As he laughed, tears streamed down the old blind man's face.
Back then, when he fled the lands of Guangdong and Guangxi, Liu Yubai was considered 'dead'.
The only one still alive now is the old blind man.
The old blind man patted Zhang Cheng on the shoulder again, then looked at Zhang Da Tou and the others who had gotten up from the ground, and grinned, "You young people are chatting away. The New Year is almost here. Even if I die, I have to get through this first month of the lunar calendar so that the villagers won't gossip about me behind my back."
The old blind man had a very open-minded view of life and death. He walked out of the mud house, leaning on his cane with a cheerful smile.
Zhang Da Nao and the others looked at each other.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Shi Yangyang lowered her head, a thoughtful look flashing in her beautiful eyes. Liu Yubai, she felt like she had heard the name somewhere before, but she just couldn't remember where.
"Old blind man, we'll take you home! It's dark and the road is slippery, don't fall!" Zhang Jianhao's eyes darted around, and he shouted as he ran outside.
Zhang Cheng could easily see through Zhang Jianhao's little scheme and couldn't help but laugh. This guy had his eye on the old blind man's kung fu.
Learning martial arts is not difficult to get started with; the difficulty lies in persisting day after day.
Going to the military now allows you to learn a lot of practical combat skills.
To be honest, Zhang Cheng didn't really take the old blind man's "Twelve Iron Fan Strikes" too seriously.
Martial arts skills are not necessarily better with age. Military combat techniques are simpler and more ruthless, emphasizing defeating the enemy with a single move, making them far more practical than most of the fist and foot techniques passed down today.
Zhang Cheng was quite curious about the old blind man's identity.
Zhang Cheng glanced at the group in the room, saw them scratching their heads in frustration, and laughed, "If you want to go, then hurry up and go!"
"Well then, Er Gouzi, we're off!"
"Er Gouzi, once I learn the old blind man's kung fu, I'll be your bodyguard!"
As soon as Zhang Cheng finished speaking, Zhang Da Nao and the others rushed out of the mud house in a swarm.
Zhang Cheng shrugged, grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds, sat down next to Shi Yangyang, and put his arm around her shoulder.
Shi Yangyang blushed, lowered her head, and slowly leaned on Zhang Cheng's shoulder.
Zhang Cheng hummed a tuneless little tune, quite enjoying this rare moment of peace.
The New Year is over, but the snow shows no sign of stopping.
The old blind man's health is deteriorating day by day.
But just as he said, he stubbornly insisted on staying until after the first month of the lunar calendar, so as not to let the villagers think it was bad luck.
With heavy snow blocking the roads, New Year's greetings during the first month of the lunar year are limited to visits between relatives in the village, just a token gesture.
The old blind man passed away shortly after the eighth day of the first lunar month.
As she left, she held Zhang Cheng's hand tightly, closed her eyes with a smile.
Before leaving, he left his house and land to Zhang Cheng.
The old blind man has lived in Zhangjia Village for over seventy years, treating countless people.
For his funeral, the villagers spontaneously came to help, and it was a very grand affair.
Li Xingshan, the oldest man in the village, personally kept vigil for the old blind man all night.
Li Xingshan's words confirmed Zhang Cheng's suspicions.
When the old blind man came to Zhangjia Village, Li Xingshan was only ten years old, while the old blind man looked like he was in his thirties or forties.
The day before the funeral, Zhang Cheng, dressed in a black cotton-padded coat, and as a descendant of Liu Yubai, performed the Phoenix Three Nods salute to the old blind man's coffin.
The villagers, looking at Zhang Cheng's strange posture, all muttered to themselves: "Isn't this like a shamanistic ritual?"
The old blind man was buried in the cemetery on the back hill, and the tombstone was inscribed with the three words "Old Blind Man".
This was also his own request.
Zhang Cheng felt a pang of unease. According to his memories from his previous life, the old blind man was still alive and well at this time.
But now he's gone... Perhaps it was really on New Year's Eve that he forced himself to use the Iron Fan Twelve Strikes, exhausting his last bit of energy, and that's how he died.
After the old blind man was buried, life in the village continued as usual. Everyone went about their business as before.
The world keeps turning no matter who's gone, and life goes on.
The heavy snow finally stopped on the tenth day of the lunar month.
But it got even colder.
The elderly people say that the weather is getting warmer and the snow is starting to melt, which is why it's even colder.
The village aunties all gathered at Big Head's house, busy using flattened bamboo strips to tie up the Solomon's Seal roots and straighten them.
When the snow melts, the roads become even more difficult to travel. Forget about going to the county town; even the paths to neighboring villages become muddy and impassable.
The men in the village couldn't stay idle, so they started helping Zhang Cheng repair the cowshed at the entrance of the village.
Repairing a house in this weather is a complete waste of effort.
But what can they do when they have so much free time?
As for the house left by the old blind man, it was used to store the leftover Solomon's Seal and Panax notoginseng.
Inside the mud house.
Zhang Cheng and Shi Yangyang sat at a small table eating. They had white rice with pickled vegetables. The wolf meat and cured meat were long gone.
"Zhang Cheng!"
This address sent a shiver down Zhang Cheng's spine.
In Zhangjia Village, only those educated youth would call him that.
Zhang Cheng turned to look at the doorway, where Li Yuanyuan, wearing a plaid cotton-padded jacket, walked in with a smile.
Shi Yangyang immediately straightened her face, put down the bowl in her hand, and stared intently at Li Yuanyuan, who strode into the room.
Li Yuanyuan glanced at Shi Yangyang, met her unfriendly gaze, but instead chuckled, seemingly unconcerned, "Shi Yangyang, are you crazy? Why are you so hostile towards me?"
Shi Yangyang didn't say anything.
Zhang Cheng frowned, looking a bit of a headache. "I said, what are you doing here?"
"Didn't you promise me that you'd let me help you with chores when spring comes?"
"We'll have to wait until the snow melts!"
"I know the mountain roads are difficult to travel now, and we can't get to the county. But you can teach me first, so that when we get to the county, I can know what to do and how to do it, right?"
As they were talking, Li Yuanyuan walked to the small table, picked up the small stool next to her, and was about to sit down next to Zhang Cheng.
Zhang Cheng reacted quickly, reaching out to grab the small stool he was sitting on, and swiftly moved to Shi Yangyang's side, raising an eyebrow. "Li Yuanyuan, I'm warning you, don't go too far, Yangyang is still here!"
Li Yuanyuan blinked, a little hesitantly, "You mean, if Shi Yangyang isn't here, I can..."
"Bang!!!"
Neither Zhang Cheng nor Li Yuanyuan expected that Shi Yangyang would suddenly grab a porcelain bowl from the table and smash it over their heads.
Fortunately, Li Yuanyuan reacted quickly, bending down to narrowly avoid the danger.
Turning her head to look at the porcelain bowl shattered into pieces on the ground, Li Yuanyuan was furious! But she deliberately didn't show it. She was naturally gifted in the art of tea, her face full of grievance, her lips pouting, her eyes brimming with tears, and she reached out to grab Zhang Cheng's arm, looking pitiful.
Just as Li Yuanyuan reached out her hand, Shi Yangyang suddenly screamed and lunged at Li Yuanyuan across the small table, baring her teeth and claws.
Zhang Cheng's lips twitched violently. He really didn't expect that Shi Yangyang, who had always acted quite normally and was at most a little quiet, would suddenly "go crazy".
Seeing Shi Yangyang pounce on her like a wildcat, Li Yuanyuan was genuinely scared.
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