Chapter 436 The Village Genius Has Returned
The mountains stretched as far as the eye could see, lush and green. Under the blazing sun, cicadas chirped merrily. Along the forest path, groups of five boys and girls, around eleven or twelve years old, waded down the stream to go home. Each carried a leather satchel. The one in the lead, Yu Guang, looked up and called to the girl lagging behind, "Zhao Xiang! Hurry up, or the teachers will have closed the doors by the time we get there!"
Zhao Xiang was dressed in a gray cloth outfit, patched up everywhere. The clothes looked dirty, but they made her skin appear even fairer. Her leather satchel hung in front of her chest, and her sleeves and trouser legs were rolled up high, revealing her thin, bony hands and feet.
"What's the rush!" The girl looked small and thin, but she had quite a temper. She raised her head and glared at someone out of the corner of her eye. "I'm not afraid of the instructor closing the door. It's so hot outside, I don't want to go to class!"
Yu Guang wasn't annoyed by her fierce rebuke. Instead, he earnestly advised, "Your mother would never agree. She and your father spent a lot of money to give you the opportunity to go to Guiyitang. You can't let their money go to waste. Wait a minute, stand still, I'll come and take your hand."
The mountain roads are rugged and there are many streams. Even in the scorching summer, the mountain roads are covered with moss and are easy to slip. The mountains are also very hot and humid, and the children's faces are covered with sweat.
Zhao Xiang stopped in the steep stream, stretched out her hand to Yu Guang, and complained, "It's so hot. I'd rather stay home and learn to hunt with my dad. At least I could catch a rabbit. This trip was just a lot of suffering."
Yu Guang said, "They can also learn to read and write!"
Zhao Xiang: "I don't want to learn!"
"Don't you want to go to Taiyi?" Yu Guang turned to look at her. "Becoming a ninth-rate sorcerer will allow you to earn a lot of money for your family! And you can go to very far places!"
The girl said with a sour face, "That's something only a genius can do. Are you a genius?"
Yu Guang: "Genius begins with reading and recognizing characters!"
The two argued incessantly, continuing to bicker as they walked, gradually falling behind the others.
Guiyitang is located at the foot of the mountain in Xiangshui Village. It is a school run by a young couple who only teach for half a day, from noon to late afternoon. Both of them are very punctual, opening and closing the door on time and never lingering.
But they only taught reading and writing, and the tuition was very cheap. All the students combined didn't even cover the cost of renovating the abandoned Guiyitang courtyard.
Xiangshui Village is divided into villagers living uphill and villagers living downhill, with the mountain as the dividing line. Guiyitang is located at the foot of the mountain, and children from the mountain who want to come to study have to brave the scorching sun to make the journey in the summer.
Because Xiangshui Village produced several geniuses in recent years who went to the distant Taiyi Academy to cultivate, their families received many rewards, and several households were able to move to the bustling town.
Others also placed high hopes on their own children, telling others that their village was blessed by the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and was dedicated to nurturing geniuses, while secretly praying that the genius would be their own child.
When someone boasted that their child was a genius, someone remarked that a genius couldn't read, and people rushed to send their children to school to learn to read.
The only two schools charged exorbitant fees, which many families couldn't afford. When they learned that Guiyitang's tuition was very low, but it was selective in choosing students, people immediately turned their attention to Guiyitang.
Guiyitang, which had previously been deserted, suddenly became packed with students.
But in the end, only eleven people remained. This was because the other two schools had hired sorcerers from the lower classes as teachers, who not only taught you to read and write but also to learn about the sorcery of the lower classes.
Guiyi Hall was built beside a stream, surrounded by willow trees, and ducks could be seen diving in the river. Yu Guang and Zhao Xiang ran breathlessly to the school gate, saw that the gate was not closed, wiped the sweat from their foreheads, and hurried inside.
After passing through the eaves, the two tiptoed in through the back door. As soon as they entered the house, they saw a woman in a green dress sitting in a rocking chair.
The verdant green that blends seamlessly with the mountain scenery is as gentle and bright as cool stream water.
The woman held a book in one hand and played with a glittering butterfly hairpin in the other. The exquisite and elegant craftsmanship and style made Zhao Xiang stare in disbelief, and she exclaimed in her heart how beautiful it was.
Yu Guang breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Yu Sui. Luckily it was Instructor Xiao Yu, not Instructor Gongsun. Otherwise, they wouldn't have left the door open for them and would have acted as if they hadn't seen them. If it had been Instructor Gongsun, they would definitely have been scolded.
The two had just sat down when they heard a woman's lazy voice from in front of them: "Today, we'll start by copying the words and phrases on page thirty-two."
The two children quickly flipped through the book to find the page she was referring to.
The willow shade covered the water's surface, and a flock of ducks gathered to cool off. Before long, the sound of reading aloud coming from inside the house made the ducks shake their heads.
Just as Shenshi (3-5 PM) arrived, Yu Sui put down the book in her hand, got up from the recliner, and looked at the children who were also tidying up the table: "The school will end at the end of this month, and the school will close. When you go home today, remember to tell your parents."
The students asked in surprise, "Is Instructor Little Fish going to close the school?"
"yes."
"Why?!"
Yu Sui didn't explain, but just smiled and said, "Remember to tell your parents when you get back that you should pay attention to the last five days of classes. Go back now, and be careful on the way."
After saying that, she took the lead and walked out.
The children started discussing it all at once, but only Zhao Xiang raised her hand and cheered, "Just five more days and it'll be over!"
She returned home happily and told her parents about it. Her parents, who were hunters by trade and illiterate, were worried after hearing this. If Guiyitang closed down, where would they find an affordable school for their daughter to study?
Zhao Xiang didn't care about any of that. She was very enthusiastic about the next five days of the course because she knew it was about to end and she could stay at home in the scorching sun and avoid the sweltering heat of the mountains.
On the day Guiyitang closed, Zhao Xiang, Yu Guang, and others left under the watchful eyes of the two instructors. Although the others were reluctant to part, they were all children at an age where they loved to play. They made plans to go to the mountains to pick wild fruits and played until very late.
As darkness fell, the mountain path became even more difficult to traverse.
But Zhao Xiang had lived in these mountains since she was a child, and she knew the way home even if she was blind. But as soon as she entered the courtyard, she saw her parents lying in a pool of blood, with wild fruits scattered all over the ground. The little girl screamed and ran over, but was punched by someone who came out of the house and fell unconscious to the ground.
The man was panting heavily, his eyes were bloodshot, and he seemed to be out of his mind. As the man took a step forward, Zhao Xiang's Five Elements Light Core flashed and slit the man's throat, leaving him lying at the doorway.
Just as Yu Sui reached the front door, he suddenly turned around and said to Mei Liangyu, who was sitting under the flower trellis in the yard refining mechanical molds, "Senior brother, Zhao Xiang's parents have been murdered. The murderer seems to be suffering from the effects of the orchid poison."
After each lesson, she would release the Five Elements Light Core to watch over the children and ensure their safe return home. Xiangshui Village was poor and remote, with difficult mountain roads and wild animals. Several times, the Five Elements Light Core secretly helped the children escape danger.
"Orchid Poison?" Mei Liangyu put down what she was holding and stepped out from under the flower trellis. "Are they from Xiangshui Village?"
“I’ve never seen him in Xiangshui Village.” Yu Sui shook his head; they had only lived in Xiangshui Village for three months.
I was supposed to pack my things and leave tonight.
"Do you want to go take a look?" Mei Liangyu asked.
Yu Sui walked inside, stretched, and lay down on a bench under the flower stand, looking languid: "I've already sent the neighbors over. Zhao Xiang isn't seriously injured; she just fainted."
Leave the matter of Lan Du to Yu Lan Si.
She rolled over, lay on the bench, and beckoned to Mei Liangyu, asking him to come over: "There's no need for us to come and join in the fun. You continue. After I stop playing with the Wind-Listening Ruler, I'll only be able to watch you forge iron to pass the time."
"..." Mei Liangyu walked over speechlessly. "I told you, that's not called blacksmithing, it's smelting and forging. It's my unique secret method of forging knives with qi."
Yu Sui laughed and said, "Forging a knife is just like blacksmithing."
Mei Liangyu glanced at her sideways and casually covered her with a thin blanket as she walked past the bench, saying, "It's cold at night." She then gently pinched the back of Yu Sui's neck with her icy hand, making Yu Sui shrink back from the cold.
Wrapped in a thin blanket, Yu Sui asked him, "Are we leaving tonight? Or first thing tomorrow morning?"
"It will take a while to finish this knife. Let's leave first thing tomorrow morning." Mei Liangyu sat down at the workbench, where five long knives were laid out. Their blades were gleaming and their curved edges were sharp, clearly top-quality.
Mei Liangyu picked up the sixth long sword that was being made. To the naked eye, only the bare hilt was visible. He flicked the bluish-brown hilt with his finger, which produced a humming sound from the blade.
"Can you see the blade?" Mei Liangyu asked, handing the blade to Yu Sui.
Yu Sui examined it for a while, then shook her head: "I can't see it."
Mei Liangyu: "Try touching it with your hand."
Yu Sui reached out her hand, but invisibly touched the sharp edge of the blade. She sat up in surprise, took the hilt from Mei Liangyu and examined it: "You can see it with your Heavenly Eye."
Mei Liangyu leaned against the workbench and snorted softly upon hearing this: "Apart from Tianmu, nothing else will do."
“But the blade is only this short, so it’s a short sword, right?” Yu Sui compared the distance to the long sword and looked up at Mei Liangyu.
Mei Liangyu said, "It will be available once the forging is complete."
Yu Sui returned the hilt to him and suddenly asked, "Senior brother, you didn't forge it using the harmony of heaven and earth, did you?"
Mei Liangyu said expressionlessly, "I must be crazy to use the harmony of heaven and earth to forge a blade."
Yu Sui thought to herself, "In some ways, you really are pretty crazy."
Mei Liangyu saw through her thoughts at a glance: "Am I mader than you? I forcibly refined the Yin-Yang Twin Fish with the Breath of Earth, which caused me to be injured for more than half a year, and I can't even be exposed to the slightest cold wind."
"It's just a bit of cold wind," Yu Sui said with a proud expression.
Mei Liangyu reached out his hand towards her neck, and Yu Sui immediately dodged: "Senior brother, your hands are too cold."
"Just a cold wind," Mei Liangyu sneered.
"That's because you were there to protect me, which is why I dared to forcibly refine it. Although I'm afraid of the cold now, at least I succeeded in refining it!" Yu Sui looked back obediently.
Mei Liangyu crossed his arms and looked at her with a leisurely air.
But Yu Sui's expression quickly changed: "I told you back then that you were not allowed to use the Harmony of Heaven and Earth to save me. The number of times you used Harmony of Heaven and Earth during that period, I don't know how many years of life you would lose. In the end, it took two months to recover. Otherwise, we would both have become sickly."
Upon hearing this, Mei Liangyu's hands, which had just been clasped together, loosened again, and he turned around, pretending to hold the hilt of his knife.
Yu Sui wanted to take the opportunity to say a few more words to him, but suddenly several melons fell from the melon vines at the edge of the flower trellis, making a thumping sound as they landed on the ground.
Both of them looked over.
Yu Sui got up to pick up the white melon that had fallen to the ground, complaining, "It's only been five days since the vines started growing, how come the melon is already so big?"
Mei Liangyu: "You not only used the Breath Soil to grow melons, but you also used the Nine Provinces Star Sea to accelerate time. By tomorrow morning, these melons will be too old."
"The Breath of Earth has tormented me for so many years, what's the point of asking it to compensate me with a few melons now?" Yu Sui snorted, taking the melons to the well next to him to wash them.
A smile flickered in Mei Liangyu's eyes. He didn't speak, but instead used a small hammer to tap and tamp the blade, which was invisible to the naked eye.
Yu Sui placed the sliced melon on the table, took a slice and held it to Mei Liangyu's lips. Without even looking at it, he took a bite of the slice Yu Sui offered.
Is it sweet?
"It is too sweet."
Mei Liangyu didn't like sweets, but Yu Sui ignored him, took a bite herself, and said, "Just right."
After eating and drinking his fill, Yu Sui lay back comfortably on the bench, closed his eyes to listen to the clanging sound of Mei Liangyu forging knives, and spoke again with a hint of weariness in his voice: "Senior brother, let's go to the city for a stroll next. We're tired of the local food and want to try some delicacies from the mountains and seas."
Mei Liangyu asked her, "How many places on your spring outing map are you still not at?"
"There's plenty more," Yu Sui said. "Then this time when we go to the beach, I want to eat crab roe rice!"
“Okay.” Mei Liangyu stopped what she was doing, took out the map she had prepared, marked it, and confirmed the route.
The two chatted about their next destination, and Yu Sui fell asleep as she talked. When Mei Liangyu heard no more sound, she turned around and saw her sleeping with one hand under her head.
Mei Liangyu put down the map and quietly watched her for a long time.
As dawn broke, people began to rush towards the small courtyard at the foot of the mountain. Yu Sui, who was sitting on a bench, opened her eyes and got up. She saw Mei Liangyu standing at the gate of the courtyard, talking with the village chief of Xiangshui Village, with Zhao Xiang, who was covered in blood, by her side.
The little girl wiped away her tears, crying silently without saying a word, but her face was full of fierceness.
Yu Sui didn't go there, but she could hear their conversation.
The old village chief was playing the victim with Mei Liangyu, saying that the child's parents were murdered last night by a mentally unstable poisoner, and that people from the town were searching house to house, saying that an accomplice had also escaped.
Everyone is too busy right now, and the old village chief hopes that the couple can help take care of Zhao Xiang.
Yu Sui and Mei Liangyu could guess why the old village chief did this. Zhao Xiang's family had a bad relationship with the neighbors in the village, and the child had a strange temper, so no one wanted to take Zhao Xiang in, and they also felt that it was unlucky that someone in her family had died.
The old village chief then thought of the two men from Guiyitang. They were young, ran a school at a low price, and seemed like kind-hearted people. Hearing that they were leaving, the old village chief wanted to use Zhao Xiang to keep them there and continue teaching at a low price.
Mei Liangyu is rejecting the old village chief's proposal.
“We’ve packed our things and are leaving soon,” he said. “Since Yulansi is already searching, then…”
"They're all in cahoots!" Zhao Xiang suddenly interrupted him angrily. "Yu Lansi didn't send anyone to chase after them at all! He even told that person to hide well and not be discovered!"
The old village chief was so frightened that his vision went black. He quickly grabbed Zhao Xiang and said, "Zhao Xiang, you can't say things like that!"
"I'm not making this up!" Zhao Xiang broke free from the old village chief's hand, knelt down in Yu Sui's direction, and cried out, "Instructor Xiao Yu! I saw you teach those bandits a lesson. You're a low-level sorcerer. I beg you, please avenge my parents!"
The old village chief looked at Yu Sui in shock. Weren't they ordinary people?!
Mei Liangyu rested one hand on the courtyard gate, looking at Yu Sui with a half-smile, as if silently saying, "How did you get discovered by a child?"
Yu Sui looked up at the sky, suddenly smiled, and waved to Zhao Xiang.
Zhao Xiang hurriedly got up and stumbled over. Mei Liangyu stopped the old village chief who was about to go in and said, "The child is frightened and is saying some crazy things. Since it was entrusted by the village chief, we will help take care of him for a while until the case is closed by Yu Lansi."
The old village chief was momentarily lost in thought when he heard him speak. By the time he nodded in response, he had already forgotten Zhao Xiang's words about Yu Sui being a low-class sorcerer. He was only grateful to the two people who were willing to take Zhao Xiang in.
Yu Sui looked at Zhao Xiang, who had walked up to her and knelt down again, but instead of telling her to get up, she looked her over and asked, "Who else are you telling me I'm a low-class sorcerer?"
"I didn't say that!" Zhao Xiang was a little anxious, afraid that she wouldn't believe her. "I didn't even tell my mother! I... I was just bluffing you. When I saw them, you had already beaten them down."
“You even lied to the instructors.” Yu Sui pretended to be sad. “Then how can I believe that what you just said wasn’t a lie you told to cover up for Yu Lansi?”
Zhao Xiang was both anxious and angry. She stood up abruptly, staring at Yu Sui with her red, tear-filled eyes: "I really didn't lie to you, Instructor Xiaoyu! Last night, I was hiding behind a haystack when I heard the people from Yulansi using a wind-listening ruler to warn someone else that they were going to the mountains to catch him and that he should take his things and run away quickly!"
"What is that?"
"I don't know... He didn't say, but they're all poison people, so they must have told him to take the orchid poison and run away quickly!" Zhao Xiang said bitterly. "The village chief said that the person who killed my parents was suffering from orchid poison, and in a fit of madness, he did it..."
As the little girl spoke, tears streamed down her face, her reddened eyes filled with the fury of revenge.
It would be a disaster if they were to be consumed by hatred at such a young age.
"Teacher Xiaoyu, I really didn't lie to you!" Zhao Xiang knelt down before Yu Sui again.
Yu Sui stood up and reached out to pat her head: "Okay, okay, I was just teasing you."
Zhao Xiang was taken aback by her sudden change of expression, her emotions stuck for a moment, before she kowtowed and said, "Teacher Xiaoyu, please teach me the Nine Streams Technique! I want to kill that poisonous insect to avenge my parents! As long as you are willing to teach me, I will serve you like a slave! I will do anything!"
"You don't even want to read normally, yet you want to learn low-level techniques. Even if I gave you a low-level secret technique, would you be able to read the words on it?" Yu Sui mocked her without any politeness.
Zhao Xiang was filled with remorse after hearing what she said, and kowtowed several more times, her forehead turning red: "I will definitely study and write hard from now on! I will never be lazy again!"
"Then go and copy all the poems from yesterday."
“Okay! I’ll go right now… Now?” Zhao Xiang looked up incredulously. “Instructor Xiaoyu, I need to…”
"You just said you'd do anything for me, like a slave." Yu Sui tapped the table with her finger. "You're already unhappy about copying a few poems? Fine, then you can leave."
"I'll write it!" Zhao Xiang immediately stood up. "I'll write it right now!"
Yu Sui nodded: "If you've finished writing everything when I get back tonight, then I'll help you get revenge. But if you're missing even a single word, you'll have to figure out how to get revenge yourself."
After saying that, he stopped looking at her and walked towards Mei Liangyu outside the door.
"Little Fish Instructor! Where are you all going?!" Zhao Xiang pressed, but no one answered.
She wiped away her tears, washed her hands at the table, and then sat down, forcing herself to do as Yu Sui had told her.
Zhao Xiang was agitated and her writing was very irritable, resulting in completely illegible scribbles. As time passed, she gradually calmed down, and her writing became more legible.
After nightfall, Yu Sui and Mei Liangyu slowly returned from outside, carrying a lot of things in their hands.
Zhao Xiang hadn't slept all night, was still shaken, and had spent the whole day copying books. Her eyes were red and swollen, and her hands ached terribly, but she dared not stop. Seeing Yu Sui return, she quickly finished writing the last two characters, immediately stood up, and shouted, "Teacher Xiaoyu! I'm finished copying!"
She ran towards Yu Sui with a thick stack of papers, but tripped and fell to the ground, spilling all the papers.
Zhao Xiang then felt wronged and picked up the items while crying.
Yu Sui handed her a bag of hot scallion pancakes: "Eat up."
Zhao Xiang was stunned for a moment, then took it and immediately started eating it in big bites.
“We’ve found out for you. The poisoner who killed your parents last night was from out of town. We don’t know his name, but we’ve heard he’s nicknamed ‘The Cripple,’ and the man who was with him was called ‘The Blind.’ They were trading with someone in the mountains last night, but the Cripple was poisoned and went crazy, killing your parents.”
"The blind man didn't wait for the person who came to make the deal, and seeing that the lame man had gotten into trouble, he ran away first."
Zhao Xiang's eyes widened, and after taking a moment to process what she had to say, she asked, "Where is he?! I'm going to kill him to avenge my parents!"
"We don't know where the blind man is, but the person they were going to make a deal with last night is Uncle Wang from Shangshan Village."
The number of low-level sorcerers in Xiangshui Village can be counted on one hand, and they are all old fogies with shallow cultivation levels. They all work as instructors at those two schools.
This Uncle Wang is one of them.
Zhao Xiang couldn't believe it: "Old Wang is a third-rate sorcerer himself, why would he buy orchid poison to eat! Isn't that just driving himself crazy?"
She only knew that orchid poison was something that could drive people crazy, but she didn't know its specific effects.
People say that the current emperor has gone mad from taking poison, which is why he has killed so many people in the past three years, neglected state affairs, and left the administration to Prince Xiang, leading to internal strife in various prefectures.
As Zhao Xiang swallowed her food, she said, "Even the Emperor went mad from eating orchid poison, so why is Old Man Wang still..."
Yu Sui suddenly burst out laughing.
Zhao Xiang looked up in confusion.
Yu Sui said, "His Majesty did not go mad from eating the orchid poison, but was frightened into madness by the strange fire."
Upon hearing about the strange fire, Zhao Xiang was startled and quickly added, "I tested it with the sacred stone; I am not the destroyer of the world!"
Three years ago, the Fire-Absorbing Ice Stones distributed by Shuizhou were announced to be able to withstand the burning of strange fires. After the Fire-Absorbing Ice Stones were used extensively to pave roads, build houses and city walls, they were called sacred stones.
"Of course you're not." Yu Sui waved her hand, and the papers scattered all over the floor flew back to the table and were neatly stacked.
Zhao Xiang stared, her eyes wide with disbelief.
“I asked Old Man Wang, and he said that the blind man is a master of the tenth realm of magic, but he can hide underground using divine means, and can stay underground for up to a year without coming out.”
Yu Sui sat down at the table and looked through Zhao Xiang's copied work: "It was only through his divine calculations that the blind man was able to hide so much of the orchid poison."
"A month later, a big shot has arranged to make a deal with him in the mountains. Only then will the blind man come out and you have a chance to take revenge."
Zhao Xiang asked, "Who is this important person?"
"I would have told you if I knew," YY said to Yu Sui. "Go take a shower and rest after you've eaten. You go to sleep..."
Yu Sui looked up at the house behind her. Mei Liangyu happened to be opening a window from inside and raised her eyebrows when she heard what Yu Sui said.
“…We’ll sleep in the pavilion, not the house,” Yu Sui told Mei Liangyu.
There's only one bed in this room.
Zhao Xiang said shyly, "It's okay! I can sleep outside!"
“Okay, then you can sleep outside.” Yu Sui readily agreed, then turned to Mei Liangyu and said, “We’ll sleep inside.”
After hearing this, Mei Liangyu turned around and went to tidy up the house.
Zhao Xiang couldn't hold on any longer. After listening to Yu Sui's words, she was so full that she didn't even have the strength to wash up before collapsing to the ground and falling asleep.
Yu Sui leaned over and touched her forehead, finding that the child still had a fever, so she gave her some medicine.
She took her own thin blanket back into the house, leaving the newly bought one for Zhao Xiang.
Wrapped in a thin blanket, Yu Sui lay down on the bed that Mei Liangyu had just made, rolled over in relaxation, and heard Mei Liangyu ask, "Are you really going to teach her the Nine Schools of Thought?"
“She seems to have some talent too. I wonder which family she’s destined to be with. Let’s test her tomorrow.” Yu Sui said, then sat up again. “Senior brother, she’s like a child who’s been picked up by a villain and taught his secret techniques. When she grows up and goes out into the world, people will be shocked when they see the moves she uses and ask, ‘Who is your master? What’s your relationship with that villain?’”
Mei Liangyu: "Every time you bring up this kind of thing, you sound like a storyteller."
Yu Sui touched her cheek, and after Mei Liangyu reached out to hug her, she found a comfortable position and lay down again, continuing, "Isn't my reputation bad enough? Stealing national treasures, murdering my mother, even my grandmother's death was blamed on me. I'm already a universally reviled scoundrel."
"Your reputation is also very bad; they all say you're a womanizer who forgets your principles."
Mei Liangyu: "Let them say what they want."
Yu Sui leaned her head against his chest, closed her eyes and said, "They were cursing Nangong Sui and Mei Liangyu, not our Instructor Xiaoyu and Instructor Gongsun."
Mei Liangyu was amused by her and ruffled her hair.
...
Yu Sui helped bury Zhao Xiang's parents. After the funeral, Zhao Xiang began her spiritual practice with Yu Sui and Yu Sui. Early that morning, Zhao Xiang got up, changed into the new clothes Yu Sui had given her, and helped make breakfast.
When Yu Sui woke up and saw a table full of dishes, she was a little confused and asked Mei Liangyu, "Did you make this?"
Mei Liangyu said, "Your apprentice."
Zhao Xiang knelt down before Yu Sui with a thud: "Master!"
"Get up and eat. Why call me Master? Just call me as before. I'm just your little fish tutor who teaches you to read." Yu Sui reached out to help her up and tested her talent.
He's not some unparalleled genius, just someone with a bit of talent. It would be even better if he learned some physical techniques to enhance his abilities.
Because Zhao Xiang had been eating poorly for many years, she was thin but very strong. Yu Sui made her practice calligraphy after meals, practice military martial arts in the afternoon, and sense the flow of qi in the world in the evening.
The little girl endured hardship to avenge her family, practicing the moves Yu Sui had given her day and night under the scorching sun and in the cold wind.
It rained heavily in the middle of the night. Yu Sui woke up to the sound of rain, tiptoed out of bed, and looked out the window. She found Zhao Xiang still practicing her moves.
She watched quietly for a while, then turned to look at Mei Liangyu, who had also sat up at some point.
Mei Liangyu paused for a moment, then asked, "Were you moved by the scene?"
He thought Yu Sui would lament that she wished someone had taught her the Nine Schools of Thought like this when she was a child.
In the past two years, my junior sister has become like a storyteller, and she talks about many more fantastical things than before.
Yu Sui shook her head: "No, I just remembered that she cried a lot when she first arrived, and it suddenly reminded me of the past."
Mei Liangyu: "Before what?"
“I’ve heard from the Wen Yang brothers that you would cry when you were bullied as a child, so I thought…”
"Don't even think about it." Mei Liangyu said with a blank face, then fell back onto the bed and waved his hand casually, "I'll sleep inside, you sleep outside."
Yu Sui slowly walked towards the bed: "You're making me sleep on the outside, aren't you afraid I'll fall off?"
After Mei Liangyu waited for her to lie down, she pulled the person inside again.
Xiangshui Village has two major surnames: Zhao and Ling, which are distributed in both the upper and lower villages.
Zhao Xiang's distant cousin, seeing that the child was studying with Yu Sui and didn't go back often, put a lot of odds and ends in the uninhabited house.
One evening, Zhao Xiang went back to get some things and found her distant cousin having a good time with his family and friends at her house. She was furious and started cursing, pulling and throwing their things out of the house.
Yu Sui and Mei Liangyu watched from the sidelines, neither making a move nor saying a word. It was their distant cousin who yelled at the top of his lungs, demanding that Yu Sui discipline her student.
"She's still young, so you, as her elder, should be more accommodating," Yu Sui said with a smile.
Her distant cousin then cursed her as well, which made Zhao Xiang even angrier. "You're not allowed to curse Instructor Xiaoyu!" she shouted, swinging a fist imbued with the power of the Five Elements at the man's face.
The punch shocked everyone present. The relatives who had been arguing and trying to break up the fight were all stunned. After they came to their senses, they all ran towards the distant cousin who had fainted on the ground.
After people discovered that Zhao Xiang could practice the Nine Schools of Thought, their attitude towards her changed drastically, and they dared not bully this orphan girl anymore.
Zhao Xiang appeared fierce to outsiders, saying she could protect the house by herself. But after everyone left, she knelt on the ground and cried to Yu Sui, pitifully telling her how scared she was.
She wiped away tears as she spoke.
Yu Sui turned her head and whispered to Mei Liangyu, "I didn't teach you this, did I?"
Mei Liangyu joked, "Now people will really start asking her who her teacher was."
Afterwards, Yu Sui and Mei Liangyu also stayed at the Zhao family's house. Zhao Xiang's house was somewhat remote, far from the others. When Zhao Xiang was cultivating, Mei Liangyu and Yu Sui would keep watch for her, preventing anyone who wanted to peek or inquire from getting in.
As Zhao Xiang practiced, he struggled to find a sparring partner and thus became unclear about the limits of his skills.
Yu Sui thought for a moment and said to Mei Liangyu, "Senior brother, can your Taoist paper puppets turn into tiny people? Turn one into a paper puppet that knows swordsmanship for her."
She believed that Mei Liangyu's ability to create things with a thousand machines was comparable to a certain technology printing; as long as one had the five elements, one could create things with bare hands.
Others use Taoist paper puppets as their magic, but Yu Sui felt that Mei Liangyu's magic was like that of a mechanical puppeteer, so he called it a paper puppet.
Mei Liangyu held a piece of white paper in one hand: "Then remember to give it a blessing from a famous person."
Yu Sui asked, "What blessings will be bestowed?"
Mei Liangyu said, "Bless her with death to weaken her power, otherwise the paper puppet could have swept her down the mountain with a single sword stroke."
"You ordered the paper puppet to weaken its power!"
"This is the bare minimum of our strength."
Yu Sui had no choice. For Zhao Xiang, facing a paper puppet made by a master of the thirteenth realm was like a novice who had just entered the ninth-rate world fighting against a max-level saint.
Hearing their conversation, Zhao Xiang mustered her courage and said, "Teacher Xiaoyu, I can do it! I definitely won't let you down!"
Upon hearing this, Yu Sui and Mei Liangyu looked at her with inscrutable expressions.
"Really? Are you confident?"
"Yes!" Zhao Xiang nodded emphatically. "I believe in my progress over this period of time. I will never be knocked down the mountain in a single sword strike!"
“She said she was confident.” Yu Sui turned to look at Mei Liangyu, who shrugged, raised the piece of paper in her hand, and gathered her energy to form a physical form.
Yu Sui also cooperated by making hand seals, gathering energy to condense into characters, and bestowing blessings upon the paper puppets.
Zhao Xiang stared wide-eyed at the tattered, thin piece of white paper, which suddenly transformed into a three-dimensional paper figure with four limbs, holding a wooden sword in its hand.
That's amazing!
As she marveled inwardly, she heard Yu Sui say, "Try it out first." Zhao Xiang immediately composed herself and focused on dealing with it. "Okay!" As she gripped the sharp sword in her hand and rushed forward, she saw the paper puppet sword lift up and knock her unconscious, sending her flying.
Yu Sui waved his hand to gather wind and stop Zhao Xiang from flying away, leaving Mei Liangyu speechless.
In her drowsy state at night, Zhao Xiang vaguely heard the two people discussing something beside her:
"This minimum strength is a bit too exaggerated."
"You need to press it down a bit more, Senior Brother. Your control over the Five Elements Qi is not precise enough."
"Sigh, it's all because we've become too powerful now."
"We need to control every single strand of the Five Elements Qi more precisely, to control Qi as easily as breathing. Would that allow us to reach the realm of a sage?"
"By freely controlling the strength of the Qi manifestation, and by determining the limits of its strength, one can achieve rapid progress."
"Then let's try paper puppets."
"..."
Zhao Xiang dared not wake up, fearing that her beautiful dream of her master being a saint would be shattered.
Yu Sui found new enjoyment in teaching Zhao Xiang, and pulled Mei Liangyu to practice qi control together, making the control of qi precise down to the last thread.
The image of these two people in Zhao Xiang's mind has become increasingly unfathomable.
A month later, it was time for the blind man to trade orchid poison with someone.
That evening, Zhao Xiang prepared early, holding her curved knife, waiting for Yu Sui to give the signal. Zhao Xiang was on high alert, but Yu Sui and Mei Liangyu seemed quite relaxed, discussing the art of strategy with Zhao Xiang on the way.
“If you kill the blind man later, then his divine secrets and soil will be yours,” Yu Sui said. “In the future, you can be like him and hide underground for a year or two without any problem.”
Mei Liangyu: "Perfect, if we encounter something we can't beat, we can use the Divine Machine Without Earth to escape."
Zhao Xiang shouted, "I won't run away so easily! If we're going to fight, let's fight to the bitter end!"
Mei Liangyu: "Then why don't you go fight the paper puppet?"
Zhao Xiang: "...I definitely will when I grow up!"
The three walked into the dark and rugged depths of the mountain forest. Halfway there, Yu Sui suddenly turned around and looked back: "Someone is coming."
The opponent used the Wind Riding Technique to travel at a very fast speed.
Mei Liangyu made a hand seal with one hand, concealing the three figures into the darkness.
Zhao Xiang covered her mouth, barely daring to breathe. As the moonlight shone through the clouds, a figure flashed up the narrow mountain path. The person he was carrying was covered in blood and had a weak breath, clearly seriously injured.
He didn't even notice the three people hiding in the forest path, and was only anxious to continue on his way.
Seeing that the other party had vanished in the blink of an eye using the wind manipulation technique, Zhao Xiang didn't dare to breathe loudly. After a while, she quietly asked Yu Sui, "Is he blind?"
Yu Sui shook her head and said, "The village genius has returned."
"Geniuses?" Zhao Xiang asked in surprise after a moment of doubt, "Are you referring to those geniuses who went to Taiyi?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com