"Cultivation requires balance between tension and relaxation, and the same goes for the heart. If you remain trapped in your emotions and can't break free, how can you ever grow?"
Yu Xiaogang's voice was quiet, his tone as calm as ever.
"Teacher, I..."
Tang San opened his mouth, wanting to explain.
But Yu Xiaogang didn't give him the chance to finish.
"If you still consider me your teacher, then listen to me."
He turned his head, his deep-set eyes fixed directly on Tang San.
Tang San looked at Yu Xiaogang's stern face. His lips moved a few times, but in the end, he swallowed all his words.
He lowered his eyes and nodded helplessly.
At the sight of Tang San nodding, Xiao Wu instantly brightened with delight.
Her eyes lit up, the corners of her mouth rose despite herself, and she even lifted onto her toes a little.
But then she remembered Tang San's current mood and felt that acting too happy at a time like this might not be appropriate, so she quickly forced the corners of her mouth back down.
Seeing her being so careful, some of the clouds in Tang San's heart drifted away.
He sighed softly and gave Xiao Wu a smile that wasn't very attractive, but was at least sincere.
"Let's go, Xiao Wu."
Meanwhile, Ma Hongjun was racing through the streets of Suotuo City at astonishing speed.
His build and his speed were a striking mismatch.
The round, chubby fellow darted through the crowds, nimble as a loach.
He crossed the main street, turned into an alley, crossed a small stone bridge, then shot out of another alley, heading straight for the southern part of Suotuo City with a clear destination in mind.
That was where Suotuo City's most famous pleasure district was. He had scoped it out the last time he was there, and this time he had come back to revisit the old haunt and really let loose.
But as he crossed a commercial street that wasn't particularly wide, something caught the corner of his eye, and his racing footsteps came to an abrupt halt.
It was as if a galloping steed had suddenly been caught by the reins. Inertia sent his upper body lurching forward, making his flesh wobble three times, but his feet stayed planted as if nailed to the ground.
Dai Mubai had been right on Ma Hongjun's heels, only three or four steps behind.
When Ma Hongjun suddenly slammed on the brakes, Dai Mubai had no time to react and crashed straight into him.
His burly frame smashed solidly into Ma Hongjun's thick, sponge-like back, burying his entire face in the folds of flesh at the back of Ma Hongjun's neck.
From the perspective of the passersby, it looked as if a tall, handsome blond young man had suddenly wrapped his arms around a round, chubby fellow from behind. The sight was so bizarre that it was painful to watch.
Feeling the strange looks from the people around him, Dai Mubai immediately felt his face burn.
He abruptly shoved Ma Hongjun away, took a step back, and straightened his collar, which had been knocked askew. His voice brimmed with barely contained anger.
"Fatty, what's wrong with you? Why did you suddenly stop?"
He kept his voice low, but the anger in his tone was almost impossible to contain.
If they'd been anywhere else, he would have kicked him already.
Slamming on the brakes in the middle of the street had made him look like a complete fool. He didn't need to guess what the people around them were thinking as they looked at him.
But Ma Hongjun seemed completely unaware of the anger in Dai Mubai's voice.
He didn't even turn around. He just stood there, staring fixedly at something not far ahead with his tiny eyes, squeezed into slits by his rolls of fat.
His mouth hung slightly open, his breathing growing heavy and rapid. A look of infatuation spread across his plump face—a look Dai Mubai knew all too well, and one that boded ill.
"I'm talking to you!"
Dai Mubai reached out and gave Ma Hongjun a hard tug. His fingers dug into the fat on Ma Hongjun's shoulder, using more force than usual.
"Boss Dai—"
Ma Hongjun finally came back to his senses, but he paid no attention to the pain in his shoulder.
He whipped around, his chubby face alight with excitement, his voice trembling.
"What a beauty! Boss Dai, what a beauty!"
"What beauty?"
Dai Mubai frowned, not understanding at first.
He followed Ma Hongjun's gaze. Ahead lay a commercial street that wasn't particularly wide, lined on both sides with all kinds of stalls. The crowds bustled, but at first glance there was nothing out of the ordinary.
Ma Hongjun pointed decisively with one thick, swollen finger, straight toward a spot in the crowd.
"That one! That woman!"
His finger trembled slightly.
For a chubby fellow who lost all restraint whenever his Evil Fire flared up, this degree of excitement was truly rare.
In all the time Dai Mubai had known Ma Hongjun, he had never seen him look at a woman like that.
Following the direction of Ma Hongjun's finger, Dai Mubai's gaze passed over several women carrying vegetable baskets and a peddler with a shoulder pole. Sure enough, he spotted a graceful, alluring figure from behind.
She was a young woman dressed in a dark, fitted outfit.
Her clothes weren't fancy, and the cut was simple, but that very unadorned practicality outlined her near-perfect figure to the fullest.
She stood there with her back straight as a sword. Her long black hair was tied into a simple ponytail, the ends swaying gently as she turned her head slightly.
What was most impossible to look away from was her slender waist, narrow enough to fit in one hand.
It was almost too slender, yet it also held a supple strength that made it hard to look away after just one glance.
Dai Mubai nodded unconsciously, about to praise Ma Hongjun's good eye for once, when his expression suddenly froze as his gaze passed over the young man beside the woman.
A young man walked alongside her.
He wore a modest dark robe and had a tall, lean figure. His back was to them, so they couldn't see his face.
He walked with ease, his pace unhurried. He didn't look like he was out shopping so much as taking a stroll through his own backyard.
He tilted his head slightly, seeming to say something to the woman beside him. His profile flashed in the sunlight, too indistinct to make out.
But that back...
Dai Mubai narrowed his eyes slightly, a trace of confusion passing through his strange eyes.
His heart inexplicably skipped a beat.
That man's back, the way he walked, even the small glimpse of his profile when he tilted his head—all of it seemed incredibly familiar.
It felt as if he had seen him somewhere before. No, it was more than that. It felt like the familiarity of someone he had once spent every day with.
But reason told him it was impossible.
That place was thousands of miles away, and that person should be sitting safe and sound in that magnificent palace. How could he possibly be here on the streets of Suotuo City?
But as he mulled it over, Ma Hongjun, unable to hold himself back any longer, had already charged forward.