As a result, things were already like this. Now, it would be silly to go to Lu Gaosheng and say, “Big brother, this is all a misunderstanding. You must believe me!” This would be too far-fetched.
However, after thinking twice, Zhang San realized that Lu Gaosheng did not take action or seem to have any intention of taking action in the short term.
It seemed that Lu Gaosheng was still unsure whether Zhang San had good or bad intentions towards Bai Fang.
But there were also strange parts.
Zhang San believed that since Lu Gaosheng cared so much about Bai Fang, and Lu Gaosheng was clearly someone who regarded human life like grass, if he thought Zhang San posed a potential threat to Bai Fang, he would not care about good or bad intentions and would have just killed Zhang San to settle matters.
But now, Lu Gaosheng was monitoring Zhang San without taking action.
What was Lu Gaosheng waiting for?
Or did he hope to get something from Zhang San?
Was this guy imagining many things that Zhang San could not even think of?
After setting up some extremely fine silver wire traps in the backyard and room to warn himself, Zhang San retreated into the secret room to rest with Wang Xiaoer, filled with doubts, and gradually fell asleep.
...
At the same time that night, Lu Gaosheng came to the backyard of the tofu shop.
He quietly went to Bai Xiaoyu’s window and looked at her delicate face in the moonlight.
Although his core thinking was not exactly the same, Lu Gaosheng, like Wang Xiaoer, felt that her face was the most adorable in the whole world.
Lu Gaosheng unconsciously smiled.
“What are you doing?” Bai Fang’s cold voice interrupted Lu Gaosheng's gaze.
Lu Gaosheng looked back. He had come here secretly to avoid people's eyes and ears and to talk to Bai Fang.
Lu Gaosheng said to Bai Fang, “I came to see you late at night because the matter is indeed important.”
Bai Fang frowned but did not answer.
Lu Gaosheng pointed in the direction of the neighboring calligraphy and painting store and said, “That scholar is no ordinary person. I'm afraid he has malicious intentions towards you. Although I have made a lot of preparations, I still couldn't sleep at night. After much deliberation, I want you to consider moving to the manor I have prepared for you and your mother. I heard that Xiaoyu likes sweets, so I also prepared for her...”
As Lu Gaosheng spoke, his expression clearly showed some joy, not knowing what kind of picture he saw in his own words...
“No need!” Bai Fang had never been nice to Lu Gaosheng. She interrupted him directly.
But Lu Gaosheng, this cold-blooded and cruel man, seemed unusually patient with Bai Fang. He persuaded, “You have a simple mind and have not seen the dangers of this world. Do not look at the man who helped you yesterday. Who knows, the one who wants to harm you tomorrow may be the one who helped you yesterday.”
Bai Fang said coldly, “So you came to preach today?”
Lu Gaosheng said, “I just don't want you to get hurt by those dangers.”
Bai Fang said, “If you want to use these alarmist words to trick me into your golden cage, I advise you not to be so stupid again.”
Lu Gaosheng was finally a little angry and said, “Do you think I'm cheating you?”
“Haven’t you cheated me enough times?”
Lu Gaosheng's voice became more and more angry. He said, “Isn't it that if the person talking to you now was Ming Qing, or even Lu Qingming, you would believe it?”
Bai Fang said coldly, “Yes, if it was them talking, I would believe it. But are you? Are you Lu Qingming?"
Lu Gaosheng looked at her coldly.
He did not expect that his kindness would be met with only cold words, no, only cold words over the years.
He couldn't help taunting, “It seems Ming Qing is quite capable. As expected of the son of Ritual Master Ming, appearing loyal on the surface but sinister in private. Even a chaste woman like you...”
Slap!
Bai Fang left a slap mark on Lu Gaosheng's face.
Although Lu Gaosheng was someone who could give Zhang San a headache, he was still a weak scholar after all.
Bai Fang was quite strong. Her slap made him turn his head and even take two steps back.
But he endured it.
He left in the end.
...
After leaving the tofu shop, Lu Gaosheng felt that the headache and stuffy chest this time was more severe than every previous time he had seen Bai Fang.
He even faintly heard some voices in his ears.
That familiar voice came from a familiar person.
Lu Qingming!
Lu Qingming viciously mocked Lu Gaosheng in his ear, “Did you see that, Lu Gaosheng? No matter how high your status and power in your life, even if you can wield power over the world like Song YanShi one day, you still won’t get her!”
“What can you do even if I'm gone?”
“Lu Gaosheng! You have indeed become a ‘wolf,’ but you are still laughable, and the most laughable thing about you is your self-righteousness!"
In the alley by the luxurious carriage, Lu Gaosheng angrily shouted, “Shut up!!”
Li Xing, who had been waiting there all along, looked at Lu Gaosheng in confusion, not knowing what was going on, because he had never seen Lu Gaosheng reveal such an appearance before.
“Sir...”
As Li Xing spoke, Lu Gaosheng seemed to wake up. He looked around. It was still night, and the voice in his ear was gone.
Lu Gaosheng frowned slightly without saying anything else. He got on the carriage and said, “Let’s go.”
...
The next day, Zhang San opened his door to do business as if nothing had happened.
It was sunny and bustling with people. Great weather.
Zhang San noticed that there seemed to be some gazes watching around his shop. Resisting the urge to kill all these people hiding in the dark in one breath, Zhang San just diligently opened the door and did some cleaning work in the store.
Finally, he picked up a scroll to paint, looking like an ordinary scholar who made a living by selling paintings and calligraphy as well as some books.
Of course, he had been beaten half to death two days ago, so he performed the weakness and frailty he should show.
He slowly painted some landscapes of Dawu Country's southern rice growing areas. After thinking twice yesterday, Zhang San felt that although the situation was not good now, it had not reached the point where he was at a loss.
Even without the Heavenly Ladder inner energy technique, Zhang San was unwilling to let Wang Xiaoer take risks, but that did not necessarily mean that the two of them, master and apprentice, would definitely be unable to escape in the face of many top masters and thousands of government troops.
It was just risky, and Zhang San, a prudent killer, was unwilling to take risks.
Secondly, the Heavenly Ladder inner energy technique?
Was it really that difficult?
From childhood to adulthood, Zhang San never felt that practicing martial arts was very difficult.
Zhang San remembered that when he was a child, his master had sighed more than once,
"You little bastard, greedy and timid, full of flaws except for not being lecherous. But how did your martial arts progress so fast! I practiced all my life and only reached the middle stage of the Earth Rank. Damn it!"
When Zhang San was still young, listening to his master's complaints, he always shrugged and retorted, "Master, don't blame me if your martial arts skills are lacking. As for why I progress so fast? It’s probably an aptitude issue. Anyway, I just kept practicing and made breakthroughs."
That’s right, he just kept practicing and made breakthroughs.
Including Zhang San's current Heavenly Rank lightness skill, it was the same. He practiced it bit by bit until he finally mastered it, completely without the life and death trials, famous teachers’ guidance, martial arts inheritance and other lucky encounters described in martial arts novels.
So Zhang San believed from childhood to adulthood that martial arts novels were mostly nonsense, and believed that no matter whether it was in the stories or in reality, all those who needed a 'lucky encounter' to become peerless masters, no matter how strong they were, the so-called 'lucky encounter' could only prove that their aptitude was low.
And geniuses never need luck.
Zhang San recalled the law of progress in his martial arts over the past 20 years of practice.
Basically, his lightness skills broke through first every time, followed by inner energy, and then martial arts skills. Although Zhang San himself was quite puzzled about why, from Human Rank to Earth Rank, and now to Heaven Rank, his lightness skill was the first to break through every time.
Maybe it was because he feared death, oh no, because he was prudent.
However, counting the days, it had been more than a year since he had mastered the Heavenly Rank lightness techniques. His inner strength had clearly increased day by day after the battle with Heishan Ke and on his way to Tianruo City. If he worked hard for a while, his Heavenly Rank inner energy technique should be coming soon too.
Although the idea that ‘if I work hard for a while, my Heavenly Rank inner energy technique will come soon’ might make more than half of the famous masters in the jianghu spit blood from jealousy.
But genius is just so unreasonable.
And once the inner energy reached Heaven Rank...
At that point, he would officially become a Grandmaster of Martial Arts. His iron cloth shirt technique would become even stronger, and the White Crane Spreads its Wings could finally unleash the full power of its heavenly-tier martial arts.
As he contemplated this and smiled to himself, Zhang San said softly: "By then, Master Lu, when we meet again, our conversation will likely not be as 'civil and refined'."