Trouble, Part 1

Wei He didn't care about any of that.

After he focused on opening the steamed bun shop for his Second Sister, he returned to his usual rigorous martial arts training routine.

In the blink of an eye, winter arrived.

The weather still showed no signs of rain, and everything was dry and cracked.

Inside the Wei family's small courtyard.

Wei He stood shirtless, fists guarding his head, facing a sandbag hanging from a large tree trunk, and continuously punched it.

Each punch was like a heavy hammer, one after another, ceaseless. He delivered thirty punches in one go.

Each punch wasn't fast, but they were all exceptionally steady and heavy.

After a full-force burst, deep fist imprints appeared on the sandbag.

Wei He picked up a water pouch from the side, slowly took a sip of warm water, held it in his mouth, and swallowed it bit by bit.

While resting, he looked down at the pattern of the Boundary-Breaking Pearl on his chest.

When he looked at it in the morning, there was only a tiny gap left. Now, it was completely filled.

'It's finally full.'

A weight was lifted from Wei He's heart. He had been worried that the Boundary-Breaking Pearl would only fill up once. He feared the second one wouldn't.

After all, its accumulation speed was slow as a snail, which was unbearable.

But it was fine now; it was full in the end.

With a thought, he tried the same method as last time, using his mind to pierce the balloon-like Boundary-Breaking Pearl on his chest.

But it was no use.

The Boundary-Breaking Pearl remained unmoved.

'As expected. I have to wait until my Blood Essence is also completely full.' Wei He sighed inwardly. He didn't try anymore.

His Blood Essence was only at the middle stage. Although he felt his body was solid, it wasn't completely filled yet.

In reality, at the normal pace, for 99.9% of the disciples in the Huishan Fist courtyard, accumulating Blood Essence, no matter how fast, could only be done through diligent, slow cultivation.

He had broken through to Ox Hide at the beginning of the year. It had only been a little over half a year, so how could he have refined it to the peak so quickly?

Only someone like Xiao Ran, who was naturally strong and exceptionally talented, could break through so rapidly.

For everyone else, the period of accumulating Blood Essence was no less than a year and a half.

Thinking of this, Wei He suppressed the restlessness in his heart and calmed down.

"It's only been half a year, and I've already accumulated more than half of my Blood Essence. In reality, my speed is still quite fast. Judging by aptitude, most people in the courtyard are at a similar pace to me."

Among the Ox Hide disciples of the same generation, the few who broke through with him had varying speeds of Blood Essence accumulation, some slower, some faster, but the difference wasn't significant.

This showed that his pace was normal.

Wei He was usually taciturn and observed carefully. As he recalled and compared now, his heart settled.

After finishing his daily practice, Wei He put on his clothes. In a rare good mood, he decided to go out and see how his Second Sister's business was doing.

It had been about ten days since she opened the steamed bun shop. It was mid-morning now, the peak time for selling steamed buns and similar items.

Wei He left his home and walked along the riverside street towards the Huishan Fist courtyard.

The Wei Family Steamed Bun Shop was located between the Huishan Fist courtyard and the Wei family's small courtyard, making it convenient to manage.

At this moment, Wei Ying was busy bustling around in front of the shop, selling steamed buns while also preparing to steam new batches.

Teams of people stood in long queues in front of the shop, waiting for their turn.

Wei Ying wore a simple mask, specially made by Wei He. Seeing her brother arrive, she didn't have time to greet him. She could only nod at him from a distance before getting back to her busy work.

Wei He wasn't in a hurry and stood by quietly, waiting. He noticed that the people in line were mostly holding small pieces of dried meat or a bit of coarse grain, rice, and flour. Their clothing and appearance suggested they were mostly poor people and ordinary citizens.

He couldn't help but sigh, knowing his sister must have lowered the prices again, otherwise, the business wouldn't be this good.

After all, steamed buns made from coarse grain flour with only a little pickled vegetables and minced meat inside, what flavor could they possibly have?

However, now that he was in the Huishan Fist courtyard, he didn't lack food, so he didn't care how much money Wei Ying made. He was just a little worried that she was working too hard.

Standing outside the shop, a few people in line looked at Wei He, who was strong and sturdy, with a detached expression. They immediately became wary, as if afraid he would cut in line.

Wei He couldn't help but chuckle at this. He moved a little further away and stood under an eave.

The weather had been hot and dry for a while, with no rain, and the river water had become somewhat turbid and shallow.

As time passed, the sunlight grew brighter, and heat waves rose from the ground, causing the air to distort slightly.

With the intense heat, the queue gradually thinned out, and Wei Ying slowly began to relax.

Wei He went up to help with the last few customers. When there were many people earlier, it was too busy, and he didn't know what to do, which might have even caused delays.

Now that he went up, Wei Ying had some free time to tell him what to do and how to do it.

After the last few customers were served, Wei Ying wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve. Despite the hard work, a look of satisfaction appeared on her face.

"Alright, alright, we're finally sold out. I'll make more tomorrow night." She turned around and saw Wei He washing his hands inside the shop.

She went along to wash with him.

After washing his hands, Wei He raised them and shook them dry, ready to get on with things.

"Here, this is for you. Dry yourself off, be good," Wei Ying quickly handed him a new gray cloth for drying his hands.

Wei He took it and looked it over. The hand towel was quite clean and new, seemingly recently purchased.

He used it to carefully dry his hands.

"Wasn't this here before? Was it made new?" He knew his Second Sister enjoyed doing handicrafts. Their old hand towels had been made by her, pieced together from scraps of clothes she couldn't mend properly.

"No, it was a gift. It smells nice too. I didn't really want it, but they were so insistent," Wei Ying replied.

"That's really generous of them," Wei He nodded, lost in thought. "Was it a woman who gave it to you?"

"Mhm."

"Did you boil it?"

"As you said, I boiled it."

"Alright." Wei He suddenly remembered Cheng Shaojiu mentioning finding a wife for him, and it immediately made him think of his Second Sister.

"Speaking of which, Second Sister, do you have any plans to find a good family and get married?" he asked quietly.

"What? You're just thinking of marrying your sister off?" Wei Ying teased with a smile.

"Yeah, otherwise you can't possibly take care of me forever, right?" Wei He chuckled.

"I don't have any plans for that yet. No rush, I'll wait until I meet someone suitable," Wei Ying shook her head.

The siblings chatted for a while longer about their recent lives, lamenting how increasingly troublesome the outside situation was becoming.

Fortunately, the Huishan Fist Academy seemed to be independent of the many troubles. Or rather, many martial artists' academies had a rather detached, otherworldly feel. They lacked nothing in terms of food or clothing, and all their expenses were met.

Wei He guessed that Old Zheng must have some industrial support behind him, otherwise he wouldn't be able to manage this.

These days, after becoming a formal disciple and entering the academy, he had learned more about the circle of martial artist disciples during his interactions.

Feiye City's outer city had over a dozen districts, and each district had a renowned martial artist whose position was as stable as a mountain, unshakeable.

However, these academy martial artists were all more or less affected by the recent changes in prices. Only a very few, like Old Zheng's academy, remained completely unaffected.

The siblings chatted idly for a while. Wei He no longer brought up their parents or eldest sister, and Wei Ying didn't ask about them either.

Not bringing them up or asking about them didn't mean they weren't investigating or searching.

Wei He had been continuously inquiring and searching in his spare time. Unfortunately, he had spent a lot of money on wages and still found nothing. It wasn't as fruitful as his initial trip to Mingde Temple, where he had gathered more information.

After staying for about an hour, Wei He helped his Second Sister mix the dough for the steamed buns before leaving the bun shop to continue practicing at home.

Today was a rest day, which was why he had so much free time to arrange.

Not long after Wei He left.

Two people slowly approached the front of the bun shop.

They were two tall, thin figures dressed in gray and white cloth clothing, wearing wide-brimmed straw hats.

Both of them carried a distinct aura that set them apart from ordinary people. If someone got close, they would notice a faint scent of incense clinging to them.

This was a scent that only those who frequently came into contact with incense would retain on their clothes for a long time.

The two looked up at the bun shop and walked to the entrance, one after the other.

The person in front raised their face, revealing the kind features of a middle-aged woman.

"Sister Yingying, I've come to see you again," she greeted in a gentle tone.

"Is that you, Sister Xu Chun? Why have you come? Please, come in and sit down. I'll be done soon." Wei Ying was just about to knead the mixed dough with yeast for fermentation when she saw the visitor and had to stop temporarily.

Xu Chun was a neighbor who lived nearby. Because her name, like their eldest sister's, contained the character "Chun" (spring), and she was quite kind-hearted, Wei Ying had become quite familiar with her after only a few meetings.

Xu Chun brought the other person into the shop and sat down with Wei Ying, who also sat down. She smiled and said, "Actually, Sister Yingying, I came today because I saw you missing your family yesterday and feeling distressed. I wanted to come and talk with you."

"You take such good care of me, Sister," Wei Ying said, feeling a little touched. Yesterday, she had just been staring blankly at the carving knife left by her parents during her break, and she hadn't expected Xu Chun to see it.

"We're all neighbors, there's no 'taking care' or anything." Xu Chun sighed.

"Speaking of which, when family members go missing, it's often unavoidable. When my eldest son disappeared before, I was just as distressed as you are, wanting to bang my head against a wall.

But then, as time passed, I met a benefactor who helped me find a spiritual solace, and I wasn't so heartbroken anymore."

"Benefactor?" Wei Ying asked curiously. "What kind of benefactor?"

"This benefactor, you see, is the one behind me," Xu Chun said, enthusiastically gesturing to the person behind her.

"Mengjin Female Cultivator. This is Wei Ying, whom I told you about before.

She's a girl from a good family, gentle in nature, and kind. Every time I see her sad, my heart feels like it's being pricked by needles, and it reminds me of my eldest son.

So, I've brought you here this time to help this kind sister, just as you helped me before."

The second person stepped forward, revealing a gaunt old woman with a small red mole between her eyebrows.

Her expression was solemn. She raised her withered, chicken-claw-like arm and pulled the brim of her straw hat up a little.

"Truly pitiful," the Mengjin Female Cultivator said, looking at Wei Ying and sighing. "With your facial features, it's no wonder... no wonder."

She watched Wei Ying while shaking her head.

"May I ask, female cultivator, is there something wrong with my appearance?" Wei Ying felt a little flustered by her gaze.

She was an ordinary girl who couldn't read or study, only knowing housework and handicrafts. Being stared at like this immediately made her panic.

"Do you know that you were born with…" The Mengjin Female Cultivator's expression turned solemn as she slowly began to speak.

Suddenly, a tall shadow at the doorway enveloped her.

The shadow blocked the entrance, neither advancing nor retreating, simply remaining there.