Chapter 40: Excessive Demands

  Su Tang took a glance and saw that the old man had only brought one follower, which made him appear somewhat outnumbered compared to Su Tang's side.

  Su Tang judged that there were two possibilities. One was that he maintained his identity, after all, the Miao Dao Pavilion was founded by Mr. Wen Pingwen himself, and he was the real master. Returning to his own home, of course, didn't require putting on airs. The other possibility was that his subordinates lacked talent, at least they couldn't compare with Wen Xiang and others, and it would be more embarrassing to bring a group of inferior characters to surround him, so it's better to travel lightly.

  "What were we just talking about? You're getting old..." Su Tang laughed and turned her head to glance at Long Qi, who shrugged.

  "I've known him for over a decade, I understand his temperament, he's stubborn, how could he get angry over such a trivial matter?" The old man saw Su Tang being very respectful, and finally cracked a smile: "However... this time I came, indeed there are some things I need to discuss with you."

  "You said," Su Tang said.

  "It's like this..." The old man paused: "I've investigated your case clearly, and it was all Zhao Bocheng's fault. I don't know who he listened to, but he hired a few wandering martial artists to plot against you. Fortunately, Mr. Su's martial skills are exceptional, and with one move, he defeated the group of scoundrels."

  Su Tang didn't expect to be discussing this matter, his smile unchanged as he listened quietly.

  "Alas... come to think of it, I've known Zhao Bocheng for many years and we're old friends. Who would have thought he'd do something like this? Smart for a lifetime, but foolish for a moment... The old man sighed: "Zhao Bocheng had a stroke on the day of the incident and fell into a coma, and died the next day. Heh heh... he left quickly, otherwise, I wouldn't have spared him!"

  "The mastermind is dead, and those petty thieves will soon be punished. I think... this matter should end here, it's gotten too big, and it's not beneficial for the Miao Dao Pavilion." The old man said: "Zhao Bocheng has only one son, named Zhao Liangdong. As the saying goes, 'when you can spare someone, do spare them.' Confiscate all of the Zhao family's assets, then drive Zhao Liangdong out of Changshan County, that should be enough, and leave some descendants for the Zhao family."

  Su Tang understood, Mr. wanted to protect Zhao Liangzhu, Long Qi and Wen Xiang remained silent, they were waiting, it can also be said that they were very curious about Su Tang's decision.

  As people get to know each other, as time passes and the number of encounters increases, they should become more familiar with each other. However, they are becoming increasingly unable to understand Su Tang. The death of Gui Ming proved that Su Tang's judgment was accurate, but what kind of experience must one have to be so perceptive? Moreover, the arrow shot by Su Tang on Xiangshui Street overturned common sense! When Wen Xiang treated Su Tang's wounds out of curiosity and searched his entire body, he couldn't find any weapons.

  "Mr. Su, you mean..." The old man had been silent for a long time after seeing Su Tang, and he couldn't bear it anymore.

  Mo Xiaobai poured a cup of tea for Su Tang, reminding him not to be distracted at this moment. Su Tang smiled and entered the Miaodao Pavilion. Although he had never met Mr. Wen before, he had already learned about the grudges between Long Qi and Mr. Wen from Mo Xiaobai.

  That's right, the Wonderful Pavilion was created by Mr. Wen Pingwen himself and had a glorious time. Later, a person with great prestige among wandering warriors built a gathering hall of virtuous people and started to snatch food from Mr. Wen's mouth.

  That man was called Tang Wanli, and with his good and extensive connections, he took away most of the wandering warriors from the start. Mr. Wen Pingwen was not willing to sit back and wait for death, but unfortunately, his methods were far inferior, and he suffered consecutive losses.

  At this time, Mr. Wen met a nobleman and asked for his help, but the nobleman was unwilling to waste his time on such trivial matters. However, he recommended someone to Wen Ping, who turned out to be Long Qi. After contacting Long Qi several times, Mr. Wen highly praised Long Qi's talent and appointed him as the host.

  The situation of Miaodao Pavilion is getting worse and worse. Mr. Wen Da simply handed over all the power to Long Qi, took his family to flee to a friend in Kaiyuan County, but a tragedy occurred on the way. Tang Wanli personally led the team to hunt down, and finally, Mr. Wen Da barely escaped with his life, fleeing into Kaiyuan County in disarray.

  At the same time, Longqi launched a desperate counterattack, breaking into Juxian Building, and Tang Wanli's left and right arms, as well as more than a dozen sworn brothers, were all killed in battle. Mr. Wen's family suffered heavy casualties, but it had little impact on the strength of Miaodao Pavilion, while Tang Wanli's core team was almost crippled. As one side weakened and the other strengthened, the conflict between the two sides entered a period of stalemate.

  It took two more years for Tang Wanli to be killed and the Miao Dao Pavilion to emerge victorious, after which Mr. Wen left Kaiyuan and returned to the Miao Dao Pavilion.

  During the conflict, the speed of replacement between old and new was always very fast. When Mr. Wen returned to Miaodao Pavilion, he found that most of the original old men had gone, and the vast majority were new people promoted by Longqi himself. Moreover, Longqi's reputation in Changshan had surpassed his own, so Mr. Wen had no choice but to acknowledge the established fact and retreat behind the scenes.

  At first, Mr. Wen was able to calm down and enjoy the scenery, cultivate his mind and nurture his nature, but as time went on, he gradually became impatient and wanted to return to the wonderful Taoist temple to take charge of everything.

  Longqi's nature was originally very easy-going, but he couldn't tolerate someone representing the Miao Dao Pavilion speaking nonsense and doing absurd things. It's like a painter who is painstakingly drawing his own work, if someone more skilled than him points out some suggestions, he will gladly accept them, but if someone who doesn't even understand what art is starts pointing fingers and making random strokes, of course, he would refuse.

  Contradictions and frictions inevitably occurred. At a banquet, Mr. Wen Da got drunk and publicly accused Long Qi of being ungrateful and disloyal, knowing that Tang Wanli would attack his family but intentionally concealing the news to exchange the blood of the Wen family for a major victory. Long Qi was furious because this was a slander against his character, and later he also severely criticized Mr. Wen Da for abandoning all his brothers in times of crisis and taking his family to escape, being a thorough coward.

  Two people both turned and left, the rift could no longer be reconciled.

  From their respective positions, it seems that neither is wrong, but in Su Tang's eyes, Mr. Wen is a loser, an elimination of the natural law of survival of the fittest, and from the moment he fled with his family from Changshan County, he completely lost.

  So, since entering Miaodao Hall, he had never gone to visit Mr. Wen Da, no need.

  "Mr. Su?!" Mr. Wen raised his voice, seeing that Su Tang was ignoring him, he was clearly somewhat displeased.

  Su Tang smiled and ignored Mr. Wen, turning to face the others: "It's a hot summer day and you're all wearing such thick cloaks, aren't you hot? Take them off, after all, Mr. Wen is not an outsider."

  When Su Tang spoke, Long Qi's body trembled slightly, a hint of unbearable sadness flashed across his eyes. Xiao Bu regretted tearing off the cloak, looking at Su Tang with a playful expression. Tong Fei and an emaciated old man also revealed their true faces, only Wen Xiang remained still, staring at Long Qi.

  The dragon flag stood there like a sculpture, without making any hints, smelling the fragrance and sighing softly, finally untied its own cloak.

  Su Tang gently rotated the teacup with his fingertips, a lazy and calm smile hanging on his face. The emotional changes of everyone present were all within his observation. Long Qi, Wen Xiang, and Xiao Bu Zhi should have guessed what might happen next. Of course, it was only a possibility. In fact, even Su Tang himself did not know what would happen next. He was waiting for Da Shifu to give an answer. If Da Shifu had another hidden side, he would choose to endure for the time being and plot slowly later. If Da Shifu once again proved that he was just a foolish old man, Su Tang would do as he pleased.