Xiangzi’s Record of Immortal Cultivation-Chapter 68: Fourth Master’s Past, Liu Tang’s Departure

The adopted sons were sharp, knowing such a grand setup meant a target.
Even prepared, hearing “Ma Liu” sent a jolt through them.
Fourth Master was really targeting Ma Liu
?
Where did he get the confidence?
South City’s six main streets each had a boss.
Clearwind and Whitecloud Streets neighbored each other, their yards clashing openly and covertly for years.
In earlier days, Fourth Master’s iron grip held sway.
But when Ma Liu shamelessly married his daughter to a deputy police chief three years his senior, the tides turned.
As they say, a local magistrate trumps a distant one. With the deputy chief’s backing, Ma Liu snatched Baolin Martial Hall’s route and half of South City’s hauling lines—once Harmony Rickshaw Yard’s territory.
Fourth Master endured it all.
He’d seen banners change atop city walls and knew survival meant bowing low.
But Ma Liu crossed a line—
reaching for Harmony’s mining route
.
Fourth Master had lain low so long, South City thought this old tiger’s jaws were too weak to bite.
Even his adopted sons likely thought so—how else could Liu Hu have dared let Jin Fugui pull those dirty tricks?
In this world,
a fallen tiger gets bullied by dogs
.
But now, everyone realized they’d underestimated Fourth Master Liu—this boss who’d carved out a domain since the Great Shun Dynasty.
He seemed idle, but had been scheming in the shadows.
He claimed the courtyard strangers were new first-class pullers for embassy district bigwigs—
who’d believe that
?
A gang of qi-and-blood-breaking experts, so easily hired?
The first-class West Tower yard was Girl Hu’s domain, yet these strangers clearly answered to Fourth Master.
The adopted sons grew uneasy—
this old man had planted these pawns years ago
.
One question remained: Ma Liu’s yard was registered, backed by the deputy police chief.
What gave Fourth Master the guts to topple him
?
Liu Tang realized it too.
His pupils shrank as the past months’ murky events churned in his mind:
Discrepancies in the mining route’s ore counts;
Xiangzi becoming route leader;
Xiangzi rooting out Fat Four during the refugee-bandit clash;
Jin Fugui’s household wiped out…
Piece by piece, they converged on Fourth Master’s words:
“Today’s the day.”
Why now, after all his patience?
What was he waiting for?
The mining route—it had to be tied to it
. Why else keep Liu Tang here today?
Was something about to happen on the route
?
Liu Tang’s heart clenched.
As the saying goes,
an old man’s youthful fire
. Once this old tiger decided to strike, he’d not miss.
The room filled with a chilling, murderous air.
The adopted sons shouted, “
Fight Ma Liu to the death
!” in unified rage.
But Liu Tang raised his head, asking softly, “Fourth Master, the mining route today?”
The room fell silent.
Seasoned South District veterans, they all saw what Liu Tang did.
Fourth Master looked at him, speaking slowly. “Tang, when you were little, I took you fishing by the moat. You were impatient, always itching to practice fists, laughing at me for sitting all day with no fish, wasting bait.”
“I told you it’s about setting the trap. No fish today, no fish tomorrow, but one day, you’d catch one. You were too young to get it.”
“Today, I’ll tell you again.”
“Tang, for big things,
you need big bait
!”
He paused. “If I’m right, Ma Liu’s making his move on our mining route now.”
Standing, he patted his most promising adopted son. “Tang,
now do you understand
?”
“The big fish you’re fishing for is Ma Liu?”
“Exactly.”
“Ma Liu’s move on the route today is part of your plan?”
“Exactly.”
“His attack gives you the leverage to bring him down?”
“Not entirely, but close enough.”
Liu Tang’s voice grew sharp, his face flushed, eyes bloodshot. “Fourth Master…
I don’t understand
!”
Fourth Master froze.
Liu Tang looked up, locking eyes with the man who’d raised him for over twenty years. “Fourth Master, Uncle Jie, Xiangzi, the guards, the pullers—
do they have to die
?”
Fourth Master sighed, silent.
Of his adopted sons, only Liu Tang truly respected and loved him. Even a scoundrel like Fourth Master couldn’t lie to him.
But his expression said it all.
Even the adopted sons were stunned by Fourth Master’s deep, ruthless scheme.
To topple Ma Liu meant toppling the deputy police chief behind him.
Smuggling ore wasn’t enough—
it needed lives, many lives
.
The second-class pullers had to die.
By Ma Liu’s hand.
His earlier restraint was to lure Ma Liu into the trap.
He’d likely colluded with the Li Family to set this massive scheme.
But how did he sway the Li Family?
Liu Tang shot to his feet, clasping his fists to the old man. “Fourth Master…
I’m going to the mining route
!”
Fourth Master said slowly, “Too late…
it’s too late
.”
The Clearwind Street boss’s voice held little emotion, only his white sideburns swaying in the cold wind from the window.
Liu Tang didn’t reply, grabbing his long saber and striding out.
Fourth Master watched his old friend’s son, a nostalgic glint in his eyes.
His brother had been just as stubborn.
And died for loyalty.
Fourth Master Liu had done little good in his life, deceiving and harming countless people.
But to He Minghui, that foolish, honest sworn brother, he’d never failed.
Others never understood why. Fourth Master only smiled, and as old comrades faded, no one asked.
That tale of half a corn bun stayed buried in his heart for years.
Everyone was young once.
Fourth Master was too.
Back in the twentieth year of Great Shun’s Xuanzhi reign, he’d become a second-class puller. On his first route, a mining cart crushed him, leaving him a bloody mess.
He thought he’d die, sobbing, ignored by all.
It was He Minghui, that foolish giant, who dragged him back on a rickshaw.
While recovering, the old hag refused medicine. It was that big man who saved half a bun daily for him.
For over a month, Fourth Master ate until he nearly gagged.
After making his fortune, he never touched corn buns again.
Others mocked He Minghui’s foolishness, but could Fourth Master laugh?
No.
Without that fool, Fourth Master’s life would’ve ended in Xuanzhi’s twentieth year.
Would there be a Fourth Master today
?
To repay that half-bun debt, he’d spent most of his life.
Now, he could finally settle it.
Suddenly, Fourth Master spoke. “Tang, you always asked who killed your father.”
“Now I can tell you.”
Liu Tang’s step faltered, turning sharply.
His saber and scabbard clanged in the biting spring breeze.
The long-buried past coalesced into the ruthless resolve in Fourth Master’s dim eyes.
“It was Ma Liu!”
“I’ve waited all this time to personally avenge my brother, your father!”