The Secret of Men

This was Little Dot's most carefree day. No morning exercises, no meditation, no one paying him any mind. He played to his heart's content outside until nightfall, then hugged Xiao Zhi and drifted sweetly to sleep.

Yet after he entered dreamland, Xiao Zhi, who looked so well-behaved, quietly slipped out of his arms. With a light leap, she silently departed.

Not long after Xiao Zhi left, a black shadow slowly emerged from a corner of the small courtyard. Cloaked in black, with weathered features, he raised his head toward the misty night sky. "The wheel of fate should begin turning tonight."

He pushed open Little Dot's door. Little Dot lay on his small bed in his nightclothes, the satisfied, foolish smile still lingering at the corner of his lips. The figure melted into the room's darkness and called softly, "Liu Ding, Little Dot, wake up."

"Mm?" Little Dot opened his eyes and turned his little head in search, but saw nothing. He rubbed his eyes in confusion. "Who called me?"

The cloaked shadow revealed a kindly smile but did not answer. After a while, he said in a ghostly voice, "Xiao Zhi asked me to tell you that she wants to play hide-and-seek with you."

"That's great! Where is Xiao Zhi hiding?" Little Dot clapped his hands. Hide-and-seek was his favorite.

"Xiao Zhi is hiding at the ancestral hall," the cloaked shadow said. "Close your eyes and count to three, then you can go find her."

Through the window, he could see the direction of the ancestral hall, where the eternal lamps shone with dim light.

Little Dot was very honest. Even though the ancestral hall was so far away, he did not peek. He did not know that the instant he closed his eyes, the cloaked shadow faded from the room.

"Eeya." Little Dot pushed open the heavy doors of the ancestral hall. The light inside was much brighter, and the space was broad. Directly ahead stood a long rectangular table serving as an altar. To the left was a row of weapon racks, while to the right stood the Seven Soul-Forging Cauldrons in a line.

When he saw the Seven Soul-Forging Cauldrons, Little Dot became very clever. He knew that in this place, only the Soul Forging Cauldrons could hide someone.

His big eyes gleamed like a thief's. He circled the Seven Soul-Forging Cauldrons once, then looked up at the rim of the tallest cauldron. After thinking of a way, he found a grand chair and climbed onto it. Just his head peeked over the edge, but the cauldron was empty.

Little Dot was patient. He searched the Soul Forging Cauldrons one by one. By the time he reached the Second Soul-Forging Cauldron, he was nearly disappointed and exhausted. He sat on the rim, catching his breath. But when he turned to look at the First Soul-Forging Cauldron, his somewhat dim eyes immediately brightened again. He noticed that it was filled with water.

If faint ripples had not scattered the halo of light, he truly would not have noticed. Little Dot clapped and laughed. "Xiao Zhi, I know you're hiding in the water. Come out quickly."

A string of bubbles rose from the cauldron with a glug, but nothing emerged.

Liu Ding's big eyes rolled, and he immediately had an idea. He took off his nightclothes, stood on the rim of the Second Soul-Forging Cauldron, and jumped. With a splash, he fell into the water. At the same time, bubbles gurgled up, and a little creature burst from the surface, squeaking wildly.

Liu Ding wrapped his little arms around it and giggled. "Xiao Zhi, I caught you!"

Sure enough, what emerged from the cauldron water was the little civet cat. Her drenched little beast face was written all over with bedraggled misery. She panic-strickenly shoved Little Dot away, but Liu Ding only held her tighter and declared righteously, "Xiao Zhi, I caught you. You can't go back on your word."

Held tightly by a naked human, belly pressed to belly, Xiao Zhi felt her entire body go weak in that instant, her blood boiling within her. Her snow-white fur was stained with a blush of rosy red. Water droplets rolled down her little face, like a lotus rising from the water—breathtakingly stunning beyond words.

"Xiao Zhi, what's wrong?" Liu Ding also felt the heat radiating from Xiao Zhi's body. Remembering what Sister Zhu'er had done when he was like this, he placed his little hand on Xiao Zhi's forehead. "Mm? Xiao Zhi, you're sick. You have a fever."

Xiao Zhi did not know where she found the strength, but she shoved Little Dot away in one motion. With a splash, she leaped from the First Soul-Forging Cauldron and fled in disarray.

"Hey, Xiao Zhi, don't run!" Liu Ding hurriedly braced himself against the cauldron rim and stood, but just as he lifted one foot, a ghostly voice suddenly drifted over. "Don't move around. Hurry and meditate."

Liu Ding recognized the voice of the person who had told him to play hide-and-seek with Xiao Zhi. He looked around but saw no one, so he asked strangely, "Who are you? Hurry and help me find Xiao Zhi!"

In the blink of an eye, he had already forgotten his own question, his heart fixed only on the little civet cat. The faint cloaked shadow in the darkness curled his lips. "Don't worry. As long as you meditate properly, Xiao Zhi will return. And your grandfather will return too."

"Really?" Little Dot's heart stirred. "How do I meditate?"

"Good boy, that's more like it. Do you remember the Tiger Subduing Art carved on the First Soul-Forging Cauldron?" The cloaked shadow coaxed patiently, his eyes gleaming with hopeful light in the darkness.

"You mean the Tiger Subduing Fist? But I can never practice it well." Little Dot scratched his head, seeming a little embarrassed. He practiced it today, then forgot it again tomorrow.

"No. I mean the totem on the front. You only need to imitate it; you don't need to practice anything else," the cloaked shadow said faintly.

In Liu Ding's mind appeared the illustration of the Tiger Subduing Fist carved on the front of the First Soul-Forging Cauldron. It showed a tiger-headed man in a horse stance. Yet instead of holding his fists at his waist, his hands stretched downward, pressed tightly against the outer sides of his calves.

"Alright, I'll try it. Help me find Xiao Zhi." Liu Ding slowly lowered himself into a horse stance, his little hands reaching into the cauldron water and pressing against his calves.

On all four sides of the First Soul-Forging Cauldron, the front was carved with the words "Tiger Subduing Art" and an image of a tiger-headed human body. The back bore a simple pattern of rippling waves, while the two sides contained detailed records of the Tiger Subduing Fist martial skill.

The image on the front was exceedingly strange. It was precisely the posture Liu Ding now assumed. After generations of verification by the Liu Clan, this posture had proven meaningless and was considered nothing more than a totem. If anyone else practiced it, they would simply ignore it.

As Liu Ding pressed his little hands against his calves, he thought of the two tiny red dots at the points where the legs and palms met in the image. After a moment, the places where his palms touched his legs suddenly grew hot. In his divine sense, those two imagined little red dots seemed to scatter like fireballs and melt into the cauldron water. The water seemed heated, and wisps of warmth seeped into every limb and bone, making him feel so comfortable that Liu Ding could not help letting out a moan.

"What is it?" the cloaked shadow in the night asked.

"It feels so good. The water is hot," Liu Ding said.

The cloaked shadow froze. He strode forward, reached out to test the water's temperature, and fell into thought. Then, as if understanding something, he hurried to inspect the remaining six cauldrons. The martial skills recorded on each pair of side panels differed, and their fronts likewise depicted strange postures according to different totems such as subduing tigers and vanquishing dragons. Yet the one thing they all shared was the same rippling-water pattern on their backs.

As expected, cultivation requires sitting in the medicinal liquid within the cauldrons. His heart surged, and his entire body could not help trembling faintly.

"I'm meditating now, so hurry and help me bring Xiao Zhi back. Otherwise, I won't practice anymore." Unable to see the cloaked shadow, Liu Ding merely spoke toward the darkness.

"Don't—" The cloaked shadow had only spoken one word before falling silent with a laugh. This little fellow actually knew how to threaten him. "Cultivate seriously. I'll go call Xiao Zhi back right away."

"Alright! Hurry and call Xiao Zhi back to take a bath. It feels so good." With cultivation this comfortable, Liu Ding did not resist at all. He only wanted Xiao Zhi to come share it with him.

The cloaked shadow laughed again and turned to leave the ancestral hall. The moment he stepped over the threshold, he saw the little civet cat cautiously making her way back.

The cloaked shadow retreated into the ancestral hall. After thinking for a moment, he whispered to Liu Ding, who was still earnestly maintaining his posture, "Liu Ding, you can't tell Xiao Zhi about what happened between us."

"Why?" Liu Ding asked, blinking his big eyes.

"Because this is the secret of men." The cloaked shadow's eyes turned, and two faint glimmers flashed through the dark night.

"Mm, this is the secret of men. I won't tell Xiao Zhi, because she's female." Liu Ding nodded repeatedly. Over the years, he had heard many encouraging sayings such as "A man should strive to become strong," "A man's ambitions lie in the four corners of the world," and "A man does not shed tears lightly."

Man—what a sacred title, not to be profaned.