Xiao Ning nodded and walked out. When he reached the door, he paused and said, "Imperial Physician Hu, I have a piece of advice for you. Chaos is on the horizon. You may have superb medical skills, but you have no power to protect yourself. You are no different from a child holding gold in the market. I urge you to carefully consider what you will do in the future!"
After saying this puzzling thing, he left the guest room.
Upon hearing Xiao Ning's words, Hu Qingniu's face showed a thoughtful expression.
He muttered to himself, "Does Young Master Xiao mean to invite me to join his ranks?"
"Or was he just offering a well-intentioned reminder?"
After a while, Hu Qingniu shook his head and stopped thinking about it, but he secretly remembered Xiao Ning's words.
Nothing was said that night.
Early the next morning, Xiao Ning took Hu Qingniu out of the town and headed towards Wudang Mountain.
Upon reaching the mountainside, four Wudang disciples jumped out. Seeing Xiao Ning, they exclaimed with delight, "Grandmaster Uncle is back!"
As he spoke, he rushed forward to bow.
Xiao Ning gestured with his hands to help the four of them up, and casually asked, "Did anything happen on the mountain?"
Upon hearing his question, one of the disciples revealed an indignant expression: "Reporting to Grandmaster Uncle, during the time you were away from the mountain, thieves broke into the mountain every few days, and many of my fellow disciples were injured."
"Huh? Who would dare to be so bold?"
Xiao Ning frowned upon hearing this.
"Reporting to Grandmaster Uncle, this disciple is unaware!" The four disciples all bowed and replied.
Xiao Ning nodded and casually instructed, "Alright, I'm going up now. You all do your jobs, guard the gate, and don't let anyone break in!"
The four disciples respectfully responded.
Xiao Ning turned around, about to call Hu Qingniu up the mountain, but saw him staring at him with a bewildered expression, looking quite surprised.
Seeing Xiao Ning turn around, Hu Qingniu came to his senses and asked in confusion, "Young Master Xiao, why do they call you Grandmaster Uncle? What exactly is your identity on Wudang Mountain?"
Before Xiao Ning could speak, the four disciples beside him immediately jumped out and started chattering:
"Uncle, the young hero you mentioned is the junior brother of Zhang Zhenren, the founder of Wudang. He's of a very high generation!"
"That's right, not only is our grandmaster a high-ranking senior, but his martial arts are also unfathomable. On our grandmaster's 100th birthday, he severely injured three old Shaolin monks who came to cause trouble with a single move, and they slunk down the mountain!"
"Yes, yes, yes! As soon as our grandmaster uncle made a move, he immediately intimidated the hundreds of martial arts heroes who came to cause trouble, and they all ran away with their tails between their legs!"
"If only I had one percent, no, one ten-thousandth of the ancestor's martial arts cultivation!"
"What are you thinking? Hope you'll be reborn into a better family in your next life!"
…
"Alright, everyone get back to work!"
Xiao Ning waved to stop the disciples' chatter, cupped his hands to Hu Qingniu, and said apologetically, "As they said, Master Zhang and I are fellow disciples, and I did not intend to hide it from the Immortal Physician."
Hu Qingniu pointed at Xiao Ning, trembling as he said, "You...you...you've kept this from me for so long! I thought you were just an ordinary disciple of Wudang!"
Xiao Ning: "Didn't you say you didn't ask...?"
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Chapter 33 Old Grudges
Xiao Ning returned to the mountain, and Zhang Sanfeng, having received the news, quickly came out, along with the Seven Heroes of Wudang.
Zhenwu Hall.
Xiao Ning introduced Hu Qingniu and the Wudang people to each other. After another round of polite exchanges, everyone sat down as host and guest, and a young Taoist boy served tea.
Xiao Ning said to Zhang Sanfeng, "After leaving Dadu, I inquired around and found out that there was a divine doctor living in seclusion in Butterfly Valley in northern Anhui. So I went to invite Doctor Hu to come up the mountain to examine my nephew Daiyan's injuries."
"I didn't even have time to ask my senior brother for permission before I made this decision. I hope my senior brother will forgive me!"
After he finished speaking, he turned and cupped his hands in a respectful gesture to Zhang Sanfeng, who was standing to the side.
"Junior brother, you've had a long journey!"
Zhang Sanfeng smiled and waved his hand, "You've considered things very carefully, how could this old Taoist possibly blame you!"
"I've heard of Doctor Hu's reputation before!"
He paused, looked at Hu Qingniu, and said, "I'll trouble you, Immortal Physician, to take care of my unworthy disciple's injuries!"
Upon hearing Zhang Sanfeng's words, Hu Qingniu stood up and respectfully said, "Rest assured, Master, I will do my utmost to heal Yu Sanxia."
Compared to Zhang Sanfeng, a centenarian, Hu Qingniu, who was in his forties, was just a child, so he was naturally embarrassed to call himself an old man.
"Immortal Physician, you must be tired from your long journey. Why don't you go and rest first, and then treat your unworthy disciple's injuries tomorrow!"
Zhang Sanfeng nodded and said to Hu Qingniu.
He paused for a moment, then instructed Song Yuanqiao, who was sitting below, "Yuanqiao, take Doctor Hu down to rest!"
Song Yuanqiao stood up: "Yuanqiao obeys!"
Hu Qingniu knew perfectly well that the Wudang people must have something they didn't want him, an outsider, to know, so he naturally couldn't insist on keeping them and readily agreed.
"Very well, then I, Hu, will take my leave now!"