Chapter 65: Magical Past Events (7)

That night, Old Li ignored Elder Zhao’s repeated attempts to keep him and left directly with my master and the other two, going where?

They went to my master’s home, a place with bare walls that was barely any better than a cattle shed.

That night, a dim oil lamp lit a room that contained only a bed, a table, two wooden chests, and a few broken stools, and the three disciples of Old Li sat on the only stools available while my master stood in front of Old Li, telling him everything about his past in detail.

When he reached the emotional parts, my master was already in tears, after all he was only a ten year old child, no matter how strong he tried to be in ordinary times, when he suddenly met someone he could rely on, all the hidden sadness finally erupted.

“Master, this is the entire sequence of events. I beg you to help me, personally end Liu San, so that Grandpa Jiang in heaven can rest in peace. I... I...”

At this point my master dropped to his knees with a thud, about to kowtow to Old Li.

Old Li said nothing and simply pulled my master up.

At that moment Chen Liren could not hold back and said, “Master, this Liu San is so wicked, he should have received retribution long ago. Since we are here, it is his destined punishment. In that case we might as well set up a Spirit Summoning Formation and draw all the wandering ghosts and fierce spirits into his house, let this evil man and his vile servants...”

Before Chen Liren could finish, Li Litou interrupted, “The Spirit Summoning Formation is too vicious, it must not be used lightly. It harms the harmony of heaven. I think we can use some minor methods, gather baleful energy in his house, change his feng shui and fortune, targeting only the owner of the house. Within a year, he will definitely...”

“Why not I go tomorrow to find out his birth date, let master calculate his Eight Characters, and we use the method of punishing villains? We can definitely beat him...”

Old Li did not speak, while Chen Liren and Li Litou were already enthusiastically discussing. My master’s situation was somewhat tragic, and Liu San was indeed extremely hateful, so it was no surprise they were furious, even the usually steady Li Litou could not hold back, all of them suggesting vicious methods that made my master break out in a cold sweat.

Summoning ghosts, gathering baleful energy, punishing villains... were these things really reliable?

“Stop calling me master for now. You said you would only become my disciple after your great revenge is achieved, so we will go and settle your great revenge first, and then I will accept you as my disciple.” Old Li finally spoke.

My master became extremely excited. He tried to kneel again, but Old Li held him firmly in place so he could not kneel, and he could only continue crying in excitement.

“Do not rush to kneel. Once you formally enter the sect, you will have plenty of chances to kneel!” Old Li looked at him and said, then stood up and said, “The cycle of heaven is clear, retribution never fails. This is Liu San’s karmic retribution. We will go now!”

“Go now? Master, how are we going to take revenge?” Li Litou was stunned, and even my master and Chen Liren froze.

“He openly runs wild in the village, taking lives without regard, so we will openly go and settle this at his door.” Old Li’s demeanor carried a kind of effortless boldness and heroism.

“Go to his door? No way, Liu San has a gun!” my master said, somewhat unable to understand Old Li. He was clearly a Daoist, yet sometimes he acted like a wandering martial hero, but even a martial hero, no matter how skilled, could not compare to a gun.

“A gun? A gun is no problem. This matter must be settled swiftly and with righteous vengeance.”

Then Old Li turned back to my master and said, “Only righteous vengeance can completely untie the knot in your heart, allowing your future cultivation path to be free of obstruction. Vicious methods are not without options, but there is no need for you to carry too much karmic burden because of this. Moreover, this is the beginning of your fate with me. How could it begin with a vicious method? Let us go.”

My master could not understand what Old Li was saying. He was simply led by the hand as they walked out into the dark night in a somewhat dazed state. Only after walking more than a hundred meters did my master begin to feel fear.

This was understandable. Liu San had long held great authority in the village. Now suddenly going to his door to cause trouble, how could a ten year old child not be afraid? Feeling uncertain, he could only ask Chen Liren, who was more lively and approachable compared to the silent Old Li and Li Litou.

“City man, is your master very skilled?” my master had already gotten used to calling Chen Liren “city man.”

“Daoist training naturally includes strengthening the body, how could it lack martial skills? After long training, internal energy becomes abundant, comparable to martial inner force. Some martial techniques are even easy to pick up. Do not underestimate our master, he knows many things. Some skills are nothing difficult for him.” Chen Liren was indeed talkative, my master asked one question and he could answer with a whole stream.

But in any case, this answer made my master feel much more at ease. After all, he knew there was no one in this village who knew martial arts, only people who bullied others by force.

The two continued talking about other things, and unknowingly they arrived in front of Liu San’s most impressive courtyard in the village.

When they reached Liu San’s residence, my master became afraid again. Old Li noticed his emotions and unconsciously patted his head, saying, “Do not be afraid.”

For some reason, those simple words gave my master endless strength, and he was no longer so afraid.

Old Li released his hand and walked straight forward, beginning to knock on Liu San’s gate, Thud, thud, thud. The dull knocking sounded especially harsh in the night.

Soon there was a response from inside. The cursing voice could be clearly heard by everyone outside, showing how tyrannical Liu San was in the village. Even a servant could curse without even asking who was at the door.

Old Li did not respond or get angry. He only knocked louder.

“If you do not give me a proper reason, I will beat you to death as soon as I open the door.” With a creak, the gate opened. The man was still cursing. This was clearly a matter of intelligence. No one knew why Liu San used such people. Even if he was tyrannical in the village, shouting and killing without knowing who the visitor was was simply stupidity.

After opening the door, the man saw Old Li. What kind of appearance did Old Li have? Just the appearance of an old farmer. This made the man even more arrogant, and he immediately prepared to shout.

But Old Li did not give him the chance. With a quick motion of his hand, there was a Crack, and the man grabbed his jaw, unable to speak. Then Old Li hooked his leg, and with a Thud the man fell to the ground. Old Li did not even look at him and kicked the bend of his knee. There was another dull Crack, and the man quickly clutched his knee, unable to speak, only able to make muffled “uh, ah” sounds.

Old Li’s movements were extremely fast. My master did not even clearly see what happened before the man was already lying on the ground in pain.

“Did you see that? This is real skill. My master dislocated his jaw with one move, tripped him, and then kicked his joint. The boy is dislocated now. He cannot shout or run.” Chen Liren did not forget to explain Old Li’s skill to my master, acting like a commentator.

My master was completely stunned. This was martial arts? There were no fancy moves at all, just simple and practical actions, completely different from what he had imagined.

“You look like someone who bullies others regularly. You must have done plenty of evil. A little punishment is not excessive.” Old Li left those words and walked straight into the courtyard. My master and the others quickly followed.

Liu San’s courtyard was much livelier than the rest of the village. Although only a few rooms had lights, lewd sounds of men and women continued to drift out.

It was clear that Liu San and his lackeys were living quite a “free and easy” and corrupt life.

Old Li only gave a cold snort, looked around the courtyard briefly, and walked toward one of the buildings.

My master somewhat “admired” Liu San’s servants. After what had just happened at the gate, no one else came out to investigate, showing how accustomed they were to tyranny, no longer caring about anything in the village.

Old Li stopped in front of that building. The lewd sounds were coming from inside. Old Li remained unmoved, while the three children behind him all turned bright red, having never experienced such things.

With a bang, Old Li kicked the door open directly. The wooden bolt was sent flying.

Only then did movement arise in the courtyard. After a few shouts of “who is it” and “who is causing trouble,” footsteps sounded outside.

Only Liu San’s room became strangely quiet. The earlier indecent sounds also stopped.

Old Li ignored everything and walked straight into Liu San’s room. After a few steps, he saw a disheveled woman sitting on the bed in panic, while Liu San was nowhere to be seen.

Old Li stood calmly in the room without expression. After a short moment, a man limping on one foot, wearing a traditional Chinese jacket, emerged from behind the large wardrobe, holding a box gun, a Mauser pistol, pointing it at Old Li with a cold, half smiling expression.

“Where is everyone? All of you come here!”

Liu San was quite cautious. Even with a gun advantage, he did not question Old Li first, but instead called for his men.

Old Li did not care. Even with the gun pointed at him, he walked toward Liu San calmly, not fast, not slow, just ordinary steps.

The room was large, so there was still some distance between them. Seeing Old Li’s calmness, Liu San began to panic slightly. Holding the gun at him, he unconsciously stepped back, shouting fiercely, “Who are you? What are you doing here in the middle of the night? Stop right there, do not come closer, I will shoot!”

Old Li let out two cold laughs and did not answer, nor did he stop. He continued walking forward. Liu San shouted, “I will kill you first.” It looked like he was about to fire.

At that moment Old Li suddenly widened his eyes and let out a thunderous roar from his chest, “Bastard!”