Landing outside the gate of Jin Garden, just as dawn was breaking, Jin Huanlai dusted off his clothes and strode into the gate. The secret guards protecting Jin Garden were always directly controlled by the sect leader, and they all recognized him, so there was no need to show their tokens.
There was no sound in the room.
Jin finally breathed a sigh of relief, relieved that the little girl was asleep. However, he was stunned when he pushed open the door and went in.
The little girl sat quietly on the bed, her hands gripping the blanket tightly. Her gaze was somewhat unfocused, staring at something as if she were deep in thought. Her slightly furrowed brows revealed a melancholy that seemed out of place for her age, a melancholy that tugged at the heartstrings.
Jin wanted to go over and comfort him, but in reality, he just coughed loudly and closed the door behind him.
Her big eyes lit up again, and Qiu Lingling exclaimed with delight, "You're back!"
Jin took off his cloak and threw it away, then walked over and sat on the bed: "Not asleep yet?"
Qiu Lingling lowered her eyes and said softly, "I'm afraid you'll get caught stealing. What will we do then?"
He sat there for two or three hours straight. He had initially thought she was scared, but it turned out she was worried. Jin was stunned for a moment, then silently took off his coat, lay down with a stern face, and pulled her, blanket and all, into his arms: "Nonsense! I'm the King of Thieves. No one who can catch me has been born yet! Close your eyes! Go to sleep!"
Qiu Lingling closed her eyes and laughed: "That's right, I heard you're the cult leader who stole the emperor's things. You're pretty amazing, aren't you?"
"Of course," Jin said shamelessly, "This leader is a peerless martial artist, can fly, knows how to use hidden weapons, and can change his appearance. No one in the world can catch me."
Qiu Lingling said "Oh," then thought for a moment and asked, "Will you teach me?"
Jin laughed again: "Still want to be a thief? Want money?"
Qiu Lingling shook her head seriously: "No, if you teach me, I can save you in the future."
Jin was taken aback.
After a while, he snorted, "If I'm so powerful, why would I need you to save me? Go to sleep!"
Qiu Lingling pouted and stopped talking, her petite body curling up in his arms.
Having fought all night, Jin was exhausted and sleepy, too lazy to care about anything else. He pulled the blanket up, held her, and quickly fell asleep. In his hazy state, he vaguely heard her murmuring—
"I will save you."
.
On the second night, Jin returned to the Earth God Temple, only to be met with a sword thrust into his chest.
As expected, Master Jin easily dodged the attack and laughed, "Kid, are you itching for a beating again?"
Jiang Xiaohu retorted angrily, "You cheated!"
Jin crossed his arms and walked over without changing his expression: "When did I ever cheat? Your poison has been cured, hasn't it?"
Jiang Xiaohu snorted coldly and sheathed her sword: "It's been itching me for two hours. I should have known..."
“If you had known that the poison would dissipate on its own in two hours, you could have killed me,” Jin interrupted him, tapping his forehead. “By the way, I only remembered yesterday after I went back that although I don’t have the antidote, if you had been soaking in water, you might not have been so itchy.”
Jiang Xiaohu sneered: "Master Jin is indeed despicable."
Jin asked curiously, "You're very rule-abiding?"
Considering their fighting styles, Jiang Xiaohu didn't say anything more, shook her head and sat down on the steps: "Never mind, you wanted to know where my internal energy came from, didn't you?"
Jin nodded and asked, "How old are you?" Seeing that he was about to draw his sword again, she immediately suppressed a laugh and corrected herself, "Wrong, how old are you?"
Jiang Xiaohu wasn't someone who got angry easily: "Twenty-one."
"You possess nearly thirty years' worth of internal energy."
"Because I practice faster than you guys."
Jin Huanlai's expression changed slightly, as if he had thought of something. He scrutinized him closely, his expression growing increasingly surprised and suspicious: "Impossible, could you be..."
Jiang Xiaohu smiled without saying a word.
Jin paced back and forth in front of him a few times without saying much, then suddenly struck like the wind, quickly pressing several vital points on his body.
Jiang Xiaohu wasn't surprised, she just smiled wryly: "Hey, what are you doing?"
Jin replied, "I'll take a look."
"No need," Jiang Xiaohu panicked when he saw him about to make another move. "You guessed right, that's how it is."
Jin Huanlai looked shocked: "You really..."
Jiang Xiaohu interrupted him, cursing, "Whether you're steamed or boiled, you have mouths on your body, can't you even ask first? What if you really attack and cripple my martial arts? Quickly release your acupoints!"
Jin Huanlai came to his senses and smiled wickedly: "A person like you, in the whole world, no one would want you to live. Why don't I kill you first and then help you get revenge?"
Jiang Xiaohu glared: "It's not just about revenge. Grandpa Jiang has many things to do in his life. He wants to gamble, fight, eat and drink well, do business, and get married to carry on the Jiang family line..."
"I can't help you with that last one."
"I treated you like a friend and let my guard down. How could you bear to hurt me?"
Jin said calmly, "I never said I considered you a friend."
Jiang Xiaohu was silent for a moment, then sighed: "I was wrong, you can kill him."
Jin sneered and kicked away his pressure points: "You poor brat, do you think you're worthy of my sect's attention?"
Jiang Xiaohu laughed: "So what if I'm a poor kid? I'm a poor kid, I'm eating and drinking other people's food, I'm making a profit."
.
Jin sat down again: "So, your family's treasure..."
Jiang Xiaohu said something in a low voice.
Jin shook his head: "Indeed, it can make you a contender in the martial arts world. It's a pity that it's useless to others. However, if this secret had been revealed back then, the Jiang family might have been spared from the annihilation of the entire family, but you would have certainly died. In the end, Grandfather Jiang still protected you."
Jiang Xiaohu remained silent.
Jin then asked, "What kind of mask do you want?"
Jiang Xiaohu snapped out of her daze: "Of course, it's a handsome man."
Jin remained silent.
Jiang Xiaohu touched his face and muttered to himself, "I want two of them, since they are for the famous Lord of Tianshui City. Only a handsome man would be worthy of them."
Jin retorted angrily, "This is called handsome? He's more like a pretty boy. He's only good for fooling young girls."
Jiang Xiaohu sneered: "What does Master Jin think is acceptable, and what doesn't make someone a gigolo?"
Jin replied without hesitation, "Of course, it should be like me."
Jiang Xiaohu was speechless for a long time before sighing, "Being thick-skinned has its advantages."
Jin said calmly, "If I weren't so shameless, I would be dead already."
Jiang Xiaohu remained silent.
And wasn't he the same?
.
"You've been watched by quite a few people, how did you manage to sneak out?"
"Grandpa Jiang is highly skilled in martial arts; it shouldn't be difficult for him to shake them off."
Jin scoffed, "The people monitoring you are no simpletons either. Your lightness skill is not even as good as Hua Yunfeng's. It would be very difficult for you to sneak out without them noticing."
Jiang Xiaohu laughed: "Don't you know that the Jiang family home is haunted?"
After the Jiang family was massacred, Jiang Xiaohu moved back to the Jiang family home. However, strange things began to happen. She would be sleeping soundly in her room one night, but the next morning she would wake up to find herself lying on the grass outside the city. This story circulated in the city for several years. People said that the Jiang family members died so tragically, with blood flowing all over the courtyard, that the wronged souls died with their eyes open. Fortunately, Jiang Xiaohu was a member of the Jiang family and was not harmed. But since then, no one has dared to enter the Jiang family's courtyard.
Jin glanced at him and said, "The Thousand Hands Cult doesn't believe in ghosts and gods."
“Thieves often walk at night, so they shouldn’t be afraid of ghosts,” Jiang Xiaohu said in a low voice, suppressing a laugh. “Actually, the Jiang family has a secret passage that leads directly outside the city. It was secretly built by my grandfather back then, and only I know about it.”
Jin Huanlai said, "So it was all just a charade."
Jiang Xiaohu sighed: "Being watched day and night, if I don't play tricks to scare them, I won't have time to come out and do so many things."
"For example, building Tianshui City and killing the 'Ten Demons of Kunshan'."
"I didn't actually build Tianshui City."
Jin Huanlai was slightly taken aback: "The Gathering Water Sword is in your hand, so aren't you Shui Fengqing?"
Jiang Xiaohu smiled: "You guessed half right."
He didn't want to say more, and Jin Huanlai wasn't in the habit of gossiping, so he didn't bother with it anymore: "You've been acting like a ghost these past few years, and all those people have been scared away?"
“I’m too scared to go back into the courtyard. At least they can’t keep an eye on me all the time,” Jiang Xiaohu blinked. “Aside from the Thousand Hands Sect, most people in this world are afraid of ghosts. Do you want to go take a look?”
Jin came to see him again: "We're not that close."
“But you didn’t lay a hand on me just now,” Jiang Xiaohu stood up. “We’re both thick-skinned, you wouldn’t hurt me.”
Two figures, one white and one black, rose up one after the other. The next day, news spread throughout the city that the Jiang family's courtyard had been in an uproar the previous night, with doors and windows banging loudly. The surrounding residents heard it, and some even bravely climbed the wall with torches to look, but they couldn't see a ghost. But that's another story.
.
The Golden Garden is very large. Successive leaders have spent lavishly to continuously renovate it. It has ponds, bamboo groves, flower gardens, and exquisite pavilions and terraces. The scenery is quiet and beautiful. However, the huge garden is only inhabited by the leader and his mute servant, making it seem particularly desolate. But recently, with the arrival of another person, the lifeless atmosphere has been quickly improved.
The little girl was beautiful, lively, and adorable. Moreover, she was brought back by the cult leader himself, so the mute servant dared not neglect her. Seeing that she liked her, he led her around to play.
So it often happened that as soon as Jin entered the garden, laughter would fly in, and then he would look up and see the little girl gesturing with her hands to talk to the mute servant, who was usually timid and submissive, but was laughing happily. If it were anyone else, they would absolutely not be allowed to communicate with the mute servant, but he was too lazy to care about the little girl's behavior. Her laughter made him feel good, and besides, she was very obedient and had never left the garden without permission.
However, when this situation usually comes up, he will still promptly throw out a spoilsport remark: "Don't make a fuss!" Then the little girl will abandon the scenery and run over to pull him aside to ask him all sorts of questions, while the mute servant will bow his head and retreat.
Jin was quite pleased with himself; the scenery at Jin Garden was indeed very nice.
In the hall, several Dharma protectors were extremely depressed.
"It's broad daylight! Didn't the leader call us here for a meeting? Why is no one here?" he said impatiently.
"Perhaps...you've forgotten?"
Everyone was speechless.
The handsome Jade Protector Hua Yunfeng finally couldn't sit still any longer and stood up: "I'll go to Jin Garden and ask if the sect leader is here."
Everyone nodded in unison: "That's a good idea."
.
In Jin Garden, Qiu Lingling stood under an ancient sycamore tree, touching the trunk: "This sycamore is so big!"
The mute servant smiled and held up two fingers.
"Twenty? Two hundred years? That's really old!"