Chapter 248: Here to Kill Your Daddy

Fight ten of them?

Yan Jing refused to accept that, and neither did Fei Yu.

"Xiao Yu, test Master Liu's skills!"

Yan Jing said.

Fei Yu immediately shifted her hands—one straight, one angled—took a stride, sank her breath into her dantian, and dashed toward the Old Man.

Clusters of cyclones swirled around her hands as she twisted, angled, chopped, and kneaded. Empowered by the surrounding currents, the various techniques merged seamlessly together, hard and soft combined.

The Old Man, however, didn't move his lower body at all. He didn't even reveal a trace of weird energy. Catching and blocking left and right, his hands easily parried Fei Yu's opening strike.

Then, they traded blows. Their exchanges lacked any flashy movements, consisting only of pure martial clashes that sent their clothes snapping like thunder in the rushing air.

By the sixth exchange, weird energy erupted around Fei Yu.

By the seventeenth exchange, sweat beaded on Fei Yu's forehead.

On the eighteenth exchange, the Old Man grabbed Fei Yu's shoulder with his right hand. She reached up to force it down, but he countered by locking her joint. His hand slipped through the gap of her crossed arms, his fingertips stopping an inch from her throat.

Fei Yu conceded, collapsing to the ground in exhaustion:

"I yield! Your turn!"

She called out to Yan Jing.

"I yield too!"

Yan Jing cupped his fists behind the bed curtain. He hadn't actually seen the fight at all, relying entirely on Tiger calling out the moves, but Tiger couldn't keep up in the slightest, merely shouting gibberish.

"Wait, you're not going to fight?"

Fei Yu pushed herself off the ground in disbelief and stared at the curtain. "You should have said so earlier! I would have surrendered right away!"

"What a joke! Is Master Liu's strength even worth questioning?!"

Yan Jing cupped his fists again from inside the bed curtain. "Actually, I yielded from the very start!"

'Yield, my foot!'

'Our young master is getting worse and worse!'

Fuming, Fei Yu made a face at the bed curtain before scampering back into the house.

Tiger glanced at the Old Man. Seeing Old Master Liu discreetly wave a hand at him, he immediately understood, flashed an OK gesture, and went back inside too.

The moment Tiger went inside, Yan Jing heard a heavy thud outside the curtain—the sound of someone dropping to their knees. He hurriedly stood up from his chair and stepped to the side.

"Master Liu, what is the meaning of this?!"

"Young Master."

The Old Man's voice was deep and resolute.

"I, Liu Fu, have received four great acts of kindness in my life. The first was from my master. Without him, I would have died on the streets at the age of nine."

"The second was from you. Without you, I would have become a cripple at forty-one and died in the river."

"The third was from my group of friends. Without them, I wouldn't have made it back, and my spirit would have been completely broken."

"Now is the fourth time, and it's from you again."

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Three consecutive, resounding kowtows.

"Master Liu, you mustn't!"

Yan Jing hurriedly tried to stop him.

"I must!"

The Old Man spoke rapidly, his voice booming.

"I've never had much skill in this life, just some fist and footwork. I'm foolish and ignorant of many things. Before I met you, I didn't understand how to live. It was only after meeting you that I finally gained some clarity."

As he spoke, he knocked his head against the ground three more times—thud, thud, thud.

"As the saying goes, among all the world's practitioners of the martial dao, a Martial Cultivation expert must emerge. Ever since I was born, my parents said I was stubborn and foolishly ambitious. After hearing a few words from my master, I thought I had what it took. Only later did I realize my talent was too poor. Forget Martial Cultivation, I couldn't even reach the level of a true martial artist."

"But I couldn't let go of my obsession. If I abandoned the martial dao, I wouldn't know how to repay my master's grace in this lifetime. So, I kept that fire in my heart, always dreaming of Martial Cultivation."

"Later, I got lucky and crossed the threshold of the martial dao. My ambition grew. I began to practice the strengths of a hundred schools, still dreaming of reaching Martial Cultivation, but I forgot that I simply wasn't cut out for it. It left me with chronic hidden injuries."

"I started learning martial arts at nine and completed my apprenticeship at forty-one. Afterward, I got lucky and won sixteen matches, but I ultimately lost the seventeenth!"

"Because of that, my sect lost its right to establish itself in the Third Lake Prefecture, and I lost my sect."

"If I had just been diligent and grounded back then—if I had focused on mastering a little instead of biting off more than I could chew, and stopped obsessing over Martial Cultivation—I wouldn't have lost that seventeenth match. My sect would have definitely become one of the Thirty-Seven Martial Arts Gyms."

"I failed my master! I failed my fellow disciples! And I failed my family!"

"Afterward, I met you. I changed my fate, threw away my name, and wanted to start my life over. But three years ago—"

"Three years ago..."

Old Master Liu's voice choked with emotion. Yan Jing couldn't see it, but he could imagine the scene.

It was the first time he had ever heard the Old Man cry.

Fortunately, the bed curtain stood between them. "Three years ago, I told you I had to run an errand. In truth, my junior brother had tracked me down."

"He came looking for me, and I knew it was to kill me."

"The reason I didn't die earlier was because our sect hadn't established itself in the Third Lake Prefecture. Anyone outside those thirty-six gyms was just considered a crooked, minor faction, so even if we had a few stains on our reputation, it didn't really matter."

"But since he came looking for me, it meant our sect had finally produced a true talent—someone who had defeated eighteen gyms and earned the right to stand in the Third Lake Prefecture."

"At that point, they couldn't afford to have any stains left. He needed to confidently bring my head back to prove to everyone that I was well and truly dead."

"Logically speaking, I deserved to die!"

"Only with my death could the sect establish itself. Only by dying could I repay my master's kindness."

"But I—"

The Old Man choked up even more:

"But I couldn't rest easy. I thought about how young you were, how little you understood of the martial world's affairs. If I died, what would you do all alone?"

"I begged my junior brother to give me three years. I promised that after that, I would take my own life and have someone deliver my corpse to him. He refused."

"My junior brother and I fought a match. I couldn't beat him when we were kids, and as an old man, I still couldn't beat him."

"In the end, he struck me with a palm that sent me flying into the creek."

"Falling into the creek, I thought I was dead for sure. Yet, somehow, I ended up somewhere else and survived."

"That's how my life has always been. I don't die when I'm supposed to, and when I'm supposed to live, I don't live well."

"Before coming back, I never planned to return. But for the sake of a few close friends, I ultimately came back."

"Since I've returned this time, the Liu Fu of the past might as well be dead. I won't think about practicing martial arts anymore."

"I originally wanted to help you settle your troubles. Though it wouldn't fully repay my debt to you, I'd at least be able to rest easy. Then, I could go join my friends and do something reckless together."

"But I never expected that you would save me once again, Young Master."

"Young Master, I'm a foolish man who only knows some fist and footwork. If you don't disdain me, I swear that as long as I live, I will never let any harm come to you. If you point east, I will never go west!"

After saying this, the Old Man kowtowed three more times.

A total of nine kowtows. This was the three kneelings and nine kowtows—the absolute pinnacle of respect.

[Loyalty Level is rapidly increasing]

Yan Jing fell silent.

Of course he wanted to raise the Old Man's Loyalty Level, but he never expected a few bottles of medicine to earn such overwhelming gratitude.

Forget this life—even in his past life, no one had ever kowtowed to him three times.

Let alone nine.

Strictly speaking, he hadn't actually saved the Old Man's life. He couldn't bear the weight of such a grand gesture.

His mind raced, trying to figure out what he should say to handle this situation, or what Luo Sheng would say at a time like this.

Finally, he adjusted his expression and let out a laugh:

"Master Liu! You said a whole lot just now, but does it all boil down to one thing? You want to keep working for me?"

The Old Man froze for a moment. "Yes."

"That one sentence is enough!!!"

Yan Jing reached out and pointed forward:

"I won't say anything else. Right now, someone is trying to harm me! I'm counting on you, Master Liu! Go and kill them all!!!"

"Alright!"

The Old Man nodded heavily.

He was good at this.

He stood up, suddenly feeling that he had made too much of a fuss. He knew exactly what kind of person his young master was—someone who never cared for rigid formalities.

Thinking of this, he felt much more relaxed. He used the hem of his clothes near his waist to wipe his face.

'Since the Young Master wants to kill! Then we kill!'

He turned and quickly strode toward the house, but unexpectedly, Yan Jing's voice rang out from behind him:

"Master Liu."

"Hmm?"

He stopped and looked back.

"From the very first time I saw you, I never treated you as just a butler."

Old Master Liu was taken aback.

Before he could understand what Yan Jing meant, Yan Jing continued:

"From the moment I met you, I felt that you would reach Martial Cultivation!"

"I don't need my butler to be a Martial Cultivation expert, but if a Martial Cultivation expert wants to be my butler, I would gladly welcome it."

The Old Man's eyes wavered.

Finally, he cupped his fists:

"Understood, Young Master."

In the blink of an eye, the third day arrived.

Yan Jing opened his eyes and familiarly entered the Dungeon.

[Quest Phase C is about to begin]

[Current Quest Location: Minhu - Bianliu County - Surrounding Territory - Outer Region - Gamified]

[You have been designated as the Fugitive]

[Your landing zone has been selected as Bianliu County — Lin Estate]

[Your initial Mental Immunity Value has decreased to 20 points]

[Your commander is already standing by your side]

[Welcome back, Lord player]

Yan Jing opened his eyes. He was already standing in the courtyard of the Lin Estate.

There was no one else in the courtyard at the moment. Only the Old Man sat on the steps, dressed in a long white gown, holding a Smoking Pipe in his hand, looking completely serene.

Seeing Yan Jing appear, he stood up, cupped his fists, and bowed slightly toward him:

"Advisor!"

"Master Liu! Why are you the only one here?"

"I alone am enough!"

The Old Man walked to Yan Jing's side. "Where do you wish to go now?"

Yan Jing blinked.

"Shouldn't I be running?"

"No need to run! Just tell me where you want to go!"

The Old Man said.

"Then I want to go there!"

Yan Jing pointed to the tallest building in Bianliu County—the main roof of Feinan Temple.

"Alright."

The Old Man nodded. He grabbed Yan Jing's shoulder, moving as light as a swallow. With a few leaping flips, the two of them already appeared on the roof.

Overlooking all of Bianliu County, they took in every street and alley under the high, vast sky.

'So fast!'

This was Yan Jing's first time seeing the Old Man in action since he came out of seclusion, and he was greatly astonished.

"What do you want to do now?"

The Old Man asked again.

"I don't know, it seems like there's nothing to do." Yan Jing was taken aback.

According to the standard procedure, he should be running right now, then chased down by his two designated Fourth Tier pursuers, forcing him to fight one against two, or even three.

'Is this what it feels like to be hard carried? It's a bit unfamiliar.'

"You can do whatever you want. If there's nothing to do, then you don't have to do anything."

The Old Man spoke calmly.

"Really anything?"

Yan Jing blinked.

"Before you leave the Inner World, you can do absolutely anything."

The Old Man nodded.

"Alright."

Yan Jing nodded. Standing on the roof, weird energy erupted from him, shooting straight into the sky. His voice rolled outward like thunder:

"Your daddy is right here!"

"Come kill me!"