Chapter 44: What Is the Point?

Young Master Seven scratched his head: "Did my mother lie to me again?"

Yet there was not a trace of anger at being deceived on his face; instead, a slight smile appeared.

"The Lady probably did not lie," Zheng Fa hesitated briefly before speaking.

Young Master Seven and Xu Jiaotou froze; the smile gradually vanished from Young Master Seven's face as he looked at Zheng Fa, seemingly unwilling to believe what Zheng Fa had just said:

"Then didn't you succeed in cultivating it?"

Xu Jiaotou, standing nearby, also frowned tightly, clearly harboring the same doubt.

"I was able to succeed, but most people probably cannot."

Although these two before him were among the people Zheng Fa trusted most, he revealed nothing about modern times.

Yet many things cannot be hidden; from Young Master Seven's words, it was clear that the Lady understood very well the difficulty of successfully cultivating the "Spiritual Crane Body."

As soon as Zheng Fa succeeded in cultivating the "Spiritual Crane Body," the Lady would guess he harbored secrets.

He had long been mentally prepared; as his strength grew, this occurrence was inevitable.

Hiding things only arouses suspicion; it is better to do as now: neither explain nor conceal.

Indeed, Young Master Seven and Xu Jiaotou exchanged a glance, seeming to have some conjectures, yet neither asked.

Only then did a look of dejection reappear on Young Master Seven's face: "So my mother didn't lie to me."

He looked as though he would rather have been thoroughly deceived.

Zheng Fa looked at Xu Jiaotou: "So Young Master Seven is right; Instructor, you need not doubt yourself."

Xu Jiaotou's expression shifted back and forth until finally he let out a long sigh: "So that's how it is..."

Young Master Seven's voice dropped slightly: "Xu Jiaotou, it was my mother..."

"The Lady actually need not have gone to such lengths."

"Huh?"

Xu Jiaotou looked at Young Master Seven and smiled: "Young Master Seven, you probably forgot; I am a home-born servant with a bill of sale held by the Zhao family."

Young Master Seven froze.

"If she did not wish to let me go, a single word from the Lady would have sufficed. If not for maintaining this bond between master and servant, why would she have gone to such trouble?"

Zheng Fa nodded; what Xu Jiaotou said indeed had its logic.

From his perspective, his life belonged to the Zhao family, and the Lady's methods could be called gentle.

It was only because Zheng Fa had experiences from the modern era that he did not fully accept such relationships of personal dependence.

As for Young Master Seven... Zheng Fa glanced at the dumbfounded young master; this person was simply too foolish to have thought of it.

"But Xu Jiaotou, you nevertheless wasted twenty years..."

Young Master Seven still seemed somewhat troubled.

"No one forced me; it was I who valued this 'Spiritual Crane Body' too highly."

Xu Jiaotou smiled very sincerely, as if he truly had never blamed the Lady.

Young Master Seven's expression gradually improved.

"I have some friends who, like the younger me, yearned for the martial world," Xu Jiaotou continued. "They rushed headlong into it and never returned."

Zheng Fa and the other listened quietly.

"As for me, I have lived safely and steadily within the Zhao family for twenty years; now I even have grand-disciples. Speaking of which, the Lady may well have saved my life." Xu Jiaotou spoke while patting Zheng Fa's shoulder: "Previously, my only regret was this 'Spiritual Crane Body'; now that Zheng Fa has shown me what this Wu Gong truly looks like, what regrets do I have left?"

Young Master Seven thought for a moment, then clapped his hands: "So you're saying my mother actually did a good deed? And she made me hold my breath for so long!"

Seeing him smile with relief, Zheng Fa glanced at Xu Jiaotou but said nothing.

"It is late at night; you two should return," Xu Jiaotou told them.

Zheng Fa and Young Master Seven took their leave of Xu Jiaotou, who stood with his hands behind his back, watching their figures gradually recede into the distance.

In the middle of the night, when Xu Jiaotou's Chengguang Zhi Zi got up to relieve himself, he saw a black shadow standing in the moonlight and was startled fully awake; only after recognizing the person did he relax, rubbing his eyes as he asked:

"Eldest Uncle, why aren't you sleeping yet?"

"Didn't you tell me before that you wanted to venture out into the martial world?"

"Why bring that up now? Didn't you refuse to agree, Eldest Uncle?"

Hearing the slight complaint in his Chengguang Zhi Zi's voice, Xu Jiaotou did not turn around, merely gazing at the waning moon on the horizon as he said: "Go then; in two days I will request of the Lady to retrieve your bill of sale. After today, the Lady should grant me this face."

"Didn't you say you wanted me to stay in the manor to care for you in your old age..."

"Remember to write often; tell me what the martial world I have never seen is truly like."

The "Spiritual Crane Heart Sutra" brought Zheng Fa some unexpected changes; when he woke up the next morning and reached out his hand, he saw thin layers of skin peeling off his arms, while the bed was covered in white flakes of shed skin.

When washing his face, the reflection in the bronze mirror was so different that Zheng Fa nearly failed to recognize himself.

In his early years, he had always helped Zheng Mother with farm work; under the sun and wind, his skin had become dark and rough.

Yet the face in the mirror was so white it seemed to glow, the skin delicate and smooth, with pores invisible unless one looked very closely.

In Young Master Seven's study.

Zheng Fa noticed that Gao Yuan nearby was staring at him constantly, inching closer and closer.

"Is something the matter?"

"Zheng Fa, you... smell so fragrant!"

As Gao Yuan spoke, he pressed his nose even closer to Zheng Fa, as if wanting to sniff carefully.

"Stop! If you sniff any more, I'll take action!"

Zheng Fa swore he had never been so afraid.

"If Gao Yuan hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't have realized; Zheng Fa, you really do emit a fragrance," Young Master Seven at the desk also lifted his head, examining Zheng Fa closely twice.

"Why is your face so white? Did you apply powder?"

"What did I apply..." Zheng Fa was stunned; touching his face, he guessed, "It must be due to the Spirit Crane Body."

"You're saying you cultivated the Spirit Crane Body to completion, your face turned white, and now you even carry a fragrance?" Gao Yuan's eyes widened, his tone filled with deep envy: "Entering the Dao through martial arts is truly miraculous."

The Seventh Young Master, however, seemed to recall something; rubbing his chin, he said, "I heard my mother mention that the Spirit Crane Body seems to aim at refining a Dao Body in the Post-Heaven stage."

"Dao Body?" Zheng Fa recalled the strange power he had sensed after completing the Spirit Crane Body, and a hint of understanding dawned on him.

"Zheng Fa, how did you cultivate the Spirit Crane Body? Once I master the Pine-Crane Stance in the future, I'll also ask the Lady to grant me the Spirit Crane Body."

Gao Yuan knew nothing of the secrets behind cultivating the Spirit Crane Body; hearing the Seventh Young Master speak thus, he clearly developed an interest in this Wu Gong.

More importantly, the miraculous changes that occurred after Zheng Fa cultivated this Wu Gong had stirred his desire.

The Seventh Young Master beside them remained silent, his eyes bright as he watched Zheng Fa, seemingly equally curious.

"The most crucial part should be visualization—visualizing various birds." Zheng Fa had nothing to hide.

The two nodded, looking as though they found this incredibly impressive.

The Seventh Young Master even added an evaluation: "Visualization methods? I've seen those in storybooks; truly an immortal technique."

Zheng Fa, however, frowned, voicing the doubt that had plagued him since completing the Spirit Crane Body: "But why does the visualization method work? What exactly is visualization...?"

Raising his head, he discovered that the other two hadn't been listening to him at all; instead, they had huddled together, enthusiastically shifting their discussion from visualization methods to storybooks they had recently read.

Seeing Zheng Fa's still-furrowed brow, the Seventh Young Master looked up and said incomprehendingly, "As long as the visualization method works, does the 'why' really matter?"

"Doesn't it matter?"

The two shook their heads, their gazes at Zheng Fa full of incomprehension.

"Mother, why did you summon me here?"

"Zheng Fa, did he really complete the Spirit Crane Body?"

"He completed it!" the Seventh Young Master said with a smile.

"What are you smiling about? Do you know what his success signifies?" The Lady glared at her foolish son, speaking irritably.

"What?"

"It signifies that there is at least a Nascent Soul True Person backing him; perhaps they even harbor some sinister plot against our Zhao family!"

The Seventh Young Master froze; blinking his eyes, he seemed not to have understood, slowly piecing the phrases together: "A Nascent Soul True Person... has a sinister plot... against our family?"

The Lady nodded.

"No, but what would they want?" the Seventh Young Master asked from the bottom of his heart: "Is our family even worthy of such attention?"

"..."