Chapter 175: Shameless Old Man, Severing Ties

Chapter 175: Chapter 175: Shameless Old Man, Severing Ties

Lu Yuan headed to the Yan Residence. He planned to continue forging arrows and study the puppet with his senior brother, Yan Qing.

In front of the main gate.

Qiao Sanniang, a widow, arrived with several burly men. The tallest and most heavily built among them stood a good head taller than Uncle Yuann, his muscles bulging like blocks of solid iron.

Qiao Sanniang hugged Luo Dali’s arm, leaning half her body against him. Pointing an accusatory finger at Uncle Yuann, she said with a face full of resentment, "Luo Dali, this is the shameless old creep who constantly harassed and flirted with me, bullying a helpless widow and her child.

"You have to teach him a good lesson today! Get justice for me and stand up for us!"

"Don’t worry, Sanniang. I’m here today to stand up for you!" Luo Dali patted Qiao Sanniang’s shoulder and cast a disdainful glance at Uncle Yuann.

"You’re an old man in your seventies or eighties, practically with one foot in the grave, and you still have the nerve to harass women.

"Today, I, Luo Dali, will deliver divine justice. I’ll rearrange your bones, dig your grave, and help you go down to see Yama a little sooner."

"Bullshit! Qiao Sanniang, you tried to seduce me and failed! Now you’re playing the victim and actually daring to come back for revenge?" Uncle Yuann roared, looking thoroughly indignant and absolutely furious.

Qiao Sanniang retorted with an arrogant, disdainful expression, "Bullshit! Look at your half-dead, decrepit state. Why would I ever seduce you?

"What a joke. Do you think I’m blind?"

"You..." Uncle Yuann gnashed his teeth.

"Master, why are you wasting your breath on them? Thrash them!" Lin Siheng pumped his fists nearby, his face full of anticipation. He had been dying to see how formidable his new master was.

"Step aside," Uncle Yuann replied, rolling his eyes at him.

"Enough talking. Boys, beat him up!" Luo Dali waved his hand, looking supremely confident.

"Get him!"

"Beat him!"

Four or five burly men instantly charged forward, punching and kicking Uncle Yuann in a ruthless group assault.

"Hit them! Hit them!" Lin Siheng continued to pump his fists from the sidelines. But he quickly realized something was wrong.

"OUCH! AHHH!"

"Stop hitting me! Stop! You’re going to kill me!"

"My poor old bones..."

"They’re broken! My bones are broken!"

There was no sudden outburst of power. No fierce counterattack. There were only Uncle Yuann’s endless pleas for mercy and agonizing wails.

Lin Siheng’s little face fell, his expression crumbling rapidly. Such a useless old man was actually his master?

He thought, "Dad, are you... are you blind?"

"Alright, don’t actually kill him!" Qiao Sanniang hurriedly intervened. She knew that the master of this household worked for the Demon Suppression Bureau.

"Boys, pull back," Luo Dali ordered, waving his hand to call his men off. He puffed out his chest, looking down at everyone with extreme arrogance.

"This is the consequence of harassing and bullying my woman.

"I announce that from today onward, Qiao Sanniang is my, Luo Dali’s, woman! No one is allowed to bully her!

"Whoever dares to bully her is bullying me. Just see if I, Luo Dali, won’t beat them to death!"

The surrounding spectators remained dead silent, as if they had all been thoroughly intimidated.

"Boys, let’s go!" Luo Dali smugly wrapped his arm around Qiao Sanniang’s waist and swaggered away.

"OUCH..." Uncle Yuann groaned. He was still lying on the ground, his face bruised and swollen. He reached out a hand and complained, "Why aren’t you coming over to help me up?

"What kind of disciple are you?

"You didn’t even help me just now!"

"That’s because you’re too useless! You’re trash!" Lin Siheng scolded.

"You..." Uncle Yuann almost jumped up from the ground. "Alas, what an unfilial disciple! I’ve taken in an unfilial disciple..."

"You old geezer!" Lin Siheng glared at him, his cheeks puffed out in anger. "You pretended to be weak and didn’t even fight back when they hit you, and now you’re blaming me?

"You’d deserve it even if they beat you to death!"

Uncle Yuann instantly sprang to his feet. "How did you see through that, kid?

"Aren’t you..."

"Bah! I’m just too lazy to use my brain. That doesn’t mean I’m stupid," Lin Siheng retorted speechlessly. With such a smart sister and a cunning man like Lu Yuan in his family, how could he possibly be dumb?

"Oh, that’s true." The bruises on Uncle Yuann’s body rapidly faded away. "Today’s performance was a failure. I give myself a zero.

"Come on, let’s head back and cook."

"You really are a shameless old creep! You’re so despicable, you even deceive little kids!

"I’ve made up my mind. I’m severing our master-disciple relationship!" Lin Siheng declared loudly, resting one hand on his hip and pointing at Uncle Yuann with the other.

"What?" Uncle Yuann’s expression changed. He had finally found a disciple with such exceptional physical talent; how could he possibly give him up?

"No way! I disagree!

"Since ancient times, masters have only ever expelled disciples from their sects. A disciple has never fired their master!"

"Just because it hasn’t happened before doesn’t mean it won’t happen now.

"I, Lin Siheng, am a man of my word!

"We are done! We have to be done!

"A master who tricks his disciple is no good master. I don’t trust you!"

Lin Siheng stormed back into the courtyard, preparing to pack his things and go home.

"You little brat! I’ll teach you a formidable fist technique. Will that do?" Uncle Yuann immediately brought out his trump card.

"One isn’t enough. I want two!" Lin Siheng shook his head.

"I’m just worried that you’ll bite off more than you can chew..." Uncle Yuann explained.

"Then I’m leaving." Lin Siheng turned around.

"Fine! Two it is. I agree!" Uncle Yuann gritted his teeth and conceded.

"That’s more like it." Lin Siheng smiled.

"Are you two done with your transaction?" Lu Yuan finally spoke up. He had been standing there for a while.

"We’re done." Lin Siheng gave Lu Yuan a smug look before immediately lodging a complaint. "Lu Yuan, this shameless old creep is too wicked! He’s even more cunning than you. He actually tricked me..."

"What are you saying?" Lu Yuan reprimanded.

"Who tricked you? You are not allowed to call your master a shameless old creep!" Uncle Yuann barked.

They spoke almost simultaneously. This kid really had no filter on his mouth.

"You’re both bad people!

"Hehe, you two are two peas in a puddle!" Lin Siheng criticized.

"Get lost!" Lu Yuan kicked him away.

"Don’t hit my disciple!" Uncle Yuann acted fiercely protective, but his feet didn’t move an inch.

"I’m hitting my wife’s younger brother," Lu Yuan said, walking into the Weapon-Forging Room. "I’m going to forge iron. You two have fun."

"Is a wife’s brother as close as a disciple?" Uncle Yuann muttered to himself.

***

More than half of the arrows had been forged; only a small portion remained. The arrows were Half-Profound Weapons and could be replicated, so the forging process was relatively fast. Lu Yuan could forge three arrows in an hour.

Yan Qing returned shortly after, and the two of them entered the room.

Lu Yuan brought out the giant puppet that had been shattered by Sword Qi. "I seized this during my mission yesterday. See if you can repair it, Yan Qing."

"Is this a Sixth-Grade Combat Puppet?" Yan Qing asked in astonishment, picking up a core casting component to examine it closely.

"More than that. Not only can it form arrays, but it can also transform..." Lu Yuan described the events of that day.

"Transform? Into a bird... The design is incredibly exquisite," Yan Qing marveled. "Unfortunately, it still falls a bit short. It’s not quite perfect."

"Yan Qing, I also have this," Lu Yuan said, taking out the secret manual containing the detailed blueprints of the puppet.

"This... You..." Yan Qing was dumbfounded. He quickly snatched the manual and flipped through the pages, overjoyed. "These several types of puppets have all been improved. They’re quite different from the ones recorded in our Celestial Weapon Sect.

"Excellent, excellent! You’ve made a great contribution, Lu Yuan."

"Our Celestial Weapon Sect also has the Puppetry Art?" Lu Yuan asked, slightly surprised.

"They were collected in the past. Over time, we’ve accumulated quite a few, and the master artisans study them in their spare time," Yan Qing smiled. Forging weapons was no simple matter, and the Celestial Weapon Sect was even more complex.

"Iron sharpens iron.

"We must draw upon the strengths of all disciplines to continuously improve.

"Complacency and resting on our laurels is never acceptable."