Chapter 81: Riding the Water and Waves, Entering the Grand Courtyard Again!

The water surged, compressed, and lifted.

Liang Qu swayed as he "stood" on the surface of the water.

To say he was standing wasn't quite accurate; his soles weren't treading on the water, walking upon it. Instead, the water rose to his thighs and stopped sinking, leaving his entire upper body floating above the surface.

Even so, it was enough to make Liang Qu overjoyed.

The Ze Ling hadn't even evolved yet, and he could already perform a rough version of riding the water and waves.

He continuously controlled the water flow, adjusting his direction bit by bit, and soon he was able to float steadily on the surface, beginning to glide forward, backward, left, and right.

The river wind was vast and mighty, Liang Qu's robes clung tightly to his body; truly, it was a touch of grandeur, a pleasant breeze within the Qi!

"Wuhu! Take off!"

Liang Qu spread his arms, gliding back and forth freely.

It was so much fun, just like surfing without a surfboard!

Liang Qu had never flown, but he felt that it was about the same as flying in the sky now; weren't they both fluids? Unrestrained and free.

Aside from the fact that compressing and controlling the water consumed quite a bit of physical strength, there were no other issues.

Nowadays, his underwater abilities were becoming stronger and stronger, and the Dragon Fubo made his combat power increase greatly. Added to the mobility of Water Longitudinal Leap, he didn't need to fear ordinary spirit monsters; even if he couldn't beat them, he could escape.

The two beasts were just a few points of essence away from evolving. When that time came, he could head to the outskirts of the deep-water zone to investigate; that was where the truly good things were.

Ancient battlefield ruins, shipwrecks, various spiritual plants, treasure fish, minerals—they were certainly of great value.

That was the true beginning of underwater exploration; the current shallow-water zone was nothing more than child's play.

Plop!

A large grass carp weighing over ten jin suddenly jumped out of the water, slamming hard into Liang Qu's stomach.

Liang Qu let out a muffled groan, clutching his stomach as he fell into the water.

Damn it, what the hell, why did a grass carp suddenly fly out?

The grass carp looked like a torpedo. Fishermen said that a twenty-jin grass carp could break a person's ribs; he hadn't expected to experience it personally.

Being hit in the stomach while caught off guard was like taking a punch; he almost lost his breath.

Liang Qu surfaced again, but when he tried to catch that grass carp, he found it had already fled.

Damn it, it ran quite fast.

After receiving the favor, Liang Qu's rough perception range had expanded to twenty meters, and his detailed perception circle was ten meters. He had only been down for three or four seconds in total, yet he had actually let a grass carp escape.

Abominable!

Liang Qu rubbed his stomach and returned to the boat, puzzled, rowing toward the Shangrao Pier.

Strictly speaking, he wasn't lying to his senior brother; he really wanted to go back and see what the house that Chen Zhaoan had mentioned looked like.

Shangrao Pier.

Lin Songbao leaned on a lounge chair, squinting his eyes and sunbathing in boredom, dispelling the severe cold of winter.

Every afternoon, fishermen were either out on their boats and hadn't returned, or they were out at night and still sleeping; it was the least busy and most leisurely time of the day.

"Songbao!"

A shout startled Lin Songbao from his drowsiness. He sat up and saw Liang Qu rowing over from afar.

"Brother Shui?! Did you go fishing?"

"No, I just came back from the martial arts hall. That business with the mountain ghosts caused such a stir that I didn't dare take the land route."

Liang Qu moored the boat on the shore, packed up his things, shouldered the long wooden box, and stepped onto the shore.

Ever since the news that he had become a disciple of Master Yang spread, he no longer needed to pay docking fees when mooring his boat at Shangrao Pier.

He should go to Pingyang Pier another day to show off; perhaps he could save the four-wen daily expense there too.

"Has anything happened in the last two days?"

"What could happen? There were two martial artists, one at the Third Gate, one at the Second Gate, carrying bows and swords. They came the morning after you left and are staying in the residence arranged by the village.

Those village elders praise you every day for being capable and not forgetting your fellow villagers; if you didn't know better, you'd think you were their own grandson. If I go notify them now, they'll definitely come over with gongs and drums to welcome you."

"Let's forget about that."

"What's that thing behind you, so long?"

Liang Qu's expression shifted, and he put down the long wooden box as if nothing was wrong: "Nothing much, just a long spear, a gift from my senior brother."

"Mother of mercy, such a beautiful big spear?"

Lin Songbao's eyes revealed envy. He had lived so long, and this was truly the first time he had seen such a good-looking weapon; it was just as beautiful and majestic as the storytellers described!

Liang Qu's mouth curled slightly, and he raised his eyebrows: "Right? I think so too. I call it Dragon Fubo."

"Dragon Fubo? Good name! It's really beautiful. Can I touch it?"

"Why not? Feel free."

A quarter of an hour disappeared just like that for no reason, and Liang Qu didn't know why.

"Alright, I should go. I came back today to see the house."

"I've been to see it. They hired skilled workers, and it's quite fast. The frame is already up, and village elders go over to supervise every day. It should be fine."

Liang Qu was slightly excited by what he heard.

After his boat had been upgraded, was his house finally going to be replaced as well?

Life was truly getting better and better.

Liang Qu headed straight for his earthen house, taking a shortcut halfway to avoid the villagers who kept greeting him.

As a result, as soon as he returned home, he was shocked.

What met his eyes was a blue-brick perimeter wall built halfway up; through the wall, he could clearly see the scene inside the courtyard.

The cross-shaped path was paved with large stone bricks, replacing the original yellow mud ground. The left and right sides led to the east and west wing rooms, which already had beams and pillars erected, taking shape.

The innermost part of the cross-shaped path led to the main room. The purlin slots used to connect the main beams and fix the mountain walls were already set up, and the main structure was about to be built, with the main ridge beam to be installed soon.

Where the hell is this?

Why is there a large courtyard?

Is this my house?

Liang Qu looked left and right, and only after seeing Uncle Chen's courtyard was he sure.

It really was his house!

Looking at the shadow wall built halfway up inside the gate, Liang Qu couldn't help but suspect whether the master craftsman was building a two-entry courtyard.

A "one-entry courtyard" meant you arrived in the courtyard as soon as you entered the gate, belonging to the most common Sihe Academy.

A "two-entry courtyard" meant that upon entering the gate, there would first be a small courtyard, then walking a few steps forward, you would see another gate, and only then would you enter the main courtyard. The specifications were larger, and slightly wealthy families would arrange it this way.

The saying "not stepping out of the main gate or the second gate" referred to this.

Shadow walls generally only existed in two-entry courtyards, serving as an isolated wall in the middle of the small courtyard to block the view of passersby and ensure privacy.

As for a "three-entry courtyard," it naturally had three gates and three courtyards, and also added a backyard, mainly for the use of the women in the family. There were even larger ones called four-courtyard or five-courtyard.

The Yang Prefecture was a four-courtyard, and it even had a large courtyard with a lake-center pavilion on the side; if no one led you in, it was easy to get lost.

Too exaggerated.

Liang Qu had originally thought it was just an expansion of the house, but he hadn't expected not only a Sihe Academy but also a two-entry courtyard!

A rough count showed more than twenty strong laborers working for him inside, sawing wood, laying blue bricks, and joining mortise and tenon.

The craftsman helping to hold the ladder inside noticed Liang Qu's arrival and hurriedly shouted to the surrounding strong men to come forward and greet him.

"Master Liang, take a look and see if it's to your liking, is there anything inappropriate? Don't worry, we haven't touched your original earthen house at all; it's perfectly intact!

It's just that in the last two days, villagers have sent rice and flour to thank you for saving their lives. I was afraid it would get ruined if left outside in the rain, so I went inside once!" ===== CHAPTER 82 =====