➢ trailing fragrance.

CHAPTER V. | his arrival

By the time they had finally arrived at the main hall, the sun had already broken past the horizon, its orange and golden colors shining through the trees.

They dismounted near the entrance and approached the grounds quietly. "There he is," Lu Xiaofeng whispered to Hua Manlou, tapping his arm and nodding toward a servant who had been admiring the scenery across the bridge.

As the servant turned his back, Hua Manlou swiftly seized one of his arms and pushed his neck down with the spine of his fan. "Young Master, please, don't!" the servant begged, his voice trembling.

"Tell me, why did you ambush us?" Hua Manlou's voice was low but demanding.

"Young Master!" the servant pleaded, his voice laced with panic.

"Tell me!" Hua Manlou pressed harder, his grip unrelenting as the servant squirmed in his hold, begging for mercy.

Suddenly, a voice broke through the tension. "Lou'er," it said firmly, stopping Hua Manlou in his tracks. "Let him go. I asked him to do this."

"Father?" 

Hua Manlou's voice wavered, his confusion evident. "Why—"

"This isn't the place to talk," came the reply. "Come with me."

The two men followed the elder master of the Hua family into the main hall, entering the private room where the heroes had gathered just the day before. As they stepped inside, Lu Xiaofeng carefully closed the door behind them, making sure no one could slip in unnoticed to overhear their conversation. "Father, please, tell me what's going on," Hua Manlou pressed once again, his voice laced with growing concern.

Hua Ruling removed a piece of paper from his robes, grunting a breath of frustration. "A few days ago, I received this letter," he held out the folded piece of paper to his son, allowing him to unravel it for himself.

The letter itself had no characters on its surface and contained only a red footprint as its contents. But as Hua Manlou's hand touched the image, he knew immediately what it was. "The iron-boot bandit," he breathed out, incredulity clear in his voice.

After all these years, he had shown himself once again.

"Wasn't that bandit fellow killed by you, Uncle Hua?" Lu Xiaofeng thought out loud. "How could he be back?"

"I did kill him, yes," Hua Ruling replied, his voice sharp as he began pacing the room restlessly, unable to still himself. "But no one in the martial world has ever seen his face. The man I killed—whether he was truly the bandit—remains a mystery. Lou'er, it seems that your suspicions all these years were right after all."

Lu Xiaofeng clicked his tongue in frustration. "Really! Coming to Uncle Hua's birthday celebration just to pick a fight. The nerve of him!"

"I, Hua Ruling, have lived for so long and seen many things," he said, a touch of sadness in his voice. "I really have no fears of this world. My only worry is for..."

His voice trailed off, but Hua Manlou knew what his father was thinking in his heart. "So this is why you locked me up in the room? But how could I abandon you in this situation?" Although he understood his father's wishes, he could not abide by them this time. "He's always been a difficult opponent to defeat."

Hua Ruling met his son's unseeing gaze, his expression unwavering. "I have my ways of dealing with him," he said firmly. "He won't be able to harm me. Don't worry."

"Father, I'm not a child anymore. Let him come," Hua Manlou replied with a cold resolve settling in his voice, his grip tightening around the crumpled piece of paper in his hand. "It's time to settle this long-standing grudge once and for all."