Chapter 7: Old Memories

Zhao Rucheng's family was well-off. He bought a house near the Dao Academy for himself, with a dozen servants to take care of his daily life, so he didn't often stay in the dormitory. Du Yehu, on the other hand, once he started drinking, it wouldn't be a short affair.

Therefore, when Jiang Wang returned to the dormitory, he realized that the usually noisy dormitory was left with only him.

After closing the door, he subconsciously glanced at the leftmost bed in the dormitory.

The bedding on the bed was neatly folded and clean, and the material was no different from the bedding of the others in the dormitory. There was no one on the bed at the moment, and there never would be again.

This was Fang Pengju's bed. He came from a wealthy family, but he was never fussy or petty. He drank and ate with everyone, never picky.

The bed opposite Fang Pengju's was empty, piled with luggage.

The beds on both sides were arranged separately, three on each side.

The second bed on the left side, right next to Fang Pengju's, was the messiest in the dormitory. The bedding was piled up randomly, the scattered clothes were just decorations, and if you sniffed carefully, you could still smell the aroma of wine. If you looked down at the bottom of the bed, you could see neat rows of wine jars. Compared to the living environment of the bed's owner, these wine jars were obviously taken care of very well.

The first bed on the left side was near the door, so it was Linghe's bed - he was always responsible for opening and closing the door for everyone. There were a few inconspicuous patches on the bedding, but it was washed very clean.

The first bed on the right side was Jiang Wang's, his bedding was similar to Linghe's. Although he hadn't been back for a long time, the bed was still very clean, obviously someone cleaned it often. Perhaps it was Linghe, perhaps it was Zhao Rucheng... or maybe it was Fang Pengju.

The second bed on the right side, next to Jiang Wang's, belonged to Zhao Rucheng. His bedding was unique in the entire dormitory. The quilts and sheets were all high-end goods from Yunxiangzhai. The small dormitory bed even had a gold-embroidered curtain. It was simply worlds apart from Du Yehu on the opposite side.

People who weren't familiar with him might think Zhao Rucheng was difficult to get along with, but in reality, his living standards were just too high. Even if he only came to the dormitory occasionally, he wanted it to be as luxurious and comfortable as possible. He even once spent a fortune to transform the entire dormitory into a top-notch Tianzi-class guest room - if Jiang Wang hadn't beaten him up.

From the age of fourteen when he entered the outer gate of the Dao Academy until now, Jiang Wang had spent three years in this dormitory. He was extremely familiar with every detail in the room.

Things are still here, but people are gone, everything has changed.

Jiang Wang was silent for a while, then took off his shoes and socks, unbuttoned his coat, and lay down on his bed.

He was very tired, very exhausted, but only at this moment could he finally sleep peacefully.

Awake, he would face the affairs of the world; asleep, he would dream of soaring to the heavens.

The entire Fenglin City was square and well-planned. The City Lord's Mansion was in the center, radiating in all directions. The eastern part of the city was the territory of the Dao Academy, while the wealthy families lived in the west. The southern part of the city was mostly inhabited by commoners, while merchants and wealthy businessmen were mainly concentrated in the north.

Seeing Jiang Wang safely walk out of the Dean's Quiet Room, Linghe alone carried Fang Pengju's body away from the Dao Academy.

When Fang Pengju was alive, he was popular and had many friends, but when he died, everyone hated him.

He acted despicably and viciously, and deserved to be hated.

Linghe didn't feel wronged for him, but he still felt some heartache.

He wrapped Fang Pengju's body in his coat, which was old but clean.

For his pace, it wasn't far from the east of the city to the west, and he was familiar with the road to the Fang family's mansion. But Linghe walked very slowly, his steps heavy.

He was reluctant.

He was the oldest, he should have taken care of his four sworn brothers, but he didn't.

He still remembered the scene of the five of them becoming sworn brothers by the Green Willow River, and he remembered the brilliant smiles of each of the five brothers.

The Green Willow River was a tributary of the Qing River, winding around Niu Mountain, and the water in the river was very clear. It could reflect young faces and young hearts. That year they traveled on horseback with swords, that year they raised their glasses and talked together, countless times sparring martial arts, and countless nights talking by candlelight.

They agreed to ascend to the inner courtyard together, to fly their swords to the blue sky together, and to become extraordinary and holy together. Those memories, those...agreements.

Linghe never thought that five people who were so like-minded and deeply affectionate would one day turn against each other and face each other in life and death.

How could this be?

He thought.

He couldn't understand, but holding Fang Pengju's cold body, he finally arrived at the gate of the Fang Mansion.

"What are you doing?" The gatekeeper stopped him and asked.

The Fang residence was very high, high above.

"Oh." Linghe, holding Fang Pengju's body, nodded slightly to say hello, "Fang Pengju has passed away. I'm sending his body back for your mansion to bury."

If no one collected the body, it would be taken by the government to a mass grave for unified disposal. That was the place that heretical demons liked to visit the most, and it was difficult to have peace after death.

But Linghe thought there was no need to say this, he was not a person who liked to show off, nor did he think this was any kind of merit.

The gatekeeper's face changed, and he slammed the door shut. A voice came from behind the door: "Take him away! The master said he's not allowed to enter!"

"Brother." Linghe said sincerely, "Please inform your master again, Pengju is, after all, a descendant of the Fang family. They may just be saying angry words for the moment, they won't ignore him."

The gatekeeper seemed to hesitate for a moment, "I'll go ask again... don't try to break in!"

"Please rest assured, brother."

Linghe, holding Fang Pengju's body, stood still in front of the Fang Mansion, listening to the hurried footsteps moving away.

He lowered his head and said to Fang Pengju's already cold face: "Pengju, what a mess you've made? Even in death, no one will remember your good deeds, you're hated by gods and men."

After a long time, the gatekeeper's voice sounded again from behind the door.

"The master said." He paused for a moment, repeating the tone of the Fang residence's master, "He's already dead, why bring him back?"

Linghe was stunned for a moment, then stammered, "The Fang family is a respectable family, they should give Pengju a respectable burial."

"The master has said that he already knows the cause of Fang Pengju's death. This kind of unrighteous person is not a descendant of the Fang family!"

"But he is, he is a descendant of the Fang family." Linghe said.

"Go away!" The gatekeeper threw a handful of knife-shaped coins from the crack in the door, "If you keep bothering us, we'll report you to the authorities!"

The knife-shaped coins fell to the ground with a clatter, attracting attention. If used to simply bury a corpse, it would be more than enough. The extra money was a tip.

This was the Fang family's attitude.

Linghe was silent.

He stopped trying to say anything.

He was very poor, poor since childhood. He was very short of money, his only intact coat was wrapped around Fang Pengju's body, and his underwear had many patches. He stood in front of the magnificent Fang Mansion, like a poor relative who had been turned away.

Holding Fang Pengju's body, he turned and left.

From beginning to end, he didn't look at the knife-shaped coins.

This was Linghe's attitude.