What Was He After?

What Was He After?

Seventh Young Master reached up to scratch his head. "My mother lied to me again?"

Yet there was not the slightest anger at having been deceived on his face. Instead, he even seemed somewhat amused.

"Madam probably wasn't lying." Zheng Fa hesitated slightly before speaking.

Seventh Young Master and Instructor Xu froze. The smile gradually vanished from Seventh Young Master's face as he looked at Zheng Fa, seemingly unwilling to believe what Zheng Fa had just said.

"Then didn't you succeed?"

Instructor Xu, standing nearby, frowned deeply as well. Clearly, he had the same question.

"I could succeed, but most people probably can't."

The two before him were actually people Zheng Fa trusted greatly, but he did not reveal the slightest thing about the modern world.

Yet many things could not be concealed. From Seventh Young Master's words, it was clear that Madam understood very well how difficult it was to cultivate the Spirit Crane Body.

Once Zheng Fa had cultivated the Spirit Crane Body, Madam would guess that he harbored some secret.

He had long been mentally prepared for it. As his strength grew, this was bound to happen.

Being secretive would only make people suspicious. Better to be like this—offer no explanation, but hide nothing either.

Sure enough, Seventh Young Master and Instructor Xu exchanged a glance. They seemed to have some guesses, but neither asked.

Only, disappointment appeared on Seventh Young Master's face again. "So my mother didn't lie to me."

He looked as though he would rather have been thoroughly deceived once.

Zheng Fa looked at Instructor Xu. "So Seventh Young Master was right. Instructor, you needn't doubt yourself."

Instructor Xu's expression shifted repeatedly. At last, he let out a long breath. "So that's how it is..."

Seventh Young Master's voice was a little low. "Instructor Xu, it was my mother..."

"Madam needn't have done this."

"Ah?"

Instructor Xu looked at Seventh Young Master and smiled. "Seventh Young Master, you have probably forgotten that I was born into the household. My deed of sale is in Zhao Residence."

Seventh Young Master froze.

"If Madam did not want to let me go, a single word from her would have been enough. If not to preserve this bond between master and servant, why would she need to go to such painstaking lengths?"

Zheng Fa nodded. Instructor Xu's words did make sense.

From his perspective, even his life belonged to the Zhao Family. Madam's methods could be called gentle.

But Zheng Fa had lived in the modern world, and did not share such acceptance of relationships of personal bondage.

As for Seventh Young Master... Zheng Fa glanced at the dumbfounded young man. He was simply too foolish to have considered it.

"But Instructor Xu, you did waste twenty years after all..."

Seventh Young Master still seemed somewhat conflicted.

"No one forced me. I simply valued this Spirit Crane Body too highly."

Instructor Xu smiled with complete sincerity, as though he had truly never blamed Madam.

Seventh Young Master's expression gradually improved.

"I had some friends. They were all like my younger self, yearning for the martial world." Instructor Xu continued, "They plunged headfirst into it, and never came back."

Zheng Fa and Seventh Young Master listened quietly.

"And I spent twenty peaceful years in the Zhao Family. Now I even have grand-disciples. Put that way, Madam may even have saved my life." As he spoke, Instructor Xu patted Zheng Fa on the shoulder. "My only regret before was this Spirit Crane Body. Now Zheng Fa has let me know what this martial art truly looks like. What regrets could I possibly have left?"

Seventh Young Master thought for a moment, then slapped his hand. "So my mother did a good deed after all? And I kept worrying for so long!"

Seeing him smile in relief, Zheng Fa glanced at Instructor Xu without saying anything.

"It's late. You two should go back," Instructor Xu said to them.

Zheng Fa and Seventh Young Master bade Instructor Xu farewell. With his hands behind his back, Instructor Xu watched their retreating figures gradually disappear.

In the middle of the night, when Instructor Xu's nephew got up to relieve himself, he saw a dark figure standing beneath the moonlight and was frightened fully awake. Only after recognizing the man did he breathe a sigh of relief, rubbing his eyes as he asked:

"Uncle, why aren't you asleep yet?"

"Didn't you tell me before that you wanted to make your way through the martial world?"

"Why bring that up? Didn't you refuse to agree?"

Hearing the faint complaint in his nephew's voice, Instructor Xu did not turn around. He merely gazed at the waning moon at the edge of the sky. "Go. In a couple of days, I'll ask Madam to retrieve your contract of sale. After today, Madam should grant me that favor."

"Didn't you say you wanted me to stay in the residence and care for you in your old age..."

"Remember to write often. Tell me what the martial world I have never seen is really like."

The Spirit Crane Heart Scripture brought Zheng Fa some unexpected changes. When he woke the next morning and stretched out his hand, he saw a thin layer of skin peeling from his arm in flakes, while the bed was covered in white skin fragments.

When he washed his face, even Zheng Fa himself nearly failed to recognize the reflection in the bronze mirror.

In his early years, he had always helped Mother Zheng with farm work. Under the sun and wind, his skin had become dark and rough.

But the face in the mirror was pale enough to gleam, its skin delicate and smooth. Unless one leaned close, even the pores could not be seen.

Seventh Young Master's study.

Zheng Fa noticed that Gao Yuan kept staring at him from the side, inching closer and closer.

"Is something the matter?"

"Zheng Fa, you... smell so nice!"

As Gao Yuan spoke, he even moved his nose closer to Zheng Fa, as though wanting to take in the scent properly.

"Stop! Sniff me again and I'm hitting you!"

Zheng Fa swore that he had never been so frightened in his life.

"I didn't notice it until Gao Yuan said so, but Zheng Fa, you really do have a fragrance about you." Seventh Young Master, seated at the desk, also lifted his head and examined Zheng Fa closely.

"Why is your face so pale? Did you powder it?"

"Why would I..." Zheng Fa froze. Touching his face, he guessed, "It should be because of the Spirit Crane Body."

"You're saying that after cultivating the Spirit Crane Body, your face turned pale, and now you even smell fragrant?" Gao Yuan's eyes widened, his tone filled with deep envy. "Entering the Dao through martial arts—truly miraculous beyond measure."

Seventh Young Master, however, seemed to recall something. Stroking his chin, he said, "I heard my mother say that the Spirit Crane Body seems to be intended to cultivate some kind of Dao Body through acquired practice."

"Dao Body?" Zheng Fa recalled that strange power he had sensed after cultivating the Spirit Crane Body, and seemed to gain some understanding.

"Zheng Fa, how did you cultivate the Spirit Crane Body? Once I've gotten started with the Pine Crane Stance, I'll ask Madam to grant me the Spirit Crane Body too."

Gao Yuan did not know the secret behind cultivating the Spirit Crane Body. Hearing Seventh Young Master say this, he had clearly become interested in the martial art.

More importantly, the miraculous changes Zheng Fa had undergone after cultivating it had stirred his desire.

Seventh Young Master beside him said nothing either, merely looking at Zheng Fa with bright eyes, evidently curious as well.

"The most important thing should be visualization—visualizing all kinds of birds." Zheng Fa had nothing much to hide.

The two nodded, wearing expressions that said it sounded incredibly impressive.

Seventh Young Master even commented, "A visualization method—I've seen them in storybooks. It truly is an immortal's method."

But Zheng Fa frowned, voicing a question that had troubled him ever since cultivating the Spirit Crane Body. "But why does visualization work? What exactly... is visualization?"

When he looked up, he discovered that Seventh Young Master and Gao Yuan were not listening to him at all. Instead, they had huddled together, eagerly discussing visualization methods before moving on to the storybooks they had read recently.

Seeing Zheng Fa's deeply furrowed brow, Seventh Young Master looked up and said in confusion, "It's enough that visualization works. Is why it works important?"

"Is it not important?"

The two shook their heads, their eyes full of incomprehension as they looked at Zheng Fa.

"Mother, why did you summon me?"

"Zheng Fa really cultivated the Spirit Crane Body?"

"He did!" Seventh Young Master said with a smile.

"What are you smiling for? Do you know what it means that he cultivated it?" Madam looked at her foolish son, irritation in her voice.

"What?"

"It means there is at least a Nascent Soul True Person behind him. Perhaps they have some scheme against our Zhao Family!"

Seventh Young Master froze. He blinked, seemingly unable to understand. Slowly piecing those words together, he said, "A Nascent Soul True Person... has a scheme against our family?"

Madam nodded.

"No, what could he possibly be after?" Seventh Young Master asked from the bottom of his heart. "Is our family even worth it?"

"..."

(End of chapter)