Wangji Temple in the south of Yongzhou City is the main hall of the Qinghong Society of which Xu Fanming is the leader.
Xu Fanming is still wearing the same black cloth clothes all year round, with a pair of straight cloth shoes on his feet.
He placed three pillars of incense on the ancestor's mourning hall and then sat on the main seat.
Xu Fanming lowered his eyes and looked at Tang Qiye who came from Rongcheng.
"Which row were you in before?" Xu Fanming's low voice echoed throughout the incense hall.
The incense hall of the Qinghong Society was extremely dark. Tang Laoqi raised his head and looked at Xu Fanming: "You should have heard of my name."
Xu Fanming looked at Tang Qiye intently.
Yes, how could he not know Master Tang Qi?
Just many years ago, when Xu Fanming was just an unknown junior in the Qinghong Club, Tang Qiye's name had already resounded throughout the Qinghong Club.
He is the first senior in Xu Fanming's memory to voluntarily leave the Qinghong Society.
Logically speaking, Xu Fanming should kowtow to him.
But I'm afraid it won't work now. He, Xu Fanming, is now the leader of the Qinghong Society, so naturally it is impossible for him to kneel down.
On the other hand, Mr. Wen opened his eyes a little and snorted coldly: "I never thought that one day you, Tang Laoqi, would still have the nerve to come back."
Tang Qiye also snorted, but rarely ignored Wen Lao's words.
He and Mr. Wen have known each other for a long time. Although they are both senior men, they are responsible for different things, so they don't have much overlap.
It was just that when Mr. Tang Qi withdrew, Mr. Wen had some quarrels with him, that's all.
"I didn't know that you would actually come back."
From a dark corner of the Xiangtang, a voice that Tang Lao Qi would never forget came out.
Xu Fanming was also stunned and looked into the corner where the sound came from.
Du Yu was standing there, looking at Master Tang Qi with a dark expression.
Xu Fanming didn't expect that Du Yu would be here.
Since the reorganization of the Qinghong Club, Master has never been involved in the affairs of the Qinghong Club.
The few appearances he made were at a time when he was not honored by his seniority in the world. Du Yu only had to stand up with a blank expression, and he could automatically fend off the doubts of those scum who relied on their elders.
At this moment, Du Yu stood in the darkness of the Xiangtang, looking at Master Tang Qi with a particularly complicated expression.
Tang Qiye didn't say anything, nor did he refute Du Yu's words. He just looked in Du Yu's direction and solemnly clasped his fists.
Du Yu walked to Xu Fanming's side and looked at Tang Qiye with a complicated expression: "Didn't you say that if you quit, you won't come back?"
Tang Qiye raised his head and stared blankly at Du Yu standing in front of him.
Under the gaze of everyone, Tang Qiye, who had just held his neck while arguing with Xu Fanming, suddenly fell to his knees as if his legs were weak.
Everyone present was shocked.
"This is..." Lei Yishan looked at the undercurrent between Du Yu and Tang Qiye in confusion, and for a while he couldn't understand the relationship between the two.
Du Yu pursed his lips tightly and looked at Tang Qiye who was kneeling on the ground with red eyes: "Tell me, why are you back again?"
"I..." Tang Qiye lowered his head in defeat.
Du Yu looked at Tang Qiye like a parent looking at a child who has done something wrong, but it was clear that Tang Qiye was more than a round older than Du Yu.
Tang Qiye's lips trembled slightly. When facing Du Yu, he could never straighten his back.
Du Yu looked condescendingly at Mr. Tang Qi, who was kneeling in front of him, and asked, "What do you think?"
Tang Qiye took a deep breath: "I broke my promise."
After saying these words, Tang Qiye lowered his head in despair, as if someone had sucked all his yang energy away.
The rosewood crutch in his hand was still propped on the ground.
Xu Fanming didn't know what was going on, so he could only sit on the main seat and look at the back of his master.
Then, Du Yu turned around and said to Xu Fanming: "Everyone below the hall master should get out."
Xu Fanming was startled for a moment, and it took him a long time to realize that Du Yu was going to say something, so he quickly cleared out all the irrelevant people in the Xiangtang.
Du Yu pursed his lips, walked behind Tang Qiye, looked at Tang Qiye's back with both eyes, and said nothing for a long time.
When Wen Lao saw this, he sighed leisurely: "No wonder you were able to escape unscathed when you left. I thought it was the old gang leader showing mercy, but I didn't expect that it was the chief executioner who let you go."
Later, Tang Qiye lowered his head in despair and told what happened that year.
"If you withdraw from the Qinghong Society, you will be punished, from your back to your cheeks." Tang Qiye said this.
Xu Fanming and Lei Yishan both nodded. They were both from the torture hall, so naturally they were familiar with this rule.
Tang Qiye continued: "The situation at that time was too chaotic, and I had to withdraw, but I also knew that if I had the withdrawal mark of the Qinghong Society on my body, then I would undoubtedly be a lost dog in the world.
"
Speaking of this, Mr. Wen said to several young people present: "The sign of quitting the Qinghong Association is widely circulated in the world, and the Qinghong Association has also made many enemies. Therefore, once those who withdraw from the Qinghong Association,
Showing this withdrawal sign is like a rat crossing the street."
Du Yu couldn't help but sigh: "The Qinghong Society back then was so beautiful and admired on the surface, but secretly there were so many people who wanted to bring down the Qinghong Society."
Tang Qiye closed his eyes. Kneeling on the ground at this moment, he seemed to have aged dozens of years in an instant.
"And if I want to live, I cannot be tortured." Tang Qiye's voice was choked with sobs, but there was also undeniable firmness.
"So, I think I'm letting you go in terms of friendship, and you agreed to me that you will no longer have contact with the Qinghong Society, and you will live anonymously and peacefully."
Du Yu said, walked around in a circle and came to stand in front of Tang Qiye: "But you didn't."
Master Tang Qi nodded and gave a wry smile: "Yes, Tang Lao Qi's name is quite famous in the world, and it is more or less tainted with the past."
When he said this, he was very helpless, but he did not feel any guilt or regret.
Xu Fanming pursed his lips: "It's all over."
Du Yu turned around and glared at his good apprentice: "It's passed?"
Then, he sneered: "From that time on, I knew that I was not worthy of the title of Grand Criminal Officer."
Xu Fanming turned away and understood why Du Yu stopped carrying out executions when Tang Qiye withdrew from the meeting.
Du Yu raised his head and looked at the roof, wondering what he was thinking.
Lei Yishan spoke at this time: "Those who know the current affairs are heroes. The Qinghong Club today is no longer the Qinghong Club before. Some things cannot always be done according to the previous rules."
Emotionally and rationally, the relationship between him and the two of them was not close, so it was most appropriate for him to say this.
After Lei Yishan said this, an unrealistic expression appeared on the faces of the three old people present.
"Yes, the Qinghong Club is no longer the Qinghong Club before." Du Yu repeated, and then didn't say anything. He just bent down and helped Tang Qiye, who was kneeling on the ground, up.
Tang Qiye looked at Du Yu's profile, which had not changed at all from his memory, and couldn't help but sigh: "It's been almost twenty years, and you still haven't changed much."
Du Yu said nothing, just waved his hand, turned and left the Xiangtang.
However, Xu Fanming keenly noticed that when his master walked out of the incense hall, his steps staggered a bit.