Chapter 53: Temperament

Li Miao stood up and walked out of the room, followed closely by the Huashan Sect group.

Gao Ling hesitated for a moment, said nothing, and followed Li Miao under Zuo Lishan's cold gaze.

Outside the door, there were Taishan Sect disciples waiting, leading Li Miao's group toward the private residence in the back mountain.

Zuo Lishan's gaze was fixed on Li Miao until Li Miao and the others disappeared from his field of vision for a long time before he turned back to greet and chat with the people in the room.

"Sect Leader Deng, long time no see..."

"Sect Leader Zuo, long time no see..."

How Zuo Lishan explained the situation just now to the people in the room is not mentioned.

Li Miao's group followed the Taishan Sect disciples to that private residence.

Zuo Lishan wouldn't disgust people by arranging a place in the middle of nowhere; this private residence was indeed quite good, with flying eaves and upturned corners, very quiet. There were no neighbors nearby, so it was likely the old residence of some veteran of the Taishan Sect who liked peace and quiet and lived alone here.

If ten or twenty people died here, it was estimated that the commotion wouldn't spread.

Li Miao's group had already started late from Tai'an City, and it was already approaching noon.

After a while, Taishan Sect disciples brought some food.

The Taishan Sect had a large family and business, with many disciples in the sect, and naturally had its own kitchen and chefs. These dishes were still steaming when they were delivered, with the smell of the pot. The variety didn't look like mass-produced food; it should have been made by the small kitchen specially provided for the veterans in the sect, looking even more delicious than the tavern in Tai'an City.

It was just that the Huashan Sect group and Gao Ling didn't dare to eat.

The people who came to the door today were evil guests. Others didn't understand, but Zuo Lishan must know clearly that Li Miao's trip up the mountain was to take his life.

Moreover, Zuo Lishan's evil arts were not ordinary evil arts; they were practiced in conjunction with witchcraft.

Who would dare to eat the food sent by Zuo Lishan so carelessly?

Others were fine, but Gao Ling, who had seen Zuo Lishan's inhuman appearance with her own eyes, couldn't help but stay far away from the food, as if afraid that a bug would crawl out of it at any time.

Li Miao smiled, sat down, picked up his chopsticks, and put a piece of mushroom into his mouth.

"Hmm... since leaving the capital, this is truly the best meal I've eaten. This Taishan Sect has a large family business; they can afford this level of chef. It is estimated that they can squeeze a lot of silver out."

"Don't just stand there, come, come, eat, eat."

He greeted everyone.

Seeing that Li Miao, the leader, had sat down to eat, the others naturally didn't hesitate anymore and stepped forward to share the food.

Mei Qinghe, Gao Ling, Liu Baiyun, and Li Miao were at one table, and the other Huashan disciples each found a room to eat.

Mei Qinghe asked: "My lord, aren't you afraid that Zuo Lishan will poison it?"

"With your internal energy realm, ordinary poisons can't hurt you. But after all, he is involved in witchcraft, and witchcraft is bizarre and hard to guard against, not the same path as the Central Plains martial arts; you must be careful."

Li Miao smiled and said: "Eat with peace of mind; when it comes to witchcraft, Zuo Lishan is far less familiar than I am."

"I raised a human-gu; this thing is not that evil. If it were really the size that could be accidentally put into the mouth, it would have been scalded to death by this freshly cooked dish."

"Moreover, Zuo Lishan is not willing for me to die just like that."

Mei Qinghe heard this and wanted to ask in detail.

Li Miao intended to cultivate Mei Qinghe, so he didn't sell it short, and while eating, he started from the beginning.

"This martial art is like clothes; there are suitable ones and unsuitable ones. If you encounter a suitable one, wearing it will be more comfortable, and you will be able to go further; if it is unsuitable, you will be bound and unable to move forward."

"But this inheritance thing is ultimately someone else's old clothes for you to wear. No matter how well-fitting, it is difficult to fit completely."

"So when martial arts reach the peak level, except for the inheritance of the Wudang and Shaolin sects, which are too divine and difficult to surpass, most will try to create their own martial arts. After all, at this level, a little bit of ill-fitting is already a huge flaw."

Li Miao took a shrimp, wrapped his hand around it, and the shells fell off one after another.

He put the shrimp into his mouth, sipped a little wine, and then continued.

"You have seen me fight Zuo Lishan; his sword technique is self-created. What kind of artistic conception did you feel?"

Mei Qinghe knew this was Li Miao's test, closed her eyes and thought for a while, and replied: "Overbearing, tough, fierce."

Li Miao shook his head.

"The key is conceit; this is his foundation."

"Most people who practice martial arts in this world don't have such good luck. They are often using martial arts that don't fit their temperament to do things that don't fit their hearts. And this temperament thing is actually not divided into good and evil most of the time."

"For example, fierce, for example, gentle, are all properties of good and evil."

"Therefore, only when a person practices a martial art to the limit beyond his bones can one see what this person's temperament is like. It is like a piece of clothing; it must be worn completely tight to see the person's figure."

"And martial arts like Zuo Lishan's self-created ones are like a piece of tailor-made clothing, fitting everywhere. So when peak experts fight, they can basically understand each other's intentions, which is also the origin of meeting friends through martial arts."

Li Miao held up his wine glass and said slowly: "I have long seen Zuo Lishan's resume."

"After this fight, I can understand his temperament even more."

"His fierce, tough, and overbearing nature all come from his conceit. He left his peers behind from the beginning of his martial arts practice, and he had never lost since he achieved success in martial arts. He is confident that he is a genius and feels that he should be the one above others."

"Because of conceit, he is overbearing and tough, so he can create this sword technique."

"And what is a conceited person most afraid of?"

Mei Qinghe was thinking, and Li Miao continued on his own.

"It is an opponent who once defeated him, but disappeared."

"Little Mei, have you ever played a game with winners and losers when you were a child?"

Mei Qinghe nodded: "I have."

Li Miao said: "In this kind of game, the most infuriating thing is not losing, but the opponent winning a game and then 'not playing with you anymore'."

"The only thing in this world that will never lose is a dead person."

"If I were poisoned to death by him now, that would be someone Zuo Lishan could never win back."

"Just this one thing can leave a flaw in his state of mind."

"So tonight, he will definitely come to find me, to win back that miserable defeat in a dignified way. Secondly, it is to kill Elder Gao and silence you."

"Otherwise, with his temperament, I'm afraid he will dream of me every night in the future."

Mei Qinghe suddenly realized: "So that's it."

Li Miao smiled: "Alright, you don't have to worry about tonight's affairs."

"After eating, rest separately; you don't have to come out if you hear any commotion tonight. I still have to accompany Sect Leader Zuo to perform tonight's play."

"Otherwise, how can I force him to go to the Ming Sect for help?"

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 54 =====