Chapter 69: A Sharp Tongue is a Mighty Sword

  "Looks like you've been practicing for a long time." It was clear that Er Lang was very satisfied with Zhen Chan. Er Lang glanced at Wang Zhen's eyes, which inadvertently showed a few points of appreciation, patted his shoulder and nodded slightly.

  I started practicing horse stance from the age of two and practiced qigong for children, now it has been a full twenty-five years.

  "Starting to practice horse stance at the age of two? The old man's eyebrows twitched, and he couldn't help but be surprised. It's known that martial arts emphasize foundation, but it's not that the earlier you start practicing, the better. Children's bones and tendons are not yet developed, and if they come into contact with basic fist techniques too early, it can have some very negative effects on their development later on. However, starting too late is also not good, as once the skeletal muscles have taken shape, trying to stretch or open them up would be a pain worse than death."

  "It seems that the master who taught you martial arts must also know a lot about Shaolin's secret recipes for bruises and injuries! He must have used medicinal wine to rub your body's acupoints since you were young, teaching you to soak in water every day to strengthen your muscles and cultivate your vital energy. Otherwise, you wouldn't have grown up to be the way you are now!"

  "My grandfather taught me boxing, although he wasn't famous, his boxing skills had already reached a high level of mastery, and he had formed an internal elixir. At the age of 100, he could still beat me until I was searching for my teeth all over the ground. What he practiced was indeed Shaolin Kung Fu."

  When Wang Daliang passed away, he was exactly 108 years old, a full-fledged longevity star. However, in his lifetime, he had traversed the White Mountains and Black Waters, and it is unknown how many grudges he had accumulated. Wang Chan did not want to talk about it in front of outsiders, so he just lightly passed on the words, casually saying one sentence before stopping.

  "Congratulations! That's a sign of reversing the prenatal to postnatal!" The old man's face suddenly turned red upon hearing Wang Chan's words, and his eyes sparkled with excitement. "I didn't expect that someone could actually reverse the prenatal through practicing fist techniques alone, forming an internal elixir, no wonder he can live for over a hundred years! Unfortunately, I'm already old now, if only I were ten years younger, I would definitely ask you to take me to pay respects to that elderly gentleman. Time is indeed unforgiving!"

  The excited expression on his face quickly returned to normal. The old man also came from the past, naturally clearer than anyone else about the "old reason" in Jianghu. He looked at Wang Chan, opened his mouth a few times, and finally didn't say anything extra.

  Next, time flew by quickly, and people started to arrive one after another. However, most of the arrivals were young people and middle-aged individuals. When they saw an elderly person, none of them failed to come over and respectfully address him as "Zhang Ye Ye" before daring to gather in groups of three or five with familiar faces and chat among themselves.

  As more and more people gathered in the living room, Wang Chan didn't like to communicate with outsiders, so he excused himself to the old man and walked upstairs, just as Zhou Lin and his daughter were standing together talking to Lei Feng.

  The space upstairs is slightly larger than downstairs, with thick carpets on the floor and giant masterpieces of calligraphy hanging on the walls. The chandeliers on the ceiling are colorful, shining down on a huge oval-shaped cold dish table, looking luxurious and solemn.

  At this time, most of the people who came were downstairs, so there weren't many people upstairs yet.

  He looked up to see Wang Chan walking towards him with a smile, and Zhou Lin's eyes lit up instantly as he was talking to his daughter. He quickly walked over, grabbed Wang Chan's sleeve, and let out a sigh of relief. Since entering the capital, although not long ago, politics is not like ordinary things, every step taken, every word spoken, must be carefully considered, and only after repeated deliberation can it be cautiously implemented.

  So, although he had Old Man Zhang backing him up from behind and introducing him to various people, the effort it took was also making him feel extremely tired. Now that he had just seen Wang Chan's face, he suddenly felt a sense of life and death separation, as if they were reunited after narrowly escaping disaster. Especially during this period, he had also heard from Zhou Yahang and Lei Feng about all the things that had happened to Wang Chan in recent days, knowing that Wang Chan had gotten into huge trouble because of him and had even killed Tang Niu, a man with a powerful background. He was so anxious that he grabbed onto Wang Chan's sleeve, not knowing what to say for a while.

  "It doesn't matter, I have it all figured out in my mind, you don't need to worry about me. On the other hand, your family's Shibo is really good to you, and tonight's dinner party has great significance for you, so don't disappoint his kind intentions. Once your business is done, we'll consider our accounts settled, and I won't bother with these things again."

  Wang Chan wouldn't comfort people at all, he would just say whatever was on his mind without caring what others thought, and Zhou Lin's face turned bright red with embarrassment. To think that Wang Chan had saved Zhou Lin twice before, and now he hadn't even repaid the debt of gratitude yet, but instead added another trouble to him.

  Zhou Lin was well aware of Wang Chan's temperament, and what he disliked most was everything outside the mountain. Moreover, this time he asked Wang Chan to lend a hand, but the means used were really not very decent, if it weren't for Wang Chan still having some good feelings towards Zhou Yahan, he would have probably turned against him already.

  "Wang Chan, all of these are what I owe you, and I'm afraid it's impossible to repay them in this lifetime. However, after going through so many things, Zhou Lin is not an ungrateful person. In the future, if you need my help with anything, I will definitely repay you with my life." They chatted casually for a few sentences about the changes they had gone through since parting ways in Ha city. Zhou Lin appeared extremely excited, and as a man in his forties, both of his eyes were red.

  As they spoke, Zhou Yahuan also walked over and hugged one of Zhou Lin's arms, with tears shining in her eyes. Since learning the truth, this was considered a complete reconciliation between father and daughter, and they were back to normal.

  After a while, more and more people came up from downstairs. Leiting also met several familiar young people. While chatting, they kept glancing at Wang Chan with their eyes, their facial expressions changing unpredictably, but it was hard to tell what they were thinking in their hearts.

  Mr. Lin arrived, but no one knew who was loudly saying something downstairs. Suddenly, the upstairs and downstairs were in an uproar, with many people squeezing at the stairwell entrance, waving greetings to those below.

  Wang Zhen looked up at the source, and with a glance out of the corner of his eye, he saw a tall and handsome young man with a sunny face and gold-rimmed glasses walking up from downstairs surrounded by a group of people. This young man was none other than Lin Yuanfang, also known as "Lin Dafangzi", whom Wang Zhen had met once in Haicheng.

  Two middle-aged men followed closely behind him. One was dressed in a suit and tie, with piercing eyes and a sharp nose, his figure slightly plump, the other wore a Tang suit, with a refined face and wearing a pair of cloth shoes on his feet.

  The two middle-aged men rushed upstairs. Immediately, they were careless and searched the entire floor with their four eyes, and the next moment, their gaze was fixed on Wang Chan's body.

  He instinctively felt that the gaze directed at him contained extreme hostility, Wang Chan was taken aback and turned his head to look, but only saw those two middle-aged men, their eyes were sharp as eagles, except for the slightly stout one who was obviously just an ordinary person, weak in hands and feet, breathing disorderly, even if his gaze was piercing, it was nothing more than a so-called "dignity" cultivated by being in high positions for a long time, which had no effect on Wang Chan at all.

  It was the remaining middle-aged man wearing cloth shoes, with a smile that seemed to be a smile but not quite, his eyes cast over, shining brightly, like a sharp blade. From so far away, the sharp aura was like two extremely sharp awls, piercing and making Wang Chan's face feel slightly painful.

  Wang Chan, of course, did not know that the slightly prosperous middle-aged man was actually Hong Changqing, the largest boss behind Red Sleeve Forest, one of the several people in charge of the Overseas Hongmen General Hall in the country. Because Wang Chan killed Tang Niu, Hong Changqing himself also had a responsibility, so he returned to Beijing with Lin Yuanshan, and the purpose was to find Wang Chan at this dinner party and resolve the grievances between them.

  Lin Yushan came up the stairs, nodded and smiled slightly. The officials present on the scene, regardless of their size, were all silent, as if they had been stopped by an invisible force.

  This is actually one of the benefits that a person's status and position bring. Although "class" may be artificially eliminated, "privilege" will never be, as long as there are rights, privilege will arise, this is an inevitable thing, Chinese society has had the saying "officials are above the law" since ancient times. Lin Yuanshan has not yet entered politics, but his family's influence behind him has already brought him sufficient benefits, which naturally include being respected and revered by others.

  "A member of a noble family can do this, so what about the truly powerful ones? Power is sometimes indeed a good thing, even if I practice martial arts for another hundred years. If I still can't find that last path to transcend the world, relying solely on my own power is absolutely impossible to directly confront the forces of those in power, casually summoning an army, what inner elixir and innate abilities, all will be dead."

  Wang Chan glanced at the middle-aged man who was staring at him, but he didn't think much of it. With his current mastery of boxing and divine insight, he could see through the other's true nature with just one glance. He knew that although this person was also a skilled fighter, they were only on par with the late Tang Niu, and if they wanted to be an enemy of Wang Chan, their only fate would be death. It wasn't worth paying attention to. However, the series of phenomena triggered by Lin Yuanfang's arrival had touched off something in Wang Chan's heart, giving him a new insight.

  "In the Taoist school, there is a saying that 'man follows the earth, the earth follows heaven, heaven follows the Tao, and the Tao follows nature.' Translating this into our fist method, it's actually a matter of heart/mind quality. When practitioners reach a certain level, they can't just rely on bitter practice to advance; instead, they need to ascend to a state similar to enlightenment, where everything seen with the eyes, thought in the mind, or heard in the universe - wind, rain, thunder - is maximally stripped of external appearances and gets close to the essence. After accumulating this for a long time and waiting for the right opportunity, one can suddenly comprehend and burst forth, integrating all into their own fist method, striking out with a truly personal style. This is the highest state pursued by great masters of martial arts throughout history."

  "In other words, all the principles in the world are interconnected. Even in human relationships, speech, facial expressions, and movements, there are profound principles to be grasped. It's only by paying attention to details that one can see true mastery! The old master was able to condense and refine his elixir precisely because he had experienced many ups and downs throughout his life, and it wasn't until his later years that he came to understand and digest them all. His boxing skills were like flowing water... unfortunately, I don't have the same state of mind as he did back then; otherwise, I could stay in this world outside the mountains for a while longer and hone my skills."

  Wang Chan was thinking about his own affairs in his heart, when he suddenly felt a solemn silence outside, and a voice came into his ears.

  "What? Isn't this Master Wang? It's a small world, I didn't expect to run into you here today! And Lei Shao, what are you two talking about? Little brother is just chiming in, hope you don't mind?"

  The sound had barely faded, but then he saw that Lin Yuanfang and three others were walking over from afar, having shaken off a group of acquaintances who had come to exchange pleasantries, and were heading straight for Wang Chan and Zhou Lin, the father-daughter pair lost in thought.

  "It's Lin Shao, you're coming, but no one can stop you! However, we did have an agreement beforehand, that matter was taken over by our national security, you can't do anything reckless and unbecoming, or I'll be humiliated!" Lei Feng's tall figure looked down at him from above. Walking up to him, Lin Yuanfang had a smile all over his face, but his tone was stiff and unyielding.

  "What Lei Shao said is nonsense, I Lin Yuanfang am a well-known gentleman in the circle, my words count, and I don't dare to provoke that Bureau Chief who wants people's heads at every turn. Even if it's you, Lei Shao, who can barely exchange greetings with me, I wouldn't dare not give you face. Moreover, Old Man Zhou is also a powerful figure, and he even went to the trouble of having Zhang Lao arrange this dinner party for him. The matter has already reached our family's old master, Lin Yuanfang would not dare to pursue it further even if he had ten times more courage."

  Lin Yuanfang chuckled and his eyes swept over the anxious faces of Zhou Lin and her daughter. The one who responded was Pain, with a look that seemed to turn hostility into friendship. However, when he looked at Wang Chan's face again, his eyes suddenly turned cold: "Actually, last time's matter, I was also entrusted by a friend, not for my own sake. The result now is not what I wanted to see either. Now that the thing has fallen into Lei Shao's hands, my friend will naturally retreat and no longer think of hurting everyone's harmony for external things."

  However, the story goes that since Lin had already given Lei face and returned his kindness, it's unlikely that Lei would make things difficult for him again. After Lin finished speaking, his eyes were fixed on Lei's face, looking up at him with expectation.

  Like them, they all came from a good family background and held high positions within three generations. When speaking, they were also very different from others, every word and sentence had deep meaning. Lei Ting naturally wouldn't misunderstand, and at this time hummed in agreement: "I don't care about the rest of the matters, nor do I let them manage me, but I'll make it clear to you again, no matter what, we must solve things openly, otherwise when things get out of hand, nobody's face will look good."

  Thank you all for your support, Lao Lu bows to you!!!!!!!