Longing and Strange Signs

"Crack"—the door was flung open.

Then, with a "bang," it shut tight.

Song Wanyan stretched out a foot in midair and lightly stepped down into the center of the room.

At that moment, her entire body seemed to be held aloft by an invisible force.

Her robes fluttered, and her hair drifted now and then.

Her complexion was suffused with an alluring, seductive charm.

"Hehe, my dear sister, don't you want to see whether this youth is truly the one we've been looking for?"

An intangible, bewitching demonic aura suddenly billowed forth, coiling around her body as it rose.

Then a streak of pure white spiritual energy emerged within it, circling as well.

"...You will harm him." The cold sister's voice spoke.

"Hehehe... If he is, then you'll truly be letting a native of this world get a bargain." The enchanting sister's voice replied.

"Enough. I'm only informing you. Though we share one body, you do not get to decide."

At once, the invisible demonic aura around her intensified, spinning ceaselessly like a small whirlwind.

Her body itself was lifted by that unseen demonic aura, slowly rising into midair.

Then her eyes shone with a brilliant orange-red radiance, like burning gemstones.

"Map!"

Suddenly, she shouted sharply.

The endless demonic aura around her, along with the cold spiritual energy wrapped within it, converged upon the ground and moved continuously along a certain path.

It looked very much like it was drawing a pattern.

At that moment, Lin Xiaotian was wandering outside the Huang Family Martial Hall.

He stared blankly at the martial hall's signboard for a long while.

Only when the sun began to set did he come back to his senses.

He walked to the entrance, but before he could knock, the door suddenly opened.

It creaked.

A burly man with a powerful build stood behind the door.

Lin Xiaotian's hand was still raised in a knocking gesture.

The instant the two met, the atmosphere turned somewhat strange.

The burly man's eyes widened enormously as he looked at the hand about to knock down, then muttered something.

His voice was like thunder.

"What, did you come to my martial hall looking for trouble?"

Lin Xiaotian gave an awkward smile and withdrew his hand.

"This... senior brother, you look exceptionally strong. I want to train in martial arts here."

The burly man looked him over from head to toe and shook his head.

"You came too late with that frame of yours. This year, you are..."

"Senior brother, I'm sixteen this year." Lin Xiaotian answered from the memories of this body.

"At sixteen, your bones have basically taken shape. Though your blood and vitality are still growing, you've already missed the best stage for laying a foundation."

"At your age, reaching the level of External Force would be harder than climbing to the heavens."

External Force! Lin Xiaotian murmured inwardly before asking, "Senior brother, could you tell me what martial training is like?"

The burly man clicked his tongue and laughed.

"Little brother, don't even think about it."

"Even if you came here and paid silver, you still wouldn't learn the true Martial Dao. At most, you'd pick up some flashy but impractical forms."

"The Martial Dao is divided into Initiation, Skin Tempering, Bone Tempering, Blood Tempering, then External Force. A step higher is Internal Force, and at the very peak, one may even reach Hidden Force..."

"Enough, little brother. Go home. This isn't a place for you."

The people at this martial hall were quite decent. At any other martial hall, he would have been thrown out long ago. Who would have explained so much to him?

But having finally found a decent martial hall and such a senior brother who looked fierce but was kind-hearted, how could he possibly let the chance slip away?

"Senior brother, I want to learn martial arts." Lin Xiaotian's voice grew much more serious as he repeated himself.

The burly man looked at him and considered for a moment.

"If you had come a few years earlier, though it would still have been late, there might have been a chance."

"Even among those of the right age, the Initiation stage alone weeds out the vast majority."

"Little brother, I advise—"

"I want to learn." Lin Xiaotian's voice was sincere.

The burly man, whose words had been cut off, paused before slowly saying,

"Fine. When the martial hall accepts disciples, we first see whether you are qualified. Come here early tomorrow morning with twenty taels of silver."

"Before meeting the master, you'll need to undergo an aptitude test. If your aptitude passes, you may take a master."

"If you fail, the silver will not be refunded."

Lin Xiaotian smiled and lowered his voice.

"Senior brother..."

"Mm, I advise you not to waste your silver for nothing."

Lin Xiaotian fell silent for a moment.

"Is there any way to learn martial arts without paying silver?"

The burly man's face twitched. This brat really had a thick skin.

Lin Xiaotian was not unaware that this was impolite, but he had to try. What if it worked?

"Enough, kid. The martial hall is closing."

There was a trace of anger in the burly man's voice. Before Lin Xiaotian could respond,

he shoved him with one hand, the force so great that Lin Xiaotian could not help staggering several steps backward.

The gap between ordinary people and martial artists truly was enormous.

Lin Xiaotian walked down the road home.

His mind was still on what the burly man had said while closing the door.

"Remember to come early tomorrow."

He did not know what that meant—whether he should bring silver, or whether there was a way to waive the payment.

Though he had heard before that martial halls sometimes waived fees, it had only ever been a rumor. He had never actually heard of anyone receiving such an exemption.

Before he knew it, he had arrived home.

His sister wore white, touched with a faint blush of pink, like a blooming white chrysanthemum.

Just one glance made his spirits rise, while a faint fragrance drifted toward him.

Lin Xiaotian sighed inwardly. Having such a beautiful sister was truly good fortune; at least those wicked people had not set their sights on her.

"Little brother, the food is ready. Come in and eat."

"Alright, Sister."

Lin Xiaotian entered the courtyard, and everything looked familiar.

Suddenly, the side room to the left seemed somewhat different from his memories.

Curious, he turned his head for another look.

His sister Song Wanyan smiled.

"Little brother, I'm tidying that room up and preparing to renovate it into a spare room."

"Oh." Lin Xiaotian responded, not thinking much of it.

In truth, he could not see any difference at all. He only felt that the room seemed rather unusual.

Once they reached the main hall, the two ate together.

His sister asked about the martial hall, and Lin Xiaotian briefly explained what had happened there.

Meanwhile, in a grand residence at another corner of the town,

a young master bowed to an older man sitting above him, whose eyes were still sharp and lively.

"Father, Song Wanyan is so beautiful and captivating. Your son wishes to take her as a concubine."

The old man seated above glared at him.

"Worthless thing. Do not even think about that woman, much less use any tricks against her. Otherwise, I'll break your dog legs. Do you understand?"

That final sentence was a stern warning, so frightening that the young master's hair crown even loosened.

"Father, she's merely an ordinary woman. If not for the Qin Household looking after her, she would likely have long been abducted by scoundrels and tormented to ruin."

"I only want to take her as a concubine and give her a proper status. Is even that not allowed, Father?"

The old man above immediately glared, his beard bristling.

"You think I don't know what is in that head of yours? It is one thing for you to toy with other women, but you must never set your sights on this woman."

"Father! I know, you're going to bring up again how her parents helped our Qin Household back then, allowing us to reach where we are today."

"But so many years have passed. If she became part of the Qin Household, we could protect her better... If not for my gratitude toward her parents, I would have made her my personal slave long ago."

The old man looked at his son below, who was muttering under his breath, and anger surged up within him. He roared,

"You! Get out... If you truly have the ability to become an Internal Force expert, I won't stop you. Take as many concubines as you want. Now get out!"

The young master of the Qin Household was shouted out by his old man.

He trudged dejectedly along the small paths within the residence and sighed.

"If learning martial arts were really that easy, it would be great. I can't even pass Initiation, ah!!"