"My lad," Feng Zhi raised his eyes and said, "I heard from Lin Lin that you are blessed with good physique. Once your injuries heal, do you still wish to practice martial arts?"
"Yes, Lord Feng."
"Lord Shen, a good master." Feng Zhi pointed to Shen Yan Ping. "In terms of teaching disciples, he may not be as competent as Lin Lin, but there are unique benefits here. While Lord Shen is serving at the Immortal Platform, he actually learned his skills on Little Cloud Mountain and he is the ninth direct descendant of the 'Cloud Kneading' lineage."
Shen Yan Ping responded with a mild and bitter smile: "I am an unworthy student who shamed my master's sect. But if Brother Pei doesn't mind, you can follow me and practice martial arts for three years. Once this period is over, I can send you to our sect on Little Cloud Mountain."
Pei Ye felt a warmth in his heart, he moved his throat and gratefully said, "Thanks to the care of Lord Feng and the kindness of Lord Shen, once my Dantian recovers, I am willing to serve Lord Shen ."
Shen Yan Ping helped him up and laughed, "You don't have to be so formal, you see, even Lord Feng has always called me casually by my name. Even if you worship me as your master in future, we can still interact casually."
Pei Ye's nostrils tingled, and he could only kneel down in silence.
It may be due to Lin Lin's legacy, but the kindness of both adults still came as a surprise to him.
Recommending him to Shen Yan Ping, thus stepping onto the path towards Little Cloud Mountain, was originally the future Lin Lin had planned for him.
Because the talent of the youth at that time was indeed extraordinary.
However, with the shattering of his Dantian, the cure was unlikely to happen soon, so this plan had to be put on hold for now. However, now with Lin Lin's death, this outlook had been completely blocked.
Unexpectedly, Feng Zhi's personality was straightforward, his speech always dominated, and he only knew Pei Ye superficially. But he kept this in mind and personally built a bridge for him to lead him to Shen Yan Ping.
Lord Shen also didn't mind that after my recovery, my age would be relatively old, and my talent would no longer be extraordinary. He actually took on this matter, willing to try his best to send him to Little Cloud Mountain, painting a bright future for him several years later.
Practicing martial arts necessarily could be as accommodating as possible and as meticulous as possible.
Simply becoming an apprentice of someone who knows how to kick and punch is enough to learn martial arts. In urban gangs and mountain bandits, there are always a few books of swordsmanship and boxing manuals to teach. If a noble young man wants to practice martial arts, he usually pays money to join a martial arts hall, and of course, the martial arts halls also differ in quality. Above all these various paths to learn martial arts, the best is to worship and join a famous large sect recognized by the imperial decree.
Not to mention those indescribable martial arts, it is unnecessary to provide a future for the Immortal Platform, or even talk about countless network resources, and the exposure to insights and horizons. Even if the same set of basic boxing routes are practiced every day, there are more advantages in the large sects than elsewhere.
Remember, the martial artists who get mixed up in the arena, although they have their own strengths and are ruthless and brave, always have problems of one kind or another. The root cause is either the lack of a proper secret training book of martial arts, or even the most common "Subduing the Tiger Fist" which may have missing or damaged pages; Secondly, there is no proper guidance from the master, or the master's level is just that, practicing martial arts inevitably puts in a lot of effort and is prone to making mistakes. Here a punch is an inch too low, there the waist is an inch too high. All these accumulate and lead to numerous flaws; Thirdly, the situation is pressing, in desperate need of success, they cannot practice solidly. It may not be noticeable when fighting with others on ordinary days, but when they meet a decent sect, they usually collapse at the first touch.
The martial arts students who have been trained from martial arts halls are quite conforming to the term "conventional", there are not too many problems in the basics, but compared to the students from the large sects, they seem rigid and inflexible. When they really fight, they usually can not beat the experienced and cunning people in the martial arts world, often they still need to be polished, they still need to improve.
Both the Little and Big Cloud Mountain, these two brotherly sects connected by the same breath, are neither the most top-notch, but they are dream places that countless people dream of. Wearing the uniform and going out, the respect that should be there will not be missed.
...
...
Dark clouds covered the sky, daylight faded early, about when the sunlight was leaning towards the west, Chang Zhiyuan, leaning on a walking stick and draped in a cloak, finally entered the courtyard. His bound up greying hair was slightly damp and disheveled, he leaned on the doorframe and took a breath.
"I have selected seven of the most likely candidates, if there are others like Big Ears and Lin Yue that are hard to find, I am temporarily powerless."
Pei Ye turned his head to see that they were all youths brought from the martial arts hall. Their expressions varied, but they were all filled with a certain kind of confusion and unease. There were even two children who were just about ten years old, they didn't seem to understand what was going on and were still arguing softly about something.
Pei Ye completely understood Chang Zhiyuan's dilemma, he wished he could gather all the people who were likely to be harmed for protection, but whether the county government had the ability to protect them depended on the pace of Lord Jing.
If too many people were brought back, what if those people who originally didn't need to die were slaughtered by the killer?
"This is not the key." Feng Zhi, now in his heavy armor, handed a cup of tea to the old man, "I have an unexpected situation here. The person investigating the footprints reported back that a few days ago there was actually a man in a black robe who went to a tailor shop in our city to buy new shoes, exactly matching the footprints of the leader."
Chang Zhiyuan frowned, the enemy's calm behavior was obviously not good news for them.
He turned his head and said in a deep voice, "Master Shen, has the Soul Bird reported back?"
Shen Yan Ping shook his head: "No, but it should be soon. The rain might have caused some delay."
"Alright, everyone go inside." Chang Zhiyuan nodded. The old man was the weakest among them, but undoubtedly he was the backbone of everyone.
Everyone shuffled towards the house, Chang Zhiyuan also picked up his long cane again, fiercely supported it on the ground, and stood up straight with all his might. However, his legs, which had been traveling all day, felt even more sore after such a short rest. He almost stumbled as he tried to move, but Shen Yan Ping quickly helped him.
The old man smiled helplessly: "It's really 'the old lotus decays without wind'."
Feng Zhi sat down on the steps outside the door, a large halberd leaned against the column, and Shen Yan Ping stood under the eaves with his sword.
The previously mentioned "most dangerous time" has come, whether the other party wants to hold the final ceremony on schedule, or if they have already fled after killing Lin Lin because they realized something was wrong, or if they have more flexible options and plan to take action before Lord Jing arrives?
Feng Zhi and Shen Yan Ping had no clue, they could only vigilantly watch everything around like a sparrowhawk.
Chang Zhiyuan took Pei Ye and the other seven people to a room in the backyard, lit a candle for them, and touched the heads of the two children and said softly, "Everyone can sit or lie down freely, if you are hungry or thirsty, tea and snacks are also available in the room next door. Don't worry, I called everyone here just in case. You can stay here tonight, you can go home when you wake up tomorrow morning."
After finishing speaking, he exited the room. When closing the door, he took another look at Pei Ye, who was sent out, and whispered, "Little Pei, I'm depending on you to look after them."
Visible fatigue was written in the old man's eyes and brows, Pei Ye nodded: "Don't worry."
After returning to the room, the warm candlelight isolated the night rain into another world, Pei Ye found a place to sit down among the seven people. As soon as he sat down, he turned his head and bumped into a pair of shining eyes.