Chapter 84: How will you repay the slap you owe this young lady?

Rong'er! Rong'er!

Huang Lao Xie's stern face was full of regret and anxiety; after thinking of Niu Dingtian, he suddenly turned his head and stared over, his eyes red as he spoke in a cold voice:

If Rong'er comes to any harm, I will not rest until I have your life!

Having said that, he paid no attention to Niu Dingtian, directly scooped up his daughter, and flashed toward the courtyard at extreme speed.

He had originally wanted to strike out directly, but his daughter's injury was the most important, so he could only relent. Knowing this now, why bother in the first place? At his age, for a little face, he still let a little girl chase after him, worrying.

Niu Dingtian stared blankly as he came to; the warm blood on his face had turned icy cold, but the bloody red hue still looked abnormally grim from the side.

He slowly closed his eyes, but the cheerful laughter from the dinner table suddenly surged into his mind; recalling the pallor on that pretty face, his heart instantly overflowed with regret and self-reproach.

Suddenly, he thought of Chen Jin'er and Han Xiao Ying again, recalling their warning when they parted: never again lightly raise your hands against others. Now thinking back, their appearances are remarkably similar to tonight's Miss Huang.

One old, one young—these two men are still the kind who make women worry.

After a while, he opened his eyes and walked to the seaside, heedless of the crashing waves, scooped up a handful of icy seawater, and with two huffs washed the blood from his face.

Hu!

Having risen, he drew a deep breath of sea breeze, slightly calming his emotions, then he employed his movement technique and flashed toward the courtyard.

Wuu wuu wuu!

Having searched the courtyard for a long time, he saw no trace of Huang Lao Xie; if nothing unexpected, he must be hiding here to treat his daughter's wounds.

In his anxiety, Niu Dingtian let out a harsh shout.

When Niu Dingtian reached the stone tomb, he saw it was semi-circular, roughly six chi high and seven chi in diameter; directly ahead stood a square stone gate, and before the tomb stood a stone stele inscribed with the words: 'The tomb where the female master of Peach Blossom Island, the Feng clan, buried incense.'

As soon as his words fell, he showed no mercy, adding a bit more force; since this person was a great villain, regardless of gender, he proceeded to interrogate them.

Will you speak or not?

Having confirmed the stone tomb ahead, Niu Dingtian eased his expression, gave a slight nod to the mute girl beside him; seeing her permission, she lifted her skirt, stepped forward, and ran straight down the mountain.

Hearing this, the mute girl seemed to have heard a taboo; frightened, her face instantly turned deathly pale, and she kept waving her hands at Niu Dingtian.

Seeing this, the mute girl dared not be bold; she honestly kept her distance and walked toward the mountain path ahead.

Niu Dingtian frowned and said softly, 'This mute girl really has some looks.'

After the intense pain in her arm arrived, the mute girl could barely endure it; she quickly bent her body, nodding frantically, and kept opening her small mouth to plead 'wuu wuu' to Niu Dingtian.

Go! Lead the way ahead!

Afterward, she gave Niu Dingtian a glance, then raised her right hand and pointed toward a spot ahead.

Niu Dingtian steeled himself, a vicious light flashed; with a 'hu' he suddenly raised his hand and tightly gripped the mute girl's left arm, then glared at her and coldly said:

At this moment, the peach grove was utterly silent, not even a single insect chirp could be heard.

But is this the conduct of a great villain?

Either you speak, or I'll pull your arms out one by one!

The two left the courtyard, and under the mute girl's guidance, they followed the stone path beside the bamboo grove heading west; in less than a quarter hour they exited the pavilion area.

But the mute girl merely panicked, shaking her head repeatedly, and kept uttering 'wuu wuu' at Niu Dingtian.

Wuu wuu wuu!

After searching the remaining courtyards, they still found no trace of Huang Lao Xie, but the mute servants and girls inside were clearly frightened, each looking panicked, as if treading on thin ice, trembling with fear.

Wuu wuu wuu!

He returned to the earlier courtyard; after searching several rooms, aside from the leftover food on the main hall's table, he found no trace that anyone had been there.

After indicating the location, the mute girl again uttered 'wuu wuu' from her mouth, while cautiously tugging at Niu Dingtian's sleeve and glancing sideways toward the mountain below.

Having gathered his thoughts, Niu Dingtian strode toward the stone tomb ahead.

Along the mountain trail, after walking and turning for a short while, when the two reached a gentle slope on the mountainside, the mute girl suddenly stopped.

If one were to ask which spot on Peach Blossom Island Huang Lao Xie cares about most, there is no doubt it is this Feng clan tomb before us.

Uuu! Uuu! Uuu!

When the two arrived here, the mute girl ahead seemed a little afraid; she warily surveyed the surroundings while slowly stepping toward Niu Dingtian, drawing ever closer, nearly bumping into his embrace.

Following the direction the mute girl pointed, Niu Dingtian lifted his gaze and saw, in a corner of the deep peach grove, a stone tomb standing silently in the clear, cold moonlight.

After the mute girl disappeared, Niu Dingtian stared at the stone tomb before him, his thoughts fluctuating for a moment.

Speak!

Where is your island master?

Seeing the mute girl's state, Niu Dingtian stopped pressing her, but just as he was about to leave, his eyes flashed and he focused again, asking once more:

Where is the tomb of your island master's lady?

Seeing the mute girl yield, Niu Dingtian relaxed his arm, eased his breath, and gave her a light shout.

Going further ahead, there is a small hill; by moonlight, one can see the mountainside thickly planted with peach trees.

Upon seeing that mute girl again in a courtyard, Niu Dingtian flashed to her front and asked in a deep voice.

Stay back!

The mute girl remained panic-stricken, shaking her head repeatedly and waving her hands.

After freeing herself from the restraint, the mute girl rubbed her arm, dared not delay, hurriedly took small steps, and led Niu Dingtian quickly out of the courtyard.

After a dozen breaths

Niu Dingtian extended his right hand, placed it on the stone gate, and tried to push with force, but in the end could not move it even a fraction.

He recalled that there was a mechanism somewhere in this stele, but he did not know how to push or turn it. After some thought, he went to the stele, preparing to rotate it repeatedly to try.

He then extended both hands, first trying a push on the left; the stele indeed began to turn slowly, then he returned it to its original position and pushed once on the right, but the stone gate showed no movement for a long while.

Next, after returning it to the original position, he tried two pushes on the left then two on the right, yet the stone gate still showed no movement.

Finally, after three pushes on the left and three on the right, the stone gate before the tomb finally moved; only a 'ka' sound was heard, followed by the rumbling of grinding stone, and the stone gate slowly opened.

Seeing the stone gate open, Niu Dingtian felt a surge of joy; good thing it was left three, right three—if it had been left three, right two, he would still have had a chance to try tonight.

After entering the stone gate, he saw a faint light flickering inside; from this he could tell that someone must be inside.

He stepped forward; ahead was a stone tomb passage. As he went deeper, the light inside grew stronger. After walking several dozen steps, a spacious stone chamber appeared ahead, with a jade coffin placed in the center.

Niu Dingtian looked around and saw that the stone chamber's walls were neatly filled with a large amount of jewelry and calligraphy paintings, far more than the chest in Qu San's secret chamber.

On the wall directly ahead of the tomb chamber was a painting of a woman; looking at the corner of her eye, she bore some resemblance to Miss Huang—this must be the late wife of Huang Lao Xie, Feng Heng.

After withdrawing his gaze, Niu Dingtian stepped forward and walked slowly toward the jade coffin in the center.

Slowly, a woman in white entered his view—her features undamaged, her appearance absolutely beautiful, but her complexion was pallid, devoid of vitality, and her likeness exactly matched the painting on the wall.

Nobody?

After walking around and taking a look, Niu Dingtian felt somewhat puzzled; the tomb chamber had oil lamps lit, yet he found no trace of anyone.

After a moment's thought, he went to the base of the surrounding stone walls, raised his hand, and kept tapping on the walls, but after a long while he detected no unusual sound.

After pondering again, Niu Dingtian walked over to where the burial objects were placed, bent down, and began trying them one by one.

When he had tried about half of them, he indeed noticed something odd—the bronze vessel on the wall couldn't be lifted at all.

Truly befitting master and disciple! Just like Qu San's character!

He immediately hesitated not, directly using his strength to rotate that bronze vessel left and right.

Then came three "click" sounds, followed by a rumbling of grinding stone; a section of the adjacent stone wall began to move.

Looking at the moved stone wall, it was actually over a foot thick—no wonder knocking produced no abnormal sound. Yet to achieve such a seamless fit attests to Huang Lao Xie's skill in his extraordinary arts.

After the stone gate fully opened, inside was still a stone passage; Niu Dingtian quickly rose and walked toward it.

Indeed! There was still firelight ahead, though it was faint.

As he drew nearer, the firelight grew brighter; finally he saw another spacious stone chamber, and the two people he had been searching for all along—Miss Huang and Huang Lao Xie.

"Hmph!"

Upon seeing Niu Dingtian, Huang Lao Xie could not hide his surprise, but his pupils instantly turned cold.

However he did not act rashly, for at that moment he was pressing both hands against her back, channeling internal energy to heal her wounds.

Looking at Huang Rong's pallid little face, there was no trace of her usual playful charm; the more Niu Dingtian gazed at her, the more he blamed himself.

"Island Master Huang, let me handle it."

After gathering his thoughts, his face showed difficulty hiding guilt as he softly said to Huang Lao Xie:

At this point, facing Huang Lao Xie, he had not a trace of fire or arrogance left.

Upon hearing Niu Dingtian's words, Huang Lao Xie's expression remained unchanged; he said nothing, merely continuing to pour internal energy into his daughter's body, while his own complexion was also unusually pallid.

After all, Niu Dingtian's brute strength is indeed more than ordinary people can bear.

Seeing Huang Lao Xie unmoved, Niu Dingtian pondered a moment, then continued speaking softly:

"The internal energy method I practice works wonders for healing wounds; even if Island Master Huang hates me enough to kill me, once Miss Huang recovers I will naturally be available at any time, but for now please consider her condition, Island Master Huang."

Had it been in the past, regardless of whom, with his personality he would never fawn over a cold shoulder; but the events of today seem to have pried open a crack in his heart.

Upon hearing Niu Dingtian speak again, Huang Lao Xie originally had no intention of responding; he only wanted to settle accounts with him naturally after his daughter's injury healed.

However, when he heard that the other's internal energy had remarkable efficacy for healing wounds, his face remained calm but his heart was already shaken.

Normally he wouldn't have cared much, but now he himself had suffered a serious injury; he had been channeling internal energy for half a day with little effect. Huang Lao Xie could tolerate his own injury and take his time, but his daughter could not afford delay.

Niu Dingtian's eyes flickered slightly, as if he sensed Huang Lao Xie's hesitation; he stepped forward one pace and continued speaking softly with an apologetic expression:

"Today's loss is my fault; I originally owed Island Master Huang, and what I said to Miss Huang last night was indeed thoughtless—I never imagined that, for the sake of winning a momentary verbal spat, I would instead bring such suffering upon Miss Huang."

After saying that, his gaze settled on her pallid little face; after thinking it over, he nonetheless spoke softly again:

"I, Niu Dingtian, have never yielded to anyone, but today I yield this softness—please let me tend to Miss Huang's injury."

Upon hearing this, Huang Lao Xie's stern eyes flickered slightly; after a struggle, he gradually withdrew his internal energy.

After his palms left her back, Huang Rong's body was about to topple; Huang Lao Xie, having finished his energy transfer, rushed to support her, but Niu Dingtian had already stepped forward a pace and steadied her with his hand.

Seeing Niu Dingtian's hands touch her shoulders, Huang Lao Xie's gaze involuntarily tightened, and his own inner breath nearly became unsteady.

"Father..."

At that moment, Miss Huang suddenly woke up, uttering a weak call.

"Rong'er!"

Huang Lao Xie hastily rose, flashed to her side, gazed at her little face, and said with a heart full of distress:

"Rong'er! Father is here!"

Such a concerned expression was apparently something Miss Huang had never seen since childhood; thus, the corner of her eye catching it, she was instantly overwhelmed with grievance, and she uttered a choked sound:

"Father... Rong'er hurts."

Seeing her like this, Huang Lao Xie felt his heart break; in his urgency, the cold light in his eyes suddenly condensed, and he fixed his stare straight on Niu Dingtian.

Seeing this, Niu Dingtian hastily bowed his head and spoke gently:

"Miss Huang, don't speak yet; let me heal your injury—endure a moment, and it will soon stop hurting."

"Is it you?"

Miss Huang's chest pain was unbearable, her eyes somewhat dazed.

Niu Dingtian gave a slight nod, gazing at the spiritless lovely face before him, his expression full of guilt.

"Miss Huang, your injury is serious; I had better tend to it first."

After reacting, Niu Dingtian's eyes held concern as he spoke softly.

The dazed Miss Huang, upon hearing this, not knowing what she had thought of, her vacant eyes brightened a little, and despite the pain she spoke weakly:

"Wait a moment."

Then, seeming to regain a bit of clarity, she spoke in broken phrases:

"Surname Niu..."

"You owe this Miss a palm strike—how will you repay it?"

(End of chapter)