「The next morning.」
In the courtyard, Fang Shuwen was practicing his Martial Arts.
His movements weren't fast; every action he made was as if he carried the weight of a mountain.
A single step forward split the air with a sound like rolling thunder.
A slow palm strike sent out a force that made a large tree nearby sway back and forth endlessly.
Zhou Qingmei, who was drinking tea in the courtyard, didn't even notice when a leaf fell into her cup.
Her expression was a little dazed. Her mind was elsewhere, lost in some unknown thought, and she was only startled back to reality by the sound of knocking at the gate.
She glanced at Fang Shuwen before turning to open the gate.
The Fang Family's steward was standing outside, but before she could even greet him, she noticed a graceful, slender young woman standing beside him.
The girl had a round, delicate, and lovely face, but her most striking feature was her eyes.
They were big, round, and sparkling.
Blinking her eyes, she looked at Zhou Qingmei.
"You must be Sister Zhou, right? My father told me you saved me twice. The last time I woke up, you were already gone."
"I'm so glad you're still here this time. I can thank you in person for saving my life."
After she finished, she seemed to feel she had been a bit abrupt and quickly added:
"My name is Fang Lingxin."
Zhou Qingmei smiled faintly.
"You don't have to be so formal, Lingxin. It was all a matter of fate and circumstance."
"Besides, it wasn't just me who saved you last night..."
"There was a Brother Fang, too, wasn't there?"
Fang Lingxin said with a smile:
"Perfect, I can thank you both at the same time. May I come in?"
"Please."
Zhou Qingmei stepped aside. Fang Lingxin entered the courtyard, but before she could speak, she saw Fang Shuwen in the distance suddenly thrust out a palm.
The immense force was like a crashing mountain or a raging tsunami. Though it wasn't directed at her, its raw power was on full display.
Fang Lingxin's eyes widened in an instant.
"So powerful!!"
Hearing this, Zhou Qingmei smiled.
"Brother Fang's Martial Arts are truly admirable."
'It's not just his high level of Martial Arts; his Talent and comprehension are beyond ordinary people. In just this short period, his Great Black Heaven God Palm has progressed again, showing signs that he's truly mastering it. It's truly enviable.'
Just then, Fang Shuwen slowly drew back his palm, completing his form, and let out a long, slow breath.
He turned his head, and his gaze fell upon Fang Lingxin.
"Miss Fang?"
"Yes, yes! Brother Fang, my name is Fang Lingxin."
Fang Lingxin said quickly:
"Thank you, Brother Fang and Sister Zhou, for saving me last night."
"Have a seat."
Fang Shuwen gestured with his arm, then sat down himself.
After Fang Lingxin and Zhou Qingmei were seated, the three of them began to chat idly.
Fang Lingxin was young and had a certain spontaneous energy unique to children.
Sometimes, just giving her a topic was enough to get her talking at length.
Thanks to this, Fang Shuwen learned a lot about her situation, and by extension, a lot more about the Fang Family.
For instance, although Fang Mingxuan was a businessman, he knew Martial Arts.
And it seemed his skills were not weak.
Fang Lingxin had also trained in Martial Arts with Fang Mingxuan since she was a child, and she had achieved a respectable level of skill.
Fang Mingxuan seemed to be very familiar with a certain Sect and wanted to send Fang Lingxin there to study Martial Arts, but he felt she was too young and was unwilling to let her leave his side.
When she spoke of this, Fang Lingxin was a little indignant.
"My father isn't young anymore, but he still treats me like a child. I'm clearly all grown up!"
"I had my coming-of-age ceremony two years ago! I'm old enough to get married."
"But he still worries about me... and my mom's the same. She never says anything to him about it."
Zhou Qingmei didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this.
"Parents love their children, so naturally, they're unwilling to endure the pain of separation."
"But... I also want to master my skills so I can ease their burdens."
As she said this, Fang Lingxin grew sad again.
"Like now, not only can I not ease their burdens, but I'm always making them worry."
"Both times, I was ensnared without even realizing it... If my Martial Arts were stronger and I wasn't afraid of these underhanded tricks, I would have beaten those people to a pulp the moment they showed up at our door..."
"Speaking of which, I haven't yet had the chance to pay my respects to the matriarch of the Fang Family," Fang Shuwen suddenly said.
"My mother spends her days in the Buddhist hall, chanting scriptures and praying for the well-being of my older brother, who was lost when he was a child."
Zhou Qingmei had heard the steward mention this last night, so she wasn't surprised.
Fang Lingxin sighed.
"This whole thing is a constant heartache for my parents. My father is always doing good deeds, saying it's to accumulate blessings for my brother whom I've never met. He doesn't expect to ever see him in this lifetime; he just hopes that if he's still alive, he can have a better life."
"My mother also chants scriptures day and night and sincerely prays to Buddha to accumulate merit for him."
Zhou Qingmei sighed, "So that's how it is..."
"No wonder your parents can't bear to let you go. Having personally experienced such a painful separation, they are even more unwilling to let you travel far away."
Fang Shuwen lowered his head to pour them some tea and casually changed the subject.
The three of them talked for the entire morning.
「In the days that followed,」 Fang Shuwen, Zhou Qingmei, and Fang Lingxin spent all their time together.
They would either sit and chat idly or exchange insights on their Martial Arts training.
Meanwhile, there was still no word from Zhang Fang, who was on surveillance. It wasn't until the afternoon of the third day that Zhang Fang, who had been gone for three full days, finally appeared at the Fang Family's residence.
He slapped a piece of paper onto the table, and before he could say a word, he gulped down an entire teapot of water.
Fang Shuwen picked up the paper and saw that it was a rather crude map.
"This is?"
Zhou Qingmei looked at Zhang Fang.
Zhang Fang had finally caught his breath, a look of pride on his face.
"You guys guessed right. Da Xuan Bank is definitely connected to the Black Death Sect."
"I've been watching them in secret these past few days and discovered that everyone in the bank, from the clerks to the Shopkeeper, are all hiding their skills."
"By day, they greet customers with smiles, but under the cover of night, their movements are all furtive and suspicious."
"It took me three days, but I finally found their nest."
"It's thirteen li outside the city. It's a summer villa called Cyan Yang Manor."
"Everyone in the manor is a member of the Black Death Sect, and there are many experts!"
"However, if we want to investigate Cyan Yang Manor thoroughly, we can't do it from the outside."
"I was worried that if I snuck in rashly by myself, I might alert the enemy, so I came back to discuss with you what to do next."
"Should I continue trying to infiltrate, or...?"
"There's no need to infiltrate," Fang Shuwen said.
"In a moment, we will go find Patriarch Fang and ask him to help gather manpower."
"We're going to Cyan Yang Manor tonight."
"Tonight?"
Zhang Fang was stunned.
"Isn't that a bit too soon?"
"There's no time to lose. Delays breed trouble."
As Fang Shuwen spoke, he looked at Zhou Qingmei.
Zhou Qingmei nodded slowly.
"Alright."
Seeing that Zhou Qingmei was also in agreement, Zhang Fang said no more.
The three of them immediately went to find Fang Mingxuan.
Fang Mingxuan had already been secretly gathering men for the past three days. Now that the investigation had produced results, he had no objections.
When night fell, the group split up and headed straight for Cyan Yang Manor.