The monk's sudden reaction startled Huangfu Ziyu, who looked at him in amazent, unable to comprehend how such an expert could speak and act without the least bit of an expert's manner.
"Senior, I'm sorry!" Huangfu Ziyu responded in a low voice.
The monk glared and said, "Is sorry of any use? I'm penalizing you to catch that rabbit for !"
Huangfu Ziyu turned and glanced around. The terrain deep in the cliff was very steep, but luckily there was plenty of wild grass, and probably a fair amount of wildlife thrived here. Catching a rabbit or sothing shouldn't be difficult, especially for a master like the monk. For a single rabbit, he had no reason to be so angry. And now, he actually wanted her to catch a rabbit for him—what did that an?
After a mont of contemplation, Huangfu Ziyu bent over and said, "Senior, please wait a mont, I'll catch it right away!"
"Hurry up, don't starve to death," the monk said.
Huangfu Ziyu looked at Ye Qing and said, "Then... I might have to trouble you to take care of him for a mont..."
The monk waved his hand impatiently and said, "Don't worry, no one but you treats him like a treasure!"
Huangfu Ziyu's face flushed with redness, but luckily it was too dark to see her clearly. She didn't linger there and hastily went off into the distant grassland in search of rabbits.
On this side, after Huangfu Ziyu had walked away, the monk approached Ye Qing's side. He stared at Ye Qing for a while, his brows slightly furrowed, and whispered, "You, my boy, must have a really big fate, falling off a cliff and still encountering —your luck is simply too good, isn't it? Could it be that even the heavens are helping you?"
The monk grumbled for a while before suddenly bending down to grab Ye Qing's hand, pinching it carefully. His expression changed dramatically and he said in a deep voice, "So soone has lent you their fortune no wonder! No wonder!"
This monk was indeed miraculous, able to tell that Ye Qing's fate had been altered. If Old Wang Ba knew, he would have been astounded. After all, the Iron Calculation Sect was left with only him. Who else in the world could discern the altering of soone's fate besides him?
"Who exactly dared to do such an act against nature?" The monk stared at Ye Qing, his thoughts unclear. After a long silence, he suddenly helped Ye Qing up and pressed a few points on Ye Qing's back, though it was unclear what he was trying to detect.
"It's just too bad you started practicing martial arts too late. Your ridians have already been set in place, making it impossible to break through the channels. Ultimately, you'll find it hard to attain mastery in Neijia Kung Fu," the monk sighed deeply after a while and shook his head, "In this state, unless soone forcefully breaks through the ridians for you, you'll hardly achieve success."
Finished speaking, the monk released Ye Qing's hand and walked away to sit down, his thoughts unknown. Only, his face no longer held the previous jovial expression.
After a good while, Huangfu Ziyu finally ran back, holding a wild rabbit, drenched in sweet sweat from exhaustion. Catching a rabbit was not that difficult, but the terrain at the base of the cliff was quite rugged, making the chase inconvenient.
Holding the rabbit, Huangfu Ziyu approached the monk and said, "Senior, I've caught the rabbit you wanted!"
"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and roast it for !" The monk had regained his carefree deanor and said, "Are you trying to starve this poor monk to death?"
"Ah?" Huangfu Ziyu was startled. With her exceptional abilities, she was known as the number one person in the Eastern Province, and not even the revered seniors dared to underestimate her. It could be said that her skills were much stronger than many n's, and she was well-versed in practically everything. However, the one thing she didn't know was cooking.
"Senior, I... I don't know how to do these things..." Huangfu Ziyu said embarrassingly.
The monk glared and said, "You can't even roast a rabbit? What an incompetent wife you'd make!"
Huangfu Ziyu rushed to say, "I... I haven't gotten married yet?"
"Not married?" The monk looked at Huangfu Ziyu, then aningfully at Ye Qing, and said, "Not married, yet you jump down here, clinging to each other in life and death—is this a lovers' suicide? Hey, young lady, even if you want to die for love, you'll eventually have to get married, right? If you get married and can't cook, don't you think that's embarrassing?"
Huangfu Ziyu's face turned beet red with embarrassnt, and she didn't know how to respond to the monk's blunt words.
At that mont, luckily, the sound of footsteps suddenly ca from a distance. They both turned their heads to look, and under the moonlight saw an old man leading a transcendent-looking girl towards them. The girl had a lovely appearance, with an air of being above the mundane world. Peculiarly, her eyes were blank, devoid of any sparkle.
Anybody seeing such a girl couldn't help but sigh. Such a beautiful girl, yet blind—wasn't the world unfairly cruel?
The old man had a tall stature, but his expression seed stiff, showing no emotion. However, as he drew closer, Huangfu Ziyu saw that the old man wore a mask over his face, which explained the stiffness. His true features were entirely hidden behind the mask.
Seeing this old man, Huangfu Ziyu felt an inexplicable sense of kinship. She didn't know why, but the sight of him stirred a familiar warmth in her heart.
The monk, however, maintained his jovial manner, seemingly unconcerned by the presence of others. Seeing the pair's arrival, the monk imdiately shouted, "Hey, that young lady, do you know how to roast a rabbit?"
The girl laughed, "I do know a little."
"That's great!" the monk exclaid imdiately, "Hurry, co on, help roast this rabbit!"
The elderly man and the girl ca over, and the girl said with a slight smile, "But I cannot see with my eyes, so I can't clean this rabbit. Moreover, there's no wood here, so I can't cook it either."
"No problem, let this little miss help you!" the monk imdiately ordered Huangfu Ziyu, without bothering to ask for her consent.
Facing such a person, Huangfu Ziyu didn't have much of a temper either. She picked up the rabbit and said to the girl, "There is a small stream over there, let take you to it."
"Alright, thank you, sister!" the girl replied gently.
Seeing the girl's listless eyes, Huangfu Ziyu couldn't help feeling a bit of pity in her heart.
"Here, let help you." Huangfu Ziyu supported the girl, and took her to the stream.
Over here, the monk and the old man stood facing each other, as if they were old acquaintances. However, both remained silent until Huangfu Ziyu and the girl had walked far away, at which point the old man finally spoke.
"It's been fifteen years, and you've finally entered the Southern Six Provinces!" the old man said softly.
"Twenty years have passed, and you've finally returned!" the monk replied. It was clear that both were well aware of the other's background.
The old man gave a slight smile, looking in the direction where the girl and Huangfu Ziyu had gone, and said, "The Shen Family is about to face a great calamity, how could I not co back?"
The monk curled his lips and said, "Since you already know everything, why not just reveal it all directly?"
"What's the point?" the old man shook his head and said, "The blood debt owed by the Shen Family from the great battle ten years ago must be paid in blood. Even if I could stop the battle today, the grudge between the Shen Family and Sha n would only grow deeper. Once it erupts in the future, it will be uncontrollable."
The monk said, "So you're not worried about the Shen Family suffering any losses in this battle?"
The old man said, "The greatest loss to the Shen Family has already occurred. What I need to consider is what the Shen Family can gain from this great war!"
The monk clapped his hands and said, "You do seem quite at ease with it!"
The old man sighed and said, "It's been twenty years – the Shen Family has long forgotten their true identity in the na of the Martial Arts Holy Land of the Southern Six Provinces. The current Shen Family is too impulsive, always viewing themselves as superior, with no regard for anyone else. Respect, within the Shen Family, has long ceased to exist, and that is the Shen Family's greatest loss. How far can a rash family, a family that does not see others, that does not know how to respect others, really go? If this war can make the Shen Family see themselves clearly again, even if many more people die, it would all be worth it!"
The monk said, "You say it nicely, but if the entire Shen Family is wiped out, I don't think you'd be able to speak of respect anymore!"
The old man smiled faintly, remaining silent, only turning to look at Ye Qing and mused, "How co these two are here?"
"I was about to ask you the sa!" the monk shrugged his shoulders and said, "You arranged to et here, and soon after I arrived, the two of them fell down from above. This young man really has a huge stroke of luck; I don't know who it was, taking such a huge risk to change his fate, and he actually survived."
The old man walked over to Ye Qing's side and stared intently at him for a while, his eyes flashing with unusual light. After keeping silent for a while, he suddenly bent down, grabbed Ye Qing's hand, and pinched it a few tis, just like the monk.
"That's strange!" the old man suddenly exclaid, as if he had discovered sothing unbelievable.
"What's wrong?" the monk imdiately rushed over and said, "What did you discover?"
With a puzzled look in his eyes, the old man said, "How co the thirty-six major acupoints in his body have been unlocked?"
"What?" The monk was taken aback and asked, "What do you an by 'thirty-six major acupoints have been unlocked'? Isn't that normal for everyone?"
"It's not the sa!" the old man shook his head and said, "When I saw him before, all the ridians and acupoints in his body were blocked. He was born with a disability and could not cultivate Inner Strength, so Li Changqing never taught him Neijia Kung Fu. But now, all thirty-six major acupoints in his body have been opened—it's completely different from before!"
"Really?" the monk was even more astonished. He grabbed Ye Qing's other hand and started to pinch it like the old man.
After a while, the monk finally looked at the old man and said, "It seems that way. The other acupoints in his body are blocked, which should be a congenital disability. Strange, how could Old Third Li put all his hopes on soone who is half-disabled?"
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