Song of Adolescence

Chapter 147 Half Lost in Wind and Rivers, Half Lost in Clouds

A silent and dark night. A round and bright moon hung in the night sky.

Outside the Tang Clan Xiaochen Pavilion, an old man in a black robe was sitting on the front steps, holding a long pipe in his hand and smoking leisurely. Behind him stood the three present leaders of the middle generation of the Tang Clan, Tang Huang, Tang Xuan, and Tang Qisha. The three stood quietly behind Grandmaster Tang.

After a long time, Grandmaster Tang put down his pipe and gently tapped it on the steps. "Looks like there won’t be any news coming." The three Tang Clan elders who’d left to meet with the Hidden River to kill Li Hanyi had not reported back for a while now. According to their previous agreement, if there were no reports for seven consecutive days, then they had gone on a long journey, one that was destined to have no return.

"I am the only one left." Grandmaster Tang raised his pipe and took another deep inhale. "Tang Huang, go prepare. We should be setting off soon."

Tang Huang and the other two immediately withdrew themselves.

Grandmaster Tang got up slowly, and walked around Xiaochen Pavilion step by step. There was a pavilion on the other side that was built only ten years or so ago. At that time, a young man emerged with prominence in the Tang Clan. Not a single person had doubts that this person would become the most talented disciple Tang Clan had seen in a century. So, Grandmaster Tang made an exception for this young man and built him this pavilion, and named it after this young man.

Lianyue Pavilion.

"Plucking water or plucking the moon, half lost in wind and rivers, and half lost in clouds." Grandmaster Tang was already very old, and it didn’t really suit him to read a poem full of such youthful charm. As he stood in front of the pavilion, the image of that young man came to him and he unconsciously thought of this poem.

"Grandmaster." Unexpectedly, a voice responded from within the pavilion.

Grandmaster Tang was also taken aback for a moment, and then slowly, he stepped forward, and finally sat down on the steps outside the pavilion. He and Tang Lianyue were now separated only by the door that was heavily chained.

In fact, everybody knew that these chains couldn’t hold Tang Lianyue, nor could the Tang Clan disciples who were standing guard on all four sides. However, if Tang Lianyue really broke out, then the last bit of kinship between him and the Tang Clan would vanish into nothing. Tang Lianyue grew up in the Tang Clan since he was a child. When he was young and training in the Tang Clan’s Outer School, his duels with his fellow disciples amazed the Tang Clan. Grandmaster Tang accepted him as a direct disciple, and their mutual affection was uncommonly close.

"Back then, when you sent Tang Lian out of Tang Clan, you did it with some intention." Grandmaster Tang sighed softly.

"Yes," Tang Lianyue answered frankly. "Back when Heavenly Revelations changed, you summoned me back to Tang Clan. In the end, I couldn\'t save Langya Prince. That was the greatest regret of my life. Therefore, I hope the next Xuanwu Guardian can be more pure."

"But Tang Lian is from the Tang Clan, after all." Grandmaster Tang inhaled from his pipe.

"That’s why it still depends on his own choice," Tang Lianyue said slowly.

"Suddenly I want to share a pot of wine with you." Grandmaster Tang put down his pipe and coughed lightly.

"Grandmaster, you’re already very old," Tang Lianyue suddenly remarked, his meaning obscure.

"Yes, I\'m very old." Grandmaster Tang looked at the full moon in the sky and said quietly, "I’m so old that I’m the only one left."

Inside the pavilion, Tang Lianyue was stunned and the candlelight in the pavilion shook for a moment, but quickly, everything returned to a calm state. The two remained silent for a long time. Then, Tang Lianyue\'s voice sounded again, his tone resigned, "It’s time to retire, Grandmaster."

"It’s too late to turn back." Grandmaster Tang stood up. Although he was very old, his figure was tall and straight. He hung his pipe at his waist and clasped his hands behind his back. "Some roads, once you’ve started on them, it’s too late to turn back."

"Grandmaster," Tang Lianyue called out softly.

"Well, it’s too late for me, but not too late for the Tang Clan. If that day really comes, Lianyue, I hope you will cherish that last trace of affection between us." Grandmaster Tang turned and looked inside the pavilion. "I know that you value relationships, and dislike the conspiracies of the martial world. I’ve been trying to persuade you for over ten years, but I never convinced you, and I know there’s no way to convince you. But, take it that Grandmaster Tang is begging you. If one day, the Tang Clan is really destroyed by calamity, the only one left who can save the Tang Clan, is you."

There was a long moment of silence from within the pavilion, until a voice replied firmly, "Lianyue will definitely protect all of Tang Clan."

"Very well." Grandmaster Tang turned around again and said solemnly, "Although we are on different paths, I will not regret what I said back then."

"You are the person Tang Clan has waited a hundred years for!"

A carriage sped over from a distance and stopped at the door in front of Lianyue Pavilion. A young Tang Clan disciple was sitting in front of the carriage holding a horse whip. Grandmaster Tang finally stopped looking back and walked slowly towards the carriage.

The candlelight in the pavilion was extinguished in an instant. The man who had astounded the entire Tang Clan in his youth, who finally stepped into the imperial Heavenly Revelations City with all the expectations of the Tang Clan, but in the end, vanished from the martial world and hid himself, the favourite son of the Tang Clan, Tang Lianyue, knelt down facing out of the pavilion with tears streaming down his face.

"Shifu, forgive Lianyue for being unfilial."

Outside the Tang Clan, the carriage had already galloped away from the gate at high speed.

Sitting in the middle of the carriage was Grandmaster Tang who closed his eyes in deep thought. Tang Huang, Tang Xuan and Tang Qisha sat on both sides respectfully. On this trip to the Lei Clan’s Heroes Banquet, each clan and sect would only send their most elite disciples to participate. Tang Huang and the others were already holding the highest positions within the Tang Clan, and their names were well-known throughout the martial world. However, they were still unworthy of sitting at the same level as Grandmaster Tang. After all, in their generation, only the person inside the Lianyue Pavilion was worthy.

"Grandmaster, there’s something I don\'t know if I should say." Tang Huang had been muttering to himself for a while before finally asking.

"Speak." Grandmaster Tang didn\'t open his eyes.

"Although our Tang Clan are not bothered with labels such as “prestigious and upright”, but…" Tang Huang saw that the Grandmaster\'s expression remained unchanged, and decided to continue, "It\'s just cooperating with an assassin organization like the Hidden River…"

"It\'s too late for you to ask this question." Grandmaster Tang tapped the bench lightly with his fingers.

Tang Huang’s back prickled with cold sweat, and he lowered his head. "Grandmaster, please punish me."

"No need for punishment." Grandmaster Tang suddenly opened his eyes, and his eyes were full of anger. "However, you must understand that once you have taken the first step, then you must proceed without any hesitation!

"You can doubt my decision, that is not the problem. However, that should have been before you stepped out of the Tang Clan!"

Tang Huang knelt down immediately, and even Tang Xuan and Tang Qishao knelt down together with him. "Thank you, Grandmaster, for your teachings."

Grandmaster Tang didn\'t reply, but slowly closed his eyes again.

He thought of that high-spirited young man back then, who’d exhausted all the hidden weapons on his body, and was only holding the last shattered fingertip blade in his hand. His shirt was ripped and stained with blood, but he still stood in front of the Grandmaster and pronounced stubbornly, "Grandmaster, you are wrong!"

Am I really wrong? Grandmaster Tang muttered silently in his heart.

As the horse-drawn carriage was leaving the Tang Clan, dozens of black figures also emerged from the Tang Clan and merged into the dark and silent night.