The Storm Brews

The next day, it was Xia Daoming's turn to be on duty outside the martial arts school.

Early in the morning, Xia Daoming forced himself to cheer up and went out.

He had thought all night but couldn't come up with any quick and highly profitable ways to make money.

He had just arrived at the martial arts school.

Xia Daoming found that the atmosphere today was very different.

The apprentices in the outer courtyard training grounds were gathered in small groups, whispering to each other. No one was practicing martial arts.

Not only that, but Instructor Yuchi Xiao was also not present to supervise.

"What's going on? Slacking off first thing in the morning, do you still want to..." Before Xia Daoming could finish his sentence, he saw Zhuo Xingji rushing in.

"Senior Brother Zhuo!" Xia Daoming was slightly stunned.

"Where is Gu Ren? How is he now?" Zhuo Xingji asked.

"What happened to Senior Brother Gu?" Xia Daoming's heart sank slightly, a bad feeling welling up.

"Instructor Gu is in the inner courtyard, and he looks seriously injured," said an apprentice.

Xia Daoming and Zhuo Xingji's faces changed drastically upon hearing this, and they quickly strode towards the inner courtyard.

As soon as he entered the inner courtyard, Xia Daoming smelled the strong scent of medicinal herbs and a hint of blood.

Xia Daoming's expression changed again. He quickly crossed the training grounds and arrived at the meeting hall directly facing the training grounds.

Meeting Hall.

Gu Ren lay on a stretcher, his face as pale as parchment. His white clothes were not only tattered by sharp claws but also stained with blood, a glaring sight.

A physician with a goatee shook his head and said to Liang Jingtang, whose face was grim and unsightly, by his side, "Instructor Gu not only has external injuries but also multiple damaged meridians. I am truly powerless. Pavilion Master Liang, please find someone else."

"Thank you, Doctor Wang. Yongbao, please escort Doctor Wang on my behalf," Liang Jingtang said.

"No need, no escort!" Doctor Wang waved his hand, then shook his head and sighed before leaving quickly.

"Bang!" As soon as Doctor Wang left, Liang Jingtang slammed his palm onto a nearby table.

The table shattered into pieces!

"The Shi Family has gone too far! Master, give the order, and your disciple will gather our men and fight them to the death!" Yuchi Xiao said, his eyes wide with anger.

Upon hearing this, Liang Jingtang's veins bulged on his arms and forehead. The powerful Hidden Strength that had been dormant surged violently, emitting a terrifying aura.

"Junior Brother Gu!"

"Senior Brother Gu!"

At this moment, Zhuo Xingji and Xia Daoming arrived one after another. Seeing Gu Ren on the stretcher with medicinal paste applied to multiple parts of his body, they rushed forward and called out.

Gu Ren glanced at Xia Daoming and Zhuo Xingji with vacant eyes before closing them again. Two tears quietly trickled down from the corners of his eyes.

"Alas!" Liang Jingtang suddenly sighed deeply. The powerful Hidden Strength surged and then subsided, and his tall, imposing figure unconsciously hunched over.

"Send Gu Ren back to his hometown and let him recuperate properly!" Liang Jingtang waved his hand, then hunched over and walked through the hall door towards his room.

"Master!" Yuchi Xiao said sadly, seeing this.

"Senior Brother, please don't provoke Master anymore. Master had high hopes for Junior Brother Gu, treating him like a son. Seeing Junior Brother Gu like this now, he is more upset than anyone and wants to avenge him even more.

But the Shi Family is powerful now, and this matter also involves Xu Shisen of the Xu Family. Although Xu Shisen is only a collateral descendant of the Xu Family, he is not someone our Hidden Dragon Martial Arts School can provoke," Liu Xiaoqiang said with a sigh, her face lightly made up, her hair a bit messy.

"As soon as I heard from people at the escort agency that Junior Brother Gu was injured, I rushed over. What exactly happened? How did the Shi Family and Xu Family get involved?" Zhuo Xingji asked.

"Alas!" Liu Xiaoqiang sighed and said, "I also asked someone for information. They said Junior Brother Gu went to the Hundred Flowers Pavilion and got into an argument with Shi Yingdeng of the Shi Family over a woman named Dong Yiyi.

As it turned out, the financial backer behind that Dong Yiyi was Xu Shisen, which angered him. Then, Shi Yingdeng and Xu Shisen teamed up and severely injured Junior Brother Gu."

"Hmph, this is clearly a trap set by the Shi Family! They knew Junior Brother Gu was Master's favorite disciple and had the potential to become a Sixth-Rank Great Martial Master, or even a Seventh-Rank Great Martial Master, so they wanted to cripple him early and prevent him from growing," Yuchi Xiao said with a murderous aura.

Seeing his fellow disciple Gu Ren in such a tragic state, Xia Daoming was already filled with anger. But upon hearing Yuchi Xiao's words, he felt as if a basin of cold water had been poured over his head. His anger instantly extinguished, and he became very calm.

"Doesn't Master know this? But the Shi Family is already powerful, and this incident also involves the Xu Family. Moreover, such trivial matters of romantic rivalry are not something that can be brought to the table. What can Master do?" Liu Xiaoqiang said.

"Junior Brother Gu was foolish. If he wanted to play, he should have gone to the Jade Flower Pavilion, why did he have to go to the Hundred Flowers Pavilion?" Zhuo Xingji sighed after understanding the situation.

"Master is very strict. He came to my place, firstly, he was worried about Master finding out; secondly, he was worried about implicating me in getting scolded. But he didn't think about it, coming to my place would at most result in a scolding. Now look at this..." Liu Xiaoqiang's voice choked up a bit towards the end.

"Senior Sister, it's too late to say these things! Take me home, I miss my family," a weak voice sounded.

"Junior Brother Gu!" Seeing Gu Ren speak, everyone quickly gathered around.

Gu Ren glanced at everyone with vacant eyes, then slowly closed them again.

Soon, Gu Ren was sent away.

It was Zhuo Xingji who escorted Gu Ren back to his hometown, Chishui City.

He was in the escort business and was familiar with the routes from south to north.

After Gu Ren was sent away, Liu Xiaoqiang and Jiao Yongbao bid farewell and returned to their respective opera houses and restaurants. Yuchi Xiao and Xia Daoming, however, forced themselves to cheer up and supervised the apprentices practicing martial arts in the outer courtyard.

But the apprentices practicing today were clearly absent-minded. One apprentice even requested to stop attending the Hidden Dragon Martial Arts School halfway through.

Yuchi Xiao was quite disheartened. He dismissed everyone early and closed the martial arts school.

Xia Daoming left the martial arts school. This time, instead of going straight home as usual, he headed towards the Ji Mansion in Yongqing Ward.

Halfway there, Xia Daoming deliberately bought a veiled bamboo hat to wear on his head, covering his face.

The Ji Family once enjoyed a period of glory in Li City. Legend has it that an ancestor was a Martial Dao Grandmaster. Although they had been on a decline for over a hundred years, with no particularly formidable figures emerging, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse.

The family had quite a few Fifth-Rank and Fourth-Rank Martial Masters. Furthermore, the Ji Family was wealthy and employed many Martial Masters, even three Sixth-Rank Martial Masters. They were undoubtedly a significant family force in Li City.

The Ji Mansion occupied nearly half of Qinghe Street.

High white walls concealed the houses and courtyards behind them, preventing any glimpse of the luxurious scenery within.

The vermilion main gate was adorned with gleaming copper nails and rings.

On either side of the gate stood a pair of majestic stone-carved qilin.

Two guards, their vital energy surging and their clothes brightly colored, stood by the gate, one on each side.

"Halt!" one of the guards shouted with full force at the man in the bamboo hat approaching the gate.

"Please deliver this letter to Miss Ji Wenyue personally," Xia Daoming said, handing over an envelope.

"For Elder Wenyue? May I ask who you are? Elder Wenyue's status is extraordinary. If you don't explain yourself, I wouldn't dare to present it lightly." The guard's expression shifted slightly, and his tone became more accommodating and polite upon hearing Xia Daoming mention Ji Wenyue.

"Elder? I didn't expect Ji Wenyue to be a family elder at only seventeen years old!" Xia Daoming was inwardly surprised by this, but he quickly added, "Don't worry. If you deliver this letter to Miss Wenyue personally, she will naturally know who I am. Moreover, she will only reward you, never blame you."

As he spoke, Xia Daoming slipped some silver into the guard's hand.

Before the guard could react, he had already turned and left.

The guard watched Xia Daoming's retreating figure, then looked down at the letter and silver in his hand. Finally, he gritted his teeth, said something to the other guard, and turned to enter the gate.

Today's update is complete. Thank you to all the readers for your comments and votes. Special thanks to the readers with usernames Bu Chongfu Le, Qiuzhi Shenguang, RPG Fangshou, Huoyu Baixi, Xiaohe 005, and others for their rewards.