Baoqing Prefecture, Huguan Province.
Li Miao and Yongjie stepped through the city gates.
At this point, Yongjie's hands were already wrapped in bandages, his left arm hung in a sling, and he walked with a limp, covered in injuries. If not for his accomplished internal energy and solid foundation, he might not have been able to walk at all.
The soldiers guarding the gate, seeing his miserable state, couldn't help but ask a few questions, which Li Miao brushed off by slipping them some money.
Half a month had passed since the two met.
They had become much more familiar with each other, and Li Miao smiled and said to Yongjie, "Master, are you hungry?"
Yongjie rubbed his stomach, "A little."
Li Miao nodded, "If not for Master needing to handle something here, we should have rested in the city ahead long ago."
Yongjie offered an apology, but Li Miao waved his hand, indicating he was just speaking casually.
The two arrived at a tavern, ordered some dishes, and began to eat.
After eating and drinking their fill, Li Miao toyed with his wine cup and said to Yongjie, "Master, aren't you going to rest today?"
"You've lost too much blood. No matter how deep your internal energy or how high your martial arts, you can't withstand such abuse."
"If you don't slow down, I'm afraid you won't be able to hold on."
Yongjie gave a bitter smile and said to Li Miao, "Thank you for your concern, Benefactor. This monk still has things to do and will not seek death."
"It's just that these debts, this monk has dragged on for too long. Now, this is the last place in Huguan Province."
"It's better to repay it one day earlier."
"As you wish," Li Miao said. He was merely offering a suggestion and had no intention of forcing Yongjie to change his mind.
Anyway, with him around, Yongjie wouldn't die.
The two sat for a while to digest, then got up and went out onto the street.
Yongjie stopped a passerby, stepped forward, and bowed, "Benefactor, greetings."
He was tall and robust, with a rough, burly face and a bald head, looking fierce and intimidating.
The person, suddenly stopped by him, couldn't help but feel a sense of fear. It wasn't until he heard Yongjie's words that he felt slightly better.
Looking at Yongjie's bald head, he thought, "Where did this monk come from? He looks so fierce, can he even beg for alms?"
On his face, however, he smiled and asked, "Master, what is it?"
"Excuse me, is there still a Huiyou Escort Agency in Baoqing Prefecture that existed more than ten years ago?"
"Huiyou Escort Agency..." The person thought for a moment, "Oh, Great Hero Song's agency, right?"
"It disbanded long ago! However, his family members are all still here. Now his son-in-law has also opened a small escort agency, just ahead."
He pointed his hand, "Look, turn left up ahead, the one with the escort flag hanging on the door, called Baoqing Escort Agency, that's it."
"Thank you, Benefactor."
Yongjie thanked him and walked in the direction the person indicated, with Li Miao following behind.
They hadn't walked far when they reached the entrance of Baoqing Escort Agency.
The door was open, and Yongjie stepped forward, knocked on the doorknob, and called out loudly, "Excuse me, is anyone here?"
"Coming, coming."
A man in his thirties responded from inside and walked out, smiling, "Are you here for an escort?"
Yongjie shook his head, "No, I'm here to repay a debt."
"Repay a debt?"
Hearing this, the man sized Yongjie up and down and said with a smile, "You've come to the wrong door, haven't you? My family has never lent money to anyone, and I don't recognize you."
"What is your creditor's name? My family has been in Baoqing Prefecture for many years, and we know all our neighbors. It wouldn't hurt to show you the way."
Yongjie stepped forward, clasped his hands together, and bowed.
"Excuse me, Benefactor, do you know Great Hero Song Yanchao?"
"Ah?"
The man was stunned.
"He is my father-in-law... Sir, no, Master, are you looking for him?"
"Indeed, this monk owed Great Hero Song a debt many years ago, and I have come to repay it."
The man, however, gave a forced smile.
"Master, you've come a little late."
"My esteemed father-in-law passed away before the New Year."
"If my esteemed father-in-law hadn't passed away, my family wouldn't have been reduced to relying on such a small escort agency to make a living."
Yongjie sighed deeply.
"Is that so...? May I ask, is your wife available? Could she meet this monk?"
"It would be best for this monk to repay this debt to her personally."
The man had no objections. Since his father-in-law passed away, his martial arts were insufficient, and his wife had not practiced martial arts. The two could not take over the Huiyou Escort Agency's business, and gradually, the agency fell apart.
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Now they relied solely on this small escort agency to get by, living a tight existence. Yongjie's unexpected offer to repay a debt, no matter how much, would at least allow them to live comfortably for a few days.
The man led Yongjie and Li Miao into the living room, poured them some tea, and then turned to find his wife.
Li Miao took a sip of the tea, finding it coarse and difficult to swallow, which also showed how stretched the family's finances were.
When doing business, the most important thing is appearance. If they couldn't even afford decent tea to entertain guests, it proved that their business was truly on the verge of collapse.
Setting down the teacup, Li Miao turned to Yongjie, "Master, what debt is this time?"
"Don't tell me it's your neck again. With your last injury, you wouldn't have survived without me watching over you. You might not be able to endure another one."
"No."
Yongjie's left arm was in a sling around his neck, and he raised his right hand to indicate.
"It's here, I owe a tendon in my hand."
"Oh," Li Miao nodded, then continued to ask.
"Speaking of which, does Master Xing Chi know you're tormenting yourself like this?"
"With Master's martial arts, Shaolin Temple wouldn't want you to ruin yourself like this, would they?"
Master Xing Chi, the current abbot of Shaolin Temple, over ninety years old, an ultimate Master. Yongjie's Master.
This person was one of the few in the martial arts world that Li Miao truly "respected." Otherwise, with Li Miao's mouth, most people wouldn't earn a respectful title from him.
Master Xing Chi was a true monk.
Not just in martial arts, but also in virtue.
Years ago, during a great famine in Henan, which stretched for hundreds of miles, people were displaced. It was Master Xing Chi who opened the temple gates and welcomed the people to take refuge in the temple.
This great famine lasted for several months, and many people conceived children there.
During the famine, it was difficult to find midwives.
Master Xing Chi broke the monastic precepts, and relying on his martial arts foundation, he blindfolded himself and personally delivered these women, his hands covered in blood.
This incident, at the time, was often told as a joke by many petty individuals in the martial arts world, who made up many dirty stories. But Xing Chi didn't care at all and continued to do his work and save people.
Later, food gradually became insufficient, and mothers who had given birth suffered from depleted qi and blood, with nothing to nourish them.
Master Xing Chi then used his internal energy to warm and nourish them one by one.
At that time, he was already an ultimate Master, yet he actually exhausted his internal energy to the point of depletion, damaging his foundation, leaving him with hidden injuries, and his martial arts never advanced an inch for the rest of his life.
In fact, with his talent, he originally had hope of surpassing the ultimate level.
When the great famine passed, there were exactly one hundred and eight infants born in Shaolin Temple.
To thank Master Xing Chi, the families of these one hundred and eight children used the infants' swaddling clothes to make a patchwork robe, which they presented to Master Xing Chi.
And this was just one of the many good deeds Master Xing Chi performed in his life.