Yang Erhu's Shock

Dark clouds lay thick as ink, blotting out the sky.

A fierce wind swept bean-sized raindrops along, smashing them against the courtyard, the window lattice, and the roof ridges with a constant crackling, crisp as beans popping in a pan.

Looking up, the entire rear courtyard training ground had already been shrouded by a heavy curtain of rain, a vast expanse of white haze.

Inside the main hall, candles were lit one after another.

The wavering firelight made Yang Erhu's face flicker between light and shadow.

Hong Yuan and Yang Erhu had both changed into clean, comfortable new clothes and sat facing each other.

Yang Erhu held a steaming bowl of tea in his hands, his thick, powerful palms trembling slightly.

It was not because the bleak wind and cold rain had chilled him, but because his mind was surging, too stirred to control himself.

His gaze fixed on Hong Yuan, the shock on his face still yet to fade. If not for the need to maintain a teacher's composure, he would likely have been wild with joy already.

After taking a sip of tea, Yang Erhu slowly calmed his excited emotions and sighed. "This old man knew long ago that your bones and aptitude were both excellent, but you still gave me a fright. Even now, I still find it hard to believe."

Yang Erhu was not a man of narrow horizons.

In his youth and prime, he had traveled through the Seven Provinces and had personally witnessed, even befriended, many extraordinarily gifted young heroes.

He himself could even be counted among them.

Yang Erhu had also studied ancient texts and knew there were certain outliers in this world who, relying on their physiques alone, could mount a horse, lift a spear, charge into formations and kill enemies, standing one against ten, against a hundred, ranking among first-rate fierce generals!

Once such outliers practiced martial arts and tempered their strength, grasping their qi and blood and stepping into True Force within a year or half a year was nothing unusual.

Yang Erhu had originally thought Hong Yuan's talent was at most on that level, but he had never expected it to be far more astonishing than he imagined.

He had only begun tempering his strength and honing his muscles and bones a little over ten days ago, grasped his qi and blood three days ago, and by today had actually entered Force.

What shook Yang Erhu the most was that the moment he entered Force, he could erupt with True Force three times in succession, and from the look of Hong Yuan, he still seemed to have a vast amount of strength in reserve.

This kind of control over force was probably only one step away from "releasing and withdrawing at will"!

How was this merely an extraordinary gift?

It was already close to Monstrous!

But monstrous was good!

Thinking of this, the excitement Yang Erhu had endured and suppressed again and again finally burst forth. The corners of his mouth lifted of their own accord, then turned into a hearty, unrestrained laugh.

"Good! Excellent! I, Yang Erhu, have muddled through half my life without accomplishment, but in my old age, I have finally done one thing right—and that is bringing forth a disciple like you. With your aptitude, you will surely be able to revive my Tiger-Subduing Sect, perhaps even... bring back the might of Grandmaster Dragon-Tiger from back then."

Yang Erhu's eyes were bright, his joy written all over his face.

Hong Yuan, by contrast, remained very steady. Neither hurried nor slow, he filled himself a cup of wine and savored it carefully. Only after Yang Erhu gradually returned from his excitement did he speak:

"Teacher, what I want to discuss now is also related to Grandmaster Dragon-Tiger. I went out on business today and learned of a name—Dragon-Subduing Sect!"

Yang Erhu's expression froze. "Dragon-Subduing Sect? Where did you hear that name?"

Hong Yuan did not answer directly, changing the subject instead. "Teacher, how much do you know about Meng Yue?"

Yang Erhu knew Hong Yuan would not speak without cause, and after a moment's thought, he said:

"Meng Yue entered the martial arts hall more than two years ago. He has always been among the most diligent of the disciples, and his aptitude is quite good as well. He has been exceedingly respectful toward this old man and very attentive in his work. Many times he has wanted to truly enter my tutelage. This old man occasionally wavered, but I always felt there was something strange about the boy and could never make up my mind. Could it be..."

As he thought of Hong Yuan inexplicably mentioning the Dragon-Subduing Sect, Yang Erhu's pupils shrank.

Hong Yuan nodded. Without concealing anything, he said bluntly, "Meng Yue's true identity was a disciple of the Dragon-Subduing Sect. He hid inside the Yang Family Martial Arts Hall solely to steal the Tiger-Subduing secret teachings."

Yang Erhu's face shifted between blue and white. He did not suspect Hong Yuan of lying, and he cursed, "Damnable thief! To use such underhanded tricks—he has utterly disgraced Grandmaster Dragon-Tiger. Where is that Meng Yue? This old man will not spare him!"

"Meng Yue is already dead. I killed him!"

Hong Yuan said mildly.

Yang Erhu: "..."

Without waiting for Yang Erhu to ask, Hong Yuan recounted everything in full: how he had sensed something wrong with Meng Yue, devised a plan to lure the snake out of its hole, secretly followed Meng Yue, discovered his collusion with Old Third Yan, forced a confession from him, and then beat him to death.

Of course, there was no need to mention that minor matter of going back on his word and being Hong Yuan of no faith.

Yang Erhu listened in stunned silence. Only when he heard Old Third Yan's name did a sharp glint appear in his eyes. "Old Third Yan is involved in this as well? Good! Very good! Since he dared touch my disciple, this is the perfect time to settle both new grudges and old debts together."

Yang Erhu's tone was icy, killing intent seething.

"Teacher really does have a grudge with that Old Third Yan? I forced those scoundrels under Old Third Yan to talk and learned that a few nights ago, someone broke into Old Third Yan's lair and fought a killing battle there. Could that have been Teacher's handiwork?"

Yang Erhu nodded, then sighed again. "A pity it fell apart at the last moment. In the end, I didn't so much as scratch Old Third Yan's hide."

"What grudge exactly does Teacher have with Old Third Yan?"

"It concerns that child Ziyue. The reason Ziyue ended up like that was precisely because he was led astray by those bandits under Old Third Yan. This old man even suspects they were the ones who sold Ziyue into that den of debauchery."

"This old man had twenty years of friendship with Master Qin. Seeing an old friend end up in that final state, I truly could not swallow this foul breath."

Hong Yuan made no comment.

Clearly, Yang Erhu and Master Qin had been friends for many years, and he regarded Qin Ziyue like a son or nephew. One's own child, of course, had to be good; even if he had gone bad, then he must have been led astray by others.

Yang Erhu clenched his fists, blue veins bulging across the backs of his hands, and said coldly, "Sooner or later, this old man will take that dog head of Old Third Yan's..."

"No need to trouble Teacher!" Hong Yuan waved his hand. As Yang Erhu looked over in astonishment, he said calmly, "Old Third Yan is dead too. Head severed from body. I killed him!"

Yang Erhu: "..."

Yang Erhu was already completely stunned, left dizzy by the shock of the news.

He had spent half the day teaching disciples at the martial hall, and with the torrential rain besides, the "massacre" at the docks had not yet reached the hall. Naturally, he had no idea that Yangquan County was already chanting that line about "killing a man every ten steps."

Hong Yuan smiled again. "A pity I didn't know sooner that Teacher had a grudge against Old Third Yan. Otherwise, I would have brought his dog head back with me too."

Yang Erhu fell silent. What would he want that dog head for?

Only after a long while did Yang Erhu begin asking carefully about the details. After hearing Hong Yuan's account, he let out a sigh, his feelings complicated.

He truly felt that he was old!

And this young disciple he had taken in was also genuinely decisive in killing and striking, truly not wasting even the slightest bit of time.

He wanted to say, Why didn't you inform me so we could act together? Taking risks alone is far too rash. But then he thought of how he himself had charged into the enemy lair alone, while his young disciple had disguised himself as a wandering knight, lured Old Third Yan out, succeeded in one strike, and swiftly fled far away.

This...

It seemed the one who was immature and appeared reckless was actually himself.

Moreover, with Hong Yuan's current martial skill, even if he faced the siege of numerous hired thugs alone, escaping calmly would not be difficult. Bringing him along would instead have been an added shackle.

Yang Erhu could only give a bitter smile.