Under One Person: The Seeker of the Dao in the Lü Family

Chapter 24 Chaos Arises, Zhang Zhiwei: Was My Management Lax?

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

"Master, Uncle-Master, breakfast has been brought to you."

There was a knock on the door, and Zhang Lingyu's voice came from outside.

He stood respectfully outside the door, knocked, and then carried a wooden table with both hands, on which were placed two servings of congee and side dishes.

"Lingyu, come in!"

The old master's voice came from inside the room, sounding calm and indifferent, as if nothing had happened.

A hint of worry flashed in Zhang Lingyu's eyes after hearing the old Celestial Master's voice, but it quickly disappeared.

He respectfully opened the door, carried the tray inside, his movements steady, and the porridge in the bowl didn't even ripple.

The old Celestial Master looked at Zhang Lingyu as he walked in, sat on the bed stroking his pure white beard, and said with a smile, "Just put it here, I'll feed it to your Uncle Tian. You can go now."

"Oh, and remember to close the door when you leave."

"Master, Uncle-Master, please!"

Following instructions, Zhang Lingyu placed the food beside the old Celestial Master, then bowed her head and respectfully withdrew from the room.

His every word and action was more disciplined than could be measured with a ruler, causing the old master to frown.

"Squeak!"

"rustle......"

The wooden door hinges made a slight sound, and Zhang Lingyu's footsteps gradually faded into the distance.

"Lingyu is a good child."

Tian Jinzhong turned his gaze away from the doorway and looked at the still steaming food, and couldn't help but smile.

"It's not bad, but it's too rigid. How did I end up with such a disciple?"

The old celestial master helplessly shrugged, finding Zhang Lingyu's subconscious adherence to rigid dogma extremely troublesome.

Looking back, I wasn't exactly a well-behaved disciple. I was constantly being called "wicked child" and "beast" by the previous generation of celestial masters since I was a child.

Moreover, the atmosphere of the entire Longhu Mountain Celestial Master's Mansion was not that serious and harsh, and the old Celestial Master was also puzzled as to how Zhang Lingyu had grown up to be like this.

I have told him many times and hoped that he would correct his ways as soon as possible, but Zhang Lingyu always reverts to his old ways the next time no one is there to remind him.

This gave the old master a real headache, and he didn't know what to do next.

Now, all we can do is hope that Zhang Lingyu will grow older and gain more experience, and eventually achieve enlightenment on his own.

Shaking his head, the old celestial master let go of his lingering doubts about Zhang Lingyu.

He relaxed his brow, reached out his left hand to pick up a bowl of congee from the tray, shook it slightly to bring up the rice grains that had sunk to the bottom, and then took a sip.

"Snoring..."

In the blink of an eye, the old master had drunk nearly a third of the porridge in the bowl.

"Senior brother, what about mine?"

Looking at the contented expression on the old master's face after finishing his porridge, Tian Jinzhong couldn't help but ask.

"What's the rush? Since you're so concerned about Huaiyi, then worry about him a little longer. I'll eat first."

As the old master spoke, he reached out his right hand, took the chopsticks, picked up a small half bowl of pickled vegetables, and put them into the porridge, stirring them in.

The originally off-white soup in the bowl was instantly stained with the color of pickled vegetables.

The old master rummaged through his bowl with his chopsticks, eating slowly and deliberately, seemingly oblivious to Tian Jinzhong's slightly anxious expression beside him.

Tian Jinzhong was amused by the old master's actions. He couldn't help but laugh and scold, "Well, how old are you? Still playing this trick."

Ignoring Tian Jinzhong's words, the old master focused on the food in front of him, and then picked up a few pieces of pickled vegetables from Tian Jinzhong's dish.

"That's mine!"

"What do you mean 'yours' and 'mine'? We're brothers, why are we dividing things like this?"

"At your age, be careful not to eat too much salt!"

"Snoring..."

Ignoring Tian Jinzhong's exasperation, the old master remained silent while drinking his porridge.

The atmosphere in the slightly dark room was completely different from the beginning, with the two fellow disciples enlivening the room with their somewhat childish antics.

But they both knew in their hearts that this was only temporary, since Zhang Huaiyi was still wandering around outside.

……

Zhang Huaiyi, who was now wandering around outside, forcefully summoned his innate Qi, and although it displayed great power, he knew that he didn't have much time left.

These days, starting from Central China, he has been launching night raids on the mountain gates of various sects of extraordinary individuals. Each time, he manages to bring out several elders from each sect to follow him.

His movements were unpredictable, sometimes south, sometimes north, sometimes east, sometimes west, as if he were running all over the country without any sense of direction, while also keeping the ever-growing number of pursuers behind him.

At first, his movements were somewhat unpredictable, but as time went on, the elderly people who had experienced the Jia Shen Rebellion gradually realized his general objective.

The sect or faction that the Thirty-Six Thieves belonged to back then!

Thus, some factions in the world of supernatural beings tacitly launched a silent siege against Zhang Huaiyi.

Some of them wanted to regain face after being trespassed on their mountain gate, but most were after Zhang Huaiyi's so-called Eight Extraordinary Techniques - "Qi Body Origin Flow".

These pursuers, like hunting dogs, followed the tracks left by Zhang Huaiyi all the way, covering the entire country.

Some of them, who were still conscious and not blinded by the Eight Extraordinary Techniques, such as Yang Lie of the Tang Clan, had already realized that something was wrong with the whole process.

Zhang Huaiyi's influence is too obvious!

Yes, it's so obvious that it's impossible to lose track of someone who has almost met him.

This didn't seem like the encirclement and attack they thought it was; it was more like a scheme orchestrated by Zhang Huaiyi to gather them together.

These people were surprised, but they also secretly slowed down and waited to see what would happen.

As for giving up? Impossible. Now that Zhang Huaiyi has used himself as bait, we must be prepared to be devoured!

Along the way, the number of pursuers continued to increase, with more and more members of the Quanxing faction among them. However, Zhang Huaiyi did not stop. In this short period of time, he had almost traveled through all seven major regions of the country.

Aside from a few sects such as Longhu Mountain Celestial Master's Mansion, Wudang Mountain, Shaolin Temple, Quanzhen Longmen, etc., which he hadn't visited, he had practically traversed the mountain strongholds of 70% of the forces in the world of supernatural beings.

Having completed his visit, he suddenly changed course and sped off towards East China under the cover of night.

He was getting ready to go home; he was going to deal with his pursuers there.

Zhang Huaiyi's sudden change of course caught the pursuers off guard, but having already adapted, they quickly followed in his footsteps and caught up with him.

"You all think that's Zhang Huaiyi?"

As the leader of the Natural Sect hurried along, he asked his companions who had gathered around him questions.

During the pursuit of Zhang Huaiyi, the pursuers inevitably crossed paths, gradually forming a stream of dozens of pursuers.

"Of course! The Celestial Master's Mansion's Golden Light Mantra and Thunder Law Master couldn't possibly be mistaken!"

A sorcerer from the "Shu" sect then spoke up, accompanied by several elders of the same generation from the sect.

"In that case, should we inform Longhu Mountain and tell the Celestial Master?"

An old man from Yanwu Hall asked softly as he hurried along.

His voice was faint, but everyone present heard it, and the scene fell silent.

The old man from Yanwu Hall's words caused all the pursuers present to change their expressions.

A deep-seated fear surfaced on their solemn faces, but this solemnity and fear quickly transformed into a profound anger that they unleashed upon the old man.

"madness!"

"Damn it! If you can't speak properly, shut up!"

……

A torrent of foul language, uttered in various regional accents, poured out from their mouths and poured down on the old man.

Realizing he had misspoke, the old man didn't argue and silently quickened his pace.

"It's been several days since this happened, so it's impossible that the Old Master didn't receive the news. It seems that he tacitly approved of our actions."

The cursing subsided, and a wandering cultivator spoke up.

As if they had found a reason for themselves, everyone followed suit and spoke up.

"Yes, that's right. Zhang Huaiyi was one of the Thirty-Six Thieves. He said back then that these people didn't deserve to die; we were just cleaning up the remnants!"

"That's right! Zhang Huaiyi brazenly broke into the mountain gate at night using the Celestial Master's Mansion's Golden Light Mantra and Thunder Magic, killing and injuring many of my disciples. We haven't even gone to the Celestial Master's Mansion to report Zhang Zhiwei for lax management, so how can he possibly discipline us!"

"That's right!"

The crowd echoed each other, quickening their pace and relentlessly following the clues left by Zhang Huaiyi.