The Glory After Rebirth

“Professor Gu recommended that old man, and the principal gave his consent,” replied Yuwen Tong.

‘Professor Gu? The old man who gave me and Yuwen Jin a test that day?’ Ling Zhang was amazed. “It surprises me that he knows someone from the Mille–”

Realizing what he was disclosing, Ling Zhang stopped in time and didn’t finish his sentence. He was really astonished. ‘Aren’t members of the Millennium Pavilion forbidden to go into the society? How come Professor Gu is acquainted with a member of the Millennium Pavilion? He even recommended him and helped him get into the Imperial College. Professor Gu would never have done this if he doesn’t know the old man well enough. Professor Gu has acquaintance with the Millennium Pavilion?’

Though Ling Zhang had broken off promptly, Yuwen Tong still heard the syllables “mille”. It was just that he was not sure whether it was “mille” or a homophone of it. Yuwen Tong came to realize that undoubtedly, Ling Zhang knew about the background of the old man. Back then when Ling Zhang’d shown him the handbook on internal energy, he’d expressly told him that there were still some secrets he couldn’t tell him about...

Moreover, Ling Zhang’s reaction at this moment seemed to be suggesting that Professor Gu was not supposed to know about the old man’s true identity. ‘It seems that this old man’s background is even more mysterious than I imagined,’ thought Yuwen Tong.

Yuwen Tong looked at him. “Do you feel that Professor Gu should have no acquaintance with the old man?”

Ling Zhang inclined his head. “To my knowledge, it should’ve been the case. They’re supposed to keep their identity secret from others, for severe penalties will be meted out to them if they don’t.”

Yuwen Tong contemplated for a few moments. ‘Severe penalties? What kind of organization has this kind of rules?’ he wondered.

In astonishment, Ling Zhang was unable to calm himself down for quite a while. He felt that there was one particular thing he needed to figure out first, which was whether Professor Gu knew about the old man’s background or not. If he knew, then it would be a proof that members of the Millennium Pavilion were not really secluded, that they were still in contact with some courtiers. If that was the case, Ling Zhang believed that it would be totally unnecessary for him to have so many misgivings, that he at least had to tell Yuwen Tong everything down to the smallest detail.

‘But how can I find that out?’

After giving it some careful thought, Ling Zhang decided to directly go to the old man and ask him about it. The old man had already shown himself on his own account, which he believed was an unmistakable implication that he was welcome to go and talk to him.

With this in mind, the next day, after arriving at the Imperial College, Ling Zhang made a few inquiries and found out where the old man was staying. At midday break, he went there.

Fortunately for him, when he found it, the old man happened to be in. The tricky part was that Professor Gu was also present.

Professor Gu, who was somewhat surprised to see Ling Zhang showing up, asked, “What business do you have here?”

Ling Zhang was not sure what kind of attitude the Millennium Pavilion had, and neither was he certain whether Professor Gu knew about the relationship between him and the Millennium Pavilion. Unwilling to let his relations with the Millennium Pavilion come to the knowledge of anybody else, he replied, “I’m sorry to have disturbed you, professor, but there’re some study questions I’d like to consult Professor Li about.”

After hearing this, Professor Gu looked at the old man and said, “This is surprising – you’ve given them only one lecture, but a student came here to ask you questions.”

The old man, whose smiling face gave little away, replied, “We may continue our game of chess tomorrow.”

Clearly he was showing Professor Gu the door, but Professor Gu didn’t take offence. He rose to his feet and said, “Then I’ll wait for you tomorrow.”

Professor Gu left and Ling Zhang felt a sense of relief. Originally, he had worried that he wouldn’t be able to ask about it in the presence of another professor. After the old man specially had Professor Gu leave, Ling Zhang wondered whether or not this was an indication that Professor Gu was unaware of his relations with this old man – or with the Millennium Pavilion; or that maybe Professor Gu simply didn’t know about this old man’s true identity yet.

“I thought that you’d come to me yesterday. Your restraint surprised me.” The old man looked at Ling Zhang, a smile on his face. “You’ve already reached the second layer of the mental cultivation method of internal energy. This is impressive. You showed great perception, and you’re more talented than all those in the organization, which is a proof that the Force of Blood you inherited from your mother is very strong. In so many years, this is the first time that I’ve seen a clansman with such strong Force of Blood.”

Ling Zhang looked deeply at the old man, his mouth a thin line. “May I ask why you gave me that handbook?”

He had many questions to ask, but eventually he asked this one first, because giving him a handbook on internal energy had been an overture to him, which he couldn’t quite understand.

“Given that you have the blood of Ji family coursing in you, and someone unblocked your meridians, wouldn’t it be a pity that you don’t cultivate?” replied the old man.

“Are you not afraid that I might disclose it to other people?” queried Ling Zhang.

“But you didn’t, did you?” said the old man. Ling Zhang was still gazing fixedly at him, a very confused look in his eyes, as if he had a lot to say. Seeing this, the old man couldn’t help but sigh, “I’ve been keeping watch on you. Of course I’ll stop you if you want to disclose the mental cultivation method to other people.”

Ling Zhang slightly moved his lips but refrained from telling him that he’d already let Yuwen Tong read the handbook, for he didn’t know whether or not the old man would do Yuwen Tong harm if it came to his knowledge.

“Yuwen Tong informed me that the best age to start practicing kung fu is seven or eight. If the reason was really the one you just told me, why didn’t you give me the handbook earlier?”

By asking this question, Ling Zhang was not complaining that people of the Millennium Pavilion should’ve given him the handbook earlier. He was just wondering why people of the Millennium Pavilion had suddenly shown up in these circumstances.

The old man, who seemed to have some time ago anticipated that Ling Zhang would ask about this, responded, “Because nobody else in the Millennium Pavilion knows about your existence.”

‘Nobody else knows about my existence?’ Ling Zhang furrowed his brow. “What do you mean? Don’t you–”

The old man raised his hand and interrupted Ling Zhang. With a serious face, he looked at Ling Zhang and said, “I gave you this handbook without other people’s knowledge. Nobody else in the Millennium Pavilion is aware of it.”

Ling Zhang widened his eyes and looked at the old man, both surprised and perplexed. “Why?”

“Like I said, you have blood of Ji family inside you, and you’re talented. It’d be a pity if you don’t cultivate,” replied the old man.

Ling Zhang lapsed into silence. ‘Merely because of this? If nobody else in the Millennium Pavilion knows about my existence, how did this old man come to know? Who is he?’

Seeing Ling Zhang was silent, the old man inquired, “You’re not surprised by the existence of the Millennium Pavilion. Did your mother tell you about it?”

Ling Zhang thought for a brief moment and inclined his head.

His uncle and grandfather were both common people. He was not sure whether people of the Millennium Pavilion would do anything to his uncle and grandfather if any member of it found out about their existence.

As a result, he added, “I read about it in a letter my mother left me. Others are still unaware.”

The old man seemed to have no intention to persist with his questioning. He merely gave a bob of his head and said, “I saw your security guards practicing the Trap-and-Kill Formation. Was it your mother who taught you that as well?”

Ling Zhang, somewhat surprised, answered, “My mother taught me that when she was still alive. At that time I was still young, and I just memorized it because she told me to. Originally, I’d almost forgotten all of it. Not long ago I was nearly poisoned. Afterwards I suffered from severe headaches and dreamt about my childhood. It was not until then that I gradually remembered many things that I’d forgotten.”

Ling Zhang, while saying this, was observing the changes of the old man’s facial expression but found that the old man was merely listening and didn’t give any particular reaction to his remarks, and neither did he ask whether there were any others aware of those martial formations, as if he didn’t care at all. Ling Zhang really could no longer refrain from wondering, ‘Uncle said that people of the Millennium Pavilion were forbidden to get involved in earthly affairs. Doesn’t it mean that they’re unwilling to let outsiders know about these unique skills? Why is this old man not angry about it?’

“You mother died an early death, which has always been a regret of mine. Had she agreed to go back to the Millennium Pavilion, she would’ve still been alive. Pity everybody has their respective fates, and it was understandable that she refused to return in those circumstances,” observed the old man.

Ling Zhang’s brow corrugated in a frown and his voice went cold. “Wasn’t it because you people wanted to punish my mother that she had to flee?”

“The punishment was not her death,” said the old man. “In order to get revenge, she exterminated her foe’s entire family, including innocent ones. Besides, her deeds attracted a lot of people’s attention. Once anybody found any traces, the existence of the Millennium Pavilion would be exposed. She was willful and without scruple. Shouldn’t she be punished?”

“But those people killed her younger brother,” remarked Ling Zhang.

For a moment the old man was silent, a flicker of grief crossing his eyes. Then he said, “But some of the victims were blameless.”

Ling Zhang was unwilling to lay comment on her mother’s deeds. Those things were in the long distant past after all. Since he hadn’t been there to see with his own eyes what the circumstances had been, he felt he was in no position to judge. Besides, as far as he could remember, his mother had always been a tender woman. He didn’t believe that his mother had been the kind of person who’d hurt innocent people...

Of course the old man understood his attitude. He said, “Your mother was a good person. It’s just that sometimes she was too strong-minded and also too obstinate, and her temper was too violent as well. Back in that year, your uncle died a somewhat miserable death, which was why she lost her sense of propriety and went too far.”

Ling Zhang’s lips clamped tightly together. “I didn’t see it with my own eyes, so I’m not going to lay any ungrounded comment on my mother’s deeds. She avenged my uncle’s death all by her own. How do you know some of the victims were blameless?”

The old man gave a faint smile. He was not angered by Ling Zhang’s confrontational tone. “You’re a good kid as well. Because of you, your mother’s journey in this world was worthwhile.”

Ling Zhang didn’t want to hear this kind of remarks. ‘Nobody wants their own mother dying an early death. Had I had the choice, I’d let my mother live a long happy life.’

“Who are you exactly? What’s your position in the Millennium Pavilion? What are your relations with my mother? Why do you know about my existence when nobody else in the Millennium Pavilion does?”

Finally, Ling Zhang failed to forbear and asked all the questions he wanted to ask.

Just now he’d noticed a subtle detail several times – the old man would always soften his tone considerably when talking about his mother, and he seemed to be well acquainted with his mother. Ling Zhang had a sneaking conjecture but was uncertain.

The old man showed much patience after hearing the string of questions of Ling Zhang. He even poured Ling Zhang a cup of tea. “I know you’re anxious. I’ll answer all your questions one by one.”

No matter what, this old man was an elder, who’d never done anything unfair to him. Ling Zhang, unable to treat the old man with impertinence, thanked the old man after he poured him a cup of tea.

However, what the old man told him next still dumbfounded him.

“I’m your mother’s father, your maternal grandfather.”

Ling Zhang raised his head to look at the old man in astonishment. Though he’d speculated that there was some kind of relationship by blood between this old man and his mother, it’d never crossed his mind that he was his mother’s father, his maternal grandfather...

“You...”

The old man raised his hand and rubbed his neck. Then he found something and ripped it off, his arm a rapid blur of movement. When Ling Zhang’s eye fell on the old man’s face again, he found himself looking at another person!