Errors and Oversights

By the time Chen Ping'an got home, it was already close to two in the morning. Just as he'd expected, Chen Er Ya was still awake, waiting up for him, a worried look weighing on her face. Chen Ping'an had gone out in the small hours, and though Chen Er Ya hadn't asked what he was up to, she'd kept worrying about it. "Brother~" Seeing Chen Ping'an return, the gloom on Chen Er Ya's face melted away, and she smiled. "Mm, Nannan, it's too late. Go to sleep now!" Chen Ping'an patted her head and spoke softly. It was the dead of night, and all around lay in silence. If they talked in the courtyard, there was no telling whether the neighbors might overhear. Right then, Chen Ping'an once again felt the urge to move to a new house. If he could move into a larger residence, he would undoubtedly be far freer. Judging by his current progress on the martial path, that day might not be too far off! "Ah!" Chen Er Ya happened to catch sight of the bloodstains on Chen Ping'an's feet and couldn't help crying out. But she also understood the seriousness of it, and no sooner had she cried out than she forced herself to bite it back. "Brother, the blood on your feet..." The little girl seemed to think of something. Chen Ping'an didn't explain. He patted the little girl's shoulder and went off into the kitchen on his own. He had to dispose of these shoes—and not just the shoes. His clothes had soaked up the smell of blood too, so they needed to be dealt with as well. Watching the fire burning under the stove, Chen Ping'an suddenly felt a pang of regret! "Damn it! How could I have forgotten this!" He'd wiped away the traces, but the smell of blood could still leave a trail. The Suppression Office was full of capable people; if they truly meant to investigate, they might well follow the scent of blood straight to his home. And now that he was already home, no amount of regret could undo it. "Still too inexperienced." Chen Ping'an couldn't help a bitter smile. For all his careful calculations, there were still things he'd overlooked. Sure enough, this kind of thing really did take a seasoned hand! An ordinary person couldn't stomach it. Fortunately, the ones who'd died were merely a few ruffians of the Tiger Head Gang, not anyone important. In a case like this, the Nanquan Lane Suppression Office wouldn't involve itself in an investigation. And even if they did, it would mostly be a perfunctory formality. In the Nanquan Lane Suppression Office, the lives of ruffians were the cheapest of all. Nanquan Lane wasn't exactly peaceful—fights between gangs broke out from time to time. The deaths of a few ruffians like these were hardly rare. "Just a few ruffians. Even dead, I doubt they could make the Tiger Head Gang go all out to investigate. At most Little Tiger will fly into a rage and poke around a bit." "A fall teaches a lesson! I can't make a mistake like this again." Chen Ping'an thought to himself. Having reasoned through all the ins and outs of the matter, Chen Ping'an took the lesson to heart, and the regret inside him gradually faded. "It's a good thing, a good thing... Back when Zheng Shiyong and Tan Huacong stole the credit for what I did, I held back. If I hadn't, if I'd lashed out in a rage, the consequences would have been unimaginable!" As the regret faded, a sense of relief welled up in Chen Ping'an's heart instead. Zheng Shiyong and Tan Huacong were nothing like the ruffian Liu'er. If they had died, everyone in the Nanquan Lane Suppression Office, top to bottom, would surely have taken it extremely seriously. For a registered runner to die for no clear reason—how could that be allowed! It would amount to a provocation against the Nanquan Lane Suppression Office, and the higher-ups would certainly send dedicated runners to investigate. Having just been given this lesson, Chen Ping'an had no confidence he could do things flawlessly enough to escape the Suppression Office's scrutiny. Sure enough, impulse is the devil! In everything, one must think thrice before acting! Sometimes, holding back isn't weakness—it's a great wisdom all its own. Sure enough: what is learned from books stays shallow; to truly know a thing, you must do it with your own hands. Chen Ping'an sighed with deep feeling. With the golden finger panel, his future was boundless. So long as it didn't touch his principles or his bottom line, there was no need to fight others to the death. As he kept breaking through to new realms on the martial path, problems that now seemed thorny might well become trivial things he could take care of with ease in the future. Having worked all this out, the pent-up knot in Chen Ping'an's chest came undone, and he felt his mind clear all at once. After cleaning up the traces under the stove, he wiped himself down and got into bed. Once he lay down, Chen Ping'an realized the little girl still hadn't fallen asleep. "Nannan, why aren't you asleep yet? Is something on your mind?" Chen Ping'an asked softly. After going through such a scene in the daytime and then seeing the blood on him at night, it would be a wonder if the little girl could sleep. "Brother, I'm so worried about you." The little girl turned over and threw her arms around Chen Ping'an, a hint of tears in her voice. "Nannan, don't worry." Chen Ping'an hugged Chen Er Ya back, gently patting her back. "Brother will definitely keep himself safe, and keep us safe. If not for my own sake, then for yours, brother will do it all the same." Their parents were already gone. Chen Ping'an simply could not imagine—if he were gone too, how would a little girl like Chen Er Ya survive in a world like this, and what cruelties would she be made to suffer? So vast was the world, yet as far as the eye could see, not one of their kin remained! What loneliness, what solitude that would be! What bitterness, what sorrow!? For Nannan's sake, for his own sake, for the two of them, he would live on—live a fine, proud life. He definitely would! He swore it! Perhaps she'd been moved by Chen Ping'an's feelings, or perhaps the way he patted her back made her feel safe, but at last the little girl gradually drifted off to sleep. Holding Chen Er Ya in his arms, Chen Ping'an's heart overflowed with tenderness. With her here, he would not be alone in this world! When he'd killed the ruffian Liu'er, he could have kept his hood on. But in the end he'd taken it off. His revenge for Chen Er Ya was meant to be more than physical—it was meant to reach her attacker's heart as well. His purpose in removing the hood was to let the ruffian Liu'er know exactly why he was dying—not to let him die in muddled ignorance. Only that way, with the ruffian Liu'er knowing exactly why, would Chen Ping'an's heart feel truly settled, and only then would his revenge have any meaning. Lying in bed, holding Chen Er Ya, Chen Ping'an kept replaying every detail of the night in his mind, reviewing the errors and oversights in it, learning from them. Even seasoned hands had once been novices! As long as he kept improving, one day people would look up to him! ... Early the next morning, after Chen Ping'an finished practicing his Flying Locust Stones and ate breakfast, he prepared to go out. Before leaving, he gave Chen Er Ya a few extra instructions: hide well at home, and on no account go outside. If people from the Tiger Head Gang came to the door, she should cooperate as much as was reasonable and try not to provoke them. The ruffian Liu'er was, after all, a minor leader in the Tiger Head Gang. Once his death was discovered, it would stir up some waves at least. Especially in Pear Blossom Alley, which Little Tiger controlled, things would probably not stay peaceful. The Tiger Head Gang's reach spread across several streets and alleys, and among them Pear Blossom Alley was under the full charge of Little Tiger, one of the three great protectors. Listening to Chen Ping'an's instructions, Chen Er Ya seemed to foresee something as well, and nodded with a solemn expression. After Chen Ping'an left home, he kept worrying about the little girl back at the house. Though he knew the problem wasn't a big one, he still couldn't help but fret. For instance—would Chen Er Ya be all right alone at home? Over the ruffian Liu'er's death, would Little Tiger come to suspect him? Might there be some capable person in the Tiger Head Gang who could trace it straight to his home through the faintest of clues? All of these left Chen Ping'an somewhat uneasy. At this moment, he wished with all his heart that he were a head runner in the Nanquan Lane Suppression Office. If he were a head runner, the Tiger Head Gang would be too busy currying favor with him to dare offend him—so why would he ever need to worry about any of this!?