Chapter Twelve: Admiring You

  The night grew darker, and outside the window was a twinkling starlight that faintly outlined the contours of the windowsill.

  "I envy you!" The voice of Qing Long echoed in the place where starlight couldn't reach, with a hint less arrogance and more human touch than before.

  "Qinglong senior, how did you end up here?" Mu Shan heard the voice and was initially startled, then struggled to get up and pay his respects to Qinglong.

  "Lie down, don't move." Without seeing any movement from Qing Long, he suddenly appeared at the bedside, under the starlight: "Don't call me senior, call me uncle instead. That's what Chang Sheng calls me, and it sounds much better than 'senior'!"

  Mushan looked at Qinglong's face, which had lost its daytime majesty and gained a kind and smiling expression. He suddenly felt a little strange, but still did as he was told: "Uncle, why would you suddenly say that you envy me?"

  "Hehe, you have a good mother, the best in the world, that's enough to make me envious." Qing Long stood by the window, gazing at the starlight in the sky, his face filled with nostalgia and reminiscence: "You're still just a kid, naive and inexperienced, your heart probably values wealth, fame, and power more. But when you reach my level of achievement one day, you'll suddenly wake up and realize what's truly important, only by then, it will be too late!"

  Looking at the starlight on the horizon, scattered on Qing Long's face, Mu Shan felt that his sharp-lined face had an indescribable sense of vicissitude and melancholy: "Uncle, no need to remind me, I know it all, my mother is the best in the world, one-of-a-kind, the most important person in my life!"

  "No, your mother did it for you, and you still don't know." Qing Long turned his head back, his eyes deeply gazing at Mu Shan, with a serious face said: "I came here tonight to let you see what your mother has done for you. I don't want you to be ungrateful to her in the future, otherwise, I will not forgive you!"

  "My mother..."

  Mu Shan had not finished speaking, when he felt a large hand tightly grasping his shoulder blade. Then, by his ear was the sound of rushing wind, and through his slightly open mouth, he desperately poured air into his belly.

  Mu Shan hadn't even reacted yet when he heard Qing Long's voice again in his ear: "Take a look, take a good look!"

  Mu Shan looked in the direction of Qing Long's pointing hand, and under the dim night sky, he saw a very familiar figure kneeling in front of a thatched hut with his back to him.

  That one glance, Mu Shan's thoughts seemed to have stopped, staring blankly at the figure that could never be forgotten, deep down, something was boiling over, scorching hot.

  "Your mother has been kneeling in front of the thatched cottage where I'm temporarily staying for two hours, just to get me to teach you martial arts..."

  "Daughter..." Qing Long's words were left unfinished as Mu Shan had already broken free from his grasp and stumbled towards the figure in a hurry.

  The physical pain was thrown far away by Mu Shan the moment he saw that figure, and at this moment, his mind was only repeating the words of Qing Long just now. A stormy wave had already risen in his heart, surging and turbulent!

  Mushan rushed to the front of the figure, suddenly knelt down and said with a choked voice: "Mother, I am unfilial, causing you so much trouble and worry!"

  "Auspicious, how did you come!" Qin Mei suddenly turned her head and saw Mu Shan. She said in surprise: "Aren't you lying on the bed? Your injury hasn't healed yet, but you're jumping around. Can't you let your mother worry less?"

  "Ah!" Qin Mei tried to stand up, but her legs had already gone numb. As soon as she got up, her vision blurred and she fell to her knees again.

  Mushan didn't know where he got the strength from, but he actually helped Qin Mei up from the ground: "Mother, I won't learn martial arts anymore, let's go back! Let's live a peaceful life as ordinary people, relying on our own two hands and feet, we can also have enough food and clothing to spend our lives."

  "Good luck..." Qin Mei listened to Mu Shan's words, and although she was happy in her heart, she still had some misgivings that Mu Shan would not let go. She thought of coaxing Mu Shan back first, and then sneaking away to ask Qing Long herself, but unexpectedly, Qing Long appeared beside them once again like a ghost.

  Qin Mei's face lit up with a hint of joy after her initial fright, and she said: "Great hero, I'm just a rustic village woman, I haven't seen much of the world, although I know it's an unreasonable request, but could you...".

  The Azure Dragon raised his left hand, halting in front of Qin Mei, and intercepted: "Sister Qin, you don't need to say any more. Tomorrow I will bring Changsheng back to the Azure Dragon Altar. However, tonight, I do have some time to spare. The supreme heart method of the Azure Dragon Altar is something I absolutely cannot teach him, but some other superior internal energy heart methods that I've collected over my lifetime can be practiced by him. Although they can't compare to those extraordinary techniques, they are still thousands and hundreds of times stronger than ordinary martial arts schools and some unorthodox sects. As for how much he can learn, it will depend on his innate abilities!"

  "Thank you, great hero! Thank you, great hero!" Qin Mei's mouth opened wide with joy, her smile radiant, and the wrinkles on her face seemed to decrease significantly in an instant. She hastily pulled Mu Shan, pressing his head down towards the ground: "Quickly, thank the great hero for his guidance!"

  Mushan was equally excited and knocked his head, exceptionally enthusiastic: "Thank you, Qinglong senior!"

  "Eh, have you forgotten what I told you? Call me Uncle!" Qing Long raised his left hand and lifted Mu Shan and Qin Mei from the ground. With a smile on his face, he said: "Sister Qin, next we need to focus our minds and practice our skills. You can go back first, don't worry, I'm here."

  "Ah, ah." Qin Meino replied, walking back while constantly turning his head to remind him: "Jixiang, listen to the great hero's words, you must not be naughty, do you know?"

  "Alright, your mother has gone far away. Next, I want to have a good talk with you." Qing Long spoke up as soon as Qin Mei was out of sight: "I'll teach you martial arts, but you must never use it for evil purposes. Otherwise, I will definitely take back everything I taught you today. Also, after you master the martial arts, remember not to show off. Especially since you have now made an enemy of Jiang Shiming from Qingyang Cave, I'm afraid he won't let things go easily!"

  "Qingyang Cave? Jiang Shiming?" Mu Shan looked at Qinglong with a puzzled face and said, "I don't even know them, how could I have a feud with them?"

  "Hey, it all starts with your bloodline!" Qing Long's eyes flashed with a hint of fear, and he said in a low voice: "The power of your bloodline is probably the most powerful existence between heaven and earth. Even some old immortals who have cultivated for thousands of years would not be your match when you awaken. And that day, although Jiang Shiming knew I was there, he still took the risk to attack you, which shows that you were already on his list of people to kill. However, at that time, you were just a young man in your twenties, very different from who you are now. So as long as you don't show off excessively and draw attention to yourself, he won't be able to find you."

  Mu Shan silently remembered the two names in his heart and asked in a low voice, "Uncle, is Qingyang Cave a sect? And who is Jiang Shiming?"

  "Hmm! Qingyang Cave is a notorious evil sect, and it's said that most of the people in their school are eccentric and fond of fighting. The master of the cave, Jiang Shiming, is even more so, as he is the descendant of Xiang Yu, the ancient demon god. Legend has it that during the ancient times, Huang Di and Xiang Yu had a great battle at Zhuolu, and after Xiang Yu was defeated, he led his people to escape to the Demon Realm, where he himself was beheaded and killed in the Wan Yao Valley, transforming into the Three Realms Curse Boundary to guard the Demon Realm and prevent Huang Di from taking advantage of the situation to wipe them out. The 72 tribes left behind by Xiang Yu in the human world began to intermarry with humans, producing some special lives that were between humans and demons, collectively known as the Jiuli Tribe. Jiang Shiming is a member of the Jiuli Tribe, and legend has it that his body contains the blood of Xiang Yu, the highest and most supreme among the demon tribes, which is why Qingyang Cave was ostracized and suppressed by the righteous path in the world."