Chapter 2626

"Not letting him in?"

Master Hong Wu heard Ye Chen's words, his face full of surprise as he asked: "Grandmaster Ye, you weren't supposed to bring that instructor over to familiarize himself with the environment? Why aren't you letting him in now? I really can't figure this out..."

Ye Chen let out a cold laugh and casually said: "He's a bit clueless. For someone like that, you definitely need to give him a good knock, otherwise who knows how he'll mess up in the future."

Master Hong Wu instantly understood, smiling as he said: "I get it now, Grandmaster Ye! Since that's the case, we'll just leave him be for now. I'll first take you around for a quick look, and meanwhile share some of my adjustment ideas. If you have any requests, just let me know—I'll do my utmost to fulfill them."

Ye Chen nodded and said to Master Hong Wu: "Let's go!"

At the same time.

The taxi carrying Hong Changqing had already arrived at the fork in the road guarded by Master Hong Wu's subordinate.

The taxi driver slowed down, pointing at the sign in the middle of the road, and said to Hong Changqing in the passenger seat: "Daoist, you can't go any further this way. If you want to go to Xiangxieli Hot Spring, you'll have to get out and walk."

Hong Changqing sullenly nodded and said: "Just stop here, I'll get off."

The taxi driver stopped the car, Hong Changqing paid, opened the door, and got out.

At that moment, Master Hong Wu's subordinate stepped forward and asked: "Master, where are you headed?"

Hong Changqing's eye sockets were still red and swollen, he said in utter dejection: "I... I came to see Ye Chen, Grandmaster Ye..."

Upon hearing that, the subordinate immediately knew this person must be the old man surnamed Hong that Ye Chen had mentioned.

Still, to be safe, he asked: "May I ask your honorable surname?"

Hong Changqing clasped his hands: "My surname is Hong."

The subordinate chuckled: "Sorry, Mr. Hong, but this place is currently under renovation and upgrade, so entry is temporarily prohibited."

"Not allowed in?" Hong Changqing hurriedly said: "Please tell Mr. Ye that Hong Changqing requests an audience!"

The subordinate shook his head: "Don't say I don't have Grandmaster Ye's contact—even if I did, I wouldn't tell him." Look at the book.

Hong Changqing asked, bewildered: "Why? Did Mr. Ye say not to let me in?"

The subordinate chuckled: "You figure it out yourself."

Seeing the subordinate's gloating smile, Hong Changqing instantly knew this was definitely Ye Chen's instruction.

At this moment, although he felt so depressed he wanted to die, he clearly understood in his heart that since Ye Chen wouldn't let him in, he simply couldn't enter—even though this kid in front of him had no cultivation whatsoever, and with his current four-star martial artist strength, he could easily handle him, yet he still couldn't go in.

So he could only let out a long sigh and said in utter dejection: "Then I'll wait for him here..."

The subordinate shrugged: "Suit yourself."

Hong Changqing, helpless, silently walked to the roadside, found a shady spot under a tree, sat cross-legged, and began meditating.

It wasn't that he truly wanted to cultivate or calm his mind—on the contrary, his state of mind was nearly exploding. After all, recalling today's events made him feel more and more gloomy and oppressed, as if he'd fallen into a pond full of asphalt, unable to escape. Left with no choice, he forced himself to calm down using Daoist breathing techniques.

But this did little good—his heart still ached as if cut by a knife.

At that moment, his phone suddenly rang. Though he was irritable and restless, he still pulled it out to glance at it. This glance did no harm, but the feeling of injustice in his heart—like the endless, surging waters of a great river—was instantly magnified without limit.

Because the caller was none other than Ye Chen's grandmother.

Seeing the caller ID, Hong Changqing couldn't hold back—tears streamed down his face.

Yet he still suppressed the urge to cry, pressed the answer button, and said with a hoarse voice: "Grandmother An..."

On the other end, Grandmother An asked, somewhat surprised: "Daoist Hong, your voice sounds very tired—did something happen?"

Hong Changqing wiped his tears, forced a smile, and said: "It's nothing, nothing. I'm getting older, my resistance is weak, I caught a chill—maybe I'll be better in a few days."

Grandmother An relaxed and said: "The An family is preparing to move to Jin Ling soon—I don't know how long Daoist Hong plans to stay in Jin Ling?"

Upon hearing this, Hong Changqing instantly became excited.

He thought: "I've been bullied by Ye Chen to this point, and I'm worried no one will stand up for me. If Grandmother An comes, she might just help me seek justice. Even if Ye Chen doesn't agree, I wouldn't dare reveal his identity in front of her. But I can use her arrival in Jin Ling as an opportunity to interact more with the An family—after all, Ye Chen might not care about the monk's face but will care about the Buddha's, so he won't be too harsh on me!"

Thinking this, he quickly asked: "Grandmother, which day are you planning to depart?"

Grandmother An said: "The An family has many affairs, many things need to be arranged in advance, but we will definitely hurry—we'll surely arrive in Jin Ling this month. I just don't know when Daoist Hong plans to return to the United States?"

Hong Changqing hurriedly replied: "Grandmother, I, Hong, will not be leaving Jin Ling for now, so when you come to Jin Ling, I, Hong, will definitely still be here."

"That's wonderful!" Grandmother An smiled and said: "By then, I'd still like to ask Daoist Hong to calculate a hexagram for us, to see whether our stay in Jin Ling will bring fortune or misfortune, and whether we'll achieve our wishes."

Hong Changqing said without hesitation: "Grandmother, rest assured—I will certainly come to your door and calculate it properly for you."

"Good!" Grandmother An said gratefully: "Then I'll first thank Daoist Hong!"

"Oh, not at all," Hong Changqing said, feeling both humbled and honored: "I, Hong, have always deeply respected you, Grandmother. To be able to serve you with my humble efforts is my fortune!"

Grandmother An hurriedly said: "Daoist Hong, you flatter me! To have your help is the blessing of the An family!"

After exchanging a few pleasantries, they hung up. Hong Changqing put away his phone and sighed inwardly: "Grandmother... you're saying this now because you still don't know your grandson's abilities. If you knew I was being pressed into the ground and rubbed like a dog by your grandson, you'd know I'm hardly worthy of being called a Daoist master... You're waiting for me to help you plan, while I'm still here waiting for you to uphold justice for me..."

Meanwhile, at the Xiangxieli Hot Spring Hotel.

Master Hong Wu took Ye Chen around the hotel once, and also roughly shared his ideas about how the hotel should be renovated next.

Master Hong Wu's idea was still to keep things as low-key as possible, so he placed all the facilities indoors. Although the hotel also has a large square and green space, which could easily be turned into standard sports fields, Ye Chen is after all going to conduct secret training here. If some people noticed a group training daily on the indoor field, they'd surely become suspicious.

Therefore, at that time, everyone's living and training would all be placed indoors, making concealment much easier.

Moreover, Master Hong Wu had another very practical suggestion: he felt the hotel had many rooms, so if there wouldn't be too many guests in the near term, they should first occupy just the first floor. Since Xiangxieli Hotel is located in the suburban mountain area, and additionally it's under renovation and closure, if the guest building's lights were all blazing at night, it would look very strange. But if only the first floor had lights and all floors above were dark, it would look much more reasonable.

Ye Chen noticed that although Master Hong Wu looked like a rough, uncultured man, his thinking was actually quite thorough, and his execution was very solid. So he said to him: "Master Hong Wu, I see you've considered everything thoroughly. The renovation work here will be entirely under your charge—I only have one request: that it be done as quickly as possible."

Master Hong Wu immediately said: "Grandmaster Ye, rest assured—I will definitely work overtime with full effort!"

"Good." Ye Chen nodded satisfactorily, smiled, and said: "It's getting late—I'll head back to the city first. If anything comes up, we'll stay in touch by phone."