"What did you just say to your master shifu?"

"Ah?" Zu Zhichong stroked his head. In an inkling that things were about to take an unfavorable turn, he hurriedly pointed at a house in front of them with an intention to change the topic. "Cutie, my sect-uncle is waiting for you right in this house. Go inside. Hurry!"

"What about you?" He Zheng was on the alert.

"I"ll go and get my sect-uncle something to eat to bribe him. Wait here. I"ll be back in a minute."

Zu Zhichong ran away like the wind. Before leaving, he exhorted He Zheng not to walk around.

He Zheng frowned, feeling somewhat strange, but soon he relaxed in the knowledge that Zu Zhichong didn"t dare to play any tricks on him.

Though He Zheng was a bad-tempered man, Zhu Ning taught him well, so he was fairly polite. Instead of kicking the door open, he had the courtesy to knock.

He waited for several minutes but there was deathly hush inside the house.

He Zheng knocked again. "Elder, I"m here to learn exorcism from you. My name is He Zheng. Are you in there?"

"What are you doing out here, kiddo?" A young man standing behind He Zheng poked him on the shoulder with his finger.

He Zheng twisted his head around and saw that a young man, in a white Taoist robe, with a bun on top of his head and a big drumstick in his oily hand, was standing under the tree.

The man took a bite of the drumstick and mumbled, "Are you here to see Xuanqing?"

"Yeah." He Zheng, uncertain about the ident.i.ty of this person, blandly gave a bob of his head.

The young man grunted "Oh" and then said, "I"m afraid you"ll have to waste your trip. He"s not in the mood for seeing anybody right now."

"Who are you?" He Zheng was somewhat hesitant.

The young man seemed even more bad-tempered than He Zheng was. He kicked the door open and walked into the house, showing a total disregard for He Zheng.

Before entering, he casually tossed the drumstick aside, which nearly hit He Zheng"s foot. Seeing this, He Zheng was also annoyed.

"Hey–Wait! What are you doing, Cutie?!" Zu Zhichong carrying a lunch box was startled and hurriedly stopped He Zheng when he saw that He Zheng, with a sullen face, was about to kick the door.

"I"m kicking the door." He Zheng impa.s.sively kicked the door open.

The young man inside was taken aback. As if unable to believe that He Zheng had dared to kick his door, he flew into a temper and lost control of himself.

"How dare you kick my door!"

"What are you going to do about it? Hit me?"

"All right!" The young man instantly hurtled up to him.

Zu Zhichong hastily yelled, "Sect-uncle!!! This is your precious apprentice. Think about it. You won"t have another apprentice if you beat him."

The young man charging forward abruptly jolted to a halt. He Zheng couldn"t believe his ears. "What did he just say?!"

"Kiddo, he"s really my apprentice?" The young man looked at Zu Zhichong, a disbelieving expression on his face.

"Yeah. You may text master shifu and ask him yourself if you don"t believe me." Zu Zhichong was standing with He Zheng at his back, arms open.

"There"s no need to go to such trouble." The young man gave a twitch of his hand in fidgetiness. "Have him recite the Quintuple Lightning Enchantment."

No common people could recite this incantation.

A sulky look on his face, He Zheng was unwilling to be cooperative. Zu Zhichong hurriedly tried to persuade him. "Cutie, just do it, if you still want to land a job in SMB. Didn"t Chief also exhort you to work hard?"

He Zheng reluctantly recited the incantation.

As the young man heard He Zheng reciting the spell fluently without any difficulty, his furrowed brow gradually unwrinkled, and a big smile brightened his young face. "Ha ha... Good. He is indeed quite talented."

"Sect-uncle, are you happy now?" Zu Zhichong asked with a depressed face.

"I am." The young man gave a clap of his hands and walked up to He Zheng. Shorter than He Zheng, he had to stand on tiptoe to look at He Zheng"s face. After scrutinizing his face, the young man patted He Zheng on the shoulder and then slowly slid his palm down He Zheng"s arm. He Zheng"s face instantly darkened and he tried to shake the young man"s hand off him but couldn"t no matter how hard he tried.

"His apt.i.tude is pretty good. There is one small problem, though. It seems that something evil had been inhibiting you for many years." The young man squinted his eyes, which made him seem somewhat like a charlatan.

Suspicions rose inside He Zheng. The longer the young man acted this way, the unhappier He Zheng went. Eventually, He Zheng winked at Zu Zhichong.

"Sect-uncle, I brought you some food. You may enjoy the meal first. I"d like to have a quick word with He Zheng outside."

Zu Zhichong hurriedly stuffed the lunch box into Xuanqing"s arms and dragged He Zheng out of the room.

The moment they went outside, before He Zheng could say anything, Zu Zhichong explained, "Cutie, that man in there is Xuanqing, my sect-uncle."

"Your sect-uncle? He seems even younger than you." He Zheng briefly ground his teeth. "Zu Zhichong, don"t you dare trick me. If you do, I will be avenged."

"Why would I trick you?" Zu Zhichong heaved a sigh. "I nearly forgot to tell you. My sect-uncle is in his nineties."

He Zheng was thrown into shock by his words. "This guy is returning to his boyhood?!"

Seeing the expression on He Zheng"s face, Zu Zhichong nodded. "My sect-uncle is the most gifted. On top of this, he once chanced to have a stroke of rare fortune... Theoretically, it is my master shifu who should address him as sect-uncle, and I should call him sect-grandfather, but when he finished his closed-door cultivation which lasted several decades, nearly all contemporaries of my sect-grandfather had pa.s.sed away. On top of that, after reaching the level of rejuvenescence, he felt that my master shifu looked older than him, so he insisted on becoming my master shifu"s younger sect-brother."

Zu Zhichong"s face was full of resignation. "And here we are."

He Zheng was amazed. "It turns out that this sect-grandfather is such a weirdo."

"Cutie, my sect-uncle is very powerful. Follow his instructions and learn from him. You won"t regret it." Zu Zhichong raised his head and looked at the sky. "It"s almost dinner time. Let"s go inside and talk to my sect-uncle in a few moments. Tomorrow I have to pay a visit to the action group of Sui City."

Unexpectedly, before they could finish their conversation, Xuanqing"s voice came from inside the room. "Bring the kid in. I"ll teach him something."