Chapter 105: Even more destined
“It’s nothing, just that I’m grateful that it seems an old friend is also here,”
Yun Xiu, with a pretty face, showed a faint smile and said, “Master, you mentioned that this martial arts competition held by the Wang Family is much more important than before and that many extraordinary people would show up, right?”
“Indeed,” the woman nodded slightly with a smile, “Putting aside the martial arts competition for now, looking at your expression, it must be someone you’re very familiar with-an young boy, perhaps?”
“Um, he’s a good friend of mine,” Yun Xiu nodded and said with a light smile, “A hard-working and earnest boy who has finally achieved something, and he’s even a year younger than me.”
“The broken-boned Zhou Heng?” the woman said with a smile, “You specifically went back to Huangtong Mansion City to bid farewell to someone, it was for him, wasn’t it?”
“Yes,” Yun Xiu replied confidently without a hint of shyness, “As good friends, one should personally say goodbye when about to embark on a long journey.” “Hmm, that’s a good habit,” the woman expressed her agreement and glanced at the date-red horse, “That horse belongs to Zhou Heng? It looks quite nice and has distinctive features; no wonder you could recognize it. Just now you mentioned the martial arts competition-do you think he is here to participate in that event?”
“He probably is,” replied Yun Xiu after some thought, “There’s been nothing significant happening in Yuanhe Prefecture City lately, so he must have come here because he was interested in the Wang Family’s martial arts competition.” “If that’s the case, I’d advise you not to actively seek him out,” the woman said with a smile.
“Why not?” asked Yun Xiu, puzzled, believing that since chance had brought them together, it was only natural to seek him out.
“Seeking him out directly would be rather uninteresting,” the woman chuckled, “It would be much better for him to discover you by accident. How about this-since the competition will be filled with strong participants, you should enter too, it could broaden your martial arts horizons.”
“But I’ve only just reached the Ninth Grade,” Yun Xiu said with some unease. “What you’ve been practicing is the supreme art I taught you; even if you’re „ just at the Ninth Grade, you’re no lesser than those seasoned Ninth Graders,” said the woman, her lips curved in a smile, “Besides, don’t you think it would be a much more fateful encounter if he suddenly discovered you participating in the competition?”
“Ah?” Yun Xiu blinked, half understanding yet doubtful, “Really?”
“Not really?” the woman retorted, then firmly added, “Trust your master, it
will definitely be so.”
“But why should I make our meeting seem more fateful?” Yun Xiu thought for a moment but still didn’t understand her master’s train of thought, “What are you trying to say, Master?”
“I’m not trying to say anything, if you want to go find him, just go directly, the woman rolled her eyes helplessly, giving up on the persuasion.
“Although I don’t quite understand the reason, since Master has said so, I will do just that,” said Yun Xiu, nodding her head, “I won’t go looking for Brother Heng on my own; I’ll try to meet him during the competition.”
“Looks like you’re still redeemable,” the woman started to laugh, her smile tinged with a bit of helplessness.
Inside Shanliang Martial Arts Hall.
Li Zhe, humiliated by being defeated by Bai Jingtian, went straight to the trainer to ask for leave and headed home in a fury.
At once, Bai Jingtian became the focus of the numerous apprentices.
Many came over to ask him questions.
“Jingtian, what’s the background of that expert in your house? He’s so incredible; in just one night, you surpassed Li Zhe!”
“That’s amazing! Keep in mind that strength doesn’t equal teaching ability; many Seventh Rank experts can’t even produce a Ninth Grader, so the fact that jingtian’s strength improved so quickly means that the expert from his home is truly extraordinary.”
“Hey, Jingtian, I’ve heard that your father once worked for Pure Yang Palace and still has some connections-could that expert from your house be from Pure Yang Palace?”
“Oh my! Pure Yang Palace, that’s incredible, Jingtian, you have to tell us, who exactly is that expert in your family?”
The crowd asked questions left and right.
However, Bai Jingtian didn’t reveal a single word; he knew Zhou Heng did not want to disclose his identity, so naturally, Bai Jingtian couldn’t talk carelessly -even if it meant dying without saying another word.
The crowd of apprentices quickly noticed Bai Jingtian’s attitude; their excitement was swiftly extinguished, and some even turned to taunting.
“Tsk, what’s all the swagger for, just because you beat Brother Li with one move? It’s just luck; that doesn’t count for anything in a real fight!” “The way I see it, the reason he doesn’t dare to talk about the expert in his family is probably because he made it all up. All this so-called ‘progress is nothing more than a desperate effort at the right time, and he just happened to get lucky and win.”
“Heh heh, let’s just wait for the martial arts competition and watch the so- called expert from the Bai Jingtian family make a fool of himself!” “Hahaha! I’m definitely going to watch. An expert who is afraid to even let others know his name, how impressive can he be? He might end up getting his teeth kicked in! Hahaha!”
Bai Jingtian was furious now, his longsword swept through the air, pointing at one of them, his gaze icy as he said sternly, “If you dare to speak ill of my teacher again, I’ll make sure you’ll never speak again!”
His words were filled with murderous intent, which was completely different from Bai Jingtian’s usual good-natured image; this scared everyone so much that their hair stood on end, and they were terrified.
My goodness, this Bai Jingtian seems like he’s become a different person!
As surprising as it was, their cowardice was real.
The ones who had just been mocking Zhou Heng knew they were no match for Bai Jingtian, so they didn’t dare to confront him head-on. They immediately shut their mouths and slinked away.
“You, you all have no idea how powerful my teacher is!” Now, Bai Jingtian s admiration and respect for Zhou Heng came from the depths of his heart, and he absolutely wouldn’t allow anyone to say anything bad about him.
It was as if Zhou Heng had become his master, or even a deity to him.
Meanwhile, Zhou Heng was lying leisurely on his bed, quietly waiting for the most auspicious time to come in the recent days.
June 28th, at the third quarter of the hour of noon.
Highly auspicious!
All undertakings will prosper!
This was a calculation Zhou Heng had made after arriving in Yuanhe Prefecture City.
After several investigations and comparisons, he chose to consult the most renowned and reputed blind fortune-teller, who divined this auspicious day and time for him.
According to the blind fortune-teller, this was supposed to be the most propitious time for fortune and prosperity in the past three months and also the day when people’ s luck would be at its best.
On this day, whatever one did ought to go smoothly and successfully.
So, after his morning routine of standing postures and qi practice, he took a bath, burnt incense, and returned to his room to quietly wait for the auspicious time to arrive.
This time, he planned to open all the remaining Fortune Bags in his possession. The Gold Fortune Bag was included.
After all, the martial arts competition was approaching, and he still hadn’t found any trace of the Plague Emperor Sect.
This meant that if they wanted that unmarked stele, they might choose to make a move either just before the martial arts competition started or after it had already begun.
And it might be a big move.
Zhou Heng always felt that when many different forces gathered for such an event, there was the potential for a major incident to occur.
Although he had instructed Bai, the shopkeeper, to contact the local prefectural city officials, the city authorities might not take it seriously, so he had Bai report some of his speculations to Pure Yang Palace, but help from afar couldn’t resolve the imminent crisis.
Before the “big event” started, it was crucial to have some trump cards and methods to turn the tide.
The items one could obtain from a Gold Fortune Bag, as long as one doesn t have really bad luck or an extreme stroke of misfortune, undoubtedly had the potential to be game changers.
“Open the Gold Fortune Bag!”