by San Bei Jiu
Yan Ching’s Account
In the world of Wulin, there are surprises everywhere; you can never tell who the most powerful fighter is. As the saying goes; there is always a higher mountain out there. The power of Cheng Ting was obviously beyond any of us, but even he would not be able to defeat the General’s army of five thousand, therefore if there was a fight, many will die, but for sure the Yangs will never win.
On the other hand; the five-thousand-strong-army could not be certain that they could kill or capture a person like Cheng Ting; they certainly could not guaranty the safety of the Statue. It was a win-win solution for everybody to let it go, to resolve the issue right there, but Granny’s main concern was after handing the Statue over, will the General renege on his promise. That was why she told Cheng Ting to display his skill; a person with such high level of martial art was unstoppable on an individual basis. If the General were to go back on his words, Cheng Ting could easily take revenge on him any time.
The General was watching the display from a distance; he knew that to cross a person like Cheng Ting would not be to his advantage. He knew that would mean he will be watching over his shoulder for the rest of his life. He wisely decided that it would be better to reconcile the problem now. He sent his Lieutenant over to me with the message that he was withdrawing the army; I had a free hand to resolve the situation.
I turned to Granny and said, “Dear Madam Yang, the General had agreed to withdraw his army, and had agreed that he will not pursue the theft of the Statue anymore. All we want now is the safe return of the Statue.”
Granny said, “I trust you and the General to live up to your promises, I believe you are fully aware what we are capable of. Please leave my family alone from now on.”
Then she turned to Mister Kuan and said, “I could not say that I have forgiven your family, but things are clearer now, I hope you will try to make up for your ancestors past. I am aware that you did not commit the act personally, but you must realize that your wealth came from this evil act. I leave it up to you to decide what is right and what is wrong.”
Slowly she turned to look at the family, “Dear children, I do not wish to see any more bloodshed, but at the same time do not want to impose my will on any of you. I had done enough of that for the past decades. Just like the Kuan family, I will leave it up to you to decide the rights and wrongs of life.”
By now Cheng Ting was already by her side, he said, “Dear Granny, we will abide by your wish, however…” He turned to Mister Kuan and said, “You had better watching your every move; I will be watching you, if you plot anything against my family I will repay you ten times. If you commit any evil act against the population, I will punish you. Do not give me any reason to change my mind.”
Mister Kuan had by now came to terms with his past, and he was fully aware of his present predicament. With an enemy like Cheng Ting, all the gold in his vault would not be enough to buy him protection for his family. He had to satisfy the Yang family by his action; he had to do whatever he could to make up for his ancestor, he said, “I had decided that I will spend the rest of my life working towards philanthropy. I will devote my life to helping the poor; I will let you see that I am really remorseful for my grandfather’s deed. On top of it all, I will tell all my sons and daughters and their children about our family’s shameful past, I want them to learn this lesson. I will order them to past the story down for the next ten generations. That is all I could think of at the moment.”
Granny quietly said, “Children, it’s time we leave this place and start our new life, everything else it no longer important.”
She got up; with Cheng Ting by her side she walked out of the hall, followed by her sons, daughters, nephews and their children and their children’s children. This family was taking their first steps into their new life, a life that was quite alien to them, a life without hatred, and a life without revenge.
Hopefully a life of happiness.
