Gao Lanping ordered his servant to clear a path through the crowd, stepping forward to the central position. There he saw more than ten men sitting on the ground with their eyes closed and their legs crossed.
These people dressed differently, but the only thing they had in common was that each of them had a large pot on their heads, varying in size. Some were even carrying a smell of vegetable oil, while others simply had broken pots.
What are they doing? She turned to ask her servant.
"Their story is about something called 'Qigong,' which involves some kind of communication with the heavens and the earth," the leader of the servant whispered.
He did not speak loudly out of fear of provoking the anger of the crowd.
No matter what era, old men and women are entities that should be respected.
You think that these old men and women are all from the countryside? Wrong. They are people from NanDu, and many of them are even residents from the nearby area.
The leader of the servant had once seen an official from a government office call one of the old ladies "mom."
The relationships among these elderly are tangled, from my son-in-law, your son, her nephew's... filling every corner of the city. If we upset them, even a war god with possession could die here.
Even a strong dragon can't suppress the local snake, and the servants didn't know that Gao Lanying would be angry or take out her frustrations on them. What can they do?
"Qigong?" Gao Lanying muttered the unfamiliar term.
For a moment, she began to imagine wildly. Right now, she was just fiddling around. She really needed a genuine method of cultivating Dao.
Before she could ask further, a portly man suddenly shouted, "Here it comes, here it comes! I feel the universal energy infusing my body! Ah, such powerful energy!"
His words seemed to be a signal, and the surrounding men began to scream.
"Master, your power is profound. Please divide some of the cosmic energy to us!"
"Master, don't worry about Third Brother, give it to me, give it to me! I have a celestial root, I can bear it!"
"Uncle, I saw it, these misty things are the cosmic field? The qi is so strong that I can reach the return emptiness realm today! Little sister-in-law, hold my hand, I'll share some with you!"
The old men and women clapped and cheered on the side, creating a very lively atmosphere at the scene.
Gao Lanying was stunned, looking around in disbelief, and found another "master" demonstrating his kung fu skills in the distance.
A scrawny old man stood in place, exuding an aura of highness, his finger flicking and his seven or eight disciples rolling like land hobos. One of them spun around like a top while retreating backward.
Is there any magic power in this move? I can't see it. Could it be some new trick from the Western school? She watched in confusion.
These old men and women, who should be staying at home in the hot weather, are practicing qigong here. She thinks there must be some secret she doesn't know among them.
She then witnessed a very human-like scene.
Several "Qigong" masters took on disciples on the spot, claiming to be able to determine one's "spiritual root" by taking a pulse. There were three spiritual roots, four spiritual roots, five spiritual roots, and even higher-quality double spiritual roots and celestial spiritual roots. The explanations were easy to understand, and after just one listen, Gao Lanying remembered them.
The old men and women flocked to it, hoping that "Qigong" would make them live to be a hundred. Even if they didn't get selected, there was no problem. The disciples of the masters would give each of the rejected ones an egg...
Don't underestimate this one egg. The joy, excitement, and elation of the old people are expressed most truly through their actions.
The old people shouted loudly, saying that yesterday they were given a bag of salt for each person, but today it had been replaced with eggs. They didn't know what tomorrow would bring, and there was anticipation etched on each of their faces.
Gao Lanying saw this scene and was deeply touched. For a moment, her own haphazardly-devised theories about cultivating Dao received some enlightenment. Is this what it means by humanity?
"Oh no!" She suddenly realized what was going on. It wasn't about qigong, or giving eggs and salt, but a ruse. She hurried back to her room.
Even though she had some expectations, seeing the red gourd that she had placed on the desk vanish without a trace still made her so angry that she could almost spit blood.
"Don't let me find you!"
This artifact was too important to her, so she immediately put aside her concerns and set up an altar with incense. She arranged nine coins in the nine-palace position and began divining at the expense of her own life energy.
The omens were unclear and involved an extremely large number of people, to the point where she even suspected that half of NanDu's population was included in her omens. These blurred figures severely disrupted her calculations, and she had to identify each one by one without noticing that the door to her room had been gently opened a crack.
"I'm not afraid of you, lowly worm! You dared to harm me!" Gao Lanying, whose family was a prestigious one, had an extremely quick reaction. Even though her mental focus was consumed by the divination, she still reacted to the strange occurrence.
Just like the previous Deng Chanyu, she was adept at using a pair of double-edged knives named "Yue Ri." As she shouted, she bent down, slipping under the altar with a slide. She withdrew the double-edged knives placed on her bed. The Yue Ri knife was good at defense, while the Ri Yue knife was good at offense. She had just set up a defensive posture when she saw a blurry object approaching her.
Without giving it a second thought, she pulled out her sword and struck.
"Puff!" A large amount of white powder filled half the room.
Gao Lanying, who was staring intently at her enemy's movements, felt as though her eyes were on fire.
"Disgraceful scoundrel!" she cursed, and with a swift kick, she sent the incense table flying.
Deng Chanyu's Five-color Stone Pen flew straight through the incense table, but with a sudden obstacle, its trajectory slightly deviated from the forehead of Gao Lanying.
"You!" Gao Lanying had also investigated the women who had grudges with her, so it was not difficult to obtain information about Deng Chanyu. As soon as she heard the piercing sound of a flying stone, as an expert in dark weapons, she recognized the identity of her opponent. Although she didn't expect the Miss Deng to be so treacherous!
First you steal the artifact, then you launch surprise attacks and throw lime; where is your dignity as a warrior?
Gao Lanying waved her Yue Ri and Ri Yue knives, dancing skillfully, water couldn't wet them. The gleaming blade was like snow, and her feet retreated continuously.
Deng Chanyu smiled silently.
Using a sleight of hand to stealthily steal an enemy's treasure is a very godlike, very Yang Jian-like move.
But it has to be said that the effect is extremely good!
The opponent had lost the initiative, and she no longer felt the need to be polite. With both hands, she released a series of stones in rapid succession.
The first Five-color Stone was cut out by Gao Lanying's Yue Ri knife, but her swordplay was disrupted for a moment. In the space of less than a breath, another Five-color Stone struck her chest like a meteor.
"Wow!" A blood arrow burst out from the mouth of the major merchant's daughter.
Now, Deng Chanyu's strength has increased significantly compared to before. When hitting Yang Jian, there were sparks flying, but hitting Gao Lanying's mortal flesh was no problem at all.
"You worthless person! You will be chopped into paste with a thousand knives and meat hooks in the future!" Gao Lanying's eyesight recovered a bit, but her chest was broken and bleeding heavily from the impact of the Five-color Stone, and her swordplay was disorganized to the extreme.
Filled with anger, she hurled the Yue Ri knife as a lethal weapon.
Deng Chanyu was swift and quick, first using a flying stone to pierce Gao Lanying's forehead, then stepping to the side to grab the handle of the Yue Ri knife, turning it over in her hand, and making a horizontal cut across Gao Lanying's neck.
The blood arrow soared up to three feet high, and the major merchant's daughter, who was holding her neck and bleeding profusely, fell face down in the bloodstain.
