Ding Xiu quickly begged for mercy, saying, "Alright, alright, I admit defeat."
Li Yao's fists didn't stop; they continued to pound on Ding Xiu's body. "Dream on! Call me Martial Uncle now!"
"Uncle-Master, Uncle-Master, may I call you Uncle-Master?"
Ding Xiu is shameless. As long as he doesn't get beaten up, he'll call Li Yao "Grandpa" even if you ask him to.
Li Yao then stopped, satisfied, and laughed, "If you had called me 'Uncle-Master' earlier, you wouldn't have gotten this beating. I think you deserved it."
Ding Xiu nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, I deserve a beating."
He rubbed the aches and pains on his body, his body trembling uncontrollably, and his attitude became much more docile.
This time, Li Yao really beat him into submission. His bones felt like they were cracked, and his hands and feet were somewhat unresponsive.
There was no other way; the difference in strength between him and Li Yao was simply too great, and he had no choice but to admit defeat.
It was thanks to Li Yao's mercy that he didn't hit him in the face, preventing him from ending up with a bruised and swollen face.
Chapter 21 Untangling the Heart's Knot, Borrowing Silver and Repaying Gold
Li Yao glanced at Ding Xiu with disdain and said, "Look at your pathetic self. You rely on your small physique to bully your weak and sickly junior brother all day long."
Ding Xiu glanced at Li Yao in surprise, then at Jin Yichuan, thinking to himself: How did he know that tuberculosis patient was my junior brother? Could he really be a successor of the Qi Family Saber?
Li Yao continued, "Of all your master's disciples, only you and Ding Xian are left. You killed him. Do you have any other relatives left in this world?"
Ding Xiu was stunned for a moment, thinking to himself: That's right, if my junior brother were gone too, I would truly be all alone in this world.
Li Yao's eyes darted around, and he glanced at Jin Yichuan.
Then, he pulled Ding Xiu aside to a secluded spot and whispered to him, "I know that the reason you're messing with your junior brother is because your master treats him differently, and you... like your master."
Ding Xiu stared at Li Yao in disbelief, completely stunned.
Indeed, he is fond of his beautiful mentor, Ding Baiying.
Ding Baiying is beautiful and young, and her kung fu is also exceptionally good.
Ding Xiu likes Ding Baiying, there's nothing wrong with that.
Although they all share the surname Ding, they are not related by blood.
Although Ding Xiu knew that his beautiful master Ding Baiying liked her senior brother Lu Wenzhao, so what? No one could stop him from liking Ding Baiying.
However, to his utter surprise, his beautiful master took a great liking to his tuberculosis-stricken junior brother and even passed on her most powerful swordsmanship to him.
Therefore, he became jealous.
Therefore, he wanted to mess with his junior brother.
This secret remained buried deep within him, and he never revealed it to anyone.
How did this "uncle-master" in front of me know all this?
Ding Xiu was puzzled and even more shocked.
Li Yao naturally knew that Ding Xiu was shocked by his words, and explained, "Actually, your master already knew that you had feelings for her, and she was the one who told me about it."
Ding Xiu then realized and asked, "You really know my master?"
Li Yao nodded and continued, "Actually, you know that the person your master likes is your senior uncle Lu Wenzhao. You're jealous of your junior brother, but in the end, you're the one who gets hurt."
Ding Xiu knew this, of course, but he was just that petty; he was jealous of how his beautiful master treated his tuberculosis-ridden junior brother.
However, what this "uncle" said does make some sense. He was jealous of his junior brother, but in the end, wouldn't he be the one who got hurt?
Seeing that Ding Xiu's knot in his heart seemed to loosen, Li Yao continued, "Actually, your master has already died in battle, and your feelings for your master should also end here. In this world, your junior brother is the only person you are closest to, so why should you fight with your own family and kill each other!"
Li Yao's words completely resolved Ding Xiu's inner conflict.
Ding Xiu smiled with relief and said sincerely, "Uncle-Master is right. I will never make things difficult for my junior brother again."
This time, his address of "Uncle-Master" came from the bottom of his heart.
Li Yao nodded in satisfaction. The tragedy that had befallen Jin Yichuan and Ding Xiu should now come to an end.
Ding Xiu picked up his Miao sword 'Plum Blossom', walked up to Jin Yichuan, and said, "Junior brother, for the sake of our master, I'll let you go. You'd better watch yourself."
Jin Yichuan was taken aback and looked at his uncle Li Yao. He wondered what his uncle had said to his senior brother that had managed to change his stubborn mind.
Then, Ding Xiu said to Li Yao, "Uncle-Master, until we meet again."
After saying that, he picked up 'Mei Ying' and turned to leave.
Li Yao suddenly spoke up: "Wait!"
Ding Xiu turned around and asked, "Is there anything else, Uncle-Master?"
Li Yao smiled and asked, "Do you have money?"
Ding Xiu was slightly taken aback, then smiled wryly and said, "If I had money, I wouldn't have come to see my junior brother tonight."
Li Yao then asked, "Do you have a place to stay?"
Ding Xiu nodded. "Yes, there is, but it's a bit dilapidated. Uncle-Master, would you like to stay at my place?"
Li Yao said, "I just returned from overseas and don't have a place to stay yet. Is this convenient for me?"
Ding Xiu grinned, "Convenient, of course it's convenient. Uncle-Master can stay as long as he wants, but... he has to pay for the room."
Li Yao's eyes widened. "What did you say?"
Ding Xiu quickly smiled apologetically, "Just kidding, just kidding. How could I dare to take my uncle's money?"
Jin Yichuan couldn't help but smile when he saw his senior brother being completely subdued by his junior uncle.
Next, it was Li Yao's time to reap the rewards.
Li Yao had just given Ding Xiu a good beating, and a lot of attribute orbs fell from Ding Xiu's body.
Li Yao's gaze swept across the ground.
"Ding! Successfully acquired the 'Physique' attribute, Physique +11!"
"Ding! Successfully acquired the 'Comprehension' attribute, Comprehension +4!"
"Ding! Successfully picked up 'Luck Point', Luck +15!"
...
Ding Xiu's small frame is actually quite impressive; he lost a significant amount of his physical attributes.
Having just fleeced the three Shen brothers, they've now fleeced Ding Xiu.
Not bad, not bad.
Afterwards, Li Yao and the other two arrived at Shen Lian and Lu Jianxing's side.
When Lu Jianxing saw Ding Xiu, his face darkened, and he placed his right hand on the hilt of his sword. "You are Ding Xiu, who often extorts Yichuan."
Jin Yichuan quickly said, "Brother, I have already reconciled with my senior brother."
Lu Jianxing's expression softened.
Li Yao walked up to Shen Lian and asked directly, "Shen Lian, do you have any money?"
Shen Lian was taken aback for a moment, then took out two silver ingots from his waist. "There are twenty taels of silver."
Li Yao unceremoniously reached out and grabbed the silver, saying, "I'll lend you twenty taels of silver tonight, and I'll return twenty taels of gold the day after tomorrow."
He then gave Ding Xiu a wink and turned to leave.
Shen Lian was stunned for a moment, then shook his head slightly. He simply did not believe that Li Yao would be able to return the twenty taels of gold to him the day after tomorrow, unless Li Yao went to rob and plunder.
Therefore, he shouted at Li Yao's back, "Consider the twenty taels of silver as a gift from me, you don't need to pay it back."
Li Yao did not respond.
Soon, Li Yao followed Ding Xiu to a large mansion.
Li Yao was surprised. "You live here?"
Ding Xiu nodded and said, "I heard that a high-ranking official surnamed Zhou used to live here. Later, his family was confiscated by Wei, and the place was abandoned. Then, some people spread rumors that the place was haunted, so no one dared to come here. That's why I moved in."
As he spoke, he naturally pushed open the sealed door and went inside, as if it were his own home.
Li Yao looked up and could vaguely make out two large characters on the mottled plaque: Zhou Mansion.
Li Yao's heart skipped a beat: Could this be Zhou Miaotong's house?
Very likely.
Li Yao entered the mansion and found that the courtyard was very large, but it was very dilapidated and desolate.
Clearly, no one has lived here for a long time.
Upon entering the main hall, Li Yao saw Ding Xiu lying on a tattered mat on the floor.
Ding Xiu opened his eyes and smiled. "There are no high beds or soft pillows here. If you don't mind, just find a place to sleep."
Li Yao said with a half-smile, "The one who spread the rumor that this place is haunted is probably you."
Ding Xiu's smile froze.
Chapter 22: Wielding the Embroidered Spring Knife and Quickly Learning to Ride a Horse
Taking advantage of a convenient opportunity, Li Yao arrived at a secluded place.
Then, he reached out and gave the system a command: "System, retrieve the Embroidered Spring Blade for me."
In an instant, a dazzling streak of light flashed, and a brocade spring knife appeared out of thin air in his hand.
Li Yao was overjoyed, "It really works, it's quite amazing."
He picked up the embroidered spring knife and examined it carefully.
This embroidered spring knife is very heavy, and the outer scabbard is carved with beautiful patterns.
Clang...