The Old Shepherd

Su Ziyang sat on the futon for the entire night.

After Fairy Li woke up, she didn't make a fuss like in those idol dramas. Instead, she rubbed her head and went to the living room to get some water. After drinking two glasses of water, Fairy Li sat on a chair in the living room and looked intently at Su Ziyang was still in meditation.

When Su Ziyang opened his eyes, he saw a pair of big, bright eyes staring at him, and his heart skipped a beat.

Because Su Ziyang is the kind of person who has only seen the basics, and he thinks that girls usually scream and yell like in idol dramas, Su Ziyang felt a pang in his heart.

However, after Su Ziyang moved his slightly numb body, he found that Fairy Li was still looking at him calmly. At this moment, Su Ziyang realized that art and life may sometimes be two different things.

"Your kung fu is quite advanced now, managing to sit here all night!" Fairy Li chuckled and praised Su Ziyang when she saw Su Ziyang wake up.

"Hey sis, could you put on your coat?"

Su Ziyang ignored Fairy Li's praise and instead pointed to Fairy Li's exposed shoulder.

Fairy Li rolled her eyes at Su Ziyang, then looked at her exposed shoulder. "You old feudal freak, what's wrong with showing a shoulder? You're even more unenlightened than your master."

"Uh..." Su Ziyang was speechless after being rebuked by Fairy Li, and then forced an explanation, "I was afraid you would catch a cold."

"It's alright, I'm not afraid. Let me make you some breakfast!" Fairy Li walked barefoot to the stove.

"Let's go out to eat! Don't bother cooking, it's too much trouble. How about we get some tofu pudding and fried dough sticks?" Su Ziyang was getting really annoyed looking at Fairy Li, who was wearing a tank top and swaying barefoot.

Even if Su Ziyang had some cultivation and could refrain from taking advantage of someone in distress in the middle of the night, he was still a normal man. Who could resist a well-developed woman, especially a beautiful one, swaying in front of him like that?

"Okay! But my clothes smell like alcohol. I don't want to wear them anymore. Get me a jacket."

Fairy Li was truly unassuming. After saying that, without waiting for Su Ziyang's agreement, she went to the closet, took out one of Su Ziyang's sweatshirts, put it on, and then put on a pair of Su Ziyang's new socks.

"Let's go, let's set off."

It's often said that clothes make the man, and even Buddhas are made of gold. But the way clothes enhance a beautiful woman's appearance is undeniable. Su Ziyang's ordinary cotton sweatshirt looked exceptionally good on Fairy Li.

The two went out, Fairy Li, hiding in her slightly oversized hoodie, clung tightly to Su Ziyang. At first glance, they really looked like a couple who had left for work together that morning.

Arriving at a tofu pudding shop he frequented, Su Ziyang skillfully ordered two breakfasts and sat down at a small table to wait for his food.

"You drank too much last night, you know that?" Su Ziyang said to Fairy Li in an extremely serious tone.

"Hehe, I know. Thanks for taking care of me," Fairy Li rubbed her hands together, half-pushed her head into her hoodie, stuck out her tongue, and said with a grin.

"Do you know that you were almost taken away by Zhang Guozhou yesterday?"

As soon as Su Ziyang finished speaking, the smile on Fairy Li's face vanished instantly, and she stared blankly at Su Ziyang without saying a word.

Then Su Ziyang told Fairy Li the whole story of how Zhang Guozhou had given him frog urine, how he had made him wet his pants, and how he had given her the Sleep Sage Powder.

After hearing this, Fairy Li frowned.

"Zhang Guozhou... I met him in a group chat. Actually, we weren't very familiar with each other, but after spending some time together, I found that his medical skills were quite good. He often told me about some strange illnesses he treated, which I thought was amazing. I wanted to introduce him to you so you two could exchange information. I had no idea he was like this! Sigh... I was so naive."

"You'd better be more careful in the future. We're here for you, so don't let them sell you off and then end up helping them count the money."

Su Ziyang's words made Fairy Li lose her appetite, and she kept scooping at the tofu pudding with her spoon.

"Have something to eat."

Su Ziyang added a little chili to Fairy Li's tofu pudding.

"Do you think I'm stupid, silly, and easily trusting?" Fairy Li looked up at Su Ziyang with teary eyes.

Su Ziyang was at his wits' end when he saw that Fairy Li was about to cry. He quickly comforted her, saying, "You're Fairy Li! You're so intelligent. How could this be? It's not that we're not clever, it's just that the enemy is too cunning! Let's eat. You drank quite a bit yesterday. Have some breakfast today, otherwise your stomach will feel uncomfortable."

Hearing Su Ziyang say this, Fairy Li shed tears while drinking tofu pudding.

Su Ziyang often ate at this restaurant and was quite familiar with the owner. It was a husband-and-wife business; the owner's wife had been busy for a while when she noticed Fairy Li was crying, so she came over.

"Young man, why did you make your wife cry so early in the morning? That's really outrageous!"

The proprietress was kind-hearted and immediately criticized Su Ziyang.

"Big sister, I'm not..."

"You're nothing special, what a beautiful girl, and you actually made her cry. You should apologize to her right now!" The proprietress scolded Su Ziyang Su Ziyang while giving him a meaningful look.

Seeing the proprietress give him a meaningful look, Su Ziyang's head was buzzing. "Sister, I really didn't..."

"Tsk..." The proprietress clicked her tongue. "Why are you so stubborn, young man? What are you explaining? Apologize now!"

The proprietress winked at Fairy Li, who was sipping her tofu pudding with her head down.

Seeing that the misunderstanding was too big and he had no way to explain, Su Ziyang could only bite the bullet and say to Fairy Li, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that to you. Don't cry!"

As soon as Su Ziyang apologized, Fairy Li, who was drinking tofu pudding with her head down, chuckled, wiped her tears with her sleeve, and said to the proprietress, "Sister, it's alright. She doesn't need to apologize. It was my fault."

"Look at you, where can you find such a sensible girl? Be content! Okay, stop making a fuss!"

The proprietress patted Su Ziyang on the shoulder and went back to work.

"Stop crying?" Su Ziyang raised an eyebrow as he looked at Fairy Li wiping her nose.

"Tch..." Fairy Li turned her head away, ignoring Su Ziyang who was crunching on a crispy fried dough stick.

The breakfast incident passed just like that, and Su Ziyang was pulled out of the breakfast shop by Fairy Li's arm.

"I need to ask Xiao Yang for leave. I'm going on a long trip!" Su Ziyang said as Fairy Li pulled him by the arm.

Upon Su Ziyang's words, Fairy Li Su Ziyang arm away. "Big brother, how many days a month do you even work? Don't you eat? Are you planning to starve? Why are you always taking leave!"

"Daoist Jin said he found the master of the bad guy who used acupuncture last time. We're going to meet his master."

Su Ziyang explained.

"Where are we going?" Upon hearing this, Fairy Li stopped being petulant and asked in a serious tone.

" j"

"Alright, go ahead. Anyway, you're with your master, he'll protect you. If anything happens, just run away. Don't try to fight!" Fairy Li instructed.

"Big sister, we're not going to fight a war. We're just going to take a look." Su Ziyang waved his hand.

With Daoist Jin and Mr. Mengfei, Su Ziyang's leave request went very smoothly.

The two masters and one apprentice boarded the high-speed train to Fuzhou.

On the way, Daoist Jin's friend sent a message with more detailed information. The middle-aged man who fought with Su Ziyang on the train was named Guo Tianren. His master only knew that his surname was Yang and that he lived in the same village, but the specific information was not very detailed.

Whether they know each other's names or not is actually not very important to them.

The three of them kept their eyes closed and rested the whole way. After getting off the train, they tossed and turned for a while before finally arriving at the village that Daoist Jin's friend had mentioned.

An old man was sitting on a big rock at the entrance of the village, basking in the sun. Luckily, Mr. Mengfei could speak some Fujian dialect, and after a lot of effort, he finally managed to find out where the old man, surnamed Yang, lived.

There was only one family with the surname Yang in this village, and they were from out of town, named Yang Jinguang. If it weren't for the difficulty in communicating with each other, the group should have been able to get directions easily.

Following the directions given by the old man at the village entrance, the three arrived at a courtyard in the northwest corner of the village. Upon reaching the gate, they discovered it was locked with a large padlock.

The three of them were disappointed to find no one there, and were momentarily embarrassed. The nearest county town was quite far away, and it would be too much trouble and a waste of time for them to make the trip to find a hotel to stay in.

Just as the three masters and their disciples were worrying, they suddenly heard a shout and the chaotic sound of animal hooves pounding the ground, followed by the bleating of sheep, "Baa baa baa..."

The sheep's bleating was pitiful, as if they were being attacked.

The three of them quickly walked out of the alley and looked in the direction from which the sound came. They saw an old man dressed in tattered clothes using a sheep whip to drive away a large wolfhound.

The wolfhound held onto a lamb leg tightly, refusing to let go no matter how much the old man shouted.

When the old man saw that driving them away was ineffective, he raised the sheep-driving whip in his hand.

With a crisp "crack," the whip struck the large wolfhound.

The wolfhound, in pain, released the lamb leg it was holding, rolled on the ground, and ran away into the distance.

"Aww... woooooo... aww, squeak squeak squeak."

The large wolfhound ran and barked. When the old man saw the wolfhound run away, he threw down his whip and chased after it.

By this time, the dog had run nearly two hundred meters away and was still running.

Su Ziyang and his two apprentices watched as the ragged old man sprinted ahead, catching up with the large wolfhound in the blink of an eye, and then reached out to grab the wolfhound's neck.

When the large wolfhound saw the man grab it, it turned around and bit him.

The old man reacted even faster than the wolfhound, One-Handed Grab the large wolfhound by the scruff of its neck with one hand and a leg with the other, slamming the dog, which was as tall as a person when standing, to the ground.

The large wolfhound rolled several times on the ground after being thrown like that, but couldn't get up.

"Holy crap, Master. If this old man were to run a sprint, Liu Xiang would be no match for him..." Su Ziyang exclaimed involuntarily as he watched the old man's swift, agile, and fluid movements.

Daoist Jin, observing the old man's speed, murmured, "This is probably the person we're looking for."

As soon as Daoist Jin finished speaking, the old man drove his flock of sheep toward the courtyard where Su Ziyang and the others had just been standing.

The old man opened the door and herded the sheep into the sheepfold. Su Ziyang and his two apprentices followed him inside.

"Excuse me, is this Yang Jinguang, the old master Yang?" Daoist Jin knocked on the door and asked.

"What's up?"

When Yang Jinguang spoke, Su Ziyang and the other two were stunned.

Yang Jinguang speaks Tianjin dialect...

"Ah, are you Grandpa Yang?" Mr. Mengfei was still a little confused and asked again.

"Hey, what's up?"

Grandpa Yang Jinguang sat on the doorstep, put his sheep-driving whip aside, took off his shoes, shook them to remove the dirt, and then put them back on.

Looking at Yang Jinguang's appearance, Su Ziyang's idol image in the minds of martial arts enthusiasts was completely shattered. Judging from Yang Jinguang's skill in catching the dog just now, he was definitely a master.

But why are the masters I encounter so different from those described in novels? After herding sheep, they take off their shoes and pick at their toes, their coat cuffs are gleaming, clearly worn for ages.

"We came here specifically to pay you a visit." Su Ziyang placed the gifts he was carrying on the doorstep.

Yang Jinguang glanced at the gift box Su Ziyang had put down, but showed no intention of going inside. He remained sitting on the doorstep and asked again, "What do you want from me?"

"Sir, you're a straightforward person, so we'll talk to you right here in the courtyard. We'd like to inquire whether Guo Tianren is your apprentice?"

Mr. Mengfei clasped his hands in a fist salute to Yang Jinguang and directly stated his purpose.

Upon hearing this, Yang Jinguang's expression instantly changed. He then stood up and waved his hand, saying, "What are you saying? I don't understand. If there's nothing else, just leave, and take these boxes with you."

Just before entering the house, Yang Jinguang kicked the gifts on the doorstep towards Su Ziyang's feet and went inside, leaving the three of them stranded in the courtyard.

Daoist Jin and Mr. Mengfei exchanged a glance before stepping into the house.

"I already told you, I don't know this person you're talking about. Why did you come in? What do you want?!"

Yang Jinguang held a cigarette in his hand, staring at the three of them with some impatience.

Mr. Mengfei gave Su Ziyang a wink, and Su Ziyang put the gift box he was holding back on the floor of the old man's living room.

"Grandpa, don't worry. We must have found out before we came to visit you. We don't mean anything by it, we just wanted to ask where your apprentice is now. To be honest, the young man who carried your things has no grudge against your apprentice. He was acupunctured by your apprentice on the train, and if he hadn't been discovered in time, he might be dead."

When Mr. Mengfei speaks using his internal energy, his voice has a special magnetic quality.

Upon hearing what Mr. Mengfei said, Yang Jinguang frowned, looked at Su Ziyang, and then reached out his old, cracked hand to grab Su Ziyang's wrist.

Su Ziyang was about to resist, but seeing the looks in Daoist Jin's and Mr. Mengfei's eyes, Su Ziyang let Yang Jinguang's rough hand rest on his wrist.

Yang Jinguang held Su Ziyang 'Su Ziyang hand for a while, then released it. "Sigh, have you come here to interrogate this Bones?"

Daoist Jin quickly shook his head. "No, you're an experienced practitioner. Even if we didn't say it, you should have noticed. This young man has also learned acupressure techniques, and he recently encountered your disciple. They fought, and he must have been injured. So we came to ask you if you know where your disciple lives. After all, it's better to resolve conflicts than to let them fester. It's best to clear things up."

Yang Jinguang listened to Daoist Jin's words and fell silent.