Wham! Expecting words before a fist, Yin Na had to quickly dodge, nearly tripping over his feet as he was sitting in full-lotus position earlier.

Song Ying Jie proved to be one who struck first, and asked questions later. It was an oddly domineering mentality for someone who possessed such a naive nature!

“I did not expect this,” thought Yin Na as he blocked a downward axe kick towards his head with his one left arm. “I haven’t been in an actual hand-to-hand fight since I killed my Yao Guai slaves after Tian Ji Han’s detonation, unless you count millions of years of Soul Orb warfare as ‘combat.’”

Up until now, he was simply intimidating merchants and martial artists with his aura and appearance, and scamming them out of their taels. It was inevitable that sooner or later he was going to run into his first gong fu match. Surprise and unpredictable violence, that was the nature of the Jiang Hu!

Song Ying Jie was far stronger in martial art techniques than Yin Na. His mortal body endured countless years of toil and hardship through raw training alone, and he had allocated his meridians, unlike Yin Na. This meant that almost each of his blows emitted lethal qi that would have killed an ordinary mortal peasant ten times over.

Blocking and countering with only one arm was as hard as it sounds. Yin Na’s passive benefits from having a secret Golden Core as a martial artist gave him all sorts of durability and defense buffs that he otherwise would not have had in fighting this hot-headed youth.

In addition, Yin Na had a much richer fighting history involving cultivation magic and techniques. While these did not exactly translate down to these old school physical hand-to-hand fighting, it certainly helped in his survival.

“Why is this young man attacking me so fiercely?” Yin Na thought. “I can’t even land a blow on him when I counter, but I am glad about this. His power is enough to kill an army of armed soldiers, and has the potential to get only stronger. He will be immensely useful in accompanying my Jiang Hu journey!”

They fought for about thirty bouts, before Yin Na coughed blood through his bandages.

“No good! I have no choice.”

Yin Na was forced to allocate several of his meridians mid-combat in order to increase his agility and the hardiness of his flesh.

Focus the mind, open the vast reserves of qi from the 1,000 year spirit sap into the meridians which create the foundation for strong roots: Yin Meeting! Yin Na felt a strong swelling in his chest that would have taken much longer to muster and direct if he did not have the assistance of the Golden Core.

Success! The vast reserves of qi broke past the initial Yin Meeting point, ready on Yin Na’s bidding to break past into the next point.

Yin Na needed more meridians if he was to successfully defend against Song Ying Jie’s attacks.

Now squeeze past the gates into the meridians which slow down time and allow for deeper breaths and faster recovery: Crooked Bone!

Yin Na disengaged with a swipe of his left arm, which launched him into a twisting motion into the air where he landed several meters away. His body was much stronger now that he had unlocked these two meridians. Song Ying Jie was unable to detect the change in Yin Na’s physical skill or abilities.

“I am Daoist Wayseeker Crow,” Yin Na said calmly. “What is your name, young fellow?”

“I am Song Ying Jie!” said the young martial artist. The indignity of being spied upon had no effect on his manners, as he cupped his hands dutifully upon announcing his name. “Why is Daoist Wayseeker Crow spying on my village?”

“Why would you be fighting a Daoist you’ve just met to the death? Young hero, can it really be considered spying when a wandering Daoist calls all under Heaven his home? It is no different than a bird perching on a tree and happening to catch boars in the process of mating!”

“...” Song Ying Jie was unsure of how to respond.

This Wayseeker Crow had an unusual appearance, but the eccentric, one-armed bandaged face did not scare Song Ying Jie at all.

Yin Na could immediately presume that Song Ying Jie had limited experience and interaction with other people outside the confines of his tiny village, and therefore was a poor judge of character. Song Ying Jie evidently saw no reason to question why a Daoist would have such a foul, evil appearance with a bandaged face and one arm in ragged farmer clothing.

Yin Na spoke vaguely: “I can tell from your disposition alone that you are a filial son…perhaps Grandson? You care deeply for the family and friends you have in your life, although they are not many. You’ve lived in the village all your life, and although you have little benefits- I mean, possessions to your name, you are proud of your martial arts which you believe is all you need.”

Song Ying Jie was easily impressed! “How does this Daoist know so much about me?!”

Yin Na continued: “The greatest struggle of your life concerns the topic of…directionless-ness. Lack of excitement, a rival, or a foe to conquer; want of companions or love.”

“Y-you could tell all this from just our exchange of fists earlier?!” Song Ying Jie’s eyes were twinkling with wonder.

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Yin Na spouted random bullshit which all martial artists struggle with, but Song Ying Jie’s simple hick mind latched on to the last mentioned word of “love” quickly.

“You really are a Daoist!” Song Ying Jie bowed. “Your words show an insight that grasp the profundity of the Heavens and prove that you really understand fortune-telling! Oh, I apologize for injuring Daoist Wayseeker Crow earlier!”

“Hohoho,” Yin Na chuckled. “You can relax. While your tongue lacks the articulateness of a scholar, I can tell you hardly lack the virtues of one.

“By the way, I just have one question: did you see a Yao Guai or a Spirit Beast passing by your village by any chance?”

“So that’s what it was?” Song Ying Jie said. “I knew it was something special, I saw a blur of something like a giant animal racing through the night sky two weeks ago. Grandma was telling me it could have been an Immortal or Spirit beast, but it was moving so fast that I couldn’t tell what it really was.”

Yin Na was astonished. For one, this was the first time that the traces of the Spicy Oil Boar or Mao Shi Qi were discovered by him during these two weeks. The second thing that surprised him: “Your grandmother knows about the world of cultivation?”

“Cultivation? You mean Immortals? Yeah, my Grandma knows everything! She’s an expert teller of stories, Daoist, you should join me and my Grandma over dinner.”

Yin Na was a little uneasy.

“Does your Grandma know martial arts, too?”

“No, she’s a cripple now. Oh, but that’s good, she’ll have a connection with Daoist Crow since he’s also missing an arm! Oh, I apologize for my crass language.”

“Do not mind it,” Yin Na said. “But how did you learn martial arts?”

“I learned it all through three books on the techniques I used earlier. Grandma read them to me when I was a child, when her eyesight was still good. Then I started studying them myself when I turned fourteen.”

Yin Na was genuinely impressed. “For a young man like you to have self-studied martial arts to this extent is no small feat. But tell me, Song Ying Jie, do you know where your grandmother got these books?”

Song Ying Jie answered without hesitating: “She told me they were my father’s.”

Yin Na nodded slowly and deeply as if he understood everything, as he stroked a non-existent beard on his bandaged face. However, his mind was racing at a thousand li per hour.

“Okay, so apparently the dad is dead and out of the picture. This grandma character behind this Song Ying Jie is problematic, though. What if she was a genuine cultivator in disguise, or planted in this village for some unknown purpose? Is she even related to this whelp by blood? If she really is a powerful person then my mal-intent as well as my Golden Core can be detected and she would not be able to resist scrutinizing me further for it. I need to clarify her helplessness and whether she is an ordinary mortal or not before I agree any further.”

“Your Grandma must be really lucky to have such a filial grandson taking care of her,” Yin Na said approvingly.

Song Ying Jie simply responded “Thank you, Daoist Wayseeker Crow. My Grandma can barely walk and now I take care of all the farming and cooking for her.”

Yin Na paused; letting this information marinate in his mind. If Song Ying Jie knew better and understood that Yin Na was probing him, Yin Na would have assumed that Song Ying Jie was indirectly implying how helpless her Grandma was!

“Do you ever think of taking your Grandmother to the city,” Yin Na said. “Where there are more neighbors to visit as well as a bustling population to be a part of?”

“My grandma is too old, and we’ve been happy with living in the village all our lives. Besides, once I marry Wang Er we’ll move in with her family, and that’ll be all the company we need!”

Yin Na was waiting for words that stated that the Grandma gave any commands to the grandson, such as that they absolutely had to stay in the village until he was twenty, or a certain date. Such information were giveaways that she would be a key figure in either the Jiang Hu or even the Cultivation world.

So far, Yin Na was satisfied with Song Ying Jie’s answers.

“Alright, let me meet your honored Grandmother,” said Yin Na, bowing with his left hand bladed in front of his chest like a Buddhist monk. “We’ll discuss more over dinner.”

Song Ying Jie was delighted. “Kind Daoist, since I injured you earlier, allow me to apologize by carrying you down the cliff piggyback!”

Yin Na accepted the offer. He couldn’t help being impressed with the youth’s energy and strength as he used the Jumping Across Clouds technique to break the speed of his fall from the cliff a total of five times.

When they entered the hut, Yin Na greeted Song Ying Jie’s grandmother, and observed nothing special about her exterior.

“Eh, a Daoist?” Grandma Peng Ling said. “A Daoist is visiting our hut? C-could it be?”

Yin Na slightly tensed up in alertness. “Could it be what?”

“Could you be sent from Hao En Hui?”

Yin Na paused, before politely saying, “Nay, I have never heard of Hao En Hui. May I ask who is this man?”

Grandma Peng Ling gave a dejected sigh before saying, “Little treasure, why aren’t you quickly preparing dinner for the Daoist? Don’t mind his manners, sir Daoist. We’ll talk more about it over dinner.”

Yin Na bowed. Like Song Ying Jie, the Grandmother also didn’t question him once about his bandaged appearance. She clearly was near-sighted, but just as eccentric as this young man.

Then he turned and started watching Song Ying Jie rapidly whipping out the pots and pans.

Song Ying Jie was chopping vegetables, and Yin Na’s eyes went wide!

“This!” he thought. “This is another form of gongfu training. Some mortals are fond of saying that cooking is its own gong fu, but this is the kind of speed and skill seen in individuals who have repeated the same motions for many thousands of times! This kind of cooking has a positive effect on one’s actual martial arts!”

Yin Na cleared his throat, as he offered, “Young man, may this Daoist help you in helping prepare dinner?”

Song Ying Jie stopped whisking eggs, and appeared to hesitate. He looked at Grandma Peng Ling for approval, as he stammered, “Wouldn’t that be troubling Daoist?”

Yin Na shook his one hand dismissively: “Nay, it is the least I can do to atone for my troubling your house for providing me dinner!”

Grandma Peng Ling said, “It’s no matter, little treasure. It would be rude to refuse the offer of a Daoist to help!”

Yin Na smiled beneath his bandages, as he joined Song Ying Jie by the kitchen.