“As the master, you cannot teach a timid disciple. You should know my methods best,” Jin Yue interrupted him, unconcerned. “In a couple of days, I’m planning to throw her into the water. What, is that not allowed?”
Jin remained silent for a long time before saying, "She is not me; she is still young."
“She’s not young, she’s old enough to get married,” Jin Yue raised an eyebrow, his eyes full of malicious laughter. “If the Thousand Hands Sect is afraid of the dark, that’s a joke. My disciple would never allow such a joke to happen. If you feel sorry for her, you shouldn’t have sent her here. You should have taken her back and raised her for the rest of her life.”
Jin remained silent.
Understanding what the two meant, Qiu Lingling gripped his hand even tighter, as if afraid he would run away.
Jin Yue snorted in disdain, waved his hand, and left with his servants, leaving behind the words: "If you want to take it, hurry up. This place of mine is not for you to play around with."
The room dimmed again, and the two fell silent.
Qiu Lingling suddenly let go of him: "Go, I'm not afraid."
Jin did not answer.
Qiu Lingling gently nudged him: "If you don't leave now, Master will be angry. I'll come back to find you after I've mastered my kung fu." After saying that, she started wiping her eyes again and added pitifully, "Remember to come see me."
Jin came to see her again, then turned and left.
Qiu Lingling finally panicked, her voice trembling: "Jin, come back..."
Jin stopped and sighed, "Go to sleep, I'm not leaving."
"Really?" Qiu Lingling was relieved. "Then will you sleep with me tonight? I won't be afraid tomorrow."
"Keep me company? You really think I'm some kind of big shot? What will the old man think of me if he finds out!" Jin replied irritably. "I'm not sleepy. I'll sit outside for a bit. Go to sleep, go to sleep!"
Qiu Lingling obediently went back to bed and lay down. Jin Huanlai walked out and closed the door behind him.
"……are u there?"
"Yes." (From outside the door)
"Give me back the gold?"
"Yes, it's here." Above my head.
Braving the howling wind, Grand Master Jin sat dejectedly on the rooftop, trying to cool off. He had thought that once the little girl was gone, he could finally enjoy a carefree life. Now, he was stuck in this godforsaken place in the middle of the night, watching over her as she slept. He was practically the most pathetic cult leader in history. Looking up at the heavens, Jin almost burst into tears. "Besides you," he thought, "who else has the audacity to order around a servant like me?"
Looking at each other, weary and haggard.
The priceless Fire Toad has been stolen! This astonishing news exploded throughout the martial arts world, spreading at an incredible speed. Its owner, Baili Ying, died three days later. Officially, it was claimed that he died suddenly from an illness, but rumors circulated that he actually committed suicide. Most people believed this explanation because after the incident, the madam of the brothel was extremely anxious and tried to defend him, saying that the thief was a stunningly beautiful girl. Someone of Baili Ying's status, falling for such a trick, would inevitably become a laughingstock, and it's possible that he committed suicide out of shame and indignation.
Almost everyone simultaneously thought that the stunning beauty was likely from the Thousand Hands Cult.
Lately, things have been a bit troubling. The Thousand Hands Sect is abuzz with discussion, and all the altar masters and leaders are puzzled. When did such a stunningly beautiful woman emerge in the sect? How dare she act so secretly in such a momentous matter as stealing the Fire Toad! As a result, the three great protectors, Silver, Money, and Wealth, jointly submitted a petition, strongly demanding that the sect leader investigate this extraordinary person. However, the sect leader rebuffed them with the words, "Do not mention it again, or you will be punished." They were all baffled. Only the Jade Protector, Hua Yunfeng, remained low-key, believing he knew the inside story.
Beside the mountain stream in the Retreat Valley.
"I heard that Baili Ying is dead." Qiu Lingling lowered her head.
"Yes, he's dead." Jin was clearly distracted. The young, handsome protector's meaningful smile had been making him very annoyed and uneasy lately. He was wondering if the man knew something, whether he should deal with him, or simply kill him to silence him.
Qiu Lingling remained silent for a while, then asked softly, "Do you think he might have died because he lost his treasure?"
Jin replied impatiently, "What does it matter to us how he dies?"
Qiu Lingling murmured, "If we don't steal the fire toad..."
“So what if you don’t steal?” Jin turned to look at her and sneered, “If you don’t steal, no one will know even if you starve to death. Who do you think will pity you?”
The words were harsh, and Qiu Lingling's eyes welled up with tears. She started crying, "You...you're not a good person!"
"I'm not a good person to begin with. If you want to be a good person, then do it yourself and support yourself first," Jin said angrily, getting up to leave. "Stop crying! If you regret it, then get out and stop bothering me!"
.
In the dazzling room, on the golden platform, the white jade begonia that had been there before was gone. In its place was an ancient pine tree carved from jade, with delicate textures, gnarled roots, and a majestic appearance.
Beneath the pine tree lay a bright red toad.
Jin Huanlai reclined in his chair, staring blankly at the jewels filling the room. Lately, he found himself suddenly much more idle. The happy days he had planned had not arrived; instead, things had deteriorated to a rather unpleasant state. He had nothing to say to the girls except for business matters. All sorts of comments were irritating to his ears. Finally, the beauties were angered by his indifferent attitude and deliberately sulked, which gave him the perfect opportunity to leave. However, returning to Jin Garden was even more boring. Jiang Xiaohu was busy with something, so he had no choice but to come here every day to count his wealth.
The room was almost full again, with barely any room to step on the floor. Countless pearls and gems were scattered about, some of which he himself had forgotten the names of.
Jin grabbed a handful of pearls: "I'm not a good person, hmph, a good person..."
Finally regretting it? Although I knew these words would eventually come out of that little girl's mouth, I was still a little disappointed when I actually heard them. I am the King of Thieves, and someone actually wants me to be a good person? Ha, who cares about the life or death of a thief? What is this little girl? How dare she speak rudely to this leader? She's really taking advantage of my kindness. You think you're something special? You're a good person, but I won't sell you to a brothel. For the first time, Jin felt the pain of losing money. Ten thousand taels to redeem this ungrateful girl. What a loss!
The sound of pigeons fluttering overhead reached Jin's ears, and he closed his eyes to rest.
A short while later, the mute servant knocked on the door.
The door was half open, and Jin reached out, saying, "Throw it over here."
Accustomed to his manner, the mute servant tossed something to him and then withdrew.
Jin reached out and grabbed it; it was a thin-skinned iron tube less than two inches long and about the thickness of a little finger, with special patterns and markings from the Retreat Valley on it. It was obviously brought from a pigeon.
"What's the old man up to now!" Having been tricked repeatedly, Jin had no patience. He initially intended to ignore it, but after holding it in his hand for a moment, he scraped off the sealing wax, popped the lid open with a "pop," and pulled out a piece of paper.
The note contained only two small words: Missing.
Jin Yue is adept at expressing complex meanings with simple sentences. Because his words are often abbreviated and profound, a single word can often be interpreted in multiple ways. This requires the listener to have considerable comprehension and judgment. The fact that the sect's protector altar master has today's intelligence and the self-awareness to act according to his superiors' moods is largely due to him.
Jin remained silent for a while, then tossed the note out the window, muttering, "What's it to me!"
Three seconds later.
"Trouble!" He stood up angrily, strode out the door, slammed the door shut, and the impact caused a jade bottle on the shelf to roll off and shatter.
.
The winter wind, carrying a chill, swept across the sky overhead. The Valley of Retreat remained lush and green. After entering the valley, Jin calmed down considerably and realized that something was amiss. He began to suspect something was wrong. The Valley of Retreat was protected by a formation, making it impossible for anyone who didn't know the formation to enter or leave. How could the little girl have disappeared? Could he have fallen for the old man's trick again?
Fortunately, we brought the person here ourselves. If something really happened, it wouldn't be good. Jin sighed. Since we're already here, we might as well keep it from the old man and look for him first to find out what's going on.
A dark shadow darted across the rooftops and treetops, avoiding the servants' eyes, and quietly landed at the door of Qiu Lingling's room.
The door was open, but the room was empty.
Jin Huanlai's heart skipped a beat, and he thought to himself that something was wrong. He didn't believe that the little girl knew the way out of the valley. No matter how absurd the old man was, he still understood the importance of things and would never tell her the way out of the valley and let her run around.
The old man knows every blade of grass and every tree in this valley best. Even he said she was missing, which means he sent people to look for her. Where could she have gone?
Huanyun Pool!
Like a bolt of lightning striking his mind, he rushed toward the stream at top speed without having time to think.
.
The bright white stream cascades down from the heights, gathering into a pool. The leisurely clouds are reflected in the pool, like light gauze floating on the water, hence the name Huanyun Pool (Cloud-Washing Pool). The pool's edge is made of smooth, large blue stones, and it's easy to slip and fall in if you're not careful. When I was learning martial arts, I once lived in this valley with Jin Yue for a while. Once, I accidentally fell in, but luckily he was a good swimmer and had excellent lightness skills, so he didn't get hurt.
Jin landed by the pool and quickly scanned his surroundings. When he saw the shallow slip mark on the stone next to him, it felt as if something had struck his chest hard. He froze, and his heart instantly turned cold.
The stone was covered in moss, and the footprints, neither too big nor too small, were clearly those of a girl.
"He's not that good-looking, but he can't be that unlucky!" Jin cursed under his breath, stiffly lifting his foot to step over and staring blankly at the mark.
There's no one around, but there are slippery footprints here. What does that mean?
Not far away, the water was splashing, and the surface of the pool was calm and still. There was nothing else there. Although he refused to admit it, reason still prompted him to make a decision. Jin was about to go into the water to take a look.
Just then, a very clear and loud voice suddenly came from above: "Gold, return!"
Jin was so frightened that he almost fell into the water.
He turned around, looked up, and saw the little girl.
Qiu Lingling was wearing a large, black robe. The dull color made her skin look even whiter than snow. She was squatting on a high tree branch with her arms wrapped around her shoulders. After two months apart, her face seemed a little thinner and her chin a bit sharper, but she looked even more beautiful and pitiful.
"You really came!" Her big eyes were full of surprise.
Jin was stunned for a long time without saying a word. Suddenly, he leaped up and picked her up from the tree.
Feeling the little girl firmly in his arms, a weight lifted from his heart. He finally remembered to get angry, tossed her aside, and roared, "Why are you running around like that? You're just causing me trouble!" Before Qiu Lingling could speak, he pointed at the tree and scolded, "Who told you to climb so high?"
Qiu Lingling's eyes reddened from his scolding: "Master said you would come here, so I came early this morning to wait for you."
"You old geezer!" Jin cursed under his breath, pointing to the mark on the stone: "What happened here?"
"I accidentally fell down just now," Qiu Lingling said, shrugging her shoulders and trembling slightly. "I want to go up and let the wind dry it off."
Did she really fall? Jin broke out in a cold sweat, only then realizing that her clothes were wet. She laughed angrily, "Blowing in the wind? In this cold weather? You've got a death wish, haven't you?"
Qiu Lingling said aggrievedly, "Master said you would come here, and I was afraid that if I went back to change my clothes, I wouldn't be able to see you."
If you had stayed in your room, I wouldn't have had to come to this godforsaken place. Jin didn't say anything, but took off his cloak, wrapped it around her, picked her up, and carried her away. Fine, fine, I guess I owed you from my past life.
.
"The water was so deep, how did you climb out by yourself?"
“Yes,” Qiu Lingling nestled in his arms and blinked, “I can swim.”
"He must have been thrown in," Jin said helplessly, knowing Jin Yue's methods of teaching his disciples. "In this freezing weather, he made you go into the water?"
"Master said that as long as I circulate my internal energy, everything will be fine."
Jin Yue gasped, abruptly stopping on the treetop. He quickly grasped her pulse and immediately understood—there was a faint flow of internal energy within the little girl's body! The beginning of internal energy cultivation is the most difficult, and it's impossible to achieve such results in just two months. Therefore, there is only one possibility: Jin Yue used the Thousand Hands Sect's method of transferring internal energy to her!
If you say that Jin Yue is a master who cares about his apprentice, Jin Huanlai would never believe it. When he was learning hidden weapons, he was almost tortured to death. The only possibility is that the old man was being lazy and didn't want to waste time teaching her slowly. It's a blessing for the little girl.
Feeling much better, he leaped forward and continued flying.
Qiu Lingling whispered, "Believe it or not, I can fly too!"
Jin smiled and asked, "Did you get scolded?"
"No."
The answer was expected. Although Jin Huanlai himself had been slapped and beaten a lot in the past, Jin Yue had rarely hit or scolded women. This was why Jin Huanlai felt at ease entrusting the little girl to him.
.
Jin kicked open the door and threw her onto the bed: "Change your clothes!"
Qiu Lingling grabbed him: "Are you leaving again?"
Jin was stunned.
She lowered her head and asked softly, "Are you still angry?"