Chapter 126: The Fatty's Confession

While I was still pondering the Fatty’s words, Uncle Zhuzi looked at him and said, "Everyone calls you 'Fatty Master,' so I will follow the custom of you young people and address you as such as well. Things have come to this point, and there are no outsiders here. Since Old Uncle Ye is no longer with us, I think you should tell the truth—for instance, why you, Fatty Master, came here in the first place, and why you find it inconvenient to reveal your true identity."

Hearing this, the Fatty stood up abruptly. "Old man, I don't understand what you mean."

Uncle Zhuzi sneered at him. "Do you think everyone is like Yezi, believing whatever you say? Do you really expect us to believe that a master like you came to this godforsaken place simply because of a favor for Tang Renjie, and that you've stayed here without asking for anything in return? Forget about returns—you’ve even been spending your own money since you arrived, haven't you?"

The Fatty's expression began to shift, appearing rather strange.

I tugged at Uncle Zhuzi’s sleeve. I felt incredibly conflicted; the one thing I dreaded most was the arrival of this day. Uncle Zhuzi was right—not everyone is as gullible as I am, nor as incapable of distinguishing good from evil. But that did not mean I was truly a fool. As events unfolded, I had gradually begun to guess the Fatty's background. I was certainly not naive enough to believe he stayed solely for Tang Renjie, or that he remained here to help us unconditionally out of mere curiosity about the Fudigou affair. During his time here, the Fatty had not only invested his time and money but had even put himself in mortal danger multiple times to assist us, going so far as to invoke his own sect to offend someone as powerful as Old Liu.

He wasn't that idle, nor that simple. A vague suspicion had formed in my mind: perhaps the Fatty came here with a specific purpose.

The reason I never asked wasn't because I believed him, but because I cherished the friendship between us. Sometimes, pretending to be ignorant is far better than knowing the harsh truth. If the Fatty's true identity and motives were laid bare, I might lose the friend who could tell me, "Yezi, don't be afraid, Fatty Master is here."

At the very least, up until now, the Fatty had never harmed me, nor had he done anything to my detriment.

I pulled on Uncle Zhuzi, hoping to stop him from pressing further, but Uncle Zhuzi patted my hand, gave me a reassuring smile, and turned back to the Fatty. "Yezi values your relationship; he doesn't ask because he treasures you as a friend. So, Fatty Master, as friends who share a bond of brotherhood, I don't deny that everyone has their secrets. But while some things can be hidden, others cannot. If you reveal it yourself, perhaps Yezi can understand. But if one day this secret is revealed to him by someone else, then everything will change."

The Fatty furrowed his brows, looking deeply conflicted. He lit a cigarette and waved a hand at Uncle Zhuzi. "Enough, let me think."

Those words sent a jolt through me. If the Fatty could say that, it confirmed my hidden fears were correct. The Fatty truly did have his own agenda. It made me feel a bit pathetic—is there no such thing as a true friend in this world? Why must my life be filled with schemes?

"Forget it, I don't want to hear it, and I don't want to know." I stood up suddenly. I was genuinely afraid that if the Fatty told me the truth, I would no longer be able to face him.

As I turned to leave, the Fatty frowned and said, "Yezi, sit down."

I glared at him. "Why should I? Can't I choose not to listen or know?"

"Listen to me, sit down." The Fatty rubbed his temples. Then, he looked at Uncle Zhuzi and said, "Old man, don't make it sound so dire. You’re not very good at sowing discord. Yezi, if you still consider me your brother, sit down. Anything I should tell you, I will tell you today. I hid things from you because I had an objective, but it wasn't anything shameful. I was just afraid your grandfather would slap me to death. Now that he is gone, I have nothing left to fear."

Uncle Zhuzi had mentioned my grandfather earlier, and now the Fatty was saying the same thing. I was puzzled—what did this have to do with my grandfather? As I pondered this, the Fatty pulled me back. "Brother Thief King, Brother Yezi, can I beg you to listen now?"

I had been feeling miserable, but his comment made me chuckle. "Fine, Uncle gives you this chance to confess. And by the way, if you had just been honest from the start, wouldn't that have been easier?"

The Fatty scratched his head. "Oh, stop it. Don't act all holier-than-thou."

I sat back down. When the Fatty actually decided to speak, he didn't seem as relaxed as he had pretended. He sat beside me, lit a cigarette, and began: "If I were to tell this story in detail, it would take forever. If I started today, I could talk until next month, day and night, and still not finish. I can only give you a broad overview for now. If you're interested, we can talk in detail another day. I’ve told you before that the century following the end of the Qing Dynasty was an unprecedented catastrophe in the history of the Chinese nation. The infighting among warlords was manageable—the Chinese have always been prone to fighting among themselves—but the real issue was that during those years, every foreign power wanted a slice of our land. By the end, they barely treated the Chinese like human beings. If we look at the sequence, it went from the Qing Dynasty, to the foreign powers carving up China, to the fall of the Qing, then the warlord era, the war against the Japanese, and finally the civil war. These seem like historical inevitabilities, but outsiders don't know that in the true core circles of metaphysics, everyone knows one person was the root cause. Just as they say Jia Xu threw the Three Kingdoms into chaos, Guo Zhongyong threw the world into chaos."

"This Guo Zhongyong was a scholar who failed the imperial examinations three times. Yet, suddenly, he claimed to be the 'Crouching Dragon' reincarnate. 'Crouching Dragon' was the title of Zhuge Liang; for this man to claim such a title was a laughingstock at first. But gradually, through his own abilities, he became the number one Feng Shui master of the Qing Dynasty. This young scholar, who had failed his exams thrice, was called the 'last straw' by the Guangxu Emperor, and was revered as the one man who could turn the tide during the most critical moment of the Chinese nation's survival."

As the Fatty began, I was stunned. Even my brother, who had been restless, opened his eyes to listen intently, and Han Xue stared at the Fatty as if she were captivated by a storyteller.

The Fatty coughed. "I told Yezi before that the Qing Dynasty was a unique time. Everyone knew it was going to fall, but the stars were obscured, and the celestial signs were utterly chaotic. It wasn't a sign of mere internal strife; countless celestial bodies were colliding with the Pole Star. Neither the Imperial Observatory nor the practitioners of the secular world could make sense of it. To outsiders, Mount Longhu is the ancestral home of Taoism; the Celestial Master’s Mansion produced high-ranking officials and presided over the Emperors’ offerings at Mount Tai. Dynastic changes seemed unrelated to them; no matter who sat on the throne, Mount Longhu held a transcendent status. This was because they possessed secret arts to divine the celestial movements. When an old imperial star fell and a new one rose, Mount Longhu could always move a step ahead to find the one with the Mandate of Heaven and assist them. They were winning at the starting line."

"That is why some founding emperors had omens like 'birds gathering at birth' recorded in official history. It wasn't entirely fabricated to claim the Mandate of Heaven; it was orchestrated by Mount Longhu. But back then, Mount Longhu sealed its gates and recalled its masters from the capital because even they could not calculate the future. It’s shameful to admit, but not only Mount Longhu—even my own sect didn't know what would become of the world after the Qing Dynasty fell, or who would be the next emperor. Whether observing the stars or the land, it was impossible to calculate. Even the masters in my sect tried to divine the future, but the path ahead was a void of chaos."

"It was that same year that Guo Zhongyong first climbed Mount Longhu, and later, he came to my sect. If Mount Longhu was supreme outside the mountains, my sect was the leader within. Guo Zhongyong demonstrated his predictions for the future to both. According to the records of my sect, the image Guo Zhongyong carried with him was a painting of a dead golden dragon."