Chapter 10: Deception and Tricks
That evening, Qin Sang and Ming Yue performed their evening ritual together, studying the Daoist scriptures.
Just like with the Netherworld Scripture, Qin Sang couldn’t fully understand these texts. Fortunately, Daoist Jixin patiently explained them, and Qin Sang took his studies seriously, using a piece of charcoal to jot down what he had learned.
Late at night, when he returned to his room, Qin Sang once again took out the Netherworld Scripture. Comparing the characters he had recently learned, he struggled to grasp the meaning of the text, but he found joy in the challenge.
The next day, Daoist Jixin went down the mountain to perform a ritual and returned by midday, with a sack of coarse grain slung over the back of his donkey. In the afternoon, Ming Yue steamed a pot of cornbread and fried a batch of salted fish, helping Daoist Jixin prepare his travel bag and medicine chest.
On the morning of the ninth, Qin Sang awoke to find that Daoist Jixin was nowhere to be seen. It wasn’t until he asked Ming Yue that he learned the Daoist had left at the early hour of the Tiger. That day, Qin Sang and Ming Yue followed Daoist Jixin's instructions, and everything went smoothly without any mishaps.
On the morning of the tenth, Qin Sang, who had been applying medicine to his leg every day, found that the pain had lessened, and his fatigue had finally subsided. Early in the morning, he began practicing the moves of Tiger Subduing Long Fist in front of his room.
"Senior Brother, what kind of fist art are you practicing?"
Ming Yue, holding a bowl of congee, sat on a nearby stone, watching Qin Sang’s movements with interest, eager to learn.
"This art is called Tiger Subduing Long Fist. Didn’t Daoist Master teach you any martial arts?"