120. You Must Trust Your Disciple

Because Li Daniu’s unexpected appearance changed things, the scene from the film in which the Landlord and Landlady challenged the Fire Cloud Evil God never took place.

After Brother Chen found the Fire Cloud Evil God, he treated him to fine food, gave him a change of clothes, and had members of the Axe Gang escort him to Pig Cage Walled City.

When the Landlord and Landlady saw a crowd of Axe Gang members surrounding the entrance, they immediately went looking for Li Daniu, who was teaching Ah Xing the Cloud Ladder Step.

“Hey, you little brat! Didn’t you say you were going to deal with the Axe Gang these past few days?” the Landlady shouted from the doorway, her hands on her hips. “Then what is this crowd doing here?”

“Er… I’ve been too busy these past few days and forgot.”

Li Daniu really had forgotten. At first, he had planned to find some time to put more pressure on Brother Chen. He had never expected Ah Xing’s martial arts progress to change by the hour, leaving him no opportunity to leave.

“Don’t worry. Let my disciple deal with them.”

When there is work to be done, a disciple should serve his master. Now that Li Daniu had an exceptionally useful disciple, he naturally had no qualms about putting him to work. Besides, Ah Xing was already far stronger than his counterpart in the film.

Not only had he cultivated the Nine Yang Manual, giving him deeper internal power than the accidental breakthrough of his Governing and Conception Vessels in the film, but he had also had several days to familiarize himself with the Tathagata Palm.

Moreover, after Li Daniu used the martial principles from the Nine Yin Manual to refine the Tathagata Palm Ah Xing had comprehended, its power had increased by far more than a little.

“He?” The Landlady glanced at Ah Xing. “What could he possibly have learned in just a few days? There are hundreds of Axe Gang men outside!”

“I told you, my disciple is a once-in-ten-thousand martial arts prodigy.” Li Daniu smiled without offering any further explanation. Unless they witnessed it with their own eyes, no one would believe him.

“If he can deal with those hundreds of Axe Gang men by himself, and doesn’t need more than twenty moves against my husband, I’ll teach him my Lion’s Roar immediately.”

The Landlady’s face was full of disbelief. Ah Xing had been an ordinary person only a few days ago. How could he possibly become a martial arts expert in such a short time?

Li Daniu had been waiting for precisely those words. He instantly brightened. He had originally worried that, after losing the bet, the Landlady might casually teach Ah Xing some other skill. He had never expected her to cooperate so readily.

He looked at her with eager anticipation. That was the Lion’s Roar—the technique that could attack crowds, and which, when amplified with a loudspeaker, could even force the Fire Cloud Evil God to his knees.

“Hey, what do you mean by looking at my wife like that?” the Landlord said unhappily. “You look like some pretty boy. Don’t tell me you’re thinking of feeding fresh grass to an old cow?”

“Don’t misunderstand.” Li Daniu gave an awkward laugh and changed the subject. Turning to Ah Xing, he said, “Disciple, go outside and get some practice. Don’t embarrass your master.”

“No problem, Master!” Ah Xing replied excitedly before walking out.

Unlike the brush with death he had endured in the film, acquiring his current martial arts had been remarkably easy. As a result, he was still somewhat carefree and impulsive.

“Go easy on them. Try not to kill anyone,” Li Daniu called after him.

He knew exactly how terrifying Ah Xing’s palm force had become. It was no exaggeration to say that Ah Xing could demolish the entire building in a matter of minutes.

“Got it!”

Ah Xing had already reached the balcony. After replying with those two words, he immediately circulated the Cloud Ladder Step and leaped over the edge.

The Landlord and Landlady rushed to the balcony after him. When they saw Ah Xing drift lightly to the ground, they turned back in astonishment and stared at Li Daniu.

Li Daniu spread his hands helplessly. “I only taught him the Cloud Ladder Step a short while ago.”

The Landlord practiced Tai Chi and was certainly connected to the Wudang School. How could he not know the name of the Cloud Ladder Step? It was one of Wudang’s supreme lightness techniques.

“What the hell does this have to do with the Cloud Ladder Step?” the Landlord roared at Li Daniu. “An ordinary person without internal power couldn’t possibly use it!”

“Who said my disciple has no internal power? He has already reached the ninth level of the Nine Yang Manual.”

Li Daniu spoke so plainly for two reasons. First, his own strength surpassed that of the couple, so he had nothing to fear from any tricks they might try. Second, he wanted to tease them a little.

He wanted to know whether the Landlord and Landlady, upon seeing such an extraordinary talent, would feel the same envy, jealousy, and frustration he had felt—in other words, whether their confidence would be shattered as completely as his own had been.

“What did you say?” the Landlord and Landlady cried out in shock.

They did not suspect that Li Daniu was lying. There would have been no point. Whether one’s internal power had reached such a level could be determined with a single test.

“I said that in just a few days, starting from nothing, he cultivated the Nine Yang Manual I taught him all the way to the ninth level.”

Li Daniu repeated himself without the slightest restraint. Seeing the identical expressions of shock on both their faces, he felt immensely pleased. Let everyone suffer the blow together.

The legendary Nine Yang Manual had been lost for countless years; its very existence was astonishing enough. Yet someone had actually mastered its highest level within a few days. Their entire understanding of martial arts had collapsed.

They had practiced for decades, yet this boy had surpassed them in only a few days?

“Young man, are you deliberately trying to make a fool of me?” the Landlady asked, still unable to believe him.

She seriously suspected that Ah Xing had been Li Daniu’s disciple for a long time, and that he possessed some special technique for concealing his internal power. That was why she had failed to detect it earlier.

“How about this? I was planning to teach him Tai Chi over the next couple of days. The Landlord knows it too, so let him teach Ah Xing instead.”

Li Daniu smiled, presenting his attempt to slack off as perfectly reasonable.

“If my husband teaches him, then whether he already knew it—and how long it takes him to master it—will become perfectly clear, won’t it?”

Every person’s Tai Chi, or any other martial art, bore its own individual characteristics. Therefore, even if Ah Xing had learned Tai Chi from Li Daniu before, he could not possibly know the Landlord’s version.

And if Ah Xing had already learned Tai Chi and then studied the Landlord’s, the differences between the two styles would be more than enough to give him a splitting headache.

The Landlady turned toward the entrance.

Ah Xing stood alone before the gate like a reef by the sea. The Axe Gang members surged against him like waves, yet he remained completely unharmed.

His movements were simple, but each one was used at precisely the critical moment. He slipped through every opening, and every strike was capable of subduing an opponent.

His attacks were not the Tathagata Palm. He was merely relying on the heightened reaction speed and strength granted by his internal power, using speed to overcome slowness. From time to time, he employed a few techniques from the Twelve Roads Tam Kick or movements from Iron Wire Fist.

“That boy fights far better than you,” the Landlord said admiringly with a nod.

Li Daniu rolled his eyes. How could he compare himself with someone like Ah Xing, who was practically cheating?

After watching for a while, the Landlady began to believe Li Daniu. A martial arts prodigy was not merely someone who learned quickly; he also had to know how to fight. And those who knew how to fight generally needed to spar with others constantly—in other words, they had to hone themselves through countless brawls.

Someone Ah Xing’s age could not possibly have experienced the true martial world. Under the assault of modern firearms, that world no longer truly existed. Yet the way he fought was already no weaker than the skills of the two of them, veterans who had fought their way through countless battles.

If that was not talent, what was?

“If my husband teaches him Tai Chi, then whose disciple will Ah Xing be?”

In the martial world, it was not unheard of for someone to lose a bet and teach another person a martial art. But personally taking someone on as a disciple was an entirely different matter.

The Landlady had her own reasons for asking. The couple had lost their son at a young age and had never found suitable disciples. They could not possibly take all their knowledge with them to the grave.

The Chinese had always placed great importance on orderly inheritance. Even those who liked to hold something back while teaching their disciples would reveal their final secrets before death. Unfortunately, some people died unexpectedly and never had the chance to pass on their last insights.

Thus, the inheritance of many martial arts gradually weakened and eventually vanished altogether.

As for Ah Xing’s character, they had already seen that he was a good-hearted young man on the night when Li Daniu tested him.

Talent and integrity—people possessing both were becoming increasingly rare in this age.

“You can decide whose disciple he is,” Li Daniu said indifferently. “I don’t think Ah Xing would mind becoming your disciple.”

“I was planning to leave anyway. I’ll travel around the country, and if I’m lucky enough not to die beneath guns and artillery, I’ll go abroad. I probably won’t have many chances to see Ah Xing again in this lifetime.”

“You’re willing to give up a disciple like that?” the Landlord and Landlady asked together, their faces filled with disbelief.

“Heh. I’m still young, barely in my twenties, around Ah Xing’s age. Unlike the two of you, I haven’t yet reached the point where I need someone to care for me in my old age or arrange my funeral.”

“You little brat! Who are you saying needs to be cared for in old age?” the Landlady snapped. “Want to exchange a few moves?”

Although she was very pleased that Li Daniu was willing to yield such an excellent disciple, she could not tolerate him calling her old. What woman could?

“If you want to exchange moves, why not try the newcomer down there? He looks like quite the expert.”

Li Daniu nodded toward the street below.

The Landlord and Landlady had been speaking with him and had paid no attention to the battle. After all, the Axe Gang members posed no challenge.

Hearing Li Daniu’s words, they both looked down.

By then, Ah Xing had already knocked down more than half of the Axe Gang. The rest no longer dared to charge, even with their leader shouting orders behind them.

Just as Ah Xing was about to deal with Brother Chen, an old man stepped out of Brother Chen’s car.

He was wearing a suit and was completely bald.

“Excellent, excellent—truly excellent,” the old man said delightedly. “I never expected to encounter such a formidable expert. How interesting.”

“Hey, old man, don’t block the way. These young fellows couldn’t withstand a fist the size of a cooking pot. Aren’t you afraid of dying by stepping forward?”

Ah Xing shook his fist.

“Old man? Ha ha ha… Young fellow, have you ever heard the name Fire Cloud Evil God?”

“What kind of ridiculous nickname is that? It sounds awful. Old man, let me give you a better one. How about Baldy?”

Ah Xing was fearless simply because he did not know whom he was facing. But upstairs, the Landlord and Landlady instantly grew tense.

“The legendary number-one ultimate killer?”

“Wasn’t he locked up in a mental hospital?”

The Landlady shouted at Li Daniu, “Call my disciple back at once! He’s no match for that man!”

Your disciple? She had changed her tune rather quickly.

Li Daniu smiled.

“You have to trust your disciple.”