Lingering Ghosts

A little girl only a few years old actually wanted to marry him?

What kind of savage nonsense was that?

Yang Xiao was instantly speechless.

What Old Man Liu did not know was that Yang Xiao did not know him at all, much less know that he had come here fleeing disaster.

Yang Xiao simply had not wanted to carry small change.

As for Old Man Liu's granddaughter's words, Yang Xiao only took them as a little girl's innocent talk. He did not take them to heart, and soon forgot them.

At the hour of chen.

Yang Xiao walked into Vermilion Bird Tower.

After changing into the waiter's "work uniform," Yang Xiao stood at the entrance to private room Ding 527 and lightly knocked the Mystic Fire Buckle.

"Big Brother."

Very soon, Ye Feng hurried over. Taking the soup dumplings Yang Xiao handed him, his eyes immediately reddened, and he was moved beyond words.

Though Ye Feng's aptitude was middling, giving him a fifty percent chance of successful blood exchange, and though Huo Zhen had promoted him and he had even entered the Martial Hall on the top floor—

At the end of the day, before Ye Feng truly completed blood exchange, his status was still that of an unranked menial servant. He could not leave Vermilion Bird Tower, and his wages were extremely meager. He simply could not afford meat buns.

"All right, little brother, hurry up and eat the buns, then go practice your boxing. Later, when it's time to pour out the slops, I'll naturally notify you!"

Yang Xiao smiled and waved his hand.

Ye Feng said no more. He hid his gratitude in his heart, turned, and left.

"Just a few small favors, yet they can win people's hearts. Worth it!"

Yang Xiao smiled, stood where he was, and waited for a while. Sure enough, he heard a familiar set of footsteps slowly approaching from afar.

"Uncle Liu, I heard you like soup dumplings. Please have a taste."

Yang Xiao wore a fawning smile, his eyes full of ingratiation.

Uncle Liu said nothing. With a cold face, he took the soup dumplings, looking somewhat unimpressed.

However, after casually tasting one, Uncle Liu's pupils suddenly contracted, and a rare smile appeared on his face.

"When it comes to these soup dumplings, the ones from Tianjin's Goubuli are still the best. Xiao, you've put thought into this."

"If it is convenient from now on, at this time every day during the hour of chen, bring this old man a steamer of soup dumplings. How about it?"

Done!

Hearing this, the sycophantic smile on Yang Xiao's face grew even thicker. "Uncle, don't you worry. From now on, whether wind, frost, rain, or snow, even if knives fall from the sky, this lowly one will buy you soup dumplings on time."

Through the Qi-Observing Stealing Technique, Yang Xiao had not only stolen Uncle Liu's decades of martial-arts experience, he also knew Uncle Liu's preferences like the lines on his own palm.

Thus Yang Xiao had understood from the very beginning that Uncle Liu was from Tianjin, and that as a child, his favorite food had been soup dumplings.

However, Yang Xiao had not expected that Old Man Liu, the bun seller, was also from Tianjin.

This bit of flattery had landed exactly where it should. It could be counted as an unexpected delight.

And seeing Yang Xiao being so sensible, Uncle Liu was in a pleasant mood. He nodded in satisfaction, clasped his hands behind his back, turned, and left.

But after taking a few steps, Uncle Liu seemed to think of something and suddenly stopped.

"Right, Xiao. Since you call this old man 'uncle,' then this Black Iron Martial Introduction of mine is useless sitting with me anyway, so I'll lend it to you for now. Do not lose it."

Smack!

As soon as he finished speaking, Uncle Liu raised his hand and waved. A martial introduction made of black iron flew over from afar and landed precisely in Yang Xiao's hand.

"Many thanks, Uncle. Take care, Uncle. Mind the slippery road..."

Yang Xiao was wild with joy. He hurriedly nodded and bowed, attentively seeing Uncle Liu off as he left.

A Black Iron Martial Introduction was something only iron-token waiters had!

Unlike ordinary martial introductions, which could only be used once.

A Black Iron Martial Introduction allowed repeated entry into the Scripture Pavilion, with no limit on the number of times!

Only, a Black Iron Martial Introduction could not be used to take martial techniques out of the Scripture Pavilion. They could only be borrowed and read inside the Scripture Pavilion, and copying was also forbidden.

Uncle Liu was old. His martial path had already taken shape. To him, the Black Iron Martial Introduction naturally had no meaning at all.

To other waiters, the Black Iron Martial Introduction was purely like chicken ribs—too little meat to eat, too much pity to throw away. It likewise did not have much use.

And to ordinary waiters, because martial techniques could not be taken out or copied, holding one was not very useful. It was actually inferior to an ordinary martial introduction.

But Yang Xiao possessed max-level comprehension and could use the Qi-Observing Stealing Technique. To him, the Black Iron Martial Introduction was no different from a divine object.

"Sure enough, building a good relationship with your superior and being an honest man who keeps a low profile and quietly turtles up—whether in ancient times or modern times, this is very necessary."

Happily putting away the Black Iron Martial Introduction, Yang Xiao had just raised his head when the smile on his face instantly froze.

In the distance, Zhang Long and a burly youth were talking and laughing as they walked shoulder to shoulder toward the private rooms.

That burly youth was actually—Zhao Hu!

Didn't I kill Zhao Hu? Don't tell me he—came back as a corpse?

A chill ran through Yang Xiao's heart, and cold sweat could not help but bead on his forehead.

But seeing Zhang Long and Zhao Hu look over, Yang Xiao had no time to think. He forced himself to calm down and went up to them with a fawning smile. "Good morning, brothers."

"Morning, Brother Yang!"

With his hands behind his back, Zhang Long gave a reserved little nod and greeted him neither warmly nor coldly, then continued chatting idly with Zhao Hu.

Zhao Hu, however, had a cold face and stared fixedly at Yang Xiao's face, as if trying to see something there, yet he saw nothing at all.

Zhao Hu could not help frowning slightly, a trace of doubt flashing through his eyes.

"Brother Zhao, Mr. Zou is going to expound on the classics in the private room this morning. He'll most likely rise early. We must keep our spirits up and must not let the honored guests be displeased."

As Zhang Long walked, he gave this warning.

"Don't worry, Big Brother. This little brother understands."

Zhao Hu put away his private thoughts and piled on a smile. "Big Brother, though Mr. Zou is a great Confucian of his generation, famous throughout the land, the honored guests coming today are said to be mostly martial practitioners. Can listening to Mr. Zou expound on the classics really help with the martial path?"

"This..." Hearing this, Zhang Long was taken aback and frowned slightly, then said uncertainly, "As for the exact reason, in truth, even this elder brother does not know."

"However, Lei Jie of the Martial Hall on the top floor, Hall Master Lei, once mentioned during a public martial lecture—The reason why we martial practitioners, for the most part, spend our entire lives trapped at the Iron Skin realm, so that we are long unable to exchange blood, is not because they lack cultivation resources, nor because their aptitude and bones are insufficient, but because of this—state of mind."

State of mind?

Hearing this, Zhao Hu was instantly stunned.

Yang Xiao could not help pricking up his ears as well.

Never mind that Yang Xiao could use the Myriad Phenomena Heaven-Swallowing Art to continuously devour flesh and vegetables, thereby raising minor realms without any bottlenecks.

But exchanging blood was a major realm that could defy the heavens and change one's fate, even remold the body and change the bones. Relying on the power of devouring likely would not work.

Even the Yellow Heaven Body Casting Scripture: Warrior Chapter, once the fleshly body was tempered to Iron Skin, had to be paired with "secret medicine" before there was any possibility of a breakthrough!

Yet that bastard Zhao Hu seemed unwilling to let Yang Xiao hear Zhang Long's words, and turned around to shut the private room's door.

This Zhao Hu must be an impostor. But this man's disguise is actually flawless. Could he also be proficient in the art of disguise, and connected to the Zhao Hu I killed?

Doubt filled Yang Xiao's heart, and he faintly sensed there was something fishy about this matter.

However, Yang Xiao did not take this matter too much to heart.

There was no qi emerging above this fake Zhao Hu's head. He was clearly not a blood-exchange expert; at most, he was only at the Iron Skin realm.

Yang Xiao was also at the Iron Skin realm now, and with the Azure Cloud Sword Art's "Ten-Step Flying Sword," if Yang Xiao wanted to kill Zhao Hu, it would be no more than a single sword strike.

You won't let me listen? Then I insist on listening!

Yang Xiao hesitated for a moment. Knowing the chance was rare, he decisively circulated the Spirit Cicada Transformation.

In an instant, every stir of wind and rustle of grass within the private room was outlined into an ink-wash black-and-white scroll, appearing clearly in Yang Xiao's mind.

And after he "saw clearly" the situation inside the private room—

Yang Xiao's pupils shrank, and he was instantly horrified...