu Zhe a bowl of cream milk. "Master, let's eat."

"You eat. I have no appetite."

"Master, the door is just broken. We will fix it later."

Fu Zhe paused, looking at Sun Zikai as he drank his tea. A few breaths later, he picked up his chopsticks. With the door gaping open and the corpse lying outside, the two continued their breakfast.

Half an hour later, Fu Zhe, moving with the speed of the wind, brought Sun Zikai along and kicked open the gate to Ma Dairan’s courtyard, followed by a punch that shattered the door to his room.

Ma Dairan had imagined many things, but he never suspected anyone but his own brother, Ma Guanzheng, would dare do this, and even then, only if Ma Guanzheng were drunk. Who could have imagined that a scoundrel like Fu Zhe would dare kick in his door?

Once inside, Fu Zhe began to curse at the top of his lungs, hurling every vile insult he could think of. Ma Dairan was stunned, unable to process what was happening, thinking he was hallucinating.

Just as he raised his hand to speak, Fu Zhe pointed at his nose and roared, "You old donkey, keep your family's stupid ass on a leash! If he dares to come piss in my courtyard again, I'll chop off his cock!"

With that, he walked out with Sun Zikai. Sun Zikai was not idle either; there were many buildings in Ma Dairan’s compound with numerous inner-sect disciples moving about. Anyone who passed by Sun Zikai, male or female, was slapped across the face. For those who resisted, it was more than just a slap. After knocking out six or seven disciples, no one dared to provoke them further.

In this manner, the master and apprentice swaggered in, kicked down the Ma family's gate, beat the Ma family's people, and swaggered right back out. Within the time it took to burn a stick of incense, the news had spread throughout the Yanming Sect, striking like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky and setting the sect ablaze with the commotion.