"Little girl, stop shouting!"
"I have sealed off everything within a hundred feet. Even if you scream your throat raw, no one will come."
Old Daoist waved his hand, drew over a chair, sat down casually, crossed his legs, and examined Chen Jinyu.
She was a girl of twelve or thirteen, with a sturdy frame. Judging by the way she used hidden weapons, she could easily twist open a man's skull.
Her looks were ordinary, yet she possessed an icy, austere air.
Chen Jinyu frowned, then suddenly relaxed. She bowed and said, "Chen Ya'er pays her respects to my benefactor!"
"Lao Bai told you everything?"
Old Daoist was Zhou Yi. After returning to Shenjing, he had come to visit Chen Ya'er at once.
"My adoptive father once told Jin Yu that a benefactor would come to guide her in martial arts, so he never taught her internal cultivation."
Chen Jinyu explained, "It has just been so many years that I nearly forgot. I did not recall it earlier..."
"Hm. You do not understand. I wanted to leave you a complete childhood."
Zhou Yi casually made up an excuse. It was absolutely not because he had forgotten about it while refining treasures. "How have you been these past years?"
"Safe and happy."
Chen Jinyu said, "My adoptive parents have cared for and taught me in every way, treating Jin Yu as their own daughter."
"That is good. That fellow Lao Bai is fairly reliable when it comes to getting things done."
Zhou Yi suddenly did not know what to say. Last time they had met, she had only been a baby the size of a winter melon. In the blink of an eye, she had grown up.
The two truly did not share any deep bond, and Zhou Yi was not a warmhearted person. After a long silence, he asked.
"Your hidden weapon techniques are rather ruthless. Lao Bai's martial arts all lean toward being handsome and dashing. Did someone else teach you?"
"This technique is called the Life Severing Needles. It was taught by Aunt Hua from the household."
Chen Jinyu explained, "Rumor says Aunt Hua was some kind of holy maiden in the martial world. She betrayed her sect for my adoptive father and married him five years ago. Benefactor, please do not misunderstand Aunt Hua. She treats Jin Yu very well. I begged her to teach me the hidden weapon techniques."
"..."
Zhou Yi's expression stiffened. "Lao Bai is no son of man. He married a princess and still did not forget his old lover!"
Chen Jinyu lowered her head, not daring to speak. The Old Daoist before her greatly resembled those legendary reclusive masters who played among mortals—ancient monsters said to be moody, unpredictable, and utterly unrestrained in their actions.
"I originally came only to take a look at you. Since you are safe and happy, my old promise has been fulfilled."
Zhou Yi said, "Who would have thought that from what I saw during the day, you are not a worry-free girl? You are also quite capable in both speech and conduct..."
Chen Jinyu's heart lit up. She knelt and kowtowed.
"I beg Benefactor to accept me as a disciple. Once I master my training, I will avenge my clansmen!"
Zhou Yi said, "Those routed soldiers who slaughtered Chen Family Village have already all died by my hand. Whom are you going to avenge yourself against?"
"First, the one who commanded them. Second, the Fengyang Royal Family!"
Chen Jinyu clenched her silver teeth. "Jin Yu investigated much information and learned that Emperor Zhongzong feared Duke Who Pacifies the Nation, which led to the defeat on the northern frontier. My Chen clansmen suffered this calamity for nothing."
"That does make some sense."
Zhou Yi's tone shifted. "But such revenge may cause many innocent people to die, especially since you are quite resourceful!"
"Then let those innocent people come seek vengeance from me!"
Chen Jinyu's voice was cold and clear. "Jin Yu is only a young woman. I do not understand grand matters of nation and realm. I only know that when a father is wronged and not punished, it is right for the child to avenge him."
"Good!"
Zhou Yi clapped his hands in praise. "I once met someone who cared for the greater picture. In the end, not only did his entire family die, he still failed to stop the living from being plunged into misery."
Li Wu had sacrificed himself for the stability of the dynasty, and Zhou Yi naturally admired him greatly. Yet asking Zhou Yi to learn from and emulate him was absolutely impossible!
If Li Wu had hardened his heart, betrayed Emperor Chongming's favor of recognizing and nurturing him, and led his army to seize the Fengyang Kingdom, chaos would not have erupted along the northern frontier. Perhaps fewer people would have died instead.
Of course, that was hindsight!
Zhou Yi said, "When I saved you back then, I had already tested your innate bones with Mana. Today, I will pass on a cultivation method to you."
"Thank you, Mas—"
Chen Jinyu only felt an immense force sealing her entire body. No matter what, she could not utter the final word.
"I do not accept disciples."
Zhou Yi had saved Chen Jinyu purely out of a desire to protect human cubs. It had nothing whatsoever to do with despising the Fengyang Royal Family, lamenting the hardships of the world, or any other such reasons!
Only by not forcibly attaching karmic ties could one walk toward immortality!
Therefore, there could be even less of a master-disciple bond.
"This cultivation method is called the Origin Returning Art..."
Zhou Yi recited the Origin Returning Art once, and Chen Jinyu memorized every word without error.
Chen Jinyu bowed low and kowtowed. "Jin Yu will remember the grace of transmitting this art for all eternity!"
Zhou Yi said, "Cultivate diligently before the age of twenty. I will protect you in Shenjing. After that, our karma will be settled. Even if you die upon the road of revenge, do not think of coming to me for rescue!"
Chen Jinyu bowed again. "Such immense grace is already more than I dare hope for. If Benefactor ever has need of me in the future, Jin Yu will not shrink from ten thousand deaths!"
Zhou Yi raised a brow. "Those words sound somewhat familiar..."
His voice drifted away, vague and ethereal. Chen Jinyu looked up, only to find that not a single figure remained in the room.
Just as she was about to rise, a voice sounded beside her ear again.
"Little girl, the plum blossoms in your courtyard are flourishing splendidly. Have you buried quite a few corpses beneath those trees? Such methods suit my taste very well, so I will give you one more piece of guidance!"
"Go to Barren City and seek General Zhou!"
Courtyard.
He had not returned for ten years, and the lock on the gate had already rusted.
Zhou Yi casually snapped the iron lock and pushed open the door. To his surprise, a skeleton lay sprawled in the courtyard.
It wore coarse hemp clothing. The bones were slender, and its attire did not resemble that of a thief who had climbed over the wall. Nor had it practiced martial body tempering in life.
"An ordinary commoner?"
Zhou Yi frowned slightly. Before leaving, he had deliberately removed the traps from the courtyard precisely to avoid harming ordinary commoners.
The mechanisms and traps arranged within the courtyard had come from a certain master of mechanisms in the Heavenly Prison. Their blades and sword edges were smeared with deadly poison; even ordinary martial experts would die beyond doubt if they entered.
A commoner might see an empty house and be tempted by greed. Theft was a crime, but not one deserving death.
Zhou Yi wrapped his palm in Mana and turned the skeleton over for inspection. There were no wounds, nor any traces of poison.
"Even after ten years, an ordinary corpse should not have dried out until only bones remained!"
Zhou Yi suddenly sneered, withdrew a House-Protecting Talisman from his robes, and activated it. The aura of guarding the home and warding off evil swept through the courtyard.
Woooo—
A yin wind howled, and a vicious ghost materialized from thin air. It crouched on a jujube branch, staring at Zhou Yi.
This vicious ghost differed from those he had seen before. It was ferocious and horrifying, no longer human in form. Seven or eight crimson eyes grew haphazardly across its face, while its open mouth revealed serrated fangs.
Four arms clutched the jujube branch. Its lower body was swollen like a spider's abdomen, covered with many bizarre human faces.
"Hisss!"
The vicious ghost's tongue was forked. As it flicked in and out, it resembled a venomous snake darting its tongue.
Zhou Yi sensed the vicious ghost's aura. It was not even equal to the first layer of Qi Refining. He immediately declared arrogantly, "A mere wandering ghost dares cause havoc? You deserve execution!"
Hearing this, rage surged in the vicious ghost. It leaped down from the tree and pounced to kill, its spider-sack lower body spewing foul black mist.
Bzzng!
A massive bronze cauldron appeared from thin air, ringing like morning bells and evening drums. The sound nearly shattered the vicious ghost's Spirit Soul, before the cauldron came crashing down to suppress it.
BOOM!
The thunderous crash carried for ten li, and the vicious ghost instantly turned to flying ash.
Zhou Yi recalled the Rivers and Mountains Cauldron and looked at the earth in the courtyard. Beneath it lay heaps upon heaps of white bones.
"If thieves enter again in the future, I will have to start cremating them, lest the residence become restless."
Before you continue