The sun set in the west, leaving behind a lingering orange-red afterglow.
Wisps of smoke rose from Yu Hang County, and the air was filled with the faint aroma of cooking.
"This is called MSG. Put a little bit in when you cook, and the taste will be better."
Chen Ye stood by the stove fire. In front of him was a pot, in which green vegetables were being stir-fried.
Xiao Lian stood beside Chen Ye, listening attentively.
Various bottles and jars, containing different seasonings, were placed beside the stove.
Chen Ye told Xiao Lian what each one was, one by one.
In the afternoon, Chen Ye gave the 【Dexterous】 trait to Xiao Lian.
Originally, he was a little hesitant, fearing that Xiao Lian would run away one day after getting the trait.
After asking the System, Chen Ye learned:
If an orphan leaves the Yu Ying Hall, he can retrieve the traits he has given out.
With the System's endorsement, Chen Ye breathed a sigh of relief and decisively gave the 【Dexterous】 trait to Xiao Lian.
By dusk, smoke rose from every household as they began preparing dinner.
Chen Ye then taught Xiao Lian how to cook, hand in hand.
Xiao Lian listened very carefully. She found that Chen Ye's cooking methods were a little different.
Especially since he used many strange and peculiar seasonings.
Slowly, a dish was finished, its color inviting and its taste delicious.
Chen Ye handed her a pair of chopsticks. Xiao Lian took a bite and was immediately amazed.
"Dean, this... this is too delicious!"
"Why don't you open an eatery? You would definitely have many customers."
Originally, Xiao Lian was awkward and didn't know how to address Chen Ye. She couldn't call him 'Dad' like Da Ming...
Chen Ye saw her awkwardness and told her to just call him Dean.
Hearing this, Chen Ye smiled faintly: "Opening an eatery might earn a lot of money."
"But by running the Yu Ying Hall, I can get things that money can't buy."
Hearing this sentence, Xiao Lian's bright, moist eyes suddenly widened, and she looked deeply at Chen Ye.
As if her heart had been touched.
Chen Ye was not lying; he was telling the truth.
Running the Yu Ying Hall means getting rewards from the System, which is something money cannot buy.
Furthermore, there is a monthly limit on the number of daily necessities that can be exchanged in the System Mall.
Chen Ye couldn't perform the operation of exchanging points for items and then exchanging items for silver.
Points are more valuable than silver.
After finishing a dish, Chen Ye gave the spatula to Xiao Lian and watched her work.
Xiao Lian learned very quickly, possibly with the bonus from the 【Dexterous】 trait.
Before long, she had stir-fried a small dish that was perfect in color, aroma, and taste.
When dinner was ready and Xiao Lian was about to eat in the kitchen, Chen Ye stopped her.
"In my eyes, you are a child just like Da Ming. Let's eat together."
Chen Ye said these words in a calm tone, which made Xiao Lian feel a moment of trance.
The Great Wu Dynasty, like other feudal dynasties in history, was patriarchal, where women were not allowed to eat at the table.
But as a modern person, Chen Ye naturally had no interest in these old customs and instead found them awkward.
Xiao Lian was 13 years old, and in his eyes, she was a child.
At the dinner table, Xiao Lian initially ate with the restraint of a lady.
After a few bites, Xiao Lian's pretty face flushed slightly, her bright eyes sparkled, and she couldn't stop picking up dishes.
With the enhancement of modern seasonings, no one could resist this delicious taste.
Finally, Xiao Lian's little belly was round from eating, and her pretty white face was full of blushes, feeling very embarrassed.
Da Ming even burped, smiling foolishly.
After dinner, Chen Ye took Da Ming to the study to read the water margin comic strip and learn to read along the way.
Xiao Lian took an oil lamp and returned to her room.
...
Outside Yu Hang County.
The setting sun hung on the horizon, and the sky was dim.
Beside the official road, a flag with the words "Tea House" written on it hung on a long pole, fluttering in the wind.
Beside the long pole was a tea house, with four or five long benches and three tables inside.
At this time, there was only an old man in rough clothes in the tea house, using the afterglow of the setting sun to tidy up the tea bowls.
He was hunched over, his eyes cloudy. He casually poured the leftover tea from the bowls onto the ground and stacked the bowls together.
On the official road, a figure suddenly appeared.
The figure was not riding a horse, but running on the road with just his two legs.
The old man glanced indifferently out of the corner of his eye, then shakily carried the tea bowls into the back kitchen.
The figure ran wildly all the way, leaping several times, and quickly arrived at the tea house.
It was a young man, with an ordinary appearance, wearing common clothes, and his eyes were gloomy and fierce.
After arriving at the tea house, the man did not sit down. Instead, he respectfully clasped his fists and called out to the back kitchen: "Your subordinate Shi Shisan greets the Steward."
A slightly hoarse voice came from inside: "Have you gathered another batch of children?"
Saying this, the old man in rough clothes walked out from the back kitchen. His back had straightened at some point, and his entire demeanor changed instantly.
His cloudy eyes turned pitch black, revealing a chilling coldness when he looked at someone.
Seeing the Steward come out, Shi Shisan knelt down: "Your subordinate was ineffective in handling the matter. Please punish me, Steward."
Seeing this, the old man's dark eyes looked deeply at Shi Shisan, his voice hoarse and strange: "What?"
"Such a trivial matter, don't tell me you messed it up."
Feeling the coldness in the old man's tone, Shi Shisan couldn't help but tremble.
He gritted his teeth and said: "Steward, your subordinate encountered... encountered a Senior with high martial arts."
"He said your subordinate kidnapped his Disciple..."
Shi Shisan told the old man in rough clothes what had happened.
After listening, the old man in rough clothes' sparse eyebrows suddenly furrowed.
"You said your Raindrop Leg Technique, infused with eighty percent of your Internal Force, hit him squarely in the chest, but produced the sound of metal?"
"Yes!"
Shi Shisan knelt on the ground and said respectfully.
Hearing this, the old man in rough clothes' eyebrows furrowed tightly.
"He's a master of body-hardening martial arts. He was unharmed by your strike, so he should be Second-Rank." The old man thought for a moment and said: "Don't go to Yu Hang County for this period."
"Yes!"
The old man seemed to suddenly remember something and asked: "Where is Sixteen?"
Shi Shisan's face immediately showed an awkward expression. He stammered: "Sixteen..."
"Sixteen was captured by the Qing County Yamen (Government Office)."
Hearing this sentence, the old man was obviously stunned for a moment. He took a deep breath: "Useless."
"This matter is settled. Go back to the Pavilion to exchange for the third level of the cultivation method."
Shi Shisan immediately showed joy and kowtowed: "Thank you, Steward!"
The old man in rough clothes did not speak. He gazed towards the north, his eyes deep.
On a summer night, a slightly cool wind blew.
It brushed against the old man's sleeves.
The trees beside the road swayed, and the leaves rustled.
The sky quickly darkened, and a dark cloud appeared on the distant horizon.
Low-pressure clouds gathered together, emitting a low rumble of thunder.
Heavy rain poured down in an instant.
Song Cangjie took off the bamboo hat on his head, looked at the gloomy and dark sky, and felt fortunate in his heart.
He stood in front of a civilian house and knocked on the door.
"Knock knock..."
The door opened inwards. A scruffy-bearded man saw Song Cangjie, and his purplish-bronze face showed joy.
"Brother Jie, you're finally here."
Song Cangjie saw the man, and a smile appeared on his dark face.
"Brother!"
"Come in quickly. There's no need for many words between us brothers."
Qi Penglong pulled Song Cangjie into the room.
Song Cangjie sat on a chair, smiling, and took out a bamboo tube from his In arms and placed it on the table.
"Brother, this is thousand li fragrance and Xunxiang Bee."
Seeing this, Qi Penglong quickly waved his hand and pushed the bamboo tube back.
"Brother Jie, you know this item. Six Doors is not short of it."
"When I lent it to you that day, I didn't intend to get it back. Now that your martial arts have fallen to the lowest rank, investigating cases without other means will likely be very difficult."
A trace of loneliness and unwillingness appeared on Song Cangjie's face, but it was quickly hidden by him.
Qi Penglong slapped his forehead, only then realizing that he had unintentionally touched upon his brother's inner wound again. He quickly changed the subject and said: "Brother Jie, I just happened to get a batch of good wine recently. Tonight, we won't return until we're drunk."
Song Cangjie laughed heartily twice: "Then I must keep Brother good company!"
Qi Penglong walked into the inner room, took out two jars of wine from inside, and also took out a few small dishes to go with the wine. The two brothers then began to eat and drink.
The two drank and talked. Song Cangjie said with a troubled expression: "That's how it is. The missing children were in Liu County Magistrate's private property."
"That mansion caught fire and was burned down. We caught one survivor. That survivor is severely burned, and whether he can survive is still uncertain."
"If it's revealed during interrogation that it's related to Liu County Magistrate, this matter will be difficult to handle."
Qi Penglong silently picked up the wine bowl and drank in small sips, his mustache covered in wine.
After Song Cangjie finished speaking, Qi Penglong narrowed his eyes, and a cold light flashed through them.
He sneered: "A mere county magistrate, associating with people from the Wind and Rain Pavilion, won't even know how he died in the end."
Saying this, Qi Penglong looked at Song Cangjie and saw his troubled expression, feeling frustrated and pained in his heart.
Now, even a small county magistrate could make Song Cangjie worry...
"Leave this matter to me, your Brother. Tomorrow, I'll have someone write a document for you to take back."
Song Cangjie filled Qi Penglong's wine bowl, picked up his own wine cup, and drained it in one gulp: "Thank you, Brother!"
"We are brothers, there's no need to be formal. You just said you encountered a mysterious expert, what happened exactly?"
Mentioning that Senior in black, Song Cangjie immediately became energetic, his eyes shining as he said: "That Senior walked like a normal person, but that Wind and Rain Pavilion bronze-medal killer's kick, containing eighty percent of his Internal Force, landed squarely on his chest, yet produced the sound of metal."
After Song Cangjie finished recounting the events, Qi Penglong's eyebrows furrowed tightly, and he said in surprise: "Could it be the Thirteen Grand Protectors' Body-Hardening technique?"
"No, that Senior's physique was normal. I think it might be the Golden Bell Shield or the Iron Cloth Shirt," Song Cangjie speculated as he picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks.
"Although the bronze-medal killer is only Fourth Rank, anyone who can easily withstand that move is at least a Second-Rank master."
"Plus, you said you heard the sound of metal. That body-hardening martial art has reached at least the Great Accomplishment Realm!"
Qi Penglong showed a look of surprise: "This Senior's strength is probably comparable to that of the three Captians."
Six Doors has three Captians, all of whom are at the First Grade Realm and are quite famous in the martial arts World.
"However, the possibility of him being a Grandmaster is not high. There are no more than a handful of Grandmaster experts in the martial arts World, and their whereabouts are uncertain."
"A Grandmaster living in seclusion in a small Yu Hang County..." Qi Penglong took a sip of wine and shook his head, saying: "Not very likely."
Hearing Qi Penglong's analysis, Song Cangjie nodded secretly.
Thinking about it now, the possibility of him being a Grandmaster is not high.
Every Grandmaster expert is a renowned figure in the martial arts World.
Song Cangjie had never heard of a Grandmaster known for body-hardening martial arts.
Seeing Song Cangjie pondering with his chopsticks raised, Qi Penglong poured him some wine and said: "Drink more with me, your Brother. In a few days, you won't be able to see me even if you want to."
Song Cangjie came back to his senses and asked with a smile: "What? Is there something going on in the sect again?"
Qi Penglong picked up his wine bowl and took a large gulp.
"Tang Feng, a True Disciple of the Tang Sect, stole the Tang Sect's hidden weapon Dragon Beard Needle blueprint. He traveled from Sichuan to Shaoxing Prefecture, committing evil acts along the way, which has already caused dissatisfaction among many righteous people."
"Several True Disciples of the Thunderbolt Hall in Jiangnan are preparing to jointly intercept and kill him to seize the blueprint. If the Thunderbolt Hall really gets the Dragon Beard Needle blueprint, the Tang Sect will probably go mad with anger."
Song Cangjie showed a look of shock upon hearing this news: "Tang Feng? Didn't he just enter Second-Rank at the beginning of the year?"
"Several True Disciples of the Thunderbolt Hall have been in Second-Rank for several years, all of them in the mid-Second-Rank. If they join forces to intercept and kill him, he will likely not escape death."
Qi Penglong nodded and said: "Also, several gold-medal killers from the Wind and Rain Pavilion have set their sights on the Dragon Beard Needle blueprint."
"However, he has been in Shaoxing Prefecture these past few days. Six Doors is trying to prevent large-scale casualties, so I won't have time from tomorrow onwards."
Song Cangjie filled Qi Penglong's wine bowl.
Outside the window, low rumbles of thunder suddenly sounded, rolling continuously.
The sound of raindrops falling and hitting the ground became a little louder.
Qi Penglong looked at the sky outside and said: "Brother Jie, stay here with me, your Brother, tonight."
"Tomorrow, I will prepare the Six Doors approval document for you. I guarantee that whatever bird county magistrate or dog county magistrate won't dare to say anything."
"Then thank you, Brother!"
Song Cangjie raised his wine cup and clinked it with Qi Penglong's.
"Rumble rumble..."
After several claps of thunder, the sound of rain outside the window grew louder.
