After Lin Chang'sheng's somewhat clumsy attempts at resuscitation,
the girl in white finally let out a faint moan, opened her eyes, and looked at Lin Chang'sheng. She seemed a little weak, her pretty face tinged with a blush, and said, "Thank you, young master!"
"You're welcome. How did you end up in the water? Where are you from?"
Lin Chang'sheng looked at the girl in white and asked.
"My name is..."
The girl hesitated, then said, "Yu Wenjing. I'm from upstream. And you?"
"Lin Chang'sheng. I live right here on East Street."
"Since you're all right now, I'm relieved. Goodbye."
Lin Chang'sheng said calmly, and after speaking, turned to leave.
"Young master, wait."
At this moment, the girl in white, Yu Wenjing, called out from behind, "I haven't eaten anything all day. Could you... help me out? I'll repay you in the future!"
"Here, have this pancake."
Hearing this, Lin Chang'sheng took out a still-warm pancake from his chest and handed it to Yu Wenjing.
A blush appeared on Yu Wenjing's face as she took the pancake and nibbled at it in small bites. She must have been starving, because she ate quickly.
Lin Chang'sheng watched Yu Wenjing finish eating, then said no more, turning to leave.
But then, hearing footsteps behind him, he realized Yu Wenjing was following. Lin Chang'sheng didn't mind and figured he might as well bring her to East Street.
The two of them, one in front and one behind, soon arrived at East Street.
"Miss Yu, East Street is just ahead. Until we meet again."
Lin Chang'sheng clasped his fists to Yu Wenjing.
"Young master, I... I'm completely penniless and can't walk any further. Would it be possible for me to stay at your place for a while?"
Yu Wenjing said a little embarrassedly.
"Come to my house?"
Lin Chang'sheng frowned. He lived alone. Having another woman around would definitely be inconvenient.
"Yes, just for a while. Once I recover, I'll leave, is that okay?"
Seeing Lin Chang'sheng still hesitating, Yu Wenjing looked pitifully at him and pleaded, "Please, I'm still injured, and really have nowhere else to go."
"....."
Lin Chang'sheng hesitated.
"Just for a short time. When my people come to get me, I'll give you silver. How about that?"
Seeing Lin Chang'sheng still unwilling, Yu Wenjing added.
"You'll pay me?"
Lin Chang'sheng blinked, then nodded. "Alright."
"Young Master Lin, this is your house, then?"
Before long, Lin Chang'sheng brought Yu Wenjing home. She looked at the bare house and there was a thoughtful glimmer in her beautiful eyes.
"Yeah, I live here alone. You can stay in that room."
Lin Chang'sheng settled Yu Wenjing into the left room.
......
Sister Zhen's Noodle House.
"That bastard Ma Zhankui—killed by four arrows?"
"The person who killed him used a bow?"
Yan Zhen sat behind the counter, a thoughtful look in her beautiful eyes.
Ever since Ma Zhankui died,
Her life had become much more peaceful.
A certain figure flashed through her mind, but she shook her head and muttered, "It couldn't have been him..."
.......
Yu Wenjing stayed at Lin Chang'sheng's house, rarely leaving her room.
She only came out at mealtimes.
Lin Chang'sheng kept to his routine—after buying groceries in the morning, he'd go out for a run to increase his Flying Eaves and Light Body Skill experience, then cultivate Moonlight Breathing Technique at night.
In the early morning of the third day,
Lin Chang'sheng's Moonlight Breathing Technique finally advanced to Great Perfection.
[Detected: (Moonlight Breathing Technique, Sun-Bathing Breathing Technique)—Both cultivation techniques have reached Great Perfection. You can fuse them into a new technique by spending 10 taels of silver. Proceed with fusion?]
At that moment, Lin Chang'sheng saw a red notification pop up on his panel.
"Hm?"
"They can be fused? And it only takes 10 taels of silver?"
Seeing the prompt, Lin Chang'sheng's eyes lit up. He didn't expect the system could fuse two techniques once they both reached Great Perfection.
Would that work for martial arts of the same type, too?
Lin Chang'sheng had been worrying about not having advanced techniques—this fusion function really was a blessing in disguise!
"Fuse!"
Lin Chang'sheng confirmed in his mind right away.
He had over 1,500 taels of silver—more than enough.
[Fusing Moonlight Breathing Technique and Sun-Bathing Breathing Technique... Fusion successful! You have obtained Sun and Moon Breathing Technique!]
[Detected Sun and Moon Breathing Technique. Spend 10 taels of silver to simplify?]
As soon as Lin Chang'sheng successfully fused the techniques, another prompt popped up on the panel.
"Simplify!"
Lin Chang'sheng's eyes gleamed, full of anticipation.
[Great Dao is Simple: Simplifying Sun and Moon Breathing Technique... Simplification complete. Sun and Moon Breathing Technique = Bathe in sunlight, bathe in moonlight!]
On the panel before Lin Chang'sheng's eyes, a red notification appeared.
"So it's just sunbathing and moonbathing?"
Seeing the notice, Lin Chang'sheng's eyes brightened.
At that moment, moonlight from outside the window shone on him. He glanced at the panel, and just in those few breaths of time, the Sun and Moon Breathing Technique gained 8 experience points.
Lin Chang'sheng opened his panel in his mind.
[Great Dao is Simple: Level 1]
[Lin Chang'sheng: 16/55]
[Cultivation: Second-class Expert (448/2500)]
[Cultivation Technique: Sun and Moon Breathing Technique (Entry Level 8/1000)]
[Martial Arts: Archery (Great Perfection), Iron Sand Palm (Great Perfection), Flying Eaves and Light Body Skill (Great Perfection), Cyan Snake Sword Technique (Great Success 6223/12500)]
[Spend a certain amount of silver taels to simplify cultivation techniques, martial arts, etc.]
[Status: Yin Qi Invasion (Weakened)]
"Sun and Moon Breathing Technique is a bit more advanced than Sun-Bathing Breathing Technique, so it needs more experience points."
Lin Chang'sheng looked at the panel, nodding to himself.
As long as he sunbathed and moonbathed, it counted as cultivation.
That was just too easy.
"My cultivation experience is advancing too slowly."
Lin Chang'sheng looked at the panel, thinking to himself.
Now that he'd reached the Second-class Expert stage, his cultivation progress had slowed down a lot. He figured there might be two reasons: the first was that his cultivation technique was a bit low-level,
the second was he needed more energy—that is, the power of elixirs.
If he used elixirs, would that speed things up?
Now that his techniques were fused, it was time to see about getting some elixirs or Qi Blood Soup to help with cultivation.
Lin Chang'sheng had gotten over 1,500 taels of silver from Ma Zhankui's house. He planned to wait a few days, then bring some out and go to the Hundred Herbs Hall in West City to buy some Qi Blood Soup to try.
........
Three days later, at noon.
Lin Chang'sheng came home after buying groceries on East Street.
"It's always you cooking—I'm starting to feel bad about it. How about I make lunch today?"
Yu Wenjing offered proactively.
"Sure, sounds good."
Lin Chang'sheng nodded and went to check on his little snake cage to gain experience for Cyan Snake Sword Technique.
"Right now, my martial arts include archery, Cyan Snake Sword Technique, Iron Sand Palm, and Flying Eaves and Light Body Skill. They're all different types and can't be fused. If I want to take them to the next level, I'll need to get more techniques."
"Maybe I should try to get the body technique from Liuyun Martial Arts Hall?"
Lin Chang'sheng looked at the little snake in the cage and thought to himself.
Golden Bell Martial Arts Hall has Golden Bell Shield and fist techniques. Liuyun Martial Arts Hall has Liuyun Light Body Skill and Flying Eaves and Light Body Skill—they should be able to fuse.
"Chang'sheng, the food's ready."
Just then, Yu Wenjing emerged from the kitchen after a flurry of activity, carrying four dishes and two bowls of rice.
"Uh..."
Lin Chang'sheng was taken aback when he saw the dishes Yu Wenjing brought out.
Blackened and burnt—that was the color of today's meal.
"Chang'sheng, I... I haven't really cooked before—this is my first time, so it didn't turn out well. But I'll get better..."
When she saw Lin Chang'sheng's expression, Yu Wenjing looked embarrassed, rubbing her delicate hands together like a child caught doing something wrong.
"It's okay. For a first attempt, this is already impressive! Let's eat."
Lin Chang'sheng glanced over—other than being a bit burnt on the outside, it was still edible inside. He shouldn't waste it, so he picked up his bowl and realized the rice was half raw.
He picked up some greens and put them in his mouth—then froze.
Salty. So salty it was bitter!