A small cave shielded them from the night wind. By the moonlight filtering in from outside, Ning Yi recounted the events of destroying Liangshan while tinkering with his musket. Although he was soaked from jumping into the river, he still carried a few small oiled cloth packets, one of which contained gunpowder and bullets. Fiddling with it now provided at least a weapon for self-defense.

He then asked Hong Ti why she was here. Hong Ti told him about the split within the Lvliang Mountain bandits and her reasons for leaving. She had gone to Bianliang but couldn't find the others. However, she found Wenren Bu'er and told him what had happened. Wenren Bu'er then sent her to Shandong, where she encountered Lin Chong, Lu Zhishen, and the others, and they fought.

Although Hong Ti didn't give more reasons, Ning Yi understood the deeper intentions. His reputation as a "demon of the heart" had spread. Some people feared him, while others loathed him. The Green Forest world had its own rules and ecosystem, just like the Confucian defense of their doctrines. Those who manipulated people's hearts and minds were generally disliked. Lu Hongti's intervention gave him better protection with her martial skills.

Zhou Tong, head of the Imperial Boxing Academy, didn't care about his disciples who were deeply involved in banditry, so they fought without restraint. After Lu Hongti made her move this time, she gained fame, and all Green Forest individuals who wanted to attack Ning Yi would have to consider it.

She said her intention in entering the city was to find food. Ning Yi then opened another oiled paper packet and handed her a piece of smoked meat. This was Ning Yi's dry food.

He always had money and was particular about his clothing, food, housing, and transportation. He was meticulous about food, and these dry foods had undergone many processes and were cooked to be quite delicious. Hong Ti originally thought she would go hungry today and didn't mind, but having food was naturally a pleasant surprise. She tore off a small piece of the smoked meat and ate it. Her expression became complicated at the first bite, then she slowly chewed and swallowed it. Ning Yi watched her smooth her hair.

Objectively speaking, knowledge and education were far less widespread in this era than in later generations. When it came to upbringing, someone like Li Shishi, who could be noble or approachable, naturally surpassed many people in later generations. His own wife, Xiao Chan, and others, due to the education of wealthy Jiangnan families, had the clear and attractive air of noble ladies in their demeanor. Lu Hongti didn't have that opportunity.

Ning Yi had seen it long ago. Due to the teachings of Grandpa Liang on Lvliang Mountain, she had a sense of herself as a woman, but because of the hardship of life, she didn't have many opportunities to be particular. Her appearance was beautiful, with an oval face, gentle eyes, and temperament, not sharp. Because she didn't have any maintenance, it was difficult to find her breathtaking at first glance, and the dusty atmosphere made her seem ordinary. But she was perhaps the most easily satisfied woman Ning Yi had ever met. If she were placed in life, she would be the kind who could live a difficult life and be content with it. After getting married, she would teach her husband and children and be ordinary. She might be beautiful, but she would never cause trouble. Life would be hard, but she would always be optimistic. The label for her might be the most common virtue of this era, virtuousness, rather than strength.

But in this feeling, she indeed had the high martial arts of a grandmaster.

Perhaps life is about carrying all the past and moving forward. Behind her, there are many things, many bumps. Those things had been smoothed out by her own strength. But whenever Ning Yi saw a glimpse of these things, he felt a pounding in his heart, like the death of Qian Xiwen, like the crying and smiling faces of the little girls on the Hangzhou escape route, and like the way she looked over at this time and said, "Don't look at me, this is delicious." So ordinary.

Perhaps... at least in his eyes, she was the most approachable grandmaster.

"Seriously, is your injury okay?"

"I'm fine." Hong Ti tore off another small piece of smoked meat and handed the remaining half back to Ning Yi. Ning Yi waved his hand, and Hong Ti wrapped it up, not planning to eat it anymore. "When you're fighting, you can't run away with a little injury. Even if your hands and feet are broken, you must be able to kill people, or you will die... Those two palms from the monk didn't affect me at all. I just needed to spit out the blood. Does your chest hurt?"

Ning Yi smiled, "Just a little bit. I padded it with iron plates, and I'm currently circulating my energy to adjust my breathing."

"You really treat it like those storybooks you talk about..." Hong Ti glanced at him, then hesitantly reached out and leaned over. After hesitating, she pressed her palm against Ning Yi's chest, gently touching it, pressing it a few times.

"It's okay," she said. "But the recovery from Breaking the Six Paths still depends on daily nourishment. I told you, you shouldn't use it too much."

Although he had repeatedly performed miracles since practicing Breaking the Six Paths, it was an overbearing technique that forced the body's potential, and it would inevitably damage the body. Lu Hongti had said this last time in Hangzhou. Ning Yi was a little helpless, "I'm in the Jianghu, I can't help it..."

"This isn't the Jianghu, it's a little different from the Jianghu you used to talk about..." Hong Ti shook her head. "They can find reasons for doing wrong things, with rules and morality, but they are just bandits and robbers..."

"People are like this..." Ning Yi replied with a smile. As he said this, Hong Ti, who was looking at him, suddenly said, "Lie down."

"Huh?"

Ning Yi was stunned, then tried to lie down on the ground, "What for?"

"Since I have recognized you as my master, I have to give you something."

In the dim light, Hong Ti raised her chin, a trace of complexity in her smile. She knelt beside Ning Yi, placing her hands on Ning Yi's back. "It might hurt a little later, you have to bear with it."

"Uh..."

Ning Yi felt that the palms of her hands were gradually heating up, and because of some force, they pressed his chest slightly painfully. He said in a low voice, "Wasn't it already?"

"It didn't count before," Hong Ti replied in a low voice from behind.

"Oh... can I talk..."

"Whatever, you said people are like this..."

Along with Hong Ti's voice, Ning Yi felt that her hands paused at a certain acupoint on his body, and then pushed the blood flow in his body abruptly towards the heart. The blood vessels were a little swollen and painful, and Ning Yi grinned.

"That's right... people are like this, they are also helpless, they can't change the world, they can only do bad things when they fall into that situation, and they can't blame themselves all day long after doing bad things, they have to slowly think of a way to add a bunch of reasons to what they did, and say it like it's true, and they believe it themselves, this is called... Stockholm syndrome..."

"Die ge er mo... do you sympathize with them?"

"No, but I have to understand them to defeat them... or let them change..."

Ning Yi was not mentally prepared for this sudden massage, but after a while, he understood what she meant by "a little painful". The so-called internal force was originally the transportation of qi and blood. Lu Hongti's hands were hot, pushing the qi and blood in his body. Before long, various sensations of numbness, itching, and pain surged up, and sweat poured out. Although Ning Yi was uncomfortable, he also understood that she was mostly doing it for his own good, and he rambled on to distract himself, but there was also a slight strangeness in his heart. After all, men and women shouldn't give or receive in this era, and it would be a great risk to her reputation for her to perform such a meridian massage for him.

This ordeal lasted for about half an hour before it stopped. When Ning Yi sat up, he felt as if his whole body was burning like a fever, and laughed, "Am I going to become a martial arts master?"

Hong Ti shook her head and chuckled, "It's just to make your body a little better." She wiped the sweat from her forehead and handed over the oiled paper packet with the smoked meat, "It's better to eat something." Ning Yi nodded and broke off another half of the smoked meat in the packet.

Afterwards, the two sat on either side, chatting about Lvliang Mountain. Hong Ti had always been interested in the situation in the Liao and Wu dynasties. Although she was not good at it, she was probably influenced by "Grandpa Liang" and thought that someone who could defeat ten thousand men was useful. She admired Ning Yi in this regard. Soon after, the sweat on Ning Yi's body evaporated, and his body gradually cooled down. Hong Ti sat there, hesitating for a long time, "You, you come here."

"Uh..." Ning Yi looked at her.

Lu Hongti hugged her knees and curled up there, "You also said that Jianghu children don't care about trivial matters. We have another day or two to endure, and it will be colder when the sky is about to dawn. After all, I'm wearing clothes."

There was a battlefield-like decisiveness in her tone. Ning Yi nodded, leaned over and sat next to her. After a moment, he reached out and hugged her, pulling her body closer to him. Hong Ti didn't struggle, hugging her knees and leaning over, trying to keep their bodies in contact as much as possible. She was tall, only a little shorter than Ning Yi, highly skilled in martial arts, and her body was warm, with only a slight stiffness.

Feeling something in his heart, Ning Yi leaned against her hair, and after a moment of silence, he said, "Do you think your master might be Sikong Nan?"

"I am your master, can't you call her grandmaster?"

"Then tell me, could grandmaster be Sikong Nan?"

Lu Hongti had only taught Ning Yi some second-rate skills in the past and never cared about titles, but now that they were close, she cared about Ning Yi's address to her master, but she didn't care that Ning Yi had always been casual with her. After thinking for a while, she said, "Although I don't know my master's identity, I guess she isn't."

"Oh."

The two then spoke intermittently, gradually falling asleep in a daze. The night dew gradually cooled, Ning Yi hugged Lu Hongti, hugging her even tighter. Hong Ti occasionally woke up, looking at the moonlight outside the cave, wary of the surrounding situation, but her eyes were also complex and confused. She hugged her knees and curled up in Ning Yi's arms, her hands never letting go, but hugging him in such a posture, trying to get as close to him as possible.

When Ning Yi woke up the next morning, the sky was already bright, and the dried clothes were covering him. Putting on his clothes, Hong Ti walked in from outside the cave with her sword, smiled at him, "I went out for a walk, they don't seem to have come here for the time being, but while we have time, we have to prepare to escape."