Demanding an Explanation

It was late at night, around midnight.

After seeing Gu Junrong and the other two off, Chen Ming returned to his room to read. A pot of yellow wine warmed on the red clay stove beside him, filling the room with its fragrance.

As a modern man, he valued his privacy. He had no need for attendants at night. The two maidservants, Chunxiang and Xiaxiang, lived elsewhere; he was the only one in this courtyard.

Suddenly, the window was pushed open from outside, and a woman's voice drifted in. "At last, I won't have to fight outside the alley anymore."

A shadow flipped through the window. It was Zhong Shuyu, dressed head to toe in black nightwear.

Chen Ming seemed to have expected her. He had even prepared two wine cups. "You could have come in through the front gate."

Zhong Shuyu argued her case with perfect confidence. "If we're meeting in secret at night, how can I use the front gate?"

She sat brazenly on the stool opposite him, staring straight at the pot of yellow wine. She swallowed. "Where did you buy this wine?"

"Brewed it myself."

Chen Ming picked up the wine pot and poured her a cup.

Zhong Shuyu downed it in one gulp. Her eyes lit up as she praised, "Fine wine."

"You're not afraid I poisoned it?"

"Why would you poison it?" Zhong Shuyu giggled. "If you wanted to kill me, you would've done so long ago. If you wanted my body, slipping in some aphrodisiac to add to the fun would be a delight of the bedchamber too."

Having just drunk some wine, a trace of seduction shimmered in her shifting gaze.

Chen Ming had long known that she was no proper young lady from a noble family, but such words of tigers and wolves still left him a little overwhelmed.

Over the past ten months, Zhong Shuyu had come to spar with him every few days. As time passed, he had figured out the pattern: she came every first, fourth, and seventh day, as regularly as visiting a market fair.

They had exchanged blows nearly a hundred times. Though they rarely chatted, they had become quite familiar with each other.

Still, this was the first time they had sat down and talked like this.

He said, "Miss, your tolerance for drink is low. You've only had one cup, and you're already talking nonsense."

Zhong Shuyu said disappointedly, "I thought you were different from other men. Who would've thought you were this dull too?" As she spoke, she picked up the wine pot and tipped her head back to drink.

Chen Ming felt that she was acting a little strangely tonight, but by mutual understanding, he did not ask.

Over these ten months, he had never asked about her affairs.

Nor had she ever asked about his. They had maintained the simple relationship of training partners.

The reason their relationship had lasted so long was precisely because of this tacit understanding.

Zhong Shuyu drained the entire pot of yellow wine in one breath. Then she wiped her lips, rose to her feet, and drew her sword. "Come. Today, I will definitely defeat you."

Chen Ming picked up the long saber resting nearby and followed her out into the courtyard.

"Take my sword."

The two began fighting in the courtyard.

After more than thirty exchanges, Zhong Shuyu suddenly said angrily, "I'm not fighting anymore."

Chen Ming stopped and looked at her in confusion.

Zhong Shuyu glared at him. "You go easy on me every time. Don't you find it tiresome?"

She had sought out her two senior brothers to spar before. At first, they had been rather patient. After a few times, though, they began making excuses to put her off. Even her own senior brothers were like that.

Yet this man sparred with her every few days without ever showing the slightest impatience. He was always calm and composed, tirelessly fighting with her past fifty moves before claiming a single-move "narrow victory."

Every time, it was the same.

His strength clearly far exceeded hers. He did not need ten moves to defeat her.

At first, Zhong Shuyu had been driven by a certain mischievous impulse. She wanted to see how long he could endure. One month passed, then three months, then half a year...

He remained exactly the same.

Without realizing it, she had begun to like this feeling. Chen Ming's encouraging gaze, his generosity, his tolerance—they guided her, inspired her...

It was something she had never experienced from anyone else.

"Why are you so good to me?"

As Zhong Shuyu said those words, tears welled up in her eyes.

A huge question mark popped into Chen Ming's mind. We're just training partners. What the hell have you been imagining on your own?

Since Zhong Shuyu had already said this much, she simply threw caution to the wind. "I'm leaving. Going somewhere very far away. I don't know when I'll return, or whether I'll be able to return at all..."

Chen Ming thought for a moment and said, "Then I wish you fair winds on your journey, Miss."

Seeing that he was still as dense as a block of wood, Zhong Shuyu grew so angry that her face reddened. Biting her lip, she finally gathered her courage and said, "You... do you want me to go?"

Wait, you're serious?

Chen Ming's scalp went numb. He could only force himself to say, "Whether you go or not should be Miss's own decision."

A gust of wind swept through, blowing away the tears hanging at the corner of the girl's eyes.

Clang.

Her longsword fell to the ground. Covering her face, the girl turned and ran away.

Chen Ming watched her figure disappear into the night, then sighed.

This was the second sword she had left behind here. She really was rich.

Then he thought of how the only Ranked Martial Artist willing to spar with him had also fallen out with him, and he felt somewhat regretful.

Early the next morning, Chen Ming had breakfast with his elder brother, elder sister-in-law, nephew, and niece.

His niece, Chen Lirong, was nearly two years old and was still looked after by a wet nurse, who fed her some meat porridge.

His nephew, Chen Lide, had grown another year older. He sat ramrod straight, and before the delicacies on the table, he could maintain a calm expression. Yet the little movements of him secretly swallowing saliva could not escape Chen Ming's senses.

It seemed the boy was a born foodie.

Only after Chen Ming sat down did everyone begin eating.

After breakfast, the two brothers went to the study.

Chen Rui said worriedly, "Erlang, I heard Envoy Sun sent people over yesterday. Did things not go very pleasantly between you?"

"Yes."

"Was it because of the Martial Hall Guild?"

Chen Ming felt somewhat gratified. It proved that his elder brother was no longer as immature as he had been a year ago. At the very least, he knew where the Lineage's current crisis lay.

"So Elder Brother knows about it too. There's no need to worry. I have my own way of dealing with it."

Seeing that Chen Ming had a plan, Chen Rui did not bring it up again. "That's good."

He believed Erlang could handle it properly.

Just then, someone rushed in through the door in a panic. "This is bad! A group claiming to be from the Martial Hall Guild forced their way in. They say they've come to demand an explanation from Second Young Master."

They came quickly.

Chen Ming was somewhat surprised. He said to his elder brother Chen Rui, "I'll handle this. Go keep Sister-in-Law and the children company."

Chen Rui nodded. He knew very well that he could not help with matters involving martial artists. He returned to the rear courtyard to reassure his wife.

"Come. Lead the way."

Chen Ming strode toward the door, a surge of heroic spirit rising within him.

Over these ten months, Chen Ming's main source of experience points had been the group of students he had taken in, twenty-eight people in all. Then there was sparring with Zhong Shuyu every few days. Altogether, over three hundred days, he had gained a total of eighteen thousand experience points.

Of those, eight thousand had been added to the "Three Yang Body Forging Art," allowing his cultivation to break through to Eighth Rank.

Seven thousand had been added to the "Swallow Returns Swordplay." More than three thousand points remained for later use.

He had lain low for nearly a year, keeping his head down and slowly building strength. Now, at last, he could openly and legitimately challenge the martial artists of other martial halls.