"Mother, I've finished eating. Get some rest first—I'm going to the river to see if I can catch a few fish."
That night, inside the simple thatched hut, eight-year-old Ying Zheng, now grown into a young boy, darted out of the courtyard like the wind and quickly vanished without a trace.
Watching this, Zhao Ji shook her head helplessly. All she could do was sigh that children loved running around everywhere once they grew up.
When Ying Zheng arrived by the little river, he found the old Daoist fishing.
"Ah Zheng, you're here. Sit down beside me. Just in time for you to taste your master's cooking."
Before long, a fragrant grilled fish flew into Ying Zheng's hands, making the still-young boy swallow hard.
It had been nearly a year since the two had met. During that time, Xiao Zhen had acted as Ying Zheng's master, teaching him both some imperial arts of statecraft and cultivation techniques and divine abilities.
Ying Zheng truly deserved to be this generation of humanity's Son of Destiny. His talent for learning was astonishing, and he possessed exceptional insight into the arts of rulership.
Xiao Zhen rubbed Ying Zheng's little head and said with a smile, "Ah Zheng, you can return to the Qin State tomorrow. Remember your master's words from now on: do not act rashly, show no mercy when facing enemies, and never fight an opponent you cannot defeat head-on. You must use your brain more!"
Ying Zheng asked curiously, "Master, what do you mean I can return to the Qin State?"
Born and raised in the Zhao State, Ying Zheng had never even seen the land of the Qin State. Because Qin and Zhao frequently went to war, he and his mother had nearly been taken by the Zhao State and beheaded