Chapter 1130: Kind-hearted and soft-hearted
The moon was bright and the breeze was gentle. Liu Xunyi, who was disturbed by Qin Wei's words, paced alone by the Ningcui Lake, sometimes looking into the distance, sometimes lowering his head and sighing, unable to let go for a long time.

After about an incense stick of time, a black shadow came from afar and Tang Afu gradually appeared in front of Liu Xunyi.

It seemed that he was quite looking forward to Tang Afu's appearance. Liu Xunyi's expression changed slightly. He wanted to speak tentatively, but when the words came to his lips, he swallowed them back into his stomach, as if he was conflicted.

"They've already left." Tang Afu saw through Liu Xunyi's thoughts and said calmly, "Qin Ku understood what you meant and knew that you couldn't bear to kill Qin Wei, so instead of making things difficult for them, he gave Qin Wei some money and let them return to Lin'an."

"Alas! This matter... is difficult for Brother Qin."

Liu Xunyi's ambiguous attitude seemed to mean that his words were finite but his meaning was infinite.

"It's not just Qin Ku who's in trouble." Tang Afu knew Liu Xunyi's hidden worries, and added, "I just watched Qin Wei leave Danfeng Garden, and conveyed your feelings to the Valley Master, Chief Teng, and Xie Xuan. I expected them to spread the word that Qin Wei will go to Lin'an this time, and no one in the martial arts world will make things difficult for them."

"Do Master Xiao and Second Master Xie agree with my decision?" Liu Xunyi couldn't suppress his inner uneasiness and asked carefully, "Can they... blame me for being too soft-hearted?"

"They have never met Qin Wei before, and since you have made up your mind, the Valley Master and Chief Teng have no objection. As for Xie Xuan, his behavior is exactly the same as Luo Tianjin's in the past. He has always advocated eradicating irreconcilable enemies..." Having said this, Tang Afu suddenly felt that Liu Xunyi's eyes were a little strange. He remembered that he had a special relationship with Luo Tianjin. His heart sank and his voice stopped abruptly.

"What is Mr. Xie's attitude?"

"I reluctantly agreed to let Qin Wei live." Facing Liu Xunyi who pretended to be calm, Tang Afu answered quickly, "A small Qin Wei would not be taken seriously by Xie Xuan. What's more, Qingfeng died in the anti-traitor meeting, and Qin Wei returned in defeat. Given the morality of the Song Dynasty court, he would not have a good time if he returned. Therefore, although Xie Xuan was reluctant, he hesitated again and again and finally compromised. His original words were, 'Since Xunyi cares about our childhood friendship and is a man of deep affection and loyalty, I will spare that kid's life. When he spreads it out in the future, it can be regarded as a beautiful story of repaying evil with virtue'!"

Hearing Tang Afu's words, Liu Xunyi breathed a sigh of relief, and at the same time, he was even more grateful to Xiao Zhirou, Teng Sanshi, and Xie Xuan.

Seeing this, Tang Afu frowned slightly and said with a hint of meaning: "Qin Wei treated you so well, but you still couldn't bear to kill him. It seems...he holds an extraordinary position in your heart."

"To be honest, he was my only friend and my only relative." Liu Xunyi was filled with sorrow when recalling the past. "Especially during the days when I was the most miserable and lonely, the only person I could trust and rely on was Qin Wei. Back then, Qin Wei and I did not starve to death on the streets in the cold winter because I had him by my side and he had me by his side. We comforted each other and kept each other warm."

"You didn't kill him not only because of our old friendship." Tang Afu said quietly, "As I expected, Qin Wei's words just now were the key to your weakness."

"I……"

"You not only feel pity for Qin Wei, but also a sense of guilt." Tang Afu said bluntly, "You think that the reason why he became such a despicable person who would do anything to achieve his goals is closely related to you. To some extent, you think it is your own willfulness that caused him to deviate from the right path and become desperate."

"Since I was little, I have always prided myself on being free and uninhibited, doing whatever I want, and rarely caring about his feelings." Liu Xunyi nodded, "I know that he relies on me, but... Alas! If I put myself in his shoes, if he had a falling out with the Marquis and turned against the court, and he walked away in the end, leaving me alone in the Tianji Pavilion to face the mess, it would be really hard to deal with it. Tonight, I might as well tell you something from my heart. I hate Qin Wei, especially he betrayed the East Palace for fame, not only did he fail the Marquis's upbringing, but also repaid kindness with hatred and killed innocent people. When I think of the Marquis, Qiu Han and others, I really want to cut Qin Wei into pieces!"

When mentioning Zhao Yuan and Qiu Han who were killed by Qin Wei, Liu Xunyi's eyes flashed with coldness, and his tone became extremely cold and stern. He gritted his teeth and said, "As early as when Lin'an exposed his evil tricks, I almost couldn't help but kill him on the spot to comfort the Marquis's spirit in heaven..."

"But you didn't do it after all!" Tang Afu's words were like a basin of cold water that instantly extinguished Liu Xunyi's anger.

"Yes!" Liu Xunyi sighed, his sinister eyes softened a little, "The arrow was on the string, but I couldn't convince myself, let alone kill him. So, I found an excuse for myself, and identified the culprit of the marquis's murder as the deputy envoy of the Privy Council, and he should be asked to pay for all the new and old grudges."

"You spared Qin Wei's life on the grounds that the main culprit was the Deputy Privy Envoy, but he didn't realize it. Instead, he was worried that you would kill his patron and ruin his career." Tang Afu sneered, "For his own future, Qin Wei, who escaped death, not only did not thank you for not killing him, but ran to stop you without stopping. In order to save the Deputy Privy Envoy, he could have attacked you without hesitation, and even risked your life."

"I had one last hope for him, hoping that he would come to his senses, but he... was already hopeless." Liu Xunyi mocked himself bitterly, "I couldn't bear to kill him, but he was determined to kill me. In comparison, I am simply too stupid."

"I always thought that you were so overwhelmed by your past feelings that you lost track of importance and could not distinguish between gratitude and resentment. But I didn't expect that you had such a clear mind. Since you know that you were wrong to trust Qin Wei and were extremely foolish, why are you so merciful tonight?" Tang Afu frowned, feeling quite confused. "The Liu Xunyi I know, even though he is compassionate, is not so confused when it comes to major issues. Even if you owed him, the sword should have settled the debt. Why can't you let it go..."

"Brother Tang's words are about the pros and cons, how could I not understand? But I can't let it go... I just can't let it go." Liu Xunyi was lost and muttered to himself, "Maybe it's because I found my relatives, but he... is still an orphan."

"Excuse me, you are just being too soft-hearted..."

"He is not a woman with a soft heart, but a man with a good conscience." Before Tang Afu finished speaking, a cold laugh like a silver bell came quietly from the darkness. Then, Xunzhen, with a pleasant expression, slowly appeared in front of Liu and Tang accompanied by Abaolu.

It is worth mentioning that at this time Xunzhen was full of energy and smiling as before. From the inside out, he exuded a charming temperament of shrewdness, wisdom, perseverance and self-confidence, without any trace of sadness or lethargy.

As soon as he saw Xunzhen, Liu Xunyi couldn't help but recall the words that Abaolu had "taught" him in the previous half of the night. He also thought of his harshness and debt to Xunzhen, and he couldn't help but look embarrassed, and his eyes towards Xunzhen became a little evasive.

"In the past, when Liu Xunyi was at the end of his rope and had nothing, he still couldn't bear to kill his childhood best friend. Now, Liu Xunyi has regained his warmth, fame and fortune, and is enjoying unlimited glory..." Xunzhen looked at the slightly embarrassed Liu Xunyi with a smile, and said leisurely, "For an old brother who has suffered a lot of misfortunes and lost his time, I naturally have more compassion and pity. Liu Xunyi, I wonder if what I said is right or not?"

"This……"

"Everyone knows that Liu Xunyi, in order to clear his grievances, killed Qingfeng, the leader of the Central Plains martial arts world, in front of everyone at the Anti-Traitor Conference. The whole revenge process was as smooth as flowing water, without any hesitation." Seeing Liu Xunyi hesitating, Xunzhen was sure that he was right, so the smile on his face became even stronger. "After this battle, all the heroes in the martial arts world were impressed by Liu Xunyi's iron-blooded tactics. They all thought that you were a doomsday hero who would repay kindness and revenge, with a heart as hard as stone, and even killed people without blinking an eye. But who would have thought that 'Hero Liu', who trampled Wudang, one of the two major martial arts sects, under his feet, would soften his heart twice in a row because of trivial matters of love. The last time was for Luo Ningyu, he couldn't bear to hurt her heart and let Ling Xiaoxiao and Wudang go. This time was for Qin Wei, he couldn't let go of the feelings of more than 20 years of daily life, and he couldn't bear it either."

"Everyone has already left, why are you still talking about this?" Facing Xunzhen's ridicule, Liu Xunyi, who knew he was powerless to refute, felt a little guilty and hurriedly evaded the question, "You may be too soft-hearted or you may not be able to bear it, but there is no point in saying more. I will bear all the consequences alone."

"No one blames you for letting Qin Wei go." Xunzhen realized that Liu Xunyi had misunderstood him, and immediately pretended to be innocent, "Whether Qin Wei is alive or dead, it doesn't matter at all."

"What do you mean?" Tang Afu asked suspiciously, "Aren't you afraid of letting the tiger go back to the mountain?"

"Qin Wei's military and literary skills are all inferior, how dare he call himself a king or a tiger?" Xunzhen laughed nonchalantly, "This man rose to power through dirty means, and gained favor by framing his colleagues. He is shameless, sells out his master for fame, enjoys internal strife, and is useless in doing anything. The fact that he is valued shows that the Emperor of the Song Dynasty is stupid and incompetent. With such a hypocrite in charge of the court, how can the Song Dynasty not perish?"

"Xunzhen!" Seeing Xunzhen's contempt for the Song Dynasty court, the gloom that had just lingered in Liu Xunyi's heart suddenly dissipated, and he said unhappily, "Although I am no longer a minister of the court, I am still a citizen of the Song Dynasty. The fall of the Song Dynasty may be something you Liao people would like to see, but for me, Liu Xunyi, it is like the collapse of heaven and earth!"

Facing Liu Xunyi's reprimand, Xunzhen was slightly stunned, and then his smile disappeared, replaced by a deep solemn look.

"Liu Xunyi, do you really harbor great hostility towards me?"

"I do not have……"

"No? Then why are you angry because of my joke? I am not the only one who has opinions about your private release of Qin Wei, right?"

Xunzhen's calm voice seemed to contain infinite power, which made Liu Xunyi distracted and speechless for a moment.

"You and I are in the same boat, why can't you listen to even one word of truth?" Xunzhen stared at Liu Xunyi intently, speaking righteously, neither humble nor arrogant, "The decline of the Song Dynasty is an indisputable fact. When have you ever seen me happy to see it? It's obvious that you are sad about the future of the Song Dynasty. You are fragile and sensitive, and you can't tolerate others talking about it. Especially... you can't tolerate us foreigners talking."

"I……"

"The reason why I don't care about Qin Wei's life or death is because you and the Song Dynasty court have long been at loggerheads, and there is no room for maneuver." Xunzhen ignored Liu Xunyi who seemed to be thinking about something, and explained his thoughts directly, "Even if Qin Wei was not there, the Song Dynasty court would still send Zhao Wei, Qian Wei, Sun Wei, and Li Wei to deal with you. As long as you, Liu Xunyi, are alive in the world, you will be at the center of the storm, and this disaster will repeat itself endlessly, and you can't hide from it even if you want to. Therefore, whether you kill Qin Wei or not will not change the current situation of being an enemy of the court, nor will it affect the overall situation of all parties. His life or death is naturally not important."

"So that's how it is!" Tang Afu suddenly understood, and his gaze towards Xunzhen became somewhat intriguing.

"Xunzhen, I just misunderstood you..."

"It's not a misunderstanding, it's prejudice!" Xunzhen didn't give Liu Xunyi a chance to explain. He turned around and said without looking back, "Since Master Liu is sure that my every word and action has ulterior motives, then the more I say, the more mistakes I will make. In the end, I will only be asking for trouble. Why should I be so shameless and annoy others? Abaolu, let's go back!"

……

　This is the only update now, don’t wait!

　　Going out tomorrow, see you next week~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)