Chapter 55: 55 Looking Ahead

The bright moon hung in the sky.

During the day, the thin white lines cast by the scorching sun faded, fading until they were like wisps of ink diluted by water flowing across the firmament.

Song Xiazi glanced at the sky, then entered the Young Miss's room.

Ever since he had three women, Song Cheng generally spent the odd-numbered days of the month with Tong Niangzi, and the even-numbered days seeking out the Young Miss and Ying'er; as for whether it was the Young Miss or Ying'er, that was left to the Young Miss's arrangement.

As for whether the three women or two women would join forces to battle him, that was not for him to decide, and it had not yet happened.

Coming to the Young Miss's place, if the Young Miss was too tired, then Ying'er would step in; otherwise, the Young Miss always did it herself.

Tonight was just so.

Inside the room, the Young Miss was incomparably beautiful.

Song Cheng drew close.

In an instant, they were entwined.

The bedding turned.

That cold, elegant body, like a sculpture of frost and snow, was like an exquisite work of art, yet it was mingled with worldly desires, making one's heart race.

Although Tong Niangzi was fierce, she did not like novelty and always loved the same method of attack.

Although the Young Miss was cold, she could think of many tricks.

After a long while, the great battle slowly drew to a close.

It left only the exhausted person lying face up, looking at the white gauze canopy curling like waves in the dim light of the red candles.

"Are you comfortable? Little Song?"

In the darkness, there was An Chenyu's cold voice.

Song Cheng said: "An Jie, what about you?"

The Young Miss did not reply, but the youth felt a light tap on his arm; that was the Young Miss's chin resting against his arm.

This was a nod.

The small movement made the youth feel a sense of happiness in his heart.

The mundane life of the world, two people finding joy together—nothing could be better than this.

This made the youth even more certain that what he sought in his longevity was the bits and pieces of life. He asked of his heart, and he sought the pleasures of food and sex, but it was absolutely not some ethereal, unheard-of Dao.

With Tong Niangzi, the two would chat about clothing, food, housing, and transportation, the trivialities of daily life, and sometimes they would flirt.

But with the Young Miss, Song Cheng felt they could fully discuss the future and plans.

Because the Young Miss saw far, had a chest full of strategies, and a heart like the Canghai.

With her, there was never any flirting; she would coldly reason with you.

Perhaps she was also unsure if a woman like her had any feminine charm, which was why she would ask "Are you comfortable?" every time it ended.

Compared to uncertain feelings, she trusted white paper and black ink more, as well as the words spoken by the other person's own mouth.

Therefore, Song Cheng added: "I am also very comfortable."

"As long as you are comfortable."

The Young Miss responded indifferently, then took a slightly deeper breath.

This was a small detail of her transitioning, which Song Cheng already knew well.

Sure enough, An Chenyu immediately said out of the blue: "Little Song, that matter, have you thought it through?"

Song Cheng actually followed up: "An Jie is right; regarding the Yunhe matter, we should take precautions. If Yun E has not been devoured, then we can decide whether or not to take that final step later."

The Young Miss nodded and said: "The Wang brothers are loyal to my An Family, and Gao Lin has also settled his family in my An Family; they are no problem. Now that you are willing to teach them martial arts and help them become stronger, that is for the best."

Song Cheng said: "Jue Jin Jin Jin."

The Young Miss said: "What is mine is yours; you may dispose of it as you wish.

As for what is called the An Family heirloom, these four words no longer need to be cared about by the time they reach me.

What I, An Chenyu, want is not to keep a small, so-called secret technique confidential; I want to change the status of the entire An Family."

She rested her head on the youth's arm and continued, "The scale and duration of this Ghost Tide are unprecedented. Little Song, I feel the heavens are about to change.

Prepare for danger in times of peace, and people's hearts are thinking of change; with change, there will be turmoil."

Song Cheng said: "People, especially women, and also grain. These two things will become incomparably important."

An Chenyu said: "Beasts and magical beasts also count as human-like; I have flipped through some ancient books and consulted some scholars. The conclusion reached is that there are records in every dynasty of beasts banding together, and people banding together, to survive the Ghost Tide."

Song Cheng said: "Then, animal taming will be more suitable for this era than farming. Fields cannot run, but beasts and magical beasts can."

The Young Miss said: "My An Family primarily deals in grain, relying on hoarding in warehouses across various places, and then reselling.

But I have been thinking recently that perhaps my An Family needs to transform.

Pastures, horse farms, and then moving toward the south."

She pondered for a moment and continued: "I have always liked to consider the worst-case scenario. If the scale of this Ghost Tide is not just at the provincial level, but spreads to the north as well, then perhaps a chaotic age is about to descend."

Immediately, she spat out four words, one by one: "Northern barbarians moving south."

After finishing, she thought for a moment and continued: "Therefore, after this Ghost Tide passes, I plan to trade fields, grain, and warehouses for horses, cattle, sheep, and even tamed magical beasts, and then move south.

At the same time, I will find a way to insert the Wang brothers and Gao Lin into the Yunhe project, donating some money for jobs like site supervisors.

But I will still encounter quite a few problems.

First, those within the family.

My father is a playboy, and like my older brother, neither of them wants to manage the family business; they are both spendthrift wastrels.

My father is fine; he only spends some money. He knows I am capable, so he wants to give the family business to me and earn money for him to spend.

But my older brother, heh, in order to seize the family business to fund his own expenses, he even went so far as to collude with bandits.

Second, the trade.

Selling off the An Family's assets and exchanging them for cattle, horses, and the like."

For this acquisition, I already have several candidates in mind; I intend to acquire their businesses, reorganize them into my An Family assets, and then continue all the way south.

As for the places to the south, I have long since sent people to develop them, and the local connections should all be well-greased.

But time is tight, and the depth of those arrangements may not be sufficient.

These are all problems." Young Miss lay in the man's arms, seemingly talking to herself, or perhaps sharing information with this ally, or perhaps using the act of pouring out her heart to organize her thoughts once more to check for omissions; yet from beginning to end, she never asked Song Cheng to do anything.

Because when the two laid their cards on the table before the marriage, Song Cheng's obligations had already been set: to protect her, to hold down the fort at the Ruyi Chamber of Commerce, and to help her avoid the troubles of marriage.

Of course, the third item no longer counted.

Young Miss muttered about her arrangements, speaking in a self-questioning, self-answering manner.

Song Cheng just listened silently, his eyes occasionally narrowing slightly, wondering what he was thinking about.

After a while, Young Miss suddenly stopped talking.

Song Cheng took a look and saw that the beauty, composed of those plain white lines, soft touch, and fragrant body, had actually fallen asleep in his arms.

He chuckled slightly, pulled up the quilt to wrap them both tightly, and in his mind, he began to calculate which martial arts school in the Nancheng district might provide him with supplementary techniques.

The next day, morning.

Before breakfast.

Tong Jia and Ying'er, the two women, practiced their blades.

After breakfast, around noon, the two women went out together to the gathering place for the wounded in the city.

As for the Wang brothers and Gao Lin, they arrived as promised.

These three were all experts who had cultivated the Flicking Willow Strength to Great Accomplishment. It was convenient for Song Cheng to teach them; the Comfort Force of the Flicking Willow connects to the White Snake Pounce in the front and follows with the Jue Jin Jin Jin of the soaring eagle in the back.

After a full hour of instruction, the three, who had previously harbored some anxiety and wondered if Song Cheng would really teach them the genuine stuff, were overjoyed and immensely grateful; although they did not formally take him as a master, they performed the disciple's salute one by one and departed respectfully.

The favorability of the three also changed from 90 to 95.

And at this level, based on Song Cheng's experience, it had basically reached a quite solid point.

After finishing this, Song Cheng called for Ling'er.

He could speak, but he did not know many characters.

And although Tong Niangzi was better than him and could recognize characters, she could not write many of them.

Ying'er was about the same as Tong Niangzi.

In this backyard, besides Young Miss, the only one who could read and write was Ling'er.

Ling'er's favorability toward him had silently changed from 95 to 99; it seemed that his strength made the insecure Ling'er doubly loyal.

"Help me write a technique; I will recite, and you will write," Song Cheng said.

Ling'er responded obediently, then ground the ink and picked up the brush.

Song Cheng leaned back slightly against the chair and said, "The name of the technique is 'Mysterious Turtle Strength'."

Ling'er:??? Song Cheng said, "Write."

Ling'er said in astonishment, "Master, y-you know a fourth type of strength?"

Song Cheng said, "I wouldn't call it knowing, just a slight understanding."

Ling'er nodded and buried her head in her work.

Song Cheng spoke, and she wrote.

Time passed bit by bit.

In the blink of an eye, two hours had passed.

Ling'er shook her sore wrists and stopped her movements.

Song Cheng cross-checked it with her several times, and after confirming that the trap he had quietly placed in the Mysterious Turtle Strength was quite hidden, he flipped through the pages.

Five pages.

Since few words were written and there were no illustrations, the page count was naturally low.

The Mysterious Turtle Strength was a Hard Strength, a "strength that goes from the inside out, bulging on the surface of the body, with functions somewhat overlapping with Qi armor"; to put it colloquially, Song Cheng had already layered "two layers of armor" on himself.

One layer of Qi.

One layer of strength.

And because this Mysterious Turtle Strength was self-created, although it was not easy to bury a hidden trap, it was still feasible.

"Thanks, Ling'er."

Having said that, Song Cheng took the Mysterious Turtle Strength and, holding his Fine Blade, headed toward the south of the city.

Ling'er shouted, "Master, I swear I won't tell anyone."

Song Cheng looked back, smiled, and nodded.

Evening, south of the city.

The sunset was like blood.

The young man arrived in front of a martial arts school called the Flying Ring Martial Arts School and knocked on the door.

The martial arts school had been noisy, but when the door opened and they saw who had arrived, everyone went quiet.

"Mr. Song." A disciple of the martial arts school hurried out; he did not look down on the visitor because of his youth, but instead said respectfully, "Are you here to see our master?"

Song Cheng nodded gently and said, "Is Chen Shifu in?"

"He is, he is, I'll go call him right away." The disciple ran off in a hurry.

This was the benefit of having a reputation.

If Song Cheng were a nobody, and he opened his mouth to see the head of a martial arts school, no one would pay him any mind. Then, he would either have to retreat in frustration, or fight his way in, offending the Flying Ring Martial Arts School completely, then offending the entire Nancheng martial arts circle, and then killing his way up—that was something Song Cheng could not do.

In a moment, an old man walked out, looking at the delicate, blind young man with a complex expression.

He was already very familiar with the existence that even Zhao Laoyezi called 'younger brother'.

Song Cheng bowed politely and said, "Chen Shifu, is there a place where we can talk?"

The old man smiled and said, "Since Mr. Song has graced us with his presence, please follow me. We in the South City have all heard of your affairs; you are a friend of our South City Martial Arts Hall."

Immediately, the two entered a sealed room.

When he left, the "Black Tortoise Strength" in Song Cheng's embrace had vanished, replaced by a transcribed copy of "Flying Wheel Force".

Postscript: There was a small bug in the previous text, which was that the protagonist knew many characters (when reading "Flicking Willow Strength", "Jue Jin Jin Jin", and "Grass Sea Startling Snake Form"). This bug has been fixed; it has been changed to reading with the assistance of Ling'er and Tong Niangzi.

(End of this chapter)