L'hibiscus comme peinture

Chapitre 7

"Yes! Brother Feng, do you remember that day we fought over a chicken leg?" the old man in blue continued, clearly lost in memories as well. He must be that Brother Yan.

"I remember, I won the snatch back then!" the old man in blue said proudly.

"Hmph, if you hadn't cheated back then, that chicken leg would have been mine long ago." The old man in blue pouted, looking like a child! So cute! (Sweating profusely)

"Hehe...that's called all's fair in war," the old man in blue said with a grin.

"You..." The old man in blue was speechless, and could only turn his back and ignore him.

"These two old gentlemen have a very good relationship, don't they?" Seeing that neither of them spoke, Ao Jun had no choice but to speak up.

"Yes! Our relationship was very good back then, but later..." He stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence, looking apologetically at the old man in blue who was also turning to look at him.

"Huh?" Was I seeing things? Why are they both looking at each other with such deep apology and regret? Did something happen later?

"Alas." The old man in blue sighed and continued, "We two are protectors of the Holy Immortal Sect. Our master was the eighteenth sect leader of the Holy Immortal Sect. Our master had three disciples, and we also have Senior Brother Lei, who is the nineteenth sect leader. The Holy Immortal Sect has a very high status in the martial arts world and is admired by all. The three of us were known as the 'Three Wonders of the Holy Immortal Sect.' How spirited we were back then! Among the three of us, my brother Yan and I were the closest, even closer than blood brothers. But later, because of a woman, the two of us... alas..." The old man in blue said sadly.

I understand, I understand, even heroes can't resist the charms of a beautiful woman! This kind of plot often plays out on TV, but I never thought that these two extraordinary old men would turn against each other for a beautiful woman.

"I never imagined that the traitor Saint Chi would exploit the grudges between us, make us suspicious of each other, and incite us to fight. When we were both exhausted, he then made his move to seize the Heavenly Stem and the Secret Manual."

"That Sheng Chi is too cunning. Even my senior brother was deceived by him for so many years. He is the sect leader's only disciple and has always been the one who dotes on him the most. When he found out about Sheng Chi's wolfish ambitions, I wonder how heartbroken my senior brother was. No wonder he entrusted the Heavenly Stems and the Secret Manual to me. Even when I tried my best to refuse, saying that I had no intention of becoming the sect leader and that Sheng Chi would be the best candidate, my senior brother's expression was so strange. It seemed like helplessness, heartache, and despair. I suppose that's when my senior brother knew about Sheng Chi's ambitions and that he was the one who poisoned him... It's also our fault..."

From their descriptions, Ao Jun basically understood what had happened: Sheng Chi was an orphan who was taken back to the Holy Immortal Sect by the sect leader and accepted as his disciple. From a young age, Sheng Chi appeared intelligent, quick-witted, and honest, which endeared him to the three disciples. However, Sheng Chi was cunning and scheming, already coveting the sect leader's position and that supposed divine skill. Later, he poisoned the sect leader. The sect leader's health deteriorated, and believing he was getting old, he intended to pass the leadership to Sheng Chi. But then he discovered he had been poisoned, and by the very person he considered his son! Heartbroken, but knowing there was no cure, he entrusted the Heavenly Stems and Heavenly Kun Secret Manual to Grandpa Feng, then went to talk to Sheng Chi, hoping Sheng Chi still possessed some conscience, and thus kept the matter secret. But Sheng Chi was utterly devoid of conscience; knowing his scheme had been exposed, he killed the sect leader when he wasn't looking. Unable to find what he was looking for, he guessed it must be with Grandpa Feng or Grandpa Yan, but knowing their martial arts were superior, he dared not act rashly. He then devised a plan to make the two, who harbored resentment towards each other, suspect the other of killing their sect leader. The two fell for the trap and agreed to settle their long-standing feud at this place where they shared memories. Just as they were locked in a fierce battle, Saint Chi suddenly attacked from behind, severely injuring both of them. What happened next was exactly what she witnessed…

"If the Holy Immortal Sect falls into the hands of Holy Chi, it will surely harm the martial arts world. Sooner or later, it will be wiped out. It's a pity that the Holy Immortal Sect's foundation of hundreds of years will be destroyed in our hands. How can we face our master and our ancestor after we die..." Grandpa Feng looked regretful, as did Grandpa Yan.

"No, we'll wait until both grandfathers are healed before we go and destroy Saint Chi. He will definitely pay the price for what he did." His tone was as casual as if he were just saying how nice the weather was.

"Hehe... wait until we're healed?" Grandpa Feng murmured with a wry smile after hearing Ao Jun's words, while looking at Grandpa Yan, who had the same expression.

Ao Jun wondered: What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?

A moment later, the two people who were smiling wryly suddenly seemed to have thought of something and looked at Ao Jun in unison: Although this kid is young and always has a cold expression, and I've never seen him show any other expression since we met, he is kind-hearted (Ao Jun: I knew it!), has an upright appearance, and seems to have a deep understanding of formations. I quite like him, why not...

The two exchanged another glance, both seeing the same meaning in each other's eyes, and then looked at Ao Jun together.

Ao Jun was puzzled by the two people's stares. Just as he was wondering what was going on, he heard Grandpa Feng say, "Boy, what's your name?"

"Young man?" I... had no choice but to respect the elders and honestly replied, "Master Mo."

"Okay, Mo Jun, kneel down." Grandpa Feng nodded with a smile.

What? Kneel down? Did I hear that right, or did he say something wrong? Why should I kneel down? It's like I'm the one who saved them!

"You heard me right, and I didn't say anything wrong. Kneel down and become my disciple." Does he have mind-reading abilities? Does he know what I'm thinking?

Seeing Ao Jun's astonished expression, the two laughed heartily: So this kid has other expressions besides indifference! He's quite cute, though! I like this disciple! (You like him? That depends on whether he likes him or not!)

"Become an apprentice?" What kind of apprentice?

"Of course, you should become our disciple! You're lucky, kid. So many people in the martial arts world want to become our disciples, but we've turned them all down. Today, we've taken a liking to you, so we're making an exception and accepting you as our apprentice," Grandpa Yan said with a grin.

"I didn't say I wanted to become your apprentice." Judging from your sly smiles, nothing good is going on.

"Huh? You don't want to become their disciple?" The two couldn't believe it. This was the first time they had made an exception to take on a disciple, and he didn't want to be their disciple. You see, once you received their true teachings, you would be virtually invincible in the martial arts world.

"Yes!" Ao Jun nodded heavily, indicating that she really did not want to become an apprentice. Although learning martial arts was one of her interests, she had no intention of entering the martial world. If she became their apprentice, she would definitely be unable to extricate herself from the martial world from then on.

"You two rest here first, I'm going home." Seeing that the two seemed determined to take her as their disciple, Ao Jun felt a chill run down her spine and decided to slip away.

"Wait." The two grabbed Ao Jun from either side as he tried to slip away.

"I don't want to enter the martial world." After explaining, Ao Jun took advantage of the two men's inattention to break free from their grasp and walked towards the cave entrance. Although she didn't have internal energy, she was still a master of Taekwondo, Karate, and Judo.

Feng Yan and his companion hadn't expected Ao Jun to break free so easily. Although they were seriously injured, it wasn't easy for him to break free of their grip. Looking at the boy's technique just now, it was strange; he had no internal energy, but his movements were very agile. They increasingly felt he had the talent to be their disciple, so they couldn't let him go. They didn't want to take their martial arts skills with them just like that.

The two looked at each other and nodded firmly, then flew over to Ao Jun, who was walking towards the cave entrance, and landed beside him.

Military Advisor and Princess: Battlefield Chapter Seven - Forced to Become an Apprentice

"What are you trying to do?" Wow, that's some light-footed skill!

Without saying a word, Feng and Yan pressed Ao Jun's pressure points and made her sit down cross-legged. The two of them sat down one after the other, with Tian Feng's hands clasped together with Ao Jun's and Tian Yan's hands on Ao Jun's back.

Soon, Ao Jun felt two streams of energy slowly flowing into her body. At first, it felt warm and comfortable, but gradually, the two streams seemed to grow larger and larger, filling her entire body and becoming increasingly rapid, like a turbulent sea. It was so difficult! She felt every cell was screaming, her blood was boiling, and she was about to burst out of her body, but unfortunately, she couldn't move because her acupoints were pressed! "You old bastards, how can you treat your savior like this? What are you doing to me?"

Finally, an hour later, when both Feng Yan and Ao Jun were drenched in cold sweat, Ao Jun's acupoints were suddenly ruptured. He couldn't take it anymore!!

"Ah!..." Ao Jun roared, sending Feng Yan and the other flying. They fell to the ground and both coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Gradually, Ao Jun felt less uncomfortable and then noticed that the two old men had fallen to the ground. She quickly ran over and helped them up.

"What's wrong with you? What happened?" Why was she able to send them flying?

"Hehe... We have just passed on all our life's worth of skills to you. We are almost at our end." Tianfeng said with a smile, as if he were talking about something pleasant.

"What? You guys..." Ao Jun couldn't believe it. Just like in a martial arts novel, his two grandfathers had transferred their inner strength to him. But why? Why would they do that?

"Saint Chi's palm strike was too powerful, and coupled with the severe injuries we sustained earlier, our meridians were all shattered, and we can't survive. Cough cough..." Before he could finish speaking, Tianfeng coughed violently, and blood flowed down the corner of his mouth.

Ao Jun was shocked. She quickly patted Grandpa Feng's back, her face filled with worry. Turning to Grandpa Yan, she saw he was also in bad shape, his breathing becoming increasingly rapid. What to do? It turned out the two of them were already… and she had just almost abandoned them. Thinking of this, Ao Jun was filled with remorse.

"You're so badly injured, why are you transferring your inner strength to me? This will only make things worse for you..."

"Cough, Jun'er, don't feel guilty. This has nothing to do with you. Besides, you didn't know how badly we were injured." Tianfeng saw the worried and regretful expression on Aojun's face and knew that he had made the right choice in taking him as a disciple, even though he had not yet acknowledged them as his two masters.

“Jun’er, we are already beyond saving with our severe injuries. It would be a waste to take all our martial arts skills to our graves. We are passing on our power to you now, but we have ulterior motives. We hope you will agree to become our disciple, to stop the Holy Crimson, save the Holy Immortal Sect, and save the world,” Tianyan added.