The next morning, the wind stopped and the snow stopped.
Yin Ci put on his ghost leather jacket and went out to make breakfast. As soon as the egg drop porridge was cooked, the quack doctor appeared again, his eyes sparkling, without any trace of the embarrassment he had last night.
He came closer to Yin Ci and said in a gentle tone, "My name is Shi Jingzhi. Last night... cough cough!"
Before he could finish his words, the man's face froze, he took out a handkerchief and spat out blood.
Yin Ci: “…” He silently moved the bowl of porridge further away.
Shi Jingzhi seemed to be used to it, he wiped the blood off in no time, and continued as if nothing had happened: "Thank you for your help last night, I have some burn ointment, you can keep it first."
Yin Ci nodded and took the ointment. Shi Jingzhi was reluctant to leave, his fox eyes curved, his smile made the northwest wind bring spring.
Unfortunately, Yin Ci didn't buy it, and took the porridge and left. If he didn't eat, someone else would - Aunt Li got the money, saw this pleasing "fox fairy grandfather", and her attentiveness returned a little.
Yin Ci had just finished half of his bowl of porridge when Aunt Li beside him started talking about everything under the sun, and was redirecting the topic to him: "… He is a deliveryman, not from my store. This kid has good skills, but he has a hard life…"
Shi Jingzhi sat opposite the two of them, listening to her chatter quietly, his smile blinding the eyes.
"Look, his father passed away a few years ago, and he insisted on observing the three-year mourning period. I told him that we shouldn't do that, and he might as well go to town to work and even cook for me... The little bastard didn't listen to the old man's advice, and now he's 20 years old and doesn't even have a lover..."
Yin Ci was eager for her to talk more about her "innocent background" and had no intention of interrupting her.
"To be honest, I was chased by bandits last night and ran to you in the dark. Now I want to go down the mountain. If this young man doesn't mind, I would like to pay him to lead the way..." Shi Jingzhi raised his eyes and looked at Yin Ci.
"Okay." Yin Ci stretched out his chopsticks to pick up the side dish.
"Thank you." Unexpectedly, Shi Jingzhi shook his hand tightly, his expression was so sincere that it made people's teeth ache, and his palm was so hot that it burned people.
Yin Ci frowned and broke away without leaving a trace: "Don't be so polite."
Shi Jingzhi acted so enthusiastic that Yin Ci thought he was going to ask about the ear cutter. But after breakfast, Shi Jingzhi didn't ask a single question, but moved a bench to the door to enjoy the snow, as if he really came to relax.
Before the two of them went down the mountain, Aunt Li called Yin Ci over and stuffed a bag of steamed buns into his mouth while sighing.
"My cooking is not tasty, please don't despise it. Alas, you little bastard, if you leave today, I'm afraid you won't come back for three to five years. I saw the luggage in the backpack. Even if this didn't happen, you were planning to go down the mountain, right?"
She muttered for a while, took out a bunch of money from her bosom, and stuffed it into Yin Ci's palm: "There are many thieves outside, don't let them cheat you... Come back to see me when you have time."
Yin Ci took the steamed buns and confiscated the copper coins. If he had acted better, he should have shed a few tears, but he couldn't squeeze out even a single tear.
"knew."
"It's a good omen that you can go down the mountain with the fox fairy. But don't think about his fur, or you'll commit sins." At the end, Aunt Li gave the warning solemnly, as if she had seen Shi Jingzhi's fox tail.
Yin Ci sneered. The sins he had committed were probably countless, and this one was not enough to make up for the rest.
Unfortunately, the evil Yin had a lot of plans but didn't have time to act.
Not long after they left the inn, they were surrounded by assassins from the Chigou Sect.
I didn't see the ear cutter return last night. This time, the assassins sent by the Chigou Cult numbered at least ten. Yin Ci was about to retreat when Shi Jingzhi grabbed him by the waist. He carried Yin Ci and escaped with great skill.
The killers from the evil cult were no pushovers, and the ten of them immediately turned around and gave chase.
There was no snowstorm at the moment, so the killers were chasing gracefully with their feet touching the snow. Shi Jingzhi, however, was like a plow, with half of his body stuck in the snow, thrashing forward with a grunt, splashing snow all over Yin Ci's face. If he hadn't been carrying him, Yin Ci suspected that this man would have rolled and crawled away.
No wonder I lost my shoes last night.
However, with this disgraceful way of escaping, he actually left all ten assassins behind. After making sure that the assassins could not catch up for the time being, Shi Jingzhi let go of Yin Ci and sat down in the snow: "You are really annoying."
Yin Ci was forced to eat the snow all the way and was in a bad mood: "Were you chased by those people yesterday? They were wearing white clothes and white masks, they didn't look like ordinary bandits."
Shi Jingzhi smacked his lips and said, "Those are killers from the Demon Cult. I stole some small things from them. By the way, when you saw those people chasing you with knives, you didn't panic at all. You are really brave."
Yin Ci narrowed his eyes.
The Chi Gou Cult mobilized so many troops, and the surname Shi must be a simple person. But this man knew that there were pursuers behind him, and he deliberately brought himself, an "ordinary citizen". He didn't want to take someone with him before he died, so there were only two possibilities.
Either Shi Jingzhi was strong enough and confident that he could protect himself from the killer; or he had revealed his true colors somewhere and was being tested by him.
Whatever the case, this guy is interesting.
Yin Ci continued to play dumb: "Why did you steal the Demon Cult's things? Do you think your life is too long?"
Shi Jingzhi was not annoyed: "Well, that thing doesn't belong to them... Have you heard of the 'ghost tomb'?"
"No."
Shi Jingzhi immediately became more energetic and sat up straight, "Then you must have heard of the Ling Sect. The first leader of the Ling Sect was lawless and looted rare treasures and magical weapons as burial objects. His tomb is the 'ghost tomb'."
Yin Ci nodded. Lingjiao was the first demonic sect a hundred years ago. The leader at that time was extremely evil and appeared frequently in folk tales. It was not surprising that the mountain people knew about it.
Shi Jingzhi continued with great interest: "Last year, the ghost tomb was discovered, and the martial arts world was in turmoil. Everyone wanted to get a piece of the pie. But if anyone could go to the tomb, the ghost tomb would be overwhelmed."
"So the Jinyu Gang became the host. The gang leader personally carved 108 jade beads and hid them in various places as a token of permission to go into the tomb - it was these jade beads that I stole. In fact, in order to reduce the number of opponents, each sect collected a lot of them, and robbing each other was also within the rules."
Yin Ci: "Isn't it unfair that Jin Yu helps me host the show and knows where Yuzhu is hidden?"
Seeing Yin Ci's interest in the ghost tomb, Shi Jingzhi narrowed his eyes again: "The Jinyu Gang can't go down the tomb. It's just a merchant alliance, and the gang members' martial arts are not up to par. They prefer to prepare gold and silver and trade the treasures in the ghost tomb... As long as you get one treasure, you will have no worries about food and drink for the rest of your life."
Yin Ci said slowly: "It's better to sell the jade beads directly, the money will come faster."
Shi Jingzhi was shocked: "That's too boring!"
Judging from Shi Jingzhi's excitement, he must have just entered the martial arts world. This man is indeed related to the ghost tomb, so let him live a few more days. Yin Ci stopped answering and took out a steamed bun to eat.
After a while, Shi Jingzhi brought up the topic again: "Little brother, are you going anywhere this time when you go down the mountain?"
Come on, this guy dragged him into this mess, he must have some purpose.
"No. I want to look around first and then find a better place to work."
"Or just follow me." Shi Jingzhi said earnestly, "To be honest, I have been traveling outside for so long and have never had a meal as delicious as last night. You only need to prepare the food and you can get two taels of silver every month. And..."
"and?"
"You have a good physique, so you might as well take me as your master. In the future, you can learn martial arts from me to strengthen your body and prolong your life." Shi Jingzhi smiled more kindly, but he didn't laugh for long before he spit out blood again.
Yin Ci: “…”
It seems that this man is not only a rookie in the martial arts world, but also a charlatan. His "twenty years old" is too old to be a beginner in martial arts. Moreover, apart from the indescribable dog paddle escape, this man has not shown anything worth learning.
This is to deceive the ignorant mountain people.
A mouthful of blood sprayed behind "extending life", and Shi Jingzhi himself was embarrassed. He laughed dryly and quickly wiped the blood. Yin Ci didn't care about his embarrassment and turned his attention elsewhere -
Two auras are approaching.
Yin Ci had already noticed that the two assassins had been lingering not far away for a long time, waiting for them to relax their vigilance. According to the style of the Chi Gou Sect, the hidden weapons were coming soon.
At the same time, Shi Jingzhi began to promote himself: "Become my apprentice. If anything happens to me, all my money will belong to you. My family also has a small medicine shop in Yidu, which is worth a lot of money..."
"Okay. But you're not much older than me, I can't kneel down. If you don't mind, I can become your disciple."
"Ah?" Shi Jingzhi didn't expect him to be so straightforward. He was stunned and came to his senses after a while. "I am seven years older than you. You don't have to kneel. Just come to the apprenticeship meal."
Seeing that the other party was still shocked, Yin Ci smiled -
He originally planned to infiltrate a small sect that could enter the tomb, keep a low profile, and reap the benefits. Shi Jingzhi was quite eye-catching and could divert other people's attention, which was a perfect cover.
If Shi Jingzhi has the strength to survive the Chi Gou Sect, it would be good to follow him. If he dies here, he won't lose anything.
The killer finally made his move, and several flying knives flew through the air. Yin Ci's pupils shrank, and he carefully observed Shi Jingzhi's reaction.
Shi Jingzhi hesitated for a long time, and moved forward, just missing the flying knife: "Although I shouldn't say this... Little brother, becoming your disciple is a big deal, don't you really want to think about it again?"
Yin Ci: “…No need.”
"Really? I—ouch!"
Several more knives flew over, one of which grazed Shi Jingzhi's shoulder. He stood up with a sigh and threw the handkerchief he used to wipe the blood on the ground: "I'll give you another chance to regret it, just wait and see."
The assassination failed, and the two assassins simply showed up, their long swords reflecting the flashing cold light. Shi Jingzhi stretched out his hand -
"Wait, both of you, wait a moment, we can talk now."
The killer must not underestimate the enemy. The two had seen such a strange way of escaping before, so they really stopped and looked over vigilantly.
"I heard that your sect has a rule that if there is no blood feud, they will only send assassins three times, and stop if they fail to kill. The ear-cutter last night was the second time, and you should be the third time."
"I'm just a nobody. If you just say you lost me, the punishment won't be too severe. How about we just say goodbye now?"
One of them finally couldn't hold it in any longer and drew his sword to fight back: "What bullshit!"
This time Shi Jingzhi did not run away. He grabbed the man's arm and threw him dozens of meters away, crashing into two white pine trees.
"Your sect is not short of jade beads, and fighting for them is a legitimate rule. It is really boring to die for such a small face. I would like to give you two a final piece of advice. Please go back."
After saying this, Shi Jingzhi swept the flag with the words "Medicine will cure all diseases" written on it, clearly intending to fight with the flagpole. The assassins still did not give up, and did not care about fairness, and attacked together with swords.
Yin Ci watched it with great interest for a while, and found it very eye-catching—
Shi Jingzhi's moves were completely random, and the waving of a flag made people cry, like a child who had just started practicing swordplay. His footwork was also very frivolous, crooked and twisted, and didn't seem to be fake.
The interesting thing is that even though his stick skills and footwork were terrible, the killers just couldn't succeed.
The three of them fought for a while, and one of the killers was fooled by this lousy move and slowed down his movements. At this moment, Shi Jingzhi sighed softly.
"excuse me."
He swung his hand and slapped the man's chin with his palm. The man's head exploded like a watermelon, and red and white scattered all over the ground. The other killer was startled and faced the whistling flagpole, and half of his head was hit off.
The words "Medicine Cures Disease" on the flag were splattered with blood, the two corpses were emitting heat, and the cold wind was filled with a fishy smell.
Yin Ci frowned.
This person's external and light skills were a mess, with nothing to recommend him, but his internal skills were like a monster. From the previous escape to the fight just now, Shi Jingzhi only used his internal strength.
This is truly appalling.
Internal strength is different from external strength. It cannot be acquired overnight by talent or understanding. It requires years of practice. Even if you find a master to give you enlightenment, not only will it be ineffective, but you will also not be able to use the internal strength freely. The internal strength must be refined and pure, and it must be cultivated by Shi Jingzhi himself.
He is only twenty-seven years old.
Even a martial arts genius that only appears once in a thousand years would have to cultivate internal strength from the time he was old enough to understand things—and he would have to practice hard day and night—to reach this level. However, this approach was meaningless. It would be fine for a few killers from the Demon Sect, but if he met a top master, Shi Jingzhi would not be able to gain any advantage.
Where on earth did this weirdo come from
"How is it?" Shi Jingzhi walked up to Yin Ci, holding the flag, with a bitter smile on his face. "I have always been like this, do you still want to be my apprentice?"
"Of course." Yin Ci's eyes brightened.
… He hadn’t had this kind of fun in a long time.