"The old man is back."
Just as Wan Yunting was about to enter the room, he saw Chang Wude walking in with his hands behind his back, his face somber. "What, didn't see the Taoist master?"
Chang Wude looked up and glared at this guy with his old eyes before turning and heading into his own room. Seeing this, Wan Yunting knew his guess was right. He smiled wryly and shook his head, also entering his room. Chang Wude turned and shouted, "Where's the food?"
Wan Yunting spread his hands, shrugged, and chuckled, "They're not giving us food anymore, and they even threatened to kick us out."
"What."
This time, Chang Wude's old eyes widened, and his temper flared up. He cursed, "This is outrageous! Even if I left the sect decades ago, I'm still an elder to those brats. Hmph, I'll go find them. They're truly lawless..."
Wan Yunting stared blankly, watching the old man grumble and turn to go outside. He shook his head and smiled, then went into his room, rummaged through his bag on the bed, and found that he hadn't brought any food. He could only lean on the bed, take out his phone, and open WeChat. Seeing that Gu Luotang had sent a message asking how he was doing, Wan Yunting directly initiated a video call with her and chatted about his situation there…
Half an hour later, Chang Wude returned, still grumbling. Wan Yunting's stomach was growling fiercely. Chang Wude then pushed the door open, threw a live rabbit in, "Kid, deal with this rabbit. I'll get some firewood from the yard to roast it. Hmph, those little bastards really think they can starve me just because they're not giving me food. I'll deal with them later."
Seeing the rabbit on the ground hop a couple of times, Wan Yunting, who was leaning on the bed, looked astonished. He watched Chang Wude storm off grumbling, then returned to his room, brought out the charcoal stove, placed it by the door, and started a fire to roast the rabbit.
Kang Nuolan, who lived in the room opposite, heard the commotion and came out wearing a down jacket. Snowflakes were falling again, and the temperature had dropped below zero. "It's so cold…"
"It's not the old man, where did you get a live rabbit?"
Wan Yunting, wearing a tight sweater, held the rabbit's ear in one hand and shouted at Chang Wude, "I don't know how to deal with it either."
"Hey, you brat, you've grown up for nothing! Can't even kill a rabbit, what good are you?" Chang Wude cursed angrily.
He had gone to find his senior disciple brother earlier but couldn't see him. Chang Wude felt stifled. Then, as soon as he went to the mess hall, Uncle Wang, the cook, gave him a cold shoulder and even claimed that the disciples had finished dinner. This made Chang Wude furious, and he cursed in the mess hall for a while.
Most importantly, the young disciples were spreading rumors that he had returned to seize the position of the Taoist master. Such absurd rumors made Chang Wude even more enraged.
"Calm down first, I'll kill it, alright?"
Seeing the old man so angry that he was about to jump onto the roof and curse, Wan Yunting could only wave his hand, take the fat rabbit, and run to the faucet in the west corner of the courtyard gate, starting to figure out how to deal with this fat rabbit.
"Nuolan, go ask the old man for a knife."
Wan Yunting squatted by the faucet, looking at the rabbit on the ground, and said to the Kang Nuolan who had followed him.
She turned to ask Chang Wude for a knife. However, the old man was still grumbling. He went into the house, pulled out a nine-ringed broadsword from somewhere, and threw it directly at Wan Yunting's feet onto the snowy ground. Wan Yunting was dumbfounded. He picked up the rusty nine-ringed broadsword and shouted at Chang Wude, "Old man, are you serious? Don't you have a smaller knife?"
"Tsk, what are you dawdling for, brat? Just chop off the rabbit's head in one go and skin it. Hurry up, I've already started the fire." Chang Wude sat directly on the doorstep, stoking the charcoal fire on the stove, urging Wan Yunting to hurry.
"Alas, all your anger is being taken out on me."
Wan Yunting looked at the nine-ringed broadsword in his hand, sighed helplessly, and then brought down the knife on the head of the fat rabbit on the ground…
Half an hour later, the charcoal stove held a gutted rabbit, which Chang Wude had inserted a wooden stick into its belly and was roasting horizontally over the charcoal fire…
Wan Yunting and Kang Nuolan also squatted nearby, warming themselves by the fire. Wan Yunting said, "Old man, there are rumors outside saying you've returned to seize the position of Taoist master. What are you going to do?"
"Hmph, it's nothing more than that scumbag Sima Boyong deliberately spreading rumors to prevent us from staying in the Taoist temple."
Chang Wude, sitting on the doorstep, turned the rabbit on the charcoal fire and said, "The more they want us to leave the temple, the more I'll defy them. I want to see what kind of medicine that Sima Boyong is selling!"
Wan Yunting nodded, and could only accept the situation.
An hour later, the rabbit was finally roasted. It had to be said that Grandpa Chang's roasted rabbit skills were excellent. Although there were not many seasonings, just simple salt, it made the rabbit so delicious.
"Mmm, it still tastes the same as before."
Chang Wude ate a rabbit leg, reminiscing, "Life was hard back then, and I often went up the mountain with your master to catch wild rabbits and roast them. Thinking about it now, I really miss the days when I was with my senior and junior disciples in the sect."
Wan Yunting tore off a rabbit hind leg for Kang Nuolan and ate the front leg himself. He asked, "By the way, why did you say earlier that if Old Master knew I was my master's direct disciple, he would stand on our side? Does my master have another relationship with Old Master?"
Chang Wude glanced at him and said, "Do you know who your master learned his medical skills from?"
"I know that. Master once told me that he learned the Thirteen Needles of Ghost Gate from Ren Daozi!" Wan Yunting nodded.
Chang Wude nodded, "Your master's talent in martial arts was average, but Uncle-Master Ren Daozi discovered your master's talent in traditional Chinese medicine and took him as his last disciple, personally teaching him TCM.
"However, my master later brought Sima Boyong back from downstairs. He also had a talent for medicine and also became Uncle-Master Ren Daozi's disciple."
"But your master was Uncle-Master Ren Daozi's last disciple and received the true teachings of the Thirteen Needles of Ghost Gate, while Sima Boyong never had the chance to learn the Thirteen Needles of Ghost Gate. Therefore, Sima Boyong became jealous of your master at that time, and the karmic seeds were likely sown then!"
Wan Yunting listened and nodded. His master had occasionally told him these things in prison, but not as comprehensively.
"However, Senior Uncle Zong doted on your master immensely. Although your master had no talent in martial arts, his martial arts were taught to him personally by Senior Uncle Zong, so he treated him as a direct disciple."
"Whatever good things Senior Uncle Zong had, he thought of your master first. So, at that time, we were quite envious of your master," Chang Wude recalled the past, his old eyes shining, and he was so lost in thought that he lost the appetite for rabbit meat.
Wan Yunting listened and nodded. So, his master and Old Master had this kind of relationship…
The next morning, it was still snowing. The trees and mountains of Mount Wuliang were covered in a white, snowy armor. There was no sun, the sky was gray and misty, and the temperature was biting cold.
"So cold…"
Especially for southerners like Wan Yunting and Kang Nuolan, even Chang Wude, who had lived in the south for decades, felt cold and was huddled by the charcoal stove in the room, warming himself…
In the small plaza next to the back courtyard cliff of the Taoist temple, under the guidance of Wei Ping and Zeng Yongchang, a wooden stage was erected in the center of the small plaza.
This competition stage was square, with a width and length of eight meters. The stage was one meter high from the ground, and benches and chairs were also being placed in the plaza.
"Everyone, move faster. People from various sects will arrive this afternoon. We need to finish setting up the stage before noon, understand?" Wei Ping shouted to the disciples who were busy.
"Yes, Master…"
The disciples of the younger generation were actually disciples personally trained by Wei Ping and Zeng Yongchang, so they had to respectfully call the Taoist master Duan Wuyu "Grand-Disciple Master."
Wei Ping turned to Zhu Yangyu with a smile and said, "Junior Disciple Zhu, I heard that you've also broken through to Hua Jin and entered the early stage of Dan Jin. Congratulations!"
Zhu Yangyu, with his slender build and a pair of narrow, cold eyes, gave off an unfathomable aura. He nodded slightly at Wei Ping, "Compared to Senior Brother Wei, I'm still a bit lacking."
"Heh heh."
Wei Ping waved his hand and said with a smile, "It's truly rare to break through to Martial Dan Jin at your age."
"Junior Disciple Zhu, how old are you?" Zeng Yongchang asked from the side.
"32," Zhu Yuyang replied.
"Amazing."
Zeng Yongchang gave him a thumbs-up and said, "I'm older than you, and I'm still stuck in the middle stage of Hua Jin. This is the gap between genius and stupidity."
Wei Ping glanced at him and said with a smile, "I tell you to study more, but you're always holding your phone and making videos. Now you know the gap, right?"
"Heh heh, Senior Brother is right to scold me," Zeng Yongchang smiled, then said, "I wonder if that kid named Wan Yunting will participate in this sparring match with the young talents from various sects?"
Zhu Yangyu narrowed his long, narrow eyes and asked, "I heard from the junior disciples that he's in the early stage of Martial Dan Jin?"
"Yes," Wei Ping nodded and said in a deep voice, "This person is not simple. To break through to Martial Dan Jin at such an age, his strength was evident when he sparred with Qi Wu!"
Zhu Yangyu nodded, and said calmly, "Then I'm looking forward to sparring with him!"
Wei Ping and Zeng Yongchang's expressions stiffened. They looked at Zhu Yangyu's calm and indifferent demeanor, but they could see that his confidence and pride in his martial arts strength came from the bottom of his heart…