Uncle Mo's expression shifted at those words. The pair of hawk eyes that had originally exerted immense pressure softened considerably, and he gave Ji Qinglin a slight nod.
"Not bad. Quick reaction."
Then he turned to the Red-Eyed Girl and asked with concern,
"How is it? Are you hurt?"
His voice was slightly hoarse, but his tone was exceedingly gentle, completely unlike the posture he had displayed when he barged in as though he intended to slaughter everyone in the room.
The Red-Eyed Girl shook her head. "Nothing serious. The feeling in my left leg just hasn't fully returned yet. Is everything settled on your end?"
"It's all taken care of. Shall we leave now, or wait for your leg to recover?"
Afraid that lingering here would expose the embarrassing incident where she had been frivolously teased, the Red-Eyed Girl replied almost without hesitation, "Strike while the iron is hot. Let's leave now."
"Alright."
As he spoke, Uncle Mo turned to inspect the room, then took out his wallet and pulled several Red Coins from it.
"Thank you, little brother, for coming to our aid so righteously. This little money is a token of our appreciation. I hope you'll forget that you ever saw us."
He placed the money on the table and used a book to pin down one corner.
Ji Qinglin set down the pistol but did not return it. After all, this "Uncle Mo" before him was still far too threatening.
Uncle Mo stepped forward, picked up the Red-Eyed Girl, and headed outside.
Ji Qinglin reminded her, "Don't forget, you still owe me a favor."
Afraid Uncle Mo would question her, the Red-Eyed Girl urged, "I know. Uncle Mo, hurry up."
Uncle Mo did not understand what was going on, but he knew this was no place to stay. Carrying the Red-Eyed Girl, he rushed out of the main hall. Though thin in build, he flew forward with the girl in his arms as swiftly as a ghost.
The moment Uncle Mo entered earlier, Ji Qinglin had sensed that this man's movement technique was certainly formidable. Seeing him leave, he immediately activated Divine Sense Observation and followed.
Even while carrying someone, Uncle Mo's feet made no sound, and his movements were barely affected. Afterimages trailed behind him as he vaulted over the iron gate in a single bound.
By the time Ji Qinglin reached the gate, Uncle Mo had already carried the girl to a long black sedan with its lights off.
Hearing movement behind him, Uncle Mo asked warily, "Is there anything else?"
Ji Qinglin had only chased them to the gate to complete the scan of the technique. When asked, he hesitated slightly, then smiled and shook his head. "No. Have a safe trip. Be careful."
The Red-Eyed Girl thought Ji Qinglin had come over one last time to ask for her name or contact information so she could repay his favor. But remembering that Uncle Mo had just told him to forget all this, she did not dare speak.
Thinking about how she truly had him to thank for getting through today safely, she could not equate this frivolous fellow with the words "good person," but the fact that he had saved her lay plain before her eyes. It really was inappropriate to leave a few bills behind and leave without saying a word. Helplessly, she said in a low voice, "My name is Qian Feng. Feng as in Maple Forest's Feng. Someone will thank you for me in the future."
Ji Qinglin had not expected her to give him her name at a time like this, so he could only respond politely, "Huang Silang. Huang as in study materials."
".Uncle Mo, let's go!"
Uncle Mo did not understand what these two young people were doing, nor did he ask. He simply placed Qian Feng in the back seat, gave "Huang Silang" a slight nod, and drove away. From beginning to end, the black car never turned on its lights.
Ji Qinglin let out a long breath. "Whew, that was an exceptionally fulfilling day."
Divine Sense Observation had already saved the video. Uncle Mo's movement technique was called the Layered Shadow Soul Chasing Step. It required not only circulating power through the meridians and acupoints in the legs, but also great proficiency in the footwork itself.
So Ji Qinglin did not return to the house. Instead, while the iron was hot, he began imitating Uncle Mo's basic movements in the courtyard. With Divine Sense Observation's guidance, he familiarized himself with the method of circulating power through the meridians in his feet.
On the other side, after Qian Feng got in the car, she also told Uncle Mo about what had happened in the courtyard. Naturally, it was the version where she had hidden inside while Huang Silang went out to lure away the guards.
"Then he really is a good person. No wonder you took the risk of telling him your name."
Qian Feng truly could not draw an equal sign between that frivolous scoundrel and the words "good person." She answered perfunctorily, "Anyway, he doesn't know my surname or identity, and he has no chance of running into me again. It doesn't matter."
"As you say. First, change into the clothes beside the back seat and remove the bomb. In a day or two, we can't let the company people see you in such a bedraggled state."
The car's lights were off, yet Uncle Mo drove even more steadily than he would have on an empty asphalt road in broad daylight. Qian Feng pulled up the partition window and changed clothes in the back.
After changing, she took out the little picture book she had hidden earlier from the pocket of her discarded pants. She truly had never seen such a thing before, and curiosity had made her take it away. Of course, she was not the same as that pervert; she was viewing it critically. Still, Uncle Mo absolutely could not be allowed to see it.
Yet when she pulled out the little picture book, she felt that the pants she had taken off were somehow wet. The scene on the bed resurfaced in her mind—the scorching, powerful body pressed against hers. Qian Feng shook her head hard, opened the car window, and hurled the discarded clothes outside.
Seeing Qian Feng throw something out, Uncle Mo asked curiously, "What is it? Did remembering something make you this angry?"
"Nothing. By the way, Uncle Mo, besides installing software into the meridians through equipment, are there other ways to use cultivation techniques?"
"Why are you suddenly asking that? Under normal circumstances, of course not."
"What do you mean by 'under normal circumstances'?"
Uncle Mo cleared his throat and explained,
"Though many people don't know it, you should be aware that the historians employed by the company have ample evidence proving that during the era of historical rupture, a war broke out between human technological civilization and cultivation civilization.
Although we do not know the exact circumstances of the battle, we already know the result: the cultivating immortals vanished, whether they departed or died in battle, no one knows. Some of the dead immortals' divine senses shattered and scattered, allowing many artificial intelligences to gain self-awareness. Later, humanity's revived technology began using technological means to reconstruct ancient cultivation methods, and only then was modern cultivation born."
Qian Feng opened the partition window. "So isn't that the only way to cultivate?"
Uncle Mo shook his head. "You can't put it that way. Modern cultivation is actually more like humanity's one-sided imitation of it—learning the art without cultivating the Dao. You're still young, so you can't feel it yet. Once you reach our level, you'll feel the helplessness of a breakthrough that remains forever out of reach.
"And according to the newest investigation reports, the outbreak of war was not the whole story of these two civilizations colliding. There were also cases of cultivating immortals and human scientists working together. Though it is merely historians' conjecture based on scattered clues, I think that may have been true Technological Cultivation—drawing on each other's strengths and blending them into one. But that method must have long since been buried beneath the dust of history."
Qian Feng had only wanted to ask about how "Huang Silang" had learned the Yin Yang Polarization Hand in the blink of an eye, but Uncle Mo seemed to have misunderstood her meaning and proceeded to explain the history of modern cultivation's birth all over again.
"Isn't all that just speculation from those pedants? What evidence is there?"
Uncle Mo suddenly lowered his voice. "Isn't the portion of Immortal Remains in the master's collection evidence?"
"Uncle Mo, then is the legend that gathering all the remains will allow one to attain the Dao and become an immortal actually true?"
"I don't know. But if someone truly could gather the Immortal Remains held by every family, their abilities alone would already be comparable to an immortal's."
I don't really like dumping huge chunks of exposition, so I'll break the background and setting into pieces throughout the story. I hope you don't mind. During this promotion period, please keep following and voting. Thank you for your support!
Before you continue