Mentality One

Wei He didn't say anything more and continued to hone his Blood Essence.

Ouyang Zhuang also knew his senior brother's personality. He was usually taciturn, disliking to speak, disliking socializing, and only focused on practicing diligently.

He didn't say much at the moment and followed along, practicing together.

After a day, at noon, after eating, Wei He returned to his spot against the wall, standing in the scorching sunlight.

He looked at the sandbag, black stones, and medicine basin he had been practicing with day and night, standing silently in place for a long time.

He really wanted to rely on himself and break through with focus. But in his heart, he knew that his aptitude was mediocre, and reaching this level was already his limit. Going further, without the Boundary-Breaking Pearl, he might remain at this level for his entire life.

But what if? What if he could break through on his own?

Wei He's thoughts were conflicted.

It wasn't that he was indecisive, but the Boundary-Breaking Pearl was too difficult to accumulate. It had taken him so long to save up enough for one breakthrough.

He really couldn't use it carelessly.

And the most crucial thing was that he wanted to know if his aptitude was truly that ordinary. What if he had some hidden talent? What if there were other hidden factors he hadn't discovered?

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

He went back for a short nap. In the courtyard, a group of people started their new training session.

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

Wei He's diligent practice throughout the afternoon only made him feel that his Blood Essence hadn't budged at all. There was no progress.

He returned to the Wei family's small courtyard in a bad mood.

Second Sister Wei Ying was collecting the clothes she had hung out to dry in a wooden basin. As she was putting away her own undergarments, she saw Wei He enter. She quickly sped up her movements, covering her underwear and other items with outer clothes.

Then, she tidied her long hair, suppressed a slight flush on her face, and turned around.

"You're back? The food is ready. Sister Zhang from the courtyard came over for a chat just now, so I got delayed a bit."

"It's fine, I'll go change." Wei He closed the door behind him and walked to his bedroom.

His and Second Sister's bedrooms were the farthest apart to avoid suspicion.

Fortunately, the courtyard wasn't large. Even the farthest rooms were only a dozen steps away, so they could hear any movement at any time.

Wei Ying went to get the food and set it on the table one by one. The two of them sat down in the courtyard in the middle, under the eaves, at a wooden table.

Before it got dark, most families would quickly finish eating, clear the dishes, and then do other things, taking advantage of the last bit of daylight.

This was the way the poor lived, to save on lamp oil.

Although the siblings now had a bit more leeway, they still maintained the good habit they had developed.

They sat under the eaves at the entrance of the house.

Wei Ying picked up her rice bowl and looked at her brother.

"Just now, when Sister Zhang was chatting with me, she mentioned something. I thought, even though it has nothing to do with you, I still wanted to tell you."

"What is it?" Wei He asked, looking up in confusion. "Is she trying to introduce you to a husband again?"

"What are you talking about, no," Wei Ying said, embarrassed and annoyed. "It's about that Li Huanhuan from your courtyard. Sister Zhang asked me to keep an eye on you and not get too close to her."

"Li Huanhuan?" Wei He reacted, then remembered who that name belonged to.

She was the new free girl in the courtyard who had taken over from Second Sister Wei Ying in taking care of Old Zheng. She was good-looking, and although her figure wasn't as good as Second Sister's, she was still curvy.

However, he didn't have a deep impression of her because his entire focus was on diligent practice.

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

So, they didn't have much interaction.

"What about her?" Wei He asked, lowering his head to put a spoonful of scrambled eggs with tomatoes into his mouth.

"Sister Zhang said she... has relationships with quite a few guys in the courtyard." Wei Ying felt like she was gossiping and didn't feel right about it.

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

"Yes, bad relationships anyway. Sister Zhang saw her coming out of different disciples' rooms more than once. You need to be careful and not get involved with that Li Huanhuan," Wei Ying said in a low voice. "Whether it's true or not, it's better to stay away."

"I know." Wei He recalled, and indeed, Li Huanhuan was a bit too familiar when greeting some of the fellow disciples.

In a courtyard filled with muscle-bound men sweating and practicing desperately every day, with Blood Essence surging, if that woman truly wanted to seduce someone, it would be very easy to succeed.

Wei He made a mental note and decided to observe and pay attention later.

He picked up his bowl and continued to quickly eat his rice. However, after only a few bites, there was a knock on the courtyard door.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Is anyone home?" a deep male voice called from outside.

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

"I'm Xu Chun's younger brother from next door. Please open the door," the man said loudly.

Wei He narrowed his eyes, paused, then turned to signal Wei Ying to hide in the inner room.

Wei Ying immediately understood, quietly got up, quickly entered the inner room, and closed the door.

The courtyard was suddenly empty, leaving only Wei He.

He stood at the courtyard gate, reached out, and gently pulled the bolt, then opened it inward.

A burly man stood outside the door.

The man had a full beard, wore a white top, and had rolled up his sleeves, revealing strong forearms.

Seeing Wei He open the door, he narrowed his eyes and scanned Wei He.

"Excuse me, my elder sister is Xu Chun, I am Xu Wei. A few days ago, my sister was brutally beaten at home, and is now blind and unable to see or care for herself.

So I wanted to ask the neighbors if they heard anything from next door that day?"

This person had a long, steady breath and a slow heartbeat. His muscles were quite fluid, not bulging.

Most importantly, this person's eyes darted left and right, as if

as if he was looking to see if anyone else was around!

Wei He's heart immediately became more vigilant.

"Noise from next door? Didn't hear anything. I'm about to rest, you can leave if you're fine." He pretended to be impatient and made to close the door.

"Don't rush."

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

"We're neighbors, and my sister is now blind. I'm just asking about the situation. You can't refuse to answer a few words, can you?"

Xu Wei's expression turned cold.

His sister was resting at home and no longer causing trouble in the cult, but he hadn't expected something to happen to her.

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

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

At such close proximity, a beating occurred next door, and this side heard nothing, no sound?

How could that be! It's just that he didn't want to reveal it.

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

"Why should I move my hand? Why are you so agitated? Could it be that you were the one who attacked my sister!?" Xu Wei recalled the state of his sister's eyes.

The doctor had told him that it was caused by quicklime getting into her eyes, which led to problems over time.

But his sister rarely went out and always burned incense at home. She wouldn't offend anyone, so why would someone throw quicklime at her?

Xu Wei's gaze swept over and he immediately saw the bag of quicklime hanging on Wei He's lower back.

"It must be you!!!" His eyes widened like copper bells, and he lunged forward.

With a White Lotus Descends Palm Technique, he fiercely struck Wei He's chest.

Coincidentally, Wei He had also raised his right fist, gathering strength, and punched him fiercely.

The two clashed head-on.

Bang!

The fist and palm technique collided, and both Wei He and Xu Wei took a step back, their faces showing surprise.

Wei He felt a powerful force surge from the other's palm, which had actually blocked his punch.

He had exerted full force with his Huishan Fist for this strike, yet he still couldn't gain the upper hand.

Xu Wei was also astonished.

Although he hadn't used his full strength in his palm technique, he had used sixty percent of his power, and it had been blocked and stopped.

As a leader of the Incense Gathering Cult, he immediately realized that this was a tough opponent.

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

He immediately took a step back.

"So you're a disciple of Huishan Fist. It was a misunderstanding, likely a misunderstanding. My sister is covered in bruises from a stick. The perpetrator was skilled with a short stick. She is now covered in injuries, her old illness has recurred, and her condition is serious. Please tell me the truth, and I will surely repay you in the future!" Xu Wei said earnestly.

"I really don't know. I was practicing my fist in the courtyard that day, and the sound of hitting the sandbag was very loud. I had no idea what happened next door." Wei He also felt that the other party was difficult to deal with, and his tone softened.

"Really?" Xu Wei asked, his eyes softening slightly, likely feeling that he might have made a mistake.

"Really." Wei He replied affirmatively.

"...Alright, since that's the case, then I apologize for the disturbance." Xu Wei took a serious look at Wei He and then turned and left quickly.

After leaving Wei's house, he turned a corner and entered an alleyway.

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

"Incense Master? How did it go?" one of them asked in a low voice.

"Not well. The person living in this courtyard is a formal disciple of Huishan Fist, and his strength is not weak. I can't handle him alone, and he might escape.

To be safe, go back and ask Incense Master Shangguan to come over and help me."

Xu Wei's eyes flashed with ferocity, and he said fiercely, "No matter what, that guy still has a bag of quicklime on his waist, and he lied to me, saying he didn't hear a sound that day. Is that possible? At such a close distance, even if it wasn't shouting, it's impossible not to hear a sound. Especially for someone with such keen senses as him!"

It was clearly him who did it! If not him, then it must have been someone related to him. Before my sister fell ill, she went to his steamed bun shop, and only then did he kick her out.

He must have held a grudge and acted secretly afterward. Does he really think I can't figure it out?"

Xu Wei wasn't an idiot. After investigating the situation and connecting the dots, he immediately identified the most likely culprit.

"Alright, go quickly and come back! Have Incense Master Hu come along too. I'll stay here and make sure that brat doesn't escape. He doesn't know how to write the word 'death' for daring to provoke someone from my Incense Gathering Cult!" Xu Wei's tone was icy.

"Understood!" The two quickly turned and jogged away down the other end of the alley.

With three Incense Masters joining forces, they weren't afraid of not being able to deal with that brat!

An evil fire surged within Xu Wei.

Meanwhile.

In the courtyard.

Wei He closed the door, took two steps back, and the more he thought about it, the more something felt wrong.

The man's eyes had flickered when he left, his fists clenched, clearly unwilling to accept the situation.

Since he was a junior from the neighboring Incense Gathering Cult, he was definitely part of the cult. What if he called for backup? I'd be outnumbered and in trouble.

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

He immediately climbed over the side wall and left, not using the door. After landing, he was about to circle out from the other side of the alley.

Suddenly, two men in straw hats brushed past him. Their clothing was unmistakably in the style of the Incense Gathering Cult.