Chapter 24: The Girl Named Hongyu

Winter gave way to spring, and in the blink of an eye, a year had passed since Meng Chuan entered the Body Tempering Realm.

On a summer evening, a refreshing breeze carried coolness through Mirror Lake Dao Academy, where a lively atmosphere prevailed.

“I am Zhou Qian. Senior Brother Meng, please guide me,” a young boy respectfully bowed.

“Begin,” Meng Chuan nodded.

Today, he was there to spar with Dean Ge Yu, who had long comprehended ‘blade force’ and also practiced fast blade techniques. Each sparring session with Dean Ge Yu offered him some inspiration. Thus, he sought guidance every fortnight. Despite Dean Ge Yu's greed and stinginess, he was very dedicated to his most favored disciple.

After sparring with the Dean, Meng Chuan would also spend half an hour guiding his junior brothers and sisters. For him, fighting against them was too easy, almost a form of relaxation.

“Be careful,” the young Zhou Qian suddenly charged forward, launching successive attacks. Meng Chuan, however, stood there, his body strangely blurred. No matter how Zhou Qian attacked, he couldn't even touch a corner of Meng Chuan's robe.

After he completed his entire set of sword techniques, his final killing move, a furious barrage of thirteen stabs, still hit nothing but air.

Zhou Qian was considered quite talented at Mirror Lake Dao Academy. According to the instructors, he should be able to enter the Landscape Tower next year. However, the gap between him and Meng Chuan remained immense.

“Senior Brother Meng is too amazing!”“No disciple in the academy can even touch his robe, nor can they withstand a single move from him.”“Senior Brother Meng is destined to become a Fiendgod,” the many disciples watching nearby remarked.

Each generation's senior disciple had varying levels of prestige. Meng Chuan, however, was undoubtedly the most revered senior disciple Mirror Lake Dao Academy had seen in decades! His strength was incredibly formidable, far surpassing the second-ranked disciple in the academy. He was also willing to occasionally dedicate his precious training time to guiding his junior brothers and sisters. Furthermore, his family's influence was among the top tier in the entire prefecture city, yet Meng Chuan never used this to bully others.

These various factors led many of his junior brothers and sisters to deeply admire him.

“Your final move is the killing strike of this sword technique, called ‘Thirteen Consecutive Peaks’,” Meng Chuan explained. “The manual also clearly states that when this move is executed, it should be like continuous mountain ranges—undulating yet unified. You achieved the ‘undulating’ part, but not the ‘unified’ aspect. Your sword strikes are scattered and fragmented, which naturally greatly reduces their power.”

“Unified?” Zhou Qian murmured, vaguely grasping something, yet feeling something was still missing.

He had great faith in Senior Brother Meng’s guidance. When it came to technique, even the instructors admitted that only Dean Ge Yu of Mirror Lake Dao Academy could surpass Senior Brother Meng. Senior Brother Meng’s advice was far more precise and insightful than that of the instructors. As a disciple who hadn’t even entered the Landscape Tower, Zhou Qian was not qualified for one-on-one tutelage from the Dean.

“Your other sword moves are good; only the killing move has a noticeable flaw. Go back and practice this one more; once you master it, this set of sword techniques will be perfected,” Meng Chuan said, sweeping his gaze over the expectant junior brothers and sisters around him. He smiled, “It’s getting late. Everyone, go get dinner.” With that, he left.

His junior brothers and sisters understood that Senior Brother Meng’s guidance had concluded. Many fellow disciples began heading toward the academy’s main gate.

“Hmm?” As he reached the entrance, Meng Chuan saw a figure: Liu Qiyue, dressed in red. She had grown taller, nearly matching Meng Chuan’s height.

“A-Chuan, A-Chuan!” Liu Qiyue called out repeatedly.“Qiyue, you’re a year younger than me, yet you’ve grown so tall you’re catching up,” Meng Chuan said.Liu Qiyue laughed, “My father says girls mature earlier. Plus, I’ve also entered the Body Tempering Realm, so my body is growing even faster.”

Liu Qiyue, fifteen years old this year, had also broken through to the Body Tempering Realm this month. However, her archery skills remained stuck at a bottleneck… It was ultimately too difficult to reach the Unity Realm.

“Come on, let’s hurry to Cloud River Restaurant for dinner!” Liu Qiyue urged. “This is what you owe me for losing.”“Alright, alright, let’s go,” Meng Chuan nodded helplessly.

This was a bet he had lost. After Liu Qiyue broke through to the Body Tempering Realm, Meng Chuan had once boasted that even if he stood within a ten-foot circle, she wouldn’t be able to touch him with a hundred arrows. Liu Qiyue, however, was not one to believe in such things easily… Meng Chuan was full of confidence; his movement technique had been honed through arrow rains, and such footwork, combined with his solid foundation in the Thunder God Body, made him feel invincible. Yet, a Body Tempering Realm archer’s full power, with arrows imbued with Fiendgod strength and refined techniques, proved to be a nightmare. It was far more formidable than the simple archery of ordinary guards.

Meng Chuan relied purely on his movement technique, successfully dodging seventy-nine arrows consecutively, but the eightieth still grazed his clothes. He lost! Surprisingly, Meng Chuan was quite pleased with the loss and decided to try again in a few days.

Cloud River Restaurant was the number one restaurant in Dongning Prefecture. Treating someone to a grand meal there was somewhat extravagant, but it was his own father’s restaurant! He could eat there without paying a single coin!

“Senior Brother Meng entered the Landscape Tower at thirteen; I must enter by fifteen at the latest,” the young Zhou Qian silently resolved as he watched Meng Chuan and Liu Qiyue depart. He then walked in the opposite direction, heading back to his own home.

At the Zhou Manor.“Young Master,” “Young Master,” the servants and maids greeted Zhou Qian respectfully upon his return home.

The Zhou family was originally a very ordinary commoner family in Dongning Prefecture. Later, Zhou Qian’s father, Zhou He, rose to prominence! He was quite resourceful, relying on a network of good brothers he had befriended on the battlefield. Over twenty years, he had built a considerable family fortune. He was now a well-known wealthy merchant in Dongning Prefecture.

“Young Master Zhou! Young Master Zhou!” A child suddenly darted out from a corner.“Tiesheng?” Zhou Qian recognized him and smiled. “Why are you here?”Tiesheng was the younger brother of Zhou Qian’s personal maid and frequently visited the manor. The servants and maids there were quite fond of the well-behaved child.

“Young Master Zhou,” the child Tiesheng knelt directly. “Please save my sister, please save her!”

“Your sister? What happened to Hongyu?” Zhou Qian asked immediately upon hearing this.

“Just now, Boss Wei brought people to our house and claimed my father owed him three hundred taels of silver. My father said he only borrowed ten taels, and he was half-drunk at the time. Boss Wei and his men deliberately tricked him into putting his handprint on a blank paper for a hundred taels,” the child Tiesheng explained. “Now, with interest compounded, it’s become three hundred taels. How can our family possibly pay that? Boss Wei forcibly took my sister to settle the debt. When my father refused, they beat him.”

“Did your father sign a bond of indenture for Hongyu?” Zhou Qian pressed.

“No! My father said he’d rather die than harm my sister,” Tiesheng replied.

“Good, if there’s no bond of indenture, then they are abducting a civilian woman by force!” Zhou Qian suppressed his anger. At Mirror Lake Dao Academy, they were still required to learn the imperial laws. “And who is this Boss Wei?”

“My father said he’s just a small fry from the Black Wolf Gang, but because he operates under their banner, everyone fears him a little,” Tiesheng quickly answered.

“I’d like to see how daring a mere thug can be,” Zhou Qian could no longer contain himself. “Lead the way! Let’s find that Boss Wei.”

“Stop!” A cold, angry shout echoed. Zhou Qian froze, turning to see his father, Zhou He, standing there.

“Father,” Zhou Qian’s resolve crumbled the moment he saw his father.

“Send Tiesheng away,” Zhou He ordered his servants, who immediately began leading the child out. Tiesheng cried out, “Young Master Zhou, you must save my sister! If you don’t, she’s finished!” But the servants easily took hold of the child and quickly led him out.

“Father! Are we just going to let those ruffians abduct an innocent woman?” Zhou Qian asked, anxious and angry.

“Foolish,” Zhou He said coldly. “Would a small fry dare to abduct a civilian woman by force? He’s acting on orders from above, helping the Black Wolf Gang seize women to be trained and then sent to various brothels. This is the Black Wolf Gang’s business. The Black Wolf Gang is one of the three major gangs in Dongning Prefecture, and behind them is the Fiendgod family, the Bai family! The Black Wolf Gang just does the Bai family’s dirty work.”

“Your father is merely a small merchant. Can I afford to provoke the Black Wolf Gang?” Zhou He looked at his son. “The Black Wolf Gang can crush my Zhou family like an ant. Do you understand?”

“I… I…” Zhou Qian was greatly distressed. “But Hongyu, Hongyu… she…” Hongyu had been serving him since he was eight years old. Naturally, he had deep feelings for her.

“Do you want to save Hongyu, or do you want to protect the Zhou family?” Zhou He asked. “Your father, your mother, your younger brother, and over a hundred Zhou clan members who depend on me for their livelihood – they all need to eat! We cannot afford to fight them.”

“Can’t we negotiate with the Black Wolf Gang and buy her back?” Zhou Qian asked.

“Buy?” Zhou He sneered. “Didn’t you hear? A debt of three hundred taels of silver. And we’d have to make the Black Wolf Gang break their own rules. At the very least, it would take a thousand taels of silver for any hope. Is a maid worth a thousand taels?”

“Yes, she is,” Zhou Qian insisted.

“A thousand taels? Do you know that when your father earned his first thousand taels of silver, he almost died twice?” Zhou He cast a cold glance at his son, then turned and walked away. “Decide what you want to do yourself! Don’t disappoint me.”

After Zhou He had walked some distance, he quietly ordered a nearby guard captain, “Go, secretly keep an eye on the Young Master. If he dares to go out, break his leg!”“Understood,” the guard captain obediently replied.

A moment later, outside the Zhou Manor, the child Tiesheng felt a sense of despair. The world was vast, and as a child, he had no idea where to go or how he could save his sister.“Sister,” Tiesheng cried, tears streaming down his face.

A figure leaped over the courtyard wall and swiftly ran to Tiesheng.“Young Master Zhou!” Tiesheng exclaimed with joy upon seeing Zhou Qian.

“Quickly, go to Cloud River Restaurant and find Young Master Meng Chuan! He is a Young Master of the Meng family; the Black Wolf Gang is nothing but a dog in front of him. He will definitely be able to save Hongyu!” Zhou Qian urged.

“Cloud River Restaurant, Young Master Meng Chuan?” Tiesheng’s eyes lit up.

“Hurry now!” Zhou Qian pressed.

The child Tiesheng quickly ran off, his steps a desperate sprint.

Just then, the guard captain also leaped over the wall and pursued him. Seeing Zhou Qian, he gently shook his head. “Young Master, you’ve truly disappointed the Master.”

“Didn’t you tell me to decide for myself? What, are you here to capture me?” Zhou Qian retorted through gritted teeth.

“The Master ordered me to break your legs, but… perhaps you should go see him yourself. Maybe he’ll be lenient with you,” the guard captain said. “I trust I won’t have to intervene.”

“No need. I can’t escape from you,” Zhou Qian said nothing more and returned to the manor. His thoughts, however, were already at Cloud River Restaurant. “Senior Brother Meng, you must save Hongyu, you absolutely must!”

In Zhou Qian’s view, saving Hongyu was a difficult task, but for Senior Brother Meng, it was as easy as lifting a hand.