Chapter 56: The Ghost Tide Has Dissipated

At night, the charcoal brazier glowed red, warming the spring chill that had set in with the evening.

Tong Niangzi leaned against the window to look outside, then poked her head back to say to the youth by the charcoal brazier, "It isn't raining; we don't have to go out tonight. It seems the Ghost Tide is almost over."

Song Cheng took the hand-copied "Flying Wheel Force" from his bosom and said, "Niangzi, read it to me."

Tong Niangzi nodded, sat down beside him, legs pressed tightly together, and held the booklet. She took one look and said in astonishment, "Another martial art, you..."

Song Cheng said indifferently, "The more, the better."

Tong Niangzi spat, "Pah," and said coquettishly, "In your dreams! You slept with An Jie, so now you talk just like her?"

Song Cheng smiled and said, "Read."

Tong Niangzi hummed, crossed her arms, and tapped her toes, then carefully looked at the youth beside her, wondering if he could detect her little movements.

Song Cheng said, "It really is the more the better, don't be angry."

Although he did not understand why Niangzi was angry, wasn't it normal for women to get angry?

Tong Niangzi thought for a moment and clarified, "You cannot be biased and only dote on An Jie, understand?"

Song Cheng said, "Understood, I will certainly serve you comfortably tonight, Niangzi."

Tong Niangzi giggled, "Pah, in your dreams, you've taken advantage and are still acting coy."

After saying this, Tong Jia read word by word by the lamplight.

These days, she had been very busy; during the Daytime, besides practicing the saber and practicing medicine, she would also go to study and learn characters.

Like last night, when Song Cheng did not sleep here, she would hold the book and read, write, and learn, character by character, so that when she read to her man again, she would not encounter characters she did not recognize.

However, there were still some obscure characters in "Flying Wheel Force" that Tong Niangzi did not recognize.

Fortunately, some characters were of no great consequence, and others could be inferred from the context, so after quite a bit of trouble, the three characters "Flying Wheel Force" still appeared on Song Cheng's panel.

And as Song Cheng expected.

After "Flying Wheel Force," the words "conflicts with existing cultivation methods" did not appear.

This meant that this force could be fused by him.

For this reason, he had specifically thought about it and observed it.

If forces were to be fused, their functions must not overlap, and their styles must not be vastly different; for instance, the three forces of "Bai She Jin, Fuliu Jin Jin Jin, and Jue Jin Jin Jin" had a sequential order of exertion, which was why they could intertwine.

And Flying Wheel Force happened to be a type of spiral force generated by the twisting of the body; this force was mostly exerted from the torso, so it should be able to connect with Xuanwu True Form.

Now it seemed it was indeed compatible.

Song Cheng glanced at the panel: 【Add Points: 34 points】

【Cultivation Method】

Xuanwu True Form (4 Forms) (Yellow Grade Grade B) (Completion) (+)

Flying Wheel Force (Yellow Grade Grade C) (Not Yet Initiated (0/4)) "Sleep."

"Ha, so fast?"

"Mm."

The rustling sound of pulling ribbons and loosening clothes arose, accompanied by Tong Niangzi's muffled murmurs. As the bed sank, there was another burst of noise. "Wait a moment," a voice came from the darkness.

The noise subsided.

She lightly stretched her lotus-like arms to pull down the white curtains, and a moment later, that head, gilded with the glow of the sunset, poked out again to blow out the lamp wick.

"Quick," Tong Niangzi urged again.

Five days later.

At night, spring rain fell.

The four city gates of the county became tense again, and the number of guards on duty on the walls doubled.

The East City Gate, which usually required the Young Miss to come forward to hold the line, did not see An Daxiaojie today; it was just Song Xiazi, alone, holding an umbrella and leaning on his saber-cane, walking from the end of the street through the rainwater to the outside of the East City Gate.

The large black umbrella commonly used for mobile stalls was stuck straight into the ground outside the city gate.

Under the umbrella, one table, one chair.

As the youth sat down, the hurried rain between heaven and earth seemed to slow down.

The County Brave and guards who were originally tense and worried suddenly let out a sigh of relief, their hearts settling.

The youth leaned his saber-cane against the table, said "Thank you for your hard work" to the guard who came over to pour tea, then took the tea to moisten his mouth, and subsequently leaned back slightly, sitting steadily behind the city gate, facing the main entrance.

Rain fell, pitch black, with only the faint illumination of fire basins and lanterns.

But the youth's figure was very clear.

The Young Miss did not come because Song Cheng doted on her, and also because there was no need for her to come.

However, An Daxiaojie was not idle either.

She had discussed something with Song Cheng, and it was currently being executed.

At this time, the Ruyi Chamber of Commerce mansion was still busy; baskets of steamed buns filled with pepper-salt and fatty meat stuffing were neatly arranged, placed into wicker baskets, and covered with waterproof tarpaulins.

The chamber of commerce servants carried the baskets, some delivering late-night snacks to the east of the city, and others actually heading toward the south of the city.

Although the martial arts halls in the south of the city had a high overall combat power, they certainly could not compare to the Ruyi Chamber of Commerce in terms of money. These steamed buns could provide a full meal for those on duty in the rainy night.

The steamed buns for the east of the city were delivered quickly.

Those for the south of the city arrived shortly after.

The martial arts hall disciples on duty saw someone coming from inside the city and shouted from afar with vigilance: "Who goes there?"

Those servants and guards replied according to the Young Miss's instructions: "From the Ruyi Chamber of Commerce."

"Ruyi Chamber of Commerce?"

The martial arts hall disciple was stunned, but immediately thought of that Song Xiazi.

His first reaction was actually not An Chenyu, nor anyone else, but Song Cheng.

The guard shouted: "It's raining heavily tonight, so my master went to the East City Gate to stand guard himself. Before he left, my Young Miss said to make some steamed buns to send over, and my master said he was very familiar with Zhao Laoyezi and Chen Shifu in the south of the city, so he had us bring a portion for the brothers in the south of the city as well. We are here to deliver them!"

The martial arts hall disciples were stunned for a moment, then several ran forward and asked enthusiastically, "What is Mr. Song doing this for?"

As they spoke, the disciples ushered the disciples and guards of the Ruyi Chamber of Commerce into the Martial Marquis Shop, then called for people to distribute the steamed buns one by one.

Before long, Chen Shifu, one of the experts sitting in charge today, ran over.

Chen Shifu was the one from the Feilun Martial Arts Hall; he took a steamed bun and praised it while eating, "Delicious, delicious! It's rare that Brother Song is still thinking of us, good, good, good!"

The servant delivering the steamed buns stood to the side, smiling.

The guard was none other than Ding Kui.

Ding Kui smiled and said, "The son-in-law said he felt like he had known you all for a long time."

Chen Shifu laughed heartily and said, "Brother Song is a young genius. Even though heaven is jealous and has dimmed your eyes, you have advanced instead of retreating. With your great talent, broad thinking, and generous heart, you are truly admired by us old fellows."

Another tall, middle-aged Martial Artist with a crew cut nearby said, "Kid, go back and tell your son-in-law that whenever he is free, he should come sit at my Giant Axe Martial Arts Hall too; you can't be biased."

Another Martial Artist on the other side said in a muffled voice, "My Big Bear Martial Arts Hall welcomes you as well."

Seeing that the Water Bird and Feilun martial arts halls had gained such great benefits, these hall masters naturally also hoped that Song Cheng would visit them for a "martial arts exchange." At this moment, they had even gone so far as to say things like "biased."

Although Ding Kui knew his son-in-law was formidable, he was still slightly shocked to personally see the enthusiasm of these "big shots" in the south of the city. He nodded one by one, saying repeatedly, "We will, we will."

A night passed, and the Ghost Tide seemed to have disappeared; it did not appear outside the city.

In the middle of the night, the rain stopped.

Song Cheng felt his pupils grow a few degrees colder, as if two pieces of unfathomable abyssal black ice had been forcibly shoved into his eye sockets, and he could only use the surrounding blood energy to warm them.

He sat under the large black umbrella until the gray sky above cracked open and daylight seeped through; only then did he stand up and turn around.

Sounds from the city walls drifted in the wind behind him; the city-guarding County Brave and guards seemed to be saying things like "We can see further today" and "The gray fog seems to be dispersing."

His figure paused slightly, then he continued to walk, leaning on his blade-staff as he returned to the Ruyi Chamber of Commerce, then washed his face with hot water, changed his clothes, and went to bed to rest.

He woke up in the evening and went out for a meal, only to see Ding Kui running over like a woman, excitedly recounting the treatment he had received in the south of the city last night.

"Son-in-law, son-in-law, it felt so good.

I, Lao Ding, have never been treated like that by those hall masters.

They were all fighting to talk to me, just like the ladies in Biliu Courtyard competing to wait for my favor."

After saying this, he felt it was inappropriate, spat three times, and said, "Not appropriate, not appropriate, I shouldn't say it like that. But son-in-law, those hall masters in the south of the city have all invited you to drink tea.

That Xu Shifu from the Giant Axe Martial Arts Hall, a big, burly, reckless man, covered in muscles and looking fierce with a 'keep away' expression, actually said yesterday that you shouldn't be biased and must go visit their martial arts hall."

Song Cheng smiled and said, "Lao Ding, thank you for your hard work."

"It's not hard work, not hard work; working with the son-in-law and the young miss is invigorating." Ding Kui clenched his fists and hurried away again. He suddenly thought that back in February of this year, the son-in-law seemed to have been trading blows with him, but in the blink of an eye, the son-in-law had become the son-in-law, had become famous throughout Shanghe County, and seemed to be getting along well with everyone.

Ding Kui was filled with admiration.

Song Cheng lowered his head and ate his dinner in silence.

The black cloth covering his eyes was caught by the evening breeze passing through the doors and windows, blowing it upward.

But those eyes were hidden deep within.

When he woke up today, he had taken off the black cloth and looked in a bronze mirror.

His vision was already very poor; he seemed to be only one step away from becoming blind again, and the pupils within those eyes were shrinking rapidly, becoming as small as a bean—terrifyingly so.

This Ghost Eye was connected to Yun E.

If it disappeared completely, did that mean Yun E had also been merged? 'I hope Yun E can hold on.'

Just as Song Cheng was thinking this, a guard and a servant suddenly ran over quickly from outside the door.

The guard shouted excitedly: "The Ghost Tide has dispersed! The Ghost Tide has dispersed!!"

He shouted as he ran, and the entire chamber of commerce seemed ready to boil over.

The servant arrived a step later, but he came before Song Cheng and said respectfully, "Son-in-law, Zhao Laoyezi from the Water Bird Martial Arts Hall in the south of the city has suddenly come to visit. He didn't say what he came for, only that he wanted to see you."

Song Cheng wiped his mouth, stood up, and said, "Take me there."

(End of chapter)