Ying Wanli had already informed his colleagues, and the two small boats carrying nearly thirty people drifted at sea for a while before encountering the government's sea vessel.
Chu Liuxiang, a highly respected figure in the martial arts world, was in charge of coordinating the matter with the government. Among the thirty people was Gou Zichang, the perpetrator of a family massacre; both he and Ying Wanli had already been subdued by Chu Liuxiang.
Having experienced so much in such a short time, Yan Liang was exhausted, both mentally and physically. He decided to put everything behind him and slept in bed for a day and a night. When he woke up again, the large ship was not far from the land.
The system thoroughly searched through all the weapon-related items in the store, filtering and eliminating them until it finally found a staff-type weapon that it was satisfied with and believed Yan Liang would also be satisfied with.
The understated yet luxurious and sophisticated Xuan Tie staff can stand upright at eyebrow level, feels comfortable in the hand, and has a moderate weight; in addition, it can be shortened, allowing for both advancing and retreating, and it won't cause bleeding—is there a better staff weapon than this!
Yan Liang tried it out and found it very easy to use. Inadvertently, he thought of his childhood idol, the Monkey King, Sun Wukong.
Thank you, I really like it.
Yan Liang was very satisfied.
Everything in the world can be a weapon; even a plucked leaf or a flying flower can injure someone, and even household items like folding stools and candlesticks can strike unexpectedly. However, without profound internal strength, plucking leaves or flying flowers is just a joke; and folding stools and candlesticks are not readily available—in conclusion, a weapon that can be placed and retrieved at any time is simply an excellent choice for plotting against someone.
Yan Liang was particularly comfortable using this stick.
"Should we give it a name?" the system asked him.
Yan Liang had a sudden inspiration: [Black Cudgel—]
[Rejected—] The system felt suffocated by the name, whose origin was obvious at a glance. [Won't you feel embarrassed to say it out loud?]
[How about a "charlatan"?] Yan Liang thought of another one: [A charlatan's weapon is called a charlatan.]
[...]
The system didn't know whether to criticize this person for calling himself a charlatan or for the name he chose.
Seeing that the system had no objections, Yan Liang made the final decision and named the new weapon "charlatan".
The system was speechless and silently handed a piece of the extracted stick technique to Yan Liang—names and such were just external things, as long as its host could make full use of it, that was enough.
The large ship sailed for another day and stopped at the nearest dock.
The people arrested on Bat Island were taken away by government officials. Yan Liang did not see them off, but watched the government carriage drive away.
He felt that if he were to see Yuan Suiyun and Wuhua off before his departure, he would probably be seen as making a fool of himself.
The twenty or so martial arts figures who had traveled a long way to Bat Island bid farewell to Chu Liuxiang and returned home dejectedly.
They traveled to Bat Island in search of some secret, only to return empty-handed. Their downfall was entirely their own doing: greed and folly.
After Jin Lingzhi came ashore, she was taken away by the Jin family. Hu Tiehua watched the Jin family's carriage drive away with a dejected expression. That night, he spent the whole night drinking with Chu Liuxiang, Zhang San, and Yan Liang in his room. When he woke up the next day, he seemed to have forgotten about the incident and went fishing with Zhang San and Yan Liang.
As for Chu Liuxiang... he was aloof and independent, with a charming demeanor—and was entangled with the daughter of the innkeeper.
Yan Liang finally got to eat the grilled fish made by Zhang San, and had to admit that the other man's cooking skills were excellent. If Zhang San hadn't strongly refused, Yan Liang would almost have become his apprentice.
"Forget about becoming an apprentice or not. If you want to learn, I'll teach you. Once you've mastered it, it's yours." Zhang San said with a grin. "I like people like you, unlike Xiao Hu who only knows how to eat and never thinks about me."
Hu Tiehua glared at him and said angrily, "When have you ever grilled fish without me bringing the wine? You're actually complaining about me?"
Yan Liang betrayed them for the sake of food, raising his hand and saying, "I bought the wine this time!"
Hu Tiehua stared at him in disbelief, feigning disappointment, and said, "You, you actually—!!"
When Chu Liuxiang finally managed to escape and arrived at the place where they were grilling fish, he saw the three of them laughing happily from afar. He stood there and couldn't help but laugh as well.
Hu Tiehua saw Chu Liuxiang first, and when he got closer, he said, "It's really strange that the old scoundrel would be willing to abandon his beauty to come find us rough men."
"Compared to a beautiful woman, the old stink bug is more reluctant to part with a butterfly."
Chu Liuxiang touched his nose, sat down next to him, and smiled broadly.
Hu Tiehua choked. He could never match Chu Liuxiang in eloquence, but he never learned his lesson.
Yan Liang and Zhang San squatted intently to one side, one watching and the other teaching, seemingly forgetting about the two of them.
Just as Chu Liuxiang never spoke when Hu Tiehua and Zhang San were arguing, Zhang San also remained silent, as if he were mute.
Yan Liang, on the other hand, was completely focused on learning how to grill fish, so that he could at least feed himself if he ever became so poor that he was practically dead.
He learned very quickly, mastering about 60-70% of Zhang San's grilling fish skills. Zhang San praised Yan Liang for his intelligence and talent, saying he was born to grill fish—although Hu Tiehua said he didn't quite understand how someone could be praised for such a small thing as grilling fish—Yan Liang gladly accepted the compliment and proudly showed it off to Hu Tiehua.
Chu Liuxiang thought Yan Liang was a truly remarkable person, but his friends were also quite remarkable. Therefore, Chu Liuxiang did not press Yan Liang on how he had countered Yuan Suiyun's drug or how he had managed to move freely on Bat Island without Yuan Suiyun's knowledge.
Yan Liang had long planned to give a compromise answer if Chu Liuxiang asked, but Chu Liuxiang never asked the question he had guessed before they parted.
Yan Liang breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't want to deceive his friend, but he couldn't disclose the information due to the contract. Chu Liuxiang's decision not to ask was exactly what he wanted, which touched Yan Liang somewhat.
After the four parted ways, Yan Liang continued to wander the martial arts world with his fortune-telling banner, while also practicing his staff techniques.
As for his training method... it was to help those in need. Yan Liang practiced so enthusiastically that after a few months of wandering the martial arts world, he gradually gained fame and heard rumors about him in teahouses. The reason for Yan Liang's fame was related to his specializing in beating up evil people and handing over those who committed unforgivable crimes to the government. His distinguishing features were the black iron cudgel and the fortune-telling banner in his hand.
Later, when the people Yan Liang rescued asked about the name of the Xuan Tie Gun, Yan Liang casually mentioned it, and the name "Divine Stick" spread throughout the martial arts world.
People in the martial arts world seem dissatisfied if they don't give someone a title; without a title, a person in the martial arts world cannot be considered famous.
Chu Liuxiang was known as the "Handsome Thief/Fragrant General," Hu Tiehua was called the "Butterfly," and Xue Yiren was also known as the "Blood-Clad Man"... After Yan Liang's weapon became famous in the martial arts world, he himself was given the nickname "Charlatan."
When others talk about "charlatans," they all say they are swindlers who pretend to be gods and spirits, and they hate and despise them. But when they talk about Yan Liang's "charlatan," they have mixed feelings. What kind of person would name his weapon "charlatan"? Especially since that person is a fortune teller who is very accurate in telling fortunes and reading faces.
The term "charlatan" seems to have taken on a different meaning when applied to Yan Liang.
Yan Liang didn't care what others thought of him; helping those in need had become his daily routine. Occasionally, people who had heard of him would come to challenge him to a duel, and Yan Liang would gladly accept. If he won, he would tell the fortune for free; if he lost, he would charge five coins for a fortune telling.
Winning and losing, his martial arts skills improved significantly, and he even made money. Yan Liang was quite satisfied.
Out of consideration for protecting the reputation of Shaolin Temple, Yan Liang never revealed in public that he had once been a Shaolin disciple. To this day, only Chu Huji, Yidianhong Qu Wurong, Wu Fei, and Li Ganqing know that he was a Shaolin disciple.
Yan Liang visited Lanzhou when he was wandering the martial arts world. Ji Bingyan and he only had a friendly relationship of bickering. If Hu Tiehua hadn't gone with him, Ji Bingyan probably would have driven away Yan Liang when he came to visit.
Ji Bingyan felt a headache coming on from Hu Tiehua and Yan Liang, who had come uninvited.
He thoroughly mocked Yan Liang's naming skills, and Yan Liang always managed to find a way to leave him speechless. Hu Tiehua, on the other hand, happily cheered for Yan Liang from the sidelines.
...Ji Bingyan's head hurt even more.
Yan Liang also ran into Qu Wurong and Yidianhong. It happened to be during the temple fair, and the three of them brushed past each other and nodded to each other.
Yan Liang was happy for them. Yi Dian Hong and Qu Wu Rong's past lives were not exactly wonderful, but the two of them had walked together and supported each other, and they would surely find happiness.
He also visited Wu Fei on the way, who had married his ideal wife. Yan Liang arrived six days before Wu Fei's son's one-month celebration. Wu Fei was pleasantly surprised by his arrival and invited him to stay for his son's one-month celebration banquet.
The child's nickname is "Pingping". He smiles whenever he sees people and is round and chubby, which is very cute.
Yan Liang drank a lot of wine on the day of Pingping's full moon banquet. He had only drunk a lot of wine when he was on the original Suiyun boat, which was a way to relieve his depression. But this time it was purely because he was happy.
After saying goodbye to Wu Fei's family, Yan Liang went to Qixian Town to visit Li Ganqing.
Li Ganqing was past twenty, while the other was twenty-one when they met again. He looked more mature, and his eyes shone with a renewed hope for everything.
Grandpa Li and Li Ganqing both remembered Yan Liang. He originally just wanted to take a look at them from afar and leave quietly if they were doing well; but when Li Ganqing returned from his trip, he recognized Yan Liang at a glance and happily invited him to sit in the house.
From his conversation with Li Ganqing, Yan Liang learned that since Li Ganqing returned home, his grandfather's health had been deteriorating, perhaps because he had let go of his worries. Li Ganqing recognized Yan Liang after seeing him at the pharmacy.
Li Ganqing's family was extremely poor, with nothing but bare walls. Yan Liang exchanged medicine for medical treatment from the system store and took out all his savings to help the grandfather and grandson improve their living standards.
But Grandpa Li's illness was terminal. No matter how effective the medicine Yan Liang exchanged was, Grandpa Li only lasted for two years. The only consolation was that Grandpa Li died without pain, with a smile on his lips.
During those two years, Yan Liang frequently visited the Li family. People in Qixian Town said that Grandpa Li had gained a grandson. Whenever someone joked about it, he would smile and agree.
Call him overly compassionate or just bored, Yan Liang only does what he wants to do.
In this world, Yan Liang lived for a very long time, longer than anyone before.
When the symptoms of organ failure first appeared, Yan Liang was still fortune-telling and chivalrous in the martial arts world; it wasn't until he was completely unable to continue that he found a sunny day, lay on a deck chair, basked in the sun, and closed his eyes.
The sun is warm, the air is filled with the fragrance of grass and trees, birds are singing, and a gentle breeze is blowing.
Yan Liang's consciousness went dark.
Author's Note: This chapter can barely be considered a semi-side story. A new world begins tomorrow!
I'm so sorry it's late today OTZ
Because it was a rare sunny day here, my family and I went for a walk in the fields (there were very few people, and the fields were vast).
I spent almost four hours browsing, so I didn't have time to write anything—I'm so sorry, everyone! Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 18:01:20 on February 12, 2020 and 23:37:54 on February 13, 2020!
Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: Natsume Mio (5 bottles);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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