Chapter 34: Curtain Call

Chapter 34: Curtain Call

Zhao Ding lowered his eyes to regard Li Jun, who stood as if facing a formidable enemy, and said with a smile, "Don't be so tense. I am indeed already dead. What you see now is merely a projection carrying a copy of my memories."

"Master Ding..."

Kuang Qingyun let out a grief-stricken cry, shook off Li Jun's supporting hand, and dropped heavily to his knees.

But his tear ducts had long since been destroyed along with his artificial eyes; he could only express his emotion through low, stifled sobs.

"Qingyun."

Zhao Ding's gaze softened. He reached out to place a hand on Kuang Qingyun's back, but then seemed to suddenly realize something, gave a bitter smile, and withdrew his hand.

"Looking at the state of you, covered in wounds... I suppose the moment I died, all those backstabbers crawled out of the woodwork? Are they all dead?"

Kuang Qingyun replied in a trembling voice, "All dead. Even Hu Zhong and Luo Zhen were killed by Li Jun."

Zhao Ding's face showed a sigh of relief; he let out a long breath. "Good that they're cleaned up. The house must be swept clean before the new master can be welcomed. Qingyun, from now on, these Paoge brothers will rely on you to look after them."

Kuang Qingyun's voice was deep; one could easily hear the unease in his heart. "Master Ding, I'm afraid I won't do a good job."

"It's fine. No one is born a helmsman. If you find you can't bear the weight one day, just do as I did—pass the position to someone else."

Compared to Kuang Qingyun's worry, Zhao Ding appeared even more carefree, even cracking a joke.

"However," Zhao Ding's tone grew heavy, "you must remember this one thing: be it the Gu family or the Wu family, in the eyes of these great figures, our lives have never been worth a penny. The moment they find us displeasing, they can discard us with a flick of a finger."

"So once you've picked a side, you must stand firm. No matter how great the storms ahead, never entertain thoughts of jumping ship. Loyalty is the Paoge Association's only choice for survival now."

Listening to Zhao Ding's words, Kuang Qingyun nodded repeatedly, while Li Jun merely scraped an eyebrow with a cold, indifferent expression.

The difference in their actions reflected the starkly different views in their hearts.

Zhao Ding noticed these details as well. He smiled indifferently and spoke softly to Kuang Qingyun, "Everything that needed saying has been said. There is one last thing I must trouble you with, Qingyun."

Kuang Qingyun hurriedly said, "Master Ding, please command it."

"Bury my corpse together with Zhao Dou's Huangliang Dream mainframe."

Zhao Ding's eyes held a wistful melancholy; he shook his head with a bitter smile. "I won't rest easy in death if I don't keep an eye on that bastard."

Kuang Qingyun replied without hesitation, "Understood. I will see it done."

"Alright, Qingyun, you go out first. I have some words I want to say to Li Jun alone." Zhao Ding waved his hand, signaling Kuang Qingyun to leave.

Kuang Qingyun's exposed jawbones opened and closed, looking as if he wanted to speak but stopped himself.

In the end, he closed his mouth, kowtowed heavily to Zhao Ding, then stumbled to his feet and retreated from the council hall.

Once only the two men remained in the hall, the pair—one old, one young—faced each other in silence, then suddenly burst into laughter in unison.

Zhao Ding asked with a proud expression, "You brat, you definitely thought I was faking my death at first, didn't you?"

Li Jun admitted frankly, "That's right. But I wasn't the only one fooled; almost everyone suspected whether you were really dead."

"Seems this finale of mine was well-acted. Twists and turns, truth and fiction interwoven—that's what makes it memorable."

Li Jun exclaimed in admiration, "Indeed, brilliant."

The smile on Zhao Ding's face gradually faded. He said blandly, "Actually, the Fuweng Group calculated for me; I originally had a month left to live. A pity, some people wouldn't give me the time."

Li Jun's eyes turned abruptly cold. "The Gu family?"

"Scholars are the most ruthless."

Zhao Ding sighed, then switched tack. "But this suits me just fine. If I hadn't died, you wouldn't have gone all out to help the Paoge Association survive this crisis."

Li Jun's face flushed red, then turned iron-green. He said in disbelief, "To scheme against me, you threw away your own life?"

"Living on is just a month of lingering on in a sorry state. Nothing to regret."

Li Jun suppressed his anger. "Then why tell me now? If you hadn't said it, I might never have guessed so much."

"Sooner or later you would have figured it out. By then, the Paoge Association wouldn't be able to withstand your rage."

Zhao Ding's expression turned solemn. "I tell you this to be frank with you, leaving no grudges between us."

"You used me as a knife, and still want no grudges?" Li Jun sneered repeatedly.

"That is why I prepared a gift of utmost sincerity for you."

Zhao Ding's expression was full of confidence, as if simply producing this 'gift' would inevitably dissipate Li Jun's anger.

Li Jun said with disdain, "Oh? Then I'd like to see what gift is so grand."

"The matter the Embroidered Uniform Guard tasked you with—I've handled it for you."

Boom!

At that moment, it was as if a thunderclap exploded in Li Jun's mind, plunging him into a chaotic void of thoughtlessness.

He froze in place, inexplicably feeling a wave of suffocation, as if a giant hand were clamping down on his throat.

"How did you discover it?"

Despite knowing the figure before him was merely a projection, Li Jun still instinctively arched his spine slightly, his whole body radiating a dangerous aura.

"There's an old saying: 'Old men are crafty, old ghosts are spiritual.' How long have I been in the Chicken and Goose District? How many years has the Embroidered Uniform Guard been in Chengdu Prefecture? Even a fierce dragon crossing the river can't overpower this local snake in some places; it's not strange that I know a few secrets."

Zhao Ding's tone was calm, but a hint of arrogance showed between his brows.

Li Jun was silent for a long while. "Continue."

"They recruited you as an informant; naturally, it wasn't for insignificant nobodies like us. Only the Yi Prefecture Gu family, standing behind the Paoge Association, has that qualification."

"If I'm not mistaken, they must have had you use your identity as Gu Yong, the Clearwater Paoge, to infiltrate the Gu family, correct?"

Though phrased as a rhetorical question, Zhao Ding's tone was exceptionally firm.

Li Jun took a deep breath. The depth of Zhao Ding's scheming and the accuracy of his insight sent a chill down his spine.

"Then why didn't you kill me, but instead covered for me? Aren't you afraid the Gu family will take it out on the Paoge Association?"

"Of course I'm afraid. But if I killed you, would the Embroidered Uniform Guard let the Paoge Association off?"

The answer was known to both; of course not.

A trace of ruthlessness surfaced on Zhao Ding's face. "Kill you, and it's death. Don't kill you, and it's still death. Since both paths lead to the abyss, I'll bet on you being a hidden dragon!"

Li Jun asked in a deep voice, "What if the Embroidered Uniform Guard loses?"

"Life and death are decreed by fate; wealth and honor are in heaven." Zhao Ding smiled with a carefree air. "If they lose, then it is simply destiny."

Li Jun's tone was mocking. "Master Ding, you straddle the fence like this, yet you want Kuang Qingyun to be a loyal minister?"

"Everyone has a way of living that suits them," Zhao Ding said without hesitation. "For Qingyun, blind loyalty is the foundation of his existence."

Li Jun was rendered speechless. He changed the subject. "What is this grand gift you speak of?"

"The head of security for the Shudao Logistics Group is named Gu Jia. He will soon invite you to join the security department, taking over Supervisor Gu Ding's position."

Li Jun's face lit up with joy. Originally, he had been troubled over how to approach Shudao Logistics after leaving the Paoge Association.

Now, Zhao Ding had paved the way for him as if with prophetic foresight.

For Li Jun, this was indeed a grand gift.

At this moment, with his mind in turmoil, Li Jun failed to notice that Zhao Ding's gaze upon him was extraordinarily complex—filled with apology, guilt, and a palpable helplessness.

Just then, the light projected from the spirit tablet suddenly flickered chaotically. Zhao Ding's figure flashed, turning blurry and dim by several degrees.

“Self-destruct, so soon?”

Zhao Ding lowered his head, gazing deeply at his own coffin, his eyes shimmering with a light that seemed to hold a thousand flowing memories.

After a long moment, the old man let out a long sigh, clasping his hands behind his back, and declared in a clear, resonant voice: “‘How can it be said we have no robes? We share our coats as one!’”

Amidst that half-chanted, half-recited cadence, Zhao Ding’s figure grew increasingly ethereal, until it finally dissipated entirely.

At that instant, the wind and rain shrouding the entire Nine Dragons Street seemed to stir in response; torrential rain hammered the tiles, the wind howling like a whistle.

Boundless wind and rain surged backward through the hall’s entrance, yet came to an abrupt, screeching halt before the spirit tablet—not a single drop daring to touch that coffin.

The once brilliantly lit Nine Dragons Street now lay shrouded in gloom; pale green lamps flickered to life one by one along both sides of the avenue, like a spirit-guiding path slowly unfurling.

Li Jun turned back to gaze into the distance, listening to the faint, indistinct weeping and wailing carried on the wind, and a sudden surge of emotion rose in his heart—Zhao Ding’s life had been anything but easy.

Inexplicably, a phrase Wu Ya Hua once spoke flashed through his mind: Zhao Ding wasn’t a good man, but he absolutely deserved the title of *Paoge*.

At that very moment, Kuang Qingyun, crouched beneath the eaves of the main hall, felt a sudden palpitation in his mechanical heart; a pre-set audio message transmitted directly into his ear.

“The day Li Jun falls into peril, *Paoge* will come to save him, even at the cost of their lives.”