Upon suddenly hearing of his own origins, Xuzhu asked in agitation, "Benefactor Qin, do you know who my father and mother are?"
Qin Zheng glanced at him and said, "Xuzhu, worldly thoughts have stirred in you."
Xuzhu froze, then gave a bitter smile. "This humble monk's cultivation is shallow. I have always wanted to know who my parents are, and why they abandoned me. I beg Benefactor Qin to tell me, and let this humble monk lay this obsession to rest."
Beside them, A'Zhu, who knew that feeling all too well, spoke up for him. "Hero Qin, show a little kindness and tell him who his parents are."
Qin Zheng sighed and said to Xuzhu, "Your state of mind is unsettled. Knowing too much now is not necessarily a good thing. And even if I told you who your father is, he would not acknowledge you as things stand. It would only add to your suffering in vain.
"How about this: once you have tempered your character to completion in the mundane world, I will take you to find your mother."
Duan Zhengchun looked at Xuzhu with a resolute face and thought to himself: If Xuzhu truly is my son, then even if acknowledging him would leave my name in utter disgrace, how could I refuse to claim him? You underestimate me, Duan Zhengchun, far too much.
Xuzhu had nine incense scars on his back, and the character "Duan" was written in exactly nine strokes. And though Xuzhu was a little ugly, he had the same thick brows and large eyes as Duan Zhengchun himself...
The more Duan Zhengchun looked at Xuzhu, the more he felt the young monk was his son. For a moment he seemed possessed, staring blankly at Xuzhu.
Nor was he the only one. Ruan Xingzhu, too, looked at Xuzhu with mixed feelings. This little monk before her might well be Brother Chun's son!
At Mirror Lake Cottage, Duan Zhengchun was suspecting that Xuzhu was his own son.
Murong Fu, elsewhere, had begun to suspect that Murong Bo was not his real father...
By now he had learned what had happened at Shaolin Temple. Brows locked tight, he stroked the imperial seal and brooded with his head lowered.
If Xuanci was the true Murong Bo, a man of deep mind and long-laid schemes, then was it possible that he himself was Xuanci's son?
After all, the Murong family was bent on the restoration of the kingdom and needed to raise a qualified heir. They would never allow the Murong line to die out.
It was very possible that he had been swapped in childhood with Murong Bo's son—or else that he had simply been born of his mother and Xuanci.
While his thoughts ran wild, Murong Bo sprang in through the window. Murong Fu swept the imperial seal into his sleeve, rose warily, and took a defensive stance.
"Fu'er, it's me!"
Murong Bo pulled off the black cloth that masked his face, revealing a face lined with age.
His feelings all in a tangle, Murong Fu called out, "Father."
Murong Bo said, his face heavy with worry, "Ah. You already know what happened at Shaolin Temple, don't you? That old villain Xuanci has slandered the two of us, father and son, saying we are not of the Murong family. You must not begin to doubt yourself and let him shake your ambition!"
Gripping the imperial seal in his hand, Murong Fu said with full confidence, "Your son will not."
Whoever the true Murong Bo might be did not matter. What mattered was that he, Murong Fu, was surely a descendant of the Murong family—the Emperor of Great Yan upon whom Heaven's mandate rested!
Seeing his son so high-spirited, Murong Bo nodded, deeply gratified. This son of his was truly steadfast in will—more outstanding even than he himself!
"The Beggar Gang and Shaolin are hunting me, and it is not convenient for me to show my face. Go inquire in the jianghu as to who Qin Zheng's master is, and find out why he wrote that letter fabricating the story of our origins, father and son!"
"I have already sent Third Brother Bao to look into it. There ought to be word before long."
The words had barely left Murong Fu's mouth when someone knocked, and then came Bao Butong's voice. "Young Master, I'm back."
"Come in."
Bao Butong pushed the door open and entered, a look of existential disbelief on his face, and bowed to Murong Bo and his son.
Seeing the poor look on his face, Murong Fu comforted him. "Third Brother Bao, even if you didn't find anything out, it doesn't matter. Take your time."
Bao Butong gave a bitter smile. "Young Master, I disguised myself and slipped into the Longmen Escort Agency, and drew from the mouth of an old woman of high standing the information about Qin Zheng's master."
Murong Fu's eyes brightened. "Who is his master?"
Hesitation showed on Bao Butong's face. He wavered a long while, but in the end forced the words out. "According to that old woman, Qin Zheng's master is named Murong Longcheng, and Qin Zheng is that elder's later-generation successor..."
"What?"
Murong Bo's eyes flew wide. After a blank moment, he said, unable to contain his rage, "Absolute nonsense! Ancestor Longcheng has been dead for more than a hundred years. How could he have left a letter ordering someone to swap me with Xuanci?
"Ancestor Longcheng was a contemporary of Zhao Kuangyin. Both Star Transposition and Canhe Finger were created by him. If that elder could have lived until now, he would have to be at least a hundred and sixty or a hundred and seventy!"
Murong Fu, however, sank into thought.
His father was sixty this year. When his father was first born, Ancestor Longcheng would have been about a hundred. With the depth of cultivation the ancestor possessed, it ought to have been possible for him to live until then...
Murong Bo was so furious he was panting. After thinking a while, he said, "It must be that Xuanci bought Qin Zheng off with the farmland of Shaolin Temple, which is why Qin Zheng went along with him in forging that letter.
"Fu'er, Xuanci's schemes run so deep that he is a mortal threat to our Murong family. We must not spare his life any longer. Once I find where he has gone to ground, the two of us, father and son, will join hands and kill him!"
Murong Fu said, hesitation all over his face, "Father, the Western Xia First Rank Hall has lost more than half its strength. This is precisely when they need men. Your son wants to seize the chance to take complete control of the First Rank Hall, and truly cannot get away!"
Murong Bo did not notice anything amiss in him. He only felt that what Murong Fu said made very good sense, and nodded. "The greater situation comes first. Leave Xuanci to your father. I'll go and think of another way."
With that, he covered his face with the black cloth, leapt out the window, and vanished into the boundless dark of night.
Watching Murong Bo's departing figure, Bao Butong looked thoroughly torn.
Their family had been house retainers of the Murong family for generations. But now even Murong Bo might be false. Whom, then, was he supposed to serve?
Murong Fu seemed to see his conflict, and said with complete confidence, "Third Brother Bao, do not let these half-true, half-false tidings lead you astray. No matter who my father is, I, Murong Fu, am a genuine descendant of the Murong family through and through!"
With that, he told Bao Butong of his own conjecture.
When Bao Butong heard it, he was badly shaken, and stared at him dumbstruck. "Young Master, this conjecture of yours... it really does seem to make some sense!"
"Then... then how should we treat the master and Abbot Xuanci from now on?"
Murong Fu let out a long sigh. "I haven't figured that out either. Set them aside for now. What we must put first is the great cause of restoring the kingdom!"
The light in Bao Butong's eyes grew firm once more. He resolved to help Murong Fu accomplish that great cause. The barrier between the two vanished in an instant. They went and found Deng Baichuan and the others and explained matters, and then everyone carried on as if nothing had happened, of one heart just as before.
Only Murong Bo, off searching for Xuanci's whereabouts, still did not know that, by everyone's tacit agreement, he had already been cast out of the Murong family...
Chapter 35