Chapter 113: Tianji Laoren

The girl with the long braid asked curiously, "You really know me?"

Yu Liancheng nodded and said, "You are called Sun Xiaohong."

The girl with the long braid said in surprise, "You actually really know."

Yu Liancheng smiled and said, "I know quite a few facts; for instance, he is your second uncle."

He, naturally, was Sun Tuozi.

At this, it seemed that even Sun Tuozi and the old man smoking a pipe beside him were somewhat startled.

The name "Sun Xiaohong" might have been accidentally slipped during storytelling, which was not exactly a secret, but their relationship with Sun Tuozi was truly very secret.

Sun Xiaohong's large, bright eyes rolled, possessing a rather soul-stirring quality: "Then tell me, why did Second Uncle suddenly stop attacking? I am also very curious."

A person like Sun Tuozi, once he starts attacking, cannot possibly stop.

Yet he had stopped.

Yu Liancheng smiled and said, "Because he knows he is no match for me, and I will not kill him."

Sun Xiaohong was even more confused.

"Your second uncle stayed here for over a decade because he owed someone a favor back then, so he is the type of person who fears owing others favors the most."

Yu Liancheng explained, "He fought me, wanting to test my martial arts and incidentally vent the frustration he had accumulated over these years. But his martial arts are not as good as mine, and I will not kill him. In this way, he would owe me a debt of life. So he stopped his hand, because he cannot afford to owe another favor no matter what."

"Hmph!" This sound came from Sun Tuozi's nose, but he did not refute Yu Liancheng's words.

——How could one refute the truth?

Perhaps others could quibble, but a person like him truly could not.

"The two things you came to find me for are both done, you can leave," Sun Tuozi said coldly.

Yu Liancheng smiled and said, "Who does business like you, chasing customers away?"

Sun Tuozi said, "I no longer intend to do business now; this shop is also going to close, or be left for others to run."

Speaking to this point, his dull aura was swept away, his eyes like lightning, his whole person resembling a divine eagle standing on a cliff, looking down with inherent divine might. One could imagine that once this person returned to the Edo, he would immediately recover all his former glory and reputation.

Yu Liancheng waved his hand and said, "One must see things through to the end. No matter what, I must finish this last piece of business. Please go fetch a jar of wine and stir-fry a few signature side dishes; I want to drink a few cups with this old gentleman."

Sun Tuozi's eyes widened, his temper about to flare.

The old man in blue waved his hand, and Sun Tuozi, breathing heavily, walked toward the back room in a huff.

"Originally, I only came to find Sun Tuozi, but arriving early is not as good as arriving at the right time; I did not expect Old Master Sun to be here as well." Yu Liancheng looked at the old man in blue and smiled: "Since that is the case, it would be inexcusable not to witness the ingenuity of the Heavenly Secret Rod."

The old man in blue's eyes narrowed. The originally ordinary storytelling old man suddenly became as tall as a mountain, as deep as the sea, and as ethereal as mist. His Qi was ever-changing and unfathomable, revealing an even more mysterious and unpredictable feeling.

It turned out this person was the number one in the Weapon Manual, "Tianji Laoren" Sun Baifa.

But soon, the old man's aura gradually dissipated, and after a moment, he became the ordinary, unremarkable Tianji Laoren again. He took a puff of his dry tobacco and said calmly, "I have not fought anyone for a long time."

Yu Liancheng smiled and said, "Because you are number one in the Weapon Manual, you stand too high; the people in the world worth you making a move are already few and far between."

A sense of desolation appeared in Tianji Laoren's gaze, and the dry tobacco in his mouth flickered, seemingly filled with some peculiar rhythm: "Yes, I stand too high, and there are not many people worth me attacking. And not having used my Heavenly Secret Rod for many years has made not only my body old, but my heart has also become old, timid and cautious. Martial arts, like most crafts in the world, regress if they do not advance."

He was a wise man, a remarkable person who played in the red dust; he knew his own shortcomings and dared to face them directly.

Sun Xiaohong hugged the old man's arm and said coquettishly, "Grandfather, you are not old at all. You are the number one in the world; there is absolutely no one in the world who can compare to you."

Yu Liancheng sighed in his heart; he knew that Tianji Laoren was indeed old.

Back then, although Baixiaosheng had many omissions when ranking the Weapon Manual and his motives were impure, Sun Baifa was indeed worthy of being number one in the world.

But now, not only had his physical strength declined, but his heart was also burdened by the Sun family.

It can be said that the older a person gets, the more timid they become.

Among the top three experts in the Weapon Manual, if a real fight were to break out, although Tianji Laoren's martial arts realm was high, he would likely be the first to lose.

Sun Tuozi had already brought the wine and food. Yu Liancheng poured for himself and drank, saying, "But since I have come, how could I return empty-handed?"

"Good, since you want to see, I will let you see."

When he finished this sentence, Tianji Laoren's originally slightly hunched back slowly straightened. The turbidity in his eyes faded, and even the wrinkles on his face smoothed out. In this instant, the whole person seemed to have become ten or twenty years younger. A vast flow of Qi circulated, and his sparse white hair seemed like weeds swaying in the wind.

As the number one in the Weapon Manual, the Tianji Laoren who had dominated the world for over a decade seemed to have regained his former aura.

The next moment, the dry tobacco pipe in Tianji Laoren's hand pointed toward Yu Liancheng.

The pipe stem was cast from brass, having turned dark yellow and black under daily smoking. No one knew how many years it had been used, and it looked truly unremarkable. But the moment it was thrust out by Tianji Laoren, the pipe seemed to transform into the legendary "Heavenly Secret Rod," ever-changing and infinitely profound.

It looked like a simple thrust, seemingly without variation, yet it contained the ultimate change—like a clear breeze, like flowing clouds, like surging waves, like a mountain...

This move had truly reached the peak; any martial art Yu Liancheng had seen until now could not compare to this thrust in terms of variation.

Yu Liancheng's gaze narrowed, motionless as a mountain. His Qi suddenly became magnificent and vigorous, and in an instant, he seemed to grow ten thousand feet tall, becoming a mountain that had existed since the ancient times.

At the same time, the wine cup in his hand was extended unhurriedly, meeting the dry tobacco pipe.

Clang!

The wine cup and the pipe collided, emitting a very slight, crisp sound.

After a moment of stagnation, countless cracks appeared on the wine cup, and finally, it exploded with a bang, with wine and shards splashing in all directions.

"Old Master's Heavenly Secret Rod is truly extraordinary. I also have a move, please appraise it."

Yu Liancheng waved his sleeve across the air, like rolling black clouds.

The wine and porcelain shards that were originally splashing everywhere were suddenly gathered and bound by an invisible force, stretched and deformed, and in an instant, they transformed into a small sword made of wine and porcelain, slowly thrusting toward Tianji Laoren.