Chapter 94: 82. No More Escaping (Please Subscribe)

Chapter 94: 82. No More Escaping (Please Subscribe)

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Son-in-law of the An Family, Guest Elder at Shanhe Martial Arts Hall, Partner of Lady Zhushan…

These were the three identities Song Cheng acquired after leaving Tang River Village.

As the Son-in-law of the An Family, he solved the problems of road guides and residency registration.

As the Guest Elder at Shanhe Martial Arts Hall, he solved the problem of being in the dark about the outside battles.

As the Partner of Lady Zhushan, he learned about another battlefield and received strategic insights from the lady.

In addition, he could finally breathe a slight sigh of relief.

Because after contacting these forces, he began to discover they were somewhat different from his initial worries.

These forces were not incompetent, not internally conflicted, not just for show, but capable of stepping up in times of need.

So far, on both the main battlefield and the Ghost Servant battlefield, it was these three major forces holding strong.

As Song Cheng was thinking, the sedan chair entered the An Residence.

Lady Zhushan wrapped herself in a heavy earthy robe, fixed her plump face on him, and said, “You’ve worked hard, Song, there will be many more sudden situations like this where I’ll need you to accompany me.”

Song Cheng shook his head.

Hard work?

He scoffed at the idea of being tired.

It was just that Lady Zhushan locked onto targets, and he simply stepped forward to cut them down one by one.

Where’s the hardship?

“It’s the seniors who work hard, silently protecting the Prefectural City that outsiders know nothing about,” Song Cheng said with a smile.

In his eyes, Lady Zhushan was not his peer but a senior with many stories.

Even though she had a seductive and charming side, she only used it as a lethal move—not in her daily life.

Usually, she was just a disfigured, fat woman wrapped in earthy robes, ruined by special ointment.

Lady Zhushan said no more, got out of the carriage. Using illusions was exhausting, and the recurring side effects made her uncomfortable. Her body was not strong—purely speaking of martial arts, even a rough man from the village with a sickle could kill her.

Song Cheng also returned to the courtyard.

Ling climbed off the bed, directing the maids to heat water for the young master’s bath…

Song Cheng leaned back in the warm water of the large clay tub.

The bright moon hung in the sky, which appeared as a source of pure moonlight to ordinary people but seemed to him like a big ink blob falling into the water, with streaks of black ink spreading out like twisted riverbed waterweeds, like the long hair of a corpse in deep water, like the tendrils of ghostly monsters in unknown seas…

‘This world, what exactly is it…’

Song Cheng stared for a while, then lowered his head and plunged into the water.

He began to contemplate the future.

‘Should I flee, flee, flee, or flee?’

This choice was not easy to make.

The young man murmured in his heart, “Or should I root myself in one place and develop steadily?”

For the first time, Song Cheng had different thoughts in his mind.

It wasn’t that he was moved by others’ generous spirit, but rather if there’s a Ghost Tide everywhere, Ghost Servants everywhere, instead of running everywhere to adapt to strange new environments, new relationships, it might be better to attract people and fortify where he was.

The young man thought for a long while.

Murmuring, “Seems like, not too bad.”

“Yawn~~”

The Little Tea Girl yawned endlessly, not quite knowing what the young master was mumbling about, so she just asked, “Young master, would you like a midnight snack? The taoist temple master sent many good ingredients, everyone can enjoy them.”

“Sure.”

Song Cheng responded.

The Little Tea Girl uttered an “Oh” and ran off to prepare the midnight snack, woken up in the early hours, now fully awake, with a rumbling stomach, she decided to join the young master for a bite.

…

…

The days “peacefully” passed for two days.

Only during these two days, the An Family was very tense, people ran out anxiously from time to time asking if there was a fire, if something was burning, mentioning the strong scorched smell.

There was even once when someone shouted “fire”, prompting many to grab buckets and basins, rushing over in panic, only to be told, “No fire, no fire, disperse.”

The An Residence was “peaceful” like this.

Boom!

Another explosion sounded.

An iron furnace lid was blown off.

Madam Tong sat nearby, dumbfounded, watching the lid spin wildly in the air, unsure where it would land.

Plop.

The lid finally fell.

Madam Tong was frightened, covering her ears, and dodged to the side reactively.

Under the eaves, Lady Zhushan, still in her thick earthy robe, quietly watched, sniffed, thought for a moment with her eyes closed, and then looked at Tong Jia, calmly saying, “Explain where you went wrong this time.”

Her calm voice brimmed with the authority of a mentor.

Madam Tong quickly got up, walked to Lady Zhushan, and like a child who made a mistake, explained her thoughts one by one.

Lady Zhushan patiently explained, breaking it down thoroughly.

Madam Tong tried again.

This time, she succeeded.

The young lady cheered.

Lady Zhushan smiled too.

The master and disciple moved to a spot and began testing the potion’s efficacy.

As dusk fell, the house resembled an old picture album, starting to yellow.

Madam Tong suddenly asked, “Teacher, do I have any senior brothers or sisters?”

Lady Zhushan was silent for a moment, then said, “I wasn’t intending to teach anyone, teaching you was just an accident.”

If not for the intense Ghost Tide and fierce Ghost Servants; if not for her Medicinal Human partner’s death; if she didn’t sense the impending Ghost Servant attack; if Song Cheng hadn’t just happened to be a blind man in the Form Realm; if not for all these ‘ifs,’ she wouldn’t have made this deal, wouldn’t have met Tong Jia, and wouldn’t have discovered…

In fact, it was nice to teach a person.

In fact, she truly needed to teach someone.

Madam Tong ask childishly, “So, I don’t have any, right?”

Lady Zhushan replied, “No.”

Madam Tong giggled, “Then I’m your first disciple.”

Lady Zhushan seemed touched by her and nodded slightly.

However, she wasn’t planning on teaching a second one.

Her power and knowledge sources were entirely accidental and unclear. Even though she passed down knowledge to Madam Tong but not power, having such a student was already sufficient.

Thinking of this, she sternly said, “Rest for a while, then continue.”

But upon realizing it was already dusk, she changed her mind, saying, “Go find Song to eat first, after eating, we’ll study some more tonight. I don’t know how long I can teach you…”

Madam Tong was silent for a bit, then replied with a smile, “I won’t eat with him, I’ll eat with you, Teacher.”

Saying this, she affectionately pulled the arm of the plump woman in the earthy robe.

Lady Zhushan froze momentarily, instinctually wanting to get angry and shout “Presumptuous,” or break free and scold, but ultimately did nothing. She just let her much younger disciple hold her arm and, with a not-so-cold voice, gently said, “Alright.”

…

…

Night fell.

The world quieted, the moon bright.

Outside the gauze curtain, lotus leaves in the pond vaguely visible.

Miss An had too many matters to attend to. A “9-to-5” schedule was impossible. Recently, she managed the super connection with the Pearl Mountain Taoist Temple, busier than ever, not yet returning home.

Ling, the head housekeeper of the inner residence, also kept running around, never quite idle.

Surprisingly, Ying accompanied Song Cheng in the small courtyard.

Ying practiced her sword dance.

Song Cheng pushed the “Old Man Fist,” training internally.

He had contemplated thoroughly. If he were to “root himself in one place, and develop steadily,” he really needed to become stronger.

But was he strong now?

Could he smash through a whole army?

Would he dare to take Hanping Prefecture, along with its eighteen counties, by himself and eliminate all the Ghost Servants?

‘Far from it.’

‘Not safe enough.’

The young man bit his teeth, clenched his fist, and moved slowly without exerting any outward force, though inside, his Gang Qi exploded, like loaches in boiling oil, wildly thrashing.

The night breeze blew, a leaf fell, landing on his shoulder.

He moved with his mind, a mere thought, and the power on his shoulder dissipated.

The fallen leaf seemed strapped with explosives, detonating, leaving no trace of dust.

Ying rubbed her eyes, thinking she saw it wrong.

…

…

Days slipped by, and three more passed.

On this day, the news that “Lady Zhushan accepted a disciple” spread wildly, known to the entire city, astonishing all.

The Envoy of External Affairs Shi from Shanhe Martial Arts Hall seemed to find a way in, bringing gifts to visit, humbly approached Madam Tong, and earnestly pleaded for her help in saving his son, dispensing with any pretense.

Madam Tong had known about this and replied, “I will do my utmost.”

Envoy Shi was ecstatic, bowing deeply to Madam Tong.

…

The same day, after nearly a month of combat, the Prefectural City’s army finally sent back news.

A bloody battle!

A fierce fight!

The Prefectural Army had struck, with the Six Towns aiding from behind like a turtle in its shell, blocking the Barbarian attacks!

The city erupted in cheers.

However, the “entire city” only received the “positive news” they could hear.

As for the distressing news, Song Cheng knew it clearly.

The military report played a word game.

“Blocked” was “blocked”, but not a word about the battlefield strewn with corpses, nor the Northern Barbarians’ Great Barbarian King and only one Golden Tent King engaging.

Moreover, Song Cheng learned another crucial piece of information from Lady Zhushan.

That is, the highest stage in practicing martial arts was actually just “above the Form Realm.”

Figures like the Great Hall Master and Old Venom, although not the top figures in the Dashang martial world, were in the same realm as those top figures.

The strength of major forces actually depended more on “military” rather than “individuals.”

This made Song Cheng secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

Initially, he thought the Dashang Dynasty at least had “Profound Level” powers, but now it seemed, even if there were, they were very few.

In fact, thinking about it, why should martial artists in the Imperial Capital be stronger than those stationed at the front lines?

Wouldn’t that be contrary?

Those stationed at the frontier should be stronger, to resist the Northern Barbarians, shouldn’t they?

With Lady Zhushan around, Song Cheng’s grasp of the bigger picture deepened, weakening his impulse to “flee,” because… escaping to another place was meaningless. It’s truly better to root himself here and work steadily on “farming.”

…

That night, at midnight.

Song Cheng lay next to Miss An, sleeping soundly, suddenly hearing Lady Zhushan’s voice outside the door.

“Song, guests have arrived.”

Song Cheng gently pushed aside the silky white leg entangled around his waist, responding, “Coming.”

He quickly put on his clothes, grabbed his knife, shield, boarded the sedan, headed to a wild, deserted mountain, waiting until dawn, then faced six Ghost Servants.

Lady Zhushan performed her Fox Dance, while he swiftly took action, neutralizing them in minutes.

The two returned by sedan, back to the mansion.

The young man returned to the bed to catch up on sleep, but the young lady was already gone.

The couple often saw little of each other, both busy.

On the empty bed, Song Cheng rolled over, hugged his pillow, and fell soundly asleep.

Even in his dreams, he contemplated martial arts, thought about getting stronger.

Absorbed everything, digested everything, perfected everything, then let the days settle down safely!