...

A man sat by the stone table in the courtyard. He looked like a hermit, with the air of a great master.

Noticing the footsteps, the person didn't even turn around, calmly poured a cup of tea: "You've come, senior brother."

The man with the air of a hermit was Zhengqing, Cui Zhengming's junior brother. After Cui Zhengming left the Taoist temple, Zhengqing took over the temple and was the one who later almost brought Cui Zhengming down.

Cui Zhengming didn't say anything, but walked straight to the stone table, sat down, picked up his cup, and took a sip: "After all these years, your taste hasn't changed."

"Senior brother understands me best." Zheng Qing said with a slight sneer.

Zheng Qing paused for a moment, then said, "I presume that Senior Brother has already investigated everything?"

Cui Zhengming sneered, his face full of mockery: "Since you did it, you should have expected this day to come!"

Then, the sorrow on his face poured out like a storm, "You came to my side when you were ten years old. My master and I raised you with our own hands. Has my master ever mistreated you? How could you do this!"

Zhengqing's face instantly became a kaleidoscope of emotions: regret, sorrow, and loss... Several emotions intertwined and finally transformed into a single tear in Zhengqing's eye, which shattered on the stone table.

"Yes, so ever since my master passed away, I haven't had a single good night's sleep."

"Then why did you pin the theft of the 'Thousand Autumns Scroll' on me?"

Cui Zhengming almost roared. His junior brother, whom he had raised with their master, had killed their master, and he himself had almost lost his life at the hands of his junior brother.

"Someone has to take responsibility for this, doesn't someone?" Zheng Qing seemed to have returned to normal, and the emotions in his eyes gradually subsided.

A look of sorrow flashed in Cui Zhengming's eyes: "Zhengqing, stop."

"OK."

Cui Zhengming was taken aback, and Zhengqing then looked at Cui Zhengming and said, "Then, senior brother, please do me a favor."

"What?"

"Die in my place!"