Sun Lichai looked at the young woman before her.
"Fairy Sister, you smell so good."
"If you cultivate with me for a while, you can also have such a phenomenon."
"Wow! Really! Okay, okay."
"What martial arts did your godfather teach you?"
Speaking of her godfather, Huan Xin was quite troubled; she had just been forced to kill a rabbit, and while it wasn't a huge deal, it still felt like a thorn in her throat. "He taught me dozens of internal cultivation methods and several moves."
"Oh? Which internal cultivation methods? Tell me about them."
Huan Xin raised an eyebrow and rattled off a string of terms like a nursery rhyme, all basic internal cultivation methods and low-to-mid-tier moves from various major Jianghu sects and martial arts families.
Sun Lichai was quite surprised.
These martial arts were not secret teachings of sects; over the years, many renegade disciples and thieves had leaked manuals, so they were widely circulated in Jianghu. However, people with as broad a knowledge as Huan Xin were truly rare.
"Give me your hand." Sun Lichai took Huan Xin's pulse, and a wisp of Guiyuan internal energy seeped into her meridians, finding them surprisingly empty. It then explored her Danzhong Qi Sea and lower abdomen Dantian.
Sure enough, Huan Xin's internal energy was all concentrated in these two places, with no leakage whatsoever. This showed her profound skill and her mastery over internal energy, as if it were an extension of her own arm.
"Such a profound foundation at such a young age. Your godfather taught you well," Sun Lichai praised.
She then more carefully sensed the attributes of Huan Xin's internal energy.
"Five Qi harmonized, a unified whole! Remarkable! Remarkable!"
Sun Lichai nodded repeatedly. "Did you discover this internal cultivation method on your own, or did your godfather teach you how to practice it?"
"My godfather taught me." Huan Xin heard Fairy Sister praise her godfather so highly, and the awkward feelings in her heart suddenly vanished.
Children's tempers are like that; they often readily listen to the words of people they like, and sometimes don't care as much about those close to them.
The young girl recalled years of adventuring with her godfather, through wind and rain. His tall figure was like a mountain in the dark night, blocking out floods and raging waves. Perhaps he had seen too much suffering and tears, which was why he was so dismissive of acts of compassion for the weak.
That's right, Huan Xin thought to herself, I was wrong.
Sun Lichai noticed the young girl's downcast thoughts and comforted her: "When family members get along, respect should always come first. Mutual respect prevents the growth of a spoiled heart. Your godfather surely understands you. Just be happy when you go back, no need to say more."
Huan Xin nodded. Loyalty and filial piety were always the foundation.
"For now, I have nothing much to teach you, but you can always come here to play, and you can seek me out with any difficulties. Also," Sun Lichai's expression turned serious, "absolutely do not leave the valley, and do not even go near the valley entrance."
Although Huan Xin was puzzled, she nodded in agreement.
My godfather told me not to leave the valley, and now Fairy Sister tells me not to go near the valley entrance. Is the outside world really that dangerous?
She still yearned for that human world full of fireworks, but now the people she was close to, and the people she respected, seemed like Overseers of a cage, making her afraid to long for the blue sky.
The following days returned to a simple, rustic routine.
Huan Xin's daily work was to cut bamboo, carry earth, and continue building the bamboo hut. Besides that, it was practicing martial arts. Her godfather had been very busy lately, so Huan Xin could naturally go to Sun Lichai. After her godfather complained a few times, he acquiesced.
After all, no matter what, that woman's martial arts were very high. If she wanted to harm the father and daughter, she probably wouldn't need many detours.
One day, Huan Xin pushed open her godfather's door, only to find a wooden dummy standing in the room. With a cylindrical head and body, it looked like a human figure made of stacked logs, with wooden balls for joints. It even moved a few times, making a "creaking" sound.
Huan Xin exclaimed, "Wow! What is this?"
Her godfather stood behind the wooden dummy, completely unaware of his goddaughter's arrival, muttering to himself: "'Top Qi' is insufficient, unable to drive both arms. The left foot's 'sinking penetration' is more than the right, causing 'form change'…" He frowned, sighed, and moved the wooden dummy to the corner.
Then, he saw Huan Xin.
The young girl feigned crying, "Waaah! Godfather, all you do all day is make Xin'er chop trees and carry dirt, while you hide in your room playing with puppets!"
Although Huan Xin was pretending to cry, recalling the hard labor of the past few decades and the unpleasantness that day, the hidden grievances in her heart unconsciously spilled out. Tears truly streamed down her face. She felt the hot tears washing over her cheeks, imagining her face submerged in a warm river, blurring the remaining mud spots on her face, like a spotted tabby cat. That appearance must have been both embarrassing and ugly. She quickly tried to stop crying, but her heart pounded, her throat hitched, and though she pursed her lips, she still couldn't hold back the intermittent sobs.
Her godfather hurried to Huan Xin, using his hand to wipe away the tears and dirt from her face.
His rough palm, like tree bark, carried a warmth even hotter than her tears. Huan Xin's face was cupped, as if a snowflake floating in the air was gently caught by the sun, safely able to melt into a spring.
"Wuu... wuu..."
"Xin'er, don't cry! This wooden dummy isn't for playing!" Her godfather wiped her cheek, then pulled out a tattered secret manual from his embrace. "Look."
Huan Xin opened her eyes, her tear-filled gaze blurringly looking at the book cover.
"Tian Shu Xuan Ji"
Her godfather said: "This secret manual was given to me by a close friend before I entered the valley. It states unequivocally: 'Skillfully craft a wooden man, with complete hands and feet. Paint its heart with hot blood, infuse its crown with true power. It can wield a sword, it can throw stones, as if it has life.' If I can replicate this, then in the future, this valley will have many wooden men to accompany Xin'er in practicing martial arts and studying, and there will be no need to seek out that strange woman anymore..."
Huan Xin broke into a smile through her tears, then flared up. "Oh, Godfather, how can you speak ill of Fairy Sister? She's praised you many times!"
Her godfather raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What did that person say?"
"Hehe, she said you..."
"Me what?"
"She said you have good martial arts, great insight, and are tall and handsome, with a unique character! She said you must have been a dashing Young man when you were young!"
Her godfather's old face flushed. "You child, how did you learn to lie! But..." He stroked his beard proudly, "When I was young, I truly was a rare handsome man in the area. Her eyesight is not bad! Not bad at all!"
Huan Xin secretly pouted. Fairy Sister was right, old men are just narcissistic. A few compliments and they'll have their tails wagging to the sky.
Her godfather noticed his lapse in composure, coughed twice, "Children, making trouble here, go on, go play by yourself." He walked to a pile of wood by the bed, picking and choosing, occasionally sighing.
Huan Xin saw that he was struggling to find good materials and decided to find some good wood for him. She quietly left immediately.
Carrying an axe, she left the bamboo hut and headed north. There was a dense forest, and she soon chopped down a lot of wood. It was also Huan Xin's deep good fortune that after circling for fifteen minutes, she actually found a Phoenix Parasol Tree. In the 'Records of Heavenly Treasures', this was also a good item of the sixth rank.
The young girl thought to herself that this time she should be praised by her godfather, so she cut a good section of wood and bent down to grasp it.
However, there were hidden thorns on the wood. Huan Xin cried "Ouch!" and let go of the wood, but she had been pricked, and blood flowed continuously, staining the parasol wood red.
Huan Xin wasn't annoyed. She first licked her palm, then bandaged it with a handkerchief. Then she carefully picked up the wood. "Little wood, don't be angry. My godfather's craftsmanship is superb, and he will surely make you ten times more beautiful than you are now!"
The young girl happily returned to the bamboo hut. From a distance, she saw her godfather standing in the open space in front of the house, so she called out loudly: "Godfather! Look! I found good wood for you!"
She called out, but there was no response. Huan Xin immediately knew something was wrong. She dropped the wood and rushed to her godfather. She saw white steam rising from his head, and his hands were each wrapped with twelve thin threads, connected to a wooden dummy sitting in front of him.
"What is this?"
"Xin'er... don't panic... quickly carve twelve nine-inch long bamboo thorns, and prick me below 'Xuanji' and above 'Shenque'... the various acupoints on the Ren Meridian..."
Huan Xin quickly fetched the carpentry box and green bamboo strips, carved twelve green bamboo thorns, and returned to her godfather.
By this time, he was already tottering. Huan Xin dared not delay, and swiftly pricked the bamboo thorns into her godfather's Ren Meridian acupoints.
"Huagai... Yutang... Juque..."
As soon as the twelve acupoints were pricked, a burst of warm, harmonious energy erupted from her godfather, pushing Huan Xin back repeatedly. Immediately after, the thin threads on her godfather's hands snapped one by one. He exhaled a mouthful of turbid air and stood up.
Huan Xin had reacted appropriately, and only now did she realize her hands and feet were trembling uncontrollably.
Her godfather smiled gently at her, "Good child, good child."
Huan Xin stood dazed, almost about to cry again, when she saw her godfather suddenly bow deeply to the wooden dummy on the ground.
"Who are you, sir? Why do you steal my true energy? And conspire against me?!"
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 40 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
Here's the link:
[patreon.com/Greyhounds]
Thank you so much for your support!!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"