Chapter 21: Practice boxing to achieve an early separation and escape from the sea of suffering.
The next day, just after dawn, the chirping of insects gradually subsided, and the first light of day appeared, making the sky appear pale.
The entire Marquis's mansion was still asleep.
The front of the house was especially quiet, with two huge stone lions at the entrance, their mouths wide open, displaying their solemnity and majesty in the morning light.
Of all these places, the martial arts training ground, located southeast of the outer study, was unusually lively.
The sound of the mechanism activating was muffled and deafening. The "wooden man" that had been resting all night suddenly trembled. Its three wooden arms, upper, middle and lower, represented the enemy's punch, grappling, and low kick, respectively, while the figure-eight-shaped wooden legs flared outwards at the bottom represented the enemy's sweeping leg.
One hundred and eight wooden figures, like awakened ghost soldiers, changed positions according to the Bagua formation, rotating and converging towards the center of the field with such force that it was comparable to three adult men attacking together, and they were invincible.
Xiao Qiyu stood at the center of the formation, closed his eyes and inhaled, repeatedly exhaling the turbid air of the night. His expression was calm and indifferent, as if he could not sense the murderous aura that was approaching all around him.
Just before the wooden stake's upper arm struck, Xiao Qiyu suddenly opened his eyes. His five fingers brushed across the stake's arm, and as his fingertips grazed the accumulated patina, he suddenly slammed his elbow down. The instant his left palm slashed towards the middle arm, the sound of his wrist bone striking the wooden arm was like tearing silk. The lingering scent of pears on his body dissipated in the morning light with the force of the punch.
Immediately afterwards, another wooden figure attacked, its upper arm sweeping straight down Xiao Qiyu's back.
Xiao Qiyu winced in pain, letting out a muffled groan, but his spine was taut like a bowstring. He turned his fist into a palm and pressed down on the upper arm of the wooden figure in front of him, while his right knee met the sweeping leg of another wooden figure.
Half an hour later, the sunlight climbed onto the east wall, and the copper bell on the eaves of the study rang out with a "ding"—
The wooden figure, which had been fighting fiercely, suddenly froze, and Xiao Qiyu, exhausted, collapsed in the encirclement.
Under the bright sunlight, the boy was soaked to the bone, breathing heavily, his white Adam's apple bobbing wildly.
The servant Jin Feng stepped forward and respectfully said, "Reporting to my lord, breakfast is ready. Shall we serve the meal?"
Before his panting had stopped, Xiao Qiyu spoke, his voice extremely hoarse: "Send word."
After a short while, breakfast was served in the study.
Xiao Qiyu sat in the armchair, chopsticks in hand, looking at the plain porridge and side dishes he was used to eating, but he just couldn't bring himself to eat them.
His mind was filled with what Cui Ying had said last night—
“Take your family for example. From cutting the ingredients to cooking them, and then plating them and eating them, a dish goes through at least a dozen servants. What if an old woman is being malicious and deliberately spits in it? How do you know if your breakfast contains any saliva from an old woman or a servant?”
Xiao Qiyu shook his head, trying to shake the sound out of his mind, closed his eyes, picked up a small dish with his chopsticks, and put it in his mouth with a determined look.
After chewing for only a couple of seconds, Xiao Qiyu suddenly spat out the food.
Jin Feng Yu Lu was startled and quickly asked, "What's wrong, my lord? Does the food taste wrong?"
Xiao Qiyu shook his head, put down his chopsticks, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and his dark phoenix eyes were filled with anger. He calmly ordered, "Take it away. I have no appetite today."
"This is."
As he listened to the sound of the food being taken away, Xiao Qiyu closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, his heart churning with complex emotions he had never experienced in the previous sixteen years.
He doesn't believe in gods or Buddhas, and naturally he doesn't believe in reincarnation or karma.
But since marrying Cui Ying, and after only a few days together, he has begun to vaguely believe it.
He felt that he must have owed Cui Ying something in his past life.
Otherwise, it doesn't make sense; why am I always tormented by her in this life?
After all, if she were just plain mean, he could simply ignore her or even easily scare her into behaving herself and not daring to act recklessly.
But she wasn't.
The reason she maintained this marriage in name only was for his grandmother, for the people Xiao Qiyu cared about, and even for the sake of saving his grandmother's life, she gave up the divorce that was within reach and continued to play along with him in the Marquis's mansion.
How could he possibly treat her badly without feeling at ease?
Xiao Qiyu was utterly helpless against Cui Ying.
All I can do is silently hope that the two years will pass quickly so I can get a divorce and escape this sea of suffering.
"Cui Ying, you troublemaker."
Thinking of that proud and dazzlingly hateful face, Xiao Qiyu couldn't help but frown even with his eyes closed.
...
Inside Qiyun Pavilion, Cui Ying was fast asleep when he suddenly sneezed.
She wrinkled her nose, mumbled sleepily, "Which dog is insulting me?", and turned over to continue sleeping.
A note from the author:
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I'll keep the word count low for this chapter. It'll be available for purchase tomorrow, with a 10,000-word update (If I Could).
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
