Retracting his gaze, Shen Xiuhan stepped up the stone steps.
“Who goes there?”
A disciple dressed in gray slipped out from inside the gates, his arms crossed over his chest as he sized Shen Xiuhan up from head to toe.
Shen Xiuhan cupped his hands in greeting.
“Brother, could you please pass word along? I have delivered the fish that Brother Ma Xianyang ordered yesterday.”
Hearing this, the gray-robed disciple's expression softened slightly. “Senior Brother Ma is not at the martial arts hall right now. Um... wait here for a moment, and I will go report this.”
With that, he turned and went inside.
Before long, a series of heavy footsteps echoed from inside.
Thud, thud, thud.
Each step sounded heavy and powerful, as if treading directly on one's chest.
Shen Xiuhan looked up.
A burly, muscular giant strode out from the gates.
The man was built like a bear, with broad shoulders, a thick back, a square jaw, thick eyebrows, and large eyes.
The imposing aura radiating from him was even more overwhelming than Ma Xianyang's from yesterday.
“This is the second senior disciple of our Tongbei Martial Arts Hall's inner court, Feng Xiaobao,” the gray-robed disciple who followed close behind introduced.
Feng Xiaobao stared expressionlessly at Shen Xiuhan, his voice booming like a great bell:
“Are you the one who caught those fish yesterday?”
“I am...”
“Hmm, not bad!”
Feng Xiaobao suddenly grinned. “The soup made from stewing those fish was incredibly delicious!”
Shen Xiuhan was slightly startled, but he quickly cupped his hands and smiled. “Uh... I am glad you enjoyed it, Brother Feng.”
“Hahaha, follow me!”
Feng Xiaobao waved his massive hand and led Shen Xiuhan across the threshold.
The Tongbei Martial Arts Hall occupied a vast area, built as a standard three-entry grand residence.
The outer courtyard was spacious, its ground entirely paved with hard bluestone.
Despite the freezing winter, dozens of outer court disciples were practicing horse stances and punches in the courtyard, their bodies steaming with white vapor.
Shen Xiuhan swept his gaze over the crowd but did not spot Chen An.
Since Feng Xiaobao did not stop walking, it was not convenient for him to linger.
Passing through a carved hanging flower gate, they entered the inner courtyard.
The scenery of the inner court was much more elegant.
Not only were there rockeries and flowing water with koi fish swimming leisurely in the pond, but several winter plum blossoms also grew in the corners, defying the snow and releasing a faint fragrance.
Following behind Feng Xiaobao, the moment Shen Xiuhan stepped into the courtyard, his gaze drifted uncontrollably toward a corner of the inner court's martial arts field.
There, several disciples were sparring in pairs. The howling wind from their fists carried faint whistling sounds, suggesting they were inner court disciples.
Beside them stood a coarse black clay urn filled with well water for the disciples to rest and quench their thirst after training.
Shen Xiuhan's gaze paused slightly beneath the black urn.
A pale golden light shone as dazzlingly as a star!
The original manual of the Huajin Rank technique, 『Tongbei Stance』, was right there!
...
While the two were walking through the courtyard, inside the main hall of the backyard, the doors and windows were tightly shut. The underfloor heating was burning brightly, making the hall warm and cozy.
Seated at the head was a short, plump, fair-skinned, clean-shaven middle-aged man. He was the current hall master of the Tongbei Martial Arts Hall, Yan Xiao.
He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said unhurriedly,
“Honggang, has Mei Shuangfeng made any moves lately?”
On a lower chair, a young man in his twenties leaned lazily against the backrest, crossing his legs and playing with the jade pendant at his waist. Hearing his master's question, he said carelessly,
“Same as usual.”
“Seven days ago, I personally defeated Jiang Qinghong. Hall Master Mei probably lost all face and has not shown her face since...”
“Hahaha, good!”
Yan Xiao clapped his hands and laughed, looking at his eldest disciple, Zhao Honggang, with appreciation.
“That madwoman Mei Shuangfeng must be furious!”
“Jiang Qinghong is not lacking in talent, having broken through to the Bone Tempering Rank at eighteen. But too bad for her, she had to run into my disciple, Honggang!”
“A twenty-five-year-old at the peak of the Mingjin Rank, only a single step away from the Anjin Rank...”
“In all of Changyun County, probably only Wang Xuanyang of the Zhendong Martial Arts Hall is slightly ahead of you.”
“Who would have thought that such a genius would be my, Yan Xiao's, personal disciple!”
“Hahaha!”
Zhao Honggang's face showed a trace of smugness. He sat up slightly straighter and solemnly cupped his hands.
“It is all thanks to Master teaching me everything without reservation!”
“Aiyah, it also requires your own exceptional talent and hard work.”
Yan Xiao waved his hand and sighed.
“In the martial path, master's guidance alone is useless. Take that kid Xianyang, for instance—he is practically a blockhead...”
“Enough, enough!”
A woman's voice abruptly rang out, cutting off the mutual flattery between master and disciple.
Reclining on a soft daybed beside Yan Xiao was a beautiful woman. She seemed to be staring at her fingers, which were painted with bright red nail polish, but her words were mercilessly mocking:
“You two are really putting on a show of mutual praise behind closed doors.”
“You have already trained yourselves into a dead end, yet you are still sitting here feeling smug?”
“A mere peak Mingjin Rank is nothing. Even if you train to the peak of the Anjin Rank, what of it?”
“As long as you do not enter the Huajin Rank, you are only fit to grovel at the mercy of the county magistrate's office, the Zhendong Martial Arts Hall, and the Bai family!”
The atmosphere in the hall suddenly fell silent.
Yan Xiao and Zhao Honggang exchanged a glance, both showing embarrassed expressions, but they wisely chose to keep their mouths shut.
The beautiful woman did not care about their expressions at all. Her narrow phoenix eyes squinted slightly as she suddenly shifted the topic and looked at Yan Xiao:
“...Did she speak?”
Yan Xiao rubbed his flat nose and cleared his throat.
“Uh... no. She still refuses to reveal the whereabouts of the Huajin Rank mental cultivation method for the 『Tongbei Stance』...”
“Hmph!”
The woman sneered, a trace of cruelty flashing in her eyes.
“That family has always been like stones—stubborn and unyielding. If you ask me, we should have used severe torture long ago. What can you extract by just interrogation with gentle words?”
Yan Xiao fell silent for a moment, then hesitated.
“But she is your biological mother after all...”
“Biological mother?!”
The woman stood up abruptly as if she had heard the funniest joke in the world, her crimson dress cascading down like flowing water.
“What kind of biological mother is she?!”
“Ever since she gave birth to my dear younger brother, she threw me far away to a dilapidated manor outside the city, completely ignoring me for ten whole years!”
“When she saw me grow up and possess some beauty, she wanted to use me to form an alliance with the Bai family, forcing me to become a concubine for that old geezer of the Bai family just to pave the way for her precious son!”
“Even though we are of the same flesh and blood, she taught the complete 『Tongbei Stance』 to my dear brother, yet she hid it from me in every possible way, terrified that I would snatch that useless fool's inheritance!”
“Does she deserve to be called a mother?!”
The hall suddenly fell dead silent.
One could hear a pin drop.
Zhao Honggang's Adam's apple bobbed. He swallowed hard and consoled her cautiously:
“Mistress, please calm down... Haven't you already taken your revenge on them and vented your anger...”
“Not enough!”
The woman suddenly whipped her head around, her voice rising to a sharp, ear-piercing shriek:
“Far from enough!”
“Do you think poisoning my biased, deadbeat father is the end of it?”
“No!”
She spoke each word deliberately, her eyes filled with madness.
“I want to slaughter my dear brother! I want to exterminate their entire family! Only then can I vent the resentment in my heart!”
Inside the hall, it was so quiet that only the faint crackling of the charcoal fire could be heard.
For a long while, no one dared to speak.
Until...
A series of heavy footsteps sounded from the corridor outside.
“Master, your disciple Feng Xiaobao requests an audience!”
The hostile aura in the hall vanished instantly. The woman cold-snorted, flicked her sleeves, and turned to enter the back hall.
Yan Xiao cleared his throat, straightened his collar, picked up his teacup again, and assumed his dignified posture as the hall master.
After listening to Feng Xiaobao's report about Shen Xiuhan delivering the fish, he did not even lift his eyelids. He waved his hand carelessly:
“Since Xianyang found this source, just accept it.”
“There is no need to report such trivial procurement matters to me in the future. You can handle them all yourself.”
“Your disciple obeys!”
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