Mindset I

Wei He said nothing more and continued tempering his blood and qi.

Ouyang Zhuang also knew his senior brother's temperament. Usually, he was taciturn, disliked talking and socializing, and only cared about burying his head in bitter training.

So he said no more and followed along, training hard at Wei He's side.

After a full day, at noon, having finished his meal, Wei He returned to his spot against the wall and stood beneath the scorching sunlight.

He looked at the sandbag, black stone, and medicinal basin he had trained with day and night, then stood there silently for a long time.

He wanted to rely on himself and focus on breaking through. But in truth, he knew that his aptitude was mediocre. Reaching his current level was already his limit. If he went any further without using the Boundary-Breaking Pearl, he would likely remain at this level for the rest of his life.

But what if? What if he could suddenly break through by himself?

Conflicting thoughts churned in Wei He's heart.

It was no wonder he was torn. The Boundary-Breaking Pearl was simply too difficult to accumulate. He had saved up for so long just to achieve one breakthrough.

He truly could not use it carelessly.

And most importantly, he wanted to know whether his aptitude was really so ordinary. What if he possessed some hidden talent? What if there was some other secret he had failed to discover?

After a long while, Wei He shook his head and decided to persist for another two days.

After going back to nap briefly, the group in the courtyard began a new round of training.

In the vast courtyard, there were fewer and fewer newcomers. There were also fewer and fewer old members.

After a whole afternoon of bitter training, Wei He only felt that his blood and qi had not budged in the slightest. There had not been even a trace of progress.

In a poor mood, he returned to the Wei family's small courtyard.

Second Sister Wei Ying was using a wooden basin to collect the clothes she had dried earlier. She happened to be gathering her own undergarments and skirts. Seeing Wei He enter, she hurriedly quickened her movements and covered her undergarments with outer clothes and skirts.

Then she smoothed her long hair, suppressed the heat in her face, and turned around.

"You're back? The dishes are ready. Sister Zhang from the courtyard came by just now, so I chatted with her for a bit. It delayed me a little."

"It's fine. I'll go change my clothes." Wei He closed the gate behind him and headed to his bedroom.

To avoid suspicion, his and Second Sister's bedrooms were the two rooms farthest apart.

Fortunately, the courtyard was small. Even the rooms farthest from each other were only a dozen steps apart, and they could hear any movement at any time.

Wei Ying brought out the dishes and placed them one by one on the table. The two sat at a wooden table beneath the eaves in the middle of the courtyard.

Before night fell, ordinary families would generally use the last bit of daylight to quickly finish eating, clear away the bowls and chopsticks, and then do other things.

That was how poor families lived, because they needed to save lamp oil.

Though the two siblings now had a little more room to spare, they still maintained this good habit formed in the past.

Sitting beneath the eaves outside the house.

Wei Ying lifted her rice bowl and looked at her younger brother.

"Just now, when Sister Zhang came over to chat with me, she mentioned something. I thought that although it has nothing to do with you, I should still tell you."

"What is it?" Wei He looked up in puzzlement. "Is someone trying to arrange a husband for you again?"

"What are you talking about? No." Wei Ying said in embarrassed irritation. "It's that Li Huanhuan from your courtyard. Sister Zhang told me to keep an eye on you and not let you get close to her."

"Li Huanhuan?" Wei He paused before remembering who that name belonged to.

She was the new girl in the courtyard who had replaced Second Sister Wei Ying in caring for Old Zheng without pay. She was quite pretty, and though her figure was not as good as Second Sister's, it still had all the proper curves.

But he did not remember her very clearly, because his mind had been wholly occupied with hard training.

And that Li Huanhuan mainly liked to hover around and attend to disciples from good families.

So they had hardly crossed paths.

"What happened with her?" Wei He asked, lowering his head to pick up a mouthful of scrambled eggs with tomatoes.

"Sister Zhang said that she has relationships with quite a few men in the courtyard." Wei Ying felt that saying this made her seem as though she were speaking ill of someone behind her back, and it did not feel right.

"Relationships?" Wei He froze for a moment, then understood.

"Yes, improper relationships. Sister Zhang has seen her come out of different disciples' residences more than once. You need to be careful. Don't get tangled up with Li Huanhuan," Wei Ying said softly. "Whether it's true or not, it's always better to stay farther away."

"I understand." Thinking back, Wei He recalled that Li Huanhuan did indeed act rather too intimately when greeting some of the senior and junior brothers.

In that courtyard full of muscle-bound men who sweated profusely and trained desperately every day, with their blood and qi surging, if that woman truly wanted to seduce someone, it would be very easy for her to succeed.

Wei He noted it down mentally and decided to observe her more carefully later.

He lifted his bowl and continued rapidly shoveling rice into his mouth. Yet after only a few bites, knocking sounded at the courtyard gate.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Is anyone home?" A deep male voice came from outside.

"Who is it?" Wei He stood and walked to the gate.

"I'm the younger brother of Xu Chun, your neighbor next door. Please open the gate," the man called loudly.

Wei He narrowed his eyes. After a brief pause, he turned and signaled for Wei Ying to hide in the inner room.

Wei Ying immediately understood. She quietly rose, swiftly entered the inner room, and shut the door.

Only Wei He remained in the courtyard.

He stood before the gate, reached out to gently pull back the bolt, and pulled the gate inward.

A burly man stood outside.

The man had a full beard and wore a white upper garment, his sleeves rolled up to reveal thick, powerful forearms.

When he saw Wei He open the gate, he narrowed his eyes and swept his gaze over Wei He.

"Sorry to disturb you. My elder sister, Xu Chun, was brutally beaten in her home some days ago. She is now blind in both eyes, unable to see anything, and can barely care for herself.

"So I came to ask the neighbors whether any of you heard any sounds coming from next door that day?"

This man's breathing was long and steady, his heartbeat slow. The lines of his muscles were exceptionally smooth, without any bulky knots.

Most importantly, his eyes kept sweeping from side to side, as though—

As though he were checking whether there was anyone else nearby!

Wei He's vigilance abruptly rose another level.

"Sounds next door? I didn't hear anything. I'm about to rest, so if there's nothing else, you can leave." He feigned impatience and made as if to close the gate.

"Don't be in such a hurry."

This man who called himself Xu Wei reached out and blocked the wooden gate, preventing it from closing.

"We're neighbors. My sister has lost her sight, and I only came to ask about the situation. Surely you can spare a few words?"

Xu Wei's expression turned cold.

His sister had been resting at home and had stopped causing trouble at the cult, yet something had still happened to her.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Take your hand away!" Wei He glared.

"Heh heh. Friend, you know something, don't you?" Xu Wei sneered.

At such close range, there had been a beating next door, yet he had heard absolutely nothing? No movement at all?

How could that be possible? He simply did not want to reveal anything.

"I don't know anything. Take your hand away!" Wei He raised his voice again.

"Why should I take it away? Why are you so agitated? Could it be that you were the one who laid hands on my sister!?" Xu Wei recalled the condition of his sister's eyes.

The physician had told him that quicklime had gotten into her eyes, and after being left untreated for too long, it had damaged them.

But his sister rarely went out and spent all her time burning incense at home. She had never offended anyone. Why would anyone throw quicklime at her?

Xu Wei's eyes swept over Wei He, and he immediately spotted the pouch of quicklime hanging from Wei He's lower back.

"It was definitely you!!!" His eyes suddenly widened like bronze bells as he lunged forward.

He struck fiercely at Wei He's chest with the White Lotus Descends Palm Technique.

At that very moment, Wei He had also raised his right fist and gathered strength, smashing it fiercely toward him.

The two clashed head-on.

Bang!

Fist and palm collided. Wei He and Xu Wei both took a step back, surprise on their faces.

Wei He felt a tremendous force surge from the other man's palm, forcibly blocking his fist.

He had unleashed that Huishan Fist with stored power, yet he still could not gain the upper hand.

Xu Wei was equally astonished.

Though he had not used his full strength in that palm strike, he had still used sixty percent of it. Yet it had been forcibly blocked and driven back.

As an Incense Master of the Incense Gathering Cult, he immediately realized that he had encountered a tough opponent.

The other party's strength was not much different from his own.

So he took a step back.

"So you are a disciple of Huishan Fist. It was a misunderstanding, likely just a misunderstanding. My sister is covered in wounds from a stick. The attacker was skilled with a short club. She is now covered in injuries, her old ailments have flared up, and her condition is grave. Please tell me the truth, and I will certainly repay you in the future!" Xu Wei said earnestly.

"I truly don't know. I was practicing fists in the courtyard that day. The sound of me hitting the sandbag was very loud, so I had no idea what was happening next door." Wei He also sensed that this man would not be easy to deal with, so his tone eased.

"Truly?" Xu Wei asked, his gaze softening slightly. He seemed to feel that he might have made a mistake.

"Truly," Wei He answered firmly.

".Fine. If that is the case, then excuse my disturbance." Xu Wei studied Wei He seriously, then turned and quickly left.

After leaving the Wei family gate, he turned into an alley.

Xu Wei slowed his pace. Two people were already waiting in the alley, both cult members dressed in gray-white clothes and round-brimmed straw hats.

"Incense Master? How did it go?" one of them asked quietly.

"Not well. A formal disciple of Huishan Fist lives in that courtyard. He is no weakling. I can't handle him alone, and he might get away.

"To be safe, go back and have Incense Master Shangguan come with you to help me."

A vicious glint filled Xu Wei's eyes as he said fiercely, "No matter what, that fellow had a pouch of quicklime at his waist for throwing into people's eyes. And he lied to me, saying he had not heard a single sound that day. Is that possible? At such close distance, even if there was no shouting, he could not have heard nothing. Especially not someone like him, with such sharp senses!

"He was clearly the one who did it! Even if it wasn't him, it must have been someone connected to him. Before my sister fell ill, she had gone to his steamed-bun shop, and afterward, he drove her out.

"That bastard must have held a grudge and secretly acted afterward. Did he really think I couldn't figure it out?"

Xu Wei was no fool. Having investigated the situation before and after, once he connected the clues, he immediately identified the most likely culprit.

"Enough. Go quickly and return quickly! Have Incense Master Hu come too. I'll stand guard here and make sure that brat doesn't escape. Anyone who dares provoke the Incense Gathering Cult clearly doesn't know how the word death is written!" Xu Wei said coldly.

"Alright!" The two swiftly turned and jogged away through the other end of the alley.

With three Incense Masters joining forces, there was no way they would fail to kill that brat!

A blaze of sinister fury surged through Xu Wei's heart.

Meanwhile.

Inside the courtyard.

Wei He shut the gate, took two steps back, and the more he thought about it, the more wrong it felt.

That man's eyes had flickered when he left, and his hands had been clenched into fists. He was clearly unwilling to let the matter go.

Since he was the brother of that Incense Gathering Cult woman next door, he had to be from the Incense Gathering Cult as well. What if he went to call people over? Two fists could not beat four hands. Wouldn't I be doomed?

The more Wei He thought about it, the more worried he became. The more worried he became, the more afraid he felt.

At once, he climbed over the side wall instead of leaving through the gate. After landing, he headed toward the alley on the other side, preparing to circle around and leave.

Suddenly, two men in straw hats passed right by him from the opposite direction. Their clothes were unmistakably the style of the Incense Gathering Cult.