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"Get up and come with me," Xu Feng nodded.

"Who are you?" Youliang smelled a faint citrus scent and felt instantly refreshed, his drowsiness vanishing in an instant.

“I am Xu Feng, the abbot has asked me to go with you to find Daoist Jia Shiming,” Xu Feng said with a smile.

Youliang rubbed his eyes. The man was dressed in a sharp suit and didn't look like a Taoist priest, but when he saw the small head, he knew that it must be the mysterious "Taoist Master Daolang" that Qingyang had mentioned.

"What does it taste like?" Youliang asked.

"Cologne, does it smell good?" Xu Feng asked.

"It smells nice, I like it." Youliang thought that if possible in the future, he would also apply this kind of medicine to Nizi and let her smell it every day.

Master Xufeng and Youliang left Baiyun Temple overnight and arrived at the old building of Beijing Hotel on East Chang'an Street. There was a room there for him, nominally a businessman from Hong Kong who came to Beijing to do business.

Chapter Ninety-Three

Inside the Beijing Hotel room, Xu Feng carefully examined You Liang, reached out and touched the top of his head, and asked, "Were you a monk?"

Youliang replied, "I stayed at Fengling Temple in Hedong for six or seven years."

Xu Feng nodded and said, "You Liang, tell me about your meeting with Jia Shi Ming from beginning to end, without omitting any details."

Then, Youliang recounted in detail how he and Nizi met the peddler in Aoli Village, the tragic death of his parents that night, and their subsequent journey to Foya Temple in Tongguan. When he got to the sad parts, he began to sob softly.

"Were those two night travelers also burned to death in your thatched hut?" Xu Feng asked in confusion.

“Yes, Nizi said, and those two people were all smiles, looking very happy. They voluntarily lay down on the fire, as if committing suicide…” Youliang also felt that this was really unbelievable.

"Does your family have any valuable treasures passed down from your ancestors? Or did your parents offend some powerful person?" Xu Feng found this very strange, so he asked probing questions.

Youliang shook his head and said, "My family is very poor. Our ancestors were farmers for generations. We didn't have anything of value at home. My parents were honest and hardworking all their lives and never offended anyone."

"So, these two night travelers were targeting you and your brother. It seems they are definitely with the group that kidnapped you at the Foya Temple in Tongguan. You just said that Master Jia seemed to know this group very well?" Xu Feng frowned and pondered.

“They knew each other well, but I don’t understand why Master Jia later struck that ‘Captain Zhang’s’ pressure points and then ran away with Nizi over the wall,” Youliang said, puzzled.

"Well, once we find that family and capture Captain Zhang, the answer will be clear," Xu Feng said calmly.

Youliang asked, "Daoist Master, when shall we set off?"

“Your Taoist attire is too flashy; I’ll have to change your appearance,” Xu Feng replied.

After daybreak, Xu Feng led You Liang out of the hotel, then turned left onto Wangfujing Street. They ate something at a breakfast shop, and then stood in front of the Wangfujing Department Store, waiting for it to open for business.

An elderly man and a young man walked along the sidewalk of Wangfujing Street, and their unusual appearance caught Xu Feng's attention.

Both men were dressed in grey Zhongshan suits. The older man was short and stout, with a full head of white hair, long eyebrows and a bushy beard, a ruddy complexion, and round, protruding eyes—typical "dragon-eye" eyes—giving him a somewhat exotic look. The younger man, on the other hand, was slender and well-built, but his facial muscles were somewhat distorted and deformed, making him look ugly and unpleasant to behold. He wore a pair of wide-rimmed dark sunglasses and was blind, being supported by the older man's arm as they walked.

Xu Feng's gaze met that of the short, stout old man for a moment, and then they each looked away.

The world is full of wonders, and people's appearances vary greatly. However, there seemed to be an inexplicable evil aura about that young man. Even though they were more than ten meters apart, Xu Feng could still feel it, and his pores felt cold.

These two men were none other than Ao Lao and Huang Jianguo, who had come to the capital to carry out an assassination mission.

Old Ao glanced at Youliang, who was bald and dressed in the robes of a Quanzhen Taoist priest, and felt a little strange. The man next to the young Taoist priest was very thin, despite his sharp suit. He couldn't fill out the fine clothes at all. In particular, his small head was flat and looked just like a mantis in the jungle.

"Dad, I'm hungry..." the young man in sunglasses called out foolishly.

"Alright, 'Donglaishun' is just ahead. Dad will take you to eat mutton." The old man coaxed him across the road and headed straight for the Donglaishun flagship store.

"Screech..." A screeching sound of car tires screeching suddenly rang out.

A black Volga sedan braked suddenly and stopped in the middle of the road, nearly hitting Mr. Ao and Huang Jianguo. At that moment, the rear window rolled down, and a young woman angrily leaned out, cursing viciously, "Are you blind?!"

Upon hearing this, Huang Jianguo trembled slightly. A familiar woman's figure vaguely appeared in his mind. He mumbled indistinctly, "Dongdong..." He then slowly turned to the side, took off his sunglasses, and leaned forward, staring with his white, blind eyes, trying to make out the young woman's appearance...

With a cry of "Wah...", a little girl of about three or four years old in the car saw Huang Jianguo's terrifying face and immediately burst into tears.

"Get out of here, you ugly monster, you're scaring the child!" The young woman raised her voice eight octaves and shouted sternly.

At that moment, the driver's door was flung open with a bang, and a slightly overweight middle-aged man in a grass-green military uniform jumped out. He grabbed Huang Jianguo by the collar and yelled, "You little brat, are you looking for death? You scared my wife and kids! You want a beating?" He then swung his fist and punched the blind man in the nose...

This kid is overestimating himself; he's probably going to suffer... Xu Feng stood on the roadside steps, pondering to himself.

Seeing that the situation was not good, and knowing that they had a mission to carry out, they could not afford to lose sight of the bigger picture and cause unnecessary trouble, especially in the capital... So, with a gentle pull, they pulled Huang Jianguo a few inches away, dodging the man's attack.

Seeing his punch miss, the middle-aged man flew into a rage and made a move to raise his fist again...

At this point, passersby on the street couldn't stand it anymore and gathered around to criticize the middle-aged man: "How could you hit someone like that? Especially since he's blind."

"So what if you have a car and chicken feathers? I can't stand people like that." Someone in the crowd said indignantly.

Huang Jianguo seemed oblivious, his blind eyes still fixed on the interior of the car...

"What are you yelling about? Didn't you see this guy acting like a hooligan, staring at my wife?" the middle-aged man shouted, trying to justify himself.

"He's blind, what can he see? This guy is so unreasonable." People discussed it, quite disdainfully.

"It's a good thing he's blind, otherwise he would have been terrified. He looks like an ugly monster, and he's acting like a treasure..." Some people made even more sarcastic remarks, which made people laugh.

At this moment, Master Xufeng squeezed his way to the front with Youliang.

Master Xufeng parted the crowd, extending a withered hand to place on the middle-aged man's hand that was gripping the blind man's collar. At the same time, he secretly pressed his thumb on the "Renying" acupoint, located an inch or so outside the blind man's Adam's apple on his neck. He couldn't help but be secretly astonished...

He had initially sensed an eerie aura emanating from the blind man, so he secretly pressed his "Renying" acupoint to test its nature. This acupoint is the meeting point of the Foot Yangming and Foot Shaoyang meridians, the gateway from which Qi Hai emerges, and is an important acupoint for diagnosing diseases using the ancient "Three Parts and Nine Pulse Points" method. Unexpectedly, upon pressing it, he discovered that the man's body lacked all five elements of Qi, resembling the intermediate state of being at the moment of death. He was greatly astonished.

Taoism believes that Qi is the origin of all things and the fundamental element of life. Each person's body contains the five elements of Qi, which wax and wane in an endless cycle: metal Qi is austere, wood Qi is flexible, water Qi is moistening, fire Qi is rising, and earth Qi is generative. Therefore, a renowned physician can diagnose a person's illness simply by analyzing the five elements of Qi. Yet, this blind young man before me shows no trace of the five elements of Qi. How could this not be alarming? Because only in the dead do the five elements of Qi disappear, and this person is certainly not…

"Forget it, since this blind man can't see the road, how can we blame him? Anyway, we haven't run into each other, so let's just go our separate ways." As Master Xufeng spoke, he applied a little more force to the middle-aged man, and half of his body immediately became numb and unable to move.

"Yeah, if you hit a blind person, you'd have to compensate them, wouldn't you? You'd be getting a good deal and then complaining about it," passersby commented.

The middle-aged man realized he had encountered a master and knew he should take the opportunity to save face. He turned to look at the woman inside the car.

The woman had stopped cursing and was now staring at the ugly blind man. She vaguely heard him uttering indistinct words, something like the word "Dongdong"...

This young woman was none other than Dongdong, Huang Jianguo's former fiancée and the only daughter of the leader. Since learning of Huang Jianguo's death in northwestern Yunnan six years ago, she had been depressed and unhappy. Two years later, she married a high-ranking official's son in Beijing, and now her child is already three years old.

The middle-aged man got into the car, turned around and said, "Never mind, Dongdong, let's go." He then started the car, honked the horn, and the crowd parted as the Volga slowly drove away.

"Dongdong..." In the car, the woman softly repeated the blind man's words, her mind filled with the image of Huang Jianguo's handsome and dashing appearance from years ago. But he had been dead for six years...

"Thank you for helping me out, sir." On Wangfujing Street, Elder Ao nodded his thanks to Daoist Xufeng.

“‘Forgive and forget,’” Xu Feng smiled slightly, saying with a hidden meaning, “Besides, that person may not necessarily come out unscathed.”

"What do you mean by that, sir?" Old Master Ao was very suspicious. In the capital, one had to be careful and cautious at all times.

"This young man is hiding his true abilities. If he were to make a move, wouldn't he have already injured that person?" Master Xufeng said nonchalantly.

Upon hearing this, Elder Ao's expression changed drastically.

Chapter Ninety-Four

Youliang felt sorry for this blind young man. Not only could he not see the colorful world, but he would never know where the road beneath his feet would lead. Despite this, he was still insulted by people in the capital. This would not have happened in his hometown by the Yellow River, where the villagers would have pity on him and give him alms, even though they themselves were very poor.

"Sir, I don't understand what you're saying," Elder Ao replied calmly, pondering to himself that the Central Plains was indeed vast and rich in resources, especially the capital city, a place where hidden talents abound.

“Throughout history, it’s unheard of for a living person to appear in the world in the intermediate state of death…” Xu Feng said tentatively.

Those who are obsessed with martial arts will try every means to figure out the inexplicable puzzles they encounter before they can feel at ease. Master Xufeng is such a person, which is why his martial arts skills far surpass those of his senior brother, Xuwu.

As Old Master Ao pondered how to respond to the strange man in the suit, Huang Jianguo tugged at his sleeve, muttering, "Dad, I want to eat." This saved him from the predicament.

Old Master Ao then smiled apologetically at Xu Feng and said, "I'm sorry, I have to take my son to dinner." With that, he took Huang Jianguo's hand and turned to leave.

Helpless, Xu Feng had no choice but to take out a business card from his pocket, hand it over, and say, "This is my business card. If we are destined to meet, I hope we can have a chat."

Mr. Ao took the business card, which had a faint fragrance, glanced at it, and saw that it belonged to Xu Feng, a businessman from Hong Kong. He nodded and led Huang Jianguo straight to the Donglaishun Hot Pot Restaurant next to the Dongfeng Shopping Mall.

As Xu Feng watched their departing figures, he couldn't help but sigh, "There are so many unknown things in this world, and the path of martial arts is endless."

Wangfujing Department Store opened, and Xu Feng led You Liang up to the clothing counter on the third floor, where he selected two dark-colored small-sized suits for him. Since he was appearing as the "son" of a Hong Kong businessman, his attire should be appropriate for his status.

Youliang held up the brand-new suit and sniffed it hard.

"Youliang, what are you smelling?" Xufeng asked, puzzled.

"I don't have that fragrance you have," Youliang replied.

Xu Feng laughed, patted You Liang's head, and said, "Alright, since you like cologne so much, I'll give you a bottle when we get back to the hotel."

Around noon, Xu Feng and You Liang boarded a train from Beijing to Xi'an, then transferred in Xi'an to Tongguan. The following evening, they finally arrived in Tongguan County, Shaanxi Province, and checked into the Weinan Hotel, a hotel catering to foreign guests.

Tongguan Pass ranks second among China's ten famous passes. It is located at the eastern end of the Guanzhong Plain in Shaanxi Province, bordering Lingbao County in Henan Province to the east, Huayin City to the west, the Qinling Mountains to the south, and Ruicheng County in Shanxi Province across the Yellow River to the north.

The hotel's large glass windows overlook the Nantongpu Railway, where trains frequently travel to and from the north and south.

"Taoist Master, when are we going to find that family?" Youliang asked anxiously, his heart filled with concern for Nizi.

“It will be easier to do things at night when it gets dark,” Master Xufeng replied calmly.

As night fell, Master Xufeng and Youliang left the Weinan Hotel. Based on Youliang's fragmented memories, the two searched along the Nantongpu Railway line.

They searched until late at night before finally finding the three red brick houses behind a dark grove of mixed trees.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Master Xufeng asked cautiously.

Youliang led Xufeng around to the backyard of this family. Through the fence made of tall tree branches, they saw the woodshed where he and Nizi had once been imprisoned.

“Yes, this is the place,” Youliang said confidently.

"Alright, let's go in." Xu Feng put one hand on You Liang's waist, leaped over the fence, and landed silently in the backyard.

“This family doesn’t have a guard dog,” Master Xufeng said softly after glancing around.

"There used to be a big black cat, but Nizi took it away," Youliang whispered to him.

"Shh..." Master Xufeng gently gestured for him to shut up, then tiptoed to the window. The room was lit by an electric light, and a thick curtain covered the window, with only a sliver of light shining through the gap in the curtain.

Master Xufeng gestured for Youliang to stay put, while he himself lightly leaped onto the roof, then hung upside down and peered into the house through the gap.

In the center of the room was a dining table where two men were drinking. They were speaking in low voices, but Xu Feng, with his excellent hearing, could hear them clearly even through the glass.

"Sigh, actually this has nothing to do with our action team. It's all the work of that Taoist Master Jia Shiming behind the scenes. But what's puzzling is that we haven't received any clear instructions from above yet." The chubby middle-aged man sighed to himself.

The young man opposite him tilted his head back, downed a glass of wine, and then said indignantly, "Yeah, Captain Zhang, that old Taoist priest even acupunctured your pressure points and kidnapped the little girl. What exactly was his purpose in doing this? He's fucking insidious."

"Forget it, it's all the higher-ups' business. Since they said it's a state secret, we newbies won't worry about it. But don't forget the organizational principles and confidentiality regulations: 'Don't ask what you shouldn't ask, and don't say what you shouldn't say.' Let's drink." Captain Zhang said drunkenly, his face flushed.

"Yes, we get paid to do our jobs, we just need to take care of ourselves," the young man nodded in agreement. After downing a glass of wine, he couldn't help but ask again, "Hey, do you think that old Taoist priest is still in Tongguan City?"

"They definitely won't stay in Tongguan City; they've probably gone to Hedong." Captain Zhang's hand trembled as he refilled his wine glass.