Chapter 815 - 815: Becoming a Disciple
The Xingyi School is bustling with activity today, as the number of visitors is simply overwhelming. After all, during Tie Yongwen's lifetime, the Southern Xingyi School was renowned throughout the Eastern Province. Although Tie Yongwen has passed away, the reputation of the Xingyi School still remains.
Moreover, everyone knows that the South and North Xingyi Gate have always been at odds, but now they have suddenly announced a merger into one Xingyi School. This has also piqued the curiosity of many, who brought along their companions to get a detailed look at what exactly has happened to cause such a significant change in the South and North Xingyi Gate.
Of course, there are also quite a few people who have come with other intentions in mind. After all, the Xingyi School's fame in the Eastern Province is simply too great. Now that Tie Yongwen is no longer around, and the Xingyi School no longer possesses its former strength, naturally there are some people who want to take the opportunity to step on the Xingyi School a few times to boost their own reputation.
All kinds of people, bearing all sorts of thoughts, are well understood by the people of the Xingyi School. However, since they have invited so many people over, they are also well-prepared to handle all eventualities.
Liu Yuan came only to arrange some renovation matters, greeted the people at the Xingyi School including Tie Yongwen and then left first. Over at Lin Corporation, a new project has already started, and Mu Qingrong has been practically living on the construction site lately, quite busy. Now fully in charge of the renovation work there, Liu Yuan is also so occupied daily that he hardly has time to eat. In the past few days, many people wanting to discuss business with him were turned away. If it were not for his connection with Ye Qing, he wouldn't have bothered to come here. It was precisely because of his relationship with Ye Qing that he specially made the trip to get busy and arranged everything very well, giving enough face to Ye Qing.
After seeing off Liu Yuan, Ye Qing immediately led several people into the Xingyi School's main hall. Key figures from both the South and North Xingyi Gate were greeting the various visitors inside. Upon seeing Ye Qing arrive, Du Tianyi, Tie Weihua, Du Yongwu, and others hurriedly came over to greet him.
There is no need to mention the relationship between Du Tianyi and Ye Qing. Du Yongwu, because of the recent events, has received a lot of favor from Ye Qing and is therefore very grateful to him. As for Tie Weihua, he has been somewhat embarrassed every time he meets Ye Qing due to previous incidents. However, it is precisely because of his guilt towards Ye Qing that his attitude has improved a lot more than before, completely treating Ye Qing as one of their own.
The merger of the South and North Xingyi Gate actually has an inseparable connection with Ye Qing. Now that they see Ye Qing arriving, the people of the Xingyi Gate naturally gathered around, greeting him warmly and animatedly.
There are quite a few people from other sects seated in the main hall. When they came in, although they were greeted, there definitely wasn't a scene of unanimous response like what Ye Qing received. Seeing Ye Qing enter, most people were very surprised, unable to figure out the identity of this young man who could command such great respect, making so many people from the Xingyi School come over to greet him.
After exchanging pleasantries with the crowd, Ye Qing sat down first, and the people of the Xingyi School then went out to greet others. The youngest, Du Tianyi, was relatively free and, because of his relationship with Ye Qing, Tie Weihua had specifically assigned him to attend to Ye Qing.
Knowing about the recent events between Ye Qing and the Snake Form Gate, Du Tianyi immediately inquired about the situation there as soon as he sat down. He hadn't received the news from last night, so he didn't know that Ye Qing had already resolved everything. After listening to how Ye Qing handled the matter, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "Ye, your way of handling things has changed a lot from before!"
"What has changed?" Ye Qingqi asked, curious.
Du Tianyi laughed and said, "Previously, you were straightforward, acting on whatever came to mind without schemes or strategies. If you had encountered such a situation in the past, you definitely wouldn't have resolved it this way. Maybe you'd have gone alone to find that Xu Cunxiao. But now, you've also learned to strategize and even set up Xu Cunxiao. Isn't that a change?"
Listening to this, Ye Qing smiled slightly and said, "That means I've started to integrate into society. Can't help it, change is necessary. I've been tricked several times and suffered losses due to impulsiveness. There's a saying that one learns from mistakes; having stumbled several times, I should have gained some wisdom by now. Besides, as the saying goes, 'All is fair in war.' If scheming can resolve these issues, why risk the effort?"
"Of course it's best to be able to do so," Du Tianyi nodded and said, "You're now competing with people like Wang Tian'an who have accumulated a terrifying amount of power over so many years in the Western Province. To deal with these people, you must use some tactics; it won't work to just confront them head-on. Actually, Master always discussed your personality when he was alive. Although Master appreciated your forthright nature, what he mentioned the most was his worry that you wouldn't survive in society with that character. Being straightforward is fine in the military, but in society, the key is to know when to be flexible!"
Ye Qing nodded slowly. He didn't expect that Tie Yongwen had considered so much for him. Remembering the care Tie Yongwen had given him, Ye Qing felt a wave of sorrow in his heart. When he first arrived in Shenchuan City, if it weren't for Tie Yongwen, he probably would have died long ago, and there wouldn't be everything he had today, would there?
"By the way, Ye, what brought you here with so many people today?" Du Tianyi suddenly asked out of curiosity. In the past, when Ye Qing came here, he usually came alone, rarely bringing others. Today, however, he has brought quite a few people, which is somewhat unusual.
"I was just about to talk to you about that," Ye Qing hurriedly said, "I see they're quite idle, doing nothing all day long, so I wanted to find something for them to do. Du Brothers, does the Xingyi School still take on disciples? How about letting them come here to learn something?"
Ye Qing said so, and Du Tianyi naturally understood his intention, laughing, stood up to look at Chen Jun Hou San and a few others, and said, "Practising Martial Arts is a very arduous task; can you all endure the hardships?"
"We can! Absolutely!" several people replied in unison, excitement clearly visible on each face. They had seen Ye Qing's great skills before and wanted to learn from Ye, but he hadn't taught them. Now that Ye Qing had brought them to the Xingyi School to learn Martial Arts, they were thrilled.
"If you can endure hardships, then that's fine," Du Tianyi smiled and said, "Starting from tomorrow morning, come over at six o'clock every day."
"Six o'clock!?" Several people widened their eyes in shock. Da Fei exclaimed, "Du, do we really have to start that early?"
"Yeah, six o'clock. Who can get up that early?"
"How about nine o'clock instead!"
Except for Mad Dog, everyone was clamoring. Although these people used to be small-time street thugs, their daily routine was consistent with what one might expect from that lifestyle. Sleep during the day, active at night – that was their normal rhythm. Now they were working under Ye Qing, but they would still typically sleep until around eleven in the morning. Asking them to wake up at six was no easy feat.
"Nine o'clock?" Du Tian Yi looked at the crowd and asked, "Who else wants to come in at nine?"
"Me!" "Me!" "Me!"
Chen Jun, Hou San, and Da Fei raised their hands simultaneously. Of course, Mad Dog didn't speak. He had suffered too much hardship in the past, so getting up early was nothing to him.
"Just you few, right?" Du Tian Yi walked up to the three of them and suddenly reached out to grab Da Fei's neck.
Da Fei had no time to react, and Du Tian Yi had already seized his neck, quickly pulling him forward. With a knee raised to Da Fei's abdomen, he let out a miserable cry.
"What are you doing?" The two beside him were stunned, not understanding why Du Tian Yi had suddenly attacked.
But Du Tian Yi didn't waste words. He reached out again, this time grabbing Chen Jun who was on guard, retreating in an attempt to dodge. However, no matter how much he backed away, he couldn't escape Du Tian Yi's grasp. He, too, was pulled down to the ground like Da Fei.
Hou San's eyes went wide on seeing this, and he immediately turned to run. But after just a couple of steps, he was caught by Du Tian Yi who pursued him, punched him in the abdomen, and threw him to lie down alongside Da Fei and Chen Jun.
Du Tian Yi looked at the three of them and said, "When you three can avoid my grasp, I'll allow you to come in at nine. If not, you'll show up at six!"
Ye Qing couldn't help laughing as he approached and looked at the three sighing figures, saying, "Looks like I really can rest assured now. With such a mentor, I don't have to worry about you guys not learning properly!"
The three of them, of course, didn't dare resist. Da Fei looked at Du Tian Yi with a mournful face and said, "Du, if we come at six in the morning, when do we leave? We still have work to do in the evening."
Du Tian Yi said, "No problem, we'll only train for four hours a day, and after that, you can go back."
"Four hours? That's too easy, no problem!" The three of them immediately perked up, having thought they'd have to train all day long. Hearing that it was only four hours, they were no longer afraid, as it was much less than they had expected.
However, Ye Qing was silently praying for these folks, knowing that Du Tian Yi's 'four hours' meant a full four hours of continuous training, which was very exhausting. If they were to practice punching and strength building, four hours a day would be enough to sap their energy for anything else. This training intensity was not much less than the load-carrying marches Ye Qing experienced while in the army!
Having settled this matter with Du Tian Yi, Ye Qing also breathed a sigh of relief. He had been worried that the Xingyi School might not accept these few.
As the two were chatting, a commotion suddenly erupted from the main hall outside. Hearing the noise, both of them turned their heads in surprise to look.