Yan Feirou sank into deep thought. “Even so…”
“Even so, we can’t be certain that Old Fire Relayer is the mysterious senior we’re searching for. Is that what you’re trying to say?”
Yan Hengbo smiled faintly. “Continue listening to me, and you’ll understand. Old Fire Relayer has a disciple called Meng Chao, and he’s a third year student in Ninth High School. He comes from a rather poor family, and he stays in a public renting house.
“Feirou, you said that the video you received was of a young man demonstrating the Demonically Modified Ripple Force to you. What uniform was he wearing, and what was the background behind him?”
Yan Feirou cried out. “Ah! He hid behind a mosaic, but based on the color and style of the uniform, he’s either from Third High School or Ninth High School. His room was really small and disorderly. It did look like a public renting house!”
“We’re on the right track then. Meng Chao was injured last year when he was cultivating. He was hospitalized for a few months, and his chances of cultivating were practically gone. But this year, he recovered, and he’s as good as new. He rose to power miraculously. What other reason for it could be aside from him receiving guidance from a mysterious senior?
“If this isn’t enough, then do you know why Old Fire Relayer wanted us to attack Great Waves Corporation?”
Yan Feirou thought about it. “Didn’t you say that Great Waves Corporation added all sorts of hormones and forbidden medicine to monster blood to pass them off as superbeast blood products? They violated a major taboo among superhumans, so it was only natural that Old Fire Relayer wanted to uphold justice and suppress this criminal organization, is it not?”
“That’s the reason that only came out later. In truth, Great Waves Corporation’s criminal acts were very discreet, and even the special medicine supervision department did not notice them.
“Old Fire Relayer should have been fighting in the depths of the fog. He has to deal with a host of problems everyday, so how could he possibly pay attention to a minor character like Great Waves Corporation?” Yan Hengbo said. “Old Fire Relayer had to have set his eyes on Great Waves Corporation because of his disciple.
“Old Fire Relayer’s disciple Meng Chao is classmates with the son of the chairman of Great Waves Corporation, Zuo Haoran. Their relationship is very bad, and recently, they got into a very intense conflict. Do you understand where I’m going now?”
“Ah!” Yan Feirou gasped in surprise, and a thought appeared in her head. “All the details now connected together, and everything makes sense!”
“That’s right. Old Fire Relayer’s disciple isn’t someone who can be bullied as others like. Great Waves Corporation has seriously run into a wall. But it’s as they say, spare the rod and spoil the child. The man brought up a wicked son, and it ended up in his reputation being ruined. He got what he deserved by being sent to prison!” As Yan Hengbo said this, he glared at Yan Zhennan.
Yan Zhennan shuddered. “Dad, I’m sorry. I won’t provoke a sage like Old Fire Relayer again.”
Yan Hengbo let out a cold huff and returned to the topic. “With Old Fire Relayer’s abilities, he managed to immediately see through Great Waves Corporation’s criminal activities. With that being the case, there’s no way he wouldn’t be able to investigate everything. He didn’t need the Yan family to do anything unnecessary. So, when he mentioned that they were trouble, we needed to look into it carefully.
“To Old Fire Relayer, even if he truly wanted to destroy Great Waves Corporation, it wouldn’t be troublesome. It’s just like what I had your dad send over to him just now. Great Waves Corporation is a pile of poop, and they have no right to have Old Fire Relayer step on them personally
“Also, earlier, the Yan family offended Old Fire Relayer. While he mentioned that he won’t fuss over it, how can we truly know that he has really forgiven us if he doesn’t take anything from us or ask us to do anything? He might have said that he’s not gonna fuss over it, but would you be able to sleep without doing anything?”
Yan Feirou shook her head. “I wouldn’t be able to. I haven’t been able to sleep the past few days. I shocked myself awake every night at two to three in the morning.”
“Hence, he decided to be merciful. He, thus, asked us to handle this small problem. He gave us a way out of the situation and allowed us to calm down.”
Yan Hengbo leaned against his chair, and all of his wrinkles smoothed out. “We’re lucky that he’s a merciful senior and that I’m the one who personally dealt with the situation, or else, everything would have definitely gone wrong!”
Yan Feirou’s face turned red.
At that moment, Yan Zhennan said, “Dad, we’ve investigated a lot of things to handle the matter with Great Waves Corporation properly, and we’ve even investigated Meng Chao’s identity. Would Old Fire Relayer be displeased by it?”
“There’s no harm in it. Of course I’ve thought about it before,” Yan Hengbo said. “I’ve spoken to Old Ning, and by the looks of it, Old Fire Relayer does not want Meng Chao to hide his identity. He intends to use his disciple to toss out some new martial arts, knowledge, and skills, which is quite normal.
“Old Fire Relayer is definitely a famous and excellent man in the circle. With just a few words, he can cause a major upheaval. So, it’s better if he uses a nobody to test the waters first when it comes to leading technology, skills that are at the peak of the field, or things that remain uncertain.”
“Dad, look at this. Old Fire Relayer said he would rather keep a low profile. Is there a hidden meaning to it?” Yan Zhennan asked.
“Of course there is. I reckon it has something to do with his identity.” Yan Hengbo fell into deep thought. “If he’s truly an old monster who dwells in the depths of the fog, he must have made a lot of enemies and formed a lot of grudges, so it would be bad if he did things in a flashy manner.
“His enemies might not be able to do anything to him, but they can attack his disciple. I believe that Old Fire Relayer wants to keep a rather transcendent presence so his disciple can experience the world alone. This can be considered a form of training. Of course, he doesn’t mind revealing some information to friendly forces, because he wants us to be his disciple’s escorts.”
Yan Zhennan’s eyes lit up. “So, we can be considered as friendly forces?”
“Of course.” Yan Hengbo smiled. “Remember what I said last time? If he didn’t have a deep understanding of and feelings toward the Yan Family Ripple Force, it would have been impossible for him to create such a perfect Ripple Force. There’s a good chance that I had some form of contact with this senior in the past. For all I know, he might have provided me with guidance.”
Yan Zhennan looked at him anxiously. “Then, Old Fire Relayer has forgiven us, should we—”
“Zhennan, what am I to do with you? You can’t be eager to obtain success. You have just made a mistake, and you forgot your lesson so soon?”
Yan Hengbo put on a stern face. “If you try and curry favor with him in haste, your purpose will be very clear. Do you think Old Fire Relayer will like it?”
Yan Zhennan’s face turned red. “I was too reckless, sorry.”
“Ignore what’s going to happen next. I won’t interfere either. Whoever started this should end it. At the start, the senior showed a liking to Feirou, so we should have Feirou handle the matter.”
Yan Hengbo smiled and said, “Feirou, my dear, if you have the chance, try getting to know Meng Chao.”
“What?”
“Old Fire Relayer is a really excellent person and doesn’t have time to care about us. But since he doesn’t mind Meng Chao mentioning his name, it means that he has already admitted to being the master of this young man. He also has the intention to help Meng Chao become powerful. If we support and take care of his beloved disciple, the senior will definitely be able to see our good will.”
Yan Feirou was dizzy. “I-is that so?”
“Of course. Why else did you think Old Fire Relayer would specifically ask us to take care of Great Waves Corporation? Aside from what I said just now, there’s another meaning to it. ‘Meng Chao is my disciple. Anyone who touches him is going up against me. Of course, I will also remember all those who are kind to him.'”
When Yan Hengbo said this, he stopped talking for a while. “Wait. We must absolutely not mention the phrase ‘old monster’ anymore. There are ears everywhere, and we don’t know what sort of temper the senior has.”
Yan Feirou nodded. “Then, should we call him Old Fire Relayer?”
Yan Hengbo waved his hand. “Referring to him as ‘Old’ doesn’t show our respect. Let’s call him ‘Immortal’. Immortal Fire Relayer. When you meet Meng Chao, refer to his master as such.”
Yan Feirou pondered over this. “I understand. I’ll think about when I can get a chance soon to come into contact with Meng Chao for a perfectly logical reason.”
“That’s the spirit,” Yan Hengbo said. “The future of the Yan family is in your hands now. You must seize it tightly. Don’t be like your dad, who can’t distinguish between what is right and wrong!”
In the market in Blessed Heavenly Garden, Bai Suxin had just walked past a meat stall when she heard a plump lady giggle like a clucking chicken. “Of course we have something happy going on! If we didn’t, why would we buy so many tubular bones? They’re really expensive, you know?!”
‘This is bad.’ Bai Suxin thought. ‘The plump lady loves boasting. If she catches me, she’ll start talking my ear off, and it’ll be a huge waste of my time.’
She wanted to walk away, but the plump lady had already seen her, and Bai Suxin was not fast because of her legs. The plump lady caught up to her in just a few steps, and she practically threw a large bag of tubular bones in her face.
Bai Suxin could not avoid her anymore and she forced herself to smile. “Ma’am, are you out buying groceries? Oh my, you bought so many tubular bones? Did Old Li get his bonus?
“Sigh… that old coot only earns a bit of money every month. There’s no way he’ll get any sort of bonus. I’m thinking about motivating A’ming. He’s taking the national college examination this year, and today is the first stage of the test. He didn’t manage to score well, but he did manage to get the thirty-second place in Eleventh High School, so he has the right to take the second test.” The plump lady giggled.
“The first stage of the national college examination?” Bai Suxin’s smile turned a little awkward.
“That’s right. If you want to take the exam for college, you must first take the exam in school, then the exam in the school region, and finally, the exam in the city. It’s really troublesome. Today is the day for the intra-school test for the entire city.”
The plump lady stopped talking then and slapped her head. “Oh look at my memory. Last year, your son… Sigh, it’s no wonder why you’re not paying attention to it. It’s fine. It’ll be pretty good if he can get into a higher vocational college too.
“A’chao has been smart since he’s young, and his mind is quick too. He’ll definitely be able to get into a good higher vocational college.
“Besides, we’re neighbors. A’chao is childhood friends with A’ming. Once A’ming gets into college, you can just tell us if anything comes up. A’ming will definitely help him.”
“Y-Yes. A’ming is indeed a very smart boy. Congratulations, Ma’am,” Bai Suxin stuttered.
“Alright, I should get going. I have to go back and cook. Tubular bones only taste good if you stew them for a while, right?” The plump lady started clucking like an old hen laying eggs. She crossed her arms and walked out of the market with her head held high.
Bai Suxin could vaguely hear her grabbing someone she knew at the entrance of the market. “Oh my, Granny Dong, you don’t know how expensive tubular bones are nowadays! They’re seriously so expensive I can’t bear to buy them!”
Bai Suxin stood around in a dumbfounded manner for a while before she limped back to the meat stall.
“Big Sis Suxin, what would you like to buy? The pork belly today is pretty good,” the employee at the meat stall said with a smile.
“Did the plump lady buy tubular bones just now?” Bai Suxin asked.
“Yup.”
“How many did she buy?”
“Three.”
“Then, pick three for me as well. No, make that four!”
“Big Sis Suxin, do you have guests today? The tubular bones are really expensive today.”
“I don’t have any guests. Old Meng is just craving for them.”