While on Mount Hua, my mind is at peace!

Chapter 16 Arrival in Fuzhou

Inside the wooden box lay an old, yellowed scripture, inscribed with the four characters "Subduing Demons Palm Technique" in clerical script. Yue Feng knew that the Subduing Demons Palm Technique was one of the seventy-two Shaolin skills, characterized by its gentle, almost imperceptible palm strikes. Xiao Feng from "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" had practiced this palm technique.

He was puzzled. The masters of Wangfu Temple, including Deng Jun, all used a fierce and powerful palm technique, which did not conform to the essence of the Demon-Subduing Palm. With this question in mind, he opened the manual and read it carefully from beginning to end, and immediately his doubts were dispelled.

The palm technique used by the masters of Wangfu Temple was indeed the Demon-Subduing Palm, but they only grasped its form, not its essence. It seems that Guangxing, with his impatient nature, had misguided the practice of this gentle palm technique, dragging all the masters in the temple down the wrong path. The secret manual of the Demon-Subduing Palm was locked by Guangxing in the treasure room on the third floor of the Sutra Repository; others had no chance to see it and therefore did not know that they were practicing incorrectly.

Yue Feng opened the panel, and a new entry had appeared:

[The Demon-Subduing Palm: Not Yet Mastered]

Yue Feng checked his remaining points and saw that he had 60 points left, which was far from enough for a fusion martial art like the Giant Spirit Golden Body. Realizing that he did lack a defensive palm technique, he started allocating points to the Demon Subduing Palm.

[Remaining Access Points: 35]

【Demon-Subduing Palm: Beginner】

As expected of one of the Seventy-Two Arts of Shaolin Temple, Yue Feng spent 25 Mastery Points just to barely master it. Knowing that the remaining 35 Mastery Points wouldn't be enough to bring about a qualitative change in the Demon-Subduing Palm, Yue Feng simply gave up and closed the interface.

After leaving the scripture library, he inspected Wangfu Temple to make sure there were no secret rooms or hidden chambers for Tibetans. Then he found some cloth, carefully wrapped up all the valuables in the treasure room, and went to town to pawn them all.

Seeing his menacing aura, the pawnshop owner dared not offend him and paid the highest price for everything, pawning a total of over five hundred taels of silver, weighing about forty catties. Yue Feng found it inconvenient to carry, so he ordered the pawnshop clerk to exchange it for silver notes for him, keeping only a small amount of cash for his own use.

Having done all this, Yue Feng bought a fine horse, along with all the necessary food, rain gear, and other necessities, and set off for Fuzhou. As he passed the tavern where he had met Yi Mingxuan, the weather cleared. Yue Feng glanced inside and saw Yi Mingxuan still sitting in the same spot, so he dismounted and went over.

The plate in front of Yi Mingxuan was already empty. Yue Feng walked over and placed a one-hundred-tael silver note into the empty plate.

Yi Mingxuan glanced at the silver notes, then looked up at Yue Feng and asked, "Is the matter finished?"

"It's all done. This is just a small token of my appreciation."

Yi Mingxuan didn't touch the silver notes, and instead asked Yue Feng, "Tell me, what do you want?"

Yue Feng pondered for a moment before saying, "In the nearby countryside, there is a girl named Xuan'er who used to be the most beautiful courtesan at Zuihualou. She has now reformed and is running a legitimate business with the suffering women I rescued from Wangfu Temple. I hope that if Lord Yi can, he can secretly help them out."

Yi Mingxuan said, "That's it? Don't you want anything for yourself?"

Yue Feng smiled calmly: "This is what I wanted for myself."

Yi Mingxuan nodded: "Okay! I promise you."

"Thank you," Yue Feng said, and was about to leave. Yi Mingxuan suddenly said, "Leave the umbrella, take the silver notes."

Yue Feng was taken aback for a moment, then kept Yi Mingxuan's tattered oil-paper umbrella as instructed, gently took back the silver notes, silently bowed to him, and rode away on horseback.

Yue Feng traveled north along the official road, traversing mountains and rivers, and arrived in Fuzhou City one day. He first found the best inn in the city to stay at, took a hot bath, changed into new clothes, and then wandered around the city, gathering information on one hand and looking for any marks left by Laudenuo on the other.

They searched around but found nothing. They hadn't heard a word about Laudenau, or even about the Qingcheng Sect. The biggest news in the city was that the Fuwei Escort Agency was providing relief to flood victims outside the city.

Yue Feng, feeling rather bored, happened to pass by the entrance of the Fuwei Escort Agency. With a tourist's mindset, he stopped and lingered for a while. Just then, several men dressed as escorts emerged from the gate, surrounding a richly dressed young man. Seeing him blocking the entrance, they stepped forward and shoved him, saying:

"Make way, make way! Who's so blind? Didn't you see the young head镖师 (bodyguard/escort) of Fuwei Escort Agency come out?"

The young man in fine clothes frowned slightly, about to stop these ill-mannered bodyguards, when suddenly his vision blurred and five or six bodyguards, like the petals of a lotus flower, neatly surrounded him and lay motionless on the ground.

[Accessibility +5]

The elegantly dressed youth was both amazed and impressed by this incredible skill. He quickly bowed to Yue Feng and said, "Brother, please have mercy! My men are ignorant of etiquette and have offended you. I hope you will do me the honor of treating you to a cup of wine, so we can let bygones be bygones."

Yue Feng sized up the elegantly dressed young man and asked, "Are you Lin Pingzhi?"

Lin Pingzhi, as the young head镖师 (bodyguard/escort) of the Fuwei Escort Agency, was a well-known figure in Fuzhou City, so it was not surprising that he nodded: "That's right."

Yue Feng said, "Keep an eye on your men, or someone might seek revenge." With that, he took a step and vanished in an instant.

Seeing that he had once again displayed such amazing lightness skill, Lin Pingzhi really wished he could become his disciple. He immediately went back inside and reported the matter in detail to his father, Lin Zhennan, the chief镖头 (bodyguard) of the Fuwei镖局 (escort agency).

After hearing his words, Lin Zhennan stopped smoking, put down his pipe, and asked in a deep voice, "Ping'er, is what you said true? You're not exaggerating? Is that person's martial arts really that high?"

Lin Pingzhi nodded repeatedly: "Indeed, he is about the same age as my son, but his martial arts are worlds apart. Father, I would like to ask you to find this person in the city. I want to become his disciple."

Lin Zhennan frowned and said, "The matter of becoming a disciple is not very important. What is important is what that master said, 'Be careful of someone seeking revenge.' Ping'er, you probably don't know yet, but Abbot Yu of the Qingcheng Sect has sent four disciples to pay their respects to our Fuwei Escort Agency. I heard they will arrive in Fujian soon."

"After much thought, the only one that can confirm that master's warning is the Qingcheng Sect. But... how much trouble can four disciples possibly cause if they want revenge? This Abbot Yu is really underestimating my Fuwei Escort Agency."

Lin Pingzhi casually said, "Father, haven't you heard the saying 'all's fair in war'? What if Abbot Yu sent more than four disciples, or even himself? Wouldn't that be utterly disastrous?"

As soon as he spoke, he saw Lin Zhennan's face turn extremely ugly. Lin Pingzhi, thinking he had said something wrong, quickly said:

"My son was just speaking casually; Father, you don't need to take it so seriously. Fuzhou City is guarded by the Six Gates. Even if the Qingcheng Sect comes for revenge, they'll have to declare war on us honorably. So what?"

Lin Zhennan remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "Ping'er, I'm entrusting you with an important task. For the next few days, do nothing else. Take a few capable bodyguards and go to the city to find the whereabouts of that master. Do you understand?"

This was exactly what Lin Pingzhi wanted, so he happily agreed and went out to find someone.