Chapter 164: Path of Heaven

“You… I mean, you kissing him is scary too…”

Fang Cun fumbled, setting down the tea set. He quickly snatched a handkerchief to dab at the water splashed on his clothes, his heart filled with helplessness. Staring at Divine Queen’s face, which even seemed a bit smug, the complaints inside him were nearly impossible to hold back: This isn’t my previous life! This is still a very traditional place! Here, ordinary girls would rush to hide if a man so much as looked at them!

You, a respected Divine Queen, actually took the initiative to kiss a man! How improper is that?

Plus, why do you look so proud about it?

Meanwhile, Divine Queen, seeing Fang Cun’s flustered reaction, seemed to only grow prouder.

An almost different radiance appeared on her face.

“What happened after the kiss?”

Fang Cun wiped the tea off himself, still very concerned. He wasn’t pressed for time; he needed to ask in detail.

“After?”

Divine Queen curled her lip. “Then his face turned so red! Hmph, trying to play the cool ‘Little Immortal Master’. After that, he just avoided me whenever we met. Even His Majesty, the older brother Emperor, noticed something was off and asked me. Since I’m a girl, of course I couldn’t tell the truth. So I said he bullied me and felt guilty. That fool didn’t dare argue back, so he just took the blame…”

“That’s all?”

Fang Cun listened, utterly exasperated.

Divine Queen looked at him in surprise. “What else should there be?”

Fang Cun gave a slight shake of his head, thinking, These two are on the level of six-year-olds…

But he didn’t dare say it out loud.

Still, based on her explanation, he now understood how the “feud” known throughout the land had started…

Of course there’d be a feud! The exalted Phoenix God King was “bullied” by Immortal Master Fang Chi.

Naturally, his elder brother was innocent. He was the one who got “bullied.”

…

“Divine Queen, it seems you knew our elder brother Fang well!”

Fang Cun temporarily suppressed his gossipy heart and smiled as he looked at Divine Queen.

“Knew him well? Hardly. Who could ever understand what he was thinking? Though I did hear about all those silly troubles of his!”

Divine Queen muttered, then turned her gaze to Fang Cun. “What do you want to ask?”

“There are many things I wish to ask!”

Fang Cun smiled at her, becoming slightly more serious. “What kind of person was my elder brother?”

Divine Queen rolled her eyes at him. “He was your elder brother. You don’t know what kind of person he was?”

Fang Cun listened, then gently shook his head. “Elder brother rarely came home. I didn’t get to see him much. When he had spare time, he often exchanged letters with me. But even in the letters, we mostly just talked about casual things. He rarely told me what he did or what he’d encountered. So… my understanding of him might indeed be incomplete.”

“You wrote letters often?” Divine Queen was slightly startled. “Did he mention me?”

Fang Cun smiled. “Let me think, it seems—”

“No need to pretend!” Divine Queen curled her lip again. “With his personality, he definitely never mentioned it!”

Fang Cun sighed in relief. “Divine Queen, you indeed knew our elder brother well!”

Divine Queen suddenly shot a displeased glare at Fang Cun, leaving him feeling helpless. His not mentioning you was his business. You knowing he wouldn’t mention you was your affair. Why glare at me? I didn’t tell him not to bring you up!

“Got any wine here?”

After seeming to think for a moment about Fang Cun’s question, Divine Queen suddenly asked.

Fang Cun was slightly taken aback but smiled. “Should have a few jars.”

Divine Queen said, “Bring them.”

“How much?”

“All of it!”

“…”

Fang Cun did as she asked and brought out the wine. It was stored in the cabin by the previous owner of the Dharma Ship. During the cleanup, it hadn’t been thrown out, so it came in handy now. He thought about preparing some snacks, but Divine Queen directly broke open a jar, lifted it up, let a thin stream flow steadily into her mouth, and sighed leisurely.

Alright, judging by her capacity, no snacks were needed.

So Fang Cun, thinking it over, simply sliced her a fruit platter.

…

“Your elder brother…”

Divine Queen silently drank the wine Fang Cun brought, like she was drinking water – slowly, but without pause.

Fang Cun didn’t rush her. He just poured a cup for himself and sipped slowly to keep her company.

After an unknown period, Divine Queen sighed softly, looked up at the starry sky outside the cabin window, and after a while, a faint smile appeared at the corner of her mouth. She turned to Fang Cun: “Actually, he looked a lot like you. You brothers were both handsome, beautiful even. But this handsomeness was different. Your little face is truly good-looking; probably charmed many young girls. But to me, it has a touch of softness about it. He was also incredibly handsome, but… hard as stone…”

Her voice itself grew softer as she spoke. After a pause, she added, “He was really a man!”

“…”

Fang Cun was stunned.: “I am too…”

He heaved a long sigh, then reminded her, “I wasn’t asking about looks. I meant… him as a person!”

“What is there to say about a person?”

Divine Queen turned to glance at Fang Cun, seeming annoyed at being interrupted. “He was dull, foolish, yet incredibly capable, with a maddeningly stubborn personality. Hah! Throughout Great Xia, Qi Refiners number in the millions. Each of them can live perfectly well. Only him! He could have lived better than anyone else, yet chose to do things that got him only trouble, no reward…”

Her brows knitted slightly as she spoke. “Tell me, what was he even doing it for?”

…

“What for…”

Fang Cun suddenly felt at a loss. His elder brother’s pursuits were indeed hard for even him to explain.

“Forget it. I know what you really want to hear isn’t any of this.”

In the ensuing silence, her voice grew quiet. After a long time, she softly sighed and slowly turned to Fang Cun. “What I can tell you is this: your elder brother was a good man. Good to everyone!”

After a slight hesitation, she added, “Except to himself.”

Fang Cun listened, then after a long while, nodded gently.

The cabin became silent for a time. It wasn’t oppressive, just a little sad.

Not liking the mood, Fang Cun forced a smile to change the subject. “Our elder brother left to seek the Dao when very young. Though we are family, we gathered little and parted often. Even in our letters, he rarely spoke of events he encountered or deeds he’d done. Much of what I know about his past actually comes from the tales of others…” He paused briefly. “Divine Queen, what do you know about the ‘Path of Heaven?'”

“Path of Heaven?”

Divine Queen seemed surprised by the question, frowning slightly. “A pack of lunatics. They wouldn’t hesitate to come after even me!”

Fang Cun noted the emphasis in her words.

Ordinary people just said whether they feared the Path of Heaven.

This Divine Queen said… they wouldn’t hesitate to come after even me…

Implying… and that surprised me… How proud.

“Anything else?”

“You certainly have a lot of questions!”

Divine Queen sighed. “That pack of lunatics existed even before Great Xia. Clearly just assassins, but shouting all day about ‘pursuing Heaven’s path’, ‘establishing Heaven’s will,’ or nonsense like that. Their numbers are large, making them a nuisance. They have pulled off some unexpected moves. Since the founding of Great Xia, at least three Divine Kings perished by their hand!”

“Hmm?”

Fang Cun was surprised; this wasn’t widely known in the world.

But if these Path of Heaven lunatics were truly this formidable, how had his elder brother survived Qingjiang back then?

“You’re probably really asking about what happened with your elder brother at Qingjiang, are you?”

Divine Queen looked at Fang Cun, gave a light shake of her head. “I actually questioned him about it too. I wasn’t the only one; quite a few were curious. But your elder brother rarely spoke of it. When asked, he’d just put on that vacant look…”

Fang Cun: “…”

This was going smoothly… how did it turn into name-calling again…

“Actually, regarding your elder brother and the Path of Heaven… there’s this rumor…”

Divine Queen paused, seeming to consider her words. “Have you heard… they’re really weird?”

Fang Cun quickly lifted his head. “What do you mean?”

“Although assassins, there are several types of people they absolutely refuse to kill!”

Divine Queen continued slowly. “For example: their own people. Path of Heaven assassins never kill each other!”

Fang Cun froze. “Isn’t that normal?”

Hearing this, Divine Queen shook her head, her tone flat. “A true assassin would kill even his own clan members, even his own parents. That’s the assassin’s duty, their fate. But the Path of Heaven isn’t like that. They hide everywhere, each with different identities and disguises. When they get an order, they act. But if they recognize a target as one of their own? They immediately stop. Then turn around and kill the employer instead!”

Fang Cun couldn’t help blurting, “How could the business survive?”

“Stop interrupting!”

Divine Queen shot him an exasperated look, then continued calmly, “Because of this well-known rule of the Path of Heaven, many suspects… well, many suspect your elder brother once joined the Path of Heaven. That he even worked for those assassins…”

“Path of Heaven? Work for them?”

Fang Cun’s expression froze for a second, then he blurted out, “Impossible!”

The Path of Heaven were assassins. His elder brother… how could he ever do such trade, killing for silver?

“Many think it’s impossible. Including me.”

Divine Queen said impassively. “But between your elder brother and the Path of Heaven… there really are things hard to explain. At the Immortal Palace, it wasn’t like no one tried hiring Path of Heaven assassins to kill him. The result? No Path of Heaven assassin would ever take the job. Worse: some who tried found themselves attacked instead. Simply put: They hired killers aiming for him, and ended up wiping out their own entire family…”

“Given all that… this theory… doesn’t seem so far-fetched after all…”